Schmozzle

I have a friend that posts a "Schmozzle" post every now and then. I love that word. According to her, it's a noun that means a lot of this, that and the other. I might just have to copy it and her cute photo that goes with each post (with her permission of course).

Today is only Tuesday, but honestly, with Dan gone and the kids out of school, I'm having trouble knowing what day it is. I feel like I'm experiencing the never ending week since being home from Florida. I think it's actually ended once and started again. So, anyway, the schmozzle...in no particular order

~Jaelyn had an orthodontist appointment last week AANNNNNDDDDDD she's getting her braces off next month, August 4th. I'm excited to see her beautiful perfect bite sans braces. She's going to love having Cranky out of the roof of her mouth. I'm not sure she's going to love the retainer and I'm worried about losing it, but we'll deal with that bridge if we get there.

~My wonderful neighbor, as I type, is weed eating my front yard. She cut it earlier. I love Anne and we baked her chocolate chip cookies to prove it.

~The kids started swim lessons on Monday and I promise to give this it's own post along with pictures and videos soon. There were 6 kids in 3 levels with 3 teachers yesterday, but the other family of 3 decided to not continue so that left my 3 kids and 3 teachers today. Score! Private swim lessons for my kids - $140 for 8 hours of private lessons total for all 3. They are doing awesome too. Josie had Allie diving in the deep end like she was in a swim meet. Then she was having to swim different strokes to her. She's doing an awesome backstroke and butterfly. Josie was especially impressed with her butterfly. For someone who's just learned it, she's good. I see a swim team in Allie's future. Caden and Jaelyn are also doing well. They were working on their front crawl with their heads in the water. Jaelyn is doing it with both arms, which means she's not holding her nose while she puts her head underwater. She's come so far from the little girl who refused to take swim lessons and put her face in the water last June.

~We went to a pool party on Sunday. It was Hawaiin themed complete with Hula dancing lessons. Allie won a pineapple for the "most authentic girl's hula." She was the hands down winner, voted on by the other kids.

~We went to Petsmart to waste time today and ended up talking to a lady from Luna's House, a cat rescue that has their cats in Petsmart. They need foster families for their cats. The kids and I have decided to be a foster family for their kittens over the summer. They want a kitten so badly, but I don't want another permanent cat. We just need Dan to call us to give us his okay! Call Dan, Call!

~If you have a Rita's in the area, go try their watermelon. It tastes like summer and is right up there with Edy's Pineapple fruit pops, which we've become addicted to!

Okay, that's all I've got. To quote said Schmozzle friend again....the end!

I Need Chocolate

It's been a long day. It started raining last night and we've been stuck inside. Everyone is bored and annoyed. There's been bickering and fighting and whining. Not a pretty day all around. The kids are on their beds reading and once lights are out, I'm baking cookies with ooey gooey chocolate chips!!! Stress eating is such a horrible thing, but right now, I don't care. I just want chocolate!

Have I mentioned Dan's out of town again? I don't think I have. He went back to work on Tuesday. On Wedneday morning, he called to give me the heads up that there might be a 3 week TDY in his future. He called a few hours later to say he was coming home to pack. He caught a 6 am flight Thursday morning to Ft. Polk, Louisiana. Yuck! As long as the weather is pretty, we can get outside and get to the pool. We'll be fine, but if the rain keeps up, everyone is going to be crabby and have cabin fever. Not fun at all! So pray for pretty weather, please!

Curve...What Curve???

Allie was diagnosed with mild scoliosis about 2 1/2 years ago. We started out seeing a pediatric orthopedist every 6 months. This time, we were supposed to go to 9 months, but our doctor moved and it took time to get into see a new one. We trekked downtown today to the big John Hopkins. We only got lost once using the GPS (the interstate exit physically moved from the left to the right and the GPS didn't know it). Kat helped me out and fixed her problem (we named our GPS Kat - What, don't you name inanimate objects???) Anyway, we navigated the crazy construction and even crazier people driving around the parking garage.

We got in pretty quickly. Allie went back for her x-ray and then we had to wait for the doctor. OK, the rest of this is going to sound politically incorrect and I might use the wrong terms, but the kids got very excited when they saw a dwarf in scrubs walking around. I think he was a dwarf - average head and body, but shorter arms and legs. I had to shush the kids and grab pointing fingers quickly. I guess they've never seen a dwarf or a little person before. Turns out our doctor was the dwarf. He was wonderful, talking to each child individually. It was a great learning experience about how God makes each person special and unique. We had a good talk on the way home about people with different disabilities and challenges in general. All we need is hard work and perseverance and we can do anything we set our minds to.

Anyway...the whole point of the story ~ the curve. What curve? We don't see no stinkin' curve!!! It's gone. Allie's spine is within normal limits. Yea God! We don't have to go back to the orthopedic doctors again. Her pediatrician will monitor her at her annual exams and that's it!

Vacation From Your Vacation...Anyone?

Why is it that after a vacation, I always feel like I need another one? After 2 long days in the car this weekend, we spent Monday unpacking and taking care of the house. Yesterday, I spent a good deal of the day running errands and making phone calls. It took me an hour to go through our accumulated mail last night. I'm tired. We have another morning of errands today. We were supposed to do today's errands yesterday, but after lunch, I decided to procrastinate and well, we went to the pool. In addition to being tired this morning, I'm also sore. I forgot all the different muscles you use when you swim.

I have the rest of our vacation pictures and a few more stories to share (Jen, I need your pictures) that I'll get to next week maybe :p.

Putting Me to Work

Whenever we come to visit, my mom always puts us to work. She feeds us well, so it's a good trade off. In the past, we've pitched in because she hasn't felt well. She's well now and has been great about joining in on the fun.

Today, the kids were at Grandmother's house so we had the perfect opportunity to work outside. My mom wanted all of her lorepetalum cut back. I'm not talking a little hair cut, she wanted them all the way back so they'd regrow and be whispey and beautiful when they bloom in the fall. Her wish was our command and her lorepetalum are cut back...the individual bushes look kind of sad, but she has enough other green that it doesn't look that bad fom the road. I also got to clean up one of her crepe myrtles and her river birch. I have her trash men come soon because their yard waste pile is about 4 ft x 4 ft x 10 ft.

I've also been doing inside work. The first week we were here, I hung up shelving in the new guest closet. My Dad didn't actually help hang the shelves; he was just there to show me the bottom one wasn't perfectly level. Dan's advice "Don't store your juggling balls on the bottom shelf, Lou!" I love my husband.

If I don't get home soon, who knows what my mom will plan for me next :p!

My Perfect Day

4 years ago, I was way over stressed from being a single mom to 3 very small children while Dan was in Iraq and my friend Jennifer was way over stressed from working full-time as a teacher, working on her master's degree and taking care of her 4 children. We planned ourselves a spa day at Serenity by the Sea in Destin to celebrate my surviving a year and her finishing school. It was the perfect day. We've been several times since, but no trip has ever lived up to the perfection of that first trip...until yesterday. Jen's husband, Rich, drove down with us. We had lunch at McCalister's Deli (we even ate the same things - we are so boring) and then Rich dropped us off at the spa. We made reservations for their Pina Colada Special which included a massage, body scrub, facial and pedicure. It was Pina Coladalicious!!! The body scrub is my absolute favorite. If you've never had one, go find a spa and have one. After getting exfoliated from head to toe, I got a 30 minute massage. I've never fallen asleep during a massage before, but I was startled awake several times yesterday. I apparently needed to relax. I could take or leave the facial, but the pedicure was wonderful. My toes are green (Jade is the New Black was the name) and Jennifer's are sparkly pink. She kept telling everyone there was a party on her toes. After our day, we were given gift certificates for Pina Colada's from the Hilton's Beach Bar. It was the perfect way to wrap up our relaxing day at the spa. Rich picked us up and we met Dan for dinner at PF Changs where we had a wonderful dinner with wonderful friends. It was the perfect day!

Swimmer's Ear

Allie started complaining that her ear hurt to touch it on Sunday night. She woke up several times crying in the night. I had a spa day planned on Monday that I had really been looking forward to. We had planned on the kids going to Grandmother's for a slumber party. In the end, Caden refused to go and Allie cried and wanted to come home with me from Joan's. We talked about taking Allie to the emergency room Monday night, but her ear was hurting worse. I left Allie in the very capable and caring hands of my parents who took her to urgent care. She has a bad case of swimmer's ear. The medicine was $150 in a teeny tiny bottle. It must be powerful stuff. She slept in the bed with me last night and bless her heart, she cried on and off all night. I could only give her tylenol every 6 hours and I filled in with Similasan ear drops which helped to numb the pain. It seems to be a little better now with 2 doses of the powerful medicine. I'm hoping another day or so will make a lot of difference or we might be back at urgent care before we head home this weekend.

I'll update about my spa visit later. It was pina coladalicious!!!! :p

Pizza and Ft. Pickens

We made home made pizzas on Father's Day and it was so good, we decided to make them again for lunch today. Instead of putting them in the oven, we put them on the grill. I will only be grilling pizza from now on. It was amazing!!!

After lunch, I some how managed to talk my parents into driving out to the beach with us to spend some time enjoying the sand and sun. We've taken the kids to the beach many times, but it's always been cold or they were too young to get in the water. The kids have never gotten anything in the water other than their toes. Today was a new adventure.

My Dad seemed to enjoy his spot under the umbrella

Jaelyn enjoying the water and the sand
My Mom helping the kids get their legs wet

Caden built himself a sound "mound"

Allie serving a sand pie

I took the kids into the water to enjoy the waves. Don't worry...I was on my knees and the kids had their feet on the sand the whole time.

Caden loved the waves crashing around us

Kelly, Caden, Allie and Jaelyn

Time To Scroll

I've spent the afternoon catching up my blog. I've added things by date so you might need to scroll down to read all the new news!

Big Kahunas

Of all the things we've done since we've been here, Friday was the one day I wished I could have taken my camera. Friday morning, we met my best friend, Jennifer, and her 4 children at Big Kahunas Water Park in Destin. We had an unbelievably amazing time. I was planning for us to stay till 3:30, maybe 4 at the latest. At 5:30, we finally decided it was time to go and that was only because I knew I had a 2 hour drive back to Pensacola and didn't want crabby kids. We slid down the water slides, Allie surfed the waves, we floated around the lazy river, we played in the kiddie area...we did it all and then we did it again. I really don't have the words to tell you how wonderful it was. Even though Jennifer's girls are older than my kids, they buddied up and took care of them. Jackson had a ball picking on Jaelyn and Brody was just Brode-Man, having a blast along with us. Thanks for coming down and meeting us, Jennifer. We came home tan, happy and tired!

Playing in the Backyard

We are continuing to love Grandma and Grandpa's yard. I miss, miss, miss the kids having a large area to play. Caden has turned into a little monkey and loves hanging out in the trees.

We discovered a sparrow's nest in the Chaste Tree. Jaelyn was in charge of googling bird's eggs to identify them. The nest had 4 eggs the first time, a few days later only 3 and now there are 2. My dad thinks a snakes is climbing the trees as well.

Allie is turning into a little artist as she paints the fence. Our fence is stained at home so we haven't gotten to do this fun summer activity in a long time. Between Jaelyn and Allie, the entire length of the fence got "painted."

Blooms on the Chaste Tree

Double Day Lilies

Jaelyn's Oops

We are trying to teach Jaelyn about responsibility. Unfortunately, there are some lessons, you just have to learn yourself. Jaelyn had one of those lessons last week. Tuesday morning, Jaelyn wanted to take a picture. She hunted and hunted for her camera, but she couldn't find it. The last picture she remembered taking was outside Monday afternoon...before the thunderstorm that continued through Wednesday. I sent her outside with an umbrella, but she had no luck finding it. I went out next and found it sitting in a lawn chair filled with water.



We left her camera in a bag of rice and when we got back from Destin yesterday, it was all dried out and working again!! Jaelyn is a lucky little girl because I was not replacing her very expensive for a 7 year old camera!

The Gulfarium

Fort Walton Beach has this place called the Gulfarium. My mom says I went when I was very young, but I don't remember it. I've never been as an adult, but thought it might be a place the kids would enjoy. Caleb and Grandmother met us there on Thursday. We had a few stops and starts on the way to the Gulfarium with my keys and a locked car, but it all worked out without help from roadside assistance thankfully. We made it just in time to see the first Sea Lion show.

I wish I could say the shows were awesome and the facilities wonderful, but I can't. The Gulfarium is old and run down. After you've been to places like SeaWorld or the National Aquarium near us, the Gulfarium just doesn't compare. The kids enjoyed it though and that's all that mattered.

We did enjoy the dolphin show once it got started (everything was at least 10 minutes late starting so take that into account if you ever go). Again, not anywhere near as good as the dolphin show at SeaWorld, but the kids ohhh'ed and ahhh'ed as the dolphins flipped around the pool.

I loved this penguin. He stood and stared at all the people as if to say "here I am...feed me." He must get fed a lot. The other penguins were hanging out under some rocks in the shade.

I love this picture of Caleb riding his little Ducky! We had a good time with him. After the Gulfarium, they came back to our hotel and the kids spent about 2 hours in the pool swimming together.

A Night at the Beach

The kids and I drove down to Destin on Wednesday to spend a few evenings with Dan. We played in the pool until he got home from his class and then we had dinner at Longhorn (it's all about the food, remember?). After dinner, we changed into our bathing suits and headed to the beach. As we were getting set up on the beach, someone came over to tell us to watch the kids near the water because there were tar balls everywhere. It looked like a small animal pooped all along the beach and in the water. TMI I know, but ewwww....it is so sad. With every article I read, it gets worse. The pictures from Pensacola Beach on Thursday were horrible and there's no end in sight.

Dan and I relaxed while the kids played in the sand. The weather was perfect and no one seemed to mind that they couldn't get in the water. The kids had a ball playing in the sand and burying each other.

Bass Pro Summer Camp

We had the BEST time today (I know I keep saying that). I recently saw an advertisement for Bass Pro Shop's Summer Camp. We headed back to Malbis today to meet Grandmother and cousin Caleb. We did several activities today. We attented 3 different "workshops" on fishing, archery and animal identification. I'd like to go back and let the kids go through the camping, plant and insect identification and hiking. After listening to a little 20 minute talk, they received pins sort of like our girl scout try-its. You should have heard my kids explaining animal "skat" to my parents over dinner. Skat is poop encase you didn't know. Hilarious.


Outside, they had areas to practice castings and to shoot a BB gun and a compound bow. Caleb, Allie and Caden shot the bow first. Allie and Caden both hit the target. I was impressed.

Allie's arrow is the one on the far left and the one in the middle. Caden's arrow is the one towards the right.
While waiting in line to shoot, the kids practiced casting their lines.
Normally, you have to pay to use the shooting gallery. We never do it, but it was free today so the kids had fun shooting the little targets. Caden weighs as much the gun so he struggled to hold it just a little.Our last activity was BB gun shooting and that was SCARY. No one hit the target and Allie was pointing all over the place. I know the guy running it was glad to have us leave for the day.

Minus Two

We had the BEST week with Nick and Jared. It was crazy, crazy at times with 5 kids ages 5, 7, 7, 8 and 12 and really loud, but this morning was a little too quiet. Chad and Karen, my brother and sister in law, came yesterday to have dinner with us (home-made pizza Kendra style) and then took the boys home. We'll miss you boys. Thanks for letting them come, Karen!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the men in my life. We started out by letting Dan open his present. I was so proud of myself.

Dan collects pockets knives for anyone who doesn't know. He is a snob and only collects really fancy, expensive knives of a certain brand. I'm constantly complaining about this hobby. It's expensive and pointless to me. He keeps the knives locked in a lock box and he can only carry 1 at a time. Does he really need 20 others in a box??? His answer would emphatically be "YES!" :p Anyway, his computer wallpaper is a collection of 6 new knives he wants. He's facebook friends with his spyderco sales rep so I sent her a message to see if any of the 6 are available. One was just released and she ordered it for me at his almost 50% discount. I'll have to remember to thank him for all the money he's saving us with his discount. The next week, she emailed me and told me Dan had emailed to order the same knife. Ughhh. She was awesome and told him it was backordered for a few weeks. He loves his new knife!

We had lunch with Dan's family. His dad made us fried chicken and NO ONE fries chicken like Larry. Caden even gave it a thumb's up and if you know Caden well, that's the ultimate compliment. We are looking forward to a trip to the Gulfarium with cousin Caleb this week and then cheering him on at a baseball game next week.

Dan headed back to Destin after lunch and Nick and Jared went home :(. I put my kids to bed at 7:15. They so need a good night's sleep.

Playing at the Base

One of my favorite Pensacola destinations in the Naval Air Station. I love to take the kids and let them run through Ft. Barrancas. It was hot, but they had a great time.

Jaelyn, Nick, Grandma, Kelly, Nick, Allie, Dan, Caden and Grandpa

Monkey Jaelyn is the perfect size to climb the walls. I think I'd climb the walls if I had to be a Civil Way soldier fighting inside this claustrophibic fort.

If only we could lock them in for real :pAfter tiring ourselves out at the fort, we headed for air conditioning and cockpits.Dad always gets excited at the museum. He took serial numbers pictures of the types of planes he flew to compare to his flight logs. Who knows...maybe one of the planes my Dad flew is now in our museum.

We had a great time. The only downer was driving past the water and seeing the skimmers and booms out. The sign "Beach Closed Until Further Notice." Sad!

Late Night Kaboodl

This video needs an explanation most likely, but I'll have to add it later :). We are on our way to fly with the Blue Angels (well, not really, but we are heading to the museum.)

Here's the explanation; although I'm sure this is one of those late night activities that is funnier while it is happening than later when everyone has had plenty of sleep.

My mom bought this crazy game called Kaboodl, but has never played it. I got out the directions and decided we'd play it. This was after we'd had some issues with Clue and I'd run Dan off because he called my strategy stupid (well, he didn't say it was stupid, but he thought it!!!) Anyway, it was late and we were tired. We started laughing while kwilding and kabamming each other's kaboodls and kaboshing the kabams. It got very hilarious very quickly. I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face. Jared kept slobbering everywhere from his laughter. It was awesome and a great memory. If you see this game somewhere, you should grab it. It's loads of fun and slightly educational.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad turned 65 today. I took Allie to visit Dr. Karen and Baba who was working to get some advice about Allie's teeth and then I got all 5 kids and took them to Walmart. It was quite the adventure. I think it deserves a T-Shirt..."I shopped with 5 kids and SURVIVED!" Wow and I thought 3 was an adventure. We bought a cake mix, icing and birthday decorations. After lunch, we sent my Dad to the garage to work on his carving and the kids and I got to work. Everyone helped with mixing cupcake batter and blowing up balloons. There's nothing like tying slobbery balloons 7 year olds blew up. Next, we strung crepe paper all around the living room. Jared was kind enough to hold the rolling chair I was standing in while I was lecturing "Don't even do this on your own. It's not safe." When we were all ready, Nick, my hilarious 8 year old nephew, ran into the garage and told Dad to hurry and help because the house was on fire. 3 minutes later, he casually came in and the kids screamed "happy birthday" to him. It was perfect. We had our own little party for him with his Grandkids before my kids had to go to Grandmother's for a slumber party. Happy Birthday, Dad!