12 years of marriage

My new time waster is watching episodes of "21 Jumpstreet" on Netflix. The only excuse I have for this behavior is my depraved childhood. We didn't get to watch tv and all my friends raved about the show. Yes, I'm so dating myself. Still, I never watched it and when I saw it was on Netflix, I had to. Yikes! Were shows really that terrible 25 years ago?!! This really just leads into the comment that Samuel L Jackson was on an episode today. This has no bearing on anything that matters. It is a trivial thing that amused me, and I am sad that Dan is not here to mention it to. No one else cares. Heck, Dan wouldn't even care, but he would indulge me and pretend to be interested.

He and Joshua have been gone less than 24 hours and I already miss them. Dan is my best friend; the one I talk to about everything. I already want to talk to him about the dining room table. One of the legs partly broke today. It still stands and functions, but will it survive another move? Should we think about replacing it? And how do you find a sturdy, affordable table that seats 8? Is it worth investing in something new now? We could probably buy 2 cheaper tables that seat 4 each, but do we want to? What are we willing to spend? I can talk to myself about it, but it works much better when I have Dan's feedback.

I'd also tell him about walking the kids home from school. Why on earth does it wait till I'm leaving the house to rain? By then its about too late to drive, and I had 6 kids to pick up today and they would not have all fit into the van with Rylee and Delaney and me anyway. So we had to walk. It rained and then it hailed and the kids had a blast. It actually was fun, since I had the foresight to grab some umbrellas and rain slickers. So they stayed mostly dry and had a good time.

If Dan were home, I'd show off the 5 loads of laundry I got folded, and I'd brag about the walk I went on with my neighbor this morning. But he's not here, so I have to swallow it. Don't get me wrong, I am okay without him, and I am perfectly able to manage on my own. I just miss the little things, like telling him the dumb stuff that interests me each day. We usually talk on the phone once a day when he's at work. Just a short call to touch base and say hello. We don't usually have big things to talk about. For the next 3 weeks, if he calls or emails we will talk about important things, not those little things. I will ask if he made sure to take a picture of Joshua that has the entire Leaning Tower of Pisa in it and if Joshua has taken pictures of Dan. He will tell me about their adventures and it will be a wonderful conversation. But I won't mention the table, or Samuel L Jackson, or walking home from school.

So, my friends, if I call you to tell you that I swept the floor or that I was watching reruns of "Say Yes to the Dress," you will know why!

My Sunday

I was super excited yesterday because Rylee was finally 18 months! Yay! I could not wait for her to go to Nursery. She was incredibly busy and active during Sacrament Meeting. She was all over the place and needed to go out twice- once due to bonking her head, once due to her noisy behavior. she even got away from me once and Dan had to dash to keep her off the stand. Oops.

This was Rylee in the Mother's Lounge. She thought this rocker was soooo fun.

She even tried it backwards!

I was quite relieved to hand her off to Nursery after that. I got to sit through most of Sunday School before they brought her to me. She had a runny nose and was being kicked out for the day. Sigh. There went any possibility of me getting anything meaningful out of the rest of church.

Here is Rylee, frolicking in the foyer and being so silly. She ran all over the place, spilling a trail of cheerios that she went back to eat, and she laughed and giggled and had a ball. Me, not so much.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Marian was very excited to go to church yesterday.

Can you guess why?

She got her ears pierced on Saturday and couldn't wait to show them off!

Isn't she lovely?!

Fun Foto Friday

It has been a lot more crazy week than I anticipated. So for today, you just get pictures. Fun pictures of the kids, who make me laugh!

Marian had a birthday and this is her best friend Adrian. They are so funny together. I was cracking up listening to their conversation. Anytime you need a laugh, just hang out with the two of them!

Callie makes me laugh with her bossiness and grand plans. She will make a wonderful teacher someday. And she loves to write me sweet notes. She will color a picture and write "Mommy I love you" on it. She is such a treasure!

This picture was a surprise. I did not take it and do not know how it got on my camera. I think it may be a self portrait by Joshua. He is a great kid. He is so excited to go to Europe with Dan that he can hardly stand it.

Delaney is so fun to have at home. She makes me laugh with her silly antics. I love that she's wearing her mittens.

And here is Rylee, wearing her jammy top, no shoes, and lots of dirt. She has been scooping up muddy water in her bowl and putting it into the little shopping cart. And she has been having a marvelous time doing it.

Yes, more Rylee. She discovered that she can climb up onto the window and open the shutters. She thinks she is hot stuff now!

My lovely ladies are playing doctor! Rylee had her 18 mos check up today. (Sorry Kera, I was waaay off on her weight!) She weighs 22 pounds and is in the 26th percentile and is 32.8 inches long, which I think was 76th percentile. The girls were having a blast playing, and Rylee loved saying "ahhhh."

Finally!!!

The wait is over! We finally know where we're going! The funny thing is, that we are now 0 for 3. In the 3 moves we have made, not one of them has been on Dan's top 10. I wonder why the Marine Corps even has you fill out a top 10 form, since as I said, we have never gotten an assignment on that list. Not in 3 moves. This time, Dan put in for West Coast or Overseas bases. We are not going to be on the west coast. We are not going overseas, although I think we may feel like we are in a foreign country!

We're headed to New Orleans this summer! It was never even on our radar. Marine Forces Reserve has a headquarters there, and a brand new complex for Dan's work (and a lot of other people's work ) that is going to still have that new car smell when he checks in. It's on the south side of the Mississippi River, and the more exciting, or sinful stuff (like Bourbon Street) is on the north side of the river.

I'm excited because it puts us closer to family. We'll be 4 hours from my brother and about 12 (down from 18!) hours from my folks. We'll also be about 10 hours from Dan's sister. This is good. Dan is excited about the law office there and thinks it will be a great place to work. This is good too! I think it is a non-deploying billet, which is really good. Not so good is what we're hearing about schools, but we'll see what we can find.

This means our summer plans are in full planning. We don't have orders yet, but anticipate they will be along soon. We do not know Dan's start date, but for me it's not that important. (It is pretty important to Dan though!) No matter when Dan's start date in LA is, I'll stay here till school is over and we'll pack up and move the end of June. We will probably go make a nuisance of ourselves in Arkansas and spend the summer with my parents, while Dan starts the new job and checks out the neighborhoods. That will give us a BAH cushion and give us time to decide where to live.

So its all very exciting. The only thing Dan and I have been praying for is that we would feel good about where we are going and that we would know that the hand of the Lord was at work. We both feel good about this station, and I think we both feel like we are suppose to go there. Now we just have to get through the worst part- saying goodbye. I hate saying goodbye. So, to all my friends, if I leave without saying goodbye to you, its not personal. I detest it and would rather sneak away and never have to say it! I love my friends, neighbors and school here. I hate leaving. I love the new adventure and the new beginning, but I really hate the leaving.

I hate waiting

We expected to hear something in January regarding our future. But we got nothing. Wait 2 weeks was what we kept hearing. Yet.... nothing. We've been here 3 years. Dan needs to get back into his MOS. He's scheduled to pick up rank, and we're due to move on. So we wait.

There were rumors of a PCS freeze due to the lack of budget. There is a new policy in the Navy that you no longer get to know 6 months before you move, you may only get 2 months. It looks like we may only get 2 months. Dan talked with the monitor a few times and it seems like we can expect to be moving to one of his top 10 choices, and we may know in 2 weeks. 2 weeks passed a while ago.

On Wednesday, the website said the slate should be out on Thursday. I was giddy with excitement. Dan checked again before going home an it said not till Friday. Today is Friday.

Guess what? No slate. No orders. No idea of where we'll be moving this summer. I hate waiting. I hate not knowing and not being able to plan. Maybe in 2 weeks we'll know. Maybe.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now for some pictures!

After much sweat and wrangling and fun, Joshua managed to remove the doorknob from the damaged door. He really had a good time with it! We did replace the door and all is well there.

Look how happy Charlotte is in the car!

Uh oh, she's spotted Rylee, and now she's not happy.

Yep, Rylee is trying to shove Charlotte out so she can get in. Poor Charlotte!

Now, when Rylee is trying to be nice, Charlotte is skeptical.

Marian spent all afternoon working on building this hut. She and Katie wanted to build a Kenyan house. Some of the homes there are built from branches covered with mud and cow dung. So the girls had a marvelous time constructing these in the back yard. Fortunately, we are all out of cow dung.

I love the spring weather we have had the last few days! The kids have played outside in the yard all afternoon. Check out this other branch hut they built. The yard is all soft from the recent rain and its easy to poke the sticks into it.

How is life right now, you ask? Well, Andy, Kera and their other 3 children arrived back from Kenya on Tuesday night. We had a different kind of chaos for a few days. Joshua and Marian were delighted to have their older cousins around to play with. The kids all played pretty well together, and the weather was gorgeous! Kera was marvelous and not only did she babysit the kids while I went to the Temple on Thursday, but she cleaned the house as well. It looks amazing! Andy was fantastic about putting the new door up, and he disposed of the enormous pile of cardboard that's been disgracing our porch for several months. It really was nice to have them here and it was nice to visit with them. I love that my children are able to have a relationship with their cousins.

They all left this morning and the house is SO quiet! It was sweet to hear Delaney say that she misses Matthew. I kinda miss them all too.

Ima Doofus

Its story time!

A few days ago, I read an article in the Reader's Digest that mentioned that most locksmiths in the yellow pages and online searches are scam artists. Today, Matthew locked Joshua's bedroom door. For some reason, that is the only door in the house that requires an actual key to open, and we have no key for it. I recalled the article, but not what to do, so yes, I googled locksmiths. I asked for a quote. Its a standard inside doorknob. Seriously, how hard is it to give a quote?!

The guy did not want to give a quote, but finally said $15 for the drive out and maybe $35 for the lock, more if it was complicated. When the man arrived to fix it, he wanted $160. I nearly had a heart attack! And I said no. I figured I could drill or break the lock myself and fix it for cheaper.

The man ultimately agreed to do it for $50 cash, and I said yes. The funny thing is, he was picking it while negotiating. The super sad and 2-months-from-now-it-will-be-funny thing is, the lock never actually unlocked and after the man left, the door was closed again, and it was again locked shut. Sigh. So I busted it down and have a broken door and I'm out $50.

And on to Picture time!

I noticed that most of the pictures I take only have one child in them. There is a reason for this!

Rylee tends to learn new things by herself and therefore is the only one in the picture. This is her latest conquest- climbing onto the bunkbed unassisted.

They also tend to cry when not alone. Sometimes when alone too, but there's more crying when other kids are around.

They also move too fast. They love to run laps through the kitchen and living room, and its tough to keep up!

Sometimes they take a break.

But this is more often what I see. 2 crying children. If I'm really good, I can have 3 or 4 all crying at the same time! Its a tough job.

Although, when they are separated, they do pretty well! this lasts until Rylle decides that Charlotte's food looks better than hers. Then Rylee climbs across the chair separating them and steals Charlotte's food. Charlotte does not appreciate this.

(FYI, I hunted down my Reader's Digest and learned I should have gone to findalocksmith.com to get someone reputable. And rather than losing my temper, I should have waited and called more friends. On the plus side, Joshua and Marian are having a marvelous time using every tool in the house to try to wrangle the broken doorknob off. Yes, I'm going to have to replace the door.)

Put a fork in me; I'm done

Tonight the kids were in bed and all was quiet. Dan said he was going up to bed. I wanted to enjoy the solitude and silence a bit longer so I said I'd be up in 20 minutes. Just as I was checking my last email, Marian tottered down the hall. I went up to see what she needed and she told me not to walk all the way to the end of the hall. For some reason, my kid who has always been handy with the bucket, had vomited all over the floor- half on the hardwood, and half on the carpet. Oh, fun!

Oh, and did I mention she had eaten a lot for dinner? That or she had been storing up for just such an occasion! I got to work and scrubbed the carpet and cleaned the floor. I doused it in vinegar to neutralize the stench and checked on Marian. She was half asleep on the couch. I said she could sleep there if she wanted and she grunted in reply, so I headed to bed.

Along the way I checked on the rest of the kids and detected an unwelcome odor in Delaney's room. Delaney had pooped her diaper and managed to get it on her jammies, blankets and sheets. Goodie! More fun for me!

I got that taken care of and started a load of wash. I made it into my room and brushed my teeth. Rylee is sleeping in there right now and she woke up. I figured I'd taken enough for the team and Dan could deal with her. I got into bed, and had just snuggled up to slumberland, when the washing machine started hammering away like a jackhammer, right under our room. Stupid uneven load. I hustled downstairs and stepped in something wet. Eeeewwww, gross!

Yep, that turkey, Marian had puked on the stairs and had the nerve to just crawl into bed. So more vomit duty for me. I think I have had it. There are a million things I would rather do than clean up body fluids. I would rather run 3 miles, or go purse shopping with my mom. I would rather do dishes, or sweep the floor. I'd rather clean the toilet, or vacuum out the car. I don't think I'd be willing to read Moby Dick or Catcher in the Rye again, but I would rather speak in Sacrament meeting or teach nursery. I'd rather wear high heels and put on stockings. But right now, I'd just rather sleep.

Messy Faces; Smiley Faces

You'd think we never wipe this kid's face! I will admit it is getting wiped a lot less frequently of late, and it shows. Sigh.

She's extra messy here after lunch because she discovered she does not actually have to eat the graham crackers to get the Nuttella in the middle. Unfortunately, I think she is wearing a lot more Nuttella than she managed to eat.

Charlotte ate the graham crackers and the Nuttella, but she's still a messy-faced girl. I'm just happy she's covered in chocolate and not snot.

Marian actually cracked a smile! She's been fairly quiet lately. With all the noise and demands from other children, she fades a bit into the background. She's going to need some one-on-one time once there are fewer kids in the house.

Callie has become obsessed with doing her own hair. The results are occasionally quite interesting. But look how happy she is with it!

This is Delaney's smile-on-demand. She is such a hoot and loves to get her picture taken.

Matthew is a cutie-pie, but he does not like having his picture taken. He is having a ball with all our toys. Well, in reality, he has a ball till Delaney or Rylee tries to run off with the toys.

Most crazy-making moment today:

Me: Matthew, how many chicken nuggets would you like?

Matthew: I don't LIKE chicken nuggets!

Me: Fine, would you like a sandwich?

Matthew: I don't like peanut butter!

Me: How about just jelly?

Matthew: Okay.

Me: Delaney, how many chicken nuggets do you want?

Delaney: um....3!

Matthew (in a screaming and crying utter whine): But I WANT chicken nuggets!!!

Sickies and Sleepies

We've been having a vomit party at our house. I am incredibly lucky in 2 respects with this. First off, the girls (other than Rylee) didn't puke much. Secondly they are very good when they are sick. Marian and Callie have a near 100% success rate at keeping all bodily fluids contained. They are so funny as they wander around carrying their puke bowls with them.

Marian and Callie stayed home from school today. They spent they day laying on the couch and chair and I almost didn't even notice them. Delaney was more subdued than usual, and only tossed her cookies twice. She looked so pathetic though, when she would come and ask, "How do I get my throw up to stop?"

Doesn't she look so sad?!

Marian has been vomit-free for 24 hours, but she was quite listless and complained of being cold all day.

Callie has such a great sick face. Check out the trusty bowl next to her.

Emma said no to a picture. I really just wanted Kera to know I DID wash her hair and brushed it and put it up. My goal is for it not to be a matted mess by the time Kera comes back to collect her!

Now, being home all day long with 3 certifiably sick girls, plus 2 incredibly snotty, croupy-coughing babies, and an additional 2 toddlers (is 4, almost 5 considered a toddler still?) is a little daunting. I confess that I was not looking forward to the day. I was less enthusiastic since I had been wrested from my bed no fewer than 7 times last night. (Rylee woke up twice and needed a snuggle, Delaney peed through and needed new sheets, Callie puked and needed a cleaned up bowl, Emma was coughing and sometimes that makes her cry so I had to check on her, and Delaney puked on her bed and again needed new sheets.)

I figured I was not going to get a nap, but I managed to get Rylee, Emma and Charlotte all down and asleep at the same time. By the time I got the other 4 quietly entertained, I thought maybe I had a few minutes before one of the babies woke up. I lay down for a short snooze and actually fell asleep for 30 minutes. Charlotte woke me up (after she'd taken a 3 1/3 hour nap!!) and we went downstairs to see this:

Callie asleep on the chair with her bowl.

Marian sacked out on the couch snuggled under her blanket. Just for the record, she was also wearing wool leg-warmers on her legs, socks on her feet, and arm-warmers on her arms.

Matthew, sound asleep in the basement while watching "Go, Diego, Go".

Also in the basement, was Delaney, also drooling asleep on this beanbag.

It was a surprisingly quiet day around here. And I was really glad. So far, only my 4 girls have had vomiting issues and I cross my fingers that it ends now! The problem is, that when I know one kid is sick, I can't sleep well at night. I'm waiting to hear that gagging noise and to have to get up to clean up ickiness. I'm also listening extra hard to hear if anyone new is sick. Every bump in the night triggers a heart attack and wakes me up wondering if someone needs me. And I'm living in fear that there will be multiple vomit geysers and I won't be able to deal with it. I'm just really grateful that the girls weren't very sick at all.

And for no other reason than I find her very amusing, I leave you with this picture!

This is Rylee's new way to sit in her booster chair to eat.

Perspective

Matthew had a meltdown right before Family Home Evening tonight. He so needed a nap today and didn't get one, so I was really tempted to just let him cry in his room and hope he would fall asleep. I think it must be hard to be him right now, so I went up and cuddled him and asked if he would come down for FHE. He said, "I don't like Family Home Evening."

"That's okay," I said. " You can stay here and go to bed, or you can come down and join us. We do have cupcakes for refreshments though."

He thought about it and asked for a cupcake. I said no. Then I thought to ask if he wanted to help with the lesson. He said, "Yes, but only if it is about Jesus."

What a cute kid!

And when we finished Family Home Evening, which nearly ended early (with lots of tears and drama) several times, I told Delaney she only got half a cupcake because she was not obedient. She grinned with delight and exclaimed, "Yay! I get half a cupcake!!"

Oh, to be a kid

You wouldn't guess that this kid spent all night throwing up.

Oh, yes, this morning she is gallivanting around having a marvelous time. She stacked the stool on the chair and hopped up on it and thought she was hot stuff. Good mom that I am, I got the camera and took a picture first. She still smells like puke and some other nasty things, but eventually I will get her in the tub. Her being up all night meant I got to be up all night too, so I'm not moving very fast this morning.

This was the crusty girl last night. Still cute and mischievous.

I actually just went to see what she was up to. She went upstairs a few minutes ago and all was quiet, so I thought she might be in trouble. Nope, she was sound asleep on Marian's blankets on the floor of my room. Poor baby. Wait, now I need to run and get a nap!

Let the Good Times Roll!

This is what life at our house is like right now. Note Rylee. Note Charlotte.

Yep, Charlotte is happy and content and then Rylee has to go poke her with a fork. Check out the first picture again and see how happy Rylee is? She's thinking I'm about to ruin her fun in this second photo. She's right.

The kids get along pretty well and everyone is happy and then suddenly they are not. Morning is a little insane, and the getting to school to pick up kids is nuts, but aside from that, I refuse to leave the house, thus its not too bad. Well, its not too bad if Rylee would leave poor Charlotte alone! Rylee is a dreadful bully and I think Charlotte would be perfectly happy all day, but Rylee's new mission in life is to torment her. Rylee takes her toys, shoves her down, and pushes her. I have to watch her all the time!! This makes it difficult to do anything productive.

However, it also gives me a decent excuse as to why the house is a mess, despite the fact that I have spent every unaccounted for minute sweeping and picking up stuff. Other benefits to having Andy and Kera visit and leave behind some children are:

1. Andy installed our Wifi and we can now stream Netflix to our tv! Hooray! That alone would have made it worth it!

2. Andy also changed out our awful, ancient thermostat and put in a lovely digital one. Now I can set the heater and know what the temperature will actually be. I am quite giddy about this.

3. Joshua is learning that having a brother may not be all its cracked up to be.

4. Andy's kids go right to bed and take great naps. I have had 4 children down and quiet the last 2 afternoons and its my favorite time of day!

5. They are awfully cute kids.

6. My mom called from the Nairobi market to ask what I wanted them to bring back for me. (I do have a few things I wish I had gotten more of when I was there.)

7. I'm hiding in my house and therefore I am not spending money at Walmart. This is a good thing.

8. Getting hugs and kisses form Matthew and Emma somehow makes me feel more special than when I get them from my kids.

9. It is a lot of fun to look at our kids and try to figure out what traits might be genetic and from whom.

10. When they leave, the house will be so quiet, I won't know what to do!

And how fun are they really?

We had a gorgeous day and played outside after school. Charlotte had fun eating all the snacks on the table.

Rylee got in trouble for stealing Charlotte's snacks.

The neighbor kids came over and we busted out the sidewalk chalk.

After a few sample nibbles, Rylee decided it worked better on her sister's picture of a trampoline.

And Matthew got to ride a bike. He thought it was the greatest thing ever and he sure thought he was hot stuff. I love Delaney there behind him. She looks like she is having so much fun too.

And lastly, this one is very quiet. She kind of does her own thing and flies under the radar. She's very self sufficient and doesn't want help. I hope she doesn't get comfortable enough here to be the pill I have heard she can be! So far we are getting along nicely, and hope that continues.