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.

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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!!!