Stir crazy...

We were going stir crazy on day 6 of snowstorm 2008.....so I decided to see how the van would handle on the roads but not before calling my friends who have experience in this. They thought I would be okay ....and we were. We even slid around a little and I handled it just fine. I am telling you I could do this....I could live like this. It's the sideways rain that I hate.....and that is coming later this weekend. I am preparing by getting all the essentials: airbed blown up, flashlights, firewood, and food that is easily prepared by stove. I told someone today I feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder at times living here :)
We have been having fun playing in the snow. Not a snow shovel or snow sled to be found anywhere but LM seems content throwing snowballs at the dogs, shoveling snow and playing w/ Mater in the snow. I have been taking so many pictures my camera may explode but having fun doing it.
Tonight LM said as I kissed him goodnight: "mommy, did you smell me when you kissed me nite nite?" Yes, baby I did because I love that sweet baby smell. He still smells likea little one and I love it because I know one day he will just be a stinky boy--but my stinky boy :)

More snow....

We STILL have snow everywhere. The sun has been out and it's been beautiful. I have never seen weather like this. This is unusual for Whidbey I hear.....but man it's beautiful. I could live in this. It snows, it sticks, the sun comes out but doesn't melt it all. I could do it!! Now, mind you I am a total idiot when it comes to walking on ice and would end up breaking my neck but I love this weather right now. I have fallen in love with this little island in the past few days (no worries people--this too shall pass) ....but it's honestly been the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long time. And watching my little man play and have fun in it makes my heart melt each day. I just love to watch him so happy with that little grin. He doesn't want to take his rain boots off (aka snow boots to us now)......thanks Aunt A for those :) And thanks to L for my "snow boots". I don't think these pictures will do it justice but here's what it has been like the last few days.

And BTW: Is it really an "estate sale" if it's in a mobile home park? Just a random question--not being mean but maybe I don't know what an estate sale is.....

More pictures

Sledding w/ his buddy......family picture.....BT in the field behind the house (before he took off after another dog with me screaming running in boots behind him--please

note it's not easy to run in the snow in mud/rain boots :)

Squirrelllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just kidding--there is no squirrel. I just felt like saying that after seeing Christmas Vacation... ha ha. So today we had an absolute blast in the snow. I am no snow expert but would venture to say we had at least 3 inches today and maybe even more. LM had a blast in it....Mommy had a blast and the dogs were absolutely nuts!! They love the snow and went crazy and were pooped out the rest of the day. Although BT took off like a crazy man after another dog he did well and came right back. G liked it and tried to pick some up off the ground from her Bumbo. We threw snowballs at the dogs , each other and attempted snow angels. LM kept eating snow but I reminded him not to eat the yellow snow ;)

One of our sweet friends came over and her husband took LM for MANY rides on their sled with his friend. They went up and down hills and it was so much fun to watch.

We also went to the kids Christmas party at the Wing yesterday and they did a fantastic job. LM was able to get daddy's airplane and sit in the pilot seat, nav seat and Santa even flew in on an airplane....it was awesome for him and he was able to tell daddy all about it today by phone. He also was very excited to share with daddy that he saw the kitchen in the airplane. ....trust me , it's not that exciting but he thought so :) Miss G just started scooting backward on her belly tonight. Not sure what that means but she is trying to move a little, just the wrong way ;)

What has happened?

A few months ago I was complaining my son didn't want to be near me, say I love you, kiss me, hug me...nada! Now, he is loving all over me. He comes up and says I love you very much and throws his arms around me (sometimes this turns into a strangling hold but that's okay). What happened ? I am not complaining because it's the sweetest most wonderful thing when he hugs me...oh I hope he keeps it up although I know there will be times he won't--like when he is a teenager. Ughh don't even want to think of it yet.
Miss G is sitting up a little on her own but mainly propping herself up and is a lazy roller. Only rolls when she wants something. She is just fine chilling out or then fusses for me to roll her back over unless she spies something she wants, something shiny , musical or new....so I put those things just out of her reach and make her work for them. So mean , I know. She just keeps getting cuter and smiles most of the time and has finally taken to a napping schedule.
We are just staying busy with friends, parties and Christmas activities....it's not the same without Daddy but we are trying to make it as fun as possible since this will likely be the first Christmas LM remembers. We also got some news recently that we are headed to VA this summer sometime. I am looking forward to it but nto looking forward to returning to bugs and humidity....yuck. We are however looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. I have loved the lack of bugs here in the northwest.....but am ready for a change. It will be so nice to be closer to home, get LM settled into a preschool and find a routine. I love that part of moving...learning about all my new surroundings, getting it all figured out--it's like a big puzzle each time we move and I love fitting all the pieces together and making that happen. This will be the first time Daddy has been here to pack out and get it all ready with us. Boy is he in for a treat...ha!!

Santa ......third round

If you recall and have read this blog for a while last year's Santa visit didn't go so well. There was complete "waling" as we call it and a frantic splotchy faced kid who was hysterical. The kid wants a Mac truck to haul Lightning around in so badly that he faced his fears and sat on Santa's lap this year. He asked me to hold his hand on the way up there and shyly climbed up on his lap and said I would like a Mac truck please....a red one. Then he sat with sister to get his picture taken and did such a great job. Miss G on the other hand was not scared at all and pulled his beard and was so interested and curious. All in all it was a good day and am so proud of him for facing his fears and doing it even though the poor little guy was so apprehensive.....what a big boy.

AND........when I got Miss G from the nursery today at my church tea she turned around , saw me and reached out to me with open arms...first time she has done that. I almost cried right there b/c that was the first time......ah.....so exciting.

Christmas Tree

I told you it was too tall....

Oh, where do I start? We went to get a tree at the tree farm.....we took one of our sitters with us to help wrangle LM. There was hot cider, rows and rows of trees, a sled, a fake reindeer, a talking Christmas tree and more. We were all decked out in our rain boots (thanks L and Nanna) for the mud and G in her bunting suit.

Having flashbacks of last year and daddy heaving a huge tree into the house that touched the top of our cathedral ceilings ran through my head(refer to Dec 07 entries)... I vowed not to get a huge tree this year. I looked at many, many trees. I asked LM which one he wanted.....he picked one about his height....a Charlie Brown if you will. I SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH HIS TREE!! I picked one of the "small" trees comparatively speaking. Up against the others it looked short , skinny and just right. Well, it's still almost 7' tall and a pain to get lights up on.....not enough ornaments to decorate it so the back is bare up against the wall. I had to get the sweet young man at the tree farm to tie it on top. We got home ....it was dark since it gets dark here at 4pm and I cut the rope and watched it roll off of the top of the Tahoe onto the ground with a big thud.....but not before it nailed me in the pelvis. That is one nasty bruise on my leg/ hip area. So I drag the thing in to the door and realize that is as far as I am going without help.

Thanks to my neighbor (and you know how much I hate to ask for help) we got it in and up in the stand in no time....cut thenetting off and unveiled the Griswold tree once again this year. But when I saw LM beam when the lights were on and say "Mommy, I like that big tree we got" it was all worth it. Now hopefully paw paw can help me get the thing out--ha!

We put ornaments on tonight and I thought LM was putting them on the tree--hanging them, right? Not really ....on his side he was just placing them on branches and they kept falling out and he got frustrated. So after about 10 minutes he gave up and went back to pulling his loads on his trains. All told it's a nice tree and am proud it's up and decorated.......but wish Daddy was here to enjoy it with us...I think he would find this one just right this year :)

On a different note --last night while I put on the lights I heard Miss G laughing and saying "uhnnn".....when I turne dto see what for I noticed her brother pegging her in the head with a bouncy ball. He then turned to her and said quite sarcastically and in this high pitch "sorry" without meaning it one bit. Oh, the days that lie ahead are sure to keep me on my toes.

Jesus picture

LM: Mommy, I can use these stickers to make a picture.....right? (after already using several)
Mommy: (looks up stunned to find he has used our Christmas stamps to make a nice picture on a piece of paper--)
Now we have a Jesus and Mary picture of just "stickers"......next time I will put the "stickers" a little higher on the counter :)

Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful !!! Thankful for all the blessings in my life.......for how He has touched my life and lead me this past year. I have discovered so many new things and gained new understandings. I am thankful for my beautiful children, a supportive family and wonderful friends who help sustain me. I am thankful for my wonderful husband who continues to sacrifice his time for his country and am so very proud of him. I am thankful for my doggies who make me laugh almost as much as they make me angry ;) So very grateful for new friendships and keeping the old ones. I am thankful for living here with the freedoms we have and thankful for all those who have sacrificed in order to keep it free. I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you may go and be a blessing to others.

Sweet baby boy

Tonight I heard Miss G talking and fussing in her room after a nap....LM loves to go and open her door and turn on her light. So he did this evening.....and as I cleaned up he decided to go ahead and take care of her. Suddenly I didn't hear a thing--all was quiet--which is never good!!
So I round the corner and he has closed her door--uh oh! I then realize he is in there reading to her next to her bed. I walk in and he says "I am reading to Miss G Mommy". She was so happy and content I hadn't heard a peep out of her--what a sweet moment!
On a different note: LM had a few good nights in the big boy bed......then there was last night.
I hear "Help me" ....go in and see him and he has somehow gotten his head stuck under the bed between the bed and pillow I had on the floor in case of a fall...poor little guy got stuck. It was awful--hopefully he will get better at this big boy bed thing.

Big Boy Bed

I had been waiting for Christmas and our visitors to help with this transition but we went ahead and did it. I got a wild hair and decided to take the rail off the crib and put the toddler rails on it. LM was so excited as he watched this work in progress and pieces of the crib everywhere. We got it all ready with a new sheet and all for a nap. He was so excited he was jumping up and down and kept running to his bed and saying "nite nite Mommy". I was thrilled he was so excited......so here we were and naptime was over. Would he come get me? Would he play with his toys? No, he just laid there in his bed like he did when the rail was up. Now, I was really thrilled. What a good boy!! Then I went in and he said "I didn't fall out". No, he didn't ......and he didn't that night either, and he did great the following day and night and THEN, we had last night. Started great and when I went to check on him before I went to bed I went in to find him kneeling on the pillows I had placed there on the floor in case he fell out.....thought he was awake but no, he was in a prayer position with his head on the mattress and body on the pillow. We moved him back to the bed. At 3 am I am awakened to him moaning--"Help me.....help me"
I go in to find not only has he slithered out of bed onto the floor but moved a pillow about 4 feet from the bed and made a little bed on the floor. His Help me plea was for me to get him his blanket and bring it to the floor. WHAT? No way, so we moved him back to his bed and he stayed there until 7 am this morning. We'll see what tonight brings.
Another first we had this weekend was a first movie. I took him to his first movie on the big screen while Miss G stayed with some friends. He did GREAT!! Loved the movie and sat by himself in th eseat the whole time as we shared popcorn and even got a souvenir cup from the movie ( of which he poked his finger in the straw hole and got it caught and came to me with the cup and said "help please")
Miss G is saying "mammamamamam" but only when she is mad ....which is how LM started with his first sounds / words. Will they ever say Mama when they are happy?????

I need help....

So the LM has been absolutely hilarious. In the last twenty four hours he has managed to fall headfirst into his stool while trying to see himself poop...oh yeah, that happened. That was the first "I need help"...which ended in my run to the commissary to get a plunger b/c not only did he try and watch himself, while he sat in there with Elmo he proceeded to put gobs of tp down the toilet. Next, he looked in the viewmaster at Chicken Little--when he was tired of that he came to me and said "mommy I want to watch Chicken Little"....Well, buddy that isn't a dvd. LM: Mommy put it in the tv!! --Mommy put it in the TV!!!!--Luckily that request died when he began to run in circles and said "sometimes I like to run very fast and fall down". And no I didn'g give him a lot of sugar. The second "I need help" came after this:
LM: Mommy where is my stool
M: It's in the kitchen baby where we were making bread
LM: (runs off quickly to retrieve said stool) Okay
About a minute passes and I hear a faint "I need help" .....louder now....."I need help!!!"
I walk into his room to find him dangling , swinging if you will on his shelf where he had placed the stool under it in order to climb onto a box in his closet inorder to reach a box of trains that apparently I did not hide well enough and he saw just a hint of Thomas blue box. I tell you this boy is killing me.....but in a good way. He has had me laughing so much lately and after my rant about him not saying love you .....he came up to me yesterday and hugged my neck unprompted and said "I love you so much Mommy". Yeah, I melted right then and there......that little guy stole my heart a long time ago ;)

Daddy helped me up......

As I put LM to bed tonight after prayers he said :
Daddy helped me up....... I said when , baby? .......LM: when I fall down daddy help me up, he pick me up!
So sweet how he views daddy and the stuff he remembers about him. He sees him as a protector, his helper and someone who loves him unconditionally. So amazing that kids already pick up on that.
In other Sunday events.....as we drove to church on what was an already difficult morning with puking (miss G) , bathroom issues (LM) , and smoothie issues (mommy) ....we drove along at a cool 35 mph and the only bird in the sky --a seagull -- tattooed the van. Scared me to death, LM said "that bird pooed on the car". So for the rest of the day he said mommy sometimes birds poo on the car. It was hilarious, even though the car is filthy now it was still hilarious. At that point I was tempted to turn around and go home, was this a sign on an already difficult morning? No, I kept going and we made it to church and boy was I glad I did. I got a lot from themessage today and even shed a tear.....glad for all I have been blessed with and for the comfort of prayer and safety for daddy as these months go by. Going by quickly though as we are more than halfway through. I better get my rear in gear and get the rest of this baby weight off. We had a deal and I gotta get going.....almost there :)

Rolling.......

Miss G is rolling all over the place like a little roly poly. She keeps startling herself with it too and that is the best face --so cute. And she is now drinking from a sippy cup...holding it with her own hands and so pleased with this devilish grin on her face. She loves it but likes to reach for my glass of water even more and grunts when she doesn't get it..and on more than one occasion as we eat dinner (G in the bumbo next to us) she has grabbed the candlestand on the table even though I put it far away .....and thrown the candle across the dining room. She just has a smile that lights up a room with those two front teeth coming in. Man, she is cute!
And LM--he has been on a roll lately. He just loves to read to Mommy and Miss G and tells her who all the people are in our pictures so she can get to know everyone. It's so cute. He handed her the daddy picture the other day and said G, this is daddy! Yeah, the tears were flowing :)
Anyway, we are enjoying some beautiful days (along with a few bad ones too) up here in the NW but we were able to get out and play today with the dogs and cut grass! No other big news really!

I love you

As I put LM down tonight as I do every night we say prayers, with Mommy and our Daddy frame that talks. And we hug and kiss night night. I say sleep tight, sweet dreams, I love you , etc. I must say at least those three things or he won't let me leave the room. He used to say I love you back. This is what tonight sounded like:
M: Night night, sweet dreams, sleep tight, love you LM
LM: sweet dreams, sleept tight
M: love you LM
LM: sweet dreams
M: ( a little more emphatically) LOVE YOU LM
LM: I heared you mommy ( and yes I did say heared b/c that is how he says it)
My day has passed....already?? Really? I thought it wouldn't be until he was at least 18--that's okay I am going to make a momma's boy out of this one yet ;) But really it's sad that he doesn't even say it anymore. It's forced now --how do boy sknow this stuff already?? I bet Miss G will start saying it and never stop. Boys just know they aren't supposed to be too mushy.

I am outing myself again....

I figured while I was on a roll I may as well out myself on this topic too. I am growing fond of WA.....okay my Spain friends I know you can't possibly understand. I have finally come to terms with this place and we have an understanding. That first year really was the worst I have seen and the last few years haven't been nearly as bad. I didn't believe the locals when they said it was the worst they had seen in years. Now I do believe them. God and my husband I am sure were sick of me complaining. God has put me in a place where I can finally accept and appreciate my surroundings. I am not sure if that is it or it was so bad my standard of good has lowered ;) I used to think our sister squadron members were crazy when they didn't want to leave here and now I get that you have to stay longer than 2 years to get it. Am I dying to come back here? Not a chance, but I have learned to make the best of it and learned a lot about myself in the process. It certainly helps that we have had massive amounts of sunshine for this late in the year too. And I also think this place is very endearing to me b/c my beautiful babies were born here so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Am I ready for a change? As Sarah would say "you betcha".

I finally have to admit it.....

What I am about to say may cost me my marriage, it is the travesty of all travesties, the most unthinkable of unthinkables, and in my family I may as well just go ahead and write myself off.
I'll start with dear AU friends please know that I love the loveliest village on the plains. It's the most beautiful place I have seen on a fall day with that orange and blue sky. I am an Auburn fan and I love the school. I love the football even when they aren't doing well. I stand behind my team even when times are tough and am proud to support them......but what you may not know about me is ..................I love Alabama football too. Okay, for those of you who are still reading this and haven't fainted or decided to write me off (including my husband) I have always loved AL football. As a little girl I grew up rooting for the Tide. I have fond memories of sitting in my paw paw's living room decked out in AL stuff from wall to wall and watching the game on Saturdays or watching with my Dad and I never remember my family saying bad things about Auburn. We just weren't that family that was always dogging the other team...don't get me wrong there is and always will be arivalry but it wasn't that deep down disdain. Now, for those of you dear AU fans and friends I know it's killing you as you shake your head and say how is this possible? You JUST CAN'T like both --you can't LOVE both. Well, you can and I do.......when they play each other what do I do? I cheer them both on and hope they both have a great game with no injuries. As an AU student I loved seeing them win and Toomer's being littered with tp all over.
I have been stifling my true passion for AL football all these years to keep the peace in my house. ANd one thing you may not know about my dear die hard husband is he too was once an AL fan ( when he was young and silly according to him) Either way I will wear my Auburn shirts proudly as an alumni. I will share with my son the passion for both , after all they are both from the state of AL and at this point we are rooting for anyone from the state we have been gone so long. When you are all the way up in WA you start to root for any team from AL!!! I want him to decide on his own who he likes without bad mouthing the other team....but today we were AL fans rooting for a win over LSU. With our red and white shakers we sat and watched and waited and cheered. And there it was......the arms raised for a TD.....everyone went wild and I was so glad to see Saban beat Les Myles. And my little man said......"yeah, Roll Tide mommy.....Auburn won" Dear boy--so sweet :) Yes, they did win today too :)
All of this said at the risk of losing dear friends and possibly my husband.....but I knew today that deep down I still have that love for AL too because of how I felt when they won. I was so excited I couldn't breathe, I jumped up and down and twirled my boy around and nearly came to tears. They may lose next week to FL but I will still be rooting them on just like I do Auburn too each week. Now that I have outed myself I hope some of you still talk to me.

At the request....

of my dear husband I will stop talking politics and "start posting more pictures of the kids" :)
Here are the latest of our little bubbies.

I am over it....

.....maybe. Still quite disappointed but I am definitely hopeful that through prayer and unity we as Americans can make a difference and shout out to what we think is wrong. And hopefully our president -elect will hear us. I still and will continue to pray for him and our leaders as they make decisions that affect us. I do now realize that no matter who the dem candidate was they would have won. People were ready for a change and I understand that , much in the way people were ready for a change when Clinton left the oval office. After 8 years of questionable moral character people were ready for a change. Do I still believe in Bush and all he has done....mostly yes. I am still a firm believer in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and taking it to them there rather than waiting on it to come here. I think we should see it through and if we don't we will have to deal with those consequences. I think history will tell what Bush set in motion and the things he did do that were positive. But for now we all wait to see what the next move will be...the ball is in his court. As for the media and its liberal bias I don't want to hear one word of negativity about Barack --he was your golden boy and no matter what he does they better stand behind him b/c the first negative thing I hear I may kick my tv in. ;)

waiting.....

I have been waiting for this to all be over before I blogged about it. I don't know where to begin. What a tenacious man John McCain is and I don't care what people think I love Sarah Palin. Thrust into the spotlight she never strayed from her conservative views, many of the same views I share no matter how un PC it was.
I can remember when Clinton was elected...I remember the fear of the unknown and in comparison I think his years will look like glory days compared to what we will experience soon. As a parent I share that same fear. My morals and the morals this country was founded on are now in jeopardy. The next four years will take the next twenty to fix. I would like to say I have faith in the people of this country but most of that has been shattered today. Where did people not see that a man who has the same associations as our president elect couldn't even qualify to be an FBI agent but is capable to run this country. So now , I pray---for our country , for our safety, for our morals and values not to decline even further. Maybe it's because I am a military wife and as much as I hate it the fight has to be fought away from our home. I fear for my children, for my husband. It won't be long until we are facing another 9/11 type situation at home and what will this man do......let's hope he will stand and fight for this country that he so adamantly says he loves. Radicals, terrorists , and our enemies around the world are rejoicing because they know where this guy stands....mark my words the fear will be back just like we felt on 9/11 and then the same people will want a president who will take a stand. I only pray that he will--I pray for wisdom and guidance for our country and its leaders. Many may be offended by what I put on here today and in all honesty I don't care. I have held my own tongue far too long so as not to be offensive in this liberal state I live in....no longer. I see a hard road ahead for my children as they go to school and are told they can't talk about their faith or their beliefs but any other person with any other religion is granted special privileges so as not to offend them. All of this said, I may have lost a lot of faith in the American people tonight but I still have my faith in God. He has put all of this in motion for a reason....He is the provider and He will give us strength and guidance. I just pray for our military men and women out there because an even bigger target was just put on them to be the test...I pray for their families as well. I may just be a housewife but I will fight for what is right and what I believe in and to be able to express that. So today I put my faith in our creator that He has a plan for all of this and I seek peace in that.

Pupcakes

LM and I made some "pupcakes" with green frosting this weekend. I thought it was adorable that he kept calling them pupcakes....and for lunch we made "piece of dillas" or quesadillas. He has been so hilarious lately. He just lights up my day with that smile. And Miss G too! She is so precious, such a happy girl...except when she is hungry. Watch out when she wants food.
I have been thinking a lot lately on this first week of November. Can you believe that it's Nov. already? This time last year I was battling morning sickness and chasing LM around and just returning from a trip to AL. I can't believe it's also been six months since daddy left. I can remember when we first got the news that we were going to have to deal with this IA. It was so devastating to get that news that he would be gone for a year. It didn't help that I was hormonal and pregnant. I just remember the anger and disbelief of it all. I look back now and realize it's just a range of emotions I had to go through and realize it's pretty normal looking at other IA wives. I went through the sadness and loneliness ( and still there ) and now am in survival mode. This experience was/is such a learning experience. I am learning so much about myself. There are days when I want to curl up in a ball and cry b/c I would love some help and I feel so lonely even though I am surrounded by great friends. But there are many more days where I feel like I am thriving, learning and surviving. It's small potatoes compared to what some people go through but at the time I thought how will I do this. The family rallied around and helped when Miss G came and that was such a blessing and I don't think I could have made it through those first few months without all the help. It's been so great to learn just how tough I am, how much I can do that I never thought I could. I really did think I was going to run for the hills or at least AL screaming. And here I am halfway through this year and still in one piece, looking back and thinking it hasn't been as hard as I thought......do I ever want to do it again? NO, not on your life but as a military wife you can bet your bottom I will have to do it at least several more times. But now I know I can and it's not so overwhelming...well, maybe it is but I have learned that I am tougher than I thought, coffee is Great except when you try to get off of it, sleep isn't necessary to function (to function rationally maybe)..... I'm pretty sure all the praying has helped too :)

Happy Halloween.......

Here's a few pics of the little munchkins in their Halloween outfits the last few years....to compare LM and G in the same costume....

First injury.....Miss G

Scenario: At the Commissary today around 11:30 am .....surrounded by retirees (yall know what I am talking about) trying to edge me away from the yogurt to get a better view of the activia.....
LM: Achoo, (with a cold--mind you I don't normally take my sick kids to the commissary but we needed stuff and I won't ask a sitter to come and expose herself to my sick kid) ......but he covers his mouth like he is supposed to and a bunch of snot comes out in his hand.
Mommy: scrambling with the ever so important french vanilla creamer in my hand (much needed for the ever so important coffe I have now started drinking since becoming a mother of two--absolute necessities people)....I am reaching for a tissue at the same time I drop the creamer into what I thought was the basket part. ........ IT WASN'T! It was my daughter's forehead. How great am I? The french vanilla cuts her head on the plastic and leaves a bump the size of a kiwi .....
Miss G: begins waling hysterically
LM: tells me "you hurt G mommy" and begins waling while snot is still in his hand and face.
Mommy: drops my purse all ove rthe floor looking for a tissue and sanitizer to wipe all down with....and I start laughing hysterically. HYSTERICALLY! (at this point all of the retirees begin to wonder if they are witnessing a breakdown, a crazy woman or will they ever get me and my waling kids out of the way to get to the activia)
So that was the low point or the high point depending on how you look at it. Miss G is fine and I feel really bad that her first real battle scar came from my coffee creamer. I guess I should start taking it black.

Monkeying around.......

We attended our Halloween party this weekend on base and LM was a Monkey and Miss G was a frog.....a hand me down from her brother. We are utilizing the costumes as many times as she will let me until she begins to have an opinion. Judging from her attitude when I feed her it won't be long. She may be a little independent ! Wonder where she gets it ;)

Anyway, LM partied with his buddies and had a good time collecting goodies in his pumpkin. He went through the Haunted House and said "wow, mommy it's dark in there ". It was fun and I enjoyed seeing him run around but I had to dangle a cookie in front of him to get him to leave.

Lately he has been so hilarious. A couple of times he has hit his sister on accident and as soon as she starts crying he starts waling just like her which in turn causes her to stop and look at him as it to say "what's your problem, I am the one who got hit". But at least he cares that he hit her and always apologizes.

The poor dogs have been taking a beating lately. He is fascinated with them and chases them all over, lays on them , checks their teeth and ears just like mommy and wants to help me let them in and out. He has become quite clever at teasing them with food and I have been cleaning up lots of drool. We are working on that and how it's not nice to tease--so far it's funny b/c they chase him and try and get what he is offering and he doesn't see it as not nice. Anyway, enjoy the pics of my little mono y rana.

how is it possible???

like i just said to a friend in an email --how is it possible that Bono is still hot after all these years? ???? Or has J. been gone too long?? Nah, always thought he was cute--love ya babe ;)
Went to breakfast/coffee with a friend here today and asked for a to go coffee cup(J. you'll love this)---pardon me but doesn't starbucks do this all the time?? I recycle, I buy organic, I do my part as best I can--I have even broken down and am using those reusable bags at the grocery store except when I need bags for dog "stuff" we'll call it. As we asked for these cups the waitress made a comment about it filling a landfill or some nonsense.......seriously? Can't I recycle it? If I can't recycle it then why are you using it to serve coffee..... Now I may not just out of spite. Don't judge me, lady! And attached was a seed pod to be planted.... Okay that is my rant about the northwest hippies for today.

backyard shots

upside down LM













Miss G post sneeze














Beau drinking water
















LM picked me a flower





















LM in the sunshine

Can you believe this??

Those of you who have lived here will not believe that it's this late in October and the weather is this beautiful. Beautiful enough for me to be rolling around in the green grass with my son outside in the afternoon. God is really providing us with some great weather here in the PNW lately. He is providing in so many other ways it's too many to count as well but we are enjoying this little blessing as we push on toward winter. I know, dear Spain friends you don't believe me but these pictures have been altered in no way ;) , it's the real deal. We are especially grateful for enjoying this beautiful view on these wonderful sunny days as we are still watching sailboats and seaplanes come in and out. I was able to take some great pictures of the kids today in the evening and we had fun playing with the dogs outside and came back in to a picnic in the living room (aka : mommy didn't want to cook so we ate sandwiches and fruit on a blanket in the living room). The pics are random shots--first one of LM in the backyard today in this sunny weather......I'll post a better one later. My random pumpkin shot by the front table, three big dogs all trying to fit on one bed even though we have three beds, profile of mommy and Miss G, LM with his pumpkin top when we carved it--BT tried to eat it ;)

I'm not understanding you.....

So I sometimes have a hard time understanding the words LM is saying. Not unusual for a two year old but he is VERY articulate and I have always understood about 95%of what he says. However, when I don't understand him I ask him to repeat it and if I really don't get it I say "I am sorry buddy, I am not understanding you". Right ? That's a normal response. So , in the last few days he has had a new response when I ask him to do something. For example: LM will you please pick up your trains?

LM : " say it again please"

Mommy: I repeat the phrase

LM: (very serious )--"Mommy, I am not understanding you"

How clever is that? Just to get out of doing something he is pulling one of my lines. What a stinker!

He also spied some trains that Mimi and Paw paw sent that Mommy was rationing out for good behavior. They were high up on a shelf in his closet. Unfortunately I didn't hide them very well and when he saw them he decided to get his stool and go after them climbinb up to the shelf. This is a kid who is scared of some slides so I thought it funny that he was so motivated by some trains that he climbed up like a monkey on the shelf to try and reach them. Again, just so cute he is killing me :)

Sunday at church he absolutely REFUSED to go to Sunday School. Full on pulling on the door not to go in-=hanging on the door frame screaming. So fine, got Miss G into the nursery and took him to church with me. He was fascinated........for about 10 minutes and began wiggling in my lap, talking , etc. Finally , he looked up at me and whispered "Mommy, I would like to go to my church now". Being the mean mommy I am I made him sit with me the entire time as he wiggled and rolled around on me while he was bored to death in order to teach him that he couldn't go back and forth. Pick one, stay there. We'll see if my sinister plan worked next Sunday.

In other household news Miss G is bouncing away in the exersaucer now and enjoying it with that big gummy grin.........Speaking of that big gummy grin it will be no longer. She has her first tooth coming in on the bottom peeking through. It is almost exactly two years to the day that LM got his first tooth. I am excited but sad b/c I LOVE that gummy grin. She is so precsious and just smiles most of the time. I am enjoying watching her grow and kick and play. She is learning new expressions and talking more and more everyday. I hate daddy is missing so much but we are making many new videos for him to see. Such sweet babies. But speaking of Daddy we are so proud of him and his service--he is doing a great job on his IA and we are just so very proud of him and of all of those serving our country. We are about halfway there in the IA and now down into the countdown ......who am I kidding we have been in countdown since he left ;)

It's the most wonderful time of the year......

Okay, so that is normally Christmas but I love fall. The crisp air, the sun warming you up as you step out--wait that's all year round here in WA. We went to a farm tour last weekend, did I mention that? Not sure if I did. We saw alpacas , horses , etc. This weekend we went to a pumpkin patch and participated in hayrides, barrel rides, donkey petting, milkshake drinking (oh wait , that was mommy) , and pumpkin picking..l. not to mention H and I almost peed our pants laughing so hard at the ballon bounce house and how in the world to get our children out without letting all the balloons out. Don't ask , it's complicated :) LM had a blast with his friends and even found Annie the lab again this year...he was much more fascinated with her, the pigs and the donkey Rosita than anything else. It was the most gloriously beautiful day we could have ever asked for. Bright sunshine all day and it wasn't as cold as predicted so we had to take a few layers off since I had LM and Miss G dressed as if it were Antarctica. I can't help it I am from the south. Anyway, fun time was had by all and here are the pictures to prove it. :)