Merry Christmas!

At our house anyway! We decided to do Christmas a day early since we'll be traveling most of the day tomorrow. We read the Christmas story and then opened gifts. Of all the things the boys got to open, they like their flashlights the best. Gator told us that he can help Daddy look for ticks now. Ahhh, the joy of the season (when will the ticks die?). Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you Jesus for coming to save us!

And the winner is...

Aren't they cute?! The crying picture was the first one that we took, and this one was the next to last one we took. Glad we got a cute one, you just can't see how pretty their eyes are. Maybe next year we'll have more luck.

In other news, Gator got to go to school today! I know that he's missed it (we've all been sick). Hopefully, Bull will be able to attend on Thursday. I am glad that they are well enough to go back to school. I'm praying that 2008 will be a healthier year for all of us!

Warning: more serious than normal...

I hope that this rings true with someone out there! I know that I can't be alone in my struggle to balance all the "stuff " in my life. Let's be encouraged! We can do what needs to be done and have a vibrant wonderful relationship with our Lord, our spouses and our kids. That's what matters anyway!

Part of a recent journal entry:

Hello. My name is Christie. It's been 7 days since my last quiet time...

Somedays I am horribly apathetic about my life. My goals are getting the house clean, the laundry done and dinner on the table. IT SHOULD NOT BE SO! I have one of the most precious and meaningful jobs on the planet - raising the next generation of Christ-followers. And yet I reduce it to laundry, cooking and cleaning. The trick is that to raise a Christ-follower, I have to BE a Christ-follower. But I am a Christ-forsaker in many senses.

I forsake Him so I can:
-empty the dishwasher or fold that last load of clothes.
-write my never-ending to-do list for tomorrow.
-have the company of electronic media and celebrities I can't relate to.

I forsake Him when:
-I yell at my kids instead of being gentle with my words and kind with my actions.
-I rely on my Psychology degree or a parenting book instead of His Word and counsel.
-I try to do it on my own without His strength.
-I ignore, badger or complain to my husband instead of respecting him with my time and attention or encouraging him with a word fitly spoken. (Please don't let him go to the corner of our roof! ::smiling::)
-I turn off the alarm clock that beckons me out of bed and instead roll over and go back to sleep.

When will I figure out that if I put Him first all other things will pale in comparison, yet shine so much brighter because of time spent with the lover of my soul?

Forgive me for forsaking and neglecting You, for being too busy "serving" and not loving and knowing You. You are the only way I will have the abundant life and not just the accomplished-I've-checked-everything-off-my-list life. Help me to prioritize and focus my attention on what matters!

This is us...

...trying to get a Christmas card picture:









We finally got a great one. I'll post it later!

Go Gators!

Congratulations to the young Tim Tebow, 2007 Heisman Trophy winner! And the first sophomore to ever do so. He follows in the footsteps of other Gators Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerrfel. It's great to be a Florida Gator!

Christmas trees!

We broke down and bought a fake tree this year, even though it goes against all I believe. We have only one place in our living room that we can put a tree. And because of the armoire being bolted to the wall (safety first!), we can't move it over to make room. So, we got a fake tree. The boys have a tree in their room for the first time too. Gator had a wonderful time helping us decorate the tree. Bull wasn't interested.

Behold, Ratzilla!

This beast was living in our backyard and eating from our bird feeder. We set traps for him and he is no longer with us. For those of you who don't know, I have an issue with rodents. We had them in Tennessee (little field mice) inside our house. I am still creeped out by them. This rat could have eaten five of the little ones we had in TN. See this blog for a few laughs.

Support our troops!

Here's how (these are things that people have done for me that were very helpful and ideas I have heard over the years):

1. First and foremost, pray for these families. There is nothing more powerful than prayer. Be diligent to pray for the marriages (where appropriate) and the children in these situations.

2. Offer to do something specific: you'll take the kids on Friday morning for 3 hours; you'll be there at 9am on Saturday to do the lawn.

3. Invite them to dinner (their kids too!), especially on Sunday. Sunday afternoon was the loneliest time of all for me, and it was wonderful when I got to spend it with friends.

4. Show up at their door with their favorite drink from their favorite place and just visit for a little while. The adult conversation is priceless!

5. Make an emergency meal (casseroles are great) with cooking directions, for them to store in the freezer. There are so many times that I have been guilty of making frozen pizza one night, fish sticks the next night, cereal the third night, and sandwiches the fourth night for dinner. Yikes!

6. Send a card or email of encouragement. It never fails that those notes always come at just the right time and say just the right thing to strengthen the resolve of the receiver. I can't tell you how many times I have had the worst possible day, go check the mail and walk back with tears in my eyes because of God's timing.

7. Be understanding! The kids' behavior may have changed. The person might be more frazzled and forgetful than normal. Extend an extra measure of grace when given the opportunity.

8. Spend time with the kids. This is especially important when Daddy is absent or deployed and the kids are boys. I have seen this time and again with my own boys. Wrestling just isn't the same with Mommy. Also, if there is a special event coming up (Father-Son camp out, Mother-Daughter tea, Father-Daughter dance), adopt the kid as one of yours and take him or her to the event.

9. Adopt a chaplain or send a care package. There are tons of websites related to this. Here are two: http://www.anysoldier.com/, or http://www.adopt-a-chaplain.org/.

There are so many other things that you can do to support our soldiers and their families. These are just a few examples. Even if you can't do anything else, please do #1!

Whew!

What a week! The ticks are gone. Last weekend we went to Georgia to help Hubs' grandfather move in with Hubs' parents after the death of his wife. The exterminator had to come and re-treat our room. Then we had Gator's Thanksgiving Party at school. They had a little program at the beginning. They dressed up as Indians and sang a few, very cute songs. Then we headed to the smorgasbord of food in the Fellowship Hall. We Baptists aren't great at everything, but we can cook the most delicious food. And the desserts? As Hubs would say, "It was so good it'd make ya' wanna' slap your grandma!" Bull had two appointments Thursday afternoon. The first was with a speech pathologist to do his evaluation. She thinks that he just needs articulation therapy (which is what we expected). Then we went to the Audiologist only to find out that because of an ear infection that showed up Thursday morning, we have to reschedule. That's ok. We'll do it as soon as we get home from Thanksgiving travels. Friday morning, Bull and I went to the doctor. He's on Omnicef (oral antibiotics) and Ciprodex (ear drops) for his ear infection, Mucinex for the congestion and cough, and Albuterol (inhaler) for the wheezing. I am on Mucinex for my congestion and cough (which Bull gave to me). The boys and myself stayed home from Church this morning. We decided to keep our cooties to ourselves. Now we are packing for our Tour De Southeast that starts tomorrow. We'll be going to visit Hubs' family for a few days. Then we head to Georgia for the latter part of the week to visit my Mom's relatives. Hubs and my Dad will be leaving before the rest of us to get to the UF/FSU showdown in the SWAMP (where only Gators get out alive) on Saturday night. Go Gators! Oh, Happy Thanksgiving too!

Arrggghhh...

We have ticks (lots of them) inside our house. So, in addition to the exterminator coming this morning, I have stripped and washed every piece of bedding that we own (we have 4 beds in our house) and curtains. The dogs have been thoroughly washed, inspected and Frontlined. The exterminator sprayed our entire house, the yard and the flower beds. He said to look out for the Holocaust in 24-48 hours. That means that I can't have my house back in order (most of you are laughing right now) until Thursday at the earliest. I guess my house was due for some "Fall Cleaning." The weather has been beautiful, so we've been able to leave the doors and windows open to get the carpet to dry faster.
On a more positive note, Bull had his first Early Steps appointment this morning. We did lots of paperwork, and L, our case worker, observed him for a little while. Bull has a slight speech delay that we are working to resolve. He's had chronic ear infections for the last 1.5 years, ear tubes for 1 year, and a talkative big brother for his whole life. The best part is that this service is free as of right now (though that could change). He'll be going in for a hearing screening, and his first evaluation will be sometime next week probably. So, the ball is officially rolling!

Birthday Party

We had a great time at the boys' birthday party on Sunday. It's taken me a few days to get the pics uploaded. We had a Super Hero Training Camp. When the kids arrived, they chose a cape (simple ones I had made), and made a mask. Then, we did an obstacle course: Superman Kryptonite Toss (green balls into the basketball hoop), X Ray vision test (digging spider and bat rings out of the sand), Wonder Woman Lasso (hula hoop toss over a Bop It Bag), Fast as Flash (hopper balls to the next station), Spiderman Web-blasting (silly string at a target), crawl through a tunnel and into the Bat Cave (black sheet over the slide with bats hanging down). After that, we ate hot dogs and had cake and ice cream. I asked the kids to bring donations for an Operation Christmas Child shoebox instead of toys for Gator and Bull. Most of them did, and so I talked a little bit about the difference between real heroes and pretend heroes and that they were being real heroes by thinking of others before themselves. The kids left with the cape, mask, some stickers, and a Certificate of Completion signed by Gator and Bull. We had a great time. Oh and before I am accused of plagiarism, I got all the ideas for this from a website!

Happy Birthday Bull!

Bull is 2 today! We had a great time at the birthday party yesterday. The kids got to pick out a cape and make a mask. Then we did an obstacle course. Then they ended up running around with sticks "getting the bad guys." Pictures to come soon. Here's one of the birthday boys in their costumes. Aren't they cute?!

Some pictures...

Here's Bull's new trick. He drags the chair (making that hideous chair-scratching-on-the-floor noise) over and climbs up to reach the bananas which are in the corner. He thinks he's pretty big stuff.







Here are the cupcakes that I made to send in to school for the boys' classes. Fun (and a Mommy first)! Bull's teacher recommended that I make mini cupcakes for their class. It was really a great idea. You can't really tell from the picture, but they are yellow cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles.

Big weekend!

We have a big weekend coming up! On Friday, Gator turns five, our small group ladies' night is at our house, and Hubs comes home. Sunday we have their "Super Hero Training Camp" birthday party. And Monday is Bull's 2nd birthday. Fun, fun, fun!

Baseball

Here's Gator helping Bull learn how to hit off the tee (he really was helping). The boys got baseball stuff for their birthdays from Grandmommy and Granddaddy. Bull got the tee and a lightweight ball and bat (made out of some kind of foam). Gator got T-Ball level stuff (bat, balls and glove) and continues to do very well hitting a pitched ball. Bull still treats the bat like a sword most of the time. We're working on it!

South Cack-a-lacki

Currently, we are in South Carolina. We decided to visit Hubs for the weekend, halfway through his 6 weeks of Chaplain training. The boys were exceptional during the (very) long drive here. I'm in the midst of planning their joint birthday party. Today we got to shop for some of the accessories. Fun times. Warning: if you ever stay on post at Fort Jackson, be prepared for bugle calls at all hours of the day and night. This is one of the places that soldiers come for Basic Training, and the recruits are always being alerted to something. Hubs just came in from the field, is tired and eaten up with ant bites. But he's glad to have us here and we're glad to be here.

Vaccines and Autism

As controversial as this subject may be, your child's health and future are worth the exploration. There has been a flurry of coverage lately due to the release of Jenny McCarthy's new book, Louder Than Words. McCarthy's son, Evan was diganosed with autism at the age of two. Through treatment Evan, now five, is functioning normally.

Here are some interesting links:
Talk About Curing Autism Website: http://tacanow.org
Useful guidelines to follow when getting vaccinations: http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/medical/danprotocol.htm and http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/vaccines/vrules.htm
Alternative vaccination schedule:
http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/user_friendly.pdf

Take control of your health care and the health care of your family. Don't be un-educated! And don't be bullied. You are your child's best advocate.

It's Clathrus columnatus

Otherwise known as Deadman's Fingers. It's a fungus that looks like a small egg. When it busts open, it smells like rotting flesh. Lovely. I gagged a number of times. Flies are obviously attracted to it. They ingest the spores and poop them out all over the world. Even lovelier. If you find them, catch them in the egg-like phase and pluck them out of the ground. They don't stink at that point. Talk about yuck.

What is that?!

I was weeding and trimming my flower beds today. I found this under some lantana.
Can anyone tell me what it is? I actually know the answer. Thanks Google! I just want to know what other people think.

It can only get better...

Today was one of those days that I would rather not remember. However, I don't think I will ever forget it! After a day of near misses and managed chaos, I was getting dinner on the table and had the freezer open. Gator grabbed the handle of the freezer and ended up with the freezer door in his hands. Yes, the freezer door came off the hinges. I didn't know that freezer doors could do that. Fortunately, this freezer door was easy to fix. A socket wrench and some elbow grease, and everything was back to normal. Well, at least the door was. I don't think Gator will ever hang on that handle again. Here's a cute picture of Gator.

His favorite phrase is, "Watch this trick!" Now that he's older, the tricks are a little more dangerous. No ER trips for stitches or broken bones, yet.

More green

After spending 6 weeks surrounded by the beauty of God's creation in the Rockies, I was inspired to find more ways to be kinder to the earth. Here are some more ideas.

* We consign clothes and toys (and make money!), and buy from the same consignment shop.

* We donated some of our old toys to the church nursery (our church lost all the toys in Katrina).

* We use cloth napkins now, unless it's something really, really messy.

* They came today! Find them at http://www.mysigg.com/ or on Amazon. They're aluminum bottles that have leak proof and spill proof lids (a little tough for Bull, but Gator can do it).

* Slowly, but surely, I'm trying to get rid of my plastic storage dishes and replace them with corning ware. We will recycle the plastic, of course.

* I'm using ultra-concentrated laundry detergent, biodegradable laundry sheets (available at Wal-Mart), and only do full loads.

* We use Method brand cleaning supplies. They're available at Target.

* We have reusable lunch bags for when we take our lunch to school or work.

* We also take cloth bags to the store instead of "Paper or Plastic?"

* Even though I tease him incessantly about it (like he does me with the compost pile), Hubs has an electric lawnmower.

* And last, but certainly not the least expensive, we got a new A/C unit. We waited until the old one died, but we've already seen a drop in our electric bill.

How do you get your kids involved?

Our priority is to teach them about stewardship vs. wastefulness in life, not just in consumption. Teach the principle! How you do it depends on the age of the kid. For Gator, it means helping us with the recycling. In fact, just the other day he found a box on the counter, broke it down and took it out to the recycling bin completely on his own! I was so proud! Also, when he asks why we don't, can't, or won't do something that is wasteful, we just tell him that it's wasteful. That may seem obvious, but it's the place to start. As for Bull, he drinks out of a SIGG bottle and sleeps in organic pajamas.

Please consider what you can do to make a difference. For the first installment of living greener, see this.

William Tell Overture for Moms

This is soooo funny. Hope you smile!

When it rains...

...it pours. It's been raining all day today. So my children (and myself) are a bit stir crazy. This is what has happened so far. I had to take all four of the teenage mutant ninja turtles away (two per kid) because they could not figure out how to share. The dams broke forth and the tears and wails didn't stop for literally 10 minutes. Then, I decided to check my email while the kids played on the porch.* I walked into my living room a few minutes later and saw two ride-on toys, a soccer goal, soccer balls, and sand box toys (with wet sand still in them) just inside the door. Gator claims that he wanted to play with me, so since I was inside, he was bringing the toys to me. How sweet. Here's Gator dragging the toys back outside.
And the wet sand that was left inside my house. By the way, vacuum cleaners make interesting sounds when vacuuming up wet sand, very high pitched and squealy.
Oh, and Bull was eating the sand, of course. All before 10:30 am! *Typically when it's raining, as long as no lightning is around, I let the kids play outside. They love it! One of my fondest memories of childhood is playing in the waterfall that came off our house at Tides Road. I think my mom has pictures of us.

Bull's first day...

...went very well. He cried when I dropped him off, but he stopped soon after I left. What did I do all day, you ask? I got my teeth cleaned (no cavities!), a haircut, and a good workout at the gym. I cleaned the house (rather quickly!) and watched all of Martha Stewart without a single interruption. Hmmm. I might enjoy this....

An old post...

Here's a post from my myspace blog. I thought that it was appropriate for reposting here. This was originally posted on April 3, 2007.

I've been reading a couple of pretty cool books recently. The first is Living Green by Greg Horn. It offers a boat load of things that everyone can do to help out the environment, and you don't have to spend any money to do most of them. The other book is The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. It offers ideas for clean dietary living. And while we can't afford to go all out on organic food, we're trying to do some stuff. There's a bonus to most of this stuff too. In many cases, it SAVES you money! Since we're on a strict budget while Hubs is in school and trying to be good stewards, this is important to us.
Here are some examples of what we're doing.
1. We replaced our old school thermostat with a digital thermostat (our furnace had to be replaced this winter). Bonus: lower electric bill
2. We have a clothesline in our backyard that I try to use on laundry day when it's sunny (which happens a lot here). Bonus: lower electric bill
3. We have a compost pile in our backyard. Hubs continues to make fun of me about this one. But I don't care! I know that my garden (when I get around to planting it) will love it. And we aren't sending as much trash to the landfill with the grass clippings and food scraps that we use in the pile.
4. We are buying organic fruit and veggies (when available) with our second choice being locally grown stuff (LA has a lot to offer, who knew?), as well as "yard eggs." Also, I'm trying to stay away from pork and other not-so-great foods, like processed stuff.
5. We try to open the windows as much as possible to air out the house. Also, we turn off lights that we're not using (duh!). Bonus: lower electric bill.
6. We are recycling. For most people, this isn't a big deal. But around here it is. We don't have curbside pick-up anymore (another casualty of Katrina), so we have to take our recycling clear over to Biloxi, MS.You're thinking, doesn't that gas use offset the recycling? In our case, no. We have to go there every month for groceries, and a trip to the retail store on post. So, we just load up the recycling and take it to their center.
7. We have bought organic pajamas for the boys. We will continue to do so as money and need permit. Also, I'm trying to shop at consignment stores for the boys clothes (saves money and is a version of recycling!).
8. The next time I have to buy replacement bulbs, we will buy CFL bulbs instead of incandescent. Bonus: again, the electric bill.
9. Once I run out of my cleaning chemicals, I plan to replace them with good old vinegar and lemon, pending more research on the exact formulation. Bonus: vinegar is A LOT cheaper than the regular stuff.
10. Instead of using chemicals on our lawn, we're pulling all the weeds (there's lots of them) by hand. It helps our compost pile too! Bonus: money saved, no yucky chemicals for our kids and dogs to roll around in.
So, this is proof that a redneck and a stay-at-home mom on a tight budget can be environmentally conscious. I'm sure that you can figure out at least one thing to change. Try it. You may even save some money!

CH-BOLC

Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course that is (spoken ch-boe-lic). This is where Hubs is right now. Here's a link to another guy in his class: http://jbuckwheat.blogspot.com/. He updates every couple of days and it will give you a better idea of what they are doing.
Hubs was chosen as the class leader for this part of the training. I think that it's pretty neat, especially considering that there are other prior service guys in his class who have more Army experience than he does. Today is Day Three. Only 5 1/2 more weeks!

First Day of School

Today was Gator's first day of school and he LOVED it! Before we left, he wanted to know if he got to ride the bus. He was bummed when I told him no. And he asked if it was time to go about a million times! After school, he didn't stop talking all the way home. He even told the Barista at Starbuck's that he got to go to school today. This was his synopsis of the first day: "I have lots of new friends. We got to play with bugs. We went to the playground." He ate everything in his lunch (it was a lot of food!) and got a green happy face for behavior (that's good). He also told me that he fell asleep during rest time. It's only 20 minutes long, so I know that he must have been very busy all day. Bull was a little unsure of what to do with all the Mommy attention that he got! I think that he missed his big brother though. Bull starts Mother's Day Out on Thursday. More pics then!

Psalm 95

For the past few weeks I've been reading a Psalm a day for my devotion. Here's what I wrote in my journal for Psalm 95.


Psalm 95:8 refers to the Israelites complaining of no water (see Exodus 17:2-7). Moses, according to God's command, strikes the rock and water comes forth. Jason learned in one of his classes that this was a common practice among Bedouin shepherds. Because of the terrain (lots of limestone) in that area, water would filter down into rocks and eventually calcify providing a well of sorts in the rock. A good shepherd would know how to strike the rock just right for water to come gushing forth.
In verse 7, God calls us the sheep of His hand. It was the shepherd's job to provide pasture (God provided manna and quail) and water (from a rock) for his sheep. Many of the Israelites were shepherds, so they were familiar with the job description. The nation of Israel should have known (and I should know) that if the Lord claims to be the Shepherd, He will provide for the needs of His sheep. It's what shepherds do.
When God told Moses to strike the rock, in effect He was telling the Israelites to remember, in a not-so-subtle way, that He was their Shepherd and He would provide for their needs.


Isn't it funny when God uses regular everyday stuff to remind us that He is God? Striking a rock to produce water was something that many of the Israelites had at least seen, if not done, themselves. The Israelites are an easy target, but I try very hard not to pick on them. The truth is that I am very much like an Israelite. It takes God using the Duh! moments to get my attention. How patient and loving He is with me!
Kinda' like a Shepherd with His sheep...

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

We made it home safely! We had an uneventful trip and a sparkling clean house and mowed yard (thanks K, A and C!) when we got here. Tomorrow we'll be doing turbo laundry and packing for Hubs to go to Columbia, SC for the last part of his training. Also, we have to do some back to school shopping for the boys. So, we have a busy weekend ahead of us!

Gigi, Uncle A and Little Pea

We're in Texas where my sis and her husband live. (He's a grad student at UT.) We stopped here to pick up the dogs as they have been living here while we've been in CO. Today we went to a dog-friendly hiking trail and had a blast. We all took baths/showers when we got back because we were so filthy. The sister and I got to go to the mall for a little while without the kiddos. I got to see all of her registry items up close (she's due with their first baby - a girl! - in December), and purchased a couple of items. After dinner we went to the playground at the end of her street. The boys had a great time again. Gator has learned how to jump out of the swing. Aahh! A little scary for this mom!

Tomorrow we finish our trek and arrive back in Louisiana. Looking forward to it!

Amarillo by morning...

We left Colorado today and arrived in Amarillo where we're spending the night tonight. A cold front rolled in over the weekend, and when we left this morning it was 50 degrees (when we got there five weeks ago it was 90 degrees). We suppose that it's good we left when we did because each of us only have one pair of pants with us! Tomorrow we head to Austin to visit my sister and her husband and rest for a day before the 9 hour trip home to Louisiana. The boys did very well today and slept for a lot of the trip. It's cool here in Amarillo too. We're wondering what the weather is like farther south....we'll see tomorrow!

Balloon Classic

Over Labor Day weekend every year here in Colorado Springs, the Balloon Classic takes place. We tried to go last night to the Balloon Glo where they inflate and tether the balloons down and then light them up. However, the winds were too strong so they couldn't do it. They did Candles in the Park which is where they all light off the burners at the same time. It was pretty cool though a bit disappointing. So, the boys agreed to get up with me at the crack of dawn to be at the park for the Launch this morning.

Gator was fascinated by it. His favorite balloon was the one with the "Target" bullseye on it. Ha ha! Bull was perfectly happy eating his breakfast biscuit the whole time. I'm not sure that he noticed all the activity around him. Then we went back to America the Beautiful Park again. Bull is saying "Whoo hoo!" again on the swing and Gator is way up high! Fun morning!

Soccer and Spring Canyon

This is Hubs teaching some soccer skills. He had a very attentive group!

We got to visit Spring Canyon this weekend. Unfortunately, Bull wasn't feeling too hot, so we left a little earlier than we expected. But we still had a great time exploring the ponds and playing on the playgrounds. Bull has started raising his hands and saying "Woo hoo!" He says "whee" when he's on the swing, and he calls me Mommy (instead of Mama) now.

Gator climbed up on top of these monkey bars a number of times. What happened to my cautious child?!

It's hard to believe that we only have a week left! We'll be heading back to Louisiana on the 10th.

Random pics from this week

While we're here, the boys are sharing a queen size bed. They seem to be enjoying it.









Watching a movie...









Waiting and watching for Daddy...

America the Beautiful

Today we went to another great park with some new friends of ours. The playground equipment was incredible. It was all interactive. You could change things about it and manipulate it. Wow. The kids had a great time, and they wore themselves out!

PWOC

Many of you are asking what is P-woc? It's actually P-W-O-C and it stands for Protestant Women of the Chapel. Like everything in the military, even the women's ministry has an acronym! I went to my first PWOC meeting today. It was quite wonderful! It reminded me of many women's ministry events that I have been involved with in the past. We had a time of sweet worship, and a devotional type of message by the main speaker. Then we got to eat lunch together. What a fun time of fellowship! I am quite impressed by the organization of PWOC. I know that it is filling an important ministry niche within the military community. Other things we did today: went to the Hamricks for some major boy playtime with their three boys, ages 6, 4, and 3. We ate at the DFAC (dining facility) for dinner tonight. Not a bad meal for our family of four to eat for $3.14! Woo hoo!

Mile High City

We had a great time in Denver. If you're ever out this way, the Children's Museum and the Zoo are wonderful. The Zoo was exceptional - lots of space and great exhibits. The boys really enjoyed the grocery store at the Children's Museum. We visited it more than once!

Note the cute haircuts with all ears still intact! Gator was dressed up as a mouse for a little while. Bull was concentrating very hard to get the train tracks in place!

Tomorrow, Hubs is preaching at the contemporary Chapel service here on "Post" (I'm still transitioning from Navy speak). We're looking forward to it, as he doesn't have many opportunities to do so. What a great weekend!

Proverbs 31 for Military Wives

I got this off the OCF website. Very cute and heart-warming. Kudos to all you military wives out there! Your service to our country is not forgotten!

Who Can Find an Excellent Military Wife?

Proverbs 31:10-31 (revisited) by Susie Forbes and Deborah Kindel
Editor’s note: The following paraphrased and modified version of portions of Proverbs 31 was authored by Susan Forbes and Deborah Kindel at the request of Liz Springer for a session that Liz and Sarah Hemingway led at White Sulphur Springs. Susan, an Air force wife, and Deborah, a Navy wife, brought their experiences to bear on the assignment. The result was a hit with the wives present, and is worthy of publication. Enjoy!

10 Who can find an excellent military wife? For her worth is far above rank or pay grade.

11 The heart of her military husband trusts in her, and he will have no fear of security breaches.

12 She enjoys the military lifestyle and does him good, enhancing his career at every duty station.

13 She finds curtains for their quarters, and remakes them to fit the windows of the quarters at all future
bases.

14 She is like submarines: she takes advantage of commissary case sales and packs dozens of cans in small quarters; she freezes spaghetti sauce by the quart to prepare for any emergency, and always has chocolate-chip cookies and coffee on hand for family and visitors; she tempts her family with delicacies from foreign ports where they have been stationed, so that her children do not refuse escargot or kimchee when dining out.

15 She rises at 0-dark 30 to make breakfast for her husband before he goes on duty, and makes sure that her teenagers eat good breakfasts before stumbling onto the school bus. She packs their bag lunches, and draws discreet smiley faces or writes words of encouragement on the napkins.

16 She puts aside a sum every month from the household budget and invests it wisely, so that when her husband goes out on a six-month Mediterranean deployment, she and the kids can fly over during school vacation and follow him from port to port.

17 She carries babies on her hip, lugs bags of groceries from car to kitchen, pushes lawn mowers and wields snow shovels. She faithfully works out at the base gym (or Curves) so that she stays healthy and strong. She marvels at the biceps she develops, but fails not to do her morning devotions and read the newspaper.

18 When her husband is out on maneuvers, on patrol or on alert, she panics not. She calls a plumber for a leaking bathroom sink, and when he appears not, she takes a class at Home Depot on home plumbing. In the evenings, she studies French, sews her daughter an Aslan lion costume for Halloween, makes a papier-mâché piñata for the kindergarten class party, and e-mails her husband at sea or while he’s TDY/TAD to let him know that he is missed, but all is well.

19 She happily sews her husband’s new rank insignia on his uniform, and lets out his mess dress as necessary.

20 She delivers casseroles to the sick, baby-sits for other military wives who need a break from taking care of toddlers on their own, and volunteers at the base thrift shop.

21 When her husband receives orders to a base in the northeast, she orders squall jackets and boots for the whole family from the L.L. Bean catalog while still at the duty station in Hawaii.

22 She makes her gown for the dining-out or the Submarine Ball, and her handiwork and sense of style is admired by all.

23 Her husband is respected by his superior officers and his OERs or FITREPS are glowing.

24 She wraps 400 lumpias with other wives and sells them outside the Base Exchange, raising money for the boat/squadron recreation fund.

25 She leans on God for all her needs, and is confident that the Big Detailer in the sky has her family’s good at heart.

26 She modestly and humorously shares wisdom gained in years of service life, and never gossips. She provides a good example to younger wives by letting God’s love shine through her.

27 She looks well to the ways of her household. She packs up halfway boxes for her husband on patrol, sticking in photos, letters and his favorite Snickers bars. She runs her son to his baseball game and her daughter to her soccer game, and knits a scarf for a friend while sitting on the bleachers cheering them on. She teaches Sunday School, has the wardroom/squadron wives over for dinner, volunteers to tutor remedial reading at the middle school, plants daffodil bulbs without knowing for sure that she will be there in the spring to see them bloom, and hosts a birthday party at Chucky Cheese’s without losing her cool.

28 Her children rise up and bring her dandelion bouquets and Christmas ornaments made out of Popsicle sticks. Her husband also gives her his highest praise, saying:

29 “Many service wives endure long separations and frequent moves, but you have made it all seem easy and fun.”

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who relies on the Lord when her husband is serving his country keeps everything in its right order and shall be praised.

31 Give her the faithful love of your heart, and let her family and home be praised by all who know her.

http://ocf.gospelcom.net/pubs/who_can_find.php

Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth...

always happen when we give haircuts. What an ordeal! Regardless, the boys have new haircuts, only my blood was spilled (I snipped my finger with the scissors), and I think they've forgiven me. Bull usually whines and pushes the clippers away. However, with Gator, you'd think we were amputating something. I'm sure our neighbors have been close to calling HRS with all of the screaming that takes place. You'll have to wait until I post pictures of our Denver trip (today and tomorrow) to see the new dos. It's a pain to upload just one picture. We're off to Denver!

Fun at the Park

We had lots of fun today. We did all that we had planned (quite a feat). We visited the playground nearby. I ended up hauling Gator on my back part of the way home, while pushing Bull in the stroller. I can't imagine what I looked like to passersby. I would have laughed! We made it to Wal-Mart, and had a successful trip. Then we went to some fishing ponds in a park close to Post. We were stalked by a squirrel. Perhaps my sister's phobia isn't so far-fetched! It stayed within 5 feet of us the whole time we were in its territory. One time it got about 10 inches from Bull and his raisins.














Gator climbed this tree all by himself. Bull was close behind - monkey see, monkey do!

Too funny!

I received this as a forward. It is absolutely hysterical. I cried while reading it because it was so funny. http://cgi.ebay.com/LOT-OF-POKEMON-CARDS-THAT-MY-KIDS-TRIED-TO-SNEAK-BY-ME_W0QQitemZ130144061675QQihZ003QQcategoryZ60238QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Today we're going to a playground across the street, Wal-Mart (is any day complete without such a trip?), and maybe a park that is close to the Wal-Mart. Hopefully, pictures will be taken and I can post some new ones.

Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls

Today we visited Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls. Such beautiful scenery! There were some guys climbing the other side of this rock at Garden of the Gods. They were very kind and answered many, many questions. We might have some aspiring rock climbers on our hands! The boys loved watching them. They thought it was great when they rappelled down. One guy even did it Aussie style (facing down). Scary!

At Seven Falls, there are 7 separate falls within one mile. It was very beautiful. Overall, we had a great day today. Both boys napped in the van while we were driving from place to place!