Come on over and stay awhile. I am still arranging the pictures on the wall and I am not so sure I love where the sofa has been placed, but you are all welcome to stop on by and see our new diggs.
The new site has changes in the works but I am not sure how soon I am going to be able to make those happen. I miss blogging and felt like you might just be kind enough to ignore some of the things my new home may be lacking right now.
I can’t believe that I spaced Rodi’s anniversary date. He enlisted in the Navy Jan. 4th 1996. On Jan. 4th 2009 I was too busy watching Molly give birth to Faith that I completely forgot we were one year closer to Rodi’s RETIREMENT!!!! Okay I know it is still seven years away but it’s ONLY SEVEN more years.
I long for that day. I am proud of Rodi and the great job he does. I am thankful for his service and the service of all our military members. But I also can’t wait for this ride to be OVER.
I am looking forward to celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays with him in the same country as us. This week he will be gone for JJ’s very first sectional gymnastics meet. That was the two biggest events on the January calendar. He will also miss Moe’s b-day, Nina’s b-day, My b-day, JJ’s b-day, His b-day (can you really miss your own b-day?), Bubba’s birthday next January, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years 2010, and possibly our anniversary this year and next. I am sure there will be many other events he will miss along the way.
Again I know this comes with the job, I am just ready for that part of our life to be done.
I don’t mean to sound selfish, I guess I am just in a mood today. I love him and the FANTASTIC job he does. I even encouraged him to put in his paperwork to become a Supply Officer 9 years ago. I think I knew then in the back of my head that we were in this for the long haul. I know if he had stayed in the Nuclear field that he was in when he was enlisted we would not still be doing this Navy thing.
I am thankful for the opportunities we have had to travel across Europe and live in Germany those three wonderful years. I have made long lasting, wonderful friendships along the way that I TREASURE.
I am thankful some of the things my children have been able to see and do because of our lifestyle. I am also sad about some of the things they have had to endure. I think I struggle with that part the most.
Ahhh, okay, enough venting for the day. Just came on to post about the fact that seven years from now Rodi will be able to retire….. now we just have to wait and see if he will actually do it. That is an entirely different story!
Today Bubs turns 12, this is a huge day in his life. I hope he knows how much he means to me and how much joy he has brought into our world.
In 12 years he has:
Moved 10 times
Been enrolled in 5 public schools
Been taken out of public school and brought home for schooling
Been part of several soccer and wrestling teams
Taken gymnastics classes
Learned to play the guitar
Taught himself to draw beautifully
Made us laugh until our sides ache
Made us cry because we love him dearly
Fallen down and pulled himself back up again
Developed a love for photography
Enjoyed dressing up for Halloween
Dreaded dressing up for Halloween
Made it to 1st class rank in scouts
Driven a tractor
Rode on a mechanical bull
had his first crush
Learned how to cook
There are so many, many more things I could list as he is one busy little man.
We are looking forward to this year and all the experiences that will come his way. As he grows so do we.
Yesterday I had the gymnastics carpool and what a drive it turned out to be. JJ had spent the night at a friends house who is also on the team, so she was going to meet us there. I still had to pick up E and get Nina to her class. When I got to E’s house I realized I had forgotten JJ’s grip bag. I know her well enough to know that I was going to be in some serious mom trouble if I didn’t go back to the house to get the grips even if it meant getting to the gym late. I told E that we were now “Even Steven” since JJ had to leave practice early last week due to E getting sick one her mom’s night to drive.
On the way back to our house from E’s I noticed a man pulled over on the side of the road. He was standing with the trunk open and getting ready to put something inside. The next thing I know as I pass by, is two ARMS taking the object from him. Yes the arms were attached to a person who was INSIDE the trunk! Then the man shut the trunk and pulled onto the road right behind me.
Still is shock of what I had just seen I called a friend. I told her what I just saw. She said “call 911″. I sorta thought that was what a normal person would do but I guess I just needed the boost back into the normal world (where people aren’t riding in trunks).
I had turned the corner and wasn’t sure if the guy was behind me anymore and because I was so focused on the person in the trunk the only thing I could remember about the car was that it was white.
Looking in the rear-view mirror I saw that he was still behind me.
I have now instructed the children to see if they can read his plate # while I call it in. The man had gotten so close to me that we couldn’t read the plate # but I knew that he was in a white Saturn. The call went something like this:
911 Operator: 911 what is your emergency?
Me: Yes I am driving on ……… road and the man driving behind me has a person in his trunk. He had his trunk open on …… park rd. as I passed by him and I saw the person in the trunk take something from him before he shut the trunk and continued down the road. I am not sure if this is a college prank or what. No one looked stressed out about the situation.
911 Operator: Which way are you headed on ……. road?
Me: Towards the ………… road and ……….. road intersection. We are approaching the stop sign now.
911 Operator: What type of car is he driving?
Me: A White Saturn but we can’t get the plate number as he is too close to our van.
911 Operator: Is he still behind you?
Me: Yes but he is going to turn at the intersection the opposite way. He will be heading towards ……….. road.
911 Operator: Thank you mam we have put out the call. What is your name please?
Oh yeah I told her my name, yes I know she only wanted it so that they could use it when they talk about the crazy lady who saw a living person willing travel in the trunk of the Saturn.
When I got to the gym one of the Dad’s who happens to be the Chief of Police got a good chuckle out of my experience and reminded me that everyone should have a “Car Thing” . Those of you my age and older will giggle at that as you remember watching “The Adams Family” from way back when.
I asked if he knew how my story ended. Did they find the car? Was there indeed a passenger in the truck?
No such luck. He knew nothing besides a call had been put through about a car with a person in the trunk.
I still think my call to poison control about Moe brushing his teeth with Icy Hot takes the cake…. but this too was one of those strange things that only I could encounter.
Have I told you how glad I am NOT to be on the board of the parents association for JJ’s gymnastics team? I AM THRILLED! There are so many issues going on right now and you can be on this side or that side or just sit idly by and wait for the explosion of hormones to happen. Oh yeah it’s going to happen, and soon.
Do you love being part of a group where you are asked to do something but then not given the information or tools to actually accomplish the goal? Well there is a lot of that going on. Some of the ladies (that is probably the key word “ladies”) feel as if the board members don’t really want the help, they just want to do it all by themselves, so they aren’t going to give out the information needed such as the budget. Ugghhh we are hosting a meet in 2 weeks and I think these women may end up hurting each other.
There are without a doubt issues that need to be addressed, such as, the fact that minutes aren’t being read and then motioned for approval. OH and a big thing…. there is NO knowledge of a treasure’s report. It is in the bylaws that we are given a report at each monthly meeting, but that might be sharing a tad too much information I guess.
It really stinks to have a daughter in one of the lower levels on the team. The upper level moms sometimes treat you as if you have no opinon, or just that yours doesn’t count. It is sort of like being a freshman in high school all over again. I am so over it!
Thursday Rodi and I took Moe and headed to West Virginia. We were headed there to pick up 3 more cows, Zebu of course. It was a great day, there wasn’t even any weather issues to contend with.
Moe had a blast! He has seen snow before but due to his tender age of 3 he doesn’t remember it. WV had snow on the ground and Moe was amazed. He made snowballs and threw them at Rodi over and over again.
Treworlas Farm was a fantastic place for Moe to spend a few hours. He took the full tour seeing the various breeds of goats, emu, horses, sheep, and cows.
On the drive over to WV he kept asking if he could ride a horse at the farm. We told him we were not quite sure that would happen but he was more than welcome to ask. Moe not being shy asked right away. Sure enough there was a miniature horse just the right size for Moe to take a few laps on. He THRILLED!
After a couple of hours we loaded up the trailer with the new (okay very old) cows and headed home.
Legally the cows are named….. Fancy, Ruth’s Sparkle, and Silver Girl. The kids aren’t so excited about those names. I am assuming just as the kids gave lil’ Abner his not so legal name, Jasper, these lovely gals will end up with new not so legal names as well.
The hay feeder we built last year we felt wasn’t quite doing its job. Too much hay was falling out the bottom and being wasted. Plus it was a tad too high for the younger calves to reach in. Yesterday Rodi lowered the feeder closer to the ground and altered the bin a tad.
Only problem is now a certain Prince Neptune thinks that it was built as his personal bed. No more sleeping on the cold ground for him!
There will be further alterations to this feeder… Neptune will no longer be able to claim it as his bed when we are finished with it. He may have one more day of the royal treatment since we are on our way to pick up 3 more cows in the morning.
About 3 years ago I bought a book called Accountable Kids. I read it and then made my own charts for the kids. It WORKED! My household chores became less and less as the kids were actually taking care of a lot of the little things on their own.
Then we moved….. and sort of got out of the habit.
Two weeks ago I pulled the book back out, found the charts I had made, and printed off new tags and tickets for the kids. I had made the charts out of wooden picture frames that I painted in a different color for each kid. We have 2 hooks at the top of the chart, one for chores to do and one where the completed chores get turned over and placed on. At the bottom there are 3 hooks, one for tickets received, one for tickets used and one for book points. They get 30 minutes of electronics time for each ticket (tv, computer, Wii etc….) If they get all 3 tickets (morning, afternoon, evening chores each = 1 ticket) they get a punch on their book points card. When that card is full they get a trip to the bookstore to buy a new book. Here is a picture of their charts. Ignore the faucet. The only place I have to put these right now is on the window ledge in the kitchen. It is VERY important that these charts are in a place where they are visible to all.
Another chart we have been using is our Family Home Evening Chart (aka Family Night). One day I was frustrated with the fact that we were not regularly having FHE and if we did no one knew what they were in charge of that night. So I grabbed a plank of wood from the garage told Rodi to cut it about 16 inches long. I then painted it blue. When it dried I went to work with a paint pen (LOVE THESE THINGS) and some hooks. Here is what the finished product looks like. The lesson hook is really lesson/activity hook. Oh and it does have a place on the wall but I painted in the kitchen and just haven’t gotten this hung back up.
Charts can be a fabulous thing when you use them.
Bubs has a cold weather campout tonight and cold it will be. I think it will drop down to about 16 degrees tonight. Laugh if you will I know there are much colder locations out there. Having grown up in Nebraska I know that 16 degrees can seem balmy at times. I even remember after a long winter one year thinking that 45 degrees felt like shorts weather. Okay I was in 6th grade but still, 45 degrees felt like a heat wave that winter.
Having moved away from that winter wonderland my body has gotten used to warmer weather and tonight I am sure I will have the wood stove going all night long to keep us toasty warm inside our house. Meanwhile my boys Rodi and Bubs will be freezing their noses off. Rodi will be standing watch on board the ship and Bubs will be sleeping under the stars, or at least trying to sleep.
Ahhh but I know I have nothing to complain about. Bubs is going to be out there with great cold weather gear and he will be having tons of fun with his fellow scouts.
Plus he will be lots warmer than our Zebu staying at my father-in-law’s here is the latest picture of Jasper and Whisper…..brrrrrrr!
Where did the sun go????
And I am ever thankful that if I were to step outside this morning my view would not look like the one my sister-in-law (also in Iowa) will be greeted by. Here is a picture of their house taken this week.
Just makes my back hurt thinking about all that work to clear the driveway....ouch!
I was freezing not sure how Rodi wasn't
We had to tell jokes to get them to smile...why don't boys smile for the camera?
My mom and I freezing before the event even began.
J & J take a minute to pose in front of the camera
The day before the commissioning Pres. Bush (41) paid an unexpected visit to the ship. Rodi was there to greet him.
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