13 years and just 7 more to go

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!

Twelve

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.

Happy to dress up for Halloween

Not so thrilled to dress up for Halloween

Photo moment captured by Bubs

Brotherly Love

911 What is Your Emergency?

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.

Waiting for Walter

My little sister is expecting child #2, a boy.  She isn’t naming him Walter but that is what I am calling him.  Sort of like Moe, he was Moe until the day he was born and to some out there he still is. 

Walter isn’t due to make his arrival until early February but like any expectant mamma she is READY to meet and greet the little fella NOW!  I feel for her and have been in her shoes 4 times over the years.  Funny how  now I can give advice on being patient.  I was NEVER patient.  I tried anything and everything to bring these little ones into the world on my terms and on my schedule.  Yet today I found myself  facebooking her telling her to give my niece E.C. some extra lovin’ today as it could be the last Sunday they have as a small family of  three.  E.C.”s world is going to be turned upside down before she knows it.  HA that is something I would have never advised myself when I was in her situation. 

Funny what looking on from the outside can do to your perspective of certain situations in life.

Walter, Hurry up or take your sweet time we will all love and adore you the same.

Treworlas Farm

Peeking through the trailer gate at our newest additions.

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.

Royalty in the Herd

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.

Charts and more Charts

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.

Baby it’s cold outside….

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!

What a week!

This past week was sort of a race to the finish and the memories looking back are somewhat of a fog.

I was preparing for my inlaws to come and stay the weekend and Rodi was preparing  for the Former President of the United States of America to arrive on his ship.  Who’s job was harder…Hmmmm I won’t say a word.  LOL

 It was a pretty stressful week for Rodi, but in the end very rewarding.  One of his jobs to prepare for the commissioning was to set up the tour of the ship with Pres. Bush Sr. two days before the commissioning.  He was able to shake hands with G. H. W. Bush and walk with him on the tour.  Then the next day G.H.W. Bush (who was very excited about this ship) came back for another tour unannounced.  Rodi was there again to greet him as he came on board.  It gets even better…. the day of the commissioning Rodi was there on the flight deck with the Secret Service to greet both G.W. Bush and G.H.W. Bush!!!! 

Here is a link with a video of Rodi shaking hands with G.H.W. Bush the day before the commissioning.  *Note this was the unannounced visit and that is why Rodi is in his coveralls*

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/10/bush.ship.commissioning/#cnnSTCVideo

One of those once in a lifetime moments that happened of couple of times in one week for Rodi.

Now it is Monday…. the inlaws are on a flight home to Iowa,  Rodi is back at work, the kids and I are diving back into our school lessons and life goes on as usual.

Still a little too City and not nearly enough Country

So as I said before, our cow Molly had a claf this past Sunday.  My  visions of  bottle feeding this babe were just visions apparently.  Today I went out to the barn bottle in hand to have my bonding time with the Fatih (the calf).  The only thing I did was tick off  Molly and tire Faith out.  Molly was very patient with me as I followed Faith around the pasture trying to get close to her calf.  She kept an eye on me the entire time and I let her know I was aware she was watching.  Every now and then I would go over and let her smell the bottle to show her I meant no harm.  Then I would rub her in that spot she loves behind her ear, before trying a little longer to convince Faith to give the bottle a try.  I am sure I looked like a big goof out there, but then again I have never fed a farm animal from a bottle before (except at the zoo once and I am not sure that counts). 

Finally Faith went into the barn and into the side with the gate.  “WHOO HOO this is finally going to happen”  The kids who had been giving me passenger seat directions this entire time came bolting into the barn.  Allowing Faith to be at ease stressed out even more, I am sure.  Soon Molly came a callin’ too.  She was a tad miffed at me by now and was quite vocal about the whole ordeal.  She paced on one side of the barn while Faith darted from one side to the other trying to avoid me at all cost.

I finally managed to get Faith settled down a bit and even got the bottle to her mouth.  However she didn’t drink a darn drop.  Nope she wanted nothing to do with me or the bottle.  Feeling sorry for her and Molly I let her out the gate where she quickly latched onto her mamma and began to nurse… Go Figure.

*On a side note the kids are laughing because JJ got the whole thing on video and they want me to put it on  the internet.  NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!*