Long overdue pictures

So, here are some pictures that we have taken since we left Fort Hood in early February.  Lots of laughter, silliness, snow... We are currently waiting for Daddy to finalize an apartment over in Korea.  The updated amendment to our orders is already being processed, which is what we are waiting for in order to get a flight.  EEEk!   Starting to get excited!

In other news, little J has finally gotten his first tooth!  It took its own sweet time to come through- about a  month total.  (I was wondering about it- he will be 8 months old in 9 days- the other 2 got their teeth alot younger).  Miss C has been having alot of problems with her attitude lately- she actually broke down into hysterical screaming at Walmart today.  First time she has ever done ANYTHING like this.  I think that the Daddy seperation is wearing on her.  (She freaked out because she was in Grandma's cart, not mine, and since she was talking ugly to my mom, she couldn't get out of the cart.  Plus, in her defense, it was naptime, and we should have waited to go, but we had a deadline to get some stuff and drop it off at the church). 
Big J has been doing awesome with his school- his reading is coming along nicely, and he is starting to read words whenever we go out somewhere.  His math drove me crazy all last week, learning the difference between counting by 5's and by 10's!!  We shall not go there again.. lol.   Picture me with my hair all frazzled and my head in my hands.  Plus, has anyone ever come up with a good way to teach sight words?  I was explaining how to pronounce the word 'to', since he said 'toe'.  But then, how would you explain the words too, and two?  This homeschooling thing has stretched my imagination farther than I ever expected it to.  I love how I get to learn right along with him- even if its only a creative definition.  :)

Oh, and tonight at dinner, little J signed 'more' to me!  It was so cute!  He has started to screech at the table each time we eat, when the food doesn't get shoveled in fast enough, or if its something he doesn't like.  So, he screeched, and I scooped up some of my zucchini, and showed him (for the 80 millionth time) the sign for 'more'.  I said it, signed it, and he looked me dead in the eye and slapped his fingers together in just the same way I have been showing him.  :D  So proud! 

Ok, now that my proud mommy moment is over... on to the serious stuff. Ok, I lied- I just found out my best friend is having a girl!!!   Ahhh!  I am soooo going shopping tomorrow!  So cool!  Many blessings and prayers going up for them. 

Anyhow.  Lately, I have been struggling with trying to slow our lives down, get used to not going somewhere all the time, eating healthier, keeping my temper when we are all stuck inside by the weather for days on end, keeping up reading my Bible, working out... the list goes on.  I have realized that nothing is more important (after my relationship with God, then my husband) than spending precious time with my kids.  i have been making a much bigger effort to just plop down on the floor and play.

I don't have any eloquent words that will make this sound perfect.  I'm not perfect.  I lose my temper, holler at the kids, get frustrated when I have to explain things over and over (and over).  Daily, I wish I would have done things better.  And I am noticing, that each day, I am doing a tiny bit better at holding my calm, or playing with each kid.  And I give all the credit to God.  Lately I have been praying much more, and at many more times during the day.  Only he can give me the strength, patience and knowledge to get through the day He has given me.  :)

Things are going to be changing around here... so hang on for the ride!

Dollar Tree...Oh, how I love thee!

So, I broke my own record for amount of money spent at Dollar Tree today.  I spent 3 times the amount I normally do.  I went in with the intent to find a couple of non-candy items to put into the Easter baskets, and some educational wall charts.  And boy, did I find wall charts.  We ended up bringing home charts for:
space, the planets, addition tables, subtraction tables, a calendar, numbers and holidays for said calendar, plus headers for it, parts of speech, today is/tomorrow will be, and today's weather is/tomorrow's weather will be...
And, my favorite part, a bunch of good books, especially board books for the baby.  We got several that are Bible stories, and several that have to do with manners, sharing, etc.  Oh, and some sight word cards, one set each for pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade.  I figured that even if we are not using them right this second, for a dollar, it can't hurt to have them on hand!  My parents have this fabulously long, and BARE hallway.  We recently put up Cait's Letter Tree, and it looks so lonely by itself... so it won't be lonely long!  :)  I think my biggest challenge will be figuring out how to get all this stuff to Korea.  Does FedEx have tubes to ship things in?  I can roll the posters, and the rest of it is small enough to fit in my luggage. 

Now, I'm off to go and find some tape to hang these posters with.  I will attempt to get a picture of the hallway once I'm done, if the baby doesn't insist on nursing yet again.  I think his medicine is upsetting his tummy, he keeps grunting alot! 

Oh, and by the way, Turbo Jam is going great!  I have noticed that my jeans today are a bit looser than normal, cause I have to keep hitching them up! :P 

thy bread overfloweth..!

I tried my hand at bread making tonight.  Hahahahaha!!  :)  I bought the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day after it was recommended by a friend.  Ingredients in, mixed together, no problem, right?  WRONG!
I forgot to check on it, since it said to put a lid on the container and let the dough rise.  Well, as I was coming down the hall from putting the baby to bed, I hear Mom and Dad in the kitchen whispering, " Well, it said to let it rise!"  and "Well, it rose!"  With much smothered laughter.  :D 
Turning the corner, I see that it did indeed rise, popping the lid off the container and overflowing onto the counter!

So.  Pictures will follow tomorrow.

 I scooped it all back up pretty easily, and plopped it back down for its last 30 minutes of rising.   Only to find that it did it again.. so this time I put it into a bigger bowl, and parked it in the fridge to cool down.  Tomorrow morning, if I wake up early enough, I will attempt to make some before we head out to meet friends at the playground.  Otherwise, I will just wait til I get home. 

p31 study has stalled, or at least, I have.  I will resume it when I get up tomorrow morning.  I have been feeling off kilter the last few days, trying to figure out what needs to give in order for me to get things back to normal.  Or as close to a normal schedule as I can whilst living with my parents.  I did my first actual workout to Turbo Jam today, and really had alot of fun.  At first I didn't think the exercises would do much, but as I got into the workout, and off of the learning part, I really could feel it, but without the pain of pushing too hard. 

well, we've made it one week so far.

Daddy has now been gone for one whole week.  We have kept ourselves busy, though, and have been able to talk with him through email and on the phone once.  He finally has internet in his room, which means we should be able to talk with him each day. 
Jacob came down with strep throat, and it caught him good this time.  He was not feeling very well for a couple of days afterwards.  The day after we found that out was Jamie's 6 month check up (even though he was 7 months on Monday).  He weighed in at 20 lbs, 7 oz, and 27 inches long!  Whew!  In good health, except for the double ear infection.  He is the only one of my kids that has had an ear infection this young, and is also the only one who has had this much trouble with teething.  He is FUSSY!  Mostly in the evenings, though, so I can totally deal with that. 

We went to the Irish festival today- Caitlynn, Jamie and I.  Jacob decided at the last minute to stay home with Grandma and help her clean.  We got a caramel apple with sprinkles, later some ice cream while we listened to a very nice singing group, and then wandered around the vendors for a little while.  Had an impromptu photo session outside in the 46 degree weather, and I think I got a couple of cute shots of Cait.  I know she enjoyed the closer attention she got from me today.  It breaks my heart on a daily basis that I am not enough parent for all 3 of them at the same time.  She usually comes up to me while I am schooling Jacob or feeding the baby and wants me to play with her.  I do, but I feel so limited in those times, because I can't just stop what I'm doing and focus totally on her.  I do feel like I'm doing better, though, about dropping the unneccesary things and focusing on them more.  Bless my mother, because I have not once done the dishes here (I help clean up but she loads the dishwasher), and most of the time when I get sidetracked with the kids, she is folding my laundry when I come back into the room.. lol.. kinda feels like I'm in high school again.  But she has been in my shoes, with little kids while a husband is gone, and I think she does it so that I can be more available to them.  For which I am extremely grateful, and have told her so several times. 

Those of ya'll that know me personally, please keep my brother in prayer. There is alot going on with him right now, and he needs all the prayers he can get. 

My Bible study and P31 are going well, I have tried to read them each morning before I even get out of bed.  Missed a couple of times, but am getting better in that respect.  Going to church in the morning at the local Nazarene church, so I guess I should get off of here and get things ready for tomorrow.  :)

steadily slogging along

I have already goofed.
My P31 study fell by the wayside this week.  And my Bible study.  I'm still trying to catch it up from last month.  Vacations are hard!  :) 

I have caught up with P31, keeping up my personal notebook up to date, and keeping some notes on things as I think of them. 
Bible study is taking more concentration than I thought.  I have to break the cycle of staying  up late, because then I'm not able to get up before my kids get up (ESPECIALLY since miss Caitlynn has decided to start getting up at 645am every day).  I think I burned myself out, because I started working out, doing my P31 study, catching up on Bible reading, all at once.  As much as I want to be in better shape and slimmer for the next time I see my hubby, I have to realize that nothing is more important than my time alone with God.  That is where my strength comes from, and my joy.

And I'm going to bed now, since Jacob just woke up.  His fever is back, along with his headache and sore throat.  Yay, a trip to the doctor's is in order for tomorrow.  And the day after that will be Jamie's 6 month well baby checkup.  Even though he was 7 months today.  My baby is sooo big!  7 months, and he weighs 20 lbs 7 oz (fully clothed, at least). 

days 3 and 4

This ended up being my recovery period- I could not move hardly at all.  I kid you not, I hobbled around for the last two days pretty much like a 9 months pregnant woman!  Not fun at all.  Added to that, the tetanus shot affected my shoulder much worse than I thought it would have.  Apparently, p90x is way too much for me to handle at this moment.  I am currently trying to decide which program I am going to try- either Turbo Jam or Slim in 6.  Or possibly 10 minute trainer.  All of them have gotten really good reviews, and some not so good.  I lean towards the 10 minute one, just because I know that I can handle the pains for 10 minutes.   I don't want to order the other ones and not be able to finish them- talk about de-motivation! :)

My Bible study is going well, I have memorized the first scripture that was set for me, have gotten my personal notebook set up, and written out my committment to the study.  I haven't set aside a specific place to do my study yet, since I am still more or less getting everything unpacked and trying to find a place for it all.  I need to go pick up some ink for my mom's printer so that I can print some things out for the study and also for Jacob's school. 

Anyhow, I will try to post more later on tonight, because we are currently making sure that Jon has everything packed up to leave tomorrow.  We are spending the morning at the local WIC office with Jamie, and then heading out to Syracuse to have a nice lunch together before actually getting to the airport around 3pm or so.  Lookin forward to having a good day with my man before sending him off- cause I know I'll probably badger him a week or so later, once he gets in-processed!  :P  I would much rather be the one going and dealing with all of the apartment stuff- cause I'm picky.  But I have to step back and let God work his ways through this situation.

day 2

Ohhh.... blah. 

I've been moaning and groaning around all day.  I. AM. SORE!!  And on a personal note, I shouldn't have started p90x the DAY AFTER getting  a shot in the shoulder!  Plus, I am not in good shape.  Period.  I will be cutting the workouts down to half, probably, unless I feel I can keep going.  I did Plyometrics (jump training) today, and made it 33 minutes into it, and had to stop.  I was sick to my stomach, even with hydrating yesterday, and taking very small mouthfuls of water once or twice during the workout.  I had to ask Jon to help me take my shirt off for my shower, because I couldn't pull it off with my left arm- could hardly wash my hair because I couldn't raise it above my shoulder height. 

My legs are really sore, and I know I'm complaining, but I also know that its a good pain.  Or at least it will be once I go stretch out really good before bed.  :)  I just don't want to kill myself getting into better shape.  I want this to be something I continually do- not something I burn out on really easily.  I laid on the bed after my shower, and ended up falling asleep, which I can't keep doing, unless I drag my mother to Korea with us!  That's another reason I'm cutting the workouts short.  I was basically useless for almost 1 1/2 hours, although I did nurse the baby, and we both napped.  So I guess I wasn't completely useless! :P 

We ventured out to the teeny tiny post office for some stamps, and stopped at the Native American shop that I've always wanted to browse in.  Jon bought me a pretty silver and crystal ring, and I bought a beautiful blue scarf for Pat.  A green one for myself, and an ankle bracelet.  Very reasonable prices, seeing as how this is the off season, and its a really small town. 

And now its time to play pinochle with my parents and Jon!
More later!

Day 1

Off to a somewhat rockier start than I wanted, but still, everything is done that I really, really wanted to do.  I was in the local ER last night until 1130, due to a dog bite ( more info to come in a later post), and was too wired to go straight to bed. D'Oh!  I completely forgot to set an alarm, so I woke up at 0810.  I started with my Bible reading and P31 study, had breakfast, helped J do his schoolwork (and we are loving the 10 drawer rolling cart I bought- he gets a kick out of stacking the finished stuff on top), then it was time for P90X.
Chest and back plus ab ripper x.
 I. AM. JELLO.
 But, I worked my way through the whole thing, occasionally sitting some out or trying a different way.  I don't have a chin-up bar, and the bands don't work so well for some routines.  My arms were so weak halfway through that I could only do 1-2 of each type of push-up, but hey, I haven't done push-ups since high school!  Jon says I am dehydrated, cause I was getting nauseous halfway through, and kept stopping for a few seconds so that I wouldn't throw up.  I think it had more to do with the water breaks it says to take!

Anyhow, I'm off to record my food intake so far, nurse the baby and then head out to take care of some stuff at Fort Drum.