You might be a military spouse if...

You might be a military spouse if...

...You live on your own, by yourself more after you're married than before you were married.

...You know all of your husband's coworkers by their last name, and rarely know their first name or even gender.

...Your husband's work and dress clothes cost more than yours do.

...You only write in pencil because EVERYTHING is subject to change.

...You know that a 2 month separation IS short, no matter what your civilian friends say.

...You have enough camouflage in your house to wallpaper the White House.

...You don't bat an eyelash at 22:45 and 0300 duty times.

...You are asked to stop talking in acronyms and translate it all to English.

...You've done more oil changes than your spouse, and even when your husband is home the mechanic asks to speak with you.

...You ask someone to hold on a second by saying, "Stand by."

...Military homecomings on TV bring tears to your eyes because you can relate so well.

...You've ever checked your email multiple times an hour in hopes your spouse has written you, and know how horrible email being "down" is.

...You wouldn't dream going anywhere without your cellphone, and all your other numbers forward to it.

...You've researched ways to surgically attach your cellphone to yourself.

...If you have a power of attorney, USE it, and freak out when it expires.

...If you know that not everyone accepts a power of attorney, despite the fact it gives you permission to practically BE your spouse.

...If you've ever argued that fact with someone in person or over the phone and gotten nowhere.

...Your husband spends more time getting ready for a formal function than you do, and on an average day spends way too much time ironing, polishing shoes, and shaping his beret.

...You can literally hold down the fort while your spouse is deployed or in the field.

...You know that 'dependant' means anything but.

…the floorboard of your car is littered with french fries, yellow foam earplugs and chem lights.

…you’ve shopped in the Class Six while being noticeably pregnant and explained to the unfazed clerk that you’re “just buying stuff for my husband.”

…you lean to the right while driving on post so the MP’s won’t see you talking on your cell phone.

…you’ve ever wished your husband would get the Medal of Honor so you could get front row parking.

…you know better than to shop the Commissary on the first or fifteenth day of the month.

…you have a “favorite gate guard.”

…you don’t feed your kids before FRG meetings but plan to let them fill up on brownies and Sprite once they get there.

…you watch “Army Wives” just to yell at the TV whenever something is unrealistic.

…you’ve ever stopped your husband on the way to work because of pair of your panties was stuck to his velcro.

…you plan a special day because of the words “Case Lot Sale.”

…you’ve ever had a nightmare that involved not knowing ”your sponsor’s last four.”

…you know all the words to “Blood on the Risers” but still cringe when you hear it.

…you save an especially stinky shirt to get you through a deployment

…you think the only thing sexier than ACU’s on a man are ACU’s off a man.

…your sentences start containing more [acronyms] and numbers than actual words.

…you refer to everyone not in the military or dating someone in the military as a Civilian, you can rattle off the time in perfect military time without having to think.

…you start referring to all girls & women as “females”

…you tell the timeline of your past through deployments.

…you think 6 months away from your husband is “not bad”

…you can’t remember the last four digits of your own social security #

…you constantly have to explain to businesses on the phone that your husband can’t call to fix the problem because he’s in the middle of a desert somewhere.

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I found this on a friend's blog and laughed out lout at these! Hope you enjoyed the laugh as much as I did! (But I admit, I have to do the math to figure out military time!)

A little of everything...

What a full month we've had. Let me start by saying how thankful we are to live in an era that appreciates its service members. Every time I am thanked for my service I am taken aback because I am not in the service, my husband is. But on a regular basis people tell me how much they appreciate my willingness to let my husband serve our country. I know the wives of Vietnam vets had a completely different experience and for that, I am so sorry. I wish things were different. They served in even more difficult times, times without internet connections and DSN phone lines. They really had to serve in ways I never will. I am thankful I am a military wife during this particular time.

The community around Colorado Springs is especially sensitive to the needs of military families as we have 5 military installations located here. One of the many organizations that has taken time to give back to the military is Operation Military Kids. One of the ways they reach out is by hosting a Night in the Museum at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We arrived after the Museum had closed and picked our sleeping spots. (This picture is of the boys viewing a HUGE dinosaur skeleton at night, while the rest of the world slept... it was much later than our normal bedtimes!)

Then we had a four different "activities" that gave us hands on opportunities to learn. (This one is the boys learning how to heat an MRE... Matt said these are Meals Reluctant to Exit (although their technical name is Meals Ready to Eat.) I think my boys' favorite was the Planetarium where we got got to "fly" from the museum to Afghanistan! It made us all a bit queasy as it felt SO real, and then while we were in "space" we actually flew THROUGH Mars. Bailey LOVED that!

We slept in the Space Odyssey Exhibition and felt quite a bit like we had lived through yet another youth group lock-in! But it was fun nonetheless! (This picture shows the "room" we turned into our bunkhouse before we unpacked...) (This picture shows the same room from the back corner after we unpacked. I placed our suitcases near the door to make a "door.")

Changing subjects and going back in time a week we had one of our biggest medical emergencies as of yet. Many of you remember Hayden busting his head open when he was 3 and getting 5 stitches, poor guy. Most of you will remember Bailey's bike crash a few months ago that really scared me. Now Carson has had his turn at reminding me that I am the mother to three very active boys. He was riding his bike on the sidewalk from home to the park (they are not allowed to ride in the street without me outside with them). The park is one unit away and behind all the houses so the most dangerous part is riding on the sidewalk toward the park... mostly a safe trip. Well, a lady was walking her dog on the sidewalk (how dare her!! Just kidding. Pedestrians have the right of way and bikes aren't supposed to be on the sidewalk... I know, I know.) Carson swerved to get in the grass but his front tire went into a small groove between the sidewalk and the grass. Not sure exactly what happened but he busted his mouth on the handlebars and knocked out his front tooth. (This is his first lost tooth but at least we found it later!!) He came home screaming and as I heard he enter the house I knew that it wasn't a small injury. I met him at the door and blood was everywhere, as mouth/head injuries produce absurd amounts of the red stuff. Fortunately the floor plan of this house has a bathroom place right by the garage door and we were right there at the sink. I tried my best to settle the little guy but he was screaming in pain. I tried my best to keep him from seeing his mouth and all the blood and did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. Once he was rinsed and had soft paper towels stopping up the blood I went back out to find the tooth. There was blood all over the sidewalk and I later had to clean it up. (BBC was going to come clean it but they couldn't find it. How in the world they missed it, I'm not sure. But it took some Peroxide and an old toothbrush to get it cleaned up.)

Anyway, I called the boys' dentist and the receptionist answered. She tried to get in touch with the hygienist or dentist but they had all gone home. While I was on the phone Matt arrived which was great: he was able to snuggle Carson who was no longer screaming but was still crying. It was too hard for me to hear the receptionist while Carson was crying so it was really perfect timing. Poor Matt had to come home to chaos that night! The receptionist gave me some tips for taking care of him and told me if I was uncomfortable I could take him to the ER. We hung up and I was debating on taking him in when the phone rang. She called back to let me know that she had eventually heard back from the dentist who was already on her way home. She wanted me to have the option to bring him in right away and of course, I needed to do that. 15 minutes later Carson was in the chair having X-rays taken of his mouth. I was so pleased that she was willing to do this! I was even MORE pleased that back in April I had changed dentists and the boys all had taken X-rays there so she had something to compare the new ones to.

After cleaning his mouth and examining him, she sent him with the receptionist (who stuck around to be an extra set of hands) and she talked to me. She really felt like he could use stitches but thought it would be a good idea to wait 24 hours to see how well his mouth would heal on its own. She sent me home with all sorts of things to clean and medicate the wound with, as well as instructions on how to do that. Carson had stopped crying by the time we left for the dentist and he never even whimpered while she was digging around in his mouth! She could not believe how tough he was! 20 hours later we went back in and she was ABSOLUTELY AMAZED at how much he had healed. He did not need stitches and she just wanted me to continue treating his wound and having him eat only soft foods for a week. This past week we went in for his 3 week check-up and she was completely convinced we had made the right choice. His mouth looks great and as far as we can tell, there are no tooth fragments in his gums. (To explain exactly what happened when he knocked his tooth out, notice the tooth below. It still had live roots attached, and was at least 6 months away from coming out on its own. He probably knocked it up and it hit the adult tooth. It came straight out through the gums making an incision all the way up to where his top lip is attached to his gums. Looking back I could see that he HAD to have been in severe pain! When I got my wisdom teeth removed I had them completely put me under and my 6 year old had this done in one split second with no pain relief!)

I've had some people ask me if I could have had them put it back in and the dentist said it was not a good idea with a baby tooth. An adult tooth, yes. I would have put it in milk and they would have done that. But not a baby tooth.

(This was the syringe I used to clean his wound several times a day with salt water.) Bailey in the background glad it's Carson about to be worked on and not himself!) Carson would lie perfectly still while I worked on him! Again, a tough little guy! And here's the cutie with a swollen top lip! Missing a tooth!

And a final note to update you on our little one. I had my 12 week appointment this week and it was SO neat to see our fourth child moving around. He/she was very active and adorable! It should not surprise me to see this child go from shrimp-like to human-like in a few short weeks, but it never fails to amaze me. He/she was sucking on a hand, and kicking around. I can't wait to start feeling him/her, but more than that, I can't wait to be able to officially call this child a him/her. The anticipation is fun, but I know I won't be able to wait until March to know if we're having a Parker or an Anna. Unless, of course, this child is as modest as Hayden was and refuses to show us what we want to see! Seeing our child made this a bit more real! We are excited and are thankful (almost) everything is going along well. The "almost" refers to the fact that I failed the one-hour glucose test and will have to go this week for the three-hour one. While I don't look forward to this, I will sit in a waiting room sans kids for 3 hours reading. As a mother, I must admit it sounds kind of relaxing.

Okay, so I said that last one was a final note, but there's one more note...

We're going to Disney World!

I have always wanted to take the boys there while they are still of the magical age, but never thought it would be possible. Well, thanks to Disney for having amazing military deals on 5-day park hopper passes and to Melissa, our travel agent, who got us a hotel/food package for less than half what it would have been otherwise! I can't believe this is happening, but I am thankful it is!

A friend from high school suggests letting family and friends who would have purchased Christmas gifts for the boys give us "Disney Dollars" so the boys can each buy a souvenir. I thought that was a great idea. Only problem is, we're going in November, before Christmas, so I'm not sure this will happen! But it's a great idea, anyway!

Well, off to make lunch for my stinky boys! They've been out playing on the playground... mmmm... yummy.

* Upcoming post *

Here is the "upcoming post" as I mentioned at the bottom of the previous one that discusses our next assignment. :)

I have had so much fun in the state of Colorado observing wild life. We have seen elk, rams, deer, and plenty of ground hogs, moles, and prairie dogs. But I really wanted to see a bear! Not in the zoo, anyone can see a bear in the zoo. Many of my friends have had bears visit them at their house, even having them peek in their windows. While I don't want to be in danger, nor do I want to put my family in danger, I would LOVE to see a wild bear just roaming around. I even joked that I didn't want to move from here until I got to see that bear.

Well, in early June we were driving home going South on 115. (For those of you who are familiar with Colorado Springs, we were on Nevada/115 leaving downtown. We had just passed Southgate on our left and were coming up on the Myron Stratton Home.) Just as we passed the Home, I saw a bear on the right hand side of the street. I about jumped out of my seat, which was not good, as I was the driver! But I pointed and yelled for everyone to look! As we passed it, we noticed it crossing the street behind us. I made a u-turn and headed back toward him (now facing toward downtown).

The bear walked to the entrance of the Home and climbed over the fence, while just 3 feet to the left was the wide open drive way. (Not the smartest bear in the wild.) We followed him for about 15 minutes and I got some very poor quality videos. He came within about 5 feet of the front of my van, making Matt a bit nervous since I had my window down.

On the way home from this momentous experience I said, "We can move now." Strangely enough, I really meant it. While I love Colorado, I really do feel like I am ready to move on.

The next few weeks brought us to the point where we needed to get CO drivers' licenses and tags. We began one of the most annoying aspects of the nomadic lifestyle and it was quite painful, requiring several trips to the MP station for VIN verification and then to the license offices. But in the end, we left with new tags and licenses on the way. Here, they mail you the actual driver's license and you use your old one (that they punch a hole in) along with a printed piece of paper in the meantime. Matt's comment during this very annoying ordeal was, "Just watch...as soon as we get this process completed we'll get orders.

A couple of weeks later, on June 30th I had one of our New Life friends' kids for a couple of nights. In order to keep everyone entertained the boys and I went out to the motor pool to climb in and on all the bradleys and humvees that belong to 4-10. I grabbed the mail on the way out the door and flipped through it. THEY HAD ARRIVED! Our official, COLORADO driver's licenses! When we got to the motor pool the first thing I did was give Matt's his to inspect his picture (you know you do that too!). He glanced at it and then said, "You wanna know where we're going next?!?!?" First of all, I was DYING to know! When he told me Germany I could NOT believe it! This is what we had wanted all along! We really want to see as much of the world as the Army will allow (except for certain parts of the Middle East, at least for a while). Living in Germany will provide our boys amazing educational opportunities that don't "feel" educational at all! They'll get to see where major world events took place...and honestly, I want to see these places. (I must say, they're mostly excited about LegoLand, but we'll work on that!) What was so interesting was that, just as Matt had joked, we got the word about our move on the day we got our licenses!

We waited about a week before we told anyone. We were hoping to get some more information as to when/where. But eventually we needed to share this so our families could begin to get used to the idea. (And we want them to start saving so they can come visit us!)

Fast forward a few weeks and we still didn't have information, but we were told that someone here wants Matt to stay on with 4-1o for the next deployment. This deflated our excitement to a degree, but we kept trying to keep our hopes up. There are definitely pros and cons to both options. I may list them, if I have the time.

And now to today, August 12, 2009, we're still at the point where we are keeping our fingers crossed. We would like to report to Germany on or around December 3rd. This MIGHT just allow us a very quick visit back to NC before flying out. (If so, this visit most likely not be a whirlwind of activity as our previous visits have been, but we'll try to lay low and relax as much as possible.) After as much research as one can do without knowing which unit he'd be sent to, Matt thinks the earliest he'd deploy would be May 2010. That means our baby would be about 8 weeks old when he deployed, IF he deployed soon. Still a slim chance we could get over there to a unit that didn't deploy for a year or so.

However, we're still hearing that "they" want to keep Matt here. If that is the case, he'd deploy in March, same month the baby is due. Maybe even before he/she arrives.

If this happens, we'll look at the positive note: we love Colorado and at least the boys and I are happy in this neighborhood; we would get to continue going to New Life, a place that feels like home to us; several of my New Life friends have vowed to help me take care of the older boys a little bit in the weeks after the baby comes...THIS will be huge!!; and the #1 reason we could keep our chin up?!? Deployment means extra income and we would KILL our debt! We could be calling Dave Ramsey to give our FREEDOM SCREAM sooner than we ever expected! (Stupid Student Loan, bye-bye!!! - also known as albatross of debt!).

But as you probably know, our hearts are really set toward going to Germany. As an adventurous family, one who loves to travel, Germany would offer us the chance of a lifetime to visit MANY countries in just a few hour's drive. I plan to take the boys to see the Ann Frank House. I have always been fascinated with how people can follow a monster like Hitler, so I want to teach the boys (on their appropriate levels, of course) about Auschwitz and how following any MAN the way one is supposed to follow God leads to destruction. On a lighter note, I want to take the boys to Austria to show parts of where The Sound of Music was filmed. I want my boys to witness the lifestyles of other cultures, the stuff that makes our world so colorful! To experience the German culture by being there and interacting (especially if we end up living off post) with German neighbors... Some German culture is simple to learn, like, if you order water at a restaurant it will have "bubbles." Meaning, it is plain soda water. If I want regular water, I may or may not get it, but I ask for it by saying (in English until I learn German), "water, no bubbles." (This lesson was given to me by a neighbor who IS German!) Other cultural considerations will be more difficult to discover. Growing up in America, the word "German" was synonymous with "Hitler" or "Schindler's List." I don't think that's exactly what the German people would like to be remembered for. But these are the kinds of things I want to learn, to experience, and to offer to my children. If we get the blessing of living there, they will, of course, learn the history of Nazi Germany, but they will KNOW the beauty of the country and the people as they are today.

Or, we could stay in Colorado for another few years.

My heart is really trying to stay objective on this. I know what it's like to force God's hand in order to get what I want...say, a big, pretty, yellow house. But I've also experience the consequences of doing so. (Losing MONEY at the sale of the house just to be done with it.) I'd rather face the immediate and relatively minor disappointment of not getting to go than FORCE God's hand and suffer the unbearable consequences of disobedience.

So, if you have made it this far in my wordy blog entry, please join us in prayer that Matt and I will gladly accept God's will for our next assignment, even if it is disappointing. (But I also don't think it hurts to pray for what we want, and we want to go to Germany, so we're praying for both! Germany, but for a peace regardless of whichever way the orders send us.)

Three Big Brothers? Becoming a reality!

We began this blog as a way to journal our adoption journey. Several months ago we felt God clearly closing all the doors that led to adoption. We were very saddened over this, but maybe even more than sad, confused as to why we have this desire in our hearts just to find that it is not for us. The best consolation I could find was that we are all adopted and given an absolute place in the Kingdom of Heaven even though we personally did nothing to “deserve” it. We are each chosen by the King Himself. I would love to say that we were able to choose all of our children because of the amazing qualities I see in each of them, but instead, God saw each of us and put our family together just as He saw fit. And I believe God saw deep into our hearts and knew how to fill the desires there! It is with greatest joy that I announce that my three sons are going to be BIG BROTHERS!! (Okay, so most of you are saying OLD NEWS. Well, that's because I wrote this before we had announced this but haven't made time to post!) As we enter into this fourth pregnancy we do so in a much different place than when we entered the first three. For one, we are not having three babies within the next 3 years, as far as we know! That alone will make this time a bit easier! And two, these three boys are amazingly helpful and independent. They are very excited and I can imagine they will be a great help. And for a third main difference, we are Army now and I have no idea where I will deliver this child. My best guess is somewhere in Germany!

Now, to tell you the fun story of how I shared the news with Matt: On Saturday, July 11^th Matt helped some friends move into a new home. I had the boys all day for a fun set of adventures, including the Olympic Training Center and Focus on the Family. After all that fun stuff the boys and I headed home. On the way I stopped at the Dollar store and purchased a pregnancy test (yes, they sell them and yes, they are accurate). I got the boys home and down for a nap and could barely wait to get that test taken. I have seen my share of negative tests so on some levels I expected it to be negative. When I saw the evaporation line go past where the “Positive” line would be I immediately wrote it off as another negative. I waited about 30 more seconds and checked back to see TWO BEAUTIFUL LINES!!

(Yes, I took a picture!) I couldn’t believe it! I had to re-read the package to make sure I was seeing the right thing and snapped that shot so I could prove it to myself and to Matt later. Let’s just say the next few hours of keeping my secret were quite difficult!

That evening we had planned on taking the boys to the Dollar Theater (do you see a recurring theme, here?) to watch Hannah Montana. Pretty cute movie, I must say! After we left there I had to twist Matt’s arm to go to Outback (okay, maybe he was easy to convince) for a Bloomin’ Onion and Salad meal. This is our cheap way to go out nice…we share an onion and salad. I gave Matt his gift which happened to be a baby girl’s bathing suit I had found at the Dollar store…theme continued!

The waiter witnessed this, but we were in our own world and didn’t realize this till later. Matt just grinned and I got some pictures, mostly of Matt with his eyes shut!

During the meal we found the waiter to be extra nice, bringing Matt an extra salad at no charge and then he brought the boys an ice cream sundae, again, at no charge.

It was not till later that we realized he had been there when Matt opened the present and had probably even noticed me taking pictures (who can miss the Nikon?!?). No wonder he was being so nice! On the way home I played a song I had downloaded for Matt. I think it’s called “King of the World,” by Point of Grace. From the point of a daughter telling her dad that if she is his princess he must be king of the world!

(These are of the boys at Outback!)

So let me say this regarding the gender of this child… J We both would really love to have a daughter. We have the privilege of raising three mighty men of God and would love the opportunity to raise a daughter of the King. However, we both know that there our chances are just about 52/48...52 girl/48 boy (and yes, I researched that!) so pretty much 50/50. And if we end up having a fourth son, we will count ourselves among the few who are blessed with 4-of-a-kind set of children and will accept the challenge of raising four amazing men!

As for names, I am intrigued by the always-present debate as to whether or not to tell people the names parents-to-be have selected. Some people are afraid others will either steal the names or express their dislike of them. Well, Matt and I really don’t care what others think so we will share the names we have picked out! Take ‘em if you want, but that won’t stop us from using them!! Like ‘em or not… but if the latter, feel free to keep that to yourself! J

So, to wrap this entry up, we will be moving to Germany* sometime in the winter and welcoming either Anna Caroline or Parker Madison into our family sometime in March! One interesting thing I am sure of is the due date: March 18^th, 2010! Bailey’s 6^th Birthday!

*See upcoming post.

You learn something new every day, right?!?

Well if that's true, then today I learned that Bailey has not mastered the brakes on his bicycle. During my run this afternoon we headed out of our neighborhood onto the trails. All three boys wanted to go to the 'big hill' and so that's the direction we took. At the top of the hill I could see the excitement in the eyes of my three boys! They could see down the other side which is quite steep. I decided to use my head and think of possible catastrophes. My best solution to avoid any catastrophes was to stagger their descent. I let Hayden go first, and he was down in no time, waiting for us at the bottom near the exercise equipment. Carson was next and bless his heart, he stayed in complete control the entire time. Almost the point where I wanted to yell and give him permission to go a little faster. And then it was Bailey's turn.

Now, for those of you who live here at Fort Carson and run these trails, you know that this particular hill (right across the street from Cheyenne Mountain State Park) is a steep, speed-gathering hill. You also know that it has a slight flattening about 1/3 of the way down and then drops down farther. Kind of reminds me of a roller coaster when thinking about it, though that's never what I'm thinking when I'm running it. Well, Bailey stayed in control during that first part of the hill, and I was keeping pace beside him. And then he hit that second part. Before long I noticed he was picking up serious speed and got worried...and then I saw his front tire wobbling back and forth, just before he crashed. This was the kind of crash you see on TV, cringe, and then say, "Shew, glad that's on TV." But this time I was really there and this was happening to my baby. I sprinted to him praying that simple prayer - the only one that would come. "OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD!" It eventually turned to "HELP MY BABY, HELP MY BABY!' He was not moving, though he was screaming. When I got there I tried to keep him from getting up so I could check him out. He was having none of that, but he really couldn't control his movements, and his right arm was having spasms. He wanted to stand but his legs were like rubber. I forced him to sit on my lap for a few minutes so I could check him out. As far as I could tell there was nothing broken and the only blood was coming from skinned places. All his teeth were intact, though they were sharing the space with a lot of dirt and gravel. He was wearing a good-fitting helmet (glad we had one fitted for his head!) and he was responsive. In fact, in the midst of his screaming he kept saying, "I'm hungry!!" Poor guy!

When he had settled and I was sure he was in no immediate danger, I asked if he wanted to try to stand up. He was able to, though he didn't do so for long. Both of his brothers had dropped their bikes and ran back up the hill to see if he was okay...Hayden was actually getting in MY way and I had to shoo him away a few times. (Looking back, that's pretty sweet of him...I will tell him that tomorrow!) So when Bailey sat back down I walked back down to with Hayden and Carson to where they had dropped their bikes. This was to kind of give Bailey a few moments to compose himself. When we got back I reminded him of our family rule: If you fall off a bike, you gotta get back on and ride one more time. While he was not fond of this idea, he was a trooper! I walked the bike back up to the top of that second hill and made him ride. I taught him how to press hard on the brakes to keep control of the bike. He was not doing great, but he was getting the idea. We finally reached the bottom (much slower than we did the first time) and then turned to walk back up.

When we got to the top, we still had to go back down the side that is closer to our house. Fortunately it is not nearly as steep and it is curvy. I am SO PROUD of him because he kept complete control and stayed beside me the whole time. Yes, he was crying, but I was able to walk beside him as he rode! And when he reached the bottom he took off and was pretty much fine...aside from crying for Daddy!!

I was thankful I had my phone, though I didn't really need it. The thought always crosses my mind that if don't have it and there's an emergency I'd be stuck.

When he crashed he didn't quite go over his handlebars, but he did end up in front of his bike and he rolled about 4 times before sliding a long way to a stop. On the way back up the hill the last time I counted the paces from where I sat with him for several minutes to the very first tire out-of-control tire track and it was about 20 of my paces. That's a pretty far distance for him to roll and slide.

When we got home I cleaned up his wounds and gave him some Motrin. I can imagine that he's pretty sore. He is very fortunate that he prefers to wear jeans because they protected his legs very well. Most of his scrapes are on his arms, a few on his back and face. And of course, I took pictures. He fell asleep on my bed while I was getting ready to go out with a friend (GIRL'S NIGHT!!!) which sort of worried me. I was fortunate, however, that this friend of mine is a nurse. So I had her inspect him for signs of a concussion. He was just fine, but probably a bit traumatized from the day's events.

Turns out after all that crying about being hungry he had no appetite for dinner. I left him with Matt while I enjoyed Greek cuisine with a friend PCSing soon, so I'm not sure if he ever ate. I am, however, sitting in his room (at 1:20 AM) because I needed reassurance that he's fine. He is! Sleeping soundly while I type away...I'm awake because I enjoyed a yummy cup of coffee at oh-late-thirty!!

So today I learned that Bailey had not mastered the brakes and then I learned he had the tenacity to get back up on the bike and try again, even facing the very hill that had beaten him to a pulp. I am sure there's a lesson in there for adults...

We're potty-training again!!!

No, I don't mean we have a toddler in the house learning to use the bathroom instead of a diaper. I'm talking about something I should have done LONG ago... Let me explain.

For the past several months I've noticed that my three sons REFUSE to flush the toilet. At least 4 times a day I walk into one of our three bathrooms only to find a yellow surprise! (Sometimes there's more than a yellow surprise, which REALLY makes me cringe!) Well, today I reached my limit. I decided that any time I found unflushed urine one of my boys was going to clean the toilet. Not just come in and flush (that trick didn't work). I decided this would be a rotating experience, starting with Hayden. I knew that within one day all three would have the opportunity to learn this skill.

Well, before we left for chapel this morning I found my first surprise. I called Hayden in and gave him the 5 minute lesson... He cleaned the toilet the way I would: every inch, including the floor around. I made sure he even learned how to spray the cleaner correctly... several inches away with a sweeping motion. Let's say he KNOWS how to do it the right way. I wonder how many more times he'll have to.

Soon after we got home from Rangers this evening, TWO toilets had yellow surprises in them. I took Carson and Bailey into one of the bathrooms and made Bailey clean and Carson watch. After Bailey finished I had Carson move to the other bathroom and work.

I can't wait to see if we have to repeat this tomorrow, but let me tell you... boys ages 8, 6, and 5 ABSOLUTELY CAN clean toilets. Don't let them fool you any longer!

(Oh, and as encouragement for those of you out there who are really potty-training toddlers, hang in there. Before you know it you'll be teaching them how to clean that toilet, working yourself right out of a job!)

A Success...

Matt and I began Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University about a month ago.  Let me say, we're LOVING it!  I did not think I could do the "envelope system" so for years, we tried to do things our own way.  The last 2 years we have worked off a lot of debt, but now we're ready to kick it into high gear.  We've learned so much and are really enjoying this!  I highly recommend ANYONE take this class!  

One of the decisions we made this year to save money was to NOT go to PicturePeople for our annual photos.  A those of you who know me well might understand, this was a tough decision.  I tried to work my angle, tried to get a friend to take the pics (but she PCS'ed before we got around to it), but nothing seemed to be working.  So, I decided to take my family to the park and get the pics myself.  

I figured that at the most we would have spent was a few hours in dressy clothes at a park.  And we might just get a few good shots.  

So, on 22 MAY we dressed up in our Easter clothes and headed to our park here on post.  We had a blast and got a bunch of good shots.  I was planning on taking them to Memorial park later that night (it has a lake and sandy beaches) but it was raining.  But the next morning the weather cooperated.  We headed out in the same dressy clothes and I did my 'thang.'  I have put all the pics on my facebook, if you're interested in seeing them.

The 11x13's arrived yesterday and I have spotted a few minor errors, things I would change if I could go back to the day of.  But I am allowing myself some room for error, as that was my first attempt at taking our own photos.  

Saved us a BUNDLE!!!!

The only thing I want to do now is learn Photoshop and Lightroom.  I can do very basic editing, but would like to learn more...

So, success in more ways than one:  I took our family photos myself, and we're working on paying off one last student loan!  God has taught us so much during our financial difficulties (including our own mistakes).  We are thankful for those lessons learned and are teaching our kids how to avoid those pitfalls early!  (We have Financial Peace, Jr. and are using it with them faithfully!)

Off to the YMCA!  Another blessing the Lord has given us for FREE!  Thanks to the YMCA for providing some military memberships!!