German Breakfast

I mentioned before that the outlaws bring us a German breakfast each Saturday--brotchen, bierschinken, German pastries, and pretzels for the kids. Junior knows as soon as the box and bags arrive that there is a pretzel and he runs and asks for it. I can never get it to him fast enough! This morning the pretzels were larger than normal and reminded me of Germany.

45 minutes later and Junior has given up on eating the pretzel. He brought back a pretzel in shreds and tole me it was "tooooo big".

I *heart* FLY

Em's new pen is great. I am half tempted to get one for Abs for her birthday. Abbie has a fine motor skill delay and attends OT after her PT each week (and I can't find the address of the girl that asked me about that, but Abs is what they consider a "low tone kid". She just didn't develop her muscles, although you could never tell from looking). Anyway, she has to practice her handwriting which she hates since it is difficult for her. Em let her try out her FLY pen and Abs is now penning a letter to her dad. We can hook the pen up to the computer, it will gather the info, we can select to change it into type or send it in her handwriting, and email it off!

Oh, and the only reason that Em loaned out her FLY pen is because she wanted to get her hands on Abbie's Diji. Junior is in the crib protesting having to take a nap, and I am on a tossing rampage still. I just finished a bowl of Oma's german potato salad for lunch. She made me a huge bowl of it for Christmas--maybe she's not so bad after all. I would love for her to learn to say my name correctly though, I mean I did marry her son 14 years ago.

This morning we had to go get Ab's prescriptions and take them to get filled. I love to go to Sam's because their pharmacy is fast, but they were out of one of her medications. We did peruse the aisles looking for Christmas deals, but I controlled myself and didn't go overboard. I am seriously working on the 1,000 of white tissue paper for $2.50 that I got there almost three years ago.

We were walking by the meat aisle and I was looking for lamb chops. Em chose to remind me that she had decided to become a vegetarian--she hasn't had meat since yesterday. Then Abs decided she wanted to be a vegetarian and so I had them name off vegetables that they would eat. My food budget should drop dramatically for one or two days until they start eating meat again. I guess at least this would prevent Abs from having access to bones that she could save...

Scrooge & Bones

Yes, our Christmas tree is down, loaded into the garage, and all I need to do is vacuum. Our neighbor, Megan at Fort Lewis, used to call me Scrooge because I wouldn't leave the tree up. I love Christmas, but our house is so small and it takes up so much room. We still have one more Christmas celebration at my mom's house on Sunday.

Since I was cleaning up the Christmas stuff, I got on a roll and while the kids were playing with their new toys. I am a stacker by nature, and come by it honestly on my mother's side. It's bad. I decided it was time to file and sort and toss. I found Ab's backpack from last school year hidden in the corner behind some boxes.

I started to clean out her backpack (the nice one we got her in Hawaii before Gunner deployed) and found all of her missing socks...dirty of course. I found tons of scraps of paper, broken pencils, hair pretties, rocks, and then I reached in a pocket and pulled out a bone. I kind of freaked out for a bit, and then sat there looking at it.

It's a bone from a t-bone steak. One that is dried out. I'm sure she found it outside at BLORA this summer, and that's what I get for not cleaning out her backpack sooner. I'm totally disgusted. I might need to clean her room tomorrow and make sure she isn't hiding anything else out in there. I guess at least it wasn't a human bone....

Merry Christmas!

Looks like a lot of presents, but I bought a tree that you can't put much underneath, so it all sticks out.

Probably the only year he will be excited about toothpaste.

Ab's big present. I found a great deal on these, for half the price at the px, plus a game and $20 off! Woohoo!

Em didn't pose for any pictures, but she was happy with her Fly Pen. (Another great deal I found--woohoo!)

My mom came over for presents, and we were waiting for the outlaws to bring over dinner like they said, but so far it has been an hour and they haven't called or anything, so I guess we will eat Christmas dinner here. Not a big deal, and less drama that way!

....They showed up. It wasn't so bad. They stayed about 45 minutes to an hour and then left. Gunner called last night and today and will call again tonight when we don't have all the hoopla to interrupt our conversation. His Christmas was uneventful, but he did talk to the kids and so that made him smile.

I'm ready for a nap......

Look What I found...

I finally uploaded some pictures and videos that I had on my camera. I found this video that I shot of Abs right after I found half the house flooded. I wanted her to explain to her dad why everything was wet. She looks kind of homeless since she hadn't brushed her hair yet, and she was sleeping in one of Gunner's brown t-shirts.

And this my friends, is my daughter Abs....live...how can you not love this face?

Christmas Eve

I cleaned today. The maid hasn't been able to come in three weeks and it is killing me!

I wrapped presents. Still have Santa ones to do, but we are halfway there.

Junior and I ventured out to the mall with 25 million other people. I checked out kaybee toys, since they are going out of business, but didn't see anything my kids needed. I look at everything now with the idea of "do I really want to pick this up when it is all over the floor?" and then I put it back.

We hit Steve and Barry's since it is going out of business. They had tons of stuff for cheap, cheap, cheap. I got a pair of shorts for Junior, two tank tops for Em, two pajama pants for Em, a shirt for Abs, a shirt for me, and I think another shirt, for $10. You have to sort through all the stuff, so I didn't have time to look since Junior wasn't cooperating. There was a lot of stuff that wasn't very nice--as in I don't need to have a shirt advertising pot, or one that says "I have big nuts" or anything crazy like that. People were buying carts of stuff and so I anticipate that all of Killeen will be dressing the same and wearing the same 84 cent baseball caps. One of the guys told me that they were closing on Saturday so things would be even cheaper on Friday and Saturday. I think I'll pass.

I tried to go in a few more stores, but the lines were so outrageous that I just couldn't do it. Now I know why I do most of my shopping online except for the small stuff or a few specific items. I am not one to go peruse the mall looking for a gift, unless I know exactly what it is that I want.

We are watching The Chronicles of Narnia right now, and I am about to tuck Em, Abs and Junior into bed. More later.....

Christmas Eve Eve

Apparently in Em's book, this should be a holiday as well.

I took Junior and Abs to daycare today so Em and I could get some shopping done. While dropping off Abs, she heard that 5th grade was going to see a movie tomorrow and she wanted to go. I signed her up to go, which required three wild goose chases, and 2 phone calls. If you travel down Battallion here at Hood, rest assured that the numbers are not in order....ANY ORDER--Expect to go from building 125 to 190 to 368 all within two blocks.

I did get Em's respite care updated so she can go for free tomorrow. I planned to spend Christmas Eve with all the kiddos, all day, and now two want to go to daycare so Junior jumped on that bandwagon as well. Hmmmm....a day to myself? I'll take it, and I think I will go play catch up at school or something. I'll get Junior early and then we can do a few last minute purchases.

Em and I took Junior for a haircut today since he was starting to look really woolly. I got a high and tight, and it's just as cute as can be. Pictures to follow once I find my battery charger for my camera. The guy tried for about 5 minutes to get his cowlick under control and finally told me it was hopeless. Gives him personality.

I had dinner tonight with my FIL and BIL. I think Tom is overwhelmed when he spends time with the kids. Junior adores him, and he's really good with them. Tom got a strawberry on his dessert so he was going to divide it between Abs and Junior. He put it up to Junior and told him to take a bite. Junior inhaled the entire thing, stem and all.

I just realized that I started this yesterday, so it's a day late...probably a dollar short too!

Here we go again....

Abs was sitting on her bed playing her leappad and came out of her room and told me "I barfed".

Woohoo!

I went to checkout the damage and she got her leapad, her bed, the floor. Not very much.

While I was cleaning up the mess she returned with the biggest barf bucket she could find. She could probably give her brother a bath in it.

She is now in the tub singing opera, feeling better. I wonder if it was her deworming medicine?

Is the sick diet around the corner for all of us?

We got the Christmas tree put up, and it looks nice. It's a pre-lit tree, but I can't figure out how to get the top colored lights on. Who wants a tree that's totally lit anyway. It gives it personality.

No presents yet underneath it, but that's probably a good thing since Junior is way into presents now and thinks that they should all be for him. We have a Fisher Price little people nativity set under the tree and he thinks the baby is his cousin Wyatt. We put the tree up while Junior was napping and he didn't know what to think when he got up.

I finally watched Front of the Class, the Hallmark movie from several weeks ago. It was really good and made me want to teach 2nd grade--wait, I do, but my kids, well, are my kids. Great story though. I would like to think that I would be able to go forward and dream anything if I had that much negativity towards me, but who knows.

....several hours later and Abs is fine. We'll just chalk this up as one of those random times that she barfs. She actually does it quite a bit. My mom is coming over to get all three kids, I just need to feed them and dress them for bed. Done. Thank goodness they like oatmeal! I'll spend an exciting Saturday evening cleaning, sorting, folding laundry, and sleeping. You know, I used to be a more exciting person!

Gunner called the other night, but was hard at work after running missions. He sounded tired. He had gotten several Christmas boxes from some friends in Washington and my uncle in CA, and even one from his parents. During his first deployment, on clearance, I bought 24 stockings at Michael's for cheap, cheap, cheap. They are still sitting in my closet waiting to be used. Maybe the next deployment?

Abs tonight--she was upset because I told her she needed to go to her room until she was calm. She threw a fit, then as she was storming to her room we had this conversation:

Abs: Mommy?
Me: Yes?
Abs: Crown is spelled c-r-o-w-n.
Me: Okay, go to your room.
Abs: Remove the c and you have r-o-w-n.
Abs: Then add a f and you have f-r-o-w-n frown.
Me: Where are you going with this
Abs: Add an -ing and that's what I am doing right now. F-r-o-w-n-i-n-g. Frowning.

She then went to her room.

And how come the minute you run out of trash bags you manage to find millions of things to throw away? Probably the same reason that I was trying to be energy efficient and buy those super expensive lightbulbs that are so dangerous when they are broken. I discovered that they really don't fit in any of my light fixtures because they are too long.

Missing Gunner...

Deworming

Luckily Abs still goes to a civilian doctor, so my mom was able to convince them to call in a prescription for Ab's worm problem. I talked to the pharmacist and the doc put in a refill. Thank goodness. She said the worms probably didn't clear up from the first time since they only gave Abs one dose. Time will tell. I'm so grossed out, that I hope this is the last time we have to go through this.

I got an email from Ab's teacher today:

I’m sorry to inform you that I had to write Abs up this morning. While I was testing another student at my U table my students should have been finishing up their writing from Wednesday morning. During this time Abs chose to exclaim “Prepare for war!” She proceeded to throw a pencil at another student. The pencil hit the other student’s arm. Thankfully the other student is un-harmed.
I’m sorry that we had to start the morning this way. Expect a phone call from the office.

I shouldn't laugh, but I imagined it being totally quite, everyone hard at work, and "Prepare for war!" being yelled out by my daughter. She ended up getting D-hall during lunch. Maybe they should make that permanent since she wasn't there to cause a riot at the lunch table or ask people if certain words are part of the English language.

Remember the cupcakes that I went out for late at night? Well Em brought 9 of the 12 back. I told her she should have stood over her friends and made them eat all of them!

And Junior??? He thinks he is a cat--he meows and everything. I used to think I needed to breed like crazy to make sure the world is full of sane people--now I am thinking it is a good thing we stopped because maybe we are contributing to the problem?

Gunner's Children & the Poop Patrol

Junior is doing great with no binky. He did find one last night and sucked on it for a few minutes before Abs pried it from his mouth and gave it to me. He cried, but tonight there were no tears. He still says every once in a while that he needs one.

Em has been reminding me that she needed cupcakes for tonight. We had PT and OT tonight too, plus we were meeting the outlaws for dinner. So of course I forgot. Em came out at almost 9, after I just gotten Junior to bed. We loaded up everyone and ran to the store.

It's 9:30 at night and Abs comes out because her bottom itches. So I take a look, like every good mother would. The girl has freaking worms AGAIN. Are you kidding me???? Can this really be happening???? So I think since my first day off of school is on Monday, I will add going to the doctor to the list of things to do. I could go to the er, but sitting in the er and catching the flu or something before Christmas doesn't sound like much fun. Until then, the poop patrol is back in business.

Ab's teacher emailed me on Tuesday to tell me that my daughter almost got a referral. Apparently at lunch she wanted to know if bi&$^ was a word. None of her friends would answer so she asked the aide. The aide replied that it was, but not a word she should be using. So Abs was content with that answer, and luckily the aide likes her and my daughter's teacher and the entire class, so she didn't write her up. Great.

We miss you Gunner!

Happy Anniversary Gunner!

Thanks for 14 years of love, children (well they started coming around year 3), chaos, PCSes, TDYs, togetherness, loneliness, laughter, tears, deployments, and reunions. I think we have covered all the emotions! I should have known when you were deployed for our FIRST anniversary, that it was a sign of things to come.

We have had 7 addresses in those 14 years, three kids, 3 big moves, 4 year long deployments, two trips to NTC (yeah, we lucked out the first 10 years we were married!), an endless number of field problems, and thousands of nights aparts.

It was by chance that we met, but by hard work, determination, and love that we are still together. No one can say marriage is easy, and I think it is twice as hard when you maintain it with one phone call a week.

I wouldn't trade Gunner for anything (remind me of that after he has been home for about 3 months and is leaving his dirty laundry everywhere!), and I can't wait to see what the next 20 years hold.

Why I hate Barnesandnoble.com

I have to teach about Hanukkah tomorrow and do a craft, etc. On the 12th I ordered some Hannukah books and paid $3o to have them sent two day express. I was supposed to have them yesterday, but when I checked the status, it showed that it wasn't even going to ship till Wednesday. I had to teach Wednesday morning, so that wasn't going to work.

I called B&N and told them that I selected for my items to ship as they were available, and that wasn't happening, so I wouldn't be able to use them and I wanted to cancel my order that wasn't going out till Wednesday (this was Monday).

Me: I want to cancel my order
Lisa: You can't, because it is too far along in the shipping process.
Me: Are you kidding me? It's not shipping for two more days.
Lisa: That's how it works.
Me: It's not a very efficient system.
Lisa: You are the one that signed up for all items to be held until they were ready for shipment.
Me: No I didn't, I wanted them shipped as soon as each item became available.
Lisa: Oh yeah, you're right.
Me: So I want to cancel my order.
Lisa: You can't, but you can refuse the shipment.
Me: I can't refuse the shipment because I will be teaching a unit on Hanukkah without books.
Lisa: Well you can ship it back to us and receive credit minus shipping.
Me: So you want me to pay to ship something back to you, after I paid $30 to have it shipped to me.
Lisa: Right.
Me: Well, I won't do it. You can credit my credit card for the shipping and then I will keep the books.
Lisa: I can't do that because you requested two day air and it cost $30.
Me: Well are they coming in two days?
Lisa: No
Me: Can I speak to your supervisor

Joelynn the supervisor: This is part of the management team how can I help you.
Me: I want my books, a refund, or my order cancelled today.
Joelynn: We can't cancel the order it is too far along in the shipping process.

This went on for a while, going around in circles and circles.

Me: How come you can't cancel my order?
Joelynn: Oh, I can do that, but I thought you wanted the books.
Me: Are you kidding me, I don't want anything from B&N.
Joelynn: I can cancel the order, it will ship and come back.
Me: Will I get a total refund including shipping. I can ship a package to my husband in Iraq for less and it will get there faster.
Joelynn: Yes.
Me: Including shipping?
Joelynn: I said yes.
Me: Can you put that in writing?
Joelynn: No, I can't do that.
Me: So how do I know you will do that.
Joelynn: Because I said I would.
Me: You and Lisa also told me over the course of an hour that I couldn't cancel my order.

This went on forever, and so supposedly my order will be cancelled and I will get a refund including my outrageous shipping charges. And this is why I will stick with ordering from Amazon.com. I'm sure this will be a battle, but I shouldn't be penalized for their mistake!

Houston, we have a problem...

I was down to two binkies. Somehow when Junior got up this morning he binky was missing and I couldn't find the other one stashed away. He cried this morning but didn't ask for it after daycare today, so I forgot....until now. My sweet baby boy is crying himself to sleep over a binky. I went in there to calm him down, covered him up with his fuffy, and then he asked me to please look for his binky. I told him they were all gone, and he started up again. I reminded him that he was a big boy, and he told me no "I a baby and I want my binky!". If you can use that many words, it's time for it to go! This is the same little tot that for the first 5 months of his life while Gunner was deployed, I rocked him in his carseat with my foot while one arm dangled off the bed and held his binky in because he couldn't figure it out. I was too tired then to fight him.

We had to run to Office Depot tonight in the freezing cold to get a toner cartridge for my copier. We get in there and Abs has to go to the bathroom. I send Emily along to monitor and I am working with the sales clerk to find the right cartridge while chasing Junior who has managed to poop. I am saddled with everyone's jackets and hats, my 500-lb purse and my list. Abs comes running out, so I get her to hold Junior's hand so I can pay for the cartridge. We are still waiting on Em to come back from the bathroom at this point, so I start to look at construction paper.

I'm perusing the construction paper and Abs is on the same aisle with Junior in tow. Twenty seconds later it is quiet and Abs is sitting on the floor alone reading a book. I couldn't find Junior anywhere. I round the corner after calling his name and hear all this giggling. The boy has put himself inside a backpack and is trying to hide. I drag him out, grab my cartridge, all the coats, hats and gloves, and then go back to get Abs who has decided that she wants to help again, but this time she wants to carry the construction paper.

By this point I am wondering why I didn't get a cart. I load Abs up with construction paper, grab Junior's hand, the coats, hats, gloves and my purse. Abs decides that the paper is too heavy and she would rather checkout the m&m display.

Thankfully Em appeared around this time, and I got her to take over Junior, and I wrestled Abs and my purchases up to the front. Em decides that this is the time to tell me that Abs found a bottle of air freshener in the bathroom. Apparently Abs got done before Em and washed her hands. Around that time Em heard all this noise and asked Abs what she was doing. According to Em the conversation went something like this:

Em: What are you doing?
Abs: Oh just freshening up the place a bit
Em: Do you have air freshener?
Abs: Duh
Em: You better put it down, mommy will be mad
Abs: She likes things to smell nice
Em: Not in a public bathroom
Abs: Whatever
Em: I'm telling
Abs: I stopped
Abs: The bottle is empty now
Abs exits the scene.

Em said the place smelled like a giant flower. Great. I apologized to the salesclerk, and headed out with everyone and everything.

I asked Abs about what happened once we hit the car.

Me: Abs, what happened in the bathroom
Abs: Did something happen in there?
Em: She's talking about the air freshener
Me: Em, let her talk
Abs: I don't recall anything special happening in there.
Em: You're lying Abs.
Me: Let me handle it Em.
Abs: Oh, you mean the bottle of air freshener that Em sprayed all over the bathroom even the mirrors?
Em: I did not
Abs: Well it wouldn't be me, I was trying to wash my hands. You know how those pre-teens can be mommy.

I then reminded everyone of proper bathroom etiquette and decided that I will not venture out in public again for the rest of this deployment.

Saturday

I got my delivery from Gunner today and I was totally surprised. Someone knocked at the door and Em peeked out and when I asked her who it was she told me "someone with flowers". I opened the door and received a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a sweet card for Gunner. He knows after almost 14 years how to melt my heart. Our anniversary is the 17th, and I can still say after 14 years that it just gets better and better, even if he is not here all the time. Who the heck am I kidding, he's not here most of the time. I still love him though.

I went to school today with my mom and the kids to decorate my bulletin board. We pieced something together, and I am just hoping that it will make it through the week. It's cute though, and very, very busy. I noticed when we went in that the door was open, so when we left I checked it and it was unlocked. I called a friend who told me she would track someone down. Two hours later someone was supposedly on the way when a MP pulled up. I went over to him and explained the situation and he said he would stay there until someone arrived. Junior was tired and the wind had about worn all of us out, plus we had no food. The last thing I wanted to do was to leave the school unsecured and be blamed if something happened, so I did my part.

Had dinner with my mom and the kids and then my mom took all three kids back to her house. I have to go over there and work before I pick them up and then run them to Girl Scouts tomorrow afternoon.

I still have a million 3-dimensional shapes to make, supplies to separate for my lesson and my big appraisal by the principal too. I'm nervous, but figure I have nothing to lose, plus it is the last week of classes before the Christmas holidays, so I am super excited about having two weeks off from school.

Off to bed after working on my lesson for my appraisal. I hope I did it right, and I hope I don't get too nervous! Wish me luck!!!

9 months

We've made it 9 months.

All three kids are still alive.

I still haven't given up diet coke. I also live on having a monster each afternoon. I don't hit the gym as much as I would like--okay honestly it hasn't been much at all since I started working, but I am hoping to change that over the Christmas holidays.

I still haven't cleaned out the garage or sorted through the piles of stuff that I said I was going to, but I didn't want to be an overachiever and do it all the first 9 months of the deployment, right?

I haven't lost any weight, but there's still time.

I'm just glad that whether the deployment is 12 or 15 months, we are over halfway there.

Abs is up and so far has made a mess, spilled cheerios, broken the remote and spread legos out all over her room. Good thing she has only been up for half an hour and an even better thing that she is spending the night with Grandma tonight so I can have a break!

My stars...

I taped Enews last night and sure enough there were my sweeties! Here's the pic my friend sent.
I took the girls to Hobby Lobby tonight. Abs rounded the corner away from me, and I was madly running to catch up with her, I heard a crash. I called out her name, knowing what was coming, and sure enough a lady at the end of the aisle said "Yep, it's Abs!". I really think I am ready to retire from this parenting business. It exhausts me.

Yesterday in my class......they found......lice! I'm still itching, although I was given the all clear. Can you imagine the wordless Wednesday pics I could have had though with the 4 of us with mayonnaise on our heads and plastic bags?

I want to tell you that I am sleeping in tomorrow, but I would never utter those words for fear it will come back to bite me.

Check this out....

My friend Mel called to tell me that Gunner and Junior were on tv. Apparently E! did a segment on gifts and they profiled a digital picture frame and there was Gunner and Junior. She had to do a double take and sent me a pic on her cell. Too funny. So check it out at 10 pm tonight! It was on Enews or something like that. Channel 53 if you are in the Hood.

More tales from the other side....

Read here about my menagerie....I laughed and laughed.

I'm thinking about what I want for Christmas.

I think the germaphobic side of me wants one of those light wands that kills germs.

The practical side of me wants things for my classroom.

The non-practical side of me wants a day at the spa.

The realistic side of me just wants a day with a minimal level of catastrophes for me to clean up.

What's on your list?

Lock up your valuables

Abs is in her "I can't sleep" phase again.

I remember having a conversation with her early this morning, but that's the extent of it--never a good thing.

When my alarm got up this morning I heard someone stirring.

I went and found Abs sitting quietly on the couch--a sign of trouble.

I sent her to go potty, and then went to check my email on my laptop. I found 5 games open and going. I checked to see how far along she was in Virtual Villagers, and luckily it didn't look like she had been playing more than an hour.

When I sent Abs back to go potty and get dressed, she danced all the way down the hallway...loudly. Some days I wish she had a mute button. I checked email and went back to her room to check on her and she was sitting naked on the floor playing legos. She also decided it was time for Em to wake up and she had flipped on her light.

I got her to get dressed and now she is brushing her hair and singing opera.

On Sunday, the girls made an advent calendar in Girl Scouts. They each glued a hershey's kiss to the calendar to open each day. Em walked out and asked where all her chocolate went. Abs of course has no idea what happened to them, so now Abs has lost her calendar to Em. Ab's response was "I just don't see the rationale in that." Ummmm....yeah....I don't see the rationale in half the stuff she does, but it doesn't stop her!

Em just came out in shorts. Apparently I am out to get her because her jeans are not clean. She claims that she only has one pair, not the 4 pairs that I have bought her. Considering that is is freezing outside, I vetoed the shorts and she is sulking in her room. I can hardly contain my excitement when I think of Em being a teenager and Gunner gone for a year and I have to figure her out on my own!

Junior is still asleep amazingly, but it is 5:40 am and now time to wake him up. He hates to have his pajamas taken off (I still put them on backwards), so morning time is always an adventure while I try to convince him that there is more in life than footie pajamas. Maybe that is what is missing from mine....

Only in Texas

Can it be a balmy 70 degrees and then it dropped and now is sleeting outside. At least ice is hitting the back door and it's cold and wet outside. Too bad I can't just lie in bed tomorrow and relax.

And here are the updates on the kids:

Em--she cracks me up. She has a book report due in two days and has switched books numerous times. Does she get an easier book each time? Nope, she keeps moving up. I told her this was her last change because she was running out of time. Tomorrow will be filled with homework for both girls.

Abs--I was on the phone with my friend Mel and Abs was in the shower. I was checking on her and all was well so I continued my conversation while I cleaned up a little for dinner. I heard a lot of noise from the bathroom and so I figured I better check it out. What I found was the entire bathroom drenched. Abs was taking a cup, filling it with water, and throwing it up on the ceiling. It was all over the ceiling and was raining down. Her rationale was that she was in a tropical rainforest. How can someone so smart not think things through?

Junior--He woke up screaming Sunday morning "I'm stuck, I'm stuck, I'm stuck" and screamed some more. I jumped up and ran in there. There was my baby boy with huge tears in his eyes and running down his face. Where was he stuck? He was stuck in the crib and couldn't get out. I told him it was 5 am and he needed to go to sleep but then he smiled and told me thank you for getting him unstuck as well as saying "I waked up Mommy". I couldn't resist so we got up bright and early. Little stinker! He still hasn't had a haircut, so his cowlick is out of control.

I'm hanging in there and counting down the days till Christmas vacation. 8 more school days!!! Woohoo!