Missing Soldier

There is a soldier missing here at Hood. DH was called out to go search the training area. Hopefully they will find him soon...

Sick again...

Took Junior back to the doctor today and he has pneumonia. Apparently it covers a large portion of his left lung. Poor little guy is hanging in there. Breathing treamtent did nothing and I have to take him back in on Sunday. At least I am being followed by the same doctor. She said if he changes at all I need to take him straight to the ER and have him admitted. He is on two antibiotics so I am hoping that they kick in and he starts feeling better. And where is DH?????? In the field of course. I am starting to think that he never sees a sick kiddo.

I'm sick too, but of course I don't have time for that since Abs has a play tomorrow and DQ comes home from camp tomorrow.

I really need to book a facial and a massage....

X Bike , Ears and Army Wives

I went to my second X bike class today. A lot easier than the first, but definitely gives you a workout. I guess I need to give up my beloved Body Step and focus on X bike till after October. I have to do this! Since I finished my MBA, I have done nothing to really challenge myself, so maybe this is what I need to get back into the swing of things. (And don't even ask how long ago I graduated, makes me feel like a bum!)

Took Junior to the doctor today while Abs was at theatre camp (which she loves). He has a horrible double ear infection. They put him on an antibiotic and I am hoping that we really see an improvement tomorrow the poor little guy.

I am about to watch the show Army Wives. I watched the first two minutes of it and they showed a Soldier proposing to a girl he knew for 4 days....that's why the divorce rate is so high! (Yes I know that it has actually decreased)

LIVESTRONG Challenge

Last year I had just had a baby so I walked the 5K with all three kids. This year I am going to do the 40 mile bike ride with my SIL. I guess I better get a bike and start training. No idea where to start. Maybe drop my step classes for a spinning class? I'd love to do a Century ride, but I know I am not ready for that. Not even sure I can make a 40 mile bike ride! Wish me luck!

Back Home

We left Saturday morning and picked up my mom and then headed to Houston. My brother and his wife live there and we were spending the night before we dropped DQ off at camp this afternoon. Junior is thankfully a pretty good traveler so we don't have to stop excessively. We did go by our old house in Houston (which we had demolished for my parent's anniversary--how sweet, I know, but it needed to be done. We walked around the property and checked out the area to see how much it had grown.

We got to my brother's house pretty early in the afternoon and hung out while my SIL made a great dinner. The girls enjoyed being with their aunt and uncle and Junior LOVED their dogs and cats. He chased them around the house and was worn out by the end of the day.

Today we had breakfast and then the girls went to the park with their aunt and uncle while I napped and my mom watched Junior. I was exhausted and needed the rest to do all the driving today.

This afternoon after lunch we drove DQ down to Girl Scout Camp in Seabrook. This is the same sailing camp that I went to while I was growing up. I wish I could have stayed!!! It looks like she will have a great time and hopefully learn a lot. She wasn't old enough to be in a sailing session, but at least she will be able to see the older girls out there sailing and want to do it herself. I love to sail and now want to buy a boat. Well I have always wanted one, but now I am determined to make that happen sooner, even if it is a little Sunfish! Surely those can't cost that much in this day and age! Good thing DH likes to sail too. A sunfish isn't big enough for the whole family, but a nice small one to get the girls used to the idea. I better get them to the pool and start on those swimming lessons, yet again. Maybe this year they will finally master it!

Abs starts theatre camp tomorrow. Wonder if they will be able to get her off the stage?

I miss DQ already but she is probably so busy she won't have time to worry about us. My babies are growing up....

It's about to storm but at least we have light this time. Night.

Waterpark

Always reapply sunscreen to your children more than what they say. Both the girls are burned.

Never let your children apply sunscreen to you, you will end up with strange burn marks across your body.

It was a good time though.

For those of you in Central Texas, we went to Summer Fun Waterpark. It is small enough and less crowded and a much shorter drive than Schlitterbahn, and the girls enjoy it a lot. We will take my nephew back there this summer when he comes to stay for a week. You can take your own drinks and food into the park which really helps cut down on the cost, plus there is a small military discount.

Weird Noises

I went for an evening run to the kitchen to find something sweet to snack on and instead heard weird noises. I started searching through the house, in the garage and finally outside in the backyard where I was sure my neighbor was pressure washing their grill or something so late at night. Turns out it was my A/C. So I called housing and surprisingly they can get someone out tomorrow afternoon. Of course I will be gone to the waterpark with the girls and my mom is watching Junior so she gets the joy of all of this. Hopefully it is a quick easy fix. I am thinking Abs put something in there maybe?

My Current Favorite Baby Product

With every child I have found one thing more useful than another. With Junior I have to say that hands down it is my baby carriers. I strap Junior into the Mei Tei or the sling and go. I am able to get more things done and he just hangs out with me...my little sidekick. At the urging of a friend a few months ago I ordered an ERGO. I am in heaven with this thing. I usually wear him on my back and I can be hands free and do laundry, clean, set the scooba or roomba to go, and play with the girls. He doesn't like it much if I am standing still (well unless I am washing dishes) but other than that he is content. It even has a sleeping hood so if he falls asleep I can secure his little head so he can continue napping while I continue running around the house taking care of things.

We took the ERGO a few months ago to Explore UT and it was a lifesaver. Not only could Junior use it, but Abs, our very tired 6 year old by the end of the day, was able to ride comfortably in it and it did not hurt DH's back at all.

My sister just had a baby and when she comes to visit I am going to let her try mine out and I know she will be sold on it. Anyway, helpful hint from me #746.

Weird things

After I have a baby something always changes about my body...besides the obvious like my weight and the plethora of stretch marks that adorn my tummy. I have always had curly hair but it gets curlier after each child, so I now have a mass of ringlets. Surprisingly the girls have straight hair and Junior is the one that inherited my curls.

After Junior was born 11 months ago I developed a rash around my belly button. It was pretty nasty and really hurt so I finally went to the doctor. Turns out I am allergic to my jeans, more specifically the button on my Tommy jeans. I guess they use nickel in the button and I am now allergic to that so I have to throw out about 4 pairs of jeans. I tried duct tape and other remedies in order for my cheap self to save money and not have to buy more jeans, to no avail. Now I am in love with Ralph Lauren jeans, and as with the 14K gold or higher that I have to wear in my ears so they don't become infected, I just tell DH that it is for my health.

Narrow Minded People

I belong to several email lists via yahoogroups. Most of them I could take or leave, but often I find some bit of useful information that makes the sorting through the emails worthwhile. Anyway, today an email came across and it just made me mad (I changed all the names and actually was able to keep the name changes clean!).

We got bad news this morning. Millie's cousin who was in the Military died while in training in Alberta. His truck flipped over and he was pronounced dead at the hospital. He was only in his early 20's. Please keep his parents, Millie's Aunt and Uncle Mavis and Davis in your prayers as the wait for the only son body to be shipped home. Think of his sisters to they are in their early twenties and this will be a hard blow. Millie is in a fog. She was close with him, She and her parents lived upstairs and his parents and family lived downstairs. Millie use to babysit him and change his diapers. We can't afford to go back for the funeral. But, we have a planned vacation there in a few weeks, so she will be able to spend time with the family then.
I know a lot of you are military families. But, Millie and I really feel like the military wasted a promising young life and ruins many other promising young lives. 4 boys from this
area have died recently in Afghanistan. My heart hurts for the mothers, who held them closed and put them to bed like I do with Rufus. I hope to God Rufus never ever joins.

While it is unfortunate that this young man died, where does she think the world would be without young men and women who were willing to join the military and defend their country? I sure don't want my husband to die, but I also don't want to be the one who is sitting there enjoying freedoms and expecting someone else to foot the bill for me because I deem myself "more valuable" than someone else.

I believe in the job that my husband does and support him 100%. Thank goodness he doesn't have to deal with idiots like this....

Disclaimer: If this makes no sense it's because I am tired and too mad to make any sense right now!

Memorial Day

Please remember all the Fallen Soldiers and their Families today...

Skim Milk Cows

Wonder what they will find next?

That's a lot of sausage!

We have a lantern

The outlaws brought over a lantern for us to use in case the electricity goes out again. I just sent DH to Sam's with all three children! Woohoo!

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone

It should be back by this afternoon though. We spent over 8 hours without electricity yesterday and finally gave up and went to sleep. The girls over time had managed to find every flashlight and deplete them of their batteries so we were left with one hand crank flashlight that my MIL gave us for Christmas. DH finally made it home after having to go around a lot of accidents and turn around because of low water crossings, etc. As he was coming home he saw that Bush's Chicken was over so he stopped and picked us up some dinner. The girls and I love gizzards!!

As Chris turned down our street the water was coming up over the hood of his car and the enginge started to make funny noises. It wasn't that deep all over but because of the design of this subdivision all the water ends up there. Thank goodness I didn't have to drive anywhere!

Abs picnic wasn't cancelled and so we went out to BLORA for a few hours. By the time we ate and the girls played in the water for half an hour, the lightening started up. I had Junior in a stroller and thankfully as it started to pour another mom came and helped me get him up the stairs, The girls were screeching and covering themselves with towels while they were in their bathing suits. They crack me up!

We managed to make it to Temple to get Ab's prescription and almost all the way home before the rain started up. I think I am ready for the girls and I to switch over to a doctor on post. I got a little irritated with the office and it wasn't the first time they screwed things up. I know they mean well, but they keep screwing up prescriptions, and once they gave me something to which she was allergic (I caught it before I got it filled).

I need a vacation....

Field Time

DH is out in the field...in the rain. They are preparing their tanks for gunnery. He sent me videos yesterday on my phone, but I never got around to getting the cables to hook my phone to my computer so I can't share yet. I'll add that to my ever growing list of things to do.

Anyway, my husband absolutely loves what he does. He got home last night and I asked him if he had fun and he told me he was miserable. I laughed and he admitted he had a great time. After watching the video I understand why he stays on tanks! I told him they need to have a "take your wife to the field day" so I can check things out. I'll pass on anything longer since with my curly hair I need a shower every day!

DH will be in for the 4 day weekend and then off to shoot gunnery and we won't see him for a while. I definitely have enough to keep me busy as the girls will be out of school and I have two vacations to plan. I haven't started on the one to Washington DC and I spoke to a friend of mine from college that was one of my husband's groomsmen and we are headed out to Boston in November for 10 days without children to visit the area (and him!). Right before DH deploys we try to take at least one trip with just the two of us so we can enjoy a little bit of time together without having to worry about the children. Thankfully my mom lives close by and steps in and takes care of the children for us. Thanks mom!

Junior is calling my name.....

Kindergarten Graduation

Will not be happening at my daughter's school. The parents are pretty disappointed, but I guess it is not the Montessori way to have an event like this. I have the cap and gown from DQ's graduation, so I think I will dress her up in that and do something special to acknowledge the first of many graduations to come.

Today Abs had field day and the kids really had a good time. They had a sack race, three legged race, tug of war, water balloon toss and an obstacle course. Junior was a good sport and played with rocks during each event so I was able to get some great shots of the kids. It's hard to believe that Abs is old enough to be headed off to first grade next year. While her reading is well above grade level, her handwriting leaves a lot to be desired so we will be working on that over the summer. Any ideas on how to do that? I'm still working with the physical therapist to find Abbie a slot to start her therapy and work on her gross motor skills. Apparently that should help with her handwriting since they need to master the gross motor skills before they develop the fine motor skills. She'll get the hang of it, I just don't want to drop the ball.

My FIL called today to tell me that Junior got my MIL sick. Junior did run a fever for a while, but the rest of us never caught anything. I doubt it is something she caught over here and I hope that she didn't give it to Junior while she watched him yesterday. Of course since DH leaves for the field on Tuesday, that would be par for the course for us to wind up sick. (knock on wood)

The Wall

The picture is of the Wall with a reflection of DH and Junior.

The Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall Experience came to the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery this weekend. I have been wanting to see this for a while and was glad when I saw the signs and read the article in the paper about it. We are headed to DC this summer and the original memorial is on our list of things to see.

The display was unbelievable. Surrounded by American flags, it was hard to believe that there were 58,356 names engraved on there. To even fathom that that many American lives were lost over there just amazes me. It was a very moving experience and to see other Vietnam Veterans find their buddies names and make a rubbing was hard. Families left medals and newspaper articles about their loved ones. At the end of the day all of these items are gathered and placed in a special casket that will be buried at the cemetery. There was a tent setup full of memorabilia that one woman has collected over the years telling about her son Michael E Schafernocker. She wanted people to know her son and she took young men by the hand and showed them different items that would be of interest to them such as the spark plug helicopter. She hugged young soldiers and old and took the time to answer any questions she could about her son. It was very emotional to watch....

I am embarrassed to say that I don't know a whole lot about the Vietnam War, but I plan on changing that. I know the basics that I learned in school, but being a business major history was not a required subject so I took it to fill an elective spot during summer school at our local community college the first summer I was home. I don't even think we broached the subject. I explained to the girls what I knew and promised them that we would find out more information about other soldiers that were listed on there.

There was a booklet that was handed out and I read through it and it spoke about the Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. The VVA's Founding Principle is "Never again shall one generation of veterans abandon another." Just the thought of what happened during the Vietnam era is enough to bring a tear to anyone's eye.....

Animal Park

There is a wild animal park that you can drive through near our house at Hood, so I sent DH off with all three kids in the old car (in case it got scratched, which it did) and a picnic lunch. TOPSEY is about 20 minutes away from us and I had heard good things about it so DH was excited about surprising the kids with another Saturday adventure.

When they arrived, there was a huge camel that was blocking the road and they had to wait for one of the employees to come move it so that they could drive in the park. It cost $21 for the 3 of them to get in and Junior was free. They bought a bag of food for each of the girls at $1/2 and were on their way. The animals came up and into the car! DQ loved it and Abs was scared. An ostrich bit DH, but not too hard. They got some great pictures! They ran out of food about halfway through the park, so make sure and buy two bags per child. They had a petting zoo at the end and also a picnic area so make sure to pack a lunch to take a long.

The girls can't wait to go back and even Junior laughed hysterically when an animal would poke his nose in the window. My nephew is coming to stay with us for a week in August and I think we will return!

Conservation

I went to a conservation class on post today. It was offered through housing and I admit that I almost did not attend. I went to the gym and on the way home I felt guilty about possibly not showing up so I ran in the house, showered, dressed and left.

I actually ended up learning a lot while I was there. We also got shower timers (who really takes a 5 minute shower???), smart switch, rain gauge and some of those high tech light bulbs that are supposed to last forever. They are also going to send housing out to install these light bulbs throughout the house. I have heard that there is some controversy about them because they contain mercury and can be dangerous if they break. I can't remember the last time I broke a light bulb (knock on wood) so I will take the chance and if they break I will call housing like they instructed us...or at least I think they did. Chris was texting me from the animal park...more on that in a bit....