Where the Child Things Are

Seven Things I Have Learned This Year

2011-12-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

1. How to make tortillas from scratch. Bread making has always been intimidating to me, and cooking with lard has always been TERRIFYING to me. But sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do. Especially when you're pregnant and you're an ocen away from any good Mexican food. I found this lard-free on one of my favorite cooking blogs, The Homesick Texan, and how about that. I made tortillas! They were GOOD, too!

2.God doesn't care much about all the nit-picky details that Christians argue over. When my life is over, I just don't think that at the Pearly Gates, I will hear questions like, "Were you dunked or sprinkled?" or "Did you take communion sitting, standing or kneeling?" In my Bible reading this year, I came across this theme over and over, and I have decided that that stuff just doesn't matter that much to God. What matters is: did you, with a pure heart and honest intentions, seek to truely know and honor the Lord?

3. Cole Slaw is really good on pulled pork sandwiches. I don't know if this is a Hawaiian thing, a new thing, or if I have just been missing out all these years. But now that I know, I'll never go back!

4. If I ever have my own house, I do not want there to be a pool in the backyard. Talk about high maintenance! OK, so it wasn't so bad when we were enjoying the pool all the time. But then it got cold and we didn't go anywhere near the water, but I still had to clean it every week. That was kinda a bummer.

5. Real estate transactions are way more compolicated and involved than I ever imagined, and I would never want to be a professional realtor.

6. Home is with my husband. When Scott deployed last year, the kids and I moved back to my hometown, and I'm really glad we did. WE got to spend some good quality time with family and got to attend special events like birthdays and graduations. There's no place like home, afterall. Even so, home didn't feel quite right without Scott in it. When the deployment ended, we went back to Hawaii, and now that my family is all together under one roof, I am truely HOME.

7.Turning 30 isn't that bad. I have to admit, the first time I had to write my age as 30, I cried a little bit. Ha! But now that I'm on the other side of it...what was I so worried about? I am immensely blessed, and God has provided me with a life that I am so thankful for. :)

Learning About Hawai'i

2011-12-04T00:42:00.001-08:00

If you live in Hawai'i, it would be a shame not to learn about Hawai'i in school, right? Of course, our curriculum doesn't include anything state-specific, but the islands have such an interesting history and culture! I decided we needed to find some way to add a little bit of Hawai'i to our school day.

Enter A Visit to Hawaii coloring book. Each page has a short paragraph explaining some part of Hawaiian culture, including anything from the formation of the islands (I find it very interesting that a single volcano produced all of the islands. It continued to flow as plates shifted, producing the 8 different islands) to fun facts about surfing. We read a page once a week, and then Child Thing #1 gets to color. She is sooo into coloring (and any artsy craftsy thing, really) lately.

I'm really glad I came across this coloring book. It is a great addition to our curriculum because it's fun, easy and both of us learn a lot from it!

Haole

2011-11-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

In Texas, I'm a gringo (or is it gringa). In Hawai'i, I'm a haole. That's the Hawaiian word for "white guy," and it isn't necessarily a derogatory word. Just depends on how you use it, I suppose. But if you learn the history of the word, it really is not so flattering. :P

Basically, haole means "one with no soul." That's a loose interpretation, you understand, so let me explain. Everyone knows what "aloha" means, so I will start there. "Ha," in ancient Hawai'i, was the breath of life, what I understand to be the soul. "Alo" means to face, so the word "aloha" means to face another person and breathe the breath of life, to open your spirit and your soul to that person. So, to greet someone in old Hawai'i, you would face them and say "haaaaa," breathing into each other.

When the first Europeans came to Hawai'i, you can imagine they were not so comfortable with this way of greeting. Those prim and proper British people... So, instead of sharing the breath of life with the native Hawaiians, they did things like stand at arms length and offer their stiff hands. The Hawaiians thought this was weird and so called the Europeans "one with no ha."

This is the way I understand the meaning of the word; I hope it's accurate. I'm just a haole, of course, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. :)

What Should I Do?

2011-11-29T17:19:00.001-08:00

*SIGH* Child Thing #2 now refuses to take an afternoon nap. I suspect, he's not really ready to give up his nap because if we happen to be in the car in early afternoon, he konks out for hours at a time. Or if I lay him down on the couch and turn on the TV for him, he will usually fall asleep instantly. But...if I try to put him in his bed...not gonna happen. He'll stay in there (sometimes) for a hour and not fall asleep.

So this has put a kink in my homeschooling schedule. I used to work with Child Thing #2 in the afternoon during naptime. As I see it, I have two options.
#1. This is what we have done for the past couple of weeks. We start working on school around 10 a.m., with little brother attending school with us. This makes for many distractions on the part of both student and teacher. We take a break for an hour or two for lunch and recess, then spend another couple of hours finishing our lessons. Today Child Thing #2 got VERY grouchy in the last half of school, so I laid him down on the couch and let him watch a TV show while we finished up school. Child Thing #1, of course, did not want to miss out on the TV time, so she rushed through her work to get it done.
#2. Attempt to get Child Thing #1 to take a nap in the afternoon (by either method mentioned above), and continue with our old routine of doing school during his nap. The thing is I can never guarantee that he's going to fall asleep. And if I use the TV to induce naptime, my scholar will not be interested the least bit in her schoolwork.

I don't know...what should I do?

It definitely makes me wonder about next year, when there will be 3 child things. Will I be able to keep up the homeschooling then?

If so, I'm not so sure I will use Sonlight again. There are some things I really like about that curriculum, but some things that just don't make much sense to me. Maybe this is how kindergarten is supposed to be, but, it seems like the curriculum does not go in depth to any subject. You get just a little glimpse of everything, but don't do much true exploring and learning of any topic. I also don't know that it is organized that well. The science lesson plans bother me because we'll spend a week learning about, say...sea life, and then do a science activity that is not related to that at all.

But I have to say, I have totally loved the "read alouds" included with the curriculum. Child Thing #1 and I have both enjoyed the books, and sometimes I even try to talk Scott into reading some of our school books because I found them so interesting!

Anyway, lots of questions about the future of our homeschool. I don't even know where we'll be living next fall. We'll just take it as it comes, I suppose. :)

My Favorite Websites

2011-11-11T17:02:00.001-08:00

This month's 7 on the 7th topic (or as it happens, 7 on the 11th for me) is the websites you visit the most frequently. Here are mine.

1. Facebook. Yes, I'm addicted, I visit multiple times per day. How many? I'm not sure. I don't keep track, and I'd probably be embarassed to admit it anyway.

2. Friends' Blogs. I love that I can keep up with what's going on in the lives of friends who are spread out across the world.

3. CNN.com. Gotta know what's going on in the world around me!

4. Pioneer Woman. Love this blog! It's got hilarious stories, great recipes and even a homeschooling section.

5. Hostess with the Mostess. This website has awesome party ideas and themes with tons of pictures. Most of the parties are planned and designed by professionals, so they are a little out of reach for a regular mom like me, but I still love browsing the featured parties, getting inspired, and trying to make my parties look as fabulous as the ones on this site.

6. Homesick Texan. A food blog featuring awesome recipes from back home.

7. Yahoo. It's where I get my e-mail, do a lot of searching and sometimes check out news stories.

Hobo Dinners. Fun fun!

2011-11-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I loved going to my grandparents' farm. Especially if it was a bonfire weekend. Anytime there was any clearing of property, all the debris was piled up and set on fire. That meant we kids got to roast hotdogs and marshmallows outside. We would search the woods for the perfect marshmallow roasting stick. One that was forked on the end--and not just one fork--maybe 10 or so so that we could roast a whole bag of marshmallows at once. And one that was at least 5 feet long so that we wouldn't have to stand with our backs to the fire, arms extended behind us holding out the stick so the heat wouldn't scorch our eyebrows off. :P

There's definitely not room for a bonfire in our little backyard, but we did recently acquire a fire pit. And not long ago we cooked "hobo dinners," a meal my grandmother would prepare for us on bonfire days. It's basically a layer of sliced potatoes, carrots, onions, a ground beef patty, another layer of onions, carrots and potatoes, all salted and peppered and wrapped in foil. Then you stick the foil package directly in the bed of the fire and let it cook for 30 minutes or so.

Then when you open it up, you have a simple, hearty, super fun meal waiting for you! Everything about hobo dinners is fun. I sliced up the potatoes, carrots and onions then let everyone assemble their own packet, which was fun. Of course, anytime we get some good family time outside with no electronics on, we have lots of fun. But the very best part is probably the dessert. :) The Child Things used a single spear from our hibiscus bush instead of a multi-tined, extended handle marshmallow roasting stick, but from the looks of it, the results were just as good!

I'm Still Here!

2011-11-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't fallen off the edge of the planet. I'm still here. I have just been having some issues that have left me too exhausted for blogging after the kids are asleep at night. Issues like extreme fatigue, low blood pressure, nausea, lack of appetite, heartburn, occasional insomnia and an overall "blah" feeling. Ahh...the joys of pregnancy.

Yes, if you haven't heard Child Thing #3 is on the way and due in May! I am, of course, very excited, but to be perfectly honest, I am not the type that "glows" during pregnancy. No, I'm more the crabby miserable type, and this pregnancy seems like it's worse so far than my first two. I don't know if it really is worse or it just seems worse because with two at home I don't have much--or should I say any--down time during the day to recuperate.

But the first trimester is almost over, and I'm slowly starting to feel better and have more energy. Plus, I can't feel too sorry for myself, because my friend Amanda just gave birth to her third after spending the last half of her pregnancy taking care of her two boys by herself because her husband deployed. But then again, she was always more the "glowing" type.

So, there's my excuse for my absence. And In that absence, much has happened. Here are some of the highlights.

To celebrate my 30th birthday, I took surfing lessons. So much fun!!

Road trip to Hawaii Kai

The Child Things at the Pumpkin Patch

Scott and the rest of his company got muddy on the obstacle course.

Halloween: Kate Middleton, a crusader, an owl and a monster. :)

What Have I Been Doing?

2011-09-09T00:56:00.000-07:00

So...it's the 8th...almost the 9th of September and I haven't even really thought about my list for Seven on the Seventh yet, so I'm just gonna take a pass this month. I haven't blogged at all in a while...what have I been doing?

Well, I'm now the FRG leader for Scott's company, and I'm finding that to be pretty all-consuming. I'm having a great time doing it, mind you, but it definitely keeps me busy. It's probably really one of those things that you can put in as much time as you want, and I guess I'm putting in quite a bit of time. Hehe. And homeschool, of course.

Here is Child Thing #1 on the first day of school in our school room.
Now we are on week 4, and are starting to get into a good rhythm. For the most part, things are going well. We do have a few issues with motivation every now and then. She enjoys her science, her math, her Bible and her history a lot. The things that she finds challenging (reading and writing), she really drags her feet on. But I'm finding ways to make it work.

-It's better to do the hard stuff first, before her energy starts to drop.
-It helps a lot to take a snack break after she finishes the hard stuff (even though it really only takes us 2-3 hours (usually) to finish all our assignments). It's good motivation to know she'll get a treat when she finishes her work, and it's good to sit and recuperate after stretching your brain to the max. ;)
-She loves it if I let her take a "friend" to school. This means she gets to pick out a stuffed animal or doll to be a student. It makes me more like we're playing school, but whatever works! She and the other student will take turns reading sentences in her readers, or I will call on different students to answer questions on the worksheets. Of course, she is the voice for the stuffed animal too, so it's not like she's doing less work.

We have also joined a homeschooling group on our island and are starting to get involved in that and make some friends. So, yes...so far so good in homeschool. Things are busy, busy.

In other news, my blogger seems to have some sort of malfunction, and I can't leave comments on almost all of the blogs I read. so...don't think I'm ignoring you...just having some technical difficulties.

Remembering the Haunted Indian Village

2011-08-18T00:28:00.000-07:00

It's only August, but we are already starting the debates on what we want to be for Halloween this year. You have to start early if you want to get your favorite costume, as we learned last year. We haven't come to any firm decisions yet, but it got me thinking about my Halloweens as a kid.

One year my cousins and I decided we would put together a Halloween party. Though I grew up in Houston, we spent a lot of weekends in the country. My grandparents have a little farm in East Texas, and me, my sisters and our cousins spent hours playing in the gully and woods in the horse pasture. The animals had created paths through the woods, and we created and named our own landmarks, like the Indian Village, where we constructed a circle of lean-tos (thanks to the newly-gleaned knowledge of my boyscout cousin) around a "campfire." The girls named things like "The Friendship Tree," and "The Peaceful Meadow," while the boys came up with "Blood Hill" and etc. Ha!

Anyway, we knew this wood so well, we decided we wanted to spook our parents by taking them on a tour of "The Haunted Wood" on Halloween night. One person would act as a tour guide, leading all the grown-ups along the paths, where ghosts of the Indians who once inhabited the wood would jump out at them and dead bodies would dangle out of trees above the trails. We had maps, schedules, even recorded sound effects, and were ready to scare the socks off our guests. The grand finale was to be at the Indian Village, where we would communicate with the Great Indian Spirits, and they wouldn't be too happy that we were there.

We rehearsed our plot, and it went off without a hitch. But, uh...doing it in the dark was another thing. Especially when one cousin (who shall remain unnamed because it was me) suggested that the cousins who were going to be the spooks should not carry flashlights because then the grownups would where they were going and wouldn't be surprised when someone jumped out at them. The Unnamed Cousin acted as tour guide, so luckily for her, she did get a flashlight.

There she was, leading a line of soon-to-be-terrified grown-ups into the woods. She stopped at the first designated scary spot and instructed her guests to listen to the ghosts of Indians. The ghosts were supposed to issue a foreboding warning about what was to come, but instead heard something like "mwaaa mwaaaaa mwa mwaaaaaaaaaaa mwa." Amazingly, the cousin who had been assigned the leave the tape recorder at that spot had made it in the dark without a flashlight, but not before tripping several times over tree roots and etc. and dropping the tape recorder hard. It never worked again.

Along the path the group traipsed, with several spooks jumping out at the right time, even eliciting one startled scream out of an Aunt. Then the guide began to lead them uphill towards the Indian Village, where they would all soon be screaming in terror (insert evil laugh here). However, the tour guide, even with her flashlight, soon lost her way in the dark woods. After several minutes of searching for the haunted Indian Village, the tour guide stopped and called into the darkness, "Oh, Great Indian Spirits, call to us so that we can find your village."

The Great Indian Spirits heard her and answered back, "We can't find it, either!"

Eventually, the tour guide and her group of grown-ups did make it to the Indian Village, but by that time they were laughing more than screaming. Ahhh well, it was a good try. So, the tour guide and the spooks all made it back alive to the farmhouse, where the younger cousins (who said no-way no-how were they going into the woods on Halloween after dark), had set out a lovely spread of Halloween refreshments.

That was a fun day...such happy memories of times spent with my family. Somehow, I don't think the memory would have been quite as pleasant if the trek through the Haunted Wood had gone as planned.

Back to the Real World

2011-08-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

Sigh...Tomorrow is when we must go back to the real world. Scott has been on Block Leave for the past month, but tomorrow it's back to work for him, and so it's back to work for me. We have definitely enjoyed this month, just hanging out together as a family, and it would kinda be nice if it could last forever.

But then how would we pay for our nice little beach house? I guess we'll have to wait till we're retirement age. :P

I guess the good side of it is that life will finally be back to normal. We have been riding a roller coaster since last June when Scott deployed, and now things will be settling into a routine and we'll finally start to feel normal again.

We are also starting Kindergarten homeschool tomorrow. I've got everything ready to go. Except I was really tempted to buy Child Thing #1 a back-to-school outfit and a cute little backpack for her first day of "homing school." You know, for that back-to-school picture snapped by the front door that every Mom has to have. I resisted the urge, though, because I'm trying to be more non-consumerist.

So, Real World, here we come!

Seven Ways I Spend my Free Time

2011-08-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

It's time for Seven on the Seventh again. This month, we are writing about seven things you do in your free time, so here goes. :)

1. Messing Around on the Computer- I spend more time than I should on the computer. Facebook, blogs, research, news, etc.
2. Scrapbooking-Though I am terribly behind (I haven't even started this year's scrapbook), I love making them. It's a record of each year's memories. It's fun to put them together, and it's fun to browse through old ones, too.
3. Quilting-This is something I was introduced to a few year's ago, and although I'm not great at it, I really enjoy making something with my own hands that is unique and useful. These are long term projects, though. I usually spend months making one quilt. Right now I am soooo close to finishing a quilt for Child Thing #2, and after that I am going to start a baby quilt for a friend who's expecting. Probably won't get it finished in time for the baby, but...oh well.
4. Reading- I love reading, especially a good novel. Unfortunately I don't read those that much these days. I read a lot with my kids (About to start the Laura Ingalls Wilder series with Child Thing #1!!), and I seem to read a lot of informative books lately.
5. Sitting on the Back Porch-I love my back porch. Luckily for me, I live in Hawai'i, so the weather is always perfectly nice in the evenings, so I can sit back there while the sun goes down, feel the ocean breeze, smell the plumeria blossoms and relax while the kids play.
6. Beach- I like to swim, I like to snorkel, I like to bodysurf with Child Thing #1, and I think I could just sit on the sand all day long. I predict we will go to the beach at least a couple times a week while we are living here in the house so close to the ocean.
7. Gardening- We haven't started a garden here at our new house yet, but we do enjoy growing our own food, and so do the kids, so I bet it won't be long before we get something going here.

If you are interested in participating in Seven on the Seventh, just let me know and I'll add you to the e-mail list. :)

Our House

2011-08-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

I have written a Hawaiian-sized (read: BIG) rent check three times now, and I haven't blogged at all about our new house. We took a risk and signed a lease without ever really seeing the house, and although there were a few surprises, we are really liking it here so far.

The house consists of one big room, which is the living room, dining room and kitchen all in one. Beyond that is an enclosed lanai, which was one of the surprises I mentioned before. This is what was supposed to be the third bedroom. But with big sliding glass doors and no closet, we chose to make it an office/toy room/homeschool area instead. That means there are two remaining bedrooms, so the child things are sharing a room for now. The room is a decent size and they don't seem to mind sharing, so it's working out.

The house is nice, but small. The big plus is that it's only about a block to the beach. It's so nice being able to walk down there without having to worry about packing a ton of stuff. We can stay for as long as we like, and when we start to get tired, just walk back home. Pretty cool. My favorite part of the house is the back porch. it's got a pretty big porch and yard that's pretty big by Hawaiian standards. I love to sit out there in the evenings and enjoy the cool breezes and the mountain scenery. Have I mentioned lately how blessed we are to get to live here?

Maui Vacation

2011-07-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

Maui in the morning

We made it to Maui and back with the child things, and we had a really good time on our little vacation! For some reason, my darling husband scheduled us to leave Oahu at 5 in the morning, so the vacation started very early. I am tempted to complain about having to wake up at 3 a.m., but it was kinda cool to see the sunrise from the airplane. We arrived in Maui just after the sun did, and then the fun began!

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. If anyone is looking for a place to stay in Maui, here's what we thought of it: the grounds were beautiful, the room was very nice, the staff was oh-so-friendly and helpful (almost indulgent), the pool was great, the food was delicious, the spa was AWESOME, and the golf course also got rave reviews from my other half. The only downsides: it was pricey, and the beach (though it looked like lots of adults and teenagers were having tons of fun boogie boarding) wasn't the most kid-friendly beach we've been to. It was always windy, and the waves weren't the coddling waves we're used to.

Overlooking the resort grounds

Personally, my favorite touristy thing we did was take a boat ride out to a small offshore island called Molokini to snorkel. Definitely the best snorkeling I've ever done! I guess that's not saying a lot since I had never snorkeled until 2 years ago when I moved to Hawaii. But it really was pretty spectacular! I finally got to see the two fish I always look for, but never find: the Moorish Idol and the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (Hawaiian state fish).

We also drove the Hana Highway, and I'm sure we did not experience it to its fullest, but it was still amazingly beautiful. There are dozens of stops to make a long the way, but we wanted the child things to enjoy it as much as possible, so we did not do any of the hikes or swim to any waterfalls or pull over at every scenic overlook. Even so...it was awesome! Here are some of the things we did stop and see:

Keopuka Rock, which was filmed in the opening scene of Jurassic Park.

Beautiful coastline scenery

Child Thing #1 at Waikani Falls (The Three Bears Waterfall)

Child Thing #2 at Wai'anapanapa Black Sand Beach. The kids had a good time at this place...it had CAVES!

The Child Things at a red sand beach in Hana

More beautiful coastline scenery

A fresh coconut and coconut ice cream.

Child Thing #1 had a fresh coconut before we left Hawaii and loved it, so the whole 9 months we were living in Texas, she kept asking me when she could get another one. We saw this stand, Coconut Glen's, on the side of the Hana Highway and thought it was the perfect opportunity. We bought a coconut and some ice cream made from coconut milk (which was actually really good), and of course, she did not like the coconut at all. Scott tried it (his first taste of fresh coconut milk) and didn't like it either, so I drank some and then we threw it away. The first time I tried drinking a coconut, I didn't care for it much either. It just wasn't what I expected. You'd think it would be very sweet and creamy, but it's more like water. But it has grown on me.

We all loved the ice cream, though, and I also loved what a hippie/environmentalist Coconut Glen was. No plastic spoons. He gave us a sliver of a coconut shell to eat our ice cream. And when the Child Thing asked him if he had any straws to use to drink the coconut, he stepped outside his stand, pulled a leaf off of a papaya tree, used his machete to chop off its hollow stem, and stuck it in the coconut for a straw. It didn't taste very good, though...

What else did we do in Maui? We went to the Maui Ocean Center, an aquarium that we all enjoyed. Child Thing #1 is now positively fascinated with hammerhead sharks. We spent a good deal of time hanging around the pool at our hotel. And we visited the very quaint downtown Lahaina. It was a wonderful vacation. So much fun! And there is much more fun to come! At the end of the week, we will have visitors arriving!

Headed to Maui!

2011-07-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

Don't expect any blog updates from me for a few days. Tomorrow we are headed to Maui for vacation!! Woohoo! I'll take lots of pictures for you. Have a fun weekend, friends. I know I will!

Redeployment Ball-Fun, Fun!

2011-07-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

If you'd like to know why being an Army wife stinks, see my collection of blog posts on deployment. But sometimes we get to do fun stuff, too, like the military ball we went to not long ago. If I hadn't married a military man, I probably would not have attended a formal event (other than weddings) since my high school prom. And it's kinda fun! Actually, I'd say I have more fun at military balls than I did at prom. :P

So the military ball has all sorts of formalities and etiquette rules, but I have learned that for the most part, nobody really cares much if you follow the rules or not. Here's the basic format:
1. First there's a social hour, which is just mingling time. I love to "people watch" and take a look at all the gorgeous gowns! A ball is technically a black tie event, so if you follow the rules, you are supposed to wear a full length dress, but every ball I have been to, there have been women who wear "cocktail" style dresses, and they look amazing, too, in my own opinion.
2. Then you go through the receiving line, in which you are introduced to and greet the "hosts" of the event. There are all sorts of rules for the receiving line, like don't carry a drink. I stand in front of Scott as we proceed through the line (the woman always goes first). He introduces me to the first person in line (that person is supposed to already know his name and rank by checking out his uniform), but you don't shake that person's hand. That person introduces you to the next "receiver," whose hand you do shake. Then your names get passed down the line until you have shaken every one's hand in line. All these guidelines, but it usually turns into a disorganized mess as hundreds of people go through the line. :P
3. After the receiving line, you can enter the ballroom and find your table and place card, but you aren't supposed to sit down until instructed to do so.

4. When everyone is in, it's time for the formal portion of the ball. It includes the presentation of the colors, lots of toasts (including the toast to fallen comrades, which is a tear-jerker. I should write more about that one another day.), and the grog bowl ceremony. Oh, the grog bowl. A friend and I laughed at this last ball how at the most formal of the events, these soldiers act the most informal. All of the company commanders pour a bottle or two or three of alcohol into the grog bowl, and they explain to the ball attendees that each bottle symbolizes something his or her company has accomplished. Scott chose orange cognac (because orange is the signal corps color) and everclear, because his soldiers kept the communications EVER CLEAR during the deployment. You should have heard his company hooping and hollering. :) Also included in the formal portion is an awards presentation. My soldier was 1 of 3 people in the battalion who received the Order of Mercury. Way to go, Babe! Now he gets to wear a swanky medal around his neck when he wears his dress uniform.
5. When all the ceremonies are over, it's time for dinner and dancing. When you leave, don't forget to bid your hosts, who generally post themselves near the exit, farewell.

Yes, this ball was MUCH more fun than high school prom. I especially enjoyed this one because Scott was so involved in the program. It was so cool to see his soldiers cheer for him when he received his award and during his part of the grog bowl ceremony. And as always, it's just fun to get dressed up every now and then!

Military Pomp

2011-07-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

Big event from last week: Redeployment Ceremony. I realize that to some of you, redeployment sounds like a bad thing. It seems that it should mean "deploying again," but no, it's a good thing! Redeployment means coming back from deployment. Yay for redeployment!

So we got to witness some real military pomp at the ceremony. First, all the battalions marched in, calling cadence, of course. Since Scott is a company commander, I was very proud to watch him marching up front, leading his company to the drill field. Here he is, in the front row, the nearest column.

When everyone was in place, several people of impressive rank spoke, recognizing some hard-working volunteers, and commenting on how spectacular the troops look and what an outstanding job they did in Iraq.

They do look pretty spectacular, don't they? Except for the smudge on my camera lens, of course.

Here's another foggy picture, but that's Scott in the center front, with the orange flag...excuse me, guidon...blowing into him. I tell ya, if rows and rows of saluting soldiers doesn't arouse some sort of patriotic pride in you, then come watch one of these ceremonies with me; I'm sure the military pomp will get to you. It's easier to feel patriotic, however, if you don't have two hot and bored kids pulling on your legs. Just a helpful hint from one who has been there.

Also, no matter how hot and bored your kids are at the ceremony, they will miraculously regain all sorts of energy if you take them to the "after party" where there is free pizza, fruit punch, moonwalks and face painting. :)

Superhero mask!

Guess Who's Two

2011-07-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

Child Thing #2 is now 2 years old! Because we had a birthday party for both of them before we left Texas, we didn't have a big shebang celebration for him. Scott had to work, so I walked the kids down to the beach that morning. They both LOVE the beach!! I am so happy about that because a year ago, neither of them were too comfortable in the water. That evening, we had a pineapple upside down cake and opened presents.

This water table was so intriguing that he pretty much let his sister open the rest of his presents while he studied the box.

My baby is so big! He'll even tell you so. If you ask him if he's a baby, he replies, "No. Boy."

What I'm really enjoying is watching the two kids interact and communicate with each other now that he is talking more and more. Of course, sometimes the communication consists of "Mine!" "No, MINE!" "No, MIIIIIIINNNNNEEEE!"

But other times it's really very sweet and amusing. My favorite thing is when Child Thing #2 carries a book over to his big sister and says, "Read book, Baboo." I haven't figured out exactly why he calls her "Baboo" yet or where that word came from, but that's her name.

So then Baboo will say, "Ok, I'll read you a book." And they'll sit down together and she'll read while he intently looks on. She has a surprisingly large number of our picture books memorized and can "read" him almost any book he brings her.

So yes...he's getting to be a big boy! If you don't believe me, ask him yourself. :P

It's Official...Unofficially.

2011-07-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

Look what I got in the mail! It's our curriculum for kindergarten, and I'm excited about it! Last year I wrote a lot about our trial period of homeschooling, but until recently I didn't decide for sure what we were going to do about school this year. As you can see, I have now decided. We are going to homeschool, and we are using the Sonlight curriculum. The Child Thing and I have already rummaged through the boxes a little bit, and both of us found items that looked interesting.

It's still not totally official. I haven't registered with the state, but that won't be hard. I'm feeling positive about this and about our new curriculum, too. I think we will have a great school year!

Collections

2011-07-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

As you know, I just moved for the hundredth time in my adult life, and as I unpacked, I almost felt ashamed of myself for having so much STUFF. After living for a year on the contents of 4 suitcases and a borrowed mish-mash of items, what I have now seems positively excessive. Here are 7 things that collect in this house, either intentionally or unintentionally.

1. Books! I love books, and it's one thing I don't feel guilty about having copious amounts of. We have shelves and shelves of childrens books, of course, but I also love books. And I like to buy antique books when I can find them. I think they are beautiful and full of history, and I buy them because I hate to think of them deteriorating and ending up in the garbage. I especially love the ones that have names or messages written in lovely, old-fashioned script on the inside. The inside cover of my old copy of Paradise Lost reads, "To Phil. From Mrs. S. L. Dowling. Christmas 1894."

2. Pitchers. When we first got married, I bought a pitcher because, ya know, you need a pitcher to serve lemonade and stuff. After that, I came across lots of pitchers that I loved and wanted to buy. But of course I already had a pitcher and didn't need more. After longing after a dozen or so pitchers, I realized I just really like pitchers. They have such an elegant shape. So, why not start a collection? Then I have an excuse to buy the ones I really love, even if I already have one.

3. Blankets and Quilts. This is something I do not intentionally collect, but we have ended up with so many! I know several very talented quilters who have been kind enough to gift us with their beautiful creations. I try my hand at quilting myself on occasion, and have produced several in the collection. And somehow we have accumulated a gazillion little throw blankets over time, so we have ended up with quite an impressive quilt and blanket collection.

4. Recipes. I totally love when friends pass on their best recipes to me! I will copy it down or print it out and write the name of the person who shared it with me and stick it in my rather disorganized recipe binder. It's something I will most likely have for decades that will remind me of a person I hold dear every time I cook a meal inspired by him/her. And I'm always printing off recipes I find online. Half of them I never get around to trying, but...

5. Scrapbooks. OK...I just found 3 boxes full of scrapbooks and I have no place to put them in this little beach house. I like to make one for every year, and I have several "special edition" scrapbooks, too. Like I have an Army scrapbook for Scott, and I have a "baby's first year" scrapbook for the kids. I did not realize until this week how many I have made, and I'm actually feeling quite overrun by them!

6. Toys. They have taken over the house. They have taken over my life. Someone help me!

7. Movies. I do not collect movies ( I really don't care much about movies), but someone else in my house does. And he has drawers and drawers full of them. I kinda wish he would get rid of some, actually. Then I would have a place to store my scrapbooks. :P

Pictures to Share

2011-07-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well I have been wanting to share lots of pictures, but things have been so crazy lately I haven't done much blogging at all. I am still trying to unpack our house and am now sick for the THIRD time since coming to Hawaii. Uggh...what is wrong with me? Either there are strange germs on the island that I have no immunity to or, with this move, I am overworking and overstressing and not sleeping enough and have forced my body into shutdown mode.

Anyway, I'm just going to post a few random pictures from before the move all at once because otherwise they might not get shared at all.

Child Thing #1 at our big birthday bash. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of Child Thing #2 with the cake because he was not the least bit interested. He didn't even really want to eat any. Just put that boy in the pool!

What he did enjoy, however, was the cookie cake we got to celebrate his sister's real birthday (since the party wasn't on her birthday).

She was THRILLED when she realized she got an American Girl doll for her birthday!

Now for our dance recital pictures. This is her tap costume. She danced to Yellow Submarine. Tee hee!

Here she is after the recital in her ballet costume with Grandma, cousin Julie and Aunt Robyn. By this point she was rather tired and cranky, but you might have already guessed that by her facial expression.

Here we are with Grandmommy and brother. We coaxed a little smile out of her!

And then I tried to get a picture with the little ballerina and the impending meltdown happened.

HE'S HOME!!

2011-06-26T00:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, a lot has happened since I last wrote! Most importantly, we made it to Hawaii and have welcomed home our soldier! I have lots and lots of stories and pictures to share (birthdays, graduations, looong plane rides, illnesses, tutus, new house, etc.), but for now I'll just give a little recap of our special homecoming.

The day of the redeployment ceremony, we were all still pretty tired from our travels and from all sharing one air mattress, but we were excited none the less! When it was time, my mom-in-law and I loaded up the kids in the rental car and drove to the air field where we would soon be meeting Scott! Time passed quickly, so before you know it, the soldiers were marching in, the spouses were jumping up and down and waving, we said a prayer and the pledge, they sang a song and then the words, "DISMISSED."

Let me just say that I am soooo glad this year-long deployment is behind us, and it is soooo wonderful to have Scott home again! Despite my jet lag, exhaustion and trip to the ER, I am as happy as can be, and my world feels right again. :)

Can I just say that it was absolutely awesome to hug and kiss my husband for the first time in 6 months? The part that really made me tear up, though, was Child Thing #1's reaction to her Daddy's return. She was abundantly overflowing with pure joy!!

And this, my friends, is probably the very best day an Army wife can have!

No Time...

2011-06-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

No time for blogging. Dance recital now. Birthday party tomorrow. Painters come the next day, so house must be empty. Moving to Hawaii in less than a week. Stress level: waaaaay up there.

My favorite movies

2011-06-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

Alright, so this month Seven on the Seventh is totally going to expose me as a sappy, emotional, romantic girly girl. For June, we are listing our 7 favorite movies, and I happen to like sappy, emotional, romantic, girly movies. But they have to be kinda funny. Not sappy and emotional like The Notebook That was the worst movie ever! Why would anyone make a movie so depressing?!
Anyway, here are my favorite movies of all time:

1. My Big Fat Greek Wedding: It makes me laugh out loud every, single time. Remember when the aunt ever-so-seriously confides in her new relatives that she ate her twin? Or when her cousin reveals the bridesmaid dress and she recoils in horror? And how they misspelled the groom's parents' names on the wedding invitation?!
2. The Whole Nine Yards: This one makes me laugh out loud every single time, too. Especially the part where they are hiding out in the garage and he's sitting on the tires and he starts to slip off, but he's trying to play it cool and not make any noise. Ah ha ha ha!
3. Music and Lyrics: Gotta love a movie with a British guy in it! Plus the '80s music video is awesome! Plus it's just sweet.
4. My Fair Lady: While I must point out the Henry Higgins is kind of a jerk, this movie is beautiful! And Audrey Hepburn is beautiful!
5. Tombstone: It only takes 3 words to explain why this movie makes the list. "I'm your huckleberry."
6. Sound of Music: Touching storyline, historic setting, moving characters, lovely music, gorgeous scenery, Julie Andrews.
7. Pure Country: Ok, so this movie does not have a deep, moving plot and is at times poorly-acted (sorry, George). But it is a fun, feel-good movie. And I must remain loyal to my all time favorite celebrity, Mr. George Strait, lest I lose the title of #1 fan.

Anyone who wants to participate in 7 on the 7th is welcome. Just let me know and I'll send you the topic ahead of time.

We're Almost There!!

2011-05-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

The weeks are growing few until this deployment is finally over! And I am SO HAPPY to say that! I cannot wait to have my family whole again and my heart whole again. Just the past few days, it has hit me how soon Scott will be coming back, and I have so much more joy than I have for a looong time. I wouldn't say I have been depressed or anything, but I have been...incomplete. I can live without him, I can even enjoy life without him, but I really, really like it when I get to live with him.

Ecstatic. Thrilled. That's what I feel when I realize how close redeployment is. And there is lots of other exciting stuff going on right now, too. Child Thing #1 has her first dance recital. We're planning a birthday party for both the child things before we leave. We're packing up our stuff to go to Hawaii. We have secured a rental house (just a block or so from the beach, if I may brag a little bit). It's all so exciting!

Of course, in the back of my mind lurks the question, "what if we don't like each other anymore?" And it's a valid question. The Army counselors/chaplains say couples develop coping mechanisms to deal with life alone and to deal with war, and those don't always mesh well when it is over. And they say the spouse left at home has had no other choice but to become very independent and self-sufficient, which makes the soldier feel unwanted. And the soldier has experienced the horrors of war, and that changes a person. Then throw in the fact that both are used to their independent routines and have to re-learn how to live together, and you have the potential for a big mess!

Maybe it's foolish of me, but I'm not expecting this "adjustment period" to be quite as rough as the last one. We have been there before, and we made it through and still love each other. So we know that if it seems bleak for a while, things will get better. As far as I can tell, this deployment has not been nearly as traumatic as the last, so perhaps Scott will be less affected by the "horrors of war."

So there's that, but for now I'm just going to be excited that he's finally coming home! And that my kids are about to turn 2 and 5! And that I will soon get to see my little girl on stage in a tutu! And that we are about to move to Hawai'i! And that we are going to live on the beach!

God is good to me!

7 Places I have Lived

2011-05-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

Dang! I'm late. This month my 7 on the 7th list is actually on the 9th. We were out of town for Mother's Day weekend, so I'm just now getting around to it. But for the month of May, we are writing about 7 places we have lived or visited. This list is a piece of cake for a military wife. So here they are...7 places I have lived.

1. Houston, Tx--I grew up here and have lived here this year while Scott is deployed.

2. Abilene, Tx--I lived here 4 years while I went to college. It was quite a change from the huge city of Houston. It's a much smaller town in the middle of windy, dry nowhere. But I actually enjoyed my time there a lot.

3. College Station, Tx--This is where Scott and I lived our first year of marriage because he was finishing up school at TAMU. Neat place!
4. Columbus, Ga--This was the first place the Army sent us, and out of all the places we have lived, it is my least favorite. I think it has to do with the first time I was really far away from my family, and the fact that we only lived there for about 9 months, so I never really thought of it as home.

5. Manhattan, Ks--Our next station. When I first heard we were going to Kansas, I'm sure I wrinkled my nose a little bit. But I was pleasantly surprised. The northeast part of Kansas is gorgeous, with green rolling hills. Plus Manhattan is a small town with a big university, and I thought it was a great place to live, and it reminded me a little bit of College Station.

6. Augusta, Ga--Yes, my husband got to go see the Master's. I didn't. I have good memories of this place because of the two friends we knew in Kansas who also ended up there at the same time as we did. Having good friends makes living in a new place so much easier, so I was so glad to have their company.

7. Wahiawa, Hi--Lucky us! We managed to get stationed in Hawaii. It is beautiful there with perfect weather, and we have experienced so many cool, exotic and new things, and a cool, exotic new culture because of the time we have spent there. It is a little different than I expected, however. There is a lot of poverty there, and at times, there is some tension between the military and the locals.

Here are the other blogs that do 7 on the 7th. Check them out, too! And if you want to play, you're welcome. Just get your e-mail to me, and I'll send you the topic for next month. :)

http://harkertravels.blogspot.com
http://schoolroomoflife.blogspot.com

http://romanfamily4.blogspot.com

Taking it Easy

2011-05-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

With less than a month left in the school year, I have decided to scrap the remainder of my lesson plans and have a fun and relaxed end of the homeschool year. The last couple of weeks in public school are always a joke anyway, right?

The Child Thing finished her Pre-K reading curriculum long ago and is more than half way through with the Kindergarten curriculum, so this isn't going to cause her to get behind. And to be perfectly honest, I think both of us were kind of getting bored with the routine and not having fun anymore. So...no more phonics and no more structured lessons.

For the last few weeks we are going to learn about the 7 continents and be very relaxed about it. I intend to spend 3 days or so on each continent, and here's what I have in mind:

Day 1: Read a short exerpt from What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know about whatever continent we're studying. Color map of continent. Color any other appropriate pictures. I found free printable coloring pages and maps for all of the continents at http://www.coloring.ws/coloring.html

Day 2: More Coloring Pages, animal sticker book (which groups animals by continent), cut out images from magazines that apply to our continent, read library books about/set in our continent

Day 3: Combine all cut out/colored images onto a poster to make a continent collage. Watch a movie set in our continent.

I'm hoping this laid back approach to our last few weeks of homeschool will break the routine some and restore the joy of learning, so that we are fresh and ready to go next year. I suppose this end-of-year burnout is normal. I was never homeschooled, but I know I sure felt that way by the time the last month or so of school got there. Any knowledge or advice on the end-of-year blues?

Easter

2011-05-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

Easter was a long time ago, wasn't it? I suppose I have been rather busy and rather not motivated lately and have let my blogging slip. So, a few weeks late: here's how we celebrated Easter.

Before church, he of course had an egg hunt. I wanted to buy cute matching Easter baskets for the child things, but as soon as the baby saw this football basket he reached for it, saying "ball ball ball!" So, we ended up with the tacky football basket. But oh well. At least his outfit was cute!

Once outside, Child Thing #1 raced around the yard picking up so many eggs that her basket overflowed and started leaving a trail of eggs behind her.

Her brother was not in much of a hurry, however. Every egg he picked up, he stopped to open it and check out its contents before putting it in his basket and searching for another. He certainly did not find as many eggs as his sister did. But he didn't really care.

In fact, he soon lost interest all together and decided he wanted to go for a swim instead.

I just love Easter! The egg hunting is fun, making the child things wear hats is fun, and for me it is truly a day of rejoicing over Christ's victory over death! I hope that everyone out there had an Easter as fun and blessed as ours was!

Our Favorite Book of the Week

2011-04-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

We go to the library pretty much every week for story time and to let the kids browse for books. We stay until the youngest child thing starts madly pulling books/videos/magazines off the shelves (it usually doesn't take him long to get to that point), and then we check-out. Even with such a hurried and flustered trip, we always end up with some children's books that amaze me!

I am such a bibliophile (I dream of having a home with its own library...like a real library...floor to ceiling shelves filled with thousands of books. I have a collection of beautiful antique books. I also gave some serious thought to becoming a library science major during my college career.), so maybe it's not hard for a book to impress me. But there are so many awesome picture books out there, and they can open up discussion and learning (for me and my kids) on so many different topics, so I'd like to try to feature our favorite library book of the week on my blog.

This week, our favorite was Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker. In it, a boy and his father explore a remote shoreline in Australia. This book could lead to learning on the Australian continent, the Australian people and animals, environmental preservation, reefs, fish, dinosaurs, plants, and the list could go on. The child thing enjoyed the story a lot, and I found the illustrations to be very unique and fascinating.

Hope your library has this book, too, because I think you and your kids would love it and learn from it, too!

Our Homing School Schedule

2011-04-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

When we started off this homeschooling experiment, it was not totally structured or planned out, but we have fallen into a routine that's working for us. Our focus is on phonics/reading, but our schedule allows us to touch on lots of other school subjects, too. Here's a little taste of how we do pre-school at home week by week.

Mondays: phonics (We use the Abeka curriculum, and we are seeing good results), handwriting (using a workbook published by Zaner-Bloser), art project (from the Art Projects K4 published by Abeka. Here's my opinion on it).

Tuesdays: phonics, science lesson (we read and discuss a chapter from What Your Preschooler Needs to Know).

Wednesdays: phonics, handwriting, science project (something that relates to what we read in our science lesson the previous day)

Thursdays: phonics, library trip, math lesson (We do a chapter from the math section of What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know. These are really more like math activities. They are very hands-on and lots of fun for the child things.).

Fridays: phonics, handwriting, picture study or additional art project

This schedule certainly isn't set it stone; we are very flexible and love adding on to this basic schedule, but it helps me to have a guideline. We also read lots of books, inspect the calendar every day, memorize a Bible verse every two weeks, etc.

I still am not 100% sure about what we're going to do about school next year, but I'm leaning towards homeschool right now, so I'm trying to be prepared for that if that's the route we go. So...any suggestions for next year? Do you see any glaring holes or have any advice on what we should include next year? I'm always open for ideas from those who have been there/done that! Thanks.

9 Months Down

2011-04-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

We have now passed the 9 month mark in this deployment. The end is in sight, and it's time to start thinking about moving back to Hawaii to welcome Scott home from Iraq!

The one word that sufficiently describes how I am feeling at this point in the deployment is weary. I'm tired of taking care of EVERYTHING in the house: cooking, cleaning, bills, taxes, garbage, laundry, pets, and I'm too tired to think of anything else, but I know there's more. That must be why God created marriage, so that two people could share the load.

My children are an amazing blessing, and they bring so much joy to me every day. I absolutely love being a mom. But I don't love trying to be both a mom and a dad. Trying to fill the roles of two parents is wearing me down.

And I'm tired of being lonely. I do have my family and Scott's family nearby, and that helps a lot! I am grateful to have had their support this year. But having them does not quite replace the husband-wife relationship, and that's as it should be, really.

I'm tired of worrying about him. Scott's actually in a pretty safe place this deployment, as far as war zones go, but there are still chances of bad things happening. And I certainly don't dwell on this because it would drive me nuts, but knowing, in the back of your mind, that the one you love could be in harm's way at any given moment...that will wear you out, too.

So yes, I am just physically and emotionally weary. Seems like every day ends with me feeling totally drained, even though I can think of no reason why I should be.

But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Soon our family will be back together, and I will have someone to help me do the dishes, figure out budgets, raise our kids and tell me he loves me. :) And I am an ARMY WIFE! They are the strongest people I know, so I can last three more months, no sweat. And, if the government happens to extend the deployment--say to 15 months or so--well, I know from experience that I can handle that, too. So, bring it on, deployment! I'm ready for 3 more months of you, but I will be incredibly glad when you are GONE!

Brainwashing by Bluebonnets

2011-04-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Our kids were born in Kansas and Georgia, but this year, by George, they are living in Texas! And since Scott and I are both natives (and proud of it!), we are making an effort to brainwash the children into becoming Texans. It is our dream for them that someday, they will plaster a bumper sticker reading, "I might not have been born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" on the back of their beat-up pick-up trucks.

So of course, as part of the brainwashing process, I had to do like every good Texan does and take pictures of my kids in the bluebonnets this year. Child Thing #1 has had her picture made in the bluebonnets before. This was during a visit to Texas a few years ago.

Look at those plump little cheeks! Look at those rubber band wrists! There are no more chubby babies around here. She's just tall and thin and so grown up these days! Sniff, sniff.

This year, we took a day trip with my family (in-law) to Brenham, Texas to find some bluebonnets, and naturally we visited the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory while we were in town. The bluebonnets are not spectacular this year. We found a couple of decent patches, but even those just weren't as thick or vibrant blue as they could be.

Lucky for me, everyone else in the party had a camera and was willing to share pictures, as my poor camera made it to Brenham without its memory card. Nevertheless, the child things had a great time playing with their cousin in the flowers and eating ice cream. I enjoyed myself, as well, and I got to check something off of my spring bucket list (taking pictures of the kids in the bluebonnets). And while we're on the topic, I must brag that I have accomplished other goals off of that list, as well.

When we went to the zoo, the kids rolled down the big hill. They loved it as much as I did when I was little!

One of my other goals was to learn a little about cake decorating in preparation for someone's birthday. So, I bought a couple of beginning cake decorating books. I practised making marshmallow fondant for a cake for my sister, so I can definitely check this off the list, too. The little something that I learned is that I'm going to outsource! Making a fancy cake and trying to throw a party and keeping two kids alive is just too much to handle, so, yes, I learned something. I learned that I'm not going to make her cake.

So, 3 of 5 items from the Spring Bucket List are taken care of. But the next ones are the hard ones. Now I have to tackle a quilt and swimming lessons!

Seven on the Seventh: What I Wanted to Be

2011-04-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

This month, the Seven on the Seventh topic is 7 things you wanted to grow up to be as a child. So here are my childhood aspirations!

1. A mommy. Give me two checks for that one.
2. A teacher: Check! I used to teach 7th grade English in quite possibly the poorest school district in Texas. It was awesome! The paycheck, however, was not.
3. An astronaut: No check for this one. Doesn't every kid want to be an astronaut?
4. The first female to play professional baseball. *snicker* Not even close!
5. A novelist: Well, I do have a couple novels in the works, but they'll never be finished. Not until my children are away at college, at least. So look for me in 20 years or so.
6. A newspaper reporter: check! My degree is in English, but I started my college career as a journalism major. I worked for my college newspaper during the school year, and then during the summers I wrote for a small local paper.
7. A ballerina: I must not have realized as a young age that I have absolutely no coordination or rhythm and I am a terrible dancer! Needless to say, this dream was never realized.

If you're the bloggie type and you'd like to play Seven on the Seventh, you're welcome to! If you'd like to receive next month's topic ahead of time, just give me your e-mail address and I'll send it out to you.

Here are the other blogs participating in Seven on the Seventh this month. Check out their posts, too!

http://harkertravels.blogspot.com
http://schoolroomoflife.blogspot.com
http://romanfamily4.blogspot.com

Ten Pounds of Strawberries

2011-04-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy! Things around here have been busy. My sister, brother-in-law and niece visited from Italy! Then after that, one of my college roommates came to town to stay with us for a few days. It was wonderful having their company! Wonderful!

While my old roommate was here, we loaded up the kids and took them to a pick-your-own strawberry farm near our house. Everybody had lots of fun, and we came home with 10 pounds of beautiful, red, juicy strawberries. TEN POUNDS! That's a lot of strawberries! The kids just kept on picking till their buckets were overflowing. And the grownups kept spotting berries that looked too good to pass up, so we contributed to the excess, I must admit.

The strawberries taste as good as they look. We gave away quite a few of them, so I can't say for sure that none of the 10 lbs went to waste, but we definitely enjoyed the ones we kept, and we ate them all!

If you live to the south of Houston, you should definitely go to Froberg's Farm to pick your own strawberries. The child things loved everything about it. Besides the strawberry picking, there was also a picnic area, swings, smokehouse, and fruit and veggie stand. Great place! Hmmm...maybe we should turn our acreage into a strawberry farm!

The Day She Decided She Wants to be a Zookeper When She Grows Up

2011-03-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

Zookeeper. Let's add that to the list of things she wants to be when she grows up. What else is on the list? Artist, mommy, chef, mermaid, author, gymnast, and etc. But this week, we had a pretty awesome trip to the Houston Zoo, so this week, it's a zookeeper.

My sister, her husband and their daughter are visiting from Italy, and one of her good friends from high school is now a zookeeper at the Houston Zoo. Zookeeper Jessica offered to take us "behind the scenes" to see some of the animals she takes care of. So cool!

First we visited the rhinos. I'm not sure what the plural of rhinoceros is, so I'm just going to say "rhinos." The Child Thing was not timid at all with these huge, horned creatures.

Child Thing #2, however, was not quite as friendly with them. I tried to coax him into giving the rhino a pat, but he was not buying it. Oh well. This was the first time in my life that I've ever touched a rhino, and it was actually a little softer than I'd imagined.

Next came the giraffes! We got to feed this big guy carrots and sweet potatoes. Again, Child Thing #1 was thrilled!

And again, both babies were not as excited. Both my son and my niece would hold a piece of food up to the giraffe, but when that long, black, slobbery tongue came out, they changed their minds.

When the novelty of hand-feeding a giraffe wore off, Zookeeper Jessica suggested we give him giraffey kisses, and she demonstrated by putting a carrot between her lips, holding it up to the giraffe and letting him take it right from her mouth! Some of us may have been a little hesitant, but then she told us that when George Bush Sr. came to the zoo, she convinced him to do it, so we did it, too. All except my brother-in-law, the party pooper! :P

My daughter LOVED it! Here's a picture of me kissing the giraffe. Actually, the giraffe kissing me. I have always loved giraffes, but I never really desired to have one lick me on the chin. Ha!

Of course, we saw lots of other animals, too (baby elephants!), but we didn't get this close to any of the other animals. Thanks, Zookeeper Jessica for such a fun and memorable trip to the zoo! And don't feel bad for the baby. He may not have enjoyed the animals as much as his sister did, but I did find him something that he liked a lot!

Spring Break

2011-03-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Well, Spring Break didn't start out too great for us. Child Thing #1 got a nasty stomach bug. Then the baby got it. Then I got it. Then everyone else we had come in contact with the previous week got it. So...we basically spent the week laying around feeling sorry for ourselves.

But...the positive part of Spring Break is that my sister and brother-in-law brought my cute little niece to Texas, and I finally got to meet her for the first time. They are stationed in Italy, so I had to wait a year and a half to see her! I bought her some ice cream to try and get her to like me. It may have worked. I'm not sure, but she's let me hold her a few times, so that's a good sign.

Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris Birthday Party

2011-03-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

These days Child Thing #1 and I are talking a little bit about her birthday party. It's still a few months away, but these things are so fun that we/I like to start planning them way ahead of time. It makes the fun last longer. Thinking about her birthday, I remembered that I never posted about last year's birthday party. So...here it is!

Last year my daughter decided she wanted a Fancy Nancy birthday party. Fun! But then we decided to have a joint birthday party with the baby so that we could celebrate before their Daddy left for Iraq. Wouldn't want him to miss the first birthday party!

I wasn't sure how we could make Fancy Nancy work for a 1-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl until I read the book Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris, in which a new kid from Paris comes to Nancy's school. She is so excited because everything from France is fancy, you know, but then she realizes that he is from Paris, Texas, and he is into horses and cowboys and etc. So, we had a party that was half fancy and half cowboy. I set up two tables in the backyard and decorated one with pink and purple feather boas (I also strung these along the fence instead of streamers) and a small Eiffel Tower. The other table I topped with bandanas, set up a toy cowboy set on top of it, and hung cowboy hats over the table.

The kids were all given their party favors when they arrived: feather boas and tutus for the girls, cowboy hats and bandanas for the boys. When the party started, the kids

Some of the girls enjoying their parfaits (that's French for ice cream sundaes).

dressed up, played in the yard, had refreshments (half of our food was "delectable" like fancy macaroni, chocolate dipped marshmallows and fruit kabobs, and the other half "finger-lickin' " like chicken wings and nuggets and tortilla chips with dips), and helped themselves to the parfait bar.
Later, I gathered the kids together to play a dig-in-the-haystack game. I hid cowboy shaped die cuts in a stack of shredded paper and had them all search for them. Wow, did they go crazy for this! Everyone who found one got a prize, and I tried to be sure each kid got a prize.

Then it was cake time! Last year, I was lucky enough to live right next door to a fabulous cake decorator, so we had two wonderful cakes!

The cakes were adorable and delicious. If you live on Oahu and are looking for a cute custom cake, look up Mantra Cakes. Here is her facebook page.

The cowboy cake

It was a fun party, and the two stars of the show seemed like they had a wonderful time, which is the most important thing! I tried so hard to make this event something special and memorable, but honestly, at this age, if you do nothing but give them cake, they are still over-the-moon.

Long Rambing Post About Curriculum

2011-03-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

It's only Spring Break, but I'm feeling the need to prepare a homeschool curriculum for next year. Truth be told, I have been considering different curriculums since way before Christmas. This year, we are doing pre-k at home, and I was very loose with the curriculum, but next year, if I go ahead with homeschooling, we'll be official.

Not that the state of Hawaii is has strict rules about homeschooling or record keeping. But...it will still be official.

This year, I bought the phonics program from Abeka Book. I have been happy with the results. The child thing is reading, and that speaks for itself. We actually finished up the pre-k program and are working on the kindergarten one now. This curriculum may be a little too repetitive, but I think we are going to stick with it for next year for reading/phonics.

The history and literature programs from Abeka do not really appeal to me, though. They seem a bit hokey/not challenging enough/overly Christian. That may sound strange coming from someone who's a Christian, but I don't want to shelter my kids from viewpoints that are different or "brainwash" them.

So I'm having a hard time deciding what sort of curriculum I'd like to do for subjects other than reading. I'm liking the Sonlight curriculum for history and literature, and I love that they buy into the living history book theory. This curriculum has everything included and planned out for you already, so that means less prep work for me. That sounds good! But then again, choosing what you want to teach and not having it all planned out for you is one of the benefits of homeschooling, isn't it?

But I also bought The Story of the World Vol. 1 by Susan Wise Bauer, and I find it very intriguing also. It is not completely planned out, so I would have to be more involved in the lesson planning, but it is still very inclusive. For each unit, you read a short chapter from the book, and it provides coloring pages and maps that correspond with each chapter. It also gives suggestions for projects that relate to what you're learning. And these are not hokey activities...they are cool. Like to go along with ancient Egypt, it has instructions on how to mummify a chicken! It also includes suggestions on other books and biographies that you and your child could read to delve deeper into any unit. It seems like it would be pretty fun and pretty challenging.

And math, well, I don't know. If I buy from Sonlight, I will probably buy a math program from them, too. But if I don't go with Sonlight, I may try out Abeka's math, too.

So this turned in to a long, rambling post, and I kinda doubt anyone has stuck with me so far, but if you have...sorry I have rambled for so long. If any homeschooling types have opinions/suggestions on any curriculum, I'd love to hear them!

Trying Not to Worry

2011-03-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

Alright, I tried being positive and pointing out the fun part of Army life, but today I'm worrying again...so here is another angst-filled post from this Army wife.

You may remember that we just purchased some property, and we intend on making it our home eventually. One of the many reasons we chose this particular place is that it's in the best rural school district in the area. After we closed on the property, I, like any education-obsessed mother would do, browsed around on the school district's website, trying to picture my own children as students there.

While I was doing that, I came across one announcement that I thought was so cute and endearing. The yearbook staff was reminding parents of seniors to turn in baby pictures for the yearbook. If a picture was not submitted in time, the yearbook staff would use the senior's kindergarten picture.
*Tear*

Perhaps that announcement impacted me more than it would most people. That concept is so foreign to our family, though. My children will never attend kindergarten and 12th grade in the same school.
And when I realized that, the worrying began. What if it is very important to a child's development to put down roots and really let them grow? What if we are permanently damaging our children's psyches by moving them around all the time?

In my heart, I know that this isn't true. I have met lots of people who grew up in the military who are wonderful, wonderful people (I have met a few who are wacky, too). But I still worry that there is something my kids will miss out on. I'm just a worry-er, I guess. Especially when the one who keeps me balanced is on the other side of the globe. If I were talking to him right now instead of typing my worries, he would probably break out in song. "Don't worry about a thing. Cause every little thing is gonna be alright." He likes to sing me that song. Like I said, I'm a worry-er.

But...I can balance myself, too. Perhaps I should instead think about what my kids will experience that other kids will miss out on.

The Adventure

2011-03-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

Lately I seem to be writing a lot about the hardships of military life. That's probably because I'm 8 months in to a deployment, which is one of the worst parts, and I'm tired of it! I am SO ready for this deployment to be over, but in the mean time I'd like to share with you what I think is the best part of Army life: the adventure!
Maybe my parents instilled a sense of adventure into me, or a sense of curiosity about other cultures, or maybe I was just a gypsy in a past life, but I love that we get to experience different parts of the world. Let me tell you, since my husband joined the Army, I have learned A LOT, and my views on the world have widened A LOT. We have lived in 4 different states, and everywhere we are stationed, we take trips to see the sights that are nearby. Within the Army, we have also made friends with people from all over the country, and even from other countries. And we don't just read about different places, different traditions and different cultures (and yes, there are definitely different cultures in different regions of the country), we experience them.
We got to go to the Big Island of Hawai'i to watch a volcano smoldering and play on a black sand beach created by its lava.

In Kansas, we took a day trip to visit the site of one of my very favorite childhood books The Little House on the Prairie. I probably enjoyed this little excursion more than Scott did, but he actually learned a lot and was quite impressed with the ingenuity of families like the Ingalls.

Now don't think that I am a vacation hog and only plan trips to places like Independence, Kansas. Here's a road trip that the husband definitely enjoyed.

These are just a few of the many, many wonderful and eye-opening places we have experienced because of the Army. Even though it's always sad to say goodbye to your home and your friends, it's exciting to know that the adventure isn't over. We're always wondering where we'll end up next and what new things we'll get to see while we're there, and what is so awesome is that it could be anywhere in the world.
When this deployment is FINALLY over, we will be back in Hawaii for at least another year, and we plan to enjoy every minute of our time on a tropical island paradise. But after that, who knows?! Alaska? Japan? Colorado? New York? Germany? Missouri? Arizona? Korea? Australia? Louisiana? Washington?
Where ever it is, it will be an adventure, and I like the sound of that!

Seven on the Seventh: Meals I Make the Most

2011-03-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

This month, I am listing the seven meals I prepare the most. Not long ago, I didn't enjoy cooking at all, but I have learned to like it. Experimenting with new recipes is really fun, but these days seems like I pick foods that are quick to prepare, the child things will eat and are somewhat healthy. I just can't spend an hour of my time in the kitchen when there are little ones to tend to. So...here are my seven quick meals:
1. Spaghetti. We eat this every single week. Takes 20 minutes if you use sauce from a jar, the kids love it, and I use wheat pasta and serve it with green veggies, so...it's fairly healthy.
2. PW's Asian Noodle Salad. This is an AMAZING salad (three cheers for sesame oil). The kids also love, love, love the noodle part of it, and I'm pretty sure while they're gobbling that up, they also get some of those good, raw veggies.
3. Quessadillas. Doesn't matter to me what you put in them, as long as it comes with fresh guacamole. To make guac, I usually chop up some onion, garlic, tomato and cilantro (three cheers for cilantro), and mix it in the mashed up avocado with lemon juice and a little salt. But my brother-in-law says that's the way gringos eat guacamole. That doesn't bother me much because I am a gringo, but his way is delicious, too. Just avocado with garlic salt.
4.Chili. Not the healthiest thing on my list, but what can I say...I'm a Texan. I have used tons of different recipes for chili and haven't settled in on one that is my very favorite, but here's one from the Foodie Bride that's delish and different!
5. Pasta Primavera with Grilled Chicken. More of a summery dish, but it's got pasta, it's got veggies, so it's a winner at our house.
6. Baked Ziti. My sweet roommate made this a lot in college, so I always think of her when I make it. Pasta, marinara sauce and cheese. One of the kids' favorites.
7. Chicken Tortilla Soup. I love making this in the winter, and a big pot will leave enough leftovers so that I don't have to cook for days. :)

If you have a blog and would like to join our little Seven on the Seventh group, go to this page and join the group or leave me a comment with your email. It's fun! Or, if you'd like to check out the rest of the bloggers' lists, click the link above and go to the links section.

The Power of a Crayon

2011-03-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had a moment, when you see something from your childhood, and the memories of it are so vivid that you suddenly feel 8 years old again? That happened to me the other day with a crayon. Strange? Maybe.
While I'm in Texas, I'm staying in my aunt and uncle's house. They have tons of school supplies leftover from my cousins' school days and my aunt's days as a teacher, and, since their children are all contributing members of society now, they offered them to us when we moved in. That was a jackpot for a homeschooler! Paints, poster boards, flashcards, colored pencils, construction paper, scissors, rulers, and of course crayons.
The crayons are contained in a shoebox-sized sterilite container. When we first opened it up, I could tell they were used by my cousins when they were kids because the colors had names that could only have come out of the '80s. Vivid Tangerine. Hot Magenta. Ultra Blue.
And then the child thing dug her hand down to the bottom, pulled something out and said, "Look, Mommy, an eraser."
I looked. I gasped. I transformed into an 8-year-old again.

Then I regained my lucidity and explained that this was no eraser. It was a crayon, an AWESOME crayon.
Do y'all remember those multi-colored crayons? I had forgotten all about them, but when I saw this one, I remembered that they were the coolest thing in school when I was little. I guess it can't compare much to the ipods that kids take to elementary with them these days, but back then...this was the thing to have!

Spring!

2011-03-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

Spring has arrived in Texas! And isn't it beautiful! I must admit, I kinda missed Hawaii during the winter months, when I actually had to wear closed-toe shoes, but I am loving Texas' Spring so far. I'm going to follow my friend Amber's lead and come up with a list of things I'd like to do this spring. I'm much more likely to accomplish my goals if I record them...especially if I record them publicly so that people can chastise me if I fail.
1. Finish Child Thing #2's baby quilt. He's a year and a half old! What's taking me so long?
2. Take pictures of my kids in the beautiful Texas bluebonnets.
3. Drive the kids into Houston so that they can roll down the GIANT hill at Herman Park (have awesome memories of doing that myself).
4. Learn a little bit about cake decorating (in preparation for a certain birthday that's coming up in a few months).
5. Teach Child Thing #1 to swim. That's for later in the spring when it's a tad bit warmer.

Out of those five items, I'd say #1 is the least likely to get done. I have been setting deadlines for myself for two years to finish that quilt, and it hasn't happened yet. I am getting closer, though. There is hope! I'll let you know when/if I check anything off of my "spring bucket list."

Turn a Bad Day into a Good One

2011-02-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day, but there are some that are not. Some days I am rushed and hurried, worrying about taking care of business while trying to entertain two small children and wondering when I'll hear from my husband next. On those days, I like to find some peace by going to youtube and play this song. "Come Thy Fount" is my very favorite hymn. It helps me find my center, find my peace and find my priorities so that I can turn a bad day into a good one.
And while I do love the modern praise and worship music, there are some old hymns like this one that are so powerful and moving that the new stuff just can't hold a candle to it. Those songs are how people did praise and worship before there were big drum sets, high-dollar speakers and overhead projectors in churches. And in my opinion, it probably worked just as well.

Turmoil

2011-02-24T20:38:00.000-08:00

This evening Child Thing #1 (shown here loving on her aunt--with underwear on her head) and I talked about moving back to Hawaii. We've always known our stay in Texas would be temporary...just while Daddy was deployed, and she has been looking forward to returning to our tropical island home.

"I'm so hot! When are we going back to Hawaii?"

"It's too cold! When are we going back to Hawaii?"

Plus she misses friends there, and most importantly, it was her home.

But after our conversation tonight, I realized that she no longer consideres Hawaii her home. She considers Texas her home, and she doesn't want to leave her home.

So now I'm wondering again if I made the right decision when I chose to move home for the deployment. Before we moved, I debated it for months, and my #1 reason against moving was this: as a military family, we already have so much turmoil in our lives, and I don't want to unnecessarily create any additional turmoil.

But I made the decision to move anyway, and I have to admit, it has been great getting to spend time with all our family here. It's great that the kids have gotten to know their relatives. It's also great that I get to enjoy some fantastic Mexican food every now and then (no salsa made from ketchup! hooray!).

Anyway, as I have said before, the child thing handles the upheaval really well. But even though she doesn't lash out, that doesn't mean that the change is easy for her or that it doesn't have an impact on her. And it really breaks my heart to see her suffering (albeit quietly) from it.

Now that she has completely adjusted and views Texas as her home, it's almost time to move back to Hawaii and start the whole process over.

And I feel guilty.

My Little One is Learning

2011-02-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

Child Thing #2 (shown here gobbling up a cupcake) is apparently experiencing the "language explosion" that is supposed to occur between 18 and 24 months. He is saying new words pretty much every day. My favorite of his new words is "night night." So sweet! When it's time for bed, he snuggles up against my chest and says it over and over again. :)

Some of his new words are not quite so tender, however. The other day, we were helping my mom feed her horses (the child things LOVE feeding the horses). The baby walked right up to a fresh pile of horse manure, pointed to it and said, "poop!"

We all laughed, and I decided that being a mom to a boy is definitely different than being a mom to a girl.

It's amazing to watch a child learn a language, isn't it? I'm proud of my baby every time he learns a new word, even if the word is "poop."

My Debut as a Portrait Photographer

2011-02-21T21:01:00.000-08:00

I am SO not qualified to be a photographer. I did take a photography class in college, but that doesn't count because I learned on a (gasp) FILM CAMERA. But I did really enjoy the class, and since my awesome husband bought me this fancy camera, I sometimes get the idea in my head that I should put it to use and get my money's worth by taking my own portraits.

So I offered to take some pictures of my little sister, who is graduating from high school this year, in addition to her senior portraits. We could take some that are more fun and show her personality more than in the studio. And then she missed the appointment the school made for her at the portrait studio (and is thereby not going to be in the yearbook), so she decided she wanted me not to add to her professional portraits, but to substitute for her professional portraits.

Ack! But I gave it my best shot, and we ended up with a handfull of decent ones. Here are some of my faves. Isn't she lovely?

News to Share

2011-02-19T19:44:00.001-08:00

Before I start: I'm not pregnant. No R&R baby for us. No, the exciting news is that we bought 20 acres!!

Scott has been talking about buying a place in Texas for a long time. Last year, he finally started to convince me that we could afford it, so I started casually looking at properties online after I came back to Texas in the fall. To be honest, at that point, I didn't think we'd really go through with it. But, we found a place that seemed perfect for us, and everything came together, so we did!

It doesn't mean we're done with the military and ready to move back to Texas permanently. This is more like our retirement spot. Scott has 14 years till he can retire, so maybe about 14 years from now we'll be ready to make this place our home. And that's ok, because there's lots of work that needs to be done.

Our land has everything we were looking for, and we love the area it's in, but it's been neglected for a decade or two. It's overgrown and the fences are falling down, plus there are no buildings, water or electricity. It's kinda exciting, though, because that we means we can shape it to be whatever we want it to be.

We have a long list of things to do, and this weekend, I took care of item #1 on that list. With the assistance of my dad (well...actually he did most of the work), I put T posts in the 5 property corners. The surveyors just used little wooden stakes to mark the property boundaries, and we were afraid those would disappear. So...check that one off!

Every time I go up to our property, I'm more and more excited about making this place our home. It's less than 10 minutes away from a small, quaint town that is full of friendly people and has great schools. Seems to me like a the perfect place to raise a family (though my family may be mostly raised by the time we get there). Well, it's perfect unless you like things like Papa John's delivery. :P I'm pretty sure that's not going to be an option for us.

Even so...we're both thrilled about our big purchase and ready to get to work!

Expectations

2011-02-16T20:45:00.001-08:00

Not long ago, I was reminiscing about our first anniversary, all the hopes, dreams and expectations that came along with that celebration, and how none of them happened. By the time year two rolled around, I was over the googley-eyed newlywed thing and had just one single thing I wanted on my anniversary. To fit into the booth.

Guess what happened the very next day? And, no, it wasn't twins.

Milk: It Does a Body Good. Unless it's Non-organic. Or Organic.

2011-02-15T12:15:00.001-08:00

For years, I have been buying organic milk (and other dairy products when I can find them). I do this because of concerns about Bovine Growth Hormone present in American-produced milk that can increase chances of cancers of the breast and prostate and who knows what else. The issue became personal for me, however, when one of my child things was born with a birth defect that has been linked to hormone exposure while in the womb. Thank the good Lord the birth defect was minor, has no effect on every day life and needed no surgery to correct.

But the birth defect made me even more diligent about buying organic when available. My general belief on food is the closer it is to the way God made it, the better. I know with all this genetic altering, there's not much we eat today in its original state, but you can try, I guess.

Ever since I started buying organic milk, I noticed that the carton says "ultra pasteurized," but until recently, I had no idea what that meant for what was inside the container. I've been doing some research on organic milk, and most of the organic milk in the grocery stores is ultra pasteurized, which means it is heated to a much higher temperature than regular milk.

It's hard to find info on the Internet that is not skewed with opinions one way or the other, but I read this article on the Cal State website, and found out several interesting things about ultra pasteurized milk.

The very high temperatures, which kill the germs, also kill nutrients in the milk. Ultra pasteurized milk looses 10-20% of vitamins B1, B6, B9, B12, C and Thiamine. It also looses 50% of its folate, and most of its folate binding proteins (which allow us to absorb the folate). Because the very high temperatures alter the proteins in milk, we may not absorb the vitamins that do remain after the pasteurization process. And some believe that exposure to these altered proteins can cause life-long problems with the digestive tract.

Great! I thought I was doing something good and healthy for my children, but perhaps I was making them less healthy all along.

So as far as cow's milk goes...you either get regular milk and load your system with hormones, or you buy organic and your body doesn't get the vitamins and minerals it needs from milk. The only way out is to get your hands on some organic raw milk (not pasteurized at all) straight from the dairy. Hmmm...looks like I'm going to have to keep a cow in the backyard.

Which is better? Which is worse? Any opinions?

Homing School Arts and Crafts: Abeka

2011-02-08T18:55:00.001-08:00

Pre-K is all about the arts and crafts! Kids love doing this sort of thing (and so do moms), so I bought a book of art projects at the beginning of our school year designed specially for 4-year-olds from Abeka Book. It contains 5 projects for every month in the school year, and for the most part, they coordinate with the season.

Overall, I have not been too impressed with this book, but it does have some redeeming qualities, I suppose. Here are the positives:

1. It's affordable. Less than $15

2. It has allowed my daughter to learn to use scissors fairly well.

3. The projects are quick and easy. There's very little prep work for the parent to do, so it's basically a no effort/no planning craft project once a week.

However, these aren't really art projects. It's just cut-and-paste. And though the child thing kinda has fun with the crafts, they certainly do not encourage her to develop any creativity. The crafts don't involve any painting, drawing, designing or creating. Instead, you cut the three pre-printed circles off of the paper and then glue them to the pre-printed scene to make a snowman. Somewhat entertaining for a four-year-old, perhaps, but not nearly as exciting (or as intellectually stimulating) as making your own dough, forming it into beads, painting them and making your very own necklace! We're still do the projects from the Abeka book once a week, but I am sure to encorporate some other, more creative, craft project into the week as well.

Warning: this post contains both the word "breastfeeding" and the word "HOOAH."

2011-02-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

"Did they pressure you into breastfeeding?"

At the time, I found the question curious, and I still wonder about it.

Child Thing #2 had just made his arrival into the world, and I was back at the doctor for a follow-up. Until the very end of my pregnancy, I had been seen by military doctors, but the last month or so I was referred to a civilian. And at this appointment, he basically asked me if my military doctors had forced the breastmilk/formula issue.

I answered "no" because I never felt pressured into it. The nurses asked me if I wanted to and gave me a brochure on the benefits of breastfeeding, but that was it. And actually, when my first baby was born and we had a horrible time learning to nurse, the hospital staff seemed to be pressuring me into switching to formula.

Surely I looked puzzled as I answered this question, because the doctor explained, "I just ask because I have a lot of patients coming from the military, and a much, much higher percentage of them go with breastfeeding."

That has left me wondering ever since then. Is his observation accurate? And, if so, why would more "military women" breastfeed than non military types?

Scott, who was at the appointment with me, said, "That's because Army wives are tough. HOOAH!"

You do have to be tough to go that route because, for me at least, it did not come naturally and was a huge pain at first. But I don't necessarily think that being an Army spouse prepares you more for challenges like nursing a baby.

Maybe it's because military wives have a harder time building careers (hard to do that when you move every few years), so there are more stay-at-home moms. And being at home with your kids definitely makes breastfeeding much more feasible. Props to all those working moms who ARE able to make nursing work, by the way...that is simply amazing!

I'm still curious about this, so I'm looking for input. I'd love to hear any theories or explanations on this topic...from military folks and civilian types. And, if you are in the medical field, have you noticed this trend, as well? Thanks, y'all. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Seven on the Seventh: Romance Is...

2011-02-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

I like reading lists on other people's blogs. Maybe it's because I'm a list person. Things just don't get accomplished around here unless they are on a list. And, oh, the joy! Drawing a little check mark beside an item on my list brings such joy! I never cross them off, no, no. That would be like an annulment...like it never happened. A check mark means: been there, done that, checked it off the list.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about how much I enjoy lists on blogs, and so I have decided to create a monthly list on mine. It shall be called: Seven on the Seventh. It will be just like a David Letterman Top 10 List. Except I'm not nearly as witty as David Letterman. And there will only be 7 items on the list.

If there are any other bloggers who'd like to join in, leave a comment or send me a message. I'll send you the list topic ahead of time, then you can create your own Seven on the Seventh List, and it'll be fun to compare. :) If you want to participate this month, just do it! And then link it so I can check it out.

In honor of Valentine's Day, the first Seven on the Seventh will be "Romance Is..."
It's in honor of Valentine's Day, but also in honor of my husband, who thought my recent post on our very un-romantic 1st anniversary did not portray him in a positive light (so I deleted it, but then he said he was just kidding...he thought the post was funny and made him remember the times when he was young and carefree). Without further ado, I present to you, in honor of my husband (who is not the type to recite love sonnets, but who has his moments):

Romance Is...
7. Waiting until I go to sleep to watch scary zombie movies.
6. A box from 1-800-Flowers on the front step.
5. Surprising me with an oreo shake on Easter Sunday because I had just gone 40 days with NO ICE CREAM!
4.. Telling me, completely earnestly, that I should try out for Miss Texas.
3. Cleaning out the milk-filled sippy cup discovered under the backseat of the car.
2. A static-filled phone call from the other side of the world, when he's exhausted after a hard-day's work but wanted to stay up a bit longer just to hear my voice.

And Number One...drum roll please...

1. Saying, "You go take a nap. I'll take care of the kids."

Those Days Are Over

2011-02-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

I have a sister who's in high school. She thinks I'm really old. As in: "You're turning THIRTY?!?!? Whoah!!!"
Yes, I, too, used to think 30 was ancient. And perhaps I was right, as I am now considering an anti-aging lotion for my face. The crows feet will be appearing any day now...if they haven't already. I'm not sure because I'm afraid to check it out. It may be depressing.
And to think...I used to long for the days when people would look at me and realize I was a grown up.
Like when I was expecting my first child and some old lady walked right up to me and proceeded to scold me for being a young, unwed mother. I guess she missed the WEDDING RING on my left hand.
Or that time--my first day of school as a teacher--when the lunch ladies thought I was a student and wouldn't let me go through the teacher line. This was not in a high school, either. I taught junior high. It was my first year out of college, so I was certainly young, but they thought I looked like a 12 year old?!
Those days are over now. No one will ever mistake me for a 12 year old again. But I'm ok with that. My husband says I look better than I ever have (crows feet and all), so who cares what anyone else thinks?
P.S. If anybody out there knows of a good age-fighting facial product, share your secrets!

Does the Military Make you Murder?

2011-02-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

Two teenagers were killed by their mother last week while their active duty father was deployed. The details are pretty depressing, so I won't post them, but if you'd like to, you can read this article from CNN.
I don't particularly want to discuss the disturbing crime, but I would like to discuss some comments I heard regarding the situation. Some seem to think that military wives should not be left alone, that being alone for deployments creates too much stress in their lives, causing them to "snap."
Certainly the woman who committed this crime felt a lot of pressure, and the deployment surely made life more difficult for her and her children. But there obviously were some other issues here. The military lifestyle is not to blame. This women probably needed help in a lot of ways and, for whatever reason, did not get it.
There are thousands of women in this country who are also surviving deployments and are able to keep their sanity. In fact, most of the ones I know are able to overcome the stress to lead normal, even happy lives, while their husbands are away. I'm not saying we don't long for the day the deployment is over so that our families will be whole again, because we all do.
What I want to do is remind certain people, who may have jumped to conclusions, that the large majority of military wives can handle it. Though the deployment may be tough, we can take care of our kids, take care of our jobs, take care of our homes, and take care of each other without "loosing it." And then, when the deployment is over, we are ecstatic to have one more person back home to take care of.
Another thing I want to do is ask for your prayers for the family involved in this tragedy, and particularly this father. Thank you.

Little Girls Are Army Strong, Too

2011-01-29T13:01:00.000-08:00

It's been over two weeks since mid-tour leave ended and Scott went back to Iraq, and we are starting to get back into the swing of things. Admittedly, it took me a while to adjust back to my self-sufficient lifestyle. Talk about spoiled! While he was here, I got to go to the bathroom without company, I got to cook dinner without screaming children hanging off of my legs and I even had help cleaning the pool. A girl could get used to that!

Though the adjustment was a little rough for me, I am so, so proud of how the child things have done. The baby is probably too young to realize what's going on. So, though he definitely enjoyed having another male in the house, he didn't seem to mind/notice when he was gone. But his sister...she understands. She's 4 1/2, and she's getting to the age where change can be traumatic, but she hasn't thrown any tantrums or fits, she hasn't whined, she hasn't "acted out" to get attention. All in all, she's probably taken it better than I have. The only sign of the turmoil I saw in her was that for the first week or so, she asked me for her bunny at bedtime. A few months ago, the bunny stopped being a requirement for bedtime and started being optional. But when Daddy left, I guess she needed the comfort. She is so tough, isn't she? She may be a little sad or a little confused, and she may be missing her Daddy, but she "bucks up" and doesn't let it slow her down. She may snuggle with her bunny to make her feel better at night, but when morning comes, she is happy and helpful.

Like I said, I'm very proud of them, and especially how adaptable child thing #1 has been in this turbulent situation. Way to be Army Strong, sweet girl!

What We're Learning: Our Fave "History" Books

2011-01-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

Our history curriculum is...well, non-existant, really. But, despite that, the child thing has learned a lot about history so far this year. Kids don't need structure to learn...at least that's my excuse for being disorganized.

To cover history, we pick out a couple of biographies or historical fiction books geared toward pre-k or elementary aged children every time we go to the library. And it is amazing the discussions we have after reading these books...the child thing is full of questions, so reading the books are just a jumping off point. She will learn the story of an interesting person, and while doing that, she'll also learn that long ago, women never wore pants was, for example. So even if our history lessons aren't structured, she is definitely building her knowledge of the past. And in pre-school, I think that's all you really need.

Here are some of the best "history" books we have come across this year:

I Could Do That: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote - A very interesting and inspiring story about an American woman I had never heard of (I'm learning here, too!).

The Legend of William Tell - I love, love, love this book! The story of a Swiss hero, written in verse (beautiful verse, at that) and gorgeously illustrated. Read it!

Abe's Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln - This stands out from other biographies about the 16th president because it is infused with his quotations. And I never realized how many good ones he has! This book may be better for older elementary kids, though, because the child thing didn't love it quite as much as I did.

Johnny Appleseed - The child thing was fascinated with this book, as was I. A classic story with wonderful illustrations...how could you go wrong?

What We're Learning in Pre-K at Home: Food Pyramid

2011-01-19T11:56:00.001-08:00

We took a loooong winter break from "homing school," as the child thing calls it, to celebrate Christmas, New Year's, and then Daddy's mid-tour leave, but we are back in the saddle now. What Your Preschooler Needs to Know has a science section on staying healthy, and since healthy eating does not come naturally in our house (I know someone who would consume marshmallows for 3 meals a day if she could), we expanded that to include the food pyramid.

Here's how we went about studying the food pyramid, if you're interested:

I printed off this food pyramid, and we colored each section a different color as we talked about the different food groups and identified the pictures in each group. Then I cut out the pyramid, glued it to a piece of construction paper, and I asked the child thing to tell me the names of each group as I labeled them.

The next day, we drew a bigger version of the pyramid on a poster board, and again, I had her tell me the names of the food groups to write on the poster. Then we sorted her toy food set into the groups and placed them in the proper section on our poster. She did a great job with the sorting, and after that, we played restaurant. I was the customer, and she was the waitress. Instead of ordering a specific food, I'd just say I wanted something from the vegetable group, for example.

Normally, we don't include snack time into our homeschool, but when you're learning about food, you gotta eat! So, we gathered ingredients from each food group.

Bread/Starch: crackers or mini rice cakes

Vegetables: cucumber slices, shredded carrots

Fruit: raisins, berries

Dairy: cream cheese

Protein: peanut butter

Using the cucumbers or crackers for a base, the peanut butter or cream cheese for spreading and the rest for toppings, we assembled the ingredients into a variety of snacks, counting how many of the food groups we could include in one snack.

I also asked the child thing to help me plan and prepare a meal, keeping the food pyramid in mind. One guess what she picked for the starch.

It's important to teach kids about healthful eating, and it's never too early to start good habits, but here's a word of warning: if you choose to teach your child about eating a healthy, balanced diet by consulting the food pyramid, every meal you serve them from then on will be under scrutiny.

Oh, and she picked macaroni and cheese.

My Sleeping Baby

2011-01-18T18:34:00.001-08:00

What is it about a sleeping child that touches my heart so much? Against the advice of the sleep experts, whoever they be, I rocked child thing #1 to sleep every night when she was a baby. And I so don't regret it. I loved snuggling with her as she fell asleep, and those days are over too quickly.Child Thing #2 never liked the rocking chair much, but sometimes I sneak in his room at night to check on him, and when I do, I admire how perfectly sweet he is when he dreams.

My sleeping children move me to pray, and I usually pray something like this:

Lord, I thank you for creating this child. He is formed so perfectly that his very existance brings honor to you, as our creator. And thank you for giving him to me; I love him so much. Thank you that I get to experience a parent's love...it is amazing. And now I know why you refer to yourself as our parent. I know that you love this child, too, and I ask your blessings over him. Bless every step that he takes every day of his life. Bless him with passions and interests and gifts that he can use to reach his full potential in your plan for him. Bless his relationships. Bless him with safety and with health. And bless him with salvation. As he grows, may he come to know and understand you and accept the salvation that you offer through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

There are Two Types of Goodbyes

2011-01-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

This year will be our 6th as an Army family, and in that time we have done lots of goodbye-ing. I have found that there are two basic views on goodbyes in the military community. The first is the "Savor Every Last Moment" goodbye and the other is the "Get it Over With" goodbye.

I tend to believe that the "Savor Every Last Moment" goodbye is emotional and psychological torture perhaps on par with water boarding. Maybe that's an exaggeration. But it's awful!

The appeal of it is understandable. You're not going to see your spouse for months on end and you want to permanently stamp in your mind those last few seconds together. But uggh, to drag it out like that...and in the military, we're talking hours...it's torturous.

We prefer the short and sweet method. I already have plenty of memories engrained in my mind, I only need to hear "I love you" once, and I'd rather cry like a baby in the privacy of my own home, thank you very much.

Because I'm a cryer. And it's not pretty.

I'd rather give my soldier one last kiss and one tight hug and then get it over with and move on. I give myself a little time to be sad, and then I take a deep breath, find strength, and keep living.

R&R Highlights

2011-01-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

Scott has been here! Six months into his deployment, he finally got to come home to us. We spent two marvelous weeks together, and he flew back to Iraq this morning, so today is what I like to call my recovery day. Basically, on recovery day, I allow myself to curl up in the fetal position and bawl, ignore the ridiculous amount of dirty dishes and eat ice cream for dinner. And lunch, if I so desire.

But...instead of dwelling on the sad idea that it's over, I'll think back to the fun things we did on mid-tour leave.

-a living room campout with a tent and fire for roasting marshmallows

-a little two-steppin' for mom and dad (it's been a loooong time)

-taking a drive to check out the acreage we are buying

-Children's Museum of Houston

-Lots of visiting with family

-Super exciting one: the kitchen was cleaned NOT BY ME!!!

*Sigh* It was a WONDERFUL time, and I would now like to publicly praise child thing #1. She has done SUCH a good job adapting to all these changes in her routine. She adores her daddy, and was beyond ecstatic when he came home, but she has taken his leaving again really well. On the drive to the airport this morning, she said several times, "I don't want Daddy to go back to Iraq." And she cried a little when we left, but mostly she has just been helping me. Apparently I'm more of a crybaby than she is.

As I said, this is my recovery day, so I am apt to randomly burst into tears. I really, really try to keep that under control in front of the kids because that just makes it worse for them. But, I was caught in the act once by child thing #1. When she saw my tears, she said, "I know what I'll do, Mommy." and ran out of the room. A few minutes later, she emerged with a hand-drawn family portrait.

"I made a picture of Thomas and me and you and Daddy," she held it up for me to see. "Any time you miss Daddy, you can just look at him in this picture."

And it was so sweet it almost got the waterworks going again...but she was trying SO hard to make me stop crying I was able to contain myself.

How blessed am I to have such a wonderful family?! And I'll be waiting for the day this summer when we are all together again!!

All I want for Christmas...

2010-12-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

Isn't this the cutest?!

One Semester (Almost) Down

2010-12-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

In just a few days, our first semester of homeschooling will be over. I started this project with more than a few reservations, but most of my concerns have been eased by now. This girl has made some major strides since August...both in school and out.
-She can read 3 and 4 letter words, and even short sentences!
-She can write her name legibly on her own (though she has decided her name is too long to write over and over again and wants to be known as Kate from now on).
She learned to set the table properly
She was "promoted" to the advanced ballet/tap class
She can now use scissors fairly well
She can identify numbers up to 20 and can count to 29 :P
She has memorized 10 Bible verses

She has really just blossomed this year and is doing fantastic in everything. So, as I said, most of my worries about homeschooling are gone, but there are two things I still mull over.

1. The baby: Right now we "do school" during his nap time. But he will be sleeping less, and we will be schooling more, and I just don't want to deprive him of attention.

2. Math: Yes, I am certain I am capable of teaching kindergarten-level math, but I just don't like numbers. It is not my passion, and it is certainly not my strength. So I can teach it, but I don't know if I can teach it with the same enthusiasm that I can other topics.

Concern #1 is definitely bigger than #2. What to do, what to do?

2010-11-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

So the other day I was chatting with Scott online and told him how funny our daughter is. He asked me for examples, but I could only think of one story off the top of my head. Here it is:

After Halloween, the child thing acquired two very pretty princess dresses that had been marked down really low. She happened to be wearing one of them the other day when Grandmommy showed up to feed her horses, who live in the pasture behind our house. This girl LOVES to help with the horses, so she raced outside wearing her dress-up costume and everything.

She was only out there a minute or two before she astutely observed, "I think this dress is not a good thing to wear to feed the horses. I'm going to go change." So, she ran inside and emerged a few minutes later...wearing her other princess dress. He he he. And then she continued along with her business as usual.

Today I thought of another silly thing our girl did, so I figured I'd write about it for her Daddy. Alright here goes:

Once a week, we go to ballet class in the evenings, and on those days we usually either eat leftovers or pick something up on the way home for dinner. This week, the child thing requested Sonic (she likes it because I let her get a fruit slush for her drink), and I obliged. She wanted a corn dog kids meal with apple slices and caramel sauce for dipping...the apples, not the corn dog, of course. Just thought I'd clarify.

We get home, we sit down, we eat, then the baby holds up his cup and says, "ma! ma!" That means more, so I go to the kitchen to refill his sippy, and when I return, what in the world do you think is happening?

The child thing has removed her straw from her strawberry slush, has placed it into the little tub of caramel dip and is slurping it right up.

Oh my.

What do you do?

But really, deployments can be a very lonely time. Even if you're surrounded by good friends who know what you're going through, or with family who love and support you in any way they can, no one can replace your "other half." You can start to feel sad, lonely, incomplete, joyless. I'm so glad I have these two around to make me smile every single day.

The Last Soccer Game

2010-11-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

Time flies, and this little soccer player's season came to an end this weekend. Though she was never totally enthusiastic about soccer ("It makes me tiiiiiiiired"), she definitely improved throughout the season. Her last game, she got the ball three or four times and dribbled it toward her goal. And for her first couple of games, I don't think she touched the ball at all. Here is a clip of our little soccer girl and a message from her to Daddy! Oops...sideways...I don't know how to fix that. Sorry.

Jump!

2010-11-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

So Thomas is learning to jump, and it is SO CUTE! He squats down, gathering all his strength, then lunges upward with all the might in that little body. But his feet don't leave the ground. Sometimes, though, he'll lift one of them up at the end of his lunge. He seems to think he's jumping, though, and is quite proud of himself. I, for one, hope he doesn't perfect the jump for a while, because that means I will get to fawn over his adorable baby jumps for longer. :)

The Answer to my Question

2010-10-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, there is something as cute as a baby wearing footie pajamas. And that is a baby wearing a cowboy hat. Love it!

So at Home

2010-10-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

For most of her life, she has lived in a townhouse on a military installation. She has had a small, bland backyard to play in. She has had a lackluster playground around the corner. She has had lots of other kids to play with. She has waited in line for her parents to show their ID cards to enter her own neighborhood. She has heard cadence calls in the morning, rifles at the gun range during the day, and cannons in the evening. She doesn't like or dislike living on an Army post; it's just what she knows.But I recently took her up to my grandparents' farm, I noticed a difference in her. Although she has never been a farm girl, she was completely at home in the country. She played contentedly on the front porch of the farm house, she clambered around on top of the rock piles, she climbed through the barbed wire fences like an old pro, she managed to get closer to a new calf than I knew was possible, she collected sticks from the pine trees and build a house for her dolls, and she was so happy and so free doing it all. In a suburban neighborhood, I would hardly let my kids get 10 feet away from me. But out in the country, with all that space, they have so much more freedom to explore. If she saw something she wanted to look at, she'd run across the pasture and check it out. Independently.

Right now we are actually looking in to buying an open lot so that when the time comes to settle down, we will have a place to do so, and we have both agreed we'd like to have a place with a little acreage. Seeing this little girl looking so free and so natural on the farm, I was reminded of the most important reason we would like to eventually move out of those townhouses and to a place with wide open spaces: our kids.

One Question

2010-10-13T19:13:00.001-07:00

I don't have much to say tonight. Just a quick question: is there anything in the world as cute as a baby in footie pajamas?

Something My Kids Will Never Do (I Hope)

2010-10-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

Mutton Busting. I don't think this was invented by a mother.

Mothers worry too much. True. You've got to let them be kids. Yes. But this? It's just that they're sooo little! Look at this little girl. Is she even in kindergarten?

To be fair, I have never been to a rodeo where I saw a child injured after falling off a sheep. I don't know if I have ever even seen one cry. They are tough. They are brave. They cowboyed up or something.

And I admit that I would hate to deny my child the opportunity to explore his or her interests. Because you don't want to squash their passions, you know. Maybe this little girl will grow up to be the first female professional bull rider. Probably not, as females seem to be too smart to participate in that sport. *ahem* But you never know...maybe that's her chance to make history.

I just hope that my kids are not passionate about mutton busting. Because if watching other kids tumble off the back of a sprinting sheep makes my heart stop, I can only imagine what watching my own kids would do to me.

This Ain't My First Rodeo...

2010-10-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

...but it is their first rodeo! This week I joined forces with the grandparents to take the kiddos to their first rodeo. Definitely something you have to do while in Texas! By the way, it's not really cold here. That night was actually a perfectly pleasant evening, and then they turned on these HUGE fans in the arena, which must have decreased the temperature by 20 degrees. That's why we're wearing jackets.

Growing up, I visited that arena over and over, and I don't remember those fans, so they must be new. I figure someone recently spent millions of dollars on them, and they insisted on turning them on, even if it made the spectators less comfortable. "Dang it! We've got perfect weather tonight! Well, let's get our money's worth. We're using the fans anyway!"

Ok, back on track. I have fond memories of childhood rodeos, so I had high expectations for this one--the kids' first!

This little girl was mildly entertained by the rodeo events (and thrilled at the rodeo queens' entrance), but what she liked the best was this giant slide and the cotton candy.

Oh, look, you can see the giant fans in this picture. They could fight global warming with those things.

On to what I really wanted to say about this picture: the baby occasionally saw something in the arena that caught his eye, but mostly just wanted to climb around on the bleachers. And the fair was a complete flop for him. Every ride his sister got on, he pointed and reached and said: uhh uhh uhh uhh. Translation: Mommy, I'd like to go on that ride, please. Or something along those lines.

But every carnie denied him...too small.

It was a fun night, nevertheless. We only stayed halfway through the rodeo, though, because we were quickly approaching the point where it would not have been fun for us or anyone around us. Boredom, bedtime, too much sugar...who can blame them?

Army Wives and Stereotypes

2010-10-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

"If the Army wanted me to have a wife, they would have issued me one." *Snicker* I've heard single soldiers say this over and over again, and though it does make me chuckle, it also reminds me of the stereotype people have of military spouses. And I used to believe this, too, so don't think I'm criticizing.

I used to think Army wives were expected to be submissive, patriotic baby machines with no personal career goals who were willing to keep their mouths shut and smile. This stereotype was furthered in my mind when, while in an Army Family class, the question, "What does the Army expect of you, as wives?" was answered by a fellow student like this: to sit there and be pretty.

Now I have a bit of an independent streak, and a bit of a feminist streak, so this got my blood pumpin'. I came home and told Scott that the Army had no right to expect anything out of me, and if they did, well, I just wouldn't do it...to prove a point.

But then he got his first assignment, and we moved to Georgia, and I met some of those submissive baby machines. And what do you know? Army wives certainly do not all fit into a box. I have met some who have children, and some who do not. I have met some who are stay-at-home-moms, and some who are lawyers. I know some who are quiet, and some who will speak their minds in an instant. I know some who love America with everything they have, and some who can barely speak the language.

There is one generalization I will make about military wives, however: they certainly are not submissive. They are strong, strong women. And I don't think this strength is "issued." When you love a soldier, you choose to be strong...for him, for your family, for other Army wives, for our country.

I said all that to say this: I am so blessed to have met so many strong women, and I am proud to be among them.

The Friendship Bracelet

2010-09-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

There are some days when I think my child things are going to drive me bonkers. But then there are days that they are so sweet they bring me to tears.

Case in point

Her: Mommy, I made a bracelet in Sunday School today.

Me: What a nice bracelet!

Her: It's for Thomas.

Me: That's very sweet, but are you sure you want to give it away?

Her: Yes, it's a friendship bracelet. The teacher said I should give it to my best friend. So it's for Thomas.

Me: sniff sniff sniff SOB sniff sniff

Science: What We're Learning

2010-09-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

When I decided to give pre-k homeschool a shot this year, I knew I did not want to spend a ton of money. And you can drop A LOT of money on books and curriculums designed specifically for homeschoolers. A LOT! The only subject I bought a full curriculum for is reading (I had no clue how to go about teaching someone to read). Everything else, I'm just kinda winging it. For science, I am using this book called What Your Preschooler Needs to Know. It's certainly not a complete school curriculum, but it's working great for our purposes.

We read a chapter (which is really only a paragraph or two) once a week, and then read library books and do activities that correspond with that chapter throughout the week. Right now we're working on animals. We just finished learning about insects and spiders. After learning about them, we of course had to make our own out of pipe cleaners and egg cartons and go on an insect hunt in our backyard.

I know I'm supposed to be the teacher, but I'm learning new things, too. For instance: holding a giant grasshopper with your bare hands does not make a 4-year-old squeamish a bit. In fact, a 4-year-old may even think it's "so cute" and want to keep it as a pet! :)

Soccer!

2010-09-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to announce that we're playing soccer now!! The first game was this weekend, and let me just say that preschooler soccer is SO cute! Especially when all the kids are wearing shorts that hang down way below their knees and soccer socks that could be used as tights they are so long.

So far, Katherine hasn't shown that super competitive spirit. In fact, she seems to think soccer games are more social than competitive. She's usually the kid chatting it up to all the other players as the ball rolls by. :) But at least she's not just standing in the middle of the field picking her nose or something. But, even if she were, it would just be part of the cuteness. :) She may not chase the ball, but she at least picks out another kid she wants to talk to and chases them! It's exercise all the same, right?

Off to a great start!

2010-09-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

Two weeks of homeschooling down! And they have gone really well! I am having lots of fun being a teacher again, and apparently the child thing is enjoying being a student so much that she asks to do school on weekends, and some days she wants to do "double school."

This is where we have set up our school area. Lucky for us, the house we are in right now has this awesome built-in desk in the breakfast area. It gives us plenty of space to work and store our supplies. Our dining table is right in front of it, so we can spread out and work on projects there. Add a Clifford calendar and a cool tree, and you've got a school room! I have lots of plans for this tree, but so far we have only used it as a reward. We have been focusing on learning vowels, so anytime my pupil got a question right about a vowel, she got to attach a leaf or acorn to the tree.

And who knew how exciting that would be for a 4-year-old? But she really likes it. The first day of fall is in just a couple of weeks, so then we will start letting the leaves fall to the ground. I hope that will be just as much fun!

So far I am feeling very positive about our homeschooling experiment. At this point, I can definitely envision myself teaching my kid at home instead of sending her to a public school next year. It's only two weeks in, though, so I'm not going to commit to anything yet. :) I'll keep you posted.

These Boots

2010-09-01T19:21:00.001-07:00

Are these boots awesome, or what? The child thing's aunt welcomed her to Texas with a pair of cowgirl boots. Silvery, sparkly cowgirl boots, no less. And we have worn them EVERYWHERE! And we get compliments on them everywhere, too. Some adults have even asked if the store carries them in grown up sizes! Advice for anyone looking for a gift for a pre-school aged girl: get the silvery, sparkly cowgirl boots! :)

Anniversary

2010-08-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...it's August. That means I started this blog a year ago. Since then I have not always updated it regularly, and I have not made a million dollars off of advertising like I'm sure The Pioneer Woman does. Nevertheless, thanks a lot to those of you take a look at "Where the Child Things Are" every now and then. All 3 of you. :P

Settling In

2010-08-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness, our move to Texas is over! Now that it's behind me and I'm settling in to our new house, I am so happy I made the choice to move. We finally have the chance to be a part of our relatives' daily lives and they are a part of ours. This weekend we got to attend a niece's first birthday party, which is SUCH a special event, and one that--as an Army family--we would kind of expect to miss. I am also finally getting my fix of certain food items that just aren't the same away from Texas: fajitas, kolaches, Blue Bell, brisket, hand-made tortillas, etc...
And we are so blessed to have the house that we do. My oh-so-generous relatives offered to let us live in a home they moved out of about 5 years ago but never put on the market. I may get so spoiled living here that I never want to go back to military housing again. This house has way more space than we are used to and is on a lot with a few acres, which we are loving! In fact, Scott, if you are reading this, our next place has got to have a little land! You can get a riding lawn mower!

Dealing with Deployment--Bedtime

2010-08-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hallmark's recordable books are just PERFECT for military families! A friend gave one to us shortly before Scott left; what an awesome gift! So that he could still read a story before bed, Scott recorded himself reading the book to the kids, and they love it! In fact, one night, when I tucked the older child thing into bed, I forgot about her "Daddy book." After I went downstairs, I heard her in her bedroom reading it herself. She also says she wants Daddy to make her a new book for Christmas this year. Awwww... And it's good for the baby to hear Daddy's voice and to hear us talking about him when we read.
Highly recommend these books to any military family with small children!! I love that Scott can still be a part of the bedtime routine, even when he's on the other side of the world.

Dipping My Toes Into the Homeschooling Waters

2010-08-16T20:42:00.001-07:00

By the time our oldest child thing starts kindergarten, we will be in Hawaii, which literally has the worst public school system in the country. Pretty much as soon as we got to Hawaii and learned a little about the schools, we started discussing our options. One option that (to my surprise) my husband brought up is homeschooling.

I have to admit, at first I didn't seriously consider it. "Why would I want to do that?" I asked. I mean, it does seem like a way out-there thing to do. But, the more stories I heard from kids in public schools and the more research I did on private schools (and their tuition), the more it seemed like a good choice.

So I am dipping my toes into the homeschooling waters. To see if I have the capabilities, endurance and patience to homeschool successfully, we are going to try out a preschool curriculum this year. I'm actually excited about it, and my mindset has shifted. Why wouldn't you want to do this? (Ok, there are actually quite a few good reasons not to, but...don't remind me). If you could provide your child with an educator who could design a curriculum specifically for that child--that allowed for in-depth exploration in areas of interest and reviewed areas of weakness until they were mastered, that didn't leave that child behind because his/her peers were ready to move on or expect that child to mindlessly fill out worksheets because other children needed remediation, that challenged the child to be way more than average--wouldn't you?

My answer is yes, so here we go! We are going to focus on phonics and reading this year, but also touch on art, science, history, Bible and math. And you may have noticed in my picture that we are including the essential-for-any-homeschooler My Little Pony Coloring Book.

If at the end of the year the child thing has learned and I have not gone insane, we may very well do it officially for kindergarten next year.

The Child Things are in...

2010-08-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

the Lone Star State! After months of considering it, I decided to move out of our place in Hawaii so that we could be closer to family during the deployment. I'm still not sure if it was the right decision. As with anything, there are upsides and downsides, but we are here, and we plan on enjoying our time in Texas. We are going to eat all the Mexican food and BBQ we can get, take pictures of the bluebonnets in the spring, and spend lots of time with the Texans we love.

There are a few things I am already NOT enjoying, however. For instance, I had forgotten how nasty it feels to have your jeans stuck to your legs because you are drenched in sweat from walking to your car. I will certainly miss the absolutely perfect weather and awesome scenery of Hawaii (oh, and the shave ice), but we'll be back there in a year. So I guess we've got the best of both worlds this way. :)

Kauai

2010-07-28T03:15:00.000-07:00

Just before the deployment, we made a family getaway to the island of Kauai. It is a BEAUTIFUL place! Even though we spent half of our vacation days shut up in our condo (because of a girl's nasty stomach bug, a baby's first fever, and a mommy's trip to the ER), we made the most of our healthy days. If you ever go to Kauai, do not miss the Na Pali Coast...stunning! I wish we could have taken a helicopter tour, but that would not have gone over well with a certain little girl.

We also loved the Waimea Canyon. It's not as big as the Grand Canyon, but it is pretty spectacular all the same. The trip was fun; I only wish we had been healthy so we could have seen more of this beautiful place.

Clever Birthday Boy

2010-07-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

Child Thing #2 is one year old! And with his age comes wisdom...like how to work the baby locks on our cabinets. Tell me he doesn't know exactly what he's doing! Clever boy!

Dealing with Deployment--Slumber Party

2010-07-03T18:25:00.001-07:00

Any military spouse will tell you that the first night of a deployment is the pits. I can't speak from experience, but I imagine it is hard on the military child, too.

So what do you do? How about a family slumber party! We decided to do this days before Daddy left and talked about it every now and then, hoping it would give at least a small positive spin on deployment day. It seemed to work; the child thing cried a little when we said goodbye, but as soon as we got back home, she asked if it was time for the slumber party yet.

When the time did come, we spread out our sleeping bags, popped some popcorn and watched a Tinkerbell movie. Exciting for her, staying up after bedtime and all. And me, well...at least I didn't have to crawl into that lonely, empty bed.

We will definitely keep this in mind for any future deployments (though if we don't have any more deployments, that would be ok, too!), and hopefully next time, we can include the baby in our slumber party also. I suppose we'll have to come up with something other than Tinkerbell if he joins in.

When I Grow Up...

2010-07-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

...I want to be an artist! This may just be a proud mother speaking, but I think she's got a shot! Look at the detail the elder child thing included in her latest drawing. Not that it NEEDS interpretation...but...well, it might need a little interpretation. Above is a picture of a girl and her friends at the park, which includes (see if you can pick these things out) a swing set, a tree, a sidewalk, a balloon, two kids on a see-saw, a slide, and a "fuzzy thing." Amazing, I tell you! ;)

Only a true artist could put her own creative spin on a formulaic, they-all-look-the-same VBS art project. It takes true artistic talent to turn a happy cactus friend reminding you that God cares for you into a grimacing, glaring outlaw being held at gunpoint by the sheriff. :P

365 Nights Alone

2010-06-28T14:27:00.001-07:00

There is no feeling more dreadful than watching your husband board a bus that will take him to war. There is no sound more heart-wrenching than the quiver in his voice when he tells your children goodbye. And there are no tears that fall harder than those that you shed when you crawl into your empty bed on the first of 365 nights alone.

I Can Say Hello

2010-06-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

This video is horrible quality! Even so, maybe you can make out an adorable little four year old wearing a blue dress "singing" in her very first VBS choir performance. I use quotations because I don't think I saw her mouth move at all during the song, but at least she had the hand motions down pretty well. That's the important part, right?

Step, step, plop!

2010-06-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

It has been almost 2 month since the younger child thing took his first steps, and I finally got a video of him walking. Although he took his first steps pretty early (around 10 months), he hasn't really made much progress until lately. He is finally starting to walk more often and take more steps in a row. His record is 7! He hasn't quite given up crawling yet; it is still his main mode of transportation.

Finished!

2010-04-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

Finally! Done with a quilt! I can't remember when I started this project, but it has been at least a year (though to give myself a break, a lot has happened in that year...like having a baby. And moving across an ocean).

I am so excited to have it done and hanging on the wall! As are all of my crafting attempts, this quilt is full of imperfections, but I am happy with it, nonetheless. :)

What a neat record of our lives and our homes this will be! The embroidery was done by the sewing master herself, Deborah (my mother-in-law), and reads: Home Sweet Army Home. She also embroidered the small stars with the names of all the Army posts we have lived: Ft. Benning, Ft. Riley, Ft. Gordon and Schofield Barracks.

I also love that I was able to make this quilt mostly from scraps so that it contains fabrics purchased in several of our home states.

Now I guess it's time to get on with finishing the baby quilt I made (I guess I should say "am making") for child thing #2. Any bets? Will I get it finished by his first birthday? We shall see...

Not Smarter Than a 3-year-old

2010-03-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

There's nothing more humbling than realizing the small person whose shoes you tie and bottom you wipe knows more than yourself. Yesterday, child thing #1 asked me out of the blue, "Mommy, do you like abstract paintings?"

I was so busy searching my brain for the definition of abstract painting, I didn't even realize I should be wondering how in the world she knows what that is. I must have looked as confused as I felt because she soon took pity on me and explained.

"You know, Mommy, a painting that has colors and shapes, but not really a picture."

Oh.

Whales!

2010-02-13T22:53:00.001-08:00

Check off the bucket list: seeing whales in the wild. Awesome! As a Valentine's treat to each other, we took a whale watching cruise, and we certainly got to see some whales! Apparently humpbacks are not too fond of cold water, so in the winter they migrate from Alaska to Hawaii, where people like me get to fawn over them.

The child thing kept a sharp eye out, and it was only a few minutes before the sightings started! We spotted lots, but because we chose to sit at one of the few tables with glass windows (the boat was mostly open air) as it greatly reduced the likelihood of someone falling overboard, and because of all those other people who also wanted to see the whales, we didn't get a ton of great photos. But here's a really good one Scott took of a mama whale's tail and her baby right next to her:

And here's a shot of the top of a whale. I know in this photo, it looks pretty small, but that was definitely not the case! Our naturalist told us that when humpbacks are born, they already weigh about a ton! And the largest documented humpback whale was around 80 feet long! Wow!

Perhaps this is not the most traditional Valentine's Day outing, but, we had a great time, and what an awesome experience it was for all of us! And now I love whales! Almost as much as the turtles!

Best Friends

2010-01-24T00:47:00.000-08:00

Can you think of any better way for a three-year-old to spend a warm afternoon than sitting outside with her best friend eating a fudgecicle? And I don't use the term "best friend" lightly.

Let's call this friend "Owie," shall we? Let me illustrate how much Child Thing #2 and Owie adore each other. Owie recently suggested an even trade to her mom. Owie's little sister could come live with me and Child Thing #2 could live with her so they could be sisters! And every day, without fail, I answer the question, "is today a school day?" because if it's not, we get to play with Owie. Sure, these two girls have spats over sharing toys and etc., but Owie's mother and I agree that they would forgive each other for anything.

But here's the best part: Yesterday, a certain three-year-old told me, "Emily Elizabeth and Clifford are best friends."

"That's right," I responded. "Who's your best friend?" I fully expected to hear "Owie, Owie, a million times Owie."

But instead, she pointed her plump little finger at me and shouted, "You! You! You! You!"

:D I just love being a mom!

Gettin' Around

2010-01-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

Here's a little clip of the new crawler in our house. He's getting around pretty well these days!

Hawaii Tourist Review--Ko Olina Lagoons

2010-01-02T23:38:00.000-08:00

The Lagoons at Ko Olina is our favorite beach to go to to swim and play. The entire thing is man-made, but don't let that bother you. This is an awesome beach, especially for kids. I know a 3-year-old who got knocked down by a big wave her first trip to the beach and has been leary of the ocean since then. But because the rock barriers protect this beach from the open ocean, it's almost like swimming in a pool, and even she will get in the water here. Plus, as I recently learned, there's some decent snorkeling along the rocks toward the back of the lagoon.

Here's what I know about the lagoons: there are 4 (pretty much)identical lagoons in a row. They are all beautiful, but we generally opt for lagoon #4 because it has the most parking. You can plop your beach chair down in the sand near the water, or claim a shady spot in the grassy area surrounding the lagoon. The only problem is the parking. There's not much, so it's best to arrive early (by 9 a.m. or so), especially on a weekend.

This place gets two thumbs up from me. It's all a family could want from a day at the beach (unless, of course, you are looking to surf or boogie board).

Christmas in Texas

2010-01-02T23:08:00.001-08:00

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! We got to take child thing #2 to Texas for the first time (and yes, we have begun the brainwashing process to turn him into a Texan, even if he can never claim to be a native). No matter where we go, Texas is always home, and it is always good to go back. The best part, of course, is spending time with our family and old friends, and saying goodbye to the people we love always makes me a bit heavy-hearted. But when this is waiting for me at the other side, it certainly makes it easier to leave that beloved Texas soil behind.

Big Waves, Little Regrets

2009-12-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

Want to know what gets Hawaiians really excited? Fifty foot waves! Really! Fifty feet! I never knew waves could get that big! But last week they did, and the whole island went crazy. Though I was tempted to check out the surf, the rumors of road closures and displacement shelters scared me out of it.

I'm not one to take my children into a natural disaster.

As it ends up, no roads got washed out and no houses got swept away, so now I wish I would have taken the chance. I comfort myself with news that the traffic was HORRENDOUS since everyone wanted to see the waves, especially the Eddie Aikau surfing contest, and it would have taken us hours to get there.

Since I don't have any pictures to share, I will refer you to the blog of the photographer who recently took our family portraits (that I love!). Check it out! Crazy!

Big wave photos here

Our Tropical Christmas Tree

2009-12-12T23:42:00.000-08:00

Apparently it's not that easy to find a fresh Christmas tree when you live on a tropical island. Who knew? :P We did eventually find a tree farm that grows Norfolk Pines, which are a little funky looking. Sort of like an artificial tree would look if someone forgot to install every other row of branches. It's working for us, though!

The tree farm experience was different for us, as well. When we arrived, our designated tree cutter asked us how tall we wanted our Christmas tree to be. About 6 feet, we said. Instead of trying to find a 6 foot tree, he found a much taller tree, measured 6 feet down from the top and chopped it off. He said the bottom half of the tree would continue to live and grow and become another Christmas tree some day.

This is our tropical Christmas tree. Different, for sure. But that's part of what we love about living here in Hawaii. We are experiencing so many things that were previously completely foreign to us. I love being able to view things from a different perspective. And we're even picking up a few (and I mean very few) Hawaiian phrases. Here's wishing you a merry Christmas:

Mele Kalikimaka!

2009-11-15T00:52:00.000-08:00

I am 4 months old now. It is no longer enough just to watch the mobile rotate around and around. Talk about lame. Now I must catch the animal as it spins by, wrestle it down to the ground and chew on it.

CUTE!!

2009-11-03T01:17:00.000-08:00

We sighted some exceedingly cute child things on Halloween this year! Check out my adorable little brown bear!

This year was the first that Child Thing #1 really picked out her own costume. I'm glad she went with something cute like a brown bear instead of, say... Dora. When her costume first came in the mail, I asked her if she wanted to try it on. She said "Yes, but Mommy, when I put it on, don't say I'm the cutest little bear." I agreed, but when she put it on, I forgot myself and told her she was the cutest little bear. Apparently that embarrassed her. :P

And I got to pick this costume myself! I have a thing for giraffes. Is that a cute costume or what?

Public? Private? Homeschool? No School on Fridays?!?

2009-11-03T00:14:00.000-08:00

Four days of school a week?!? As if Hawai'i doesn't already have the worst school system in the United States. Has the news of "Furlough Friday" made it back to the mainland? If not, here's the deal: the state of Hawai'i is facing some sort of budget crises, so the elected officials have decided to save millions of dollars by closing schools on Fridays. And I mean every Friday. For the whole school year!

If I were a kid, I'd certainly be excited about this, but I just don't see how this is a good idea. Obviously, a kid's education is going to suffer. Also, parents (who still have to work on Friday) are having to come up with ways to take care of their kids on Fridays. This policy really just reflects the government's attitude toward education: it's not a priority.

Scott and I had been considering sending Child Thing #1 to a private pre-school next year, but this whole Furlough Friday thing makes private school that much more appealing. Scott has even brought up homeschooling recently, so that's something to consider.

It's just kindergarten...I doubt going to a below-par kindergarten would be damaging in the long run, but still...it's something to think about.