Our 100th blog post!!

Thanks for checking in, sorry it has been too long.
Here's a new picture of the kids. We were trying out the new camera, so it is a bit 'posed'. We have been busy here, as usual. We start homeschool lessons next week, and we are in the process of adopting a bearded collie through a regional rescue group. We'll write more later!

our new minivan

This is our second experience purchasing through ebay motors, Tim's vintage Mini Cooper being the first. A dealer in Raleigh was offering this 2001 Toyota Sienna within our price range. Tim drove all five of us all the way to North Raleigh on Wednesday to test drive it. We decided it was the right van for us, a smooth ride. It has a lot of bells and whistles that are really not neccessary - like power doors, JBL speakers, and leather seats, and some nice features that will generally make the ride more comfortable - like cruise control, rear air conditioner, and a full sliding sun roof! Our main reasons for replacing our existing (paid for) Dodge Caravan, was the high mileage and the lack of space. We had put 50 thousand miles on it in the nearly three years we owned it, totalling 111 thousand in all. In that time we had no problems at all, major nor minor. Brakes, tires and oil changes is all I remember. It's like driving a ticking time bomb, though, like something could go wrong at anytime. Another main reason was the rate of growth of family. The boys had barely any leg room in the back and there wasn't even space in the trunk for stroller(s) and groceries. We are going to park the old van on the base d.i.y. used car lot, where we have sold cars before. There are not many minivans out there right now, and the ones that are there have much higher miles than ours, and some are even more expensive. We don't expect it to be there long. I'll not disclose exactly when, but we pick up the new van in Raleigh soon.

I am so cool...

See my new blog counter, on the left? I did that myself! I even went into the html code and changed it so that it appeared on the sidebar (instead of the very bottom under all the posts where sitemeter placed it automatically). It was actually very easy, try it for your own blogger...

Hi, all! Thanks for checking in with our little blog here. We are settling in nicely here in our new home. Completely unpacked in 8 weeks or less! I have freecycled all but a very few remaining empty boxes. At one point we had 60 + boxes in the family room! We had a yard sale recently, too. It was surprising that I found so much stuff to get rid of, after cleaning out a few months ago, just prior to listing the old house for sale. But despite having so much to put out, we really did not get much traffic, nor much profit at all. Blame the heat, it was h-o-t that morning. But $88 and 5 hours later, I took 4 boxes of leftovers to the goodwill store, and freecycled a few large items. There are times when a tax reciept makes sense, and other times, when cash feels good in the pocket.
In other news, we closed on the house in Clayton earlier this week. It was actually beneficial (to the heart, not the bank account) to have so much time between actually moving out and completing the sale. This way, the emotional attatchment had time to fade, and the frustration had time to build (sign the paper already!). So it was a relief to see the check of proceeds in the mailbox today. All these years, it seemed as though we were not able to invest or save substantially. Now we are simply (and finally) investing in a more visible and liquid manner. Our goal is to build a dome house when Tim leaves the military, whenever that may be. We have been looking into options on these kinds of houses for a few years now. Do a quick Google image search on 'geodesic dome', 'dome house' or 'dome home' and see how beautiful and unique these mostly do-it-yourself homes can be.
Well, it's only a short update, because it's bed time for munchkins! Speaking of which, forgive me for not posting any recent pictures of the kids, I am without a digital camera momentarily. Soon to be remedied...

What are you reading tonight?

I am reading a book called Food Fight
by Kelly Brownell, PhD, of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders. So far, it starts out with an interesting, however slightly depressing, insight into the biological design of the human body. This is followed by an eye-opening discussion on how the environment we now live in is toxic to humans, compared to, say, our ancestors who had to forage, hunt and gather, then suffer through starvation in the winter months, our food supply is cheap, nutritionally unsound, abundant, and available 24 hours a day, not to mention marketed by a powerful machine with a big budget. Our bodies were designed to crave fat, carbs and protein, which we store for later use when food isn't as readily available. But then it's always there. And They make it cheap and tasty. The authors also explore the decline in activity in Americans, caused by a number of issues, urban sprawl, technology doing more for us so we do less for ourselves, and time spent in front the television and computer.

Obesity is a crisis of epidemic proportions, and not just in America. Surprising at first, but really makes sense, doesn't it? Oh yes, the more westernized a country becomes, the higher the rate of obesity and related illnesses. The authors went as far as to compare overeating to the likes of drug abuse and cigarette smoking, and even other dangerous practices such as not wearing a seatbelt or motorcylc helmet. The nation was given information and opportunity to regulate themselves on these issues. But at some point, they had to be protected from themselves. Public awareness campaigns have had minimal effect. Most people know the dangers of overeating and lack of exercise. The people of this nation spend billions of dollars every year on diet and exercise products, yet we are getting FATTER!! Do we need more regulation on the food industry's marketing techniques? Cigarette manufacturers are forbidden to market their disease causing cancer-sticks to children. Yet, somehow soda companies are allowed to manufacture baby bottles with logos! Don't even get me started on fast food restaraunts targeting children. In general, I am an advocate of less government, and the free will of people. Let them destroy themselves. But I live this battle everyday, not just as an overeater, but also the parent of three young minds, who are so easily influenced by these advertisments and enticements. I fight a battle everyday against a creative marketing machine with a near unlimited budget. I think I have enough battles already, thank you very much.

So I can't wait to read the rest of the book and see what other strong feelings arise.
What are you reading tonight?

bossy bones...

Simon's toes fell asleep at the dinner table tonight. He says he thinks the tingling feeling is just your bones saying 'hey! you're not the boss of your toes!'

Simon's headache

You know that sinus headache that comes when you're just starting to get sick? When you stand up to fast it hits you in the back of the head? Simon aparrently has this headache and described it to me: the inside of the back of his head hurts and whenever he stands up it pushes his face down to the floor.

WANTED!

I am posting this APB for missing Casserole Dish and his lesser known partner in crime, Springform Pan. Before being reported missing, they were often spotted at potlucks and holiday dinners, though it is unknown when or where they were last seen. Casserole Dish is oval, white Corningware and has a glass lid a bit smaller than the outer measurement of the dish itself, the lid sits inside the rim and is recessed a bit. Distinctive markings: possibly a tulip or other leggy type of foliage wound around the inner edge above where the lid sits. Usually seen serving greenbean casserole. I know Casserole Dish is out there somewhere, because the plastic freezer safe lid is here and anxiously awaiting their reunion. Springform Pan is dark gray metal, 8.5 inches in diameter. No further description is available. Last seen serving pumpkin cheesecake, at least 18 months ago.

Splash!

Here's what we (well, the kids, really) do on the weekends at our new house. The little girl in the purple swim suit is the daughter of an old friend who was visiting this weekend. Mia was actually napping when these were taken, so I have added a recent picture of her, with her new haircut, at the end.

Playhouse for Sale

Play house for sale! Built in February of 2005, it is 4 feet wide by 8 feeet long including the porch, 4 feet high at the walls, and 6 feet high at the peak. It is made of pressure treated plywood, and was recently painted to match our house, gray with white trim and blue shutters and front door. It has solid shingle roof, a front door, two side windows which are hinged and swing out, and one stationary window cut out on the back (a door could be added around this back window if needed). We also have the plexiglass to go in the windows and the hardware such as latches and knobs. We have moved away and don't have room for this playhouse in our new yard, plus no good way to get it there anyway. It is made with screws so it will come apart (to some extent) to transport it. Sale price is $100, but we are open to offers, and would consider donating it to a church or other organization for a tax receipt. Also, we regret we are not able to help move it. Our house in Clayton, where this playhouse is located, is under contract to be sold - playhouse must be gone by the end of July.

offer to purchase

Since Tim signed his contract to reenlist in July of 2001, we have listed our little house for sale countless times, with no less than 5 different agents. We have brought two sons home from the hospital to live in it, taught three children to walk across that kitchen floor, moved out of it once, had tenants in for 15 months, left it empty for 4 months, burned a trailer full of stuff on the way to move back in; endured seemingly endless separations for deployments, faked smiling through holidays and children's birthday parties alone, immensely enjoyed every celebration that Tim was there, waited through several long dark nights of passing hurricanes, and muddled our way through more than our fair share of do-it-yourself home repairs and projects. We spent many, many anxious Friday evenings waiting for Tim to return from a long week's work at Lejeune, and just as many Sunday evenings in the quiet loneliness after he would leave to drive the 100 miles or so back to work. The house has been a haven, a shelter to return to whenever we were faced with a separation. That's what makes it home, instead of just a house.
And it's over now. We have received an offer to purchase our house on Ridgeway Lane! Full asking price is more than we were hoping for. It seems like a dream to me still. But I know the new owners are only buying the four walls and the roof and the dirt and grass. The memories, we'll take those with us. I am sure we will miss the house, and I am sure we will face more separation in the few years left on Tim's contract. But our shelter is each other now. It's as if our safety net is gone, but we still have our parachute.

a box of chocolates?

I folded my camp chair and rested it in the corner of our little playhouse in the yard. Mother Tree Sparrow prepared her nest snuggled in the seat of my chair and laid her eggs. We delighted in watching, very carefully and from a distance, her come and go, singing to us in sad tones when our presence was preventing her from tending the babies. We watched her come and go for several days, so we were certain she had not abandoned them.
A sad morning, we discovered that our old man Moses, the cat, had been hunting in the night. I was very upset to see that he left not even one of the babies alive. When I related this story to one certain nameless person, he replied 'it's like a box of chocolates, did you think he would eat just one?' excuse me?
I know he is a cat and this is natural for him, but that doesn't take away the sting of the sight of those poor baby birds. Mother Tree Sparrow trusted the safety of the playhouse, although the nest was less than three feet off the ground. It would not have been my choice location.

A few months ago I was asked to participate in a tribute to the military service, which was being organized by a member of our church, Westminster Presbyterian. She asked me to share a little about my journey as a military wife. The following is the text of the message I shared Sunday night. Many friends of mine from the military family support group came out to the service. But those who couldn't make it, asked me to post the text here.
For the last ten years or so of my adult life, I have been amazed at every turn with the path that the Lord has chosen for me, and even more so at the strength which he has provided for the journey. I'd like to share with you all a little about my journey as a military wife, which is probably not unlike other military wives in terms of the trials endured and lessons learned. I have known my husband for nearly eleven years, nine of those years as his wife. We were both quite young when we met, he had been a Marine for barely a few months, I was in my first semester of college. I had no idea what I was getting into. I had no idea that ten years later I would stand up here looking over my shoulder at these flags, and have such an emotional response to the familiar red and gold of the Marine Corps flag. I actually thought I was getting a date for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, sounded like fun. We fell in love before the end of that semester, and he left for his first deployment that June, our first test of endurance. But God's plan for us was unfolding. We carried on this long distance relationship for 2 years, before being married in the church where I grew up. I had been raised in a Christian home, attending church, youth group, mission trips, I think at the time, even though I didn't realize it, I knew to trust the Lord, even if I was too young to know the value of actively seeking His guidance. A side note, we never did get to the birthday ball until just after we married in 1997. For my part, our first year of marriage was... well there are many words to describe it... exciting, blissful, quiet, trying, lonely, and empowering. All tolled, Tim spent about 9 months out of that first year gone on routine training assignments. I had few friends, was two hours away from my family and high school and church friends, and living outside of my parents house for the first time, so I was shopping, cooking, paying bills, managing an albeit small household - all on sheer common sense and not much actual experience. I finally found a part time job (which I hated) after six months of unemployment. Then began volunteering on the base, and attending classes offered by the family center, such as Bride's School. I managed a lot of growing up that year. At the end of his original contract, we moved to Clayton, we both enrolled in community college, and got pregnant. When our son, Chas, was about 6 months old, we decided that we wanted him to be home with me. It became evident that Tim would need to re-enlist. It didn't seem like such a sacrifice at the time, it was just what had to be done. That's the blind faith I was referring to, maybe it was just blind youth. In September of 2001, six weeks after the pen hit the paper, I had left my job, we were preparing to list our house for sale, and I was home with Chas, by then he was one year old. It was my first week home as a full time mom. I sat in my living room, folding laundry, and watching the news, when I saw the second plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Like much of the country that morning, I was dumbfounded and couldn't even fathom what changes were in store for us. Six weeks after that we found out we were having our second child. It all became so real so fast... Tim left for a routine 7-month deployment on ship when Simon was 9 weeks old. Still living in our house in Clayton, I was nowhere near a base at the time when I actually needed that support. By this time I knew what it meant to be near a base and what I could benefit from it. We took the house off the market and decided to stay near my family - which is something most military wives don't have. I threw myself (or fell, really) into the whole stay-home mother life. It was during that deployment that a lot of who I am as a wife of a service member and a mother was formed. I filled my time with home schooling our boys, field trips, church, traveling to visit relatives, sewing, building friendships, building relationships with my now-adult siblings, and with my parents. I spent a lot of time in prayer, finding something, anything, in every day to be grateful for. I know that a lot of other people spent time in prayer for us, too. It seemed like a never-ending deployment. The entire ship was extended not once but twice, and he was still not home when troops hit the ground in Iraq in late March of 2003. I found myself responsible for answering all sorts of questions and allaying fears of both my family and his. I found the strength to reassure them that he would probably not leave the ship, and not end up combat. All the while knowing in the back of mind that there was no guarantee. We were all new to this and didn't really know what to expect. When he did end up on the ground, I clung to the only thing I knew - trust the Lord. Such an important lesson learned the hard way - and fast.
We can choose to let the stress test our faith, or let it enhance our faith. The Lord chose my path before I even stepped foot on it, and he has already provided me the strength to walk it. And since then, countless other separations have only built upon that. Our third child was born while Tim was in Afghanistan. In the military lifestyle you can bet on two things, frequent relocations and frequent separations, and in such a fluid environment, we learn to cling to the things that we know are going to be there when everything else melts away: our family, our God, ourselves. Even the four walls of a house come and go, the concrete things we own and surround ourselves with come and go. My priorities, whether Tim is home or away, take care of my husband, my kids and myself, trust the Lord, and let people help.

We are finally moving, again...

We are finally moving to be with Tim...again. We have been packing and storing things for two months now in anticipation of this. Memorial Day weekend we'll load a truck and head out. We will be renting a house not too far from the one we lived in last time. This house we are in now, which we own, is still on the market. However, we do have an interested party. They are tying up loose ends on the sale of their house and preparing to offer on ours. Even though it is not on paper yet, we feel it is necessary to go ahead as planned. Seeing Tim only on weekends is wearing all of us down, and the constant travel is expensive, comparable even to the expense of owing both mortgage and rent. We realize that it may seem to outsiders a hasty decision to move before the house is sold or even under contract. We also realize the support and prayers of all our friends and family is what will get us through. We feel that we are taking the best course of action for our family given the circumstances, just as anyone would do for their family.

We are all so excited about the prospect of seeing Tim every night, instead of just every weekend. On Wednesdays, the boys get so excited to say 'Dad will be home day after tomorrow'. This week when I told them that there would only be one more Wednesday till I we move, and see him everyday.

I regret that I cannot share much more news as far as the direction of Tim's career, or where our next move will be. Nothing is set in stone and everything is subject to change in the blink of an eye. When we have orders on paper - that's about as concrete as things get - we'll let everyone know when and where. Meanwhile, I have sent out change of address cards to most people, if I had their address. If you send me your address, via e-mail, I'll make sure you get a card. However, use a pencil when you add us to your book!!

I am adding an off-topic pic of Simon that was just too cute to not post. Courtesy of Pop Pop.

the extraction...

Mia has been harboring a splinter of unknown composition since Good Friday. It somehow went in so deep and so fast in the sole of her foot, that we couldn't even see it until just the last few days. We took her to the urgent care center the day after it happened. They declined to try to remove it, claiming it would cause so much bleeding that they probably wouldn't be able to see the splinter. They prescribed an antibiotic, though. A few days later, I took her to the children's ER in Raleigh, prepared to insist that they take it out. She was just miserable, and we couldn't even see the point of entry any longer. I was afraid her body would just swallow it up and it would be in there forever. Fortunately, the splinter surfaced between the time we arrived at the ER and when she was actually seen by a medical professional. They applied cream to soften and numb the area, and left us alone - to go find tweezers, I guess. Meanwhile, Mia fell asleep. They held her down, she woke up screaming, and they hurriedly scraped out a few pieces of what they thought was the splinter. But I wasn't totally convinced they got it all. Such a small bit of material was causing that much pain?
So we come home and wait... ... for two more weeks. It bothered her some days and not so much other days. Her foot started shedding layers of dying skin, she would ask me everyday to soak her feet. I think she liked sitting on the counter in my bathroom playing with my lotion and makeup and splashing her feet in the warm sudsy water. This morning, however, I had to take a look at it. Screams and shrieks ensued, although I tried to keep her calm. I had the toenail trimmers ready to pick away at some of the layers of dead skin, but they made an unexpected sound when I tried it, a clicking sound.
When I pulled that splinter out, oh my gracious - it was metal!! About the diameter of a standard staple (like you would use for papers) and almost as long as her foot is thick at that part where it went in, straight in. I had to catch my breath and my stomach turned over several times at the thought of that piercing - impaling - my baby girl's delicate precious little foot. But she was fine and walked away. I think the fact that there was no blood means her body did its job - walled off the foreign object and pushed it out. She is napping now, so I took the liberty of snapping a picture.

My family had a little get-together on Sunday morning for brunch at my parent's house. No occasion, just something we try to do whenever all of us are in town at the same time. Obligatory feast ensued. Group pictures below...

House for Sale

I know, I know... it's been waaaaaaayyyyyy too long since I last posted. We have been working our heinies off getting the house ready to sell. One full month ago I started cramming stuff into an offsite storage that we rented up the road a bit. The idea was to make the space seem bigger. It has worked. I am so much happier with out all that stuff under our feet, that I wonder how much of what I put in the storage building I actually want to keep. Tim concurs, and the plan is to take much of it to the thrift shop. We also dropped over $1000 at Lowe's Home Improvement. Let me see if I can remember what we spent it on... replaced knobs on the kitchen cabinets, installed new full glass storm door on the front, new door knob and paint on the front door, new door bell plate, new welcome mat, new curtain rods and sheers in the living room, fresh paint in the living room and hall, new retractable screen door for the back door, fresh paint on the back door, pressure washed the front porch floor, rail and ceiling and touched up the paint, including the shutters, pressure washing the back deck this weekend, fresh paint on the mailbox, added flowers/mulch, hanging baskets and a container garden on the front porch. That's all in the last month. Since we moved back here 15 months ago, we added hardwood floors in the kitchen living room, roman shades/valance on the picture window in the dining room, under cabinet halogen lighting, new halogen track lighting in the kitchen on a dimmer switch, flourescent light in the laundry room, wall paper border in the laundry room, painted both bathrooms, added an extra can light over the hall bathroom tub, and five can lights on the porch, also on a dimmer switch.

The best improvement by far though has been to get all the clutter out. It has made my job of keeping the house neat and tidy so much easier. The house went into the MLS this week, with a bunch of very flattering photos of the inside of the house. We are thrilled with our agent, his concept is that the owner shows their own house. Saves us money (2.4% total fee) because it saves him time. This allows us to be the ones 'selling' the house and all its features, we know our house best. But he takes care of the marketing, negotiating, and the closing.

So here is a link to the house in all its glory.

some recent pictures...

up and running

Today is more normal than we have had in a while. Simon is up and playing, and he and Chas managed to dump out every box of cars in their room before I even got out of bed (I was laying there watching Dr. Phil, till about 9:30). Simon talked non stop through breakfast about 'unicycles' and how he 'probably' new about them because he saw them on the Berenstain Bears on PBS Kids. He didn't eat much, but he seems better in general. Mia has a gurgly tummy, but has not vomitted again. Since her diet is mostly mother's milk, she is not likely to get as sick as Simon did. She is axpanding her vocabulary faster than ever. She'll try to give me something, and if I don't take it, look out - MOMMY! have it. She told me she was 'full' when she was ready to be excused from the breakfast table. She also helps herself to the kitchen drawers, handing out each boy's silverware - somehow she knows which color belongs to whom. Simon has the green set, Chas' is blue, and hers is orange. She can recognize a few shapes, mainly the ones which appear on her clothes - heart, star, and circle (which is easy for her to say). And when I ask her what color barrette she wants... PINK. Always pink.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers, I am certain that's what kept this down to a short ordeal.

update

Simon ate lunch today, rice in chicken broth and a piece of french bread, which he delighted in dipping in his broth. 'Mmmm. That's yummy, Mom, thanks for saying that I could dip my bread in my soup.' He was even off the couch and went back to his room for a while. I also noticed that his lips are peeling. They did have a layer of dry skin on them, which was stained blue from the gatorade. But he was chewing on his lips and the blue skin was peeling off. Then, while I was reading on the couch (Mia went down for her nap), Chas called me in to see something on the computer. We discovered that Simon had fallen asleep curled up in a ball on the glider stool (I have fashioned zip ties around the base of it so it doesn't rock, the boys use it for extra seating at the computer desk). So precious! After snapping a picture, I tried to move him to his bed. He woke up unhappy and claiming he wasn't tired! I got him a drink and lay down with him for a minute and he went right back to sleep.

Now Mia, after nursing down for nap, proceeded to throw up her milk all over herself. I stuck her in the tub to clean up and she went down for nap fine after that, even nursed and kept it down. I just got a call from a nurse at the ER where we were on Saturday. I guess they cultured her sample and found a 'colony' of bacterium, borderline enough to treat. But since I had reported to the doctor that her wet diapers had a strange odor, they would like her to take a round of antibiotics. They are calling it in to our pharmacy.

Chas is pretty silly - he is next to me trying to concentrate on his school work, but has taken a break to smell his own feet which is quite funny- to him. Now he has read my blog and is laughing uncontrollably. Tears of laughter... Yes, I am funnier than fractions apparently.