this week on the island

Hello blog friends. How was your week? Mine? Busy.

Last week, we had my son's banquet for cub scouts. It was a nice dinner, but I think my daughter got the best part. Take a look at her dessert! A smores cupcake! Can you imagine?

She got the last one and she thoroughly enjoyed it!

My son received his bear patch. He was hoping they wouldn't do the whole "marking on his face with markers" thing, but they did. I took a picture of him, but I promised I wouldn't put it on my blog. So I will just post two other pictures from that night that made me smile.

My brother-in-law actually made it to our house. My kids were very excited! On Wednesday my sister-in-law, C and her boys came down for the day. C and I were able to do a bit of shopping sans kids. That was fun!!

My daughter was very excited because she found her Hello Kitty fingernail polish, which I had kind of hidden. She asked to paint her fingernails. I think she got a little tired when she reached the last two nails on her right hand.

On Thursday, the officer and I took the kids up to his parents house. Grandma watched the kids so the officer and I could have a date day. Thanks Grandma with the sunglasses! We ate Mexican food and went thrift store shopping. We didn't find much at the thrift store, but the officer found a couple of comic books for my son. He was excited - and when I say "he" I mean the officer - to give them to my son and share about how he used to love comics.

Believe it or not we've also managed to get some school done this week too! :)

I took my daughter to a birthday party Friday night. It was a surprise party for a 6 year old little girl. She loved it! Her little face was so cute when she realized it was a birthday party for her.

My nephew, B, is staying the weekend with us. My son has loved having him here. Last night and tonight my son has been telling bedtime stories.

I think they are all worn out from playing together. They've had a good time. Now if we make it to church on time tomorrow that will be gravy! :)

so tomorrow then?????

My brother in law will be in town on Tuesday. He has meetings all day. Since his meetings go very late, he will stay the night at our house. My kids are very excited. I was telling my daughter the other day Uncle J was going to stay the night. She was trying to get it all down in her head.

I said, "Uncle J will be here late Tuesday night and will stay the night with us."

She said, "Okay... then tomorrow, it will be another tomorrow and then it will be tomorrow?"

Yes, I think.

please don't do that

We had swimming lesson this morning. I think i have mentioned the locker room situation before. The officer is usually unable to go to the swim lessons with me so I have both the kids. When swim lessons are finished, we go into the ladies locker room to dress. I throw a towel over my son's head and he goes into a bathroom stall to dress. When he is finished he comes out of the stall and stands around a corner just by the door and waits for my daughter and me. I am very careful about not letting him into the "locker room" portion of the dressing room for obvious reasons.

Today when we arrived, a man who I recognized as a swim instructor came up to me and asked me how old my son was. I told the man he was eight. He informed me that on Wednesday there were complaints about older sons getting dressed in the ladies locker room with their mothers. This was not a direct complaint about my son; however, it did affect us. I said, "I completely understand, I don't particularly like him dressing in the ladies locker room either, but there was no way I going to let him change in the men's dressing room all by himself." The man said he completely understood and that there was a restroom by the lap pool we could change in. This was fine with me.

When swim lessons were over, I took my kids to the lap pool and rinsed them off in the shower. As they were rinsing off, I opened the door to the restroom. It was a descent size restroom with one toilet and a sink. However, when I opened the door a very strong odor of urine wafted out of there. I wrapped my kids up in their towels and headed to the bathroom in the heated pool area. The bathroom in the heated pool area is okay but it is literally smaller than a handicap stall. I wouldn't be able to get in there to help my kids out. It worked out okay. I went to the front desk to see if this was our only option and they said, "yes. sorry." I don't think they were worried about it at all.

Am I just being paranoid? Well, of course I am, but I don't really care. A fitness center should have at least one family restroom available or at least a larger one that doesn't smell like urine.

OY!

We went to Target after swim lessons. I noticed girls jeans on sale for $8. I purchased my daughter two pairs because she only has ONE pair of jeans without holes in the knees. That pair of jeans are the dark shade and the knees are faded out. I decided I will do what I do for the officer. I keep one pair of the officer's jeans in my closet, so we both know he has one good pair to wear to church. Somehow, the officer's jeans get holes, oil stains, or goodness knows what else on them. Since he will only wear one kind of jeans, light colored Levi 560s, it can get hard sometimes. So now I have to do this with my daughter too.

I was tired after all our running around so I told my kids I wanted to lay down to take a nap.

I said, "mommy wants to lay down for a nap, so please don't run in every five minutes to tell me something okay?"

my daughter quickly replied, "oh do you just want us to walk?"

no, no i don't.

this week on the island

We hit the ground running this morning. The past two week we have not had our homeschool group (due to snow and an off week). I remembered we had homeschool group about five minutes before we usually leave for homeschool group.

"Kids, we have five minutes to get dressed and get out the door!!!!"

Since I colored my hair last night, I was able to just pull it up into a quick ponytail and threw on some clothes. :)

We were literally out the door in five minutes. However, when I got outside, it was a little foggy. It felt weird. As I drove onto the side streets, the fog started to get heavier. As I was about to get on the highway, I noticed it was completely at a stand still and backed up. Three lanes of traffic had been whittled down to one and they were going nowhere. I quickly called the officer and asked him for an alternate route. As I kept driving , the fog was getting thicker and thicker. The officer gave me new, easy directions, but I was a little nervous because the fog was so thick I couldn't see further than 40 ft. It's a little disorienting. I felt like a pilot flying around in the clouds. Papa Bill told me I would need my IFR rating to do that, but that it was actually an IMC morning. (Did that sound smart -- because I just copied off Papa Bill's text message he sent me!) :) I had to turn around three times on our way to homeschool group because I missed my turns. However, we arrived at homeschool group on time.

When we were finished with homeschool group, we rushed home to brush the kid's teeth because the kids had a dentist appointment. My kids love going to the dentist, especially my son. My son volunteered to go first. The hygienist, Jennifer, is the sweetest lady. Jennifer asked my son if he thought he was ready to do the x-rays. My son has never been able to do the x-rays because he gags when they put the "marshmallow" in his mouth. When Jennifer put the "marshmallow" in his mouth, he gagged. His eyes got all watery and he spit it out. Jennifer wanted to try it one more time because she almost had it. She wiped away the tears and tried to get ready to do it again. Of course, my son wanted to point out that "the tears are because of when I gagged, not because I'm crying or sad!" Jennifer repositioned the "marshmallow" and they got left-side x-ray with minimal gagging. The right-side was a breeze! You know what helped? Jennifer told my son to lift his leg up when he bit down on the "marshmallow". It worked. I guess because his brain was working on doing two things instead of just concentrating on gagging.

Both my kids did great. They both love the instrument that sucks out water from your mouth. They love wearing the sunglasses, so the bright light doesn't get in their eyes. They love getting the goody bag filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, pencil, sticker, and ball. Wish I would get a goody bag when I go to the dentist. :)

We are doing school now and then I get to go out to eat with a sweet friend tonight. I hope you have a great rest of the week.

officially a "soccer mom"

I am officially a "soccer mom". my daughter had her first soccer practice tonight. It was a lot of fun watching her. I am not sure if any of you have one of those children who does not walk anywhere. She runs - everywhere. I am always telling her to "walk!"

We thought soccer would be right up her alley. The spring soccer season is upon us, so we signed her up. She knows a little bit about soccer because her two cousins, K and A, have taught her. We purchased her equipment a couple of weeks ago. She picked out her own soccer ball - bright green.

There are only five kids on her team. Only my daughter and another little girl have never played before. Tonight the coach ran through some drills with the team. She loved all the running around. She has some of her daddy's natural athletic ability so I think she will pick the game up pretty quickly.

I just took some pictures like the crazy soccer mom, my daughter has never played and I need to take 20,000 picture at the first practice so I can blog about it later kind of mom I am.

The look in the picture above is the "please don't cheer like a crazy mom and embarrass me look". I'm sure I'll be seeing that look a lot in the future.

The video below is of my daughter kicking the ball down field a bit. She was trying to get into the goal. The reason I love this video is because of the last second of the video. It's just my daughter being my daughter. Perfectly her.



When practice was over, she had a smile plastered on her face. She had a lot of fun. I had a smile plastered on my face too, until I found out that someone, other than me, had locked my keys in my car. Luckily, the coach gave us a ride home to pick up the keys. Thanks coach! It's going to be a fun season.

a typical conversation

The following is prime example of a typical conversation i have with my daughter.

It took place Sunday night on the way home from church. You won't get the full effect of it because you do not experience the long, drawn out pauses.

Daughter's part of the conversation in pink and mine in green.

D: I like to eat those triangle things.

M: What triangle things?

D: You know those triangle things.

M: No, honey I have no idea what triangle things you are you talking about.

D: You know those triangle things that are like tacos, but they aren't tacos.

M: Burritos?

D: No, not burritos, they aren't triangle!

insert long pause here while she and i try to think of the name of "the triangle things".

D: They have cheese in them and they are triangle.

M: I have no idea what you are talking about.

D: OH I know something else - you can get them at Peppers!

M: Peppers?

D: YES!! Peppers!!!

M: What is Peppers?

Son: (feels like he needs to help us both out and participates). Sis, do you mean Chili's?

D: YES!!!! Chili's!!! Those triangle things you can get at Chili's.

I now realize what she is talking about.

M: Do you mean quesadillas?

D: Yes!!! I like to eat quesadillas.

that's it. nothing else was said by my daughter. guess she just wanted to relay that information to me.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day ya'll!!!

Yesterday afternoon I was contemplating Valentine's Day. I usually don't do anything for the kids for Valentine's Day. They get chocolate, but it's really by default because i purchase it after Valentine's Day on clearance.

(look ma capital letters!)

The other day I had read a facebook status which said, "God gave the greatest Valentine's gift: John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever shall believe in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life." Yesterday I started to think about this. I don't want Valentine's Day to be only about getting treats and little cards for my children. This is a perfect opportunity to talk about God's love for us all day. Last night while my kids were in choir, I wrote down 24 scriptures having to do with love. here are a few of them.

God's love for us:

Nehemiah 9:17
"... but you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love."

Psalms 36:5
"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."

Psalms 130:7
"... put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption."

how God shows love for us:

Proverbs 3:12
"because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in."

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever shall believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

Romans 5:5
"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

how God wants us to love Him:

Deuteronomy 11:1
"Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his law and his commands always."

John 14:15
"If you love me, you will obey what I command."

I John 2:5
"If anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete with Him."

how God wants us to love each other:

Leviticus 19:18
"....love neighbors as yourself."

John 15:17
"This is my commandment - love one another."

I Corinthians 16:14
"Do everything in love."

Galatians 5:13
"....serve one another in love."

Ephesians 4:2
"Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love."

So last night when we got home from church, I made a run to Wal-Mart. I purchased some things to make this Valentine's Day special.

I got a box and Valentine's Day M&Ms for our "Love Box".

I printed out all 24 scriptures on pieces of paper and sealed them with a heart sticker. I filled the box with the scriptures, M&Ms, and Sweetarts.

I purchased some sacks to make a Valentine's Day sack for each of the kids and candy to go inside. I taped the sacks by their door so we could put Valentines in it throughout the day.

This morning I woke up at 6 a.m. - yeah you read that right - 6 a.m. to make breakfast. It consisted of heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes, bacon (which looks very well done in this picture because it's my plate), strawberry muffins, apple slices and strawberry milk. The kids were surprised I was up and already making breakfast by the time they woke up. So was the officer!

I will make heart-shaped sandwiches for lunch and we have some strawberry soda floats for dessert. Tonight we will make either a heart pizza or spaghetti. I haven't figured out which one.

My son put a Valentine's Day card right right by the computer where I turn it on so I would see it.

At 7 a.m., we started our "Love Box". The kids opened to box and pulled out the first two scriptures, I Corinthians 13:4-8 describing love and John 3:16 God's ultimate act of love for us. As we read the scriptures, they each get to eat two pieces of candy. This will end up being more candy than they are ever allowed to eat, but it's okay for one day. That's why I got M&Ms! I have set the timer for 60 minutes. Every time the timer goes off, we will read two scriptures. Our last scriptures will be at 7 p.m. tonight right before bedtime. We will take our "Love Box" with us wherever we go today.

I love hearing my son read God's word. I have to help my daughter read some of the words, but I love that she is starting to participate too.

Well I am off. Even though today is Valentine's Day we still have our housework and school work to do. Plus I am going to make some sugar cookie dough so we can decorate some cookies this afternoon. And it's almost time to do another set of scriptures. :)

Happy Valentine's Day to you! Don't forget that God Loves YOU!

randomness

does anyone else find random thing like this in their house?

you walk our of your bedroom, into the front room and there is an empty mello yellow bottle taped to the wall. almost reminds me of the time i found this in my room or #2 on this list.

i purchased my kids their own scotch tape last week. does anyone else's kids love scotch tape? my kids love it!! and i do mean love it! it was one of their favorite stocking stuffers. when i gave my son his own tape he said, "i will use it wisely!" i actually hid my tape from them, but they found it. that's why i got them their own tape. maybe if i made them use their own allowance to buy their own tape they would "use it wisely."

i am not sure who taped the bottle to the wall. when i asked why it was there, i just got an "i don't know."

so that's it - until the next time i find another completely random thing in my house i feel like sharing. :)

a wheelchair for lilly

my daughter had received a doll for her birthday. the officer gave it to her. it looks like an american girl doll, but it's not. it's called our generation (from target) and i think they are every bit as cute as the american girl dolls. the officer had gotten my daughter a horse and the girl, lilly, who rides the horse.

lilly came with a riding outfit. she has a blue blazer, off-white pants, white shirt, black helmet, and black riding boots that lace up the back. she is very cute. my daughter was very excited about getting the doll and the horse. when she got home from her birthday party, she excitedly opened her doll. she wanted to take the boots off lilly and put on a red dress. as she was tugging the boot off, without unlacing the boots, she pulled the lilly's leg right out of it's socket. yep, the first day she had her special doll, she broke it's leg. the leg doesn't come completely off because it's held on by a plastic piece. does anyone know if these dolls can be fixed?

for a while, she didn't really play with lilly because of her broken leg. she thought the leg might come all the way off. however, the other night she was looking at her american girl catalog and informed me she was saving her allowance so she could purchase the wheelchair for lilly. yes, american girl sells wheelchairs and crutches. they have such cute stuff in that catalog. there was a moment when my daughter almost decided to save her money for some tennis shoe roller skates for her doll instead, but ultimately decided it's best for her to get better in the wheelchair before she can skate.

so.... she claims she is saving for a wheelchair for her doll. this is probably until she see a slinky at the dollar store, but her intentions are good. :)

this is where her brother comes in. my son asked to see a picture of the wheelchair. i didn't know why he wanted to see it again. i thought he had looked at it with us the other day. after my daughter showed him the picture, she told me brother was going to make her a wheelchair for lilly out of tinker toys. very sweet. i hope it turns out. if it does i will come back and post a picture of it on this post. i have a picture. my son couldn't figure out how to do the wheels so he just made a chair.




these are the things that have consumed my kids the past couple of days.

this week on the island

long time, no see. at least it feels like that way to me. if you've live in oklahoma you know what we've been doing the last couple of weeks. we've been snowed in off and on (mostly on) these past two weeks.

it's been nice. however, even with being stuck in the house we have somehow gotten off our routine. why is that? maybe because we haven't been going to our regularly scheduled things like gymnastics, swim lessons and tae kwon do.

last week the public schools were out for four days. this week i think most of them have been at out least 3 days. we've had school here - off and on. two days ago we had one of our longest school days with my daughter. we were skip counting by 10s. i am not sure what the problem was, but she could not get down the number 50 and sometimes 30. i would show and tell her the number 50 and literally five seconds later she would forget or she would call it 30. to compensate i ate half a bar of toblerone chocolate. at least it was .13 back at christmas (due to coupons) even if i gained 13 lbs eating it. of course the next day, she knew 50 and 30 right off and each time she saw it.

i successfully defeated the laundry this week so that's good.

my mother told me i needed to start capitalizing when i write my posts. she said it makes the posts harder to read. i am thinking about it. the reason i don't is just pure laziness. i can type faster by not capitalizing. however, now that she mentioned it, it's starting to bug me. :)

my kids have been sick off and on these past couple of weeks too. it started out as a fever for two days with no other symptoms. however, it has evolved into a cough (dry for one and wet for the other). i am wondering how they are getting sick since we've not really been anywhere.

the officer has taken advantage of these days off he's had. he has spent some one on one time with each child. they have loved it. the officer and i will get to have a date day in a couple of weeks. not right on valentine's day but that doesn't really matter to me.

fyi - did you know that i don't really care for flowers. i mean as a gift. i mean i always appreciate flowers when i get them, but i don't really want to officer to buy them for me. i think it's the whole $60 for a dozen roses (which aren't even my favorite) thing. once he brought me some purple hang-y flowers in a styrofoam cup from the side of the road. they were so pretty. also i am not a huge fan of chocolate. which i understand may not seem to be the case since i ate half of a toblerone a couple of days ago. i do like chocolate but i am not one of those who craves/loves it. my weakness is more like pringles or doritos. believe me if there had been doritos in the house that day i might have eaten the whole bag. i'm kidding - kind of.

so this is my update for the past two weeks. not that exciting which is probably why i haven't written even though i've been holed up in my house.

oh wait, on one of our snowdays we decided no electronics for the day. there's only so much wii, computer, and movies you can actually do before going crazy. we spent the day playing checkers, operation, connect four and candyland. the officer was very good at connect four. i did beat him several times, but overall he was the champ. don't tell him i said that. there's also only so much checkers, operation, connect four and candyland you can play too. :)