Soccer...

Well, I have officially started on my 'soccer mom tan'. Tank top lines, flip-flop and/or tennis shoe lines, shorts lines - so sexy! :-|

The boys had overlapping games this morning, so I watched all of Jarvis' game and the last half of Justice's game. They both did SO well. I was impressed. Jarvis has only had two practices, and never played team sports before. I wasn't sure how he would do, with his shy personality, but he jumped right in there and went after the ball. He's a little too careful about trying not to hurt other players (needs a little more aggression if he's going to make a career of it - lol), but he did great! Justice is better than I thought. He played on a team in 1st grade, but not since. I think, if he wants (and I think he does), that we'll keep him in soccer every year (we were unable the last couple years because of moving or me being on bedrest, etc.). Jarvis' team is the TIGERS and Justice's team is the TARHEELS.

Thankfully, I felt really good today (I have been under the weather since Monday - these health issues are REALLY starting to frustrate me).

edited to add: I forgot to mention that Jacob HATES going to soccer practice and games. I have to try to keep him out of the sun, heat, and wind (it's very windy here) while keeping track of Darby and her constant demands (she's pretty high maintenance - lol) and trying to watch one or both boys playing. Well, today at the beginning of Jarvis' game, Jacob decided to poop... EVERYWHERE. My stroller doesn't lay all the way down (not sure why? maybe it does and I'm just retarded - that's likely), so I had to change him on my lap with poop all over his clothes without getting poop on me. Good times. Good times.

Princess...

The other day at the post office, the lady behind the counter (as we were leaving), said to Darby "bye Princess". Darby looked at me with her "WOW" face and said, in all seriousness, "How did she know I was a princess?!." lol :)

Easter...

We got new Easter clothes for the kids this weekend. I'll be sure and take lots of photos. Our church is having a dinner after church in the morning for all the deployed spouses and their children, so we are going to that. I still need to get Easter baskets for the kids - a little hard to finagle some of this stuff without a second parent here to help. Thank the Lord for Brittany!!!! :)

Andrew...

I heard from Andy yesterday, but he's already back out on patrols. I hate it when I can't talk to him every day. It looks like he may be back in October instead of November - so at least that is good news! :) He sent out a letter to family and friends this week. He tried to send it out to as many people as he could. Let me know if you didn't get a copy and I'll scan and email it to you - it's a letter that gives a little insight into what he does. I sure do miss him like crazy!

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April 12, 2006

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April 9, 2006, 6:14 pm

freecycling...

I feel a sense of accomplishment. You know those seemingly big chores that you just put off because they seem too overwhelming? Well, I got one done today! I had been piling things in the shed for a while and it was FULL. I got out there this afternoon and did some major organizing and now I have plenty of space in there. Woo hoo. I was able to give a few things away on freecycle, and that's always fun. One lady had been living without a vacuum cleaner for a while, and now she has one - granted, it's not the best in the world, but she was very pleased to get it. I'm glad I didn't throw that stuff out (gave away a few other things besides the vacuum - it was just sitting there taking up valuable space). I've plugged it before, and I'll plug it again. Join the freecycle group in your area. It's a great way to get rid of things you want hauled off, and a great way to find some things you need (for free!). It does generate a lot of emails though. I don't have the emails come anymore because I can't really keep up with it right now - I just go to the yahoo groups page when I'm ready to get rid of something. I post what I want to get rid of and then the only emails I get from the site are the ones that are responses to my offer.

church...

The 'power team' was at our church this morning. They've been doing their thing for the last few nights - tonight is the last night. The kids thought it was quite a novelty and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I'd just as soon hear our pastor preach. They do win a lot of people to Christ, so I'm definitely not 'downing' them - it's just not MY kind of thing. :)

movies...

A friend and I took our children to see Ice Age 2 yesterday. It was cute. As usual with movies nowadays, there were a couple of unnecessary crude moments, but all in all, it was enjoyable enough. My favorite parts included the possums. They were pretty darn funny.

ttfn...

I'm off to make some cheeseburgers for dinner. Yummy! :)

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April 7, 2006, 12:10 pm

A few more photos...

sleeping princess

jacob thinks he is a big boy :)

brittany dressed darby up and gave her a gun...

this one pretty much speaks for itself :)

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April 5, 2006, 8:24 pm

Photos...

darby waits for and enjoys a cupcake at some friends' birthday party this past sunday (she LOVES her cowgirl boots that grandma bought for her!)

brittany holding jacob at the party on sunday

jacob pooped out at the party :)

hannah and larry (and apparently lots of stuff on the floor - haha)

hannah is actually not allowed upstairs, but 'just this once' i let her lie down with jarvis for a little while - i'm sure that one will come back to bite me in the rear!!! lol

jacob trying to climb over pillows on britt's bed (britt has a MILLION squishy pillows - she LOVES those things). :)

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April 5, 2006, 12:36 am

I made a huge dent in Darby's room today (well, and Jacob's room but he is still in with me so I don't think of it as his room yet). We hit Wally World again and purchased some of those cheap organizer shelves, and some canvas bins and now the Polly Pockets, My Little Pony's, etc. all have their own little bin for easy clean-up. We even got all the Barbie's organized. They already had some drawers, but we took it a step further and got some of those little organizer drawers and separated all the accessories - shoes have a drawer, hats have a drawer, etc. Yes, we did get a little tedious with the Barbies and I'm not sure they'll stay THAT organized, but I do love organizing so Darby and I had fun doing that part of it. :) Tomorrow we tackle all the clothes, and get Jacob's dresser painted (we got a light green paint and some white knobs - the dresser was painted white YEARS ago and had Winnie the Pooh knobs, so it needed to be changed).

Thanks to all for the sleeping tips. But you see, I already KNOW I need to just get up at the same time each day and go to bed at the same time... the problem is making it happen! lol When I'm not on someone else's schedule (i.e. school, work, etc.), then it's up to my own self-discipline, which apparently I have none in this area. I did get up earlier today, but alas, it is past midnight and I'm still up. Plus, when I have lots of energy - as I have had the past couple of days - I can't make myself go to bed if I'm still going - and tonight I was still going in Darby's room. In the mornings, however, I don't function. I didn't get started in Darby's room until well after lunch. I'm just such a NIGHT person. Why can't the whole world be a night person like me?! :)

Will post baby and puppy photos tomorrow... :)

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April 4, 2006, 1:44 am

I simply cannot get on a good sleeping schedule when Andrew isn't here. I may just stop trying. See, when Andrew is here, he works in the mornings, so he HAS to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and I LIKE going to bed with him, so it just works itself out. Now, I have no one saying "let's go to bed", so I keep cleaning, playing on the computer, or whatever - until all hours of the night. And before I know it, like now, it's 1:44 am! Come home Andrew!!! I need you!!! :) :) :)

I'm not sure why I haven't been updating my blog on a daily basis. Maybe I haven't had much to say. Which seems odd for me. I always have something to talk about. ha. Maybe it's because I have been sick. But I'm feeling better now, so I'm sure you will all be thrilled to know that I plan on doing a better job of keeping my blog updated. ;)

The boys and I got their room organized! We had gotten it really clean several times since we moved in, but they just kept trashing it. They needed more organization and a PLACE for everything. So that's what we did the last two days. We bought some organizational aids from Wally World and went to work. The only thing left to do is get Jarvis a new dresser. He outgrew his and was trying to shove all his clothes in there, which was a disaster. So, I gave Jarvis' old dresser to Jacob, and now we are on the hunt for a new one that doesn't cost a small fortune. For now, Jarvis has his clothes in the corner of the room that the dresser will go in. The last step to complete organization. I'm going to try to make some new curtains for them soon too. They are very excited to have it done. :) Next is Darby and Jacob's room (yes, they have to share for now - next move we will get a house with one more bedroom). :)

I am going to attempt to head to bed now that it is almost 2 a.m. I wish I got tired at night like Justice and just popped out of bed in the mornings like Justice. Oh well. :)

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March 31, 2006, 5:39 pm

I was able to talk to Andrew this afternoon on the instant messenger. Yay. I wasn't expecting to for at least another day or two so that was a very nice surprise. :) Here are photos we took of each other on Valentine's Day, when my good friend, Lisa, was kind enough to watch our kids so we could go out on a date, and a photo of the 7 of us. :) I miss Andrew!!!

waiting in the van for our movie (we were early)

waiting for a table at Olive Garden

family photo :)

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March 29, 2006, 12:12 am

Horses...

I've had a cold for the past several days and that's a little more than annoying, but it's nothing major. The kids and I watched Dreamer tonight , the movie about the horse with Dakota Fanning. I wasn't expecting much, but Aunt Glenda told me it was really good, so I thought we would give it a try. We all enjoyed it. Darby wants a horse now, and she is going to name it Sally. I told her - well maybe Aunt Timberly will get a horse and we can visit HER horse - so she asked if she'd be able to ride it and I said 'sure' - so uh, Timberly, if you are reading this - Darby wants to ride your horse when you get it? I hope that's okay. :)

War...

Andrew is out on patrols again, so we won't get to talk for at least a few days. I don't care much for when he's on patrols and we can't communicate. When he's back at the base, we get to talk on the phone or instant message every day. That makes the time go by a little faster. I am thankful that we can communicate as much as we can though. I talk to Papa, Andy's grandfather, about when he was in World War II. He was in the Philippines for two years, and all he had was some snail mail that usually took a very long time to arrive, and even the snail mail was scarce. He says he can't imagine being able to actually hear a voice from home during that time. Two YEARS is a long time to go without any "instant" communication like we have now. So when I start to get down about how I'm tired of being mommy AND daddy, or how much I miss my husband... I try to put it into perspective and count my blessings. Being human though - sometimes it takes me a while before that perspective comes to mind. I'll try though - in less than eight months, my husband will be home and we'll appreciate one another all the more because of our separation.

I realized the other day that I never posted photos of Jarvis' birthday or Andrew's mid-tour leave. So I'll leave you with a photo from that and will hopefully get the rest of them up on ofoto in the next few days. :)

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March 26, 2006, 10:35 pm

One year?!?!

I did not realize until Trish pointed it out on my comments page, that I just passed the one year anniversary of my blog (on the 24th)! I can't believe I have been doing this for a year. Time sure does fly!!! Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed blogging for the last year and I plan on keeping it up for a long time. I think it's a good way to keep in touch, and I really enjoy reading the blogs of my friends and family and hope that more of you decide to start one! :)

Birthdays...

There were two birthdays yesterday...

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY CIARA!!!

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March 24, 2006, 2:02 pm

My brother, Titus, finally joined the blogging ranks. Check out his blog here and leave him a supportive comment!! :)

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March 23, 2006, 8:58 pm

This and that...

I haven't been feeling very well the last few days. I'm trying to equate what I eat to how I feel, and I'm beginning to think I can't drink milk. I hated milk for the longest time, but since I gave birth to Jacob I just can't get enough. I love it! But alas, I may have to limit my milk intake (I was highly allergic to milk as a child so it's possible that allergy is still around). I'll try cutting back for a few days and see if that makes a difference. My blood sugar numbers actually haven't been too terribly bad lately. The doc told me to keep track of it for a month and then come back and see him (my numbers were good when I saw him last week). Hopefully I can get this all figured out soon. I'm having trouble getting my eating and sleeping schedules on track. I need more discipline - and energy! I'm actually getting used to being careful WHAT I eat (although it's still bumming me out a little), but trying to keep track of WHEN I eat is kicking my rear! I'd like to be one of those people that just feel good no matter what they eat or how much sleep they get. That would be nice. :)

I watched Walk the Line the other night. It was okay. I definitely enjoyed the music, but I think it portrayed the crappiest part of Johnny Cash's life (of course - because why would Hollywood want us to know that he went on to lead a good Christian life without drugs?). But I do enjoy true stories - I like reality. I've been watching more movies than usual lately since I haven't felt too spunky. I rented more today - that 'good night/luck' one with George Clooney and something else I can't recall - I'll let you know how they turn out. The choices at Hollywood Video were limited, so I got some I wasn't all that interested in seeing.

Besides health issues - I really do have to say I've nothing to complain about. I miss Andrew terribly, but our relationship is awesome and for that I am truly thankful. The kids are all healthy and in good spirits. We have lots going on. The boys are so excited about starting soccer in a couple of weeks. Britt will be doing Tae Kwon Do and Darby will be doing what she calls flip school (a.k.a. gymnastics). Those both start in April, but that seems to be too far in advance for the youth center to have schedules yet. haha. I'm postponing my wisdom teeth surgery, because I just can't deal with that right now. My tooth isn't hurting as badly as it was, and I am not ready to interfere with Jacob's breastfeeding. He's never had a bottle (except a couple of ounces of water once while we were on our trip). And we're not ready to start now.

Speaking of Jacob, some may say he's spoiled. He does like to be held. But honestly, I don't care what others think. :) People have told me I need to get him on a rigid schedule (huh? do they know me?) and not pick him up so much, but I say a big WHATEVER to that. :) I don't know if God will bless us with more children and I am going to enjoy every single second of Jacob's time as an infant. I LOVE holding him, so if it means the laundry doesn't get folded every day, or the dishes pile up a little - so be it. That stuff can be kept up with when he's older and doesn't want to spend all day cuddling with me. He does love his new swing (from Robyn), so he sits in that periodically throughout the day and squeals and coos at it (he was so pleased with himself today because he grabbed one of the little rings on it), but if I have some sitting time then I will definitely be sharing it with Jacob. Unless the kids steal him - Jarvis has him right now - he says to people that try to take him "you can't have him. he's my baby!"

Well, I think I'm going to watch one of my movies (while cuddling with Jacob) and go to bed. I hope everyone else is doing well. Say hello in the comments if you are reading! :) :) :)

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March 20, 2006, 9:48 pm

Errands...

Why do errands take so long? I left the house at 4:00 today to do a few things and did not get home until 8:30!!! Of course, we did have to stop and eat, but that didn't take long (the dollar menu at Burger King - not very yummy) :|. I took the boys to get a haircut, went to the P.O., stopped by the youth services center to get forms to fill out for the boys to play soccer, and went to the PX to get some things for a care package for Andy. I mean, that's a few things, but should it have taken 4 1/2 HOURS?! Oh well. I have more errands to run tomorrow. I'm not a fan of errands. Probably one of the reasons I procrastinate so much. It's just such a hassle!

The puppy...

Hannah Sunshine is doing well. She's almost fully potty trained. She sleeps most of the night (wakes up to whine once or twice but when no one comes to let her out, she goes back to sleep), and she doesn't go to the bathroom in her 'room' (a.k.a. the laundry room). Once in a while she pees on the dining room floor because she gets too excited being around her people, but she's really doing well for us only having her for 4 days and her only being 7 weeks old. :) Of course, it has barely rained twice in the last six months, but we get a new puppy and it POURS down rain for three days. Go figure! So she got muddy, and I had to give her a bath last night. That was fun! I was so soaked afterwards and she was shivering for like ten minutes, so I had to comfort her and wrap her in towels. We survived it though. She goes to the vet tomorrow (more errands - ugh). I'm sure she'll LOVE that. :|

Movies...

The new Pride and Prejudice... so boring! I MUCH prefer the BBC version (the one with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy). The new one sucks.
Yours, Mine, and Ours... both the old one and the new one (we had never seen the old one so we got it too). They were okay. Both fairly entertaining. I like Lucille Ball in the old one - I think I liked it better than the new one. The kids were too bratty in the new one.
The Shaggy Dog... the new one. The kids loved it. I thought it was okay. I think I talked about this in a previous blog this week.
Curious George... very cute. Especially cute for the little kids. :)
The Pink Panther... the new one. Steve Martin was funny. Too much junior-highschool crudity for my taste. But there were some parts that made me laugh out loud. The kids and I were all speaking with a fake french accent on the way home from seeing it. :)
Bringing up Baby... we rented the old Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn comedy from our online DVD club. This movie is STILL fantastic. Even the kids thought it was hilarious! :)

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March 17, 2006, 11:09 pm

As of yesterday, we have a new addition in our family. Jarvis told me that I'm the BEST mom in the world! She's a border collie. And yes, I'm insane!!! Here she is, Hannah Sunshine Carden (she belongs to Jarvis and he named her)...

jarvis loves his new 'baby' :)

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March 16, 2006, 6:05 pm

Ten things that aggravate my OCD...

Yes, it's true. I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Not enough to put me on medication (like Jack Nicholson in 'As Good as it Gets'), but enough for people to call me names like "quirky" and "neurotic". Ten of the many things that exacerbate the problem...

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March 15, 2006, 7:45 pm

Doctors and Dentists...

Jacob had his two month dr. visit on Monday. He weighs 9 pounds, 6 ounces now and is 21 inches long. He did NOT like getting his shots; it was pretty pitiful! He didn't stay mad at me for long though, and we are buddies again. :)

I went to the oral surgeon yesterday. He said I could go ahead and get my wisdom teeth out right then and there with a local anesthetic OR I could make an appt. for two weeks from now and be put to sleep. No hesitation, I opted to be knocked out! Uh, he has to break two of them and take them out in two pieces - that's after he cuts my gums open. Only ONE of them can be pulled, the other three have to be dug out. I'd rather not know that's going on... even if he does say I won't feel it. Yuck! So on the 29th, I will have a stranger digging around and cutting in my mouth. Fun stuff!

I went to the family doc today, and we talked about diabetes. Just from our discussion and me describing my symptoms and answering his questions, he said he's pretty positive I have Type II diabetes. He had lab work done (blood and urine - fun), and will call when the results are in. For now, he wants me to eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, healthily (i.e. no junk food - ugh) and test my sugar a couple times a day - varying when I do it - and keep a diary of it to give him an idea of how my sugar is doing. Depends on the results of the tests he did today and possible further testing, but I may have to do insulin shots at night. We're hoping for better things though... hoping that I can control it with just diet and exercise. Will keep you all updated on that one.

Movies...

Took the kids to see 'Shaggy Dog' today. They loved it. I thought it was okay (mildly entertaining) - seems like I liked the original better, but then it's been a LONG time since I've seen it. I might feel differently if I tried watching it again. :) I rented the new 'Pride and Prejudice' and will probably watch it tomorrow - I'll let you know what I think since I know how everyone values my movie opinions. :D

Our trip...

Our whirlwind trip of the Southeastern United States was good. It wore me out, but it was good. :) The two main purposes of the trip were 1) to have my parents help me find houses I lived in when I was little (photos for a scrapbook I'm working on of place I've lived) and 2) to show off Jacob. Both ventures were successful. :)

We started out in Houston, visiting Aunt Gail and Uncle Skip, their children, and some of their grandchildren. The kids and I stayed with Gwen and Larry, who have a very nice home, and we are grateful for their hospitality! The next two nights we got a hotel on the beach in Galveston (to which the kids LOVED - tons of photos to come in my ofoto albums which are uploading as I type) and we took photos of one house in the area, but could not find the home we lived in when I was in kindergarten (wah!). Off to Louisiana after that, where we were able to get photos of two houses there, then to Georgia to visit my siblings and their children. Got to see my niece, Tori, whom I have not seen in 4 years or so. Only got photos of one out of six homes there, but Josh and Andrea were kind enough to agree to get photos of the other five for me. :) Then to Knoxville, where I was able to go to my old church on Sunday morning and visit with friends, and was also able to go to my parents church on Sunday night. My dad was preaching, but Jacob decided that I only needed to hear about five or ten minutes of that sermon. Oh well. :( Timberly and her family came down to see us and we had fun hanging out (we took our kids to see 'Curious George' which was very cute), and I got to see a couple of friends. Nashville was next on the list, and we didn't get to stay as long as it would have taken to see everyone there. But we did get to see Andy's immediate family, his grandfather, and some of his cousins. And we stayed with our good friends Robyn and Jeff. I even got to go to Robyn's ultrasound with her, which was exciting (she is only 11 weeks along, but it blows my mind how ANYONE can say it is okay to have an abortion at that time - or anytime - when the baby had a heartbeat and we could see the cute little baby moving around!). I wanted to see some more friends there and spend a little more time with Andy's family, but alas, I had a timeframe I had to stick to... On the way home, we spent the night with Uncle Duane and Aunt Glenda in Arkansas. Terra (my cousin) and her family were able to come and it was good to see them. We also got to see Grandma in the nursing home, and I think she was pleased that we were able to visit her. The next night we stayed with Coby and Stephanie (Andy's best friend from the Marine Corps) and their fur babies (3 dogs and a cat) in Oklahoma City. The kids LOVED being able to visit with Coby at the fire station (he's a fireman) the next morning. They even got to spray the hose from the fire truck to which they were thrilled! :) Then, we finally made it home. Next time I take a trip like that, I hope to be able to spend a little more time in each city, but it was VERY good to see everyone for what little time we were able. Thank you to everyone who fed us, let us sleep in their house, and took time out of their busy lives to spend with us. :)

Photo of the day...

I'm in the process of uploading 9 albums to ofoto, and will send those to everyone on my ofoto email list (don't count on them in the next few minutes, as I'm only on album # 2, and it says it has 50 minutes left of uploading time). If you don't get them by tomorrow night though, let me know and I'll send them to you. :)

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March 13, 2006, 5:58 pm

Since it's not February anymore, I decided to switch from the Valentine theme on here. :) I got to i.m. with Andy for a little while this afternoon. I missed being able to do that while I was gone. 8 months until November and he comes home. I can't wait!!!

This isn't my 'big' blog update though... stay tuned... more photos and vacation stories to come. I'm still unpacking and cleaning now, but had to take a diabetic snack break so figured I'd work on my blog a little. :)

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March 12, 2006, 9:19 pm

2 1/2 weeks and 3,060 miles later...

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