Our Independence Day

On Saturday, I took all three kiddos out to an Independence Day Celebration on post. I was a bit anxious initially, just thinking about having them all out, its hot, trying to stay up late for fireworks, trying manage all the feeding and diaper changing and constant intake of Gatorade all my myself. I knew the day would succeed or fail based completely on their attitudes and dispositions.

Luckily for me, on this particular day all attitudes were positive and all dispositions remained agreeable in spite of an unexpected and quite violent rainstorm.

We got there around 345 and had only been there about ten minutes. The boys had gone on approximately three inflatables, when a Dad standing near me looked up and foolishly said "I think its going to rain." I told him "No, no, we don't say that word on days like this." But it was too late. Big fat raindrops began falling on our heads. He had jinxed us. I collected the kids and we started walking towards a tent for some shelter. The rain started to pick up, and we were kinda wet before we even made it to the tent. This was a car salesman tent, they had two big rows of cars lined up that I guess they were tryign to sell or something. Anyways, the boys sat down and I told them I was certain it would pass in a minute. Here they are.



And heres Hannah proclaiming "Rain? Rain?"



About 60 seconds after I took that photo the wind suddenly picked up, and the rain began blowing under the tent that was covering us. Everyone huddled in the center, and the rain was just pelting us. And then the tent began to blow away. Literally the poles were shifting off the ground and the guys around the edges grabbed ahold and were trying to hold it down. The rain is literally coming at us sideways now, and Jude starts screaming "We're going to DIE!! We're going to DIEEEEE!!" I assured him that we were not, that it was just wind and rain, but I admit I was getting a bit scared. We were in the middle of a huge field, there was no where to go for cover. Eden was totally calm, but Hannah was screaming at the rain coming straight on to her face. At this point the car salesman says that anyone with babies can come with him and hop in a car, to at least get out of the rain. So a bunch of us run out in to the rain after him, and hes piling people in to these big vans. Mind you, these are cars hes hoping to sell and we are now dripping wet and muddy. But, out of the rain because of his kindness. Right after we got inside, the tent next to ours went down and the tables and chairs started blowing around, knocking people over. The "rock wall" set up in the middle of the field blew over. It got crazy for about 2 more minutes and I was beginning to wonder if perhaps being in a vehicle was a bad decision if we were going to experience a tornado. And then....it stopped. All of it, completely. The rain, the wind, gone. The sun broke out and we could hear thunder rolling past us. So very, very bizarre. We all climbed out,stunned, and went to find our stroller. Eden said "Wow....that was weird." And Jude said "I'm so glad we didn't die." And I took this photo of my three sopping wet kiddos.


Despite all of that, when I asked the kids "What do you want to do now? Should we just go home?" I got a resounding "NO! We want to STAY!" I told them we would wait 15 minutes and see if they were setting the rides and booths back up, which they did. We sat and ate a funnel cake. The party went on. And we stayed ALLLLLLLLLLLL day. Heres the boys on the inflatables.




There were also some cool Army vehicles for the kids to climb in and mess around with, practically mandatory at such functions as this one.



At one point we had to stop mid-stride for the National Anthem. Here are my young patriots.


Eventually after much playtime we chose a spot near the big stage, where there had been live music going on all day. We ate some hamburgers and hot dogs, and blew bubbles while we waited for the sun to set and the fireworks to begin. We also saw a cool karate demonstration, which the boys totally enjoyed.





It turns out the main event on the stage was a group called The Commodors. According to the people around me I was a complete idiot for not knowing who this group was until they clued me in that they sing "Shes a Brick....House!" Ah ha! I know that song, its on the Shrek soundtrack! (Mom of three kids, in case you couldn't tell before now, thats how I know music. Animated movie soundtracks.) The performance was really good, people were singing and shouting and dancing. Jude got REALLY in to it.





Then finally, around 1100, the fireworks started. The kids had all been wonderful, patient and well behaved, even little bitty Hannah stayed awake the whole time! She was impressed by the fireworks. She watched them from over my shoulder and would say "That?? That?!?" And I would say "Fireworks!" And she would say "Right!! Right!!"




All in all, a wonderful day. On our walk back to the car Jude said "That was the best day ever. Well,.....The best day ever so FAR." And Eden agreed, saying "Wouldn't it be cool if we could just do it again tomorrow?" By the time we got home and in to bed it was past midnight, everyone was beyond tired, but there was still this feeling of peace, happiness, and togetherness that comes with making such awesome memories. It was a treasurable day.

Come play in the dirt again

 

 

 

This is just plain cute.

We have some old planter boxes on our screened in porch. Once upon a time they contained living things, like flowers and basil. Now they simply serve as another sad reminder that my husband is not home, and that I absolutely do not have any sort of green thumb. I have the opposite of green-thumb in fact, and I think I shall call it "the thumb that brings death and decay to all green things that dare bloom in its presence." By which of course I mean to say, I have a knack for killing plants.

So now the boxes are just full of dirt. Expensive dirt at that. The fancy potting soil kind you have to buy in big bags at Lowe's. This is the perfect kind of dirt for an 18 month old to play in, at least according to Hannah. She stands by the back sliding glass door and insists "Aa-yide! Aa-yide!"(that means outside, in case you don't speak "Hannah") over and over. When I open the door she heads straight for the boxes and plops herself down in front of one. She digs her tiny hands in to the dirt, bringing fistfuls out to toss on the porch and then swish around as she says "wash wash! wash wash!" She hasn't quite got the concept that "wash" means "to make clean", she simply thinks it goes with the hand motion of rubbing your hands around, whether it be with soap or dirt its all the same to her. She continues wash-washing the porch, or occasionally taking a tiny handful and throwing it up in the air with a celebratory "ah-ah-AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!" I'm not sure what that means, but she seems to know. Then she moved on to "wash-wash"-ing her feet and legs, her belly, her hands and her arms. This went on for a good thirty minutes until she had dirt in her hair, in her ears, and all over the rest of her body. At one point she found a tiny rock, which was very exciting since she also knows how to say "rock" She stood up and said "rock rock rock rock" as she walked across the porch until she found a suitable sized hole to drop the rock in where it disappeared beneath the porch forever. Then she immediately cried out "UH OH! OH NOOOOO!Where? Where?" to the vanished rock. I told her the rock went "bye bye" and she said "Awww! awww! Rock..." as she had apparently decided she had an emotional attachment to it. Then I told her to go find another rock and she quickly moved on.

By the time she was done playing in the planter boxes she had even managed to get dirt in her diaper, so she took a nice long bubble bath and then an even nicer, longer nap. Now I should probably find some where else to put the planter boxes, or I have a feeling she will want this to become a daily activity.

Tattoo Time

 

So, heres my new tattoo.

I must say, I like it quite a lot! The top symbol I acquired a few years back, at the ripe old age of 19, when I went to visit my dear friend Austin in New York City. I got off the plane and before we had even reached his apartment we had hatched a plan to go get tattoos. Nothing premeditated, I had no clue what I was getting I just wanted one. In hindsight.....kinda stupid. Austin ended up not getting anything at all, but he always was the smart one out of the two of us.

So for going on almost 8 years now I have had this random black mark on my back. Its actually the japanese kanji for "eternal" or "forever". I just picked it cause I thought it looked nice. But recently I started feeling like the tattoo needed to be completed, filled out somehow in to something with, you know, meaning. I started searching and I came upon the design for the bottom portion of the tattoo. It is the japanese kanji for "mother", and convienently enough had three flowers. One for each of my three fabulous children. I knew instantly it was perfect. I even emailed it to Dean for confirmation and he agreed. Perfect.

I then began pondering what colors I would use for the flowers, tossing about the idea of birthstones....but then the boys would match since they are both August Leo Birthdays. And the fact of the matter is, my boys are entirely too different to be the same color in my tattoo. I discussed it with Dean and said I thought Eden would be a good "Blue" and Jude would be a good "Green". but not like pale anything, I wanted really bold, dark, jewel tones. He thought that sounded good, but just to be certain I asked the boys themselves.

Me: Hey guys, Mommy wants to ask you something.
Them: Yeah?
Me: If you were a color, what color would you be?
Eden: (without a moments hesitation) Blue.
Jude:(with a small pause) I think I would be green, cause I am always on green at school.

Awesome.

Hannah's color I had to debate a bit, pink would be nice cause its a cherry blossom after all, but it just felt too girly-girl. Plus, Erin made me promise not to make Hannah's flower pink. And Erin doesn't usually ask me for much, unless its important. So it was then either purple or red, and I eventually chose an amethyst-y purple. I think it suits her quite nicely.

I got my tattoo done by a very nice guy named Chris, who told me all about his ex-wife and 4 kids he never sees which made me sad. But I couldn't be too sad because I was very focused on NOT crying while getting tattooed. I didn't want to look like a wimp after all. Most of it was actually painless, except right in the center. I did have to say "ouch!!" very sincerely a few times, but no tears were shed. Cause I'm tough like that.

And now I must swear off tattoos forever. Done and done. That way Erin doesn't have to lay awake at night worrying what I might do next. You're welcome, Erin. :)

Erin's Wedding

 

 

These pictures were taken last month, while Dean was home for R&R. This was my very best friend of all time, Erin's, wedding. And it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We danced, we drank, we celebrated togetherness. Her awesome photographers captured these beautiful moments, and I will cherish them forever.

Edited to Add: Please take note of the large BullDawg in the Football uniform in the background of the first picture. He was a special guest that evening from UGA, courtesy of Erin as a suprise for Chris. And let me tell ya, the man in the dog suit could dance circles around ALL of us!

Chocolate Attack

 

Mental Note: Shopping with PMS may be hazardous to your health.

These are no ordinary donuts my friends. These are chocolatey-chocolate donuts with chocolate on top. And I have eaten two already.

Anyone else want a donut? No? Ok....I guess I will just have to eat them all myself.

More Peas, Please!

 

 

If you take a look at Hannah's plate, you will see a sight not normally beheld by mothers of young children.

Peas. Lots of them.

Now, of course any one can put peas ON their child's plate. That in and of itself is not amazing whatsoever. What is truly amazing is that Hannah is in fact eating the peas. And enjoying them. Quite a lot in fact. Hannah likes her peas so much that when they are on her plate nothing else is touched or tasted. She has eyes only for those little green veggies. This is why you will notice there is a rather large pile o' peas on her plate. She had pieces of hotdog and some goldfish crackers, but I really just put those on there to make myself feel better because I know she is only going to eat the peas but I want her meal to look well rounded.

It is a curious thing to me. When I get the little pan out to boil them, she starts to get excited. I have to pick her up so she can watch me put the peas in the water, and then we have to stand there until they are ready. She says "P-Peas! Hot! MMMMmmm! P-Peas! MMMM!!!" Luckily for us, peas both cook and cool down pretty rapidly. I put a bit of salt and pepper with some butter on top, and she starts insisting "Chair! Down! MMMMM!" The second she is in her highchair and the plate is down, she goes at it with both hands, grabbing tiny fistfuls and shoving them in her mouth as if they were candy and not in fact...you know....peas.

Soccer Monsters

 

 

 

 

Yet another soccer season has come to a close. Its time to look back, and reflect on what we learned.

First, we learned that Hannah seems to have more interest in being out on the field than either of her brothers. Its not that they don't enjoy the game. Its just that the game isn't really their top priority, shall we say. The boys like being part of a team, they like wearing their cool uniforms, and they REALLY like the post-game snacks. The actual game, with the running and all of that kicking and whatnot, they could mostly do without it seems.

Jude did seem to get the general idea of cheering when his team scored and giving a hearty frowny-face foot stomp when they did not. At the beginning of the season he would attempt to kick the ball if it rolled directly in to his foot (I say attempt because even when the ball did roll directly in to his foot he was not necessarily successful in then kicking it in the desired direction). By the end of the season though he was quite often seen running towards the ball in a proactive attempt to make contact with it before it made contact with him. The focus of his gmae however remained water breaks and half-time orange wedges, but overall I was very impressed with his progress.

We also learned that Eden liked playing defense. It required less running,which meant less sweating, and there was the added bonus of getting big cheers for stopping an on-coming goal. This initially made me terribly nervous, knowing that if it got past him he could be singled out as the kid who caused the team to lose. Luckily for both of us, his teammates were not those kind of kids. And even more fortunately, he turned out to be a darn good little defender! I still encouraged him to play up front once in awhile, but he refused. He found his niche, and he was staying put. Plus, he liked to strike these "I'm a big scary goal defender" poses, with his arms and legs spread wide and a growly-grimace on his face. I am fairly certain this did not have the desired effect on the opposing team, but it did make me smile.

I spent good portion of every game scooping Hannah up just before she ran on to the field. She felt very strongly that she should be allowed out there to play with her brothers, and she made this known. Loudly. During half-time I would attempt to appease her by ketting her loose to run around the field, which made her gloriously happy for those ten minutes.

Perhaps we should take these lessons to heart before registration in the fall......both the boys have already expressed an interest in taking karate instead. Still some kicking involved, but much less running. And its indoors.

And Sammy makes.....four?

 

This is a photo taken by my sister in law, Mary, who was just here to visit. She came with me to Field Day for the boys' school. In case you hadn't noticed, one of the kids in the photo is not actually mine. I said to Mary "Here, do you mind taking a photo of me with all my kiddos?" She says "Sure!" And I say, "Ok, come on boys over here, Mary is going to take our picture!" We all get together, and I crouch down. And then I realize Sammy is crouching next to me. I laughed and said "Sammy, are you one of my kids?" and he said "No, but I wish!!"

Best. Compliment. EVER.

Sammy is a very cool kid. He is Eden's best friend, and he lives in our neighborhood one street down and then up a few houses. They ride the bus together, and this year they were in the same class which is how they came to be "best friends" instead of just "bus friends". In the past few months Sammy has come over to our house usually once or twice a week after school. He and Eden play really well together, and since they are in the same class they can do homework together. Sammy often eats dinner with us on these nights, which I love because no matter what I make he will eat it, and he will LOVE it, AND he will tell me its delicious! I swear the boys eat more when Sammy is over as well, its that whole competition thing. They don't want to be out done, but they don't have a prayer because Sammy can easily eat more then both of them put together.

One evening while at dinner Sammy randomly chimes in with "Eden's Mom, did you know Eden likes a girl in our class? Well, actually, we both like her." I did not know Eden had a crush, but I was also not suprised he hadn't told me. Eden is....an internal child. Jude will verbalize every thought and feeling that crosses his mind but Eden seems to delight in the fact that his thoughts are his own and no one can make him share them against his will, thankyouverymuch. So I said "No, Sammy, I did not know that. Whats her name?" At which point Eden turns bright red and begins waving his arms frantically in a very emphatic "STOP TALKING" motion in front of Sammy's face, since he can't speak to silence him because his mouth is full of chicken nuggets. But Sammy says "Jennifer! Just like my mom!" and starts laughing. Eden puts his head on the table. He is trying to look mad, but he is also laughing. I said "Eden! Tell me about Jennifer!" He sighs and says "Tell you what?" in that sort of Ugh-I-can't-believe-this-is-happening kind of way. And I said "Tell me what she looks like first of all." He says she has brown hair, usually in a ponytail, and braces. But he says it with this goofy, love-struck grin and blushing cheeks that I have never seen on my child before. He really DOES have a crush! It was a very big moment for me, as a Mom. Then Sammy says "I can't believe you didn't tell her already. I tell my Mom eeeeeeeverything." Maybe some of that open-mindedness will rub off on Eden. But I doubt it.

Speaking of crushes, Hannah seems to have an itty-bitty-baby crush on Sammy. When we go pick him up and he climbs in the car she exclaims "MAMMMMYYY!! MAMMMYYY! HOOORAY!!!" and the top of her lungs. When we get home she wants to follow the boys around. If he leaves the room she says "Mammy? Uh oh! Ohhhhhh no!" and we have to go looking for him. She wants to hug him and put her head on his shoulder. When he says "Hi Hannah Banana!" she shrieks and laughs and turns away. At Field Day she was so excited to follow Eden and Sammy around. I told Eden's teacher I thought Hannah might have a crush on Sammy. She said "Well, at least shes got good taste. Hes a great kid."

Oh, and I got to see Jennifer too. But Sammy had to point her out to me.

 

 

2nd Half (except its more like 2/3)

R&R is over. We had so much fun, I can't even write about it all. To sum up, we went to the beach, went on a fieldtrip with Jude's class, went to my best friend's wedding, and spent lots of time just hanging around the house being a family. Oh, and we got new carpet, which was a huge production. Overall though, it was just tons and tons of wonderful.

There is not really any way to tell someone what it feels like to have such an essential part of our family basically missing, then returned, then gone again. When he left at first there was this void, an empty space that I felt around me. The house had a silence where his voice should be. And then when he came home, it felt so loud, so full, so bright. Now the empty space returns, but it seems almost more defined in contrast with his recent presence. Sharp edges where he should be. The empty space feels heavy. Maybe that makes no sense, but its the only way I know how to say it.

There are way too many pictures to post, so I just picked two. One of all of us, and one of Hannah with her Daddy.

We have about 7 months left in the deployment, but we still like to think we are half way done. That makes it easier to deal with.