Its been a month??

I really am bad at this blogging thing. hmm a month.. what have we done in a month?

Did I post that we got orders?? I cant remember when we got them but we got them. We had an extension to stay here another year so Tyler could graduate in 2010.. and we were just getting ready to put in for a 2nd extension so Tanner could graduate in 2011.. that way we wouldnt have to move either of them in their senior year.

our 1st extension was approved a long time ago. we were here until summer 2010. woohoo! so I started thinking of the places we could go this year.. and figured I would have some surgery in May of this year and get that out of the way..

yeah.

then the day before April Fools Day, I get an email from Robert. saying we have to leave. THIS SUMMER. our extension was taken away from us. they turned his job into a lower ranking slot. who says rank pays?.. ugh! so I emailed him back and told him april fools day wasnt until the next day and this wasnt funny! thankyouverymuch.

not a joke. the upside? we got to rank the order of the TWO bases they gave us to pick from.. we never get to pick where we want to go so that was a real treat. the 2? Ellsworth in South Dakota.... ummmmm no.thank.you! I lived in Northern Maine for 5 LONG years. I do not need to live in another snow up to the eyeballs, 10 months winter, frozen tundra out in the middle of nowhere place. really. i dont.

and the 2nd one? Goodfellow in Texas. ummm.. out in the middle of nowhere Texas..
which I could deal with.. wouldnt be my 1st choice, but we did New Mexico middle of nowhere and this is like 3 hours from there, so I know I can handle it. I really didnt mind NM.. though I know most people didnt like it there.

so we put TX first, SD 2nd. duh.

THAT night we had orders in the system. that never happens. not for us.

so off to TX we go. this summer. so much for my surgery (they wouldnt approve it since we wouldnt be here for 6 more months) and my travel plans just flew right out the window. :( why why why dont I learn? When you get orders overseas, TRAVEL RIGHT AWAY! I know this. I learned this last time we came here. did I do it this time? nope. grrrrrrr kicking myself. HARD.

we did go to Disney Paris.. I promised the kids 4 yrs ago that we would go there before leaving here. so we went. before Travis left. and had fun!! I dont think most people know that I LOVE Disney. I love mickey mouse. :) there. i said it. We used to have a MM bathroom. I have several MM watches. they need new batteries. but I have them.

so we did that. and you already know we went to Paris.

we havent done Austria. or Switzerland. or Italy.

I seriously want to go to do the sound of music tour. switzerland i could go ahead and skip.
we wanted to go to Dachau.. and Berlin..

I reallly want to go to italy. all over italy- pisa, rome, venice...

yeah. i had hopes right up until last week. then reality hit and i dont think we will get to see any of it. I am seriously bummed. seriously.

we ship our truck out on Tuesday! we wont have it on Monday because we are putting it into the place to get it cleaned. we will have 2 cars to get us all places, until Roberts car sells.. and then what? well we dont all go anywhere together i guess. we will have my car and we have to sell it in July. then what? i have no idea.
cant really afford to rent a van for a month. crazy prices.

ugh.

movers come on the 24th.. for at least 3 days. maybe 4. Tanners bday is the 25th so hes not happy. like its my fault?
we fly out at the beginning of August. seriously bummed.bright side? ill be here for my bday and hopefully can have lunch with friends at least.

so im sounding negative now. sorry. did i mention im bummed?

I have a friend! a good friend! I havent had her a long time and now I have to leave? whats that all about??? bleh. still trying to convince her to move to TX hahahahahah (that snow i mentioned earlier? she likes it! *gasp*) yeah, i still like her.

by the way, i never did find out what i did or said to old friend to make her 'disown' me.. she said on march 17th that she would let me know.. yep, nothing yet. no idea why i cant let it go. it eats at me just wanting to know. ok, dont be my friend but dangit. tell me why.

ok so what else.. school is out tomorrow. what am i going to do with 5 kids and nothing in the house but loaner furniture and no car to take them all somewhere for a whole month??? yikes.

new topic:

so Travis went off to basic training. yep, he really went. havent heard from him, but know hes doing ok. i have a spy there kind of LOL. so hes doing alright.. keeping a low profile thank goodness. he graduates July 17th. cant go. want to go. hate that i cant go. grumble grumble. i really hope this whole thing is a good thing for him. i think it will be.. we'll see.

good stuff? need to end on a positive note...

i got my first massage a couple weeks ago. loved it! want another one. :)

tyler went to prom and he and his date looked very nice. it was in a castle this year. way cool.

i discovered 'farm town' on facebook and im now addicted. crazy.

ive sold lots of junk in preparing for the move. yay!

pepper gets to go in the cabin of the plane with us! yes, this is good news.. we were worried about getting her back in the heat of summer.

we had family pics done before travis left and they are really nice!

stampin up's new colors and things come out on july 1st and i ordered sneak peek stuff.. it should be here soon! ive seen the colors already- sooo nice! yay!

our 20th anniversary is next week. 20 years??!! am i that old? dunno what to get the man. sigh.

ok im done for now. :) a month of stuff all in one big post. exhale.

scratches and castles and throw up... oh my!

So once again I havent blogged in forever.. I never could keep up with a diary when I was little and with a journal as I got into Young Womens at church and were told often to write in a journal.. yeah, I would write in it for 2 days and then be done for the year. :p
I guess even though Im online nonstop, this is no different. Im just no good at the blog thing.

anyways..

Susan has had to listen to my stories lately and she told me I should be blogging about a couple things the last couple of weeks.. so here they are.

SCRATCHES

so I get a call from the school.. Trace's 2nd grade teacher called me and so I figured he must be sick. I hate getting the sick calls from school.. I swear theyre fine when I send them to school! so anyways.. she says.. I have Trace here and we have an issue. sigh.

sooo I say ok what happened..

she goes on to say that at recess or at lunch.. i dont know.. that Trace had told a girl that he would pay her if she would scratch him.. big pause.. well, my brain immediately thinks oh my gosh.. scratch him WHERE???? ackkkk he is a boy after all... I start to panic and sweat and my heart is racing.. all in a matter of seconds before she continues her sentence..
so Trace told a girl he would pay her to scratch him on the arm.
umm ok.. so she did scratch him and another boy and when she did, 2 other boys saw her and decided to push her down and then hit on her.
hmmm

ok I can see how this is bad... poor girl got beat up for picking on my kid..

well, this is a serious issue says the teacher.. and she wants a meeting with all the parents of the kids involved the next week. ummm ok let me know when..

then she asks if I want to talk to him.. well of course I say yes because if not what kind of parent will she think I am?? but at the same time.. what the heck am I going to say to him on the phone???? he gets on the phone.. i ask him if he even has money to be making deals with?? he says yes in his wallet.. but its at home..
ok well we will disuss this when you get home.

SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OK so I was on base and doing errands and just as I was leaving the gate, my cell rings.. its the school.. they have Trace there- he didnt get on the bus to go home and needs to be picked up.. huh.ok. Ill make a uturn and go get him.
I get off base, do a uturn, get back on base and my phone beeps.. apparently home had called me while i was talking to the school. so i call home and am told that trace didnt get home. yes, i know.. but kid at home had also called dad. ok thanks. so i call robert and he says yeah, i was told i needed to come get him. i tell him im on my way to get him- i have it taken care of.

get to the school.. kid is not in the office like they told me he was. Im told hes in the class with the teacher.. go down the hall.. teacher is in the hall talking to other teachers.. sees me and we go into the classroom where trace is sitting at his table all alone.. looking so very sad..

we sit. teacher tells me she thinks what happened was that everyday she asks the kid a question on his way to the line to leave. well today she told him she wasnt asking him a question. so they all get in line and go out to the bus area to leave. she goes back into the building and trace is still sitting there. he misunderstood and thought since he didnt get asked a question, he couldnt line up and leave. :(

so since im there.. we have THE conference. she tells me the whole story again.. we ask him a bunch of questions.. she proceeds to tell me that she has told him that he needs to EARN the money from his parents to pay the girl because she did do her part afterall.. then i find out he promised her FOUR DOLLARS! heck kid.. what were you thinking>!?!? i was thinking maybe he promised her a quarter or something. sheesh.

ok fine. whatever. he has to bring a list to the teacher by friday of that week of ways he will earn money. then when he brings the money in to the girl, the girl will have to find a way to do something good with it for the class.. this will become a CLASS learning project.
whatever.
get home, have the boy make a list..

1. sell toys
2. play music
3. chores
4. i dont remember his other one

I ask him how he is going to play music for money? he says.. his harmonica.. ummm yeah but HOW are you going to make money?
he is going to sit outside and play his harmonica and people will put money in the pot for him.
ummm no trace.. i dont think that will work.


oh and much later when Im telling his dad about all of this.. he then informs us that he shouldnt have to pay anyways because the girl didnt do her part of the deal.. umm she scratched you both didnt she? yeah but the real deal was that if she scratched them and they said it hurt then he would pay her. they never said it hurt. ok trace but you could have said this in front of the teacher! i cant tell her this 2 days later and not have it look like im trying to come up with some lame excuse for the kid. good grief.


he takes the note in.. nothing else is said by the teacher. he hasnt EARNED the money at home and so far, its been forgotten. :p

CASTLES AND THROW UP

I suggest you dont read this part if you have a weak stomach.. though most MOMS that I know could handle it. LOL

so we found out a couple weeks ago that we have to leave THIS SUMMER instead of next year like planned. SO NOT HAPPY about this!

So because of this, we have to do and see LOTS before then. not an easy task with 8 people and a limited budget and trying to do move stuff too. but whatever.
so on Saturday we decide we have to go somewhere. anywhere.

so we drive a couple hours away to Burg Eltz. a pretty castle.. from the outside. i have no idea what the inside is like. but robert and the kids said it was nice.




we get there and of course everyone is hungry.. it was lunchtime. so i say well lets go in and do the tour and then get lunch in the little snack place.. go and buy the family ticket to do the tour. sit and wait for the english tour..20 minutes or so.. trent says he has a headache. ok once we eat, youll be ok.. says mom.
so we go into the first room.. weapons on the walls.. get the spiel about it and trent is leaning on me telling me he doesnt feel good.. ok trent just get through this tour and youll be ok..
time to move to the next room.. trent says im going to be sick.. i tell robert that trents going to be sick so i will go back out with him and he should take the rest of them through the castle. he says no we'll all leave. ummmm no i didnt pay all that money to sit outside with everyone. then we will all do the tour. sureeeee.
so everyone moves into the next room, me and trent are last.. he is going to throw up. i go to the big door and cant figure out how to open it. the tour guide comes back to close the door and i say can we get out hes going to be sick? so he uses the KEY and lets us out. where trent throws up into the trashcan right by the door.



next tour goes in while we stand there and trent is puking into the trash.

he finishes. really, it wasnt much because he didnt eat breakfast that morning. which i find out at that point in time. i figure hes carsick because of the long drive and windy roads.
so i take him back and ask how long the tour is.. 40-45 minutes. ughhh
so we go and get some water and french fries and sit to eat and wait.
he drinks the water.. eats a couple fries.. i eat some fries..
we then go check out the souveniers. i see what i want to buy before we leave.
we go back to the courtyard and sit just as they come out of the tour! yay!
so then we all go into the 2nd part of the tour- the treasure rooms. get through that and back out.
everyone is starving. we go to the food place again.
seating is like this..
outside picnic tables. all the other tables full of people.
its tyler, me, tanner, trent on one side
travis, robert, abby, trace on the other side.

abby and trace got fries and soda
tanner got currywurst, fries and soda
robert and tyler and travis got wurst of sorts and fries and drinks- doesnt matter for this story.

we are sitting.. talking.. eating..
i hear tanner say TRENT! i look up as trent throws up ALL OVER THE TABLE.
yep.
everyone is staring.
trent is crying
robert is hissing that he could have gone to a trashcan
im telling him to calm down and hush.
giving him napkins.
robert whisks him off to the bathroom.
i start cleaning off the table.the best i can with napkins.
really, it was just water and fries.
get it cleaned the best i can.
robert comes back with trent.

ummm

tanners food has throw up in it.
abbys fries have throw up on them
2 sodas have throw up on them

ugh

waste of more money

throw food away
tanner doesnt want anymore

others finish. we go to the souvenier shop.
walk back up the HUGE hill to the car.

leave. trent throws up in a bag in the car.
stop at spangdahlem- get kids dinner- leave there.

trent throws up in a bag on the way home.

get home. done with my day.

he got sick all the next day too.. and never did eat anything.
finally better sunday night and monday was fine for school.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Ive been selling stuff on a yard sale site.. getting rid of some weight in this house. this is the part of moving i dont like. getting ready. i dont know how we collect so much junk everyplace we go. hmm see my last post.. im a collector.
robert is in his normal pinging before a move mode already.
we cant do a whole lot without the official orders in hand. so we cant schedule shipments and things and without those dates its hard to plan anything else.
its all a huge pain.

i dont want to go yet. i need another year here. i just got a good friend here and now i have to leave? whats the logic there? whats the bigger plan here??? someone fill me in please.

i was supposed to have surgery in May.. i had it all figured out.. but now it might not be approved because we wont be here 6 more months. ill know more this week sometime. if it is approved though, ill be happy but also wondering how im going to manage major surgery and a move and traveling all at once?? if it isnt approved then i have to hope they will do it in the states. not as easy a process as it is here.

we cant find anything to rent in TX online and base housing isnt big enough for us.looks like we might be buying our first house. that freaks me out. i love the idea of being able to do whatever i want to MY house.. but i dont know about having to take care of a house and pay for a house and deal with house stuff. and then theres the loans and approvals and stuff. im scared of getting denied. and getting ripped off. and getting a bad house. eeek

travis leaves in 3 weeks. i am wondering how it will effect me when he goes. i think im in denial about him going and about us moving and who knows what all else.


ok this is a major long post. should make up a little for my lack of posts right?
and i dont have a chance of sliding to the bottom of Susans blog list and being called out on her blog LOL

oh yeah.. the pic of the castle.. looks foggy.. yeah, all our pics from the castle do. come to find out the lens was dirty. didnt figure this out until we got home. dont plan on going back to that castle. stuck with fuzzy pics i guess.

whatever.

Im a horrible blogger

and right now I dont want to take the time to continue with Paris details.. seems like it was too long ago LOL

But I cant think of much else to write about either..

I have been reading a ton of blogs about organization lately..
I SOOOOO need my craft room to be organized.. and cleaned.. ugh its so bad that I dont even know where to begin with it- so I just choose to not even begin to clean it.

Ive also been reading a lot of blogs with recipes.. I blame Susan.. I think I followed a link she put on facebook and from there I followed another link and another and it snowballed.

and now I have at least 10 more things saved in my favorites. the husband would not be thrilled if we were still sharing a computer. haha he hates that i have so many things saved.. although he hates the fact that i have 7618 emails in my inbox and 3903 emails in my deleted box and 2162 emails in my sent box. He seems to think i should get rid of some of them. but if i did that then i might lose some info i might need at some point in time. its happened before.

yeah... this all relates i think.. im a saver. a collector.. craft junk, emails, blogs..

i need help.

Paris part Deux

Notre Dame is where I left off..

On the walk there, right across the street from Notre Dame was a building that I cant think of the name of.. ugh! I know it.. its in my head.. but it wont come out. Well anyways, there was a sort of walking area there.. obviously no cars allowed.. and they had this sign.. well I told the kids it meant no holding hands in that area. :)




we got to Notre Dame and took lots of pics outside and around the building. The kids wanted to see the gargoyles on top.. and were happy to see those. (We watched Hunchback of Notre Dame on the way to Paris- along with National Treasure 2)
There was a person dressed up in an Egyptian type outfit thing with a mask and all so you couldnt see the person, and he/she just stood there looking like a gold statue. Then someone would put money in his/her cup and he/she would bow to them and stand back up again. This got my kids attention and DH gave the 2 little ones some change to put in the cup. So we took a pic, they put the money in and then got bowed to.


We didnt go inside. The line was long and I just didnt think the kids would be interested.

So next was finding our hotel and checking in. We couldnt check in until 2 pm. We went around in circles and asked a lady and went in another huge circle and finally found it. It was on an itty bitty side road in a sort of apartment type area. Nice hotel though. So we went in and dropped off some of our bags and junk.. and checked our map again and headed back out.

We walked across a bridge over THE river.. and we had to stop at a chocolate place for some French chocolates of course. I saw the place and just went in and shopped.. of course I had to have found the rudest chocolate shop in town. grrr but I wanted to make sure I got some chocolates before the places closed! I had no idea what the different flavors were and the unhelpful lady didnt tell me, so I just picked a bunch and went with it. We also got croissants and an eclair :) Yummy! the eclair had chocolate filling! what a surprise.
One of the chocolates I got had an eiffel tower on it. oh and I did end up with a couple coffee tasting chocolates.. but no liquour ones! whew!





so Im stopping there for now..

I did forget to mention something about the train when we first got there. We got on the train at Disney and just after starting to move, a guy gets into our section and sets up his accordian and starts playing. He was playing music and had his cup there for money.. and I kid you not I couldnt help but laugh. It was like.. Welcome to Paris music! All I could think was.. you know Youre in Paris when you hear the accordian music on the train into the city. we got a pic of him too.. but I wont post it now..

my next post should be the end of Paris stuff... figure Im probably boring everyone at this point LOL

Paris and other stuff

so its been awhile. I almost gave up tonight too.. blogger didnt want to let me in again. But, on my last try, it worked.

lets see.. whats new here..

so I had my morning 6 pack group last week and we made 3 things.. 2 cards and a bookmark. You can see them on Susans blog. I didnt take pics of them yet, but she did. Ill have to add a link to her blog on here somewhere. One more thing for me to try and figure out.

I got a haircut and took Tanner in with me. I dont know if I have a pic of him with his hair the way it was before.. but it was long.. super long and shaggy. You couldnt see his eyes.. so he was overdue for a cut. He likes his hair longish and straight down.. so getting his cut is always an issue. He definitely does not want any kind of military type cut.
so he surprised me when he brought this pic to me to take to the hair person..



yes.. that would be Rob Lowe.. in a pic from the Outsiders!!

so I took him in, we took the pic and this is how he looks now.



Looks good doesnt he?! You can see his eyes now!!

so I got mine cut too, but I havent been able to style it the way she did.. as usual.. so no pics.

On Thursday, I heard about a family in the ward that had 2 hotel rooms reserved and paid for in Paris. Well, long story short, they couldnt use them and were offering them to anyone that could use them. so, I decided to try something totally nuts and took them up on the offer! With 8 people, its hard to just go places without major planning and money saving ahead of time.. these hotel rooms took a load off of the budget. We are so thankful to the Beans for offering them! So, I started trying to find out any info I could on what we should do for one day in Paris. So many things to see there! Robert got home Friday afternoon, we went to dinner group Friday night, then got up at 5am on Saturday to head to Paris!
We left later than we planned.. but thats normal for us.. and we got to Disneyland at around 10am. It took right about 4 hours. We parked in the Disney parking lot and took the train into Paris and then the metro to the Louvre station.
Came up out of the metro and our first real sight of Paris was a square with HUGE buildings around us/it. So beautiful! The Louvre takes up a lot of space. The original plan wasnt to go in, but to just see the outside and take some pics and then go on to something else... but once there, we decided to go in and check out Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. I mean, come on.. how many chances will we have to do this?
so in we went and saw them both.. plus some other things along the way!




Trace apparently thought he could be art too. :)
and Abby got bored.




So we left there and went across the street and got some souveniers and then into a McDonalds for lunch.. Tyler got a pic of the menu sign before they all told him he couldnt take pics there. They dont have apple pies at the McDonalds in Paris. What is up with that? Guess I should mention that here in Europe, they still sell FRIED apple pies at McDonalds.. and theyre YUMMY! and I really dont like the baked ones in the states.. but Paris didnt have them at all.

so we took our food and ate in the park next to the Louvre and watched the birds.. ok we fed them a french fry here and there too. :)
Then we walked to Notre Dame.
This is long so maybe I should end there and start another one later.. if I can get in again..

oh but before I go.. check out this site she is having a giveaway!Not much time left to get in on it though.. but looks like a good one! http://themaisyreport.blogspot.com/ I tried to link it, but it wasnt showing up for me... so youll have to copy and paste .

RECIPES FOUND!!!

oh my gosh.

so first Susan emailed me a link to a quiche recipe..

andI googled and googled every stupid pancake taco combo I could find.. but no luck.

so I had the oldest go to the basement in search of a huge box of papers.. he came back with just a small stack of papers.. grrr but in that stack was my 23 yr old paper from my sophomore year when I was in home ec. for crustless quiche lorraine!

no taco recipe though :(

so I sent the 3rd son to the basement... he comes back and asks me how big of a box is he supposed to be finding.. I have no idea.
so he says he found a HUGE box and cant possibly bring it up here.. and he hands me a binder that I had a few recipes mounted into a loong time ago.. hey! its like a little bit of scrapbooking ROFLOL

so anyways...
I KNEW it wasnt in the binder.. I would KNOW if it was.. I mean, I made the stupid thing a gazillion years ago.

yeah.. so I open it anyways and start looking at the papers in it while telling the boy that he needs to try to bring up the box.. haha he wasnt into doing that at all.

well.. first page of my binder.. a recipe for...

ORIGINAL BEEF FOLDOVERS

yep! THE recipe is right in front of me...

and get this..

THERES NO BISQUICK IN THE RECIPE!! no pancake mix at all! (except that you make pancakes to put the mixture into) and I know it was on a bisquick box.

good grief.

so Im using the leftover taco meat from the other night and we are having this for dinner tonight.

oh, do you want the recipes???

well, just in case.. here they are.

Crustless Quiche Lorraine

8 slices bacon
4 eggs
1 can (13 ounces) evaporated milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 can (3.5 ounces) fench fried onion rings
1 cup grated swiss cheese

cook bacon until crisp, then crumble. Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper and beat together. Sprinkle bacon in a 8 inch round dish or pie pan. op with 1/2 can french fried onion rings and grated swiss cheese. Pour egg mixture on top. Cook in microwave on medium (50% power) 15 to 16 minutes. Stir two times at 5 minutes. Let stand stand for 10 minutes covered, then serve.


now, I remember thinking grossss because i dont like swiss cheese. but the teacher made us make it anyways and i liked it! gasp! and i liked that it didnt have a pie crust type thing. :) we served it with biscuits and grape juice.


ORIGINAL BEEF FOLDOVERS

brown 1/2 pound ground beef and 1/4 cup chopped onions in skillet.
Add one 16 ounce can tomatoes (i use diced), one 7 ounce can well drained whole kernel corn, 1/8 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt.
Bring to a boil.
Blend 2 tsps cornstarch into 1/4 cup water. Gradually stir into boiling mix. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened.

Prepare pancakes for 1 cup mix. (im sure i make more than this)

Fold pancake in half and fill with meat mixture.

supposed to feed 6


if you dont like it, i dont care! BWHAHAHA im kidding.. i care, but its not my fault.. these recipes are OLD and our tastebuds might just be too sophisticated for this stuff now. hahahhaha yeah right.

let me know if you try either of them...


and by the way.. i DO know that a BISQUICK recipe called impossible coconut pie is really yummy too! and again, no pie crust sort of crust.. it makes its own crust thats soft and yummy. (now remember I havent had it in 25 years but that shouldnt matter) you CAN google that one and find it!

;-)


SMALL UPDATE:

I just got done making the filling and Im not adding the cornstarch mixture because its thick without it. I have the oldest making the pancakes and then we will eat :) MmMmMm

In Search of a Recipe

ok, I have no idea how many readers I have now.. though Im sure its not millions LOL.. but if one of you sees this and has heard of this recipe, or even mentions it to someone else and they know the recipe, PLEASE send it my way!

so, 20 years or more ago, my mom got a recipe off of the Bisquick box. It sounds kind of icky but its really pretty good.. and I want to make it this week!

its basically a pancake that you use like a taco shell kind of thing..

the filling is hamburger meat and corn and canned tomatoes.. and I dont know what else!

Im sure I can make something up.. or I could go digging through the huge box in the basement of papers and recipes to try to find the clipped from the box recipe.. but that will take soooo long LOL

Ive googled bisquick, Ive read lots of recipes.. none of them have been it.

Im not looking for a taco bake recipe.. or a biscuit recipe..

this was a filling and you put it on a pancake and folded it like a taco. (but used a fork to eat it)


Anyone????

oh and when I was in H.S., we made another Bisquick recipe called 'Crustless Quiche Lorraine' has anyone seen that one? (I havent searched for it yet)

a quick pic

Just wanted to share Trents valentine box..

he loves penguins. always has. has a huge collection of them. (i love penguins too but he doesnt seem to realize that i loved them before he was ever even born. sigh)

so he is known in his class at school as the penguin expert. most activities he has to do, we somehow involve a penguin.. like when they had to make a veggie animal.. well of course we used an eggplant and made a penguin!

so here is his Valentine box.. a penguin made all out of hearts!

fun stuff. :)

ARGHHHHHHHH

I had a HUGE LONG post written out and my dumb computer froze up again and I lost it all.

yep.. that about sums up my day/week


UPDATE... the missing blog is below.. Susan is my hero LOL

Nothing too exciting here

Its been one of those days I guess.



gray and rainy. (though I do prefer rain over snow)!



got up, took the kids to their bowling leagues.. bought Trent some bowling shoes for his birthday last week. Got myself some bowling shoes on clearance even though I dont really bowl LOL maybe once every 3 or 4 months we will go as a family and bowl.. sometimes more often, sometimes not. I didnt really need new bowling shoes, but they were on sale! :)



went to the commissary. tried not to totally lose it right in the middle of the commissary. I had 5 of the kids with me. Tyler was bagging for the Junior class to make money for prom.. so all 5 kids and I are strolling through the commissary and I have 2 trying to ride on the sides or the front of the cart.. 1 trying to help push the cart by walking right in front of me.. and 1 older one doing everything he can to annoy the little ones. I have no idea what the other big one was doing. so after rolling over several kids feet more times than I can count, I was DONE. Im not even sure what all I bought.. I tried sticking to my list but Im sure I got stuff I didnt need and things I did need probably got forgotten. I know for sure that I didnt look at all the prices to compare. UGH

and lets not mention the numerous times the little ones would jump off the cart and be doing circles backwards in the aisles and bumping into anyone walking by. grrrrrr



as Im almost to the end, Robert calls to tell me he made it home. ok, Im glad he made it but really.. talking to him at that minute wasnt working so well for me.



came home.



then awhile later we all went to the BX to find Tyler some things for the laptop he ordered. Where I then had to deal with one kid telling me that he was going to go look and he would meet us later.. umm no I dont think so.. Mr. newly 11 yr old.. you dont TELL me what youre going to do. so he wasnt happy. The girl was bawling by the time we left because we didnt go down the "pink aisle" and because its not fair that she never gets to get anything... like that $40 video game she wanted?... and hates for me to remind her that she used her Christmas gift card all up on the first day we went shopping after Christmas. Not my fault the 7 yr old actually listened to me and didnt use it all and still has money to buy toy cars on his card.

she didnt like hearing how its not MOMS fault. she just wanted something.. anything..



Did find a good deal on some jeans for me. clearance! woohoo! got 2 pairs of Liz Clairborne jeans for $17. Cant buy 1 pair of any brand jeans here for that usually.. never mind finding some that fit. And oh my freaking gosh.. a size 6 fit me. I got an 8 in one style and a 6 in the other because the 6 waist was a little uncomfortable. but ummm.. a 6??? ME???????? yeah.. I dont see it but it was still semi exciting. guess it is worth it to drink those 2 protein shakes a day even though I dont always want to after all.



Then we went to the other bases BX and looked for some stuff there too.. I was convinced I needed a Vera Bradley something or other since I didnt win one at Bingo last night.. ummm yeah, apparently I really dont need anything VB (hey, those are my initials too!) oh so apparently I didnt really need any of her stuff ... $25 for a little id card holder zip up wallet kind of thingy????? ummm cant do that . Kind of sad about that.. decided I actually do like some of her stuff after all. :o who wouldve thought?! anyone know of some online place that has it super cheap? bwahahaha



ended up eating dinner in the food court since the whole family was STARVING and just couldnt hang in there for the 12 minute ride home. whatever. Had a taco.. eyeballed a cinnamon bun but so didnt get one.. this time. LOL



got gas, dropped off the 17 yr old at the gym to play with his friends, picked up Roberts car from work and came home.



watched Paycheck with the family and am now sitting here listening to a rerun of Without a Trace.



Thought about going to Koln/Cologne tomorrow to check out the Lindt chocolate factory... yummy.. but not positive about going now. the weather is crappy..



I do want to do something though.. just dont know what yet. SIGH. Anyone want to come over and hang out with this boring family? we could play cards or farkle or veg with a movie or something... no? ok maybe another time. ;)



I have a dr. appt on monday.. need to mention this dizziness stuff to her. Its not even really a dizzy thing anymore.. its kind of like I move my eyes or my head to look at something and I feel kind of dizzy like and slightly naseous.. or kind of like things are moving funny.. I wish I could explain it. Wondering if this mean Ill be switching meds for the 4th time. so tired of switching over and over. Might need to anyways.. Im soo grouchy lately. Im feeling like Im on the edge of frustration but not sure what Im frustrated about. That makes no sense either does it?



yeah so enough about my medical issues LOL



UPDATE:
SO i wrote this last night and then thought I lost it.. but Susan came to my rescue and told me how to find it again.. i feel so stupid

I dont have time to finish whatever I was thinking about last night so Im done with this post for now.

Have to help kids do Valentines projects today.. fun fun. Actually I should take a pic of Trents box.. its WAY cute! :)

Cropping.. and thinking..

so I went to a crop today (yesterday I guess). This was a crop to work on someone else's scrapbooks. This woman passed away in December and left behind her husband and 4 kids. She had thousands of pictures on her computer and printed out that needed to be put into albums. She was a scrapbooker and had a bunch of supplies, just hadnt gotten them done yet.
I can relate to that.
So, they have organized these crops so that people can come in and work on her pages so the family will have completed albums to remember her by.

I didnt know the woman. She was LDS, but in a different ward than me. It didnt really matter to me though if she was LDS or not.. I was there to help as a mom and a scrapbooker.

It made me think..
Ihave thousands of pics too.. on my computer, in boxes.. all in no particular order. I wondered to myself if people would do that for me... I really dont know.. And yet, I also kept thinking.. I really need to get my act together and do it myself so no one would need to do it for me. I cant even begin to tell you how many pics I have.. or how many albums they would fill. The whole task scares me.

When we moved here, we had 79 (yes that is seventy nine!) rolls of undeveloped film (pre digital). We took them all in to the printing place at the BX and dropped them off all at once.. much to the store workers shock! We used part of our tax return to get them all developed. I did put them into order, but havent done anything with them yet. That was 3 years ago. How sad is that? and then on top of that I had added thousands of digital pics to my computer that now need to be printed.

so anyways..
I had all sorts of thoughts today while doing this..
I felt so sad for those poor children. I felt a weird sort of connection of sorts to the mom. I was reminded of when I helped Tina in New Mexico 3 years ago scrap pics of little 2 yr old Talin when he died, so that we could have albums of his short life on display for the funeral. I was reminded of my own daughters early birth/death and how I have made an album about that. There wasnt really any rhyme or reason to my thoughts.. they just sort of came.

In the process, though I also realized once again how glad I am to have my beliefs. Because of them, I know that I will be with Autumn again, and that Tina will be with Talin again and these children and father/husband will be with their mom/wife again. and they will get to be together as a family for eternity! How cool is that??

We dont believe in 'till death do us part'.. we arent parted once we die.. we get to rejoin our families in the end!

I think that helps me to be able to deal with death and situations like this. It doesnt make it any less sad or painful, but it helps.

I also gave Susan a Book of Mormon today. She had one before. Im sure she has read it before- parts if not all of it- but she had told me she was ready to possibly look at one again now. so, I forgot to take one to the crop with me, and guess what??? today the missionaries from the area had their big meeting at the chapel! The crop was at the chapel! I saw 2 of them walking down the hall and I ran out to meet them and ask if they had a book with them that I could give away.
They did, and I took it!
coincidence again? I dont know. theres a lot of them lately when it comes to things like this with me and Susan....

so, since Susan reads this.. I wanted to tell her something.. that I might not ever say in person, because I am NOT pushing her to do anything. and I wont push...not too hard anyways ;-)

but Susan,
I am certain that there is a reason for us to have met when and how we did. And that reason, along with all of the other things going on with facebook and things, might not be to get you back to the church.. though it could be... but whatever the reason is, Im so very glad to have met you and gotten to know you better.. and I just want you to know that no matter what, I am so very happy to have you as my friend! I am sure we must have known each other before we came to earth.. and Im so glad that we have found each other again :)

corny? maybe.. but True nonetheless.

blogger's cooperating tonight

so I can log in tonight.. couldnt earlier in the day. of course. cant possibly work for me when I have stuff fresh in my mind to write about.

Got a call today on the machine to call my Dr. back. so I called and she told me my B12 is low and I need to start coming in once a month for shots. I hate shots, but if this will help me then Im all for it. Googled a little about it and sounds like it might help with my lack of energy.. thats a plus that I could handle! I really could sleep the entire day if given the chance. I really struggle to get out of bed each day..and then I get back into bed after the kids leave and its another struggle to get up again. If I happen to not crawl back into bed, its a struggle to stay awake wherever I am.
so, we'll see if this makes any difference in that. Google also said some people use it for weight loss.. though I think they meant the energy will make it so you will be able to exercise to lose the weight.. can I just say that for the first time in forever, I dont need it to lose weight.
I cannot believe I just wrote that. but see, I need to stay at the weight Im at right now.. need to maintain for now so I can get surgery to remove this extra skin I have.. . and looking at the numbers, I know Im at a good point.. even if my brain doesnt wrap around that fact when I see myself. If I was reading this at my fat weight, I would totally be jealous and also think whoever was writing this was bragging.. IM SO NOT trying to brag. I havent gotten to a point where I *would* brag about my size. dont know that I would want to get to a place like that.
There are days I do wish I could just be mentally fine with where I am, wherever that may be.


am I making any sense???


ok so I just want the B12 to help with my energy LOL

what else..

Christine from a board Im on posted about this website.. www.theletteredcottage.blogspot.com and now Im hooked on it! I read the entire blog.. every post. I didnt watch her videos though. I really want to be able to decorate like that... I want to see some thing at a flea market and be able to see it transformed into something cool.
although anytime I look at perfect homes, I have to wonder.. where do they have all their 'stuff'?? am I the only one with stuff?? like papers.. kid papers.. bills.. mail.. heck, where is their bread ?? you see the kitchen and nothing on the counters.. where do people keep bread??? theres no bread box on the counter.
and what about dirty clothes? I see no dirty clothes in the laundry rooms, and no hampers anywhere.. and no dirty clothes on floors.. so where is it all??
kleenex? am I the only one that has boxes of kleenex in every room? I dont see kleenex in perfect houses.
books? nope, just the books used to decorate with.
bathrooms with no medicine cabinets.. so where is the medicine??
where are the telephones and tv remotes?? and the wii???

am I really the only one out there with stuff????
will I ever have a 'pretty' house with all my stuff??

and yet, I love looking at those houses.


Im craving some belgian chocolate. I should have gone to the chocolate store in Kaiserslautern today.. but I didnt. Its better that I didnt.. but I still want some.

Trace's class is doing a craft project next week for Valentines day.. and the teacher asked me and another mom to come up with something. So, the other mom suggested 'painting on soap' for the parents gift. hmm teacher liked the idea and is picking up the Ivory soap. I will be helping them make woven heart basket thingys to hold the soap. Couldnt come up with much else.. theyre made out of construction paper so hopefully itll hold the soap ok.. Ive never done it even though I suggested it.. so I need to practice soon. haha.
but heres my thing.. and I dont mean this in a rude way.. Im just so very curious..
if you paint on soap, wouldnt the paint come off and onto your hands or body when you use the soap? will the paint end up staining your skin?? and really.. I hate to say it but this bar of soap is probably going to sit in my bathroom awhile and eventually get tossed.. seems like a lot of kid projects for gifts end up that way. I feel bad, but what am I supposed to do with some of these things? so my question for you moms.. would you want a bar of painted soap from your kid for Valentines day? guess Ill see next week what this is really all about.

I need to do my taxes. We should get money back .. which is always nice.. and its usually a good enough amount for our summer trips.. but this year? I keep putting it off.. I hate trying to get all my SU stuff together for it. I really need to keep better track of my paperwork for SU. .. this is part of my 'stuff' I mentioned earlier LOL

I need a haircut. I hate getting my hair cut. I dont know what I want done to it. I can never find a cut that works for me. I must have a funny shaped face or something? I dunno. I also want to be able to wash it, blow dry it and go. Im not into all the curling and straightening on a daily basis. once in awhile is fine.. but everyday? nope. Back in High School, I curled every morning.. and I also did makeup every morning.. now? not so much. Im just too lazy I think.
but anyways, I need a decent haircut idea to take to the hair lady. any suggestions?

and does anyone but me wonder who exactly Im talking to when I ask these things? Im not sure how many people read this.. although I found out today that Marla does.. so now I know about 2 people! :)

My mean scary chihuahua - Pepper- hates to have her nails cut.. but she desperately needs them done. I hate doing it. she fights me. its awful. So I read about this as seen on tv thing called Pedi Paw? i think? pedi something.. I am thinking about ordering it. basically you are using a battery operated file to get the nails down. I have to wonder if Pepper would do better with it though.. it cant be any worse than right now- it takes 2 of us and we have to cover her head with a towel and hold her down all while trying to clip the nails. what a pain.

Im almost afraid to stop typing.. I might not be able to log in again for a week.. and what if I close out of blogger and then I remember something I wanted to say??? yikes.

ok Im done for now.. although I am planning on posting something else after this.. but it needs its own post. :)

WOW

ok this is just too weird.. I got into blogger with no problems!

anyways.. i was only trying to get here to post one thing.

so we get AFN tv here.. some American shows, not all current episodes.. but we dont get normal commercials. We get these things like public service things and some really corny things someone comes up with..

but we also get these military news spots and stuff.

so this last week we keep getting the same news thing over and over and it cracks me up.

I have to find out the mans name.. but there is this man in like congress or something.. (obviously i dont pay attention to what the news is actually about) but this man has HALF A COAT ON!

im serious.. he is sitting there in front of his microphone and he has on a white dress shirt and tie.. and then a suit jacket.. but the jacket is only on half of his body.

i thought maybe he only has one arm? but the other one is on the desk there.. you dont see his hand, but you see his arm.. with the white shirt on it..

what is up with that!?

I thought maybe I imagined it but dh and travis saw it on the tv at the hospital the other day too..

tooooo funny. its like he forgot to dress himself all the way and no one bothered to tell him.

FINALLY

My gosh I have gone through way more than anyone should have to in order to get into this blog!

hopefully its all figured out now and I can post more than once a week!

so lets see.. I had a bunch of things to talk about in the last couple of days and of course since I couldnt get on here, I forgot them.

yesterday was Trents 11th birthday. I cant believe its been 11 years! wow. We didnt have a big party, just a family thing.. cake and ordered pizza.. and our friends the Moyers came over and joined in.. the kids played some wii and we just chatted. Her husband is deployed and she just needed to get out of her house for awhile and we enjoyed having her here!

then this morning I had a Valentine card class here.. Susan was my only participant LOL
but I had fun getting to just chat with her about things. I think that might have been the first time we have really been alone.. I mean we have been in my car once but she only lived like 2 minutes from where we were LOL so that doesnt count. and we have been at scrap things and lunch, but not alone. the nice thing was that it wasnt an awkward thing. I felt like I could have known here forever and she was just here hanging out with me for awhile.
We also went through a gazillion of my stamp sets - and after she left, I even got them all organized and figured out which ones Im getting rid of for sure.
(though I still have a box of some that I havent decided on yet ) lol

And I must like her because I let her see my (s)crap room! No one can see it and no one really has seen it for the last year.. its a DISASTER! so i guess thats the test.. if she can still be my friend after seeing that and my messy bedroom (the 2 rooms connect) then it has to be a true friendship LOL

What else is going on here.. hmm

still no word on when Travis is leaving for basic.. but today he was told the first or second week in Feb they might have the list of his job choices out and then we can pick one and know a date.

oh and I still havent gotten over my chicken-ness and called my friend from the last post. I really need to. I know it. I want to. Im scared. of what? Im not sure.. crying? rejection? i have no idea. sigh

ugh i hate that i had a lot to talk about and i cant think of any of it!

well we'll see if I can log in again when I come up with it or not..

if not, youll see me in a few days when blogger likes me again! haha

If I could turn back time

I would go back about 5 months.

and from there, I would try to figure out what I did or said that must have been so bad that it hurt my friends feelings. We havent talked much since about that timeframe, and it hurts to feel that loss.

I really had no idea what was going on, why we havent been talking, until I talked to someone else today.. who didnt tell me a thing really, but I still 'got' that I did or said something... sigh

I have wracked my brain all day trying to figure it out. I have cried off and on all day over the fact that I hurt someone and didnt even know it..and still dont know how.. and Ive gone through all kinds of emotions that surely come naturally when you are... what?... grieving the loss of a friendship? feeling sorry but not sure exactly what for?

should I be posting this online for all the world to see? Maybe not. but maybe if someone reads this along the way, it might help..
maybe itll help me..

to think about this the next time someone hurts my feelings.. do they even know they did it? am i willing to sacrifice a friendship on the off chance that they do know? what if they dont?

ugh. what to do now? Im not one that likes confrontation.. and I dont even think thats the word I want.. I dont want to confront someone in an angry sort of way. I just want to know what I did to make this happen.. and to apologize if I hurt her somehow. So, do I call her? write a letter? talk to her in person? the chicken/scared/nervous/baby part of me wants the easy way out.
the adult in me says to just call and get it out in the open.

i hate being an adult sometimes.

I wanna be like Susan!

and change MY blog colors too!

;)

actually, I was thinking of changing my background before, but couldnt get into blogger again.
I had the blue/white sort of thing going for the whole son joining the military post.

but, Im in the mood for something bright. Im done with winter..even if its not done with me. :p

I tried a different background, but it didnt extend all the way to the edges so it looked stupid.
:( but I can deal with this one.. no biggie.

Its a very small world

so...

I had lunch today with Susan and Dawn.. very nice lunch and nice to get out with Women! and none of MY kids! Dawn had her son there but really, he was totally fine. no biggie. not like mine who would have been fighting and whining and begging and whatever else.

so we went to lunch. we all rode in Susans van.

backstory a little bit.. Susan had seen someone on my facebook page awhile ago that she knew from another base from church. she had asked me about her and it was just weird that we both knew someone.. well, not weird but weird lol

its not unheard of because the military is really sort of its own little family, and then the church is too, so youre bound to find someone you knew at some point along the way.

but then today she was asking me about another person on my facebook that she thought she might know.. we still arent sure though.

so on the way back to the base, Im thinking about how Susan used to be at Aviano.. which I had known already but today it just sort of clicked or something. so I asked her when she was there.. and I kept thinking I wonder if X was there at the same time..

so I say.. did you know someone with the last name XXX and she says YES! Pegge???? and I say yeah... she says I LOVED HER! so Im telling her thats...

Roberts mom! that is MY MOTHER IN LAW!
oh my gosh. she knew my mother in law! (who happens to live an hour from here)

now, I know its a small world, but this was just too much for my mind to process HAHA

I thought about it all the way home and even once I was here. I dont know why its on my mind so much other than its just kind of weird/funny/crazy all at the same time!

and I realized I could have met Susan years ago.. if only she was there a year earlier when we used to go from here to Aviano to visit his mom and went to church with her a few times.

mind boggling.

so, it really is a small world after all.

So which President # should he be?

I was listening to some sports radio show the other day.. I never listen to sports but I heard them having a discussion about the President #s and so I kept listening..

anyways, the one guy was saying that Obama should be Pres. # 43 not 44

and the other guys said no he is and should be 44

so the 2nd guy explains that 1 President served twice- not consecutively- so he counts as 2 numbers and thats why theres 44 now.

the 1st guy says no the one that served twice is only ONE man so he should only count as one President total.

the 2nd guy is also saying that 44 men have taken the oath and so theres 44 Presidents.
but the other guy is saying yeah, but one of those 44 was still one man.

so, I see both sides..

never thought about it before..

can you imagine.. you were the Pres. twice and you say, yeah I was President 18 and 21 (I dont know what #s he really was)
how funny.

wondering what others think it should be.. 43 or 44?

The Inauguration from the eyes of a 10 yr old

well, hes almost 11.

His assignment for school today was to watch an hour of the inauguration and then write
150-200 words on what he thought about it and on what he observed.

This is his report:

Trent Inauguration 2009

Here is what I think of the inauguration of 2009. Well it was pretty good it started at four p.m. and ended at eleven p.m. I enjoyed the speech Barack Obama gave to the crowd. In his speech he said that he would help in education and lower health cost so that everybody can afford it. My favorite part of the inauguration was when Barack said his oath that he kind of messed up on because he started to early and forgot some of the words he was supposed to say in the oath. That is what I think about the inauguration.
Now, what I observed in the inauguration. Well I observed that they like to speak slow a lot a an inauguration. I also observed that when Elizabeth Alexander was giving the poem her lips were not with the words of the poem she was saying. I observed that Barack is a good speech giver even though I did not know all the words he said. The last thing I observed was that everybody there was proud of Barack and that he was the new president of the U.S. That is what I observed of the inauguration.

New President

I dont pretend to understand politics. Ive never been really interested in it all.

I try to figure out what each person running for Pres. is telling us and then I do my part and vote.

My husband, and now my son too.. has a new Commander In Chief.



This year, we have an African American elected as President for the very first time. That is amazing...considering what things were like not so long ago in the U.S.

I admit, I didnt vote for Obama. but, that doesnt matter. He has been elected and he will be our new President and I am ok with that- besides, it really wouldnt matter if *I* wasnt ok with it LOL

Im watching the inauguration on tv right now.. while I type this. I cant remember ever watching one before... so why this one? Maybe because its history in the making. Maybe I want to say to my grandkids one day.. I remember when..
Maybe Im just curious about the whole thing.


He said the U.S. is a patchwork of heritage. That sounds about right.

Im ready to just see how well he does his job now.

Mountain Spring = BLECH

so I can finally log into blogger again and this is my first post?
yep.

I dont hate mountains or mountain springs like my title might suggest. :p

A couple weeks ago I went to the commissary and they had this huge jug of mountain spring Downy at a pretty good price. So, I picked up a bottle. Now, we normally use the April Fresh scent.. but change is good right?

not in this case.

blech!

the clothes I washed with the mountain spring scent came out smelling funky. It reminded me of clothes that might have been stuck in an old dresser drawer for a looooong time.

so, I went this week and bought a new bottle of it.. April Fresh thankyouverymuch!

anyone remember that old commercial with that camp song about Downy? now I have it in my head..
hello mother.. hello father.. greeting from camp hiawatha.. swimmings cool here, but this place is, not like home i miss my nice fresh pillowcases.

you miss downy, its so pleasing APRIL FRESHNESS thats one reason, downy softness thats another, Downy something makes the difference, love- your mother

I so know I got some of the words wrong LOL

and now, I have a huge jug full of mountain spring downy sitting in my laundry room collecting dust. anyone want it??

I'm a Military Mom

Im sure I was in denial. Travis has been doing all of the things to join the Air Force in the last month or two. Going to the recruiter, getting physicals, taking tests..

but he had to go back to the hospital several times for various reasons.. they thought he might have this problem, or that problem. they needed to re-do tests..come back next week. and on and on and on.

so, I think in my head I didnt think it would really happen. They would find something wrong with him and he wouldnt be able to go into the military. (not that I wanted anything to be wrong with him, but with all the appointments I just thought something minorish might be).

he had another medical appointment on Tuesday the 6th and they told him he passed it. then the recruiter wanted to see him on Wednesday the 7th.

we thought he was going in to pick career choices. he went in with a list. it just so happens that Robert and I went in with him that day since we both had nothing to do really.
Imaging my shock when as we are talking and he is picking job choices, as they finish up the recruiter says we just have to get an Officer and we can do the swearing in. ok, so Im thinking he meant in a few days or whatever.

nope.

that was around noon. at 1230 we had an appointment at 3 pm to meet with Roberts Commander and the recruiters at Roberts office to do it! Everything happened so fast that I was still somewhat in shock and denial about what was happening.

My friends had come to visit on Tuesday and left Wed morning.. and thank goodness I still had the camera in the car from taking them to the airport!

he will leave sometime between March and June.. most likely earlier rather than later. He is going to do something in the Electronics field.. we will know more later. and he will get out of basic training as an e-3 since he has joined for 6 years.

as a mom, I am worried. not a ton. I grew up in the Air Force and Im married to an AF man.. its all i know. Im not too worried about him being in the military really. Im more worried about it being Travis. and him making it through basic training. and him leaving home and all that stuff moms worry about. He's an adult. its time he leaves the nest I guess. but I dont think I thought it would happen anytime soon. I also think I might still be in a state of denial... like he really isnt going anywhere.

he will always be my 5 pound 12 ounce preemie firstborn son. He will always be my baby. Even when he goes off to basic training and then off to tech school and onto his first assignment.. wherever that may be. I love him and Im proud of him, and all I can do now is hope Ive taught him the things he needs to know to get out there and do what needs to be done, to the best of his ability.

I dont tend to show my feelings on the outside much, though I do cry when I hear the National Anthem.. even if its in the base theater, or when we lived on base and I could hear it in my house through the windows at 430 every afternoon. But when I heard my baby saying the Oath of Enlistment, I couldnt help but wipe the tears from my eyes.

"I, Travis Robert Burke, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Ramblings

Having a heck of a time getting into blogger lately. I an get to my own blog, but I cant get to the page to add posts. its very frustrating!

Christmas was nice. Didnt go anywhere. kids were up early, unwrapped everything, we ate some cinnamon rolls, played with our new toys. I even made turkey which I havent done in forever. but it was turkey breast in the crockpot. LOL it turned out yummy though! and most of it got eaten. (I tried a new recipe I found online)

at some point we opened up the wii, but I dont remember if it was Christmas day or not. We also got the wii fit and have been having fun trying to beat each others scores on it. I am the ski jump champion! haha i have never actually skiied a day in my life! is it skiied or skiid neither one looks right to me. skii'ed ski'ed hmm

anyways

im a wee bit wii sore. i crack myself up :)


so then New Years came. Tyler and Tanner went to a youth activity at someones house and the rest of us stayed home and watched movies and listened to the fireworks at midnight. there were a lot more around us this year than last! we stood in the backyard and could see them all around us. Abby didnt like them and later when we were walking upstairs so she could go to bed, she told me that she thought that was way too many fireworks for one night.

so its 2009.
I still dont have my Christmas cards mailed. theyre in envelopes waiting for the pics to be put in them and addresses put on..... but my excuse is that the PO has been out of stamps for a loooong time now! how does that happen?

its like when we lived in Maine and the pizza hut ran out of dough one time and pepperoni one time and sauce one time.. ummmm your whole business is pizza.. how do you run out of DOUGH???

it happened here too.. popeyes chicken.. they ran out of CHICKEN!

what the heck!?

the kids went back to school today and I SLEPT most of the day away. i know, its not a good thing but it sure felt good to crawl back into bed after they left!
theyre home now and the house is suddenly very LOUD again. sigh. i love my kids- i really do- but i also love it when theyre all in school LOL

it snowed today.. it might still be snowing.. i dont like it. its pretty to look at but i dont like it anymore. i think living in Maine totally ruined snow for me. maybe if things didnt get slick or slushy id like it more.. i dunno.

i went to bingo again last week. didnt win a thing. susan didnt either and neither of us did last month.. im starting to worry that she will think im her bad luck! hahaha she did win last week.. sort of. she got bingo on both of her cards.. but so did half the room so they had to make it so there was one winner and she wasnt it. bleh. this month was dooney and bourke. next month is vera bradley and i wouldnt mind going again since i must be the only person that doesnt have something of hers yet. i just cant spend the money on a purse or bag or whatever..

tomorrow my friend is coming to visit.. her daughter is a teenager and shes coming too.. they only have one day here and i am stressing over what to do with them! im also stressing a tiny bit about the ride to the airport in the morning by myself. ugh. esp if its snowy still. but really.. what do you do with someone in this area that hasnt been to germany before?????
we could eat all day.. brotchen, ice cream, bratwurst, cake, schnitzel, doner... but i dont think thats the best plan.
i would take them to some castle ruins or something but dang its cold out there!
and no one seems to know when the schnitzelhaus is closed.. of course i dont know how to get a phone number for them. im afraid theyll be closed tomorrow and i dont know where else there is some REALLY good schnitzel. ive found good schnitzel, but not super good.

Abby said something funny to me this morning that i wanted to post, but i cant remember it now. of course. i have zero short term memory.

thanks to susan, im craving hot chocolate.. might have to make some today.

travis has another dr. appt tomorrow.. hopefully sometime soon we will know if hes getting into the AF or not.. this medical run around stuff has been insane.

so i think thats it for now.. i will try again later or tomorrow.. if blogger decides to let me in again.

ooh and i have to come back online tonight because SU is putting out the retiring accessories list at 8 my time.. i think.. its at noon mountain time.. so i think thats 8 my time.. we'll see.
if youre interested in any of it, get it while its available because that stuff goes fast! you can see it on my website later tonight.. www.gingerburke.stampinup.net

and THAT cracks me up that i would post that on here when i havent even told people about my blog! i know susan checks it some.. so susan, now you know! roflol