Gavin's Birthday

Every year at birthday time we give our children a choice. A big gift from Mom and Dad with a birthday dinner out of thier chioce---OR--- a friend party.

Because let's be honest- parties get expensive FAST! I'd much rather put that money into something they will love. Not to mention the craziness of loads of kids tearing up your home. Keeping it just family is easy, and less expensive. It's more intimiate and really is all about the birthday child.

That said, there is also something to be said about lasting memories that parties create. With Gavin, being that we just had Christmas, there's not much that he wants or needs right now. It's just nice not to have to worry about gather adresses to mail invites. Invites that I would probably end up making to fit the theme of the party. Parties are so much work!

BUT..... it's his choice. This year he's chosen to have a party.

His birthday is only one month away, wich means I need to get busy. Very busy considering there is still a chance Dustin's leave will get approved and we'll be in Utah half the month.

Themes:

I don't like Charachter parties. (doesn't mean my kids haven't had them)
I do need to have a theme. Something fun, different, creative, and unique. If I can find something that in general won't require shelling out a lot of money for a one time use, even better.

My Ideas For This Year
Mad Scientist
Doctor/Hospital
Pirates
Artists

I'm leaning more to Doctor theme. What kids (and most adults) don't wanna peek in all the drawers in the doctors office? My experiences of having to entertain my kids while Logan is in the hospital assures me that kids enjoy playing with gloves, and tape, and ace bandages. I have old xrays, syringes, oxygen tubing, tape, coban, ace bandages, masks..... We also have a pulse oxymeter, old nebulizer, and Logan's vest. I could make green gunk for 'boogers'. Really, I think this could be pretty fun. We could fill syringes with colored frosting and they can decorate their own cupcakes.

The invites always set the stage, I think I will make them to look like a prescription. I need to come up with some clever wording. I have tons more ideas... you might just have to wait until the party comes to hear all of them though!

Just a side note: If I do mad scientist, we will surely do the mentos in coke.

Jacey in all of Gavin's excitement has already decided what she wants to do.... a Fancy Nancy Party- I can't wait!

Almost a New Year!

It's almost a new year and time to start evaluating the year thats passing.

Did I do enough?

Did I learn anything?

Did I experience personal growth?
spiritual growth?
emotional growth?

Am I a better person today, than I was a year ago?

What have I contributed?

Have I made someone else's life easier or better?

If those answers are "no", then surely I just wasted a year that I'll never get back. If "yes", then how can I do that much, and more, next year?

Merry Christmas From The Moore's

I'm affraid I dropped the ball this year. Well, not entirely. We chose not to do a Christmas Letter this year. I'm not sure why. Now I am regretting it- so this is better than nothing I guess.
Most all of you I send this link to will already have been reading our blog, and there for have all this info. But just a recap for those who are just finding us:

2009 was a year of big changes for our family. Very big. Dustin joined the Army in fall of 2008, and left for basic training on New Years Eve. That is when I started blogging. (If you feel like wandering back that far) While he was gone we both went through a lot of personal growth. It was an amazing, but difficult time for both of us.

I lost my job due to illness in early Feb. I ended up having surgery in March. The kids and I had finally settled into things, about a week or two before he came home. We were able to fly to St Louis for his graduation and took the kids on a quick mini vacation there.

Once we got back home, life seemed to fly by, and before we knew it we were in Washington State, making Fort Lewis our new home. Securing housing was stressful for me, but it all worked out in the end. We love our home and the ample space it provides for our family.

We had a lot to learn. It felt like we landed in another land, and had new languages to learn. We had new docotrs to find, and meet. We became familiar with the hospital quickly though, Logan and I have both had surgery here already. We feel we have truley been blessed with some amazing doctors.

We went back to church. That is a big one for us. We have met some of the greatest people who have really helped to make us feel at home here. There will be great things in store for us in 2010.

The boys are doing great in school. They settled in quickly and have made lots of new friends. Military kids are a neat breed, I haven't met one I haven't loved. Logan has already had one good friend move. They are both getting very good grades too. Gavin started on meds to treat hiss ADD and we are so impressed with the results. Logan has been fairly healthy this year, with only a week in the hospital and a mild (if you can really call it that) bout of H1N1.

We are enjoying Washington and find there is never a shortage of things to do here. There are always great family events, and many many beautiful places to explore. I hope we get to stay here for a while, but we never know. Oh, and you see the sun way more than people let on.

On a more military note:
Dustin still doesn't have orders to deploy. We are thankfull for every day we've had together and never thought he'd be home with us this long. That said his unit is "supposed" to deploy "sometime" in the fall of 2010. That is all we know so far, and that can all change at any time. This year he will start to get busier with more intense traingings to prepare for a deployment. His contract is up spring of 2011, so he has begun the thinking process about what he wants to do. He knows he wants to stay in, but would like to change his MOS (job). Also with his contract being up when it is, it's possible they will decide not to deploy him at all.

It's been an adventurous and busy year for us to say the least! I'm sure next year will bring just as much excitement.

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We love you all so much and are so thankfull for all the support you've shown us.

Love,
The Moore's

Christmas This Year

This is the first Christmas since Gavin was a baby, wait, longer than that even. Well, this is the first Christmas in about 9 years that I haven't been working or going to school. I've just been home. It makes Christmas seem completely different.

There isn't the hustle and bustle. No last minute errands. No last minute gifts. No up all night wrapping. No stress.

It's been wonderfull. It's been baking. It's been movies on the couch with the kids. The shopping was done weeks ago, and all gifts are wrapped. (they still need tags- but I did that on purpose) It's been visiting with friends. It's given us enough time to really remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. It's been fun.

This is what I want it to be like from now on.

My last quiet Morning

For a while any way.

Logan's feeling a bit better, and went to school today. This is their last day before Christmas break.

Jacey is watching cartoons.

I am snuggled in my bed trying to sneak in a little power nap.

I got to sit up all night washing my entire bed.... after Jace had an accident in it at 2am.

A well deserved nap for Mom is in order!

Love Hate Relationships

I love craigslist. Or maybe I love the idea of it. We've made a few different furniture purchases from there, or sites very similar.

Three of my very favorite things in my home were aquired using this type of service. Not a single one was a good experience though. So why do I keep going back??

I have to take that last thing back.... once, I had a good craigslist purchase. It was my table and chair for my craftroo..... closet. It was $20. For both. AND they delivered it, and carried it into my home.

I have one reason I think I continue to find things on craigslit, because I've had such great luck selling on there. Before we moved, we cleared out TONS of great things. Mostly big outside toys, and furniture.

I am a realistic seller. I give a very accurate description of the condition, along with detailed photos. I price my items to be a bargain- isn't that the reason for these sites? A deal so great it's sold in the first few hours? (The money for me was always just a bonus- I needed the stuff gone)

Unfortunately, when I'm on the other side of the deal, I always feel I get the short end of the stick! OR, is it that I will go completely out of my way for the chance at a great deal?

Our very first purchase was what is now my green dresser. I L O V E it, and anyone who's been in my home has loved it too. It wasn't so lovely when we got it. We drove an hour away to pick it up. Realized I'd gotten the directions all wrong. Had a good long argument in the car. After a dozen or so phone calls to the seller, we finally found their house. Two hours later, and almost a half tank of gas gone.

Once there, we found our "hardwood" dresser was infact, not. But, the people were super nice. They offered to drop the price from $50 to $40. Dustin and I did the refinnish together. Come to find out, the perfect green I had to want it.... was an oil based paint. I took us three times as long to get it painted.

Jacey's dresser went along the same lines, didn't get lost, but it was an hour drive. Oh ..... wait..... we did get lost, but only in the little neighborhood we were supposed to be in. Then we got on the freeway, but going in the wrong direction. I still love her furniture. It's refinnish turned out beautiful, I've never seen anything even similar to it, and probably never will. We got a custom look, for $30. In my opinion now, it was worth the trouble.

This is a long post, but neeeded, so you can fully apreciate what we did last night.

Why, two weeks before Christmas, with one kid sick, I think I need a project- is beyond me. But I got a wild hair to start checking craigslist for a dresser.

Dustin and I have never had cohesive bedroom furniture. Right now, it's probably the worst its ever been. We don't have a dresser. We use two sets of plastic drawers. I don't think it would bother me, except there isn't room for them in the closet. They sit out. We bought two end tables. One sits by the bed, the other holds all the audio video stuff and sits under our tv on the wall. We have beautiful bedding. We spent a small fortune on it. We don't have a headboard. There isn't anything to pull the room together. The nice things we do have, get lost in the mismatch other mess.

SO.... I was looking for a dresser. I didn't really find anything I had to have at a pirce I needed to have it at. I conveyed my craigslist idea to Dustin, who actually is the one who can see the potential and knows a solid peice when he sees one. As he was scrolling through, he stopped and told me, "I'm buying this right now, hand me the phone".

It was advertised as a gorgeous big black solid wood armoire. It's almost 7 feet tall. It's three and a half feet wide. It's HUGE! And pretty. The pictures looked like a magazine add. We fell in lust with it. They were only asking $175. A steal, since Dustin said the wood alone is worth more than that.

Now.... how to get the item home. We needed a truck. I tried uhaul first. Too expensive. I called home depot. Perfect. It would only cost us about $30 to rent a truck from them, half the price of a uhaul. Next obstacle the distance. They live over 45 minutes from us. But it's all freeway..... I decide to go for it. Another obstacle, they will be gone from 6-8pm. I agree to pick it up after 8, since Dustin wouldn't get home in time to make it there before 6.

There's always things that go wrong for me. Home depot closes their tool rental counter at 6. Can't pick up the truck in time. I called the seller to tell her what happened. I appologized. Profusely. I felt awful! She sounded so bummed. I was worried she'd just sell it to someone else (she'd had lots of calls).

Not being able to shake this awful feeling, I decided to look for another option. All I could find was the uhaul choice. Finding one open past 6 seemed to be nearly impossible. But, I found ONE. It was out in the boon docs. All they had was a 17 footer. Add on an extra $10. We loaded up the kids and headed down. We couldn't find the store. It was dark, and raining, and foggy, and seriously in nowhere-ville.

We stopped at a gas station (10 miles PAST where mapquest said we should be). The people inside were much better than I'd expected to see. They spoke english, had all their teeth, and appeared to have showered recently. When you hear "Did you see a big alpaca farm?"..... you know you're in trouble. "It's right near there".

We go back the way we came. We come upon a Bait and Tackle/Perma Yard Sale. Complete with toilet and kitchen sink sitting under a makeshift tarped tent. We go inside. Around the corner comes a big rotweiler. He seems to be suffering from a bad case of mange. The elderly lady, who was missing teeth, and hadn't seen a shower during the month of December helps Dustin complete the required paperwork. It took an hour. We waited in the car. Jacey cried until I was able to unearth a bottle of "who knows how long this has been in the car" water.

We are finally on our way to the home! We drive through a super cute little country town. I was having Waterford flashbacks. I found the street easily, and the house.

Inside a very nice family showed us to the big monster of an armoire. Sold! I loved it... now lets get home! The husband helped Dustin load it, I paid the lady, and we were off!

Until.... I got on the freeway. Going the wrong way. Next exit was 8 miles down. Keep in mind uhauls charge mileage. I got a really happy phone call from Dustin. Then a highway patrol car pulls on.... right behind me. One prayer was answered, he pulled over the car next to me. We got turned around, and headed home. It's now almost 11:00 pm.

Do you thnik it ends there? Not a chance! I put the kids to bed and we unload it. It has to go up stairs. It took us 30 minutes. It cost us banged up walls. We broke one of the doors off the hinge. Dustin might have broken toes. I got called many choice names.

BUT- we got it in our room. And after a gallon of touch up paint, and new hinges, and some various other peices of hardware, it will be pretty again.

Guess what though? It's not a dresser. We still need one of those.

Holidays

Would it be a holiday at our house if someone wasn't sick?

Ofcoourse not.

This time it's Logan, same as last Christmas.

So far his only symptom is a fever and body aches. I'm hoping it's just a virus and that it passes quickly without turning into anything more serious.

Lots of prayers and crossed fingers please!

Pictures!

Gavin and Jacey's pictures are finally up!

To see them go to:

myproofs.org

Click on Galleries

Choose Gavin and Jacey

password is our last name

Photo Block Puzzles

I can't take credit for the idea! A friend from church taught us how to make these. BUT- we love ours SO much we gave them as gifts to grandparents this Christmas. They have gone over so well I thought I'd share how they're made.





Here's what you will need:



paper trimmer
scissors
glue stick
mod podge
foam brush
6 pictures (4x6)
6 2"square wooden blocks

The blocks can be hard to find. We ended up ordering a bunch online. I've been told michael's carries them, but they were always out.

And now the How:



Start with one picture. Cut it into two inch squares. Easy peasy!





Place the squares on each block.



Now, with your scissors, trim the outer edges of the picture. Each block is slightly a different size. You want to make sure there is NO overhang. It's better to have wood showing than the picture hanging over.



Using the glue stick, glue them to the top of the block.



Using your trusty mod podge and foam brush, apply a thin layer over the picture. Be sure to go over the edge so the picture is sealed well.

Once mod podge turns clear, you flip the blocks once. In any direction, as long as you have all blank squares you're good. Repeat with all 6 sides!

Working Again

I feel like I need something to do. Something to focus on, to keep me busy so I'm not sitting around on the computer all day. Now that the craft closet is almost done, I could see mysself getting back into hairbows.

I always enjoyed it, but felt I didn't have the time to devote while working full time. There are more opportunities here as well. There are often different things on post where booths are available. I also have thought of a few other ways to spread the word.

There aren't any childrens boutiques close to here, so its harder to get an idea of wht people here would like. I also managed to deplete my supplies of ribbon and it would take a considerable investment to get my stockpile back to working order. Something I'd have to talk Dustin into!

That said it could be a lot of fun, and a good way to meet new people. I think I will take it slow, only buying what I need to make enough to host an open house. I also need to look into wether or not this type of thing is allowed on post or not. They have rules for everything and I'm sure this is no exception.

At the very least it will give me something to focus on and strive for. We'll see how it goes!

Black and White

This is what started it all.



Jace was sitting in this bright stream of light coming through the window. Who says it's not sunny in Washington?

But I think it looks better like this....



That is when I decided to head outside to take full advantage of the sun while we had it.







and add a hat.....







I pretty much think she's adorable!

Heads Up...

Just a heads up......

This Friday I will be taking my kids (out of school) to be models for a Seattle children's photographer.

I'm thinking it will be lots of fun!

and SHHHH!!! (don't tell the kids but really she wants to photograph Gavin most)

Soon after they will be veiwable online and will be used to advertise the photographers business.

And we get paid..... in pictures.

Time for haircuts!

Craft Closet #2

I got super busy yesterday!

I managed to get every single container emptied and sorted through. I threw out all the garbage. I made piles of like items to see what I had of wich things.

The hard part is I don't have a ton of any one thing. Well, maybe of ribbon but I'll talk about that in a minute. The thing that makes it hard to come up with a good system for storage is that I have a little bit of many different things.

I even managed to sand, and paint my cute chair!

I spent most of today blog stalking and googling. I've come up with a few good ideas.

Remeber, I'm trying not to spend ANY money!

A while ago I bought some discounted paint at a hardware store. I love checking their whoopsy paints! Anyways- I ended up with a quart of some super bright yellow paint. Like primary yellow. This wasn't exactly the color I was hoping to go with, nor was it even close! I did have a small bottle of navy blue craft paint...

I also had some really neat wooded boxes with lids from Artichokes & Co. My mother in law gave them to me a few years ago. I've always loved them. I however need color in this space.





I am going to hang them on the wall and use them to store small jars of things.

I couldn't not use the lids.... and I have this paper.... still not sure what they will end up being.... but I had to!




Now...... ribbon. I have loads and loads of ribbon. Some on spools, but most is loose. I really can't think of a great way to store it all. I hope I figure something out soon because as far as my collection of crafty stuff goes... ribbon is the worst offender!

Craft Closet Confessions

First let me start by saying that I am super thankful to even have this space.... remember that when I go on and on about all the negatives...

I would LOVE to be able to have a craft room. This is not a room by any sence of the word. You may have caught me refferring to a "craft room" before. That was me dreaming.

I want to love this space. It has potential.

What I don't have is money. Or the best organizational skills but we won't go there.

The space is a 5'x7' closet with two large and deep shelves against the back wall.

It has a wall mounted, circular, flourescent light. It's beauty is unparralled.

It does not have any electrical outlets. I use a lovely green garden extension cord to power my glue gun and sewing machine.

There aren't any windows or natural light.



a little closer.....



Are you affraid yet?



I have a great old table I bought on craigslist. I even bought paint for it.

I was however MIA on moving day, and forgot to have Dustin tell the movers to leave it outback so I could paint it. Who knows when I will have a chance to paint it now.

I need major storage containers. On a next to zero budget.

The walls need color. But I refuse to paint them. I do have a few ideas though.

I need more lighting. No clue how I'm going to pull that off.

The great big black thing, that's our only source of A/C. It needs a new home.



All of these big totes need a new home. The labels aren't even correct on them.

The one with all the papers in it.... my kids special papers from school. I know, mother of the year award- right here!



This is the middle shelf. It needs to house my most often used items. And it does... it just needs to do it more effectively. Can you believe all my hairbows are produced out of those 4 drawers? ....... bet you didn't even know there were drawers....



My table. Oh my table. Once the A/C unit finds it's new home (in Gavin's closet cause it's too heavy for me to move down the stairs) I will pull the table out a little bit more. It can't come out too much farther, or you'd walk right into it. I think I will swap walls too, to help avoid that problem.



If I had a place to put anything, it wouldn't be the dumping ground that it is now. (hahaha.... yeah right)



Okay.... I think I'm done making excuses..... here's the rest

Best Friends

On Thanksgiving we had a few friends and thier families over for dinner at our house. One of them was an old employee of Dustin's. She recently joined the Navy and moved up here with her husband and daughter. We hadn't seen them in years, since she and I were both pregnant with the girls.



She was a late night computer bestie while Dustin was at basic. We'd always joke at how much alike the girls were and say that they were best friends. They just hadn't met yet.



Thanksgiving went just as we'd thought. The girls spent the entire time in Jace's room playing. When we'd go in to check on them, we were asked to leave, and close the door on our way out.



Of course I was far too busy hosting my first big Thanksgiving dinner to even think about pictures. I was more concerned about the turkey being cooked and not giving everyone food poisoning. The only pictures are from the very end of the night. I'll let them do the rest of the talking.

Being a Mom

I love being a mom. It is my #1 favorite thing. My days are filled with endless fun and wild adventures. I get to do the same days over and over, but every day is different.

I love tripping over piled up boxes on the floor. That I took out to the garbage a few hours earlier. While carring a sleeping Jace to bed. Recovering from that near miss of a face plant only to step on a Lego. I LOVE to find all the dirty laundry piled right inside the door to the laundry room, when the hamper is a mere 5 steps farther. Finding cold soap scummy bath water is still in the tub, is like getting to eat chocolate cake for breakfast. Spending an hour in the kitchen doing dishes and mopping floors is so much more rewarding when ten minutes later muddy shoes walk across...... and spill juice. Some people chase storms- I chase messes. What can I say? I'm an adrenaline junkie. I get to go on treasure hunts everytime I vaccuum kids bedrooms. I must be an expert hunter because I never come out with out handfulls of wrappers and garbage. Old, hard, snotty/bloody tissues are my favorite!

I love being a mom. It is my #1 favorite thing. My days are filled with endless fun and wild adventures. I get to do the same days over and over, but every day is different.

I love eating brownies for breakfast with my kids. I love that I still get hugs and kisses before they leave for school. I love reading stories and snuggling in my bed to watch cartoons with them. I love that they want to bake and cook with me. I love painting nails and itty bitty toes. I love that Jace is addicted to lipgloss. I love Logan's obsession with growing out his hair and always smelling good. I love the tenderness of Gavin's conversations. I love planning small day trips and not telling the kids where we are going. I love the tease of putting out Christmas presents.

The very best part..... you wake up each day not know "wich" day you'll be having!

About "Normal"

I finally was ablle to get into my doctor to talk to her about my ADD. It's been so bad lately. I started back on meds today.

The mind is such a crazy thing, I feel great. I am guessing half of my mood is just knowing how much easier every day life will be. I think the other half is probably due to the medication itself. It wasn't until I actually sat and said the things out loud, things everyone who lives with me already knows, that I realized how disabled I really am by ADD.

When it only affects me, I forget to do something for myself for instance, I can manage. When it affects my family, it's another story. I can't stand to see them suffer because of my shortcomings. It makes me feel awful about myself. It can really lead to a bad depression, if I let it go too far. Not normal.

I wonder how many people are treated for a depression, that is really caused by something else. If I didn't know better, I'd go into a doctors office describing my symptoms, and walk out with an anti depressant. Helpful for depression, but won't help the underlying cause..... so depression would persist. Not normal.

Just knowing the prescription is there in the cabinet for when I need it, lifts so much anxiety from my life. If I have a busy day, errands to run, appointments to make, grocery shopping to do..... I would spend the day before worrying about wether or not I'd be able to accomplish the days tasks. That anxiety in istelf would make it nearly impossible to sleep the night before, leaving me sleep deprived, stressed, and feeling sick. Most deffinately NOT normal.

It still amazes me that one pill- one tiny little pill- can make such an important difference in my life. It can make me feel normal.

Christmas Crafts!

Last night my stomache hurt, so I stayed on the couch watching T.V. until late. I did get to catch the Martha Stewart Christmas Special. I watched her make the cutest ornaments! I'm going to have us all make them together tomorrow or the next day! They seemed pretty simple and I think the kids will really enjoy them.

Last night I let Logan and Gavin cook dinner. It was pretty fun. Later, while brownies were baking in the oven, I snuck upstairs and wrapped a few presents to put under the tree. Then we a got snugglie and watched Elf, while snacking on warm brownies and candy canes. I love Christmas.

Tired....

I'm really tired of being sick. I'm tired of having to explain why certain things didn't get done. Mostly I'm tired of the pain. I'd love for this to go away. To have more good days, than bad.

Today it's the grocery shopping. Even on a good day- it's not my favorite chore. This week will be even worse with turkey day around the corner. I'm still going to go, I have to, if we want to eat. I'm waiting until Logan gets home and I'm going by myself. I just hope my head doesn't start hurting any worse, I'm waiting to take anything until after I get home.

Time to make another call to my doctor. I think I'm going to make Dustin come with me this time.

Date Night!

Okay.... I think the last time Dustin and I had real alone time was when I went back to visit him during basic trainnig. My every being has been yearning for a little getaway trip. In particular Las Vegas- but not quite realistic right now.

Tonight we at least get a date night. A real date night. Like we have the kids (all 3 of them) going over to a friends house. Bless their soles for taking all 3 of them- brave people!

We have tickes to go see New Moon at 7 and we're going to sneak in a few pick up's for christmas stuff and even dinner! These things might not seem like much to you, but given we hardly know anyone here- it's a lot to us!

On the agenda for the rest of the weekend-

Master bedroom re-do
finnish up grocery shopping for Turkey Day
making ornaments for our tree
and lots of relaxing

A New Day

Yesterday's house cleaning went well and hopefully I can stay out of that rut today!

I woke up to a stinky stinky kitchen. I can't find the smell. Luckily the sun is shining, so I'm going to open the windows and do a good deep clean of the kids rooms, bathroom, and kitchen.

I hate playing find that smell.

Later on I am going to pull out some of my old scrapbook papers. I have a few ideas for home made christmas ornaments. If I can get enough made to have templates and they aren't too hard, I'll enlist the help of the boys. My thought is to get rid of our glass ornaments. We seem to lose half with each move and I'm tired of replacing them, and dealing with all the broken glass in my christmas totes.

I'll be sure to take pictures, if anything turns out picture worthy ;)

Feeling Blah

I really feel like I'm in a rut lately. It seems there is no brake between bouts of not feeling well, and one illness runs into the other. I'm left exhausted and unable to keep up.

Today I'm hoping to brake out from the sickness cloud that's hanging over me. My biggest hope for today is to get this house clean and dinner cooked. Later I have scouts.

If I could get all the laundry put away that would just be icing on the cake.... no need to be overly optomistic though.

A few Things....

A few random things to catch up on:

A big thankyou to all who have served our country and those who still do. Including my soldier!

My blog has had over 1,000 readers- never would've thought!

Gavin started on meds today to help with his ADD. Getting the meds is a whole other post! I didn't notice any difference, could have been a sugar pill. His doctor was pretty certain he'll need a much higher dose but wants to introduce it to him gradually. The only thing I noticed, was a change in his mood when it wore off. He got really sad for about an hour. I hope that side effect doesn't last...

We've gotten even more shopping done for the holidays. We also have our black friday game plan penciled in. We're excited...

Jacey is wild, and crazy, and funny, and sweet. She still thinks she's the boss, and when she realizes she isn't- it breaks her little heart.

Logan is doing well.... knock on wood! His hair is getting long again and he loves it. He's a smart kid and is doing really well at school.

I'm not sure I can think of much else at the moment! (mid night thirty)

Another Week

This weekend went by too quickly! It was extremely productive though.

We are nearly done with our Christmas shopping!!! I've never been this ready for Christmas to come. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving that Thanksgiving is right around the corner- BUT- I already caught myself humming Christmas carols. We spent the better part of Friday at the Hospital with Gavin, then we snuck out for the evening without the boys.

We made a few purchases and finalized our lists for the kiddos. I even bought wrapping paper already. It feels good to be done.

Saturday I got to have some quality Courtney time! I really enjoyed the adult conversation and the "no kid" atmosphere. I came home to a leaking roof. Maitenence still hasn't shown up. The leak was right over the stove so it was out for a quick dinner. We ran into people we knew- that's a very weird feeling in a new town where you really don't know anyone.

Today was church and a super yummy dinner, icecream for desert! While dinner was in the oven we finally tackled Gavi's room. We moved furniture and got stuff hung on the walls. We organized toy bins and cleared out garbage. His was the last that needed worked on and it feels great to check it off my list.

This week the kids get out of school early and have wednesday off. I'm sure it will be exciting!

Long Distance Friendships

I guess this is something I'm going to have to get good at given our current lifestyle. It's a hard lesson to learn thoguh.

I still keep in very close contact with a few of my friends. One in Utah and a handfull in California. One has even migrated up this way and is hopefully joining our family for Thanksgiving this year.

It's nights like tonight though that make me realize it's not the same. I can keep up with their everyday life. Facebook has been great for that. I can watch their kids grow, they can watch mine, we share funny stories and long sad talks. Usually by the end of those long sad talks the sad person feels better, and the other is gratefull for the opportunity to still be available to thier friend.

Tonight it wasn't enough. Sometimes nothing heals a sad heart like a hug from a friend. Sometimes sitting on the couch in jammies together is healing medicine. Sometimes knowing you have an escape in a friends home, if even for a few hours is magical.

Tonight I cried for my sad friend. I hope she feels better after our long talk. And right now I want nothing more than to hop on a plane just to go give her a hug.

The tears are because I know I can't.

They are the same tears I cried when I had to see a friends wedding pictures online rather than have been at the wedding. The same tears I cried when I saw my neices look years older than they were the last time I saw them.

These tears are a big price tag that goes with being a military family.

I try to make new friends. That helps some- until I realize on these nights that I'll leave them too. And they will be added to the computer list of friends. I have a lot of the computer friends and not enough of the "come on over" friends.

The friends I have that are still on my list are true friends though, and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Ahhh.... November!

It's amazing to me how fast this month is filling up. Already the calandar looks intimidating!

I'm also going to be hosting thanksgiving dinner for my family plus two others. I love entertaining and cooking and so far the only thing I've had a hard time with is assigning other people things to cook. The perfectionist in me wants complete controll of the menu, but price wise that's unrealistic.

I'm super excited to set tables and all that fun stuff too! For the first time I get to set a real kids table. That has to be my favorite part. I'm already searching for fun ideas for it. I'm also thankfull to have a small kids table and enough seating for the 5 kids. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

Doctors appointments are still in full swing around here. Yuck.

Logan is enjoying scouts, Dustin is getting busier at work, and I am trying to keep up!

I hope you all are having as much fun this upcoming month!

Pumpkin Carving

Today the kids won and we carved pumpkins. Even Gavin's blue (white) pupkin. I will never carve a white one again. Even the cat was in on the action.

After pumpkins we all got dressed and went to the church halloween party. Lots of fun!

Family Rules

A while ago I saw this project on another blog. They had a simple step-by-step tutorial on how it was made.

I loved the actual rules the most. I loved that I could change them a bit to fit our family. Mostly though I loved the use of colors and that having it not look perfect made it even more charming.

It was so much fun to put together! I think if I were to do it again I'd spend more time and print out the words before writing them down on the canvas.

It's hung in my dining room. A room that needed some color, and it can be seen upon first entering our home.




In case you couldn't read all the rules they are:

Be kind, honest, generous, and patient.

Always do your best.

Obey your parents.

Be creative at all times.

Keep your promises.

Give to others first.

Use nice words. Ignore naughty ones.

Bless your food. Eat together. Be grateful. Clear your spot.

Use your manners. Yes, please. No, thank you.

Say your prayers. Thank God for this family.

Updates

Nothing too exciting to report but a lot has been going on. Thought I'd give you a quick update on the kiddos.

Logan

He still looks SO small to me. That's probably because he is, he's roughly the size of a 9 or 10 year old. Stand him next to Gavin, who is also the size of a 9 year old easy- it leaves everyone to ask who is the oldest, I even get the twins question. They do share clothes (kinda) so that's one thing I can't complain about. Logan is quickly recovering from his little cold but is left with a stuffy nose. I'm going to give him til Monday- if he's still sniffen we'll get him on some antibiotics to clear it up.
It rains like crazy here in the mornings and the poor kids don't have anything to stand under to keep dry while they wait for the bus. Our house is right in front so I offered to all the kids to stand under our carport, and just hurry across the street when the bus pulls up. Hope the bus driver doesn't mind- since she's always late they are usually out there a good 10-15 minutes. Who wants to wait in the rain and get soaked before they even start their day?
School is going well for Logan and he is showing some interest in joining the school band. They teach guitar so it'll be a great way for him to sneak in some free lessons. Add to that the fact that the bus brings them home after- and you have one winner of an extra curricular activity. Oh- did I mention it's a rock band? Yeah, awesome school! His only hang up thus far is that he'd be the only one with an acustic guitar, all the other kids have an electric one. Our deal was learn to play the acustic and we'll buy you an electric. We're thinking the 'Santa Clause' might be a good loop hole, if it gets him involved in something it's worth it- right?

Gavin

Life has been busy for Gavin! He has passed Logan up in the weight department, and is only a couple inches shorter (being generous, it might only be 1). Although his last trip to the pediatrician to get help for his ADD was unsuccessful, we tried again. He went in Wednesday afternoon and got a refferral for the next day to see a developmental specialist. I'd met him the week prior at boyscouts. He is an awesome guy and was so nice to get us in so quickly, less than 24 hours people! He agrees with the medication now route, versus waiting until after tonsils, but still recomends we follow up with ENT. The only hang up right now is Gav's previous heart problems since these stimulant meds can cause a host of heart problems. He put in a refferal to a cardiologist to have him cleared for the meds. We're hoping by this time next week we can start! *fingers crossed*
Gavin is doing much better this year with getting up in the mornings and now my mornings are quite pleasant with him. He's never upset about having to go to school, and doesn't complain too much about homework when he gets home. Those are all big changes from last year. We need to find something he can do outside of school and home to give him something of his own to be good at.

Jacey

Jace is good, bossy as can be, but good. She got hit pretty hard by a flu bug and spent a good week and a half sick. She's feeling better now, and so am I, so we're going to be out and about a lot more. She still hates having her hair fixed and has quite her own fashion sense. She rules the roost and keeps us all on our toes. But she's hilarious at the same time and always keeps us laughing. I'm trying to talk her into dance, but since it's not her idea, it's not going over too well. Mabey next year?

Dustin

I was going to keep this just to kids but there are a few things going in in the hubby department too, and extra prayers never hurt, right? Dustin is going to a breifing on Monday to see about becoming a Warrant Officer. Send your prayers and good thoughts our way. It really seems like the right choice for him right now. Also... word around work for him is that he might not even deploy next October, might be later in the winter of 2010. That's just all talk and anything can change at any moment- but still that's the most current word on things. His unit has began doing a lot more training exersizes and it's really helping Dustin's mood about being in the Army. He needs to be busy. It keeps him happy.

ME!

Okay, I've decided I'm not going to turn 29 today, I'll just turn 28.... again. I like 28 it works for me. I'm finally starting to get over this infection- knock on wood! The head ache still doesn't have any real answer. Our next step is to try muscle relaxants to add to my mix of drugs and see if that helps. If not we've ruled out a muscular issue and will proceed to investigate it further. I don't have much faith in the muscular answer, it doesn't feel like muscles at all when it hurts. What do I know though?

I know this, it's raining, Jacey is still alseep, Dustin is off today, and still in bed snoozing, and I'm sitting here on an hour of sleep, the boys are off to school......................I'm going back to bed. Happy Birthday to ME!

Pumpkin Patch

I usually love taking the kids to the pumpkin patch every year. I usually get somereally great pictures out of it too. Last year, not so hot on the photo ops, and this year was the same.

We still had a blast and I got a few cute pictures of my friends little boy. Maybe next year will be better.