Thursday, November 19, 2009

Dear City Treasurer Clerk

It was sweet of you to offer candy to my four year old, really.  I get that you were trying to be nice and I appreciate it.  However, did you consider that maybe my child can't eat what is in that candy?  Or, how about that since it was 11:30, we were about to eat lunch?  Or, how not five minutes earlier, my four year old was being very rude and giving attitude to the poor children's librarian?  And since you gave my daughter a sucker you have 1) rewarded her for that behavior (of course unbeknown to you,) and 2) usurped my role as a parent because then, I could not take it away unless I wanted to hear a mighty four year old tantrum while I stood there and paid my Virginia state car taxes (which would have probably ruined both our days.)  Maybe you could have handed it to me (being the parent and all) then I could have handed it to her with the instruction that she would take it to the librarian and apologize for her previous behavior.  Better yet, may I suggest stickers? Trust me, kids get just as excited about stickers and that is definitely a much better sticky something to give to a four year old.

=)
of course, (you know me,) I didn't say anything as I stood there writing out my check, but it makes me feel better to put it on my blog.  heh  Hoping to start having more time to catch up on blogging, but.... well, we'll see.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

wow

May was the last time I blogged?

hmmm

A lot has happened. We're still getting reacquainted to stateside spending... errr I mean living. It's been quite an adjustment.

The girls and I were able to visit family while T was in school.

We've been working on setting up our new house!

C is now in ballet.

D is almost 10 months old!!! (she keeps me way too busy!)

T is getting used to ship life again. He also bought himself a nice '99 Firebird that he's loving.

T and I are getting baptized this Sunday! (Hopefully I'll have more time to blog about that later.)

I'm officially taking the last class of my Associate's degree.

Hopefully, I'll be able to add pictures to the girls' blogs soon.

=)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

ahem

i'm alive...
just haven't had time to update my blog.
if you're friends or family, look me or T up on Facebook.
Makes it so easy and quick to update everyone.
=)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

8 days left in Sicily....

I don't know what to think yet.
There will be so many people and things that I will miss.
So many things that I won't.
I'm trying to be at peace with the fact that we didn't travel as much as I wanted to,
and yet appreciate that we did travel some... definitely more than some people ever get to.
Nervous about being back in a big city....
and yet excited for everything that is available with a big city.
Anxious.....
but trying not to be.
Nostalgic at what this duty station has brought me.
a true relationship with God.
my complete acceptance of who I am, what my role is, who I have become, how much I have grown.
Nostalgic at what this duty station has brought us.
we've grown into our own family, have formed our own ideas, have become our own persons.
Sicily put our relationship to the test, and our marriage was strengthened.
my baby grew up here.... she learned to walk, to self feed, to ride her tricycle, to fly a kite.
and now we have a new baby.
the pregnancy and her birth... are memories forever tied to this place.
such good friends were made.
beautiful, amazing women who have helped me so much,
more than many of them will ever know.
among a tumultuous cloud of emotions....
mostly, I am so grateful.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

What do stay at home moms do all day?

A friend of mine emailed me this link:
Tell Me About It
Loved that.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

A Quick Trip

A few weekends ago, it was a beautiful sunny day. Warm and springlike! I asked T if we could go take pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses that my grandparents sent. So, we did. We only drove a few minutes up the road from housing, but just being out of housing's sight and seeing the country side was nice. We ended up having a rocking chair in the trunk of the car because we had planned on taking it to a friend's house before leaving housing, and I insisted we use it in the pictures. =)





T didn't want to be in any pictures. =( It was so nice to be out of the house. I'm hoping I can convince T to go sightseeing somewhere... (anywhere!) within the next few weeks, before we leave.

Monday, March 16, 2009

NSFW Diapers

Last night, I made 4 "Not So Flat Wrap" diapers in about an hour and a half! That included all tracing, cutting the diapers, cutting the soakers, sewing the soakers in and sewing/topstitching the diapers. Not bad! I was so excited to use them today:

Spoiled:
Gir!!!
"I feel pretty."
Mighty Mouse:
The fourth one is red with the words "I'm here for the presents" written across the bottom. It was a shirt I wore at Christmas... takes on a whole new meaning as a diaper! LOL As you can see, I used some of my most favorite old t-shirts! So, not only did I get 4 FREE diapers, but I also uncluttered my t-shirt drawer! Bonus!

A friend of mine had made me one of these a while ago, but I hadn't been using it because I couldn't get it to fit D right. Plus, my pins kept leaving holes! Well, after I figured out how much I had to fold them over since they're so stretchy, and after my friend told me I need to be using my snappi to close it.... Well, then I figured out that these are the most awesome things ever! They are so trim, fit really nicely under her Bummis Super Bright covers, and are soooo cute! and FREE! and SOOO completely easy to make! =D I will definitely be making more.

Friday, March 13, 2009

in His time

The other day while perusing our yard for interesting plants and bugs, C noticed this plant covered in "spike-ies" and "pricklies". Intrigued by the budding weed, I snapped a few pictures holding C's magnifying glass in front of it:It was very thorny, and I had no idea what it was, except an unwanted weed in the yard. The rest of it (stem and leaves and whatnot) was rather ugly, generally unpleasant to look at, rough and abrasive, definitely not welcoming and enjoyable.
Lo and behold, the next morning I peeked out the window and saw the scarlet flower had emerged. I didn't go outside to take a better look, but when a friend stopped by she mentioned it was a poppy. I hadn't even noticed. Later, I went and got a better look at the pretty little flower.
Out of something ugly and unwanted, emerged a refreshing and beautiful flower, all in His time. Not mine, not the flower's, but His. This little flower gives me hope about so many other things in my life. Reassurance that some things that might be "ugly," "thorny," or "unpleasant" right now, will emerge into something wonderful in His time. All I have to do is be patient and trust His timing.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

My Day

was full of:
homeschooling...
ant watching...
laughs and giggles...
playdough making (and playing)...
pumpkin bread baking...
organizing for the garage sale...
playing at the park...
Bible study and fellowship...
blog updating!!!

this picture sums up my thoughts...

I am so blessed.
=)

Thursday, February 26, 2009

ugh... sickies

I had 3 events to go to today:

A "caffeine kicker" at a friends house (get together and chat- can you say adult conversation!?)
C's Preschool Co-op
Stamp Club (making cards!!)

And I couldn't go to any because C is sick =( She woke up this morning with a sore throat and a fever that got up to 103. ugh. Not fun, especially since it's a duty day. It always seems to happen that way.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

the elephant song

we can't stop singing this today =)

Friday, February 20, 2009

21st Century Learners




This is why I'm homeschooling my kids.

"If we learn by doing, what are we learning sitting here?" I love that.

I really feel that more technology should be used in education. All people need to know how to use today's (and tomorrow's!) technology for information, for creating, for communicating. Student's are not learning this in today's schools, unfortunately.

My children will of course know the basics to learning anything: reading and writing. Then we will push learning further into utilizing technology in age appropriate situations. C at age 3 already uses our computer! She uses the internet to watch videos I've selected. She knows that when we're emailing, we're talking to real people. She uses Paint to draw. And this does not make her special! Most children today, whose parents have some type of technology in the house, are growing up with it from birth! So why is it not prevalent in most schools?!

I found this video posted on The Mom With Brownies blog. Thanks for sharing it!

Our new orders

I didn't realize that I completely forgot to post about our orders.

So.... we are going to Virginia!

If you know T, you probably know that he never wanted to go back to Virginia after going to school there a few years ago. When we were up for orders we tried to go to Japan twice, we were denied both times. Then we tried for Washington State or California, and we were pretty much told that west coast was not an option for us. Which left us Virginia, Virginia, or Virginia to choose from. =) It turned out for the best though, Tony and his best friend found a ship they could both go to, so that's where they're going.

We will all be going to Virginia in April for house hunting. Then I will stay with the girls and cats, and he will come back to Sicily until the end of May or first week of June. I will keep house hunting if we didn't find something we liked (we're going to be buying hopefully.) And hopefully have a house ready for us to set up by the time T gets there.

We're starting to get ready now. We're very excited to be going back stateside! We miss it very much. Three years here has been quite long enough. =) So, please, keep us in your prayers for this transition!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

hidden food, slow food, etc.

It's been a while since I've posted about food! Everyone knows my weirdness about food. Love cooking, love baking, but it better be healthy.... =)

So, how was I the only person on the planet who didn't know about the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld? I hardly ever buy nonvegan cookbooks anymore, so when I saw this at the Nex I was surprised that I was considering purchasing it. I talked myself out of it the first day, only to come back a week later to go ahead and buy it. I mean seriously, hiding pureed veggies into foods? Why didn't I think of that?! Now, C will try just about any vegetable... try, but not necessarily eat a whole serving. So, this definitely piqued my interest.

Honestly, the main reason I bought it was for the whole first part about what veggies to use for purees and how long to cook them. With the recipes, I figured I could veganize the ones I wanted to try. I've made the tacos, the pink pancakes (made with beets,) and the tofu cutlets so far. Beyond that, I have been basically adding pureed veggies to anything and everything that I cook. My spaghetti now has either extra carrots or squash included, and that basil pesto pasta that C loves? haha, it's got broccoli. =)

This has been very helpful making quick food (i.e. pasta) healthier since I've started going to cardio class at 5:30 PM. In my opinion, that's the worst time for a class, since it's our dinner time, but if I want to go I have to work around it. So, I had been cooking around 4:00 - 4:30 so that we could eat around 5:00. Thankfully, the class is literally across the street from our house! I hate to admit, we had spaghetti quite a few times in the past few months. LOL One week, I remember making it twice within a few days, and T said, "Spaghetti again?"

"Hey! I gotta hurry," I said, "and I added a salad this time, so it's special!" heh.

Lately, though, I've been trying to solve the time crunch problem by using my crockpot instead of resorting to quick cooking pasta. Love the crockpot! Yesterday, we had a South African Bobotie type dish from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. I served it with some green beans, and it was yummy. Everyone liked it. Today we had a BBQ vegetables dish from the same book, again, a keeper. Tomorrow, I'm trying a slow cooker potpie. I'm really enjoying it because it allows me to cook when I still have energy (mid morning or lunch time,) and I can leave it to cook all day when I'm at base (like today,) and have time to actually eat instead of cook right before workouts and Bible study! Very nice. I'm also hoping to try a few recipes from A Year of Crockpotting. She has a few vegetarian recipes I thought looked pretty good.

I'm also going to be making my first loaf of bread soon! I've been meaning to for a while, but just haven't set the time aside to do it. I'm hoping this weekend will be it. Hopefully, I'll get good enough at my basic recipe, so I can start searching A Year in Bread for some more exciting recipes. =D

So, those are my food adventures lately. OH! and this recipe will be made very very soon: Chocolate Covered Cherry Pudding over at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. Oh, go take a look, that recipe looks absolutely divine!

Monday, February 16, 2009

morning musing

I love how 3 drops of neon blue food dye in pancake batter make me the coolest mom on the planet.
=D

Thursday, February 12, 2009

So how do I really feel about Valentine's?

Yesterday, while at base, I ran in to the grocery store (by myself!!) T had stayed behind with the girls. I was routinely checking my list as I raced down the aisles to find the few things we needed. As I was reaching to the top shelf for Chocolate Silk, C's favorite drink in the whole wide world, I dropped my grocery list. When I realized it, I had two cartons in my hands, so I readjusted to be able to hold both and be able to bend down to pick up my list. Well, an older man was standing near me, saw my list, and picked it up for me.

"You should be careful where you drop your lists, you never know what someone can tell about you from them." huh? I just smiled nicely, thanked him for the list, and put my soymilk into my cart. "I could tell just what kind of person you are from your list."

"Oh yeah?" I said.

He nodded, "May I?" I thought about it and decided I wanted to hear what he was going to say, thinking he would get it all wrong. I handed him the small notepad paper.

"Hmm... You are a very nice person. You live one day at a time, very easy going. 'Help me get through the day' is your motto. You're very emotional, but you try to hide it," he started. Yeah... but that would apply to most women, I thought. "You get angry, but you don't stay mad for long." Again, true... but a lot of people are like that. "Wait, what's wrong with Valentine's Day? You're mad about something with Valentine's Day."

"ummm..." I thought about it as I looked at the line he was pointing to: Valentine's Treats. Am I mad about Valentine's? I don't think so... Unless... Oh maybe. "Oh," I answered, "I guess that'd be because my husband has duty."

"Oh yeah, that's a bummer. I'm sorry," he answered. I think he was pleased that he'd picked that up. "You see how everything is straight, except for Valentine's? That's what it means. It's the only word that dips like that," he pointed out.

He went on to talk about other stuff, but I was still stuck on the Valentine's line. I was highly amused. After he was done, I admitted everything was, in fact, right on about me. It made me wonder if this was just a hobby of his, or if he was a civilian working on his 2nd retirement with the military or something, banking the money while analyzing people's handwriting. That would be a cool job, if that is a job. Who knows. If it was just a hobby, can you imagine how torturous it would be to go to the grocery store? Seeing so many people with lists that you just want to grab and run three aisles away so you can analyze it? Either way, whether it was a hobby or his job, I got a kick out of it.

And if I had been writing a note or list right then, I think it would have showed I was subconsciously trying to prolong my solo trip in the store. heh.

=D

Thursday, January 29, 2009

What My Life Looks Like Now

Me and My Girls

C's usually doing something crazy while D is constantly looking for food:
Unless of course, her big sister is bothering her... then she's just looking annoyed.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Thank goodness I blog....

T came home (super late) yesterday from work, and told me that we had gotten a speeding ticket. Now, getting speeding tickets here is so much different from in the states, except that they obviously involve people speeding. Instead of being pulled over by a sneaky cop hiding on the side of the highway and instantly knowing you're screwed, here, they have little cameras set up on the guardrails of the highway (only when they need funding, really.) And they always target Americans, because unlike Italians who laugh off tickets, we have to pay before we can leave the island. The camera takes a picture of your car and its license plate and then later, you find out that you received a ticket. How much later?

Our ticket was for May 5th, 2008.

Nice.

T said, "It's you."

"Please," I answered, "I never speed. Plus, I was already pregnant with D, so I definitely wouldn't have been speeding." But, the chance of it being me was driving me crazy. I am constantly getting on to T to slow down. (Granted, you can never really tell what exactly the speed limit is, but I've heard 60 mph is our limit.) If the ticket was his, oh well, I wouldn't care. I've warned him a million times, if he wants to spend his money on an (expensive) speeding ticket, then he can just go ahead. But if it was me.... I knew he wouldn't let me live it down.

So, I found my planner/calendar. and flipped back to May 08. Nothing was written in, I didn't start using it until July. grrr.... I went and found a MOMS Club calendar from May 08... no event, so I could have possibly been at base.... Then I thought, "I'll check my blog and see what I wrote. Maybe we had an appointment to go to."

May 5, 2008:
"We bought a kite for C today, and took her to the park to fly it as soon as we got home from base."
Ha! So, if we were all at base, then T was driving. He always drives when we're together, because apparently I drive too slow.

LOL

haha

This was in my inbox today from a parenting email. Made me laugh, so I thought I'd share. =)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

When I finally get the chance

to blog about one of the many things I've been meaning to blog...

my brain turns to mush.

Don't know what that's all about.

Maybe it's this rainy weather.

I'll blame it on that.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Stolen Pic of J

I stole this from my sister's friend's myspace. This is my nephew, J. I can't wait to meet him. Looks like he is such a character. =)

just some thoughts

the baby is sleeping, so I'll blog, since my blog posts have been few and far between.

this morning I woke up feeling like you know what. It's a head cold or something. =(

I get so annoyed at C saying, "Mommy, I'm staaarving." no you're not. You have no idea. And besides, you just ate less than an hour ago.

Most of my kid free time is being spent sewing diapers for D and my nephew, J, and C's bear.

Or at workout. I've been going to a cardio class 2x a week. Loving that. I'm going to start weights soon.

I gained 30 lbs with D. I have 10 left to lose.

Our next Bible study has started. We're reading Having a Mary Spirit. Already love this book.

Speaking of Amazon... I'm so mad. My last box came in with a craft book and four patterns I ordered, completely trashed and soaked. The book was folded to fit into the box that was too small, and it and the patterns are useless. They better refund my money.

I have had so many things to blog about and no time to do it. =) Here in Sig. that's probably a good thing I'm staying so busy.

Monday, January 12, 2009

It's been raining all day....

fitting the mood.

I just found out that my great grandma passed away last night. It was expected. She lived a long life and we were blessed to have her for so many years.

I wish I lived closer. Wish I could have visited more than two or three times in the past 3 years.


Wish I could be there to support my grandma and mom.

But it is not in God's plan. I will be home soon enough, and I know He will take care of everyone and everything.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

I got it!

If you've been reading my blog for a while... (uhh family, LOL) remember that book I wanted when we first got here? Persephone and the Pomegranate? I found it! Finally, after two years, the price went down on Amazon. And I found a non Ex-Library copy! Like new! AHH!! I'm so excited. The best part? I didn't pay $88.... only $20. =D I'm super excited. I can't wait for it to get here.