Sweet Home New Mexico

Things I'm looking forward to..

2012-01-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

January has always been a tough month for me. I find it hard to get back to normal life after three straight months of holiday merriment beginning with the arrival of the fall season and ending at New Years. I'm always ready for it to be February, because at least my birthday is that month and it's one month closer to warmer tempatures. I am definitely a spring/summer/fall girl. The winter doesn't do much for me. Maybe when we live in Utah next year and can go skiing/sledding, etc, it will mean a little more to me, but right now, well, yeah. Not to wish my life away, but I'm pretty glad there are only three days left in the month.

I always like to have things to look forward to in January, or any time really. I'm really, really excited about our upcoming move to Utah this summer. There are about a million options for me and the kids within arms reach, and the possiblity of a lighter workload for David. There will be kids museums, all the outdoor options we have living near the mountains, not to mention a Costco and a Target in my zip code. SO excited. I have had to put myself on time-out from searching for houses, though. The rental market there has so much variety and you get so much more house for your money out there vs. here in Clovis. We haven't decided whether or not we are going to live on base or not. It will depend on a variety of things. But if we choose to live off-base, I'm finding really great rentals now that I know won't be available in July when we move. So I'm making myself (mostly) stay off the rental websites until about April as to curb the disappointment of missing out on a great house.

I did our taxes last week and discovered we will be getting a really great return this year. While there are a lot of good things we could do with that money (put it toward paying off our van, divy it up and put it into kids savings accounts for college or missions), we decided we are going to take a portion of it and make some memories instead. We are going to DISNEYLAND over Spring Break!!
It's about 14 hrs from here. Flagstaff, AZ is smack in the middle, so we will stop and spend the night there and take in a little bit of the Grand Canyon. Then we will drive the rest of the way to Anaheim. We are going to stay in one of the Disney resorts and everything. I'm not sure who is more excited; me and David or the kids. We LOVE Disney. I have such fond memories of going with my parents as a kid. My Grandma lived an hour from Orlando, so I was fortunate to have been able to visit quite a bit as a child and teenager. I went to Disneyland one day with my cousin Yvonne when I was visiting her one summer (she lived in San Diego). But I've never stayed in the park. And as fun as it was when I was a kid/teenager, taking my kids a few years ago was about the most fun I have had in my life. I didn't know we would have the opportunity to go again so soon, but I'm thankful David was agreeable to my plan and is excted with me. I have a cousin that lives in L.A., so we will be able to spend some time with him and his family, and do some other sight-seeing around L.A. before we head home. We'll be spending three days at the Resort and in the park. There are just two parks at Disneyland, so I'm certain we'll be able to see and do all that we want, especially because we get in early since we are staying in one of the Disney resorts. We're eating breakfast with Goofy one day, the Princesses another, and I am SO excited. Sara Katherine was at a great age the last time we went. She was about 2 1/2 and remembers a lot. Elyse will be younger than that and I doubt she'll remember this trip, but I still think we'll have a great time.

Another big thing we are doing with this return is buying a nice camera. We've gone through a couple cheap digital cameras, and I've just had enough of buying them and having to replace them. I want good, crisp, clean pictures of my kids. They will only be little once; I don't just want good pictures to document their childhoods, I want GREAT ones. I found a FANTASTIC deal on a Canon T3i Rebel on Amazon complete with the accessory kit, and so we just went for it. Now I just have to figure out how to use it beyond the automatic functions. I've been wanting one of these cameras for years, and I'm thankful we could just buy one outright.

The thing coming up next I am so excited about is I'm going to see the Broadway Play, Wicked, in El Paso! I've seen Phantom of the Opera in Atlanta, Aida on Broadway in NYC, Billy Joel's Movin' Out on Broadway in Boston, and so I think this will be my 4th Broadway show. I don't know much about Wicked except that everyone who sees it LOVES it. So some girlfriends and I are headed to El Paso next weekend. I'm calling it an early birthday present, and David is off the hook for having to do any birthday shopping, obviously. I'm thankful he is willing to tend to the kiddos solo so I can go. He's a good man.

Also, the week before we leave for California, I am going to the same Breastfeeding Convention/Conference in Albuquerque I went too last year, but this time solo. My mom has graciously agreed to take some leave from work and fly in to tend the kiddos for the few days I'll be gone. At first I had said I'd pull the kids out of school and she could watch them in Albuquerque, but we decided it would just be easier on everyone if she watched them here at home. David will be in Florida for work so if she hadn't flown in, I wouldn't have been able to go. It's a really great conference information-wise, and I'll also be able to make a nice chunk of change to put toward our Disney trip. Not to mention I have no idea what I will do being completely by myself for three days. Don't get me wrong, 99.5% of the time I love being a stay-at-home mom, and I certainly love my kids 100% of the time. But I'm already making plans for things to do when I'm not in the conference. A movie by myself, roaming the book store by myself, and maybe even a museum or two by myself. All by myself! It will be nice for a few days, and every good mom should take an opportunity to have a few days to herself if she has the chance. So I am!

That should get me through March, then it's looking forward to Utah! I feel so very blessed in my life. I love my husband, I love my children, I am thankful for the stability of David's job, and I am thankful for my church which brings peace always; even through the dark days of January! Here's to making memories!

Elyse's 2nd Birthday

2012-01-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

So Elyse's first birthday was pretty lame. She was sick; David was out of town. It was just lame. I promised I would do better for her second birthday, but yeah, I didn't. FAIL.

David was here this time, but I pretty much saw none of him in January. He had two back-to-back trials, magistrate court in the middle of it, a trip to Alabama to the JAG school, plus all the other office stuff he has to do on top of courts. I heftily dislike January anyway (post Christmas let down, it's cold, etc, etc) so having David not be around was just the icing on the cake.

I knew David wouldn't be home on the night of her actual birthday. My next door neighbor talked me into doing something to recognize her birthday, so we went to McDonalds (don't judge; we don't have a whole lotta options in this town!), I brought some cupcakes, and we let the kids play.

The Sunday after her birthday we actually had David around for dinner, so I made a beans and rice cake (her favorite food molded into the shape of a cake) and we ate it with chicken fajitas.
Sara Katherine wanted to make her cupcakes so I let her. She pretty much did them all by herself, including icing them. I think she'll be pretty handy to me in the kitchen in the next few years. My friend Sara had sent the kids some paper garland she made, so I strung that up and she opened her presents after dinner.

I think it was a fine enough birthday for a two year old who is likely not to remember any of it, the other two just got a lot more for their first and second birthdays, so I feel a little guilty about that. Of course, we did live near family for their first and second birthdays, so we had more reason to do a little more. So Elyse, when you're reading this twenty years from now and you see the disparity in your first few birthday parties and your brother and sister's, don't think I loved you any less! I will do you a special cake next year, I PROMISE!

And she weighed 28 lbs at her well check! She's finally got some good weight on her (and a cute little pot belly too). She has had a runny nose for seriously the last six months and has had several ear infections. I can't wait to get her to the ENT next month where they will hopefully put in some tubes. She doesn't sleep well for all the congestion she keeps. It's hard for me to believe she is 2 because she still looks so much like a baby to me. She doesn't have much hair, she still has about four teeth that haven't come in, and she's smaller than my other two at this age. She has the most firey personality of my kids. She's very sure about what she wants or doesn't want. And she's the first child I have had that gets in trouble for hitting, and the first one that will outright tell me 'no'. It's mildly horrifying. One kid at her mom's day out group wouldn't give her the toy she wanted, so she took her shoe off and threw it at him! Eeek! What do you do?? Despite her little temper, I love her to pieces. She doesn't say much (I think because she can't hear well because of all the fluid that stays in her ears, which I think leads to her little frustration tantrums), but her little vocabulary is expanding and I love to hear her call for me.

I love you, Lysie Lou! Happy 2nd birthday!

Ethan loses his first tooth!

2012-01-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

After church a couple Sundays ago, Ethan came to me telling me his loose tooth was hurting him. It had been loose for awhile, and he was sooooo ready to lose a tooth. He's the youngest kid in his class at school, and everyone else had lost at least one tooth! It wasn't hanging on by much, and I didn't want him to swallow it by accident (how would I explain the whole tooth fairy to him if that happened?), so I just reached in his mouth and yanked it out. He was so excited that he didn't put it under his pillow the first night because he wanted to take it to school and show his friends first. The tooth fairy left him $5 for the first tooth, but don't worry, she's not always going to be that generous or she'd go broke! My camera is dead and I have no idea where the charger is, so all I have is this crummy picture off my Droid. I want a Cannon T3i baaaaadddd. Buy another camera charger or a Cannon T3i? Hmmmmm.

The crazy thing is after I pulled his tooth, I cried. I look at his snaggle-toothed smile and am just a little weepy that my baby boy is growing up and old enough to lose teeth. Next comes the birds and bees talk, which isn't nearly as much fun as losing your first tooth. He is just such a great kid. He causes no problems for me at all. He does nothing that makes me want to pull my hair out, unlike my little girls. My girls test and try my patience in ways that are hard to imagine, but Ethan does not. I think much of it is just the personality he came to Earth with. I remind myself often (and especially when I'm at wits end with the girls) that this is such a short season of my life, raising small children. It's hard and sometimes heartbreaking, but it is just a small season and will all-to-soon pass. And with Ethan, that season of him being small and totally dependent on me is coming to a close, and I have bittersweet emotions about that. I can't wait to watch him grow up and become an adult. I know with no doubt he is going to do great, big things in his life. GREAT BIG. The rest of his life begins with losing teeth. Sad, but true.

The Christmas Round-Up

2011-12-30T21:49:00.001-08:00

Our gingerbread house tradition. Sara Katherine clearly loves it because it involves eating some of the decorations!
Cutting out Gingerbread cookies with Grandma.
Cutting out and decorating sugar cookies. (No shortage of cookies around here...)

Treats ready to be delivered!
We made reindeer rootbeer for our neighbors!Ethan tracking Santa (on the kitchen counter top?) Christmas Eve on the Norad website. Stockings!
After Santa came!
Santa's thank-you note for his cookies, because that is good manners ya know!

The aftermath. We just did stockings and a few presents, then went to church, then came home to finish presents.
Lunch after church! Festive!This was the first year our Elf on the Shelf came to stay with us. The kids named him Elfie Theodore. I can already tell this is going to be one our favorite Christmas traditions. The kids had SO much fun looking to see where he would move to each morning. He came to watch the kids open presents on Christmas morning then went back to the North Pole Christmas night! So fun!We took the kids to the Kid's Science Museum in Lubbock one day...so fun!

She insisted David take her training wheels off her bike and she rode it by herself!
Her play-dough creation.

Christmas Card Pictures 2011

2011-12-28T23:22:00.000-08:00

Awwww...

2011-12-16T23:10:00.000-08:00

I thought this was so sweet until David suggested her hand may be on his face in her attempt to get him to stop snoring. I'm going to go with it was more of a "I just love my bubba" hand-on-the-face.

All because two people fell in love.

2011-12-16T22:19:00.000-08:00

The nature of families causes me great wonderment. The love two people share can create generations and generations of families and life and love. I am glad that both of David's grandparents on his mother's side are still living and are able to live at home and care for themselves. I'm thankful my children will have memories of them and their home. We stop by every visit home, and I really enjoy our visits there. Sara Katherine carries their Yorkie around like a baby (and she tolerates that very well), Grandad usually reads to one or all of the kids, and Grandad is also the one that taught Ethan to play chess. (I'm almost 32 and I don't know how to play chess!) Nana tries to feed us "toasted cheese" sandwiches every.time we visit, and we always sing our blessings on the food in her home while we hold hands. Those are all things that will create good, happy memories for my kids, and for me as well. Grandad always kisses me on the cheek, and it brings back memories of my own grandfather doing the same thing. They are just really special visits, and I'm thankful we have had them. I hope we have many more.

On our way back from Alabama last week, we were able to visit Nana and Grandad's. It was a pretty monumental occasion because for the first time in a year, all the Rick and Kim Ennis kids, spouses, and grandkids were together in the same place. I actually had my act together and had everyone's Christmas done, so we were able to watch everyone open their gifts, which is a lot of fun for me.

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Ethan's First B.B. Gun

2011-12-16T21:43:00.001-08:00

I'm pretty sure this deserves its own post. As many of you know, my dad is the proudest card-carrying member of the NRA in the entire state of Alabama, arguably in the entire southeast, maybe in the entire country. If they ever take his guns away, he will leave the United States and go to wherever he and his guns can live together, and that is not an exaggeration. I grew up around guns...lots of them. Hunting rifles, shotguns, pistols, etc. He carries a loaded pistol in every vehicle and probably has one in every room of his home. He never, ever kept any of his guns unloaded. "What the hell good is an unloaded gun?" was what he would say. Classic Billy Hendrix. I was taught to respect them, not fear them.

He bought Ethan this 70th edition Red Rider BB gun last year, but decided at five Ethan may be a little young for it. Six, however, was old enough! As a side note, he has also already bought Ethan a full-on shotgun, but has informed him he has to be nine before he can have that one. My dad was nine when he got his first shotgun, so I guess Ethan will be old enough at nine as well. I'm just glad David really likes guns. That can be their thing together. I like to shoot a pistol, but the rifles and such don't interest me at all.

So this is Ethan taking his very first shot with his very first b.b. gun. It's like Sara Katherine and her princess birthday party...a rite of passage. He's a very responsible little boy, thankfully. I see many father/son dates including this gun in David and Ethan's future.Dad teaching him how to load it.He's a natural!My little Annie Oakley. We wouldn't let her hold it by herself, and probably won't for a.while.

And for a trip down memory lane, Ethan's interest in guns began over four years ago...for proof see here (this post oddly enough was posted on my dad's birthday):

http://rolltideennisfamily.blogspot.com/2007/09/future-nra-member.html

Santa Clause comes to Grandma's House!

2011-12-12T23:52:00.000-08:00

My Uncle Bobby happens to be best friends with Santa Clause. He comes down from the North Pole to visit with children at the Bass Pro Shop if you didn't know. My Uncle Bobby asked him if he would stop by my mom's house while we were in Alabama last week to visit with us before going to Bass Pro. Ethan and Sara Katherine were thrilled, shocked and awed; Elyse wanted nothing to do with him.

He told us about how our Elf on a Shelf (the kids named him "Elfie Theodore") reports to him every night on their behavior. They discussed their Christmas lists and Sara Katherine gave him lots and lots of hugs. It was pretty magical. I hope it's something they will remember forever.

Breaking Dawn, Baby!

2011-12-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

One of my very fun friends here, Carlee, loves the Twilight series like I do. In honor of the release of the 1st movie of the 4th book, she went ALL OUT and threw a Breaking Dawn pre-movie party. I mean, just look at how awesome she is:

She has four kids, but is not pregnant now. She stuffed a sweatshirt in her shirt so she could be like Bella!!!

She had in vampire teeth and a werewolf tail. I LOVE her.

Safe to say it is my friends here that will be the reason I am crying my eyes out when we're driving away from here in six months. I love these ladies so much.

So ready for the last movie! Aaahhhh! The anticipation is almost too much!

Naughty or Nice?

2011-11-29T15:33:00.001-08:00

Which have you been this year??

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T23:31:00.001-08:00

For our last Thanksgiving in Clovis, David's family made the trek from Memphis and Mississippi to spend the holiday with us. I was seriously so happy to host this holiday in my home. In our nearly seven years of marriage, we have always had Thanksgiving somewhere else, which is fine, but seeing as how this is one holiday that centers almost entirely around and about food, it was only fitting that I get to host it at least once before my kids are grown.

My sister-in-law and her husband and their precious baby boy arrived ahead of everyone else. I had spent hours combing through cookbooks and cooking websites trying to figure out exactly what I wanted the menu to be. I compiled all my recipes, printed them out, taped them to every cabinet door I have (an awesome idea that I will do from now on when I am preparing multiple things at once), and my sister-in-law and I went to work on Wednesday. I think we probably spent at least 12hours preparing that meal. It was so much fun. I was so glad she was there to cook with me. Cooking is always more fun when you have a buddy, even when you love it like I do. My father-in-law pitched in and did several sinkfuls of dishes while everyone else entertained the kiddos, which is as much of a gift as doing dishes!

David was in charge of the turkey and I slid the spiral ham in the oven to warm, but together Megan and I made: homemade cornbread dressing (thank you Paula Dean!), cranberry made with fresh cranberries, fresh green beans wrapped in bacon and drizzled with a brown sugar/soy sauce mixture, sweet potato casserole made with a praline top (David is not a fan of marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes), mashed potatoes, butternut parmesan squash gratin, strawberry jello salad with a pretzel crust, and rolls I shaped into a giant turkey (courtesy of Pinterest, of course). For dessert we had a traditional pecan pie as well as a coconut cake and a pumpkin crunch cake I would eat ten times over a pumpkin pie any day of the week and twice on Thanksgiving. That recipe will have to find its way to the cooking blog. It was fabulous. And I made spiced cranberry punch to drink. It was one of the most satisfying meals I have ever eaten. I have a newfound appreciation for my grandmother and mothers who have prepared big meals like this for a crowd dozens of times. You just have no idea how much work goes into planning and preparing a meal like that until you've done it.

The family left Sunday morning and the leftovers are nearly gone. It was such a great visit. Just lots of eating, visiting, and me not having to pick out clothes for my kids to wear and not having to brush Sara Katherine's hair or Elyse's teeth. I was pretty much absolved of all of my normal mom duties and it was great. The grandparents took the kiddos to see the new Muppets movie while David and I went and picked up our live Christmas tree from Lowes. (We are super excited about cutting down our own next year in Utah. David and I both love real trees, and our only option here on the high plains of New Mexico is to buy one at a store!) The fall decorations are almost all put away, and now I get to start dragging out my bins and bins and bins of Christmas decorations with which David has a love/hate relationship.

The most wonderful time of the year? I think so.

Ethan ate the entire turkey leg.

The post-Thanksgiving coma.

Thankful Tree

2011-11-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

Seems the only good ideas I have come courtesy of pinterest.com these days. I saw this idea of doing a thankful tree and loved it. A new family tradition was born! We did it last night, and it was a rare family home evening success. Ethan taught us our lesson about what it means to be thankful and read us some scriptures. We were sharing things we were thankful for and writing them on leaves to attach to our little tree. Ethan was thankful for school so that he can learn, for our family, and the Earth. We had to guess what Elyse was thankful for, so we picked Pepper (because she does truly love that dog), fun family trips (because David and I like those) and trees because she was pointing and grunting at the leaves. And my dear Sara Katherine...she is also thankful for her family, her house, and above all, thankful for food. Is she my child or what?? :)

The thing I am most thankful for above all else is my Savior. I couldn't be thankful for anything else I have or love if not for Him. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

A weekend in the woods.

2011-11-14T21:20:00.000-08:00

I have enjoyed my time in New Mexico, and I can even say with honesty that I have enjoyed it very much. But one thing I have really missed is trees. Trees and green. Clovis is a flat, flat, desert place. There is a little mountain town about three hours from here that has been on the list of places we wanted to visit in New Mexico before we left. The stars aligned and we were able to make that happen this past weekend. With it being Veteran's Day weekend, David had Friday off. It is rare that when he has a three day weekend that it is a true three day weekend. He either is prepping for court, has the on-call phone, or just has too much work to do to really do nothing for the entire long weekend. I'm glad it worked out for us to go breathe some mountain air in Ruidoso.

I have to say I have got this camping with kids thing figured out. As long as we still have kids in diapers, I am a big fan of cabin camping. They were having great military discounts for different cabins in Ruidoso, so we rented one with a hot tub and an outdoor fire pit that was up in the mountains, and it had a beautiful view as a bonus! It was awesome. Best of all worlds. We had the firepit outside to do smores and hobo dinners, Dish network so we could watch the Alabama game Saturday night, a hot tub on the deck to take in the full moon, and a fireplace inside to add to the coziness factor and to top it off, soft king size beds.

No sleeping bags on the hard ground here! There will be at time and place for that in our lives, but it will probably be in the Wasatch mountains in Utah during the summer! It got down into the low thirties at night, so tent camping wouldn't have been an option anyway. We had a full kitchen and David chose to cook bacon over the fire pit. Sara Katherine got a big kick out of that.The woods where our cabin was were covered up with very friendly mule deer. Elyse would excitedly point to them and the horses at the stable and would exclaim, "COW!!!" Poor child. She is surrounded by ranches and dairy farms on all sides here in Clovis. Cows are the only animals she can readily identify except for dogs.

David got up early Saturday morning and took the big kids fishing. After breakfast, we went to one of the stables in town and David took the big kids horseback riding. I was okay to just hang with Elyse. This particular stable would have let her ride, but I didn't think she would take too well to being on a horse for an hour long trail ride, even if she was in front of me or David.My little cowgirl. I love that I caught this picture of her. I think it shows much of her wild little carefree spirit. My little cowboy. It was his first time to ride a horse by himself!

After horseback riding, David took the big kids fishing again while Elyse and I took a long afternoon nap. It was so great. We went to church Sunday morning and were going to go on a little nature hike before we headed home Sunday afternoon, but Sara Katherine proceeded to puke not once, but twice in the car. So instead we decided to call it a fun weekend and head home. Ethan was so sad he didn't get to hike in the woods. We took the Billy the Kid scenic highway home, which is a bit longer distance-wise, but such a beautiful drive.See?

We stopped in the TEENY TINY town of Lincoln where Billy the Kid broke out of jail and killed two men on his way out. He wound up in Fort Sumner, NM about 45 minutes from Clovis where he was shot by the sheriff of Lincoln a couple months later. And thus the legend was born. We went through the museum in the old courthouse. That seemed enough to satisfy Ethan, and I figure we will never, ever pass through Lincoln, New Mexico ever again, as it is well off the beaten path. Billy the Kid is so iconic, I didn't want to miss the chance to see where he became famous. I was amazed at how little that town must have NOT changed in the last 150 years. No stores, no gas stations, no nothing but the few buildings that were there in Billy the Kid's day. I have no idea where those people go to shop. It really looks like a town where they should all still be riding around in horse and buggy and killing what they eat. And the thing is, the town isn't made to stay that way for tourists, it's just how the town is. The town didn't have a jail when Billy was being held, so they made a makeshift jail in the top floor of the courthouse where they held all the roughians. And in case you're wondering how Billy became an outlaw to begin with, he and his family migrated to New Mexico from New York. He was working for a storekeeper in Lincoln when the storekeeper was killed. From what I could gather, pretty much there were two warring cattle ranchers and you were either one side or the other and people just fought and killed each other all the time over everything from stolen horses to stolen women. There were at least ten sheriffs on the wall of that tiny town that had been killed in the line of duty. Yikes. Anyway, when the storekeeper was killed for which Billy worked, that is said to be the event that catoupoulted him into a life of lawlessness.I know I don't do her any favors when I don't dress her in pink, but we again heard what a cute little boy we have on this day. C'mon hair and grow! :)
This is the only known photo of Billy the Kid.

I'm thankful for the opportunity we had to escape from the responsibilities of home for a few days and just focus on each other. It's hard to do that sometimes at home when you always have a long list of projects and to-do lists to distract you. It was a great weekend. We're back to the grind now, but refreshed.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, off to UTAH we go!

2011-11-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

So. David got a call from JAG Headquarters in D.C. This morning. They wanted to know if we had any objections to being sent to Hill AFB in Utah. It is in between Salt Lake City and Ogden, about thirty miles north of Salt Lake. I thought it was weird they were asking us if it was okay, especially since it was on our preference sheet and since the Air Force isn't known for making sure assignments are "okay" before they assign you, but hey, whatever! We're going to Utah! Or at least that's the plan for now, so I'm going with it! I've learned over the last couple years that things do change in the Air Force, but I'd like to hope this assignment will stick!

I was really hoping for a foreign assignment, preferrably somewhere in Europe, but as David told me where we are going, I felt such a sweet, calm peace. I know we are headed to exactly the right place. I have no doubts about that, and I'm really excited! I have faith that we will land in Europe later in our career, and it will be nice to live there when all the kids can wipe their own hineys and bathe themselves. I think that will make travelling while there much easier!

I have visited Utah several times, and I'm very excited to live near the mountains with so many outdoorsy opportunities. I'm excited to live in a place that has so much to do for small children. It will be different being a majority as far as religion is concerned. Being Mormon, I've been a minority all my life, so this will be a definite change. In the entire town of Montgomery there are three Mormon churches; in Utah, there is one on every block! I'm excited to be have a temple just minutes away instead of hours away. And an IKEA! I'm only 45 miles from an IKEA! I hope living in Boston through two winters has prepared me for all the snow. I've never done snow every day with kids. That is possibly the only thing I am not looking forward too.

I've done a little looking at housing, but am not going to waste too much time on it now since we don't move for another six months. Our housing allowance goes up a little, but the houses are so much better for the money there. And they have nice privatized base housing as well. There are tons of options! That's something we didn't have a lot of here; housing options.

So, that's the latest news from us! We have several friends in Utah so that will be nice to be able to connect with them...I'm excited all the way around to head to the Beehive State!

The Halloween Marathon

2011-11-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

It's a good thing I love Halloween, because it lasts forever in our house. Between the church trunk or treat, school Halloween parties and friend Halloween parties, the actual trick-or-treating on Halloween day is kind of like, eh. At least for me anyway. My kids have dressed up at least three or four times by the time it gets to that point, but they still are super excited on Halloween night so I guess that is all that is important.

Ethan's coustume was easy this year. He wanted to be Mario. I really wanted him to be something else (anything else), but I also want my kids to be what they want to be. There's not a whole lot of decisions they make completely on their own at this stage of life, but deciding on a Halloween costume can be one of them. So Mario he was. My mom got the other two Halloween costumes for Elyse and Sara Katherine at a consignment sale for like, $6 total. Just a little talking up Pochoantas got Sara Katherine all excited and thankfully she didn't already have something else in mind so she was easily swayed. Elyse wasn't so sure about the cat costume at first, but warmed up after the 2nd or 3rd time she wore it!

Now I'm gearing up for Thanksgiving. Most of David's family will be with us, and it's the first Thanksgiving I've ever hosted at my house. I'm excited! Fall Festival at the Base in one of the Plane Hangars. It was a lot of fun!

Trunk or Treat at ChurchHalloween Night

First snow...in October!

2011-11-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

It is not normal for our part of New Mexico to get snow in October, but here you have it anyway, on October 27. It was a freak show of nature. We have strange weather here almost all of the time, and this is a perfect example of that. We woke up to a thick, white blanket of snow, but the kids still had school, so they had to wait to play in it until after Ethan got home from school. It snowed hard and steady for hours, and I think we wound up with about three inches before it warmed up later that afternoon and began melting. It took a couple days for it all to go away. The kids had a blast, played in it until they were numb, then came in and drank hot chocolate with marshmallows.
I spent the day listening to Christmas music and burning Christmas smelling scents in my Scentsy burner. I was already over Halloween anyway by that point, so the pretty winter wonderland of snow did nothing to gear me up for the two Halloween parties we attended that weekend followed by trick-or-treating on Monday. I'm hoping for another white Christmas...this was a nice teaser! It finally feels like fall now, and I am definitely enjoying the cooler weather and the smell of smoke out of chimneys in the neighborhood. David built our first fire the night it snowed. I love fall!The snow was wet, heavy, and gross. David would have gotten out there anyway and played with the kids, but I was content to stay inside with Elyse who was content to just look at it through the door with our next door neighbor's child.
I couldn't find Elyse, then I heard giggling from inside the cabinet. She loves to lock herself in dark, small places. She doesn't get that from me. She locks herself in the dark laundry room and I only notice she's in there because I hear her laughing to herself.
A lot of the snow had melted by the time Ethan got out of school, and thanks to our drought this summer, we just wound up with a big mud pit in our back yard. It was so gross. Ethan still managed to build a small snowman and get a few snowballs, though.

Our next door neighbors mean the kids have built-in playmates!

Elyse found Ethan's Mario hat from his Halloween costume and decided she wanted to look like a little Parisian baby. Cute, eh?

The Most Amazing Ride of my Life!

2011-11-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

There are some definite perks to being a military spouse. It's a hard job, being married to the military. Harder still when you're married to the military and have children, but you won't find me complaining about the job. (Okay, well, rarely ever find me complaining about the job!). We have the best health care in the country, a housing allowance, a food allowance, we are only taxed on our base salary that doesn't include the allowances which puts in a low enough tax category so that right now at this point in our career, we qualify for the earned income credit. Yeah, we really do. We have job security, guaranteed raises, discounts pretty much everywhere we go, bonuses and loan forgiveness for our law school loans if we hang in there at least eight more years, which we will. In this economy, we would be absolute fools not too. I have a great sense of satisfaction that my husband is serving his country and in my own way, I am serving it too.

The trade-off is we kind of live a life that isn't our own. We don't get to decide where to live, and just because David has vacation time doesn't mean we get to take it. The mission of the Air Force trumps all. ALL. And I'm okay with that. I'm so thankful for whatever it is that prompted us to seek this path while David was in law school, and what's funny is neither one of us can really remember what it was. I honestly believe had we not gone down this path, David would be just another out-of-work attorney right now, not because he's not smart enough or good enough, but because there are just no jobs. And then if we were lucky enough to have a civilian job, we'd be going broke paying insurance co-pays and deductibles. Seriously, the health care alone seals the deal for me as far as our military career goes. It is so comforting not to have to worry about any medical bills of any kind, ever.

One of the other definite 'ups' to being married to the military is that you have opportunities to ride on active warplanes. Not retired ones, real ones that have seen and will see more real battle. A few weeks ago, the base organized a spouse incentive flight. Basically if your spouse is active duty at this special operations base, you get to fly in a special operations plane of your choosing. I chose the AC-130H Spectre Gunship. The husband of one of my dearest friends here in Clovis is a navigator on the Gunship. He just returned to Afghanistan for something like his 22nd deployment since 9/11. Essentially the way deployments work in the 16th Special Operations Squardron, at least for their navigators, is they are home three months, gone three months, home three months, gone three months. So of the last ten years since 9/11, my friend's husband has been home for about five of them, and in Afghanistan the other five, finding the bad guys and supporting our troops on the ground. They have four kids. He left two weeks after the birth of their second child, and completely missed the birth of their third. He has missed more birthdays and holidays than he can count. I have such admiration for all our troops, but especially troops like him where deployments come fast and furiously.

It was such an honor to ride on his plane. We got a bit of a history lesson about the Gunship while waiting in the squadron building for our flight. They were built and flown first in Vietnam, and have seen battle in every war since. There are only eight in the world of the H model Gunship. This plane is the plane the Taliban hate the most. It has only two weapons on board, two guns, two big guns. One shoots little bullets, and one shoots big bullets, but this is definitely the most feared, awfully respected plane in the Air Force arsenal. The special forces teams on the ground, Air Force Combat Controllers, Army Green Berets, Navy Seals and the like call in these planes when they get in a jam and are engaging with the enemy and the battle is spiraling out of control. And sometimes they call them in to do a flyover just to scare the pee-whammy out of the bad guys. Sometimes all it takes is a flyover from a gunship to send the enemy packing.

I loved having the experience of flying on this plane. I will likely never again have the opportunity in my life to fly on a warplane. This particular model plane, and my above mentioned navigator friend flew a mission in support of our friend, Air Force combat controller Mark Forester who was killed in action September 2010 in Afghanistan. My friend flew a mission in support of him eleven days before he was killed. Mark's unit was taking fire from a ridgeline so he called in the mighty gunship. The gunship came in and took care of business. It was disheartening for my gunship navigator friend to learn that the combat controller that called him in for support just eleven days earlier was killed in battle. It is the navigator's job to communicate with the combat controllers on the ground and to give the all clear to fire the guns on the targets the combat controllers direct. So he had spoken with Mark, even though he only knew Mark by his call sign of JAG 28 at the time. I think it is no coincidence that I know Mark's family and know this family here. I think it has much to do with the reason we are here in Clovis, to make that connection for the Forester family. He can provide them information about Mark's last days that no one else could. I'm thankful the Lord places us where he needs us to make connections such as these.

I'm thankful for the experience I had to fly on this aircraft, thankful for our military, thankful to be a part of it all.

They have a big board up in the squadron building with the patches of guys that come through and serve in this squadron. I liked these two particular patches. I find it interesting that in our quest for peace, we must wage war, but that is the way it has always been, it is the way it will always be.
This is one of the guns on the plane.
The pilots and crew were so nice. Once we were in the air, they let us get up and move around the airplane to wherever we wanted. At one point, there were four of us in the cockpit with the pilots, and we were all up in their personal space, and they so did not care. They were taking requests of where to do flyovers and tried to show everyone their house from the air. Stellar guys.One of the guns on the gunship. The planes aren't pressurized and they are loud! We got to wear the headsets the crew normally wears. You could push a button and talk to everyone else wearing a headset inlcuding the pilots. Of course I thought that was totally and completley awesome.
I got a window seat on the descent!

PS..I was given permission by the squadron commander as well as the crew on the plane that pictures could be taken and posted, so I'm not breaking any rules and giving out any sensitive information, fyi! :)

Etc.

2011-10-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

Just a hodge podge of pictures that need to make it to the journal.

Sara Katherine is really into braids right now. And I love their Elcho shirts. My mom and mother-in-law both have this tiny map-dot of a Wisconsin town in common from their childhood. Further proof David and I were meant to be together! David's mom brought the kids shirts from a recent visit.
Sara Katherine LOVES to draw. She created this masterpiece all by herself. David actually has artistic ability. I have NONE. I'm assuming she gets it from him. Don't tell Sara Katherine, but Santa pretty much plans to bring her art supplies and nothing else. :)
Ethan loves to wear suits and sports jackets. Even when it was 115 degrees this summer, he always wanted to wear a jacket. I love that he loves it!
For a little perspective, this is Elyse at 21 months old in the picture above. This is Sara Katherine at 21 months in the picture below. You can now see why I almost exclusively still refer to Elyse as "the baby" even though she is almost 2. She is so tiny!

We're going for round 2 with ballet this year at the same dance studio. As long as she likes it, we'll stick with it. When she quits liking it, we'll quit.
I loved these two pictures with the girls at the park, especially the one of Elyse peeking around the corner.

I love my kiddos. Most days I just feel guilty that I don't have the energy to do everything with them I want to do, but I hope they at least know how much I love them.

Gettin' my craft on!

2011-10-09T23:48:00.001-07:00

So I mentioned a few posts ago how inspired I have been by perusing Pinterest.com. Pinterest is kind of like a magical world of make-believe in a lot of ways. Wouldn't you say? So many good ideas, so little time.

When I walk around Hobby Lobby, I think I have unending amounts of time, energy and creative genius to accomplish whatever projects I see that interest me. Thomas Kinkade cross-stitch with 100 different thread colors, no problem! Hand sewn aprons with pleats, bring it on!

Then I get home, you know, to reality. Where I remember that I'm not all that crafty or creative. But regardless of my talent level, I still enjoy getting my hands dirty a bit and copying, oops, I mean creating things.

I've had some unfinished projects sitting around in their Hobby Lobby bags (and you all know you've got a few of those lying around!). There is so much new stuff I want to do, I had to get some old projects done already. So while Mom was here, I finished some old ones and some new ones.

I started making flower hair clips for Sara Katherine a year ago. Finally finished them. I saw the idea of what to hang them on in a friend's bathroom. I went to Goodwill and found a $1 picture with cracked glass and turned it from this:

into this: Just pop the glass out of the frame, then spray paint or paint the frame, get some ribbon and staple-gun it into strips on the back of the frame and attach bows. Viola! Sara Katherine has a flower clip for every color of the rainbow, I think. I even made a few tiny ones for Elyse, but I'm beginning to give up on the idea of her ever having enough hair to use them. Poor child is almost two and because she has no hair, I get comments all the time about what a cute little boy I have. Even when she is dressed from head to toe in PINK. Lovely.

I blew the dust of my Cricut and cut out vinyl for my new flour/sugar canisters. I really liked my old stainless steel canisters, but I'd make one batch of cookies and have to refill them both, not to mention they weren't really big enough for me to get my measuring cups in without making a royal mess. As you can see, I solved both those problems. I think the flour canister holds close to twenty pounds of flour! Mom likes to remind me about how heavy and breakable several of my kitchen things are, and how with a career that is going to move us around every 2-3 years with weight restrictions, maybe I should reconsider the way I do some things. But I cut a picture of these canisters out of a magazine back in high school. I guess you could say they made my dream house list? Had to have them. The packers will just have to pack them well!

I also used my Cricut to cut out my "BOO" letters for my glass canister decorations for Halloween. I glued them to scrapbook paper, then the scrapbook paper to cardstock and slid them in the canisters. They were a little big but it took me a half-hour to make them, so they can just curve with the glass! I made the bases by gluing small wooden candlestick pieces together and then gluing those to wooden bases, spray painting them black, sanding them a bit, then gluing the glass canisters to the top. The Halloween theme didn't turn out as cute as the one on the blog, but you should see what I'm doing for it for Thanksgiving. That will come in November and it is very cute! I'm thinking mini Christmas ball ornaments would be cute at Christmas, conversation hearts at Valentine's Day...the possiblities are endless.

A few of the other things I did are going to be Christmas presents, so I can't spoil the surprise! But I did these BOO blocks last year and love them.
I love Halloween decorations! I wish I could say I made this cute Halloween banner, but I didn't. I did, however, get it for 90% off at Target a couple years ago. And I get as much satisfaction out of that as if I would have made it myself!
(And please ignore my ugly beige valances. I don't know what I was thinking. But I'm thinking now we move in about eight months and I'm too lazy to do anything about them. My next house is going to be full of color!)

I love sharing cute ideas. C'mon..somebody give me something to pin!

Happy Birthday, Mama.

2011-10-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

My mom has been visiting us for the last nine days. She flew into Aluquerque so we could take in the International Balloon Fiesta, came home to Clovis with us and spent the last week here. This is her first visit to us when the kids have been in school. That meant we were pretty well tied to the house and to our school and life routine here. I didn't think that would be too much fun for her, but as it turns out, from what she said, it sounds like it was one of her best visits.

First of all, I have to say that my mom turns 64 this week. She may kill me for putting her age on my blog, but I hope if I look as good as she does at 64 that Sara Katherine will splash my age and pictures all over her blog, or whatever new-fangled thing they have invented in twenty or so years. And I have to put her age so you can appreciate what I'm about to share with you about her.

My mom is a workhorse. The woman can work circles around me. I have never known anyone with such a drive to do and to accomplish things. She's always a tremendous help to me when she visits. Even though I repeatedly tell her she does not have too, I don't give a bath, unload a dishwasher, change a diaper, or clean a bathroom when she visits, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. I want her to be able to relax and rest while she is on her 'vacation', but she just isn't programmed that way. We don't have cable tv which is her rest and relax time when she is home, so most of the time she was here, she just worked. Every once in awhile, I would catch her in the recliner checking msnbc.com on her cell phone, but most of the time, she was working or entertaining my kids, or doing both at the same time.

She really enjoyed being able to see our everyday life. She would get Ethan up and make his lunch and get him out the door for school every morning. One morning, I woke up after 8am, panicked that Ethan was late for school! I should have known..Mom had everything under control. She got to eat lunch with him at his school. He thought he was so cool when his Grandma walked in toting a red Happy Meal box. I didn't have to put my hands in Sara Katherine's hair one time the entire time she was here. That was the best gift of all! She went with me to take Sara Katherine to preschool and got to meet her teachers. She went with me to take Sara Katherine to ballet. She watched Ethan play flag football, and generally just experienced a week in the life of the Ennis'. I scheduled every appointment I could for this week when I wouldn't have to worry about finding babysitters or toting kids to appointments. I perused Hobby Lobby without having to carry Elyse and push a buggy while telling Sara Katherine to quit touching all the breakable stuff. I went down every aisle in the grocery store. ALONE. I ran errands I didn't really have to run, but that I could without children. I would come home from said errands or appointments to fed children, Elyse down for her nap, clean bathrooms, laundry done, carpets shampooed and deep cleaned, floors mopped, the list goes on. And somewhere in all that, she found time to take the kids to a movie, take them to the park to play, play games with them, do puzzles with them...she is like the supermom I wish I was. I guess she was running a sprint, and I run a marathon, but still. I don't know where she gets all her energy. I'd get tired just watching her go. I feel like a spoiled child after the week I've just had. It's going to be a hard adjustment back to real life when the day time routine is all on me again. Thanks to Christopher Colombus, it'll be a short week. :)

After the last few months I have had, a long visit from my mama is exactly what my weary soul needed. I feel powered up and rejeuvenated.

I try to get my mother to use some of her vacation time and money she spends coming to see us to go on a cruise, or save for a European adventure. Mom is so amazed by the world around her. I want her to see as much of it as she possibly can. She simply tells me she's going to spend her time and money coming to see her grandchildren. And that's that. That's part of the reason I am so hoping for a European assignment next summer. That may be the only way my mother and mother-in-law ever see Europe...if they have grandchildren luring them there.

I hope my children will look forward to visits from their mom when they are grown with families of their own the way I look forward to visits from my mom. (And not just because my house is spotless when she leaves). We have chosen a career that makes family visits difficult and few. Yet I am so settled with our chosen career path that the sacrifices we have to make of not making all the family events we would like too and not seeing our family on a regular basis, while sad, are not unbearable. I appreciate our family's sacrifices to visit when they are able. It's expensive and hard to travel cross-country with three small kids, and that has limited our recent trips home. We had a good run last year, piggy-backing on all the Air Force runs David was making to Montgomery, and before Ethan started school, but this year has been a different story. Thanks to Skype, texting, and emailing, and phone calls, I really don't feel a hollow separation from our families. I think it's a definite blessing from the Lord to have that peace when you are away from family you love very much for long stretches at the time. And thankfully, I have a very supportive and hands-on husband that does much to ease my responsiblities as often as he is able. I see some women here really struggle being far away from their family with their military career and all I can think is their husbands must be very different from David. Were he not the man he is, I don't think I could live this military life. And how many other men do you know who actually are truly okay with their mother-in-law coming to visit for days at a time? :)

...but back to the birthday girl.

Thanks, Mama. You've done nothing but love and support me all the 31 years of my life. You've let me go and watched me fly. My kids are still small, but I get all panicky-feeling sometimes thinking of the day when Ethan will leave on his 2 year mission for our church, or when Sara Katherine will call me from Switzerland and tell me she's about to jump off the side of a Swiss Alp with nothing but a parachute attached (sorry I called you before instead of after that, Mom!), or when Elyse calls me one day and tells me she knows she has found the man she is going to marry. It terrifies me to think my children may not need me one day. But what I know, now as an adult more than ever, is you never, ever stop needing your mom. And no one, and I mean no one, will ever love you like your mother.

Happy Birthday, Mama. Here's to many, many more.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta!

2011-10-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

This event is in the book, 1000 Things to do Before You Die.

I can totally understand why.

It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen, and I recommend everyone find their way out to New Mexico one of these Octobers to witness it themselves.

We picked my mom up from the Albuquerque aiport last Friday evening, and then picked up two of my sweet high school friends, Elizabeth and Dana, last Saturday morning. We went down to Old Town in Albuquerque Saturday afternoon, shopped, and ate at a fun little Mexican restaurant.
We headed out to the Balloon Fiesta field to see the hot air balloons do what is called the "night glow" and watch a fireworks show. The balloons didn't ascend on Saturday night, but they did blow them up and light them up.

There are well over 100,000 people that attend this event at the times they send the balloons up. They send up 12 expert balloonists before dawn to test the wind and weather, then they send the rest of them up (200+) about 7am, just as the sun is starting to come over the mountains. It is truly something to behold. You can sit in traffic waiting to park for two or more hours. To miss all that, we got up at 3:30am and were to the balloon fiesta park by 4:30 am. They send up the expert "dawn patrol" at 5:45am.
It was chilly, so we brought a bunch of blankets. David and the kids snuggled up and went right back to sleep. The kids both slept until 7 when the mass of balloons started going up.

It took about two hours to get all the balloons in the air. What was so awesome about this was you could stand literally right next to the balloons as they were being blown up and lifting off. It's on my bucket list to ride in a hot air balloon one day, even though I think it will be a terrifying experience. For one person to ride in a balloon at the fiesta was $400/per person. So that item will have to be checked off the bucket list sometime later in life!No zoom...you could just get that close to the balloonists! This guy just happened to be from Brazil and was speaking Portuguese and David was wandering around somewhere else!

It was an amazing experience. Definitely one of the highlights of our time spent living in New Mexico!!

Some of my favorites!

My kids are not morning people (where could they have gotten that from?)..but this was defintely worth getting up for!

12 Step Program for Pinterest, anyone?

2011-09-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

So if Facebook weren't bad enough, I have now found another website that is equally as addicting and time-consuming. I had heard people talk about this site for months, and finally went to check it out one day a couple weeks ago.

Big mistake.

Now I just wish I didn't have to eat or sleep (okay, maybe just sleep) so that I would have time to do all the gazillion fun craft projects I have found, and try the million yummy recipes I have discovered. Basically, Pinterest is like using your "Favorites" tab when you find a website you want to remember, but it allows you to organize those favorites into categories for any good ideas, recipes, or projects you find on the web. You get to peruse other people's good-idea finds and then pin them to your own boards.

I decided the ONLY way I could justify spending any more time on the Internet looking at all these cute projects and yummy recipes was if I actually DID the things I found and pinned. While I love Facebook for the ease of keeping contact with friends and family, oftentimes it turns into a great waster of time if you're not going after anything specific and are just perusing for the sake of perusing. Pinterest can be the same way. If you're just on there to ooh and ahh, but you never do any of the things you're oohing and aahing over, that's kind of a waste of time to me.

A friend of mine says she's just filing away projects and ideas for the season of her life when she actually has time to do them. (And admittedly with the small kids, there's just not a whole lot of time to do these things that we ooh and aah over!) But I chose a couple projects that I could do between diaper changes, laundry and making dinner!

Here is the first project I tried where my inspiration was from Pinterest. This project cost me $7, and I used paint and modge podge I already had. It was stupid easy. I didn't even actually go to the website to look at the directions for this one. I just used the picture I saw, and went to Hobby Lobby to gather the supplies. I got the bell Christmas ornament half-off and hot glued it to a wooden base I painted green (wooden base cost 50 cents, ornament was $3.00 half-off.) The J and the Y I got are those 3D cardboard letters that stand up on their own (normally 2.47 each that I got half-off). I traced the letters onto scrapbook paper and then painted the backs and sides green. I cut out the letters and modge podged them to the front of the cardboard letters. Done. I literally did this project in the middle of cooking supper tonight. Takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, and that is including the paint drying before you can modge podge. This would be a great Super Saturday craft project. Takes no skill, is fast, and turns out super cute! My kind of project!

I have another project I'm close to finishing. It's super cute and can be changed for every holiday. I will share that one in a few days!

I can never come up with any of this stuff on my own, same way I can never come up with original recipes on my own, but I love to copy good ideas. So Pinterest kind of rocks my world. Instead of having to several different websites to get ideas, I now go to one website and look at what my friends have already found!

So go visit Pinterest.com and get inspired! It's an invite-only kind of website, so let me know if you want me to invite you!

Ethan's First Flag Football Game - Go Raiders!

2011-09-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

Football won out over Taekwando this fall. We may never actually get back to Taekwando now that he is old enough for football and baseball. I told him he could choose between football and soccer, and without even thinking hard about it, he chose football. (Thatsmyboy!!) If I'm going to spend my life at a ballfield for the next 12 years, I'd love for it to be a sport I actually like and understand.

He had his first flag football game this past weekend. His team is the Raiders. He did great when he played defense, and actually made a tackle by pulling a flag. But he got totally sacked when he was on offense and it was his turn to carry the ball as the running back. He got the ball from the quarterback, then turned around to his coach wanting to chat. That's the biggest issue with him on the field so far. He is chatty. He is always talking to the coach about what the score is, if he is in the right place, what's going on with the weather, whatever. :) David said he wants to work on his intensity and focus with him, but overall, we're very pleased with his efforts! David was gone for work for his first two practices, but wants to help out with coaching now that he's back for awhile. Clovis actually have a league here where kids Ethan's age can play football in full pads, which of course he wanted to do, but we thought a couple years of flag football would be a really good thing for him to learn the basics.

It's so fun to watch him develop new talents. David and I both hope he maintains an interest in football....it's something we can preserve of our Southern roots in our children as we are nomads around the world with David's Air Force career!

Go Raiders!!

Waiting for the game to start!
They all held hands and said a prayer before the game.
Ethan got to snap the ball on his very first play of his very first flag football game!I loved to watch them huddled up in between plays.This was pretty typical of Ethan throughout most the game...chatting with the coach!It's finally starting to cool off here...we had to bring blankets to his 8am game!Elyse getting a smooch from her big bro before the game.Pepper even came to the game with us and largely behaved himself.

An aside.

2011-09-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

For the past week, I have considered whether or not to blog about what I am about to blog about. I've decided to share this story for a few different reasons. One, there is healing in writing. Two, there is healing in sharing. And three, I want my posterity to be able to know and read my thoughts about all this years from now. I've never been an overly private person. While there are some things I don't think are appropriate for a public blog usually reserved for the happenings of my family, I feel settled that this is an appropriate place to record my feelings on this subject. Please don't judge me for it if you don't agree.

I recently had my first miscarriage. It was sad, horrible, hurtful, and every other adjective for 'awful' you can muster. My heart goes out to women who experience these both in succession of each other or more than once. It is an experience that has humbled me, and that I know I was given so I would be able to not only symphathize, but emphathize with other women somewhere down the road.

I found out I was pregnant the 1st of August. We had just returned from our Texas vacation where I rode every roller coaster Sea World had to offer except for one. I wasn't really worried about that, though, and don't believe it had anything to do with my miscarriage since it was so early on in the pregnancy. But despite reasonably knowing that, I still wish I would have stayed off the stupid rollercoasters.

From the very first day of finding out I was pregnant, I was never settled with this pregnancy. Normally, David and I shout my pregnancies from the rooftops almost from the very day we find out. But this time, before I even had reason to be concerned, I felt it prudent to use disgression with annoucing our news and we largely kept it to ourselves. A week after the positive test, the spotting began. Somehow, though I didn't want it too, I knew it would come. I went to the doctor four days into the spotting, and despite the ob nurse telling me what I was experiencing was very normal, my intuition told me different. I all but demanded they begin drawing blood to test my HCG levels. (HCG is the pregnancy hormone that signifies a positive result on a pregnancy test.) There are nine providers at the women's clinic here in town, and as fate would have it, my favorite midwife was the one that "got my case" that afternoon. She ordered the bloodwork and went ahead and ordered an ultrasound as well.

I knew it was bad when the ultrasound tech didn't say one word to me during the ultrasound and "wished me luck" on the way out the door. I had never had an ultrasound so early before, so I had no idea what I should see on that screen. I waited for the midwife to come see me after the ultrasound. It was a Friday afternoon and she didn't think she'd get the bloodwork back that afternoon, but based on what the ultrasound showed (which was nothing), she held my hand and hugged me and told me I would have a miscarriage and tried to prepare me for what would happen. Late that afternoon, I missed a call from her. She left me her cell phone number (bad sign). I called her back and she said they had gotten the bloodwork back and it was bad. My HCG level was at a 6. At five they consider you not pregnant. That coupled with the ultrasound of nothingness confirmed her diagnosis.

I was devestated. Not surprised, but devestated. I can honstely say it never even occurred to me with my other three children that something could go wrong and I could miscarry. It was my fear with this pregnancy from day one, and unfortunately was a fear that was realized.

My midwife wanted me to come in the next Monday morning for one more round of bloodwork to make sure HCG levels didn't grow, then we would discuss my "options". To everyone's great surprise, including my midwife, my HCG levels went from 6 on Friday to almost 1000 on Monday. That meant there was supposedly a baby growing. She ordered another ultrasound later that week which showed a perfectly formed sac, and my HCG levels continued to rise. Her best explanation, barring a miracle from God, was that I ovulated late, and just wasn't as far along as we thought I was. I settled in for tri-weekly doctor appointments for bloodwork to monitor HCG levels and progesterone levels (another hormone that supports pregnancy) and periodic ultrasounds. For weeks my hcg levels continued to rise, many times even doubling every 48 hours as they should. The sac where the baby should eventually show up grew and was "beautifully shaped" according the ultrasound tech. My midwife told me not to get too excited, and even when the news seemed good, I honestly never did get really excited.

As the weeks (yes, weeks) dragged on, the midwife became more concerned that this was not a good pregnancy. When my HCG levels hit 10,000, we did an ultrasound and I was told that with HCG of 10,000, you should be able to see an embryo and a heartbeat inside the sac. That was a terribly disappointing ultrasound as we saw nothing. The midwife then diagnosed me with a blighted ovum, which is what I suspected before she even mentioned it. Of all the types of miscarriages, this has to be is one of the meanest. With a blighted ovum, a fertilized egg is implanted into the uterine wall. The cells begin to divide. The cells that form the placenta and other pregnancy supporting parts form just fine, but the cells that are supposed to form the embryo that will grow into a baby, for reasons unknown, never form. The attribute it to chromosomal abnormalities, mainly. So it's like a ghost baby, but to me, it was a baby nonetheless. But because the placenta formed, hcg and progesterone were admitted, which meant I eventually felt pregnant. I was extrememly tired, had cravings, was nauseous, etc. It's such a dirty trick the body plays on itself. The midwife offered to go ahead and do a d and c after that ultrasound. But the problem was, I hadn't been spotting for weeks, I never cramped at all, and my hcg levels were continuing to rise, and the sac was continuing to grow, even though there was no baby inside it. Honestly, I was ready to have the dumb d and c and get it over with. The doctor who was to perform the surgery wanted to wait a week to make sure my hcg numbers would go down, or the sac would collapse, or something that would positively show us that this pregnancy wasn't going to make it. I knew in my heart it wouldn't, but I waited the week, putting up with another week of cravings, nauseau, and long afternoon naps that would never give me anything to make all that worth it.

The next week, which was a week ago yesterday, I went in for more bloodwork and yet another ultrasound. The weekend before this appointment, I attended the temple and prayed and pleaded with the Lord for His will to be done, but I also told him that I felt like I was about to lose my mind with the back and forth and uncertainty of all this. I was tired and sad and impatient with my children and husband. I was unmotivated to accomplish daily things that needed to be accomplished; I was depressed. I told him if he needed to send me a child in a less than perfect body to raise and love and take care of, then to let me have it. I would have taken a child in any form rather than experience the loss I have felt. But that was not His plan. I prayed that there could be some resolution in all this, one way or the other. So when I went in for my next doctor appointment a few days later, my hcg levels tapered off, and the sac had begun to collapse. Now we could all say with as much medical certainity as possible that this would not be a viable pregnancy. Because with a blighted ovum it can sometimes take months for the body to miscarry on its own, I opted to have a d and c. David was leaving to go out of town the next morning for work for a few weeks, and I didn't want to chance miscarrying on my own while he was gone. So that afternoon I went to the hospital and had the most awful procedure of my life performed. I woke up from the anesthesia bawling. Partly tears of relief and partly tears of sadness and despair. Now it was really over. The love a mother feels for her child, from the very moment she finds out she has conceived is nothing that can be described by words. I loved this child. I grieve over this child, and am just praying that soon I can make peace with all this and move on. I have a good life I need to get back to living, and three wonderful, healthy children that need a happy mom.

I have always had faith in the plan Heavenly Father has for my life. I believe all things truly work together for our good, even in something like this. It doesn't mean I can't be sad, but I can say I am not angry. I don't know if I will get this child in a better body for it later or if it will be a child I will raise during the millenium, but I have faith that wherever it is now is right where it is supposed to be, and it is still mine and David's.

I am so grateful for my church family here that have truly done what the Savior would have done for me if He had been here himself. I knew the Lord put us in Clovis for special reasons, and after this experience I see with perfect clarity he put me exactly where he needed me to be to go through this trial. I went to the doctor A LOT. My children were always taken care of, and after my surgery I had people bring in dinners and watch my kids so I could just lay on the couch and heal in peace. I am so thankful for them and the Christlike acts of service they have shown me. I'm thankful for stories shared and listening ears that just listened.

My Grandma Holloway, my mom's mother, had a miscarriage after her 3rd child, just like me. I have often thought over these past weeks how I would like to have read of her thoughts and feelings about what she experienced. My midwife told me that statiscally, 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage, so it's likely that some child or grandchild or great grandchild of mine will experience the same thing one day. I hope that if they do, they can find these thoughts and feelings I have recorded and feel peace that comes from identifying with someone who has experienced the same thing they have. I have faith in the Atonement, and that the Atonement not only makes us holy, but it makes us whole. I know the Lord took upon all the sins and cares of the world, and because of that, he is emphathizing with me now as I struggle through this. And he emphathizes with me because it is a pain he felt in the Garden of Gethsemane as he atoned for the sins of the world. It's miraculous, and has given me an even greater appreciation of the Atonement and the love I have for my Savior.

David and I know we will have more children. We don't know exaclty how many, but we do not feel that sense of "doneness" when it comes to how many children we will bring to the Earth. We look forward to welcoming another child to our family, eventually.

There are so many wonderful things we get to experience in this life, but because there must be opposition in all things, we also have to trudge our way through the less than wonderful events as well. It's those events that sanctify us. I definitely feel that I have been through a sanctifying process, and I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the Savior and his restored Gospel that has given me peace despite my sadness.

Everything is going to be okay.

Toms.

2011-09-13T14:58:00.001-07:00

The day I can afford Glenda Gies purses, I will likely then be able to afford Toms shoes as well, and truthfully that may be never if we remain public servants and keep having children.

I love these shoes. They kind of remind me of my grandpa's slippers. Maybe that is why they are so endearing.

Look at all the pretty prints and different designs. I especially love the wedge style.
I know my treasure is in Heaven, but wow, this would be a great treasure for here and now. But honestly, it hurts me to pay more than $20 for shoes of any kind. Even if they are as cute as these. I almost without fail always buy my shoes off clearance racks. Deeply discounted clearance racks. However. If I were going to shell out $60 for a pair of canvas shoes, it would probably be to this company. They have a one-to-one policy that for every pair of their shoes bought, they donate a pair of shoes to a needy child. I love companies that give back.

But in the meantime, I'll just have to make the most of my Payless kicks.
I wore them for the first time today. Sara Katherine told me, without me asking for her opinion, that they were ugly and that I should take them back to the store. My dad would probably agree. He has never appreciated my taste in shoes. :)

Ethan's 6th Birthday Party

2011-08-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

We had Ethan's birthday party a few weeks early this year. We normally have it Labor Day weekend, but the base gets a 4 day weekend this year and pretty much no one was going to be in town. We decided we'd have a swim party at the base pool and it's not open the weekend after Labor Day, so we decided to do it a little early.

He chose a Super Mario Brothers theme, and I found an idea for cute treatbags off Etsy, (because no way was I paying 12.99 plus shipping for eight paper bags!)and a cake somewhere off the Internet.

My next door neighbor sat and helped me cut out cardstock for those treatbags for two hours, lent me tons of her stuff for the party, gave me THE MOST AWESOME new recipe for cake batter and buttercream frosting, and came to the party early to help set up, and then hauled stuff home for me. *ThankyouAmanda!* I had sweet friends offer to bring salads to add to the hot dog dinner, and everything just turned out wonderfully.

I did order his invitations of Etsy. It's such a neat idea. You pay someone $10 for the design and they put in all your information and upload the picture. Then they email the file to you and you print them out on photo paper for less than 20 cents apiece. Genius idea. They have them on Etsy for every conceivable birthday theme.

It was a beautiful day, and I think everyone had a great time. I love my sweet little boy who kept telling me over and over again how he loved his cake and how he appreciated "all my hard work" for his party. I don't ever remember being that aware of the hard work of my parents at such a young age, but is very aware of things like that. I love him. Six years ago I was anxiously awaiting his arrival, and he has given me six wonderful years of happy memories with many more years to come!

Happy Birthday, Ethan! You will always be my little man!

Sara Katherine's 1st day of Preschool - Presbyterian Preschool

2011-08-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

Sara Katherine started at the same preschool she went to last year, except this year she's going three mornings per week instead of two. She was so excited to get back to school. When I picked her up, she wasn't ready to leave. I figure that means she's having fun. Elyse and I had a nice morning one on one.This is one of our friends from church, Kiya. She also goes to school with another church friend, Lily, but she left before I could snap a picture.
Mrs. Becky, one of the teachers from last year.
And her two new teachers this year.

Ethan's 1st day of 1st Grade at Mesa Elementary

2011-08-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

I figure I have maaayyybe one more year where I can get away with taking this many pictures of Ethan's first day of school. Figure I'll do it while I can! We switched Ethan over from the private Christian school where he went last year to the public school about twenty steps behind our house. Now that the birthday cutoff wasn't an issue, we figured we would send him to the free school, which has a really good reputation if you put a lot of weight in standardized test scores. (Don't even get me started on rating schools and students based on standardized test scores).

Anyway, there was definitely a different feeling there. Maybe it's because I really loved Ethan's school last year and really loved his teacher. Maybe it's because it was his first year, and kindergarten is just special and fun. Now we're starting to crank through the required 12 years of school, and I feel like life is going to warp into lightning speed at any given moment and I'm going to wake up tomorrow to grandchildren. Also, he had been assigned to another teacher initially, and I was really excited about her, as her good reputation preceeded her. This school had 3 1st grade classes and each class had 30 kids. So they pulled 7 kids from each class to form a fourth class, and Ethan is part of that new 4th class. And they just hired this teacher last Friday. I hadn't met her before this morning, and I guess that made a difference. She seems nice enough, I just don't know a thing about her. I hope she's ready for Ethan and his questions about everything. He's a very inquisitive little boy. I'm sure it will be a good year, though, even though he came home today telling me he was bored most of the day because they just talked about rules. Oh, dear. I hope they start teaching him something soon, for his sake and theirs!

Into another school year we go!

This is like de ja vu. It feels like we JUST did this for kindergarten.

I let him choose what he wanted for breakfast on his 1st day this year. Yoohoo and an apple. He is sooooooo his father's child!This is our back gate, and that building across the street is his school. No schleping kids to and from school, except for the day I have carpool for Sara Katherine's preschool. Nice!Really done with pictures at this point; still trying to be a good sport.
1st grade!!
Goodbye kisses. How many more years before this will NOT be cool AT ALL?? Like I said, I'll take it while I can get it.

His new teacher, Mrs. Lockmiller
So glad Daddy was with us for the first day of school!

World Breastfeeding Week

2011-08-13T15:17:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago the kids and I attended an event at the zoo here in Clovis for World Breastfeeding Week. I do some peer counseling work through the Department of Health to encourage moms to breastfeed. I know it's not for everyone, but breastfeeding really is what is best for your baby if you can do it (not to mention loads cheaper for the state, which is why they pay me to encourage moms to do it!).

I never make my moms who try it and can't continue to do it, for whatever reason, feel guilty or bad. The old adadge, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" is so true, and I've watched some of my mothers struggle themselves straight into depression trying to breastfeed. Then they're no good to anyone, including their baby. But I enjoy getting paid a little something to do something I feel passionate about.

The event was lots of fun, and of course since it was at a zoo, Ethan had a blast.

Surprise!

2011-08-10T23:40:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be surprised to see David in our vacation pictures below. I mean, he's supposed to be in Iraq or Afghanistan or somewhere in between right now, right?

Right. Supposed to be.

With no real explanation, the Air Force powers-that-be cancelled David's deployment twenty hours before he was due to get on the plane. TWENTY HOURS. And this is the second time they have cancelled/delayed his deployment.

Let me say this. The absolute worst part of the whole deployment process has to be the few weeks leading up to him leaving. There is so much emotional stuff that goes on inside you, coupled with all the other non-emotional things you have to do to get him ready to leave the country for six months. It's a tough time. And as glad as I am that he is still here with us, we're both a little irritated that he is still with us. I know that doesn't seem to make any sense, but any other military wife out there who has been through this same thing has to get what I'm saying. We were ready, our kids were ready, everybody was ready for him to go and get this over with, for crying out loud. I had checked all these books out from the library about parents that deploy (like the one in the picture above), trying to give the kids a good picture of what was coming. They were sad, but they got it and were ready for it. And then the AF changes their mind 20 hours before he gets on the plane. Don't.get.it.

We know all things happen for specific reasons, and this is just all part of the plan for us and our life as a family. It makes no sense to us now, but it will later. As before, he's 100% ready to deploy, having all his training courses and shots, and is at the top of all the lists for whatever AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command) comes up with next. We are due to leave this base next summer, so if they don't deploy him by the end of this year, I'd like to think they wouldn't deploy him at all from here. Because that would mean I'm packing and moving by myself next summer, and that would just be its own kind of awful. But hey, with the way things seem to be going, I could see exactly that happening. And I have talked with people that this HAS happened too. Sooooo...I guess we'll see. Right now, we're just living like he's not going anywhere, but at the same time kind of waiting for the ax to fall. Every time I see him on the caller ID calling from work, I hold my breath and see what news he'll have for me. So far, so good.

I guess one of the upsides to all this is he got a Top Secret security clearance out of the whole mess. And that's a pretty neat thing to have as they don't just hand those out to anyone. I actually had an investigator come to our house and ask me all these questions about David and whether or not I thought he might be trying to overthrow the government by force. Most of the questions they asked were laughable at best, but I think it's good for his career to have that clearance.

So now we hurry up and wait (and wonder). It's the unofficial Air Force motto, ya know.

San Antonio - Uncle Richard and Aunt Leta's 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration!

2011-08-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

We had a really exciting July. Thanks to the generosity of our parents, we got to take two really, really nice vacations. The first was to the Gulf Coast in Alabama, and we barely got home and unpacked and repacked before we set off for San Antonio. My mom's brother and his wife were celebrating 50 years of marriage. 50 years! I think that is amazing!

It's about an 8 1/2 hour drive from our house to San Antonio. Not a hard drive, just boring. Real boring. I went six of the 8.5 hours without a cell signal. When the world runs out of places to put people, there will be lots of space in West Texas. The first day we were in San Antonio, we braved the blue-blazing heat and headed to downtown to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk. My dad was stationed in San Antonio when I was little, and I have fuzzy memories of our visit to the Alamo. If you're into history like me, it's a must-see. If not, the experience is probably a little overrated, especially with three small kids in tow. I know the kids would probably have rather been at Schlitterbahn (the country's largest water park), but I feel a need to take my kids to historical landmarks when we are around them and have the opportunity. And even if they may not remember them. When we took Ethan and Sara Katherine to Disney World, I didn't know if they'd be old enough at 4 and 2 to really appreciate and remember the experience. Well, the joke's on me because they still talk about that trip it all.the.time. Even Sara Katherine who was 2 amazes me at what she recalls about that trip. She remembers things I don't! So maybe all is not lost in taking them to these landmarks and teaching them young about our nation's history. Poor mom, just wanted one good picture with the grandkids. I think this is as good as it gets.

We went from the Alamo down a few streets to the Riverwalk. We ate lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe and walked along the little sidewalk that runs along the canal. I remember asking out loud how many kids (and drunken adults) must fall into the canal every year, as there aren't many rails.

That afternoon we had a little meet-and-greet at my aunt and uncle's house. Everyone on my mom's side of the family was there except for two of my cousins and their families. It was a nice reunion. My mom's side of the family is spread out literally from coast to coast (California to Maine), so it's nice when we can all get together.

The next day, David took the big kids to the San Antonio Zoo (because, remember, Ethan isn't going to pass up a zoo and remember I'm not the biggest zoo fan? And especially not in the middle of a Texas summer.)

I have no idea. Still haven't gotten the story from David about this picture.

Mom, Elyse, and I headed to Austin to visit her childhood home then hit the IKEA that is in Round Rock, not far from there. Yes! We had just planned to take pictures of mom's old house, but when we pulled up in front of it, there was a lady doing yard work next door. Turns out, it was my mom's BEST LITTLE FRIEND that she grew up with from ages 5-10 while she lived there in Austin. Her parents never moved, and she was visiting from Santa Fe helping her 97 year old mother that had taken a fall. So we spent a couple hours visiting with my mom's friend and her mother. It was neat to see them reconnect over fifty years later. My grandparents bought the house they lived in for $20,000. The same house is worth about $3 million today. It's in a historic section of Austin and really beautiful. The family that lives in Mom's old house were vacationing in New Zealand (yep, it's that kind of neighborhood now), so she couldn't go inside, but we got some pictures. It was a nice visit. Friday evening my aunt and uncle hosted a good Texas bbq at a park. David and the kids came straight from the zoo, and as soon as Ethan got out of the car, he spotted a deer and took off running for it. He wanted to touch it soooo bad. He'd rather chase after animals than eat, crazy kid.

The next day, because the kids hadn't had enough of animals, my mom treated us to a safari type adventure where you ride in your car through several miles of a wildlife preserve. They let you feed the animals with their food out of your window, so we had a close encounter with an overly-friendly ostritch and the kids got to pet a zebra.
I'm convinced Ethan will grow up to do some kind of career with animals. He NEVER gets tired of animals and wildlife. Never.

That evening was the more formal event of the anniversary extravaganza. My uncle was in the Navy so they held it at Randolph AFB there in San Antonio. They cut their anniversary cake with his naval uniform sword that they cut their wedding cake with fifty years earlier. I was so glad we were able to celebrate their fifty years with them. They can sure throw a party!
My mom and her siblings. Aren't they cute? From L to R, David (#3), Mom (#4), Joan (#2) and Richard (#1).

The last day of our trip, we decided to use our free Sea World passes. Sea World gives free passes to military families once a year. It is so nice to see that even in a tough economy that some businesses still make it a point to do really nice things for military families. We had SO MUCH FUN at Sea World. There is a full-on water park there that we didn't even make it to because we were too busy watching shows and riding roller coasters. (Ethan was so happy to be tall enough to be able to ride the adult roller coasters - the kid is absolutely fearless). They have a great area that is Seasame Street themed for little kids, so mom spent some time with the littles there so the big kids could go off and do some big kids things. Thanks Mom!
The stingray feeding was pretty awesome.

The shows were absolutely amazing. There was a Sea World whale trainer killed last year in Orlando by her whale when it drowned her, seemingly on purpose, and since then, they have changed their policy of letting the trainers in the water with the whales. It's unfortunate, because it's where the trainers really want to be, and the show isn't quite as spectacular when the trainers aren't getting thrown up in the air off the nose of a 4000 pound whale, but it was still incredible. They had all kinds of shows with all kinds of different animals. The PETA people probably don't appreciate it, but we definitely did. My kids have had some really neat wildlife encounters this summer. At Sea World in the Dolphin pool, you can buy little trays of fish and feed and pet the dolphins. I think my mom bought four trays because she wanted to make sure we got a good picture. I think these turned out great, and it was all good until Ethan acidentally dropped the paper tray INTO the pool and the dolphin gobbled it right on up. Of course, I'm FREAKING out, wondering in my head as I ran to get an employee how much it would cost to replace a dolphin at Sea World, and the trainer said it kinda happens all the time, and the dolphins don't seem any worse for the wear. Well let's hope so.

The next morning we headed home and back to reality. I always have a hard time settling after vacation. There's always too much laundry, too much mail to sort through, too many things to add to the to-do lists. But the vacations we were able to take this summer were definitely worth any extra work they created! Thanks, parents, for the memories!

Going Private

2011-07-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

With David's coming deployment, I need to make my blog private. I'm sorry to give you guys another thing to do in your day, like actually logging in to view my blog, but it must be done.

Leave me a comment if you want to be in the cool kid club! If you know I have your email, you don't have to leave it. If you think I may not have it, you can leave it in your comment or just email me at jenihendrix34@hotmail.com if you don't want it out there for everyone to see.

Gracias!

Alabama Trip - Summer 2011

2011-07-13T15:26:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a fun-filled, whirlwind vacation to Alabama! On our way to Alabama, we drove through Starkville so we could visit with David's grandparents there. Sara Katherine always likes to snuggle with Granddad when we visit.David's sweet Nana made us homemade chocolate chip cookies and the kids got to swing in the rope swing in their backyard. We always enjoy our visits to Nana and Granddad's. We spent the night with my mom in Prattville, went to church in Wetumpka and were so glad to see many familiar faces.

We left that afternoon for Gulf Shores to spend the week with David's family. His aunt and uncle have a condo they rent out in Gulf Shores, so David's parents treated all the kids and rented it for the week. Everyone was able to be there except David's youngest brother and his wife, Andrew and Courtney, and his sister's husband, Joseph. Other than that, the whole crew was there! We had SO MUCH FUN! It's been three years since we've been to the beach, and this was Elyse's first visit. She had no aversion to the sand or the water!
She loved to jump off the ledge to whoever would catch her!
First time in the ocean!First time in the sands of a beach!"Look, ma, no floaties!"

Elyse loved floating on her back.

David's sister Megan has a baby that is nine months old, Jonah. I loved to watch him and Elyse interact and play. I just love these two little babies (and Elyse's pot belly!)

He is an only child, and not used to the commotion that my three children provided, but he adjusted quickly. He is such a delightful baby and it was really the first time I got to see Megan in the role of a mother, and she is as fabulous of a mom as I knew she would be. She had lots of practice with my kids and teaching elementary school for so long, but she adores her little Jonah, and with good reason!

The night of the 4th, David's aunt and uncle brought gumbo to our condo and we ate a great meal and enjoyed visiting with the Guytons.
Ethan and Sara Katherine with the beloved Genna. She was so great to play with them!I do not know where he picked this up, but he is winking and/or throwing thumbs up signs in almost every picture he takes nowadays!Elyse totally posed herself for this picture, and I think it was past Jonah's bedtime here!You would just have to know Laura to know what a perfect picture of there this really is!

Posing, again. Megan and Jonah

After dinner, we walked down to the beach to watch the fireworks show over the water. It was a wonderful show. It was so long that the kids actually got bored with it and took to playing in the sand, of course after they were already clean and bathed. Of course.

We spent the rest of the week eating, shopping at the outlets, swimming, swimming, and swimming.

David and I did slip off to Pensacola one night to stay at a bed and breakfast by ourselves.

It was a really neat place. the house was built in the late 1700s and the key to our room looked like this.
We drove over to Pensacola Beach for dinner and ate on the water.
We listened to live music from a guy that looked and sounded much like Jimmy Buffet, so that was a nice coastal touch. The next day after eating breakfast,we drove through historic Pensacola and drooling over houses like these
wondering out loud where people who own houses (and probably this is a second house!) like this get their money. I can almost assure you they are not military lawyers.

One night after eating dinner with the Guytons again, some of us went to Adventure Island hoping to play some mini-golf. The line was RIDICULOUS for mini-golf so we opted for go carts and water boats instead.
We had to cut the visit short after the water boat riders got SOAKED!

The night before we left, I was able to connect with my sweet high school friends who happened to be down there at the same time. The timing of that was perfect.

Before we left Saturday, we stopped by the Gulf Coast Zoo because Ethan isn't going to pass up a zoo anywhere. It was actually a great little zoo...lots of animals to pet and look at. They even got to ride a camel!

We headed back to my mom's house to eat with my family on Sunday. We had a good crowd, and all of my aunts and uncles on my dad's side where there, which was a nice surprise! We took two days going and coming, so we got to make a pit stop at the Dallas IKEA. I had never been to an IKEA before, but I am so in love! Will definitely be going back!!

We packed a lot into a little over a week. I love making memories with my sweet little family.

Family Pictures

2011-07-13T15:15:00.001-07:00

I was so pleased with the way these turned out!! Thanks to the amazing Cindi Murphy of CM Fotografia for her magnificent picture taking skills!

Sneak Peak..

2011-06-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

We had our family Christmas pictures made yesterday, you know, in June since David won't be around for the holidays. There is a photographer here who is a military spouse, and she does a deployment session at a really, really reduced rate for military members who are deploying for 6 months or longer. She is a great photographer, and this is a picture she put up to tease us with. I can't wait to see the rest.

The flag Sara Katherine is holding is a Blue Star Service Banner. It's origin goes back to WWI when the Army captain that designed it wanted a way to honor his sons that were serving in WWI. The number of stars in the middle indicated the number of children you had away at war. If a service members is killed in action, the blue star is changed to a gold star. The most popular story surrounding this flag is from WWII when a mother had a flag with five stars on it, meaning five of her sons were fighting in WWII in the Navy. All five sons were killed on the U.S.S. Juneau, and the blue stars turned to gold stars. I can't even imagine.

These flags are only to be flown in times of war, and the Department of Defense has now extended the use of these flags to immediate family members, not just parents. It is an indoor flag to be hung in a front-facing window of a home. I loved what one of the governors of Ohio said of the use of these flags. "The world should know of those who give so much for liberty."

What was a six month deployment is shaping up to be closer to a 7 month deployment with David leaving mid July to return sometime next February. It will be difficult on us all. Him being separated from us and working in a warzone, the kids who are losing their best buddy whom they worship and believe he has absolutely, positively hung the moon, and me without the companionship and help of my best friend. More than the help, I will miss his company. Thankfully we have Skype and email and hopefully frequent phone conversations, but it won't be the same as having him here. I'm nervous about having the entire repsonsibility of child-rearing and taking care of our home for an extended period of time, but despite all that, I do have a peace about what lies in front of me. I'm sad. I'm really sad. I have some angst about whether or not I will be enough for our children and if I will be able to provide them all the physical and emotional things they will need, but underlying all that there is peace.

My husband will return a war veteran. This is not the kind of war fought by WWI, WWII, and Vietnam war veterans, but he's still going to a dangerous place fighting dangerous people in his own way. And I could not be prouder of him. I love our career in the military. I love what it stands for and the security and benefits it provides our family. I love the cultural experiences it will give us and our children. There are long, long days for him and consequently for me, and we live a life that in many ways is not our own as we are owned by the missions of the Air Force, but I love it. And I'm so proud of David for his willingness to serve of his own volition. I know our family has been and will be blessed for his service.

Carlsbad Caverns

2011-06-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a mini stay-cation and drove about three hours to Carlsbad to visit the caverns there. They were amazing. We were going to camp, but the KOA campground in Carlsbad was out of tent sites with water/power hookups. A power hookup while camping isn't totally necessary for me, but with an 18 month old, a water hookup totally is. Since they didn't have any, we ended up staying in a small cabin on the site instead. It was very cool, literally. It had electricity and air conditioning, which was a huge bonus seeing as how it got up to 115 in Carlsbad last weekend. There was an uncomfortable full bed and two twin bunks. There was no tv and you still had to walk to the bathrooms and showers, so it was semi-roughing it. And with an 18 month old, I'm kind of thinking now it's the only way to "camp". Here are a few pictures of our little cabin abode. I was soooo agitated to get there and discover the SD card to my camera was at home in my computer (am I the only one that does stupid stuff like that?), so I had to take pictures with our camcorder that doesn't have a flash. So that meant no pictures inside the Caverns. The two that you see on here from inside the caverns I lifted off the Internet.

Saturday we spent most of the day at the caverns. If you haven't heard, New Mexico is in a declared state of emergency for all the wild fires that are burning everywhere around the state. The week before we got to Carlsbad, 30,000 acres of the National Park burned. They shut the Caverns down for two days which is absolutely unheard of. That park is opened every day of the year except Christmas, no matter what. So for it to close while they tried to get the fire under control was a very big deal. It was so sad to see everything so charred as we drove back to the Caverns. Once we got to the caverns, the lady selling us our tickets said she suggested we take the elevator down to the bottom where the main attraction called "The Big Room" is. It takes about an hour to walk through the Big Room. She said with three small kids, she absolutely would not recommend going in through the natural opening of the cave and taking the very steep, slippery hike to the bottom.
Allllllll 754 feet down to the bottom. But my husband, the boy scout, was absolutely determined that we were walking to the bottom. He carried Elyse in the hiker's backpack and carried one child or another for most of the way, but we made it. It was a workout, and we were going downhill the whole way! By the time we got to the bottom we were sweating so much, and it's 56 degrees down there year round, so then we got cold as we sat and ate our picnic lunch at the bottom. We walked through the big room and took the elevator back up. We went back to the tent site and David took the kids swimming while I took a nap in the air conditioning! Then we grilled hot dogs for supper. It was a great day.

We usually try to find a church and go if we are away from home vacationing on Sundays, but we didn't this time. I know, what losers. We went to a sorry excuse for a zoo in the sweltering 110 degree heat instead. I guess that's what we get. :) None of the exhibits were worth taking a picture of, but there was kind of a nice view from there.

It was a nice weekend. I'm glad I can check Carlsbad Caverns off the bucket list and say that it was a good time.

We leave for Alabama tomorrow to spend the 4th at the beach with David's family. We are soooo excited! There's a chance David may be called off his leave early to report to his position in Iraq early, but we're just praying for the best and will enjoy the time we have. He will be heading out to Iraq sooner than he was scheduled too, though. :( I thought I still had a month to emotionally prepare myself, now it looks like I have about 15 days. The only thing certain about Air Force life is that nothing is certain! I must be getting more used to it, because I actually didn't cry or get super angry this time. I'm becoming a seasoned spouse, I guess.

Camp Invention

2011-06-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Ethan was able to go to his first summer daycamp last week. It was a science camp called Camp Invention. His kindergarten teacher was one of the instructors, so he was happy to see her again.

He had a great time and was able to be there with many of his friends from school, and it kept him from telling me at least once every hour that he is "bored" (like he is doing this week..). I'm trying to get him to appreciate the quiet and not having to hustle and bustle here and there, but yeah...he needs a lot of stimulation, what can I say? I try to fill up our summer days with lots of fun things like swim lessons, swimming, the library, the park, playdates with friends, but the little bit of down time we do have is almost too much for him to bear! I can't remember the last time I was able to say I was "bored"! If only he knew what was coming in life!!

They spent a majority of their week inventing some kind of contraption from trash and recyclables. For a group of five year olds, I was impressed that they invented a bouncy ball catapault. And it WORKED! (This has become his signature picture taking face...)

We are the countdown to our beach trip and visit to Alabama! 11 days and counting!

Weakness.

2011-06-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

I discovered this at our commissary.

That is not altogether a good thing...

Dreamweavers..

2011-06-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

Enamored.

2011-06-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

I have never understood women's obsessions with designer handbags. It is absurd to me to spend several hundred dollars on something to carry your junk around in. I have been perfectly happy through the years with my TJ Maxx and Goodwill finds.

BUT.

At the Y the other day, one of the mom's dropping off her kids in the kids room had one of these purses...a Glenda Gies purse. I went home straight to the Internet to look up where she got hers so I could order one too. After finding the Glenda Gies website, I am pretty much obsessed. I want them ALL. I love the vintage, tapestry look. I love the clasps and straps and buckles. And if I were single with no kids, I would seriously spend all my extra money on these handbags.

But alas, I am not single, and I have several children, and these purses are expensive. And I would never trade my family for silly designer handbags. But I can hope that someone knocks them off one day so I can own one.

Maybe I'll get lucky on Ebay!

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

Prepare yourself for another epic*Jeni post! I try so hard to be concise, really, I do. :)

We were so happy to have David's dad and sister here for Memorial Day Weekend! Clovis isn't that happening of a place, so we don't get many visitors. So that just makes it extra special when we do! David's mom teaches nursing at a private college in Memphis that doesn't have Memorial Day as a holiday (shame on them!), so she wasn't able to make the trip. We missed her!

They arrived late Thursday night before Memorial Day, and we had a bit of drama that evening and the next day. Apparently, my crackhead next-door neighbors got high on something-or-another and broke into THEIR next door neighbor's house on the other side late Thursday night. We were enjoying a nice, leisurely breakfast on Friday morning when my father-in-law asked, "Hey, who is that running through your backyard?" Of course I go out the door chasing after him, and when I got out my back fence and he saw me he started running down the alley. I had seen a cop car parked out front earlier in the morning (sadly a fairly normal occurrence with my idiot next door neighbors), put two and two together and ran out front to tell the cop whoever they were looking for was running down my back alley. They caught the guy, who, get this, was wearing a personalized necklace he had stolen from the neighbor's house with her daughter's name, "Ashley". I told you, they are IDIOTS. His evil plot to elude the police by jumping the fence we share and run out my back gate was foiled by moi. Mwahahah! Sweet justice! The lady that lives in the house that got broken into is a night nurse, and her husband and three kids were in San Antonio for a graduation, so my thieving, drug-addicted neighbors took it upon themselves to clean their house of all electronics, jewelry, and anything else valuable that wasn't bolted to the ground. But, because they were high, they left a trail of jewelry literally from the back door of the house they broke into to their back door. The one guy they caught squealed like a pig and turned in everyone who was involved. They had been running a pretty big-deal burglary ring here in Clovis, and the cops were able to recover stolen property from almost a dozen different reported burglaries that ended up totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Enough to charge them with grand larceny, which, my friends, is a FELONY. That means they will be doing time in the penitentiary! And apparently, it was all being master-minded and organized right next door to yours truly. Oh, THEN, as an added bonus, the police discovered that they were cooking meth in one of the rooms upstairs. My worst suspicions were confirmed, ugh. The homeowner is in rehab, to soon be followed by jail as soon as he is out of rehab, and his crackhead wife is running from the law, and I don't care where she runs too as long as she doesn't run back here. They are six months behind on their mortgage payments, so hopefully in the very near future, the house will be foreclosed upon. Then the bank will have to rip it down to the foundation, I'm sure. One of the cops told me that on top of not paying the mortgage, they haven't been paying the water bill either, but were still using the toilets. He said when they went in to execute the search warrant, they had to wear masks and take shifts, the smell was so bad. And what was really sad was the crackhead's daughter just had a baby and they had been keeping a newborn in that house. Ugh.

I'm thankful the Lord protected us and our home from all the awfulness that was taking place just feet away us. We live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Clovis, and I have been so disgusted by the behavior of my neighbors, and many times even frightened. The incident has prompted us to get an alarm system installed. Between an alarm, my pistol that is loaded at all times, and Pepper who doesn't pack a punch of any kind, but sounds ferocious enough when growling at strangers will hopefully be enough to protect us while David is away. I'm so glad they are all gone before David leaves next month, though. I feel sorry for my neighbors and hope they can get their lives together, but I'm glad all of their dangerous drama is removed from me and my children who, by the way, are now thrilled to be able to ride their bikes in the driveway.

So I dealt with that most of Friday morning, ran some errands while my lovely sister-in-law was wiling to tend children, then David and I were fortunate to be able to go to Lubbock to the temple while we had free childcare in town. We hit Pei-Wei on the way into town for a yummy dinner, then attended the temple. We were able to do some very special work there that night that reaffirmed to me my testimony of the Lord's plan for eternal marriage. We loved being there and feeling the Spirit of the Lord.

Saturday we headed to Texas to the Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States next to the Grand Canyon. It is near Amarillo, which is just an hour and forty-five minutes from us. We ate a picnic lunch where Ethan had a close encounter with a very pregnant deer. We fed her lettuce and strawberries and probably broke some kind of rule, but she looked so hungry. I couldn't stand it.
After lunch we attempted a six mile hike with all the kids. It was 114 degrees in the shade when we started the hike. Yep, you read that right 114 degrees. Here's the picture to prove it.
And dry heat or not, it was HOT!! The hike was unshaded the entire way. And it was very rugged. We made it about 3/4 mile in and Clara Elyse didn't want to keep her hat on while she was in the backpack, and the kids were hot and complaining and wanted to be carried. So I turned around with the baby and Ethan, and David did end up carrying Sara Katherine the entire way there and back. It was a very neat place, and David and I hope to get back there to camp before we move next summer.Typical David with his little ducklings trailing right behind him before they wimped out.Poor Elyse, with Sara Katherine's bottom in her face! What a view!

After our hike in the canyon, we drove a little ways out from Amarillo and stopped at the Cadillac Ranch off I-40. It is a Route 66 icon, and the old Route 66 runs parallel to I40 for a good ways. Some guy buried 10 Cadillacs nose down in the middle of his farm land, and now people go out there and spray paint all over them. It's like a giant exhibit of deco-art. We came armed with spray paint and painted some cars.
Aww, I love my husband. Look close to see what he sprayprainted on the car. So romantic!

We estimated this would stay put for approximately 10 minutes before it got spraypainted over. I mean, we were in Texas! David was so proud of his handywork!

By this point, we were very hot, very dirty, and very hungry. We went to downtown Amarillo to eat a little burger joint that is the oldest, continuously running restaurant on ALL of historic Route 66. The burgers were nothing great, and it was kind of a dive, but hey, I can say I've eaten at the oldest restaurant on Route 66. I added it to my bucket list just so I could check it off! We got home late, and were so glad to see showers and the bed.

Sunday we attended church and had some friends over to share our grilled pork chops, 25 cents an ear fresh corn and $1/quart strawberries. So glad for cheap summer produce! We tried to recover from the excitement of our Saturday and enjoyed our day of rest. David worked consistent 16 and 18 hour days in April and May (it was awful on everyone!), so we weren't able to plant our garden this year, which is actually okay since we will be gone the entire month of July when most of our produce came in last summer. I do miss watching our baby plants become big plants, and I even miss the overabundance of squash we had last year. I was SO sick of it last summer because we had so much, but I would really love to have some homegrown squash and tomatoes these days.

Monday was David's 29th birthday.It's killing me that he is STILL not 30. One of his coworkers is deployed, and his wife went home for the summer, and we have a key to their house with a pool. So we went and grilled out again and swam the afternoon away. Ethan likes to tell everyone he "threw dad a pool party for his birthday." I'm glad we were here to celebrate his birthday with him, as he was originally supposed to be in Iraq now.

Which, speaking of Iraq, he got his official orders. He leaves July 26 to return sometime next February. :( He'll miss a lot with school starting in the fall and all of the holidays and several birthdays, but I'm so proud of his willingness to go without complaint to serve our country. I've decided to stay put here in Clovis while he is away. It's my home, and I feel very settled with the kids school plans and activities for the fall. I've got friends and military wives here who have been here, done this, and who will support me and keep me from being too lonely. But I would still totally love to have any and all visitors that wish to come! Seriously! Just come! Don't even ask, just come! I'm encouraged by the women who have done this before me and survived. We will be fine.

My father and sister-in-law left early Tuesday morning to head back to Memphis, and as a parting gift got food poisoning from a McDonald's in Oklahoma City. I felt so bad! They were such a great help to us while they were here. My father-in-law washed my van, pulled weeds out of our rock garden yard, and even cleaned my kitchen one night. My sister in law was so gracious by cooking dinner and cleaning my kitchen and bathing my kids the night we went to the temple. She played with them a ton and let them hang all over her and invade every inch of personal space she thought she had. It was so nice to have someone else for the kids to focus their attention on for a bit!

We are enjoying our summer. Sara Katherine started swim lessons yesterday, and Ethan is attending a one week science day camp called "Camp Invention", so he won't start swimming lessons until next session. I enrolled Sara Katherine in Level I and they moved her up to Level II. I'm thinking Ethan may not need them at all. They are both little fish. But with three kids, I can't teach them all the strokes like I would like, so maybe they will learn those. We're doing playgroup at the park, going to the Y daily to enjoy the ONLY gym in Clovis with childcare (!), and we make weekly trips to the library so they can participate in the summer reading program. Last year we earned free bowling coupons, which was awesome! I've heard the prizes this year are even better. We're swimming a lot, and enjoying it being daylight until after 9pm. Makes it hard to get the kids in bed, but nice to have the daylight for so long!

Hope you all are enjoying your summer traditions!

Summer's comin'!

2011-05-22T23:33:00.000-07:00

When strawberries go down to $1/quart, you know summer is close!

Lucky for me they are so cheap; my kids eat them by the gallons. Especially this little strawberry! It was my favorite fruit as a kid and ranks on up there still today. So, not surprising my kids are such fans.

Bring on the strawberry pies, strawberry jams, strawberry shortcakes, chocolate dipped strawberries....Bring on the SUMMER!!

Ethan's Kindergarten Graduation

2011-05-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

So my little Ethan is done with Kindergarten. That's right folks, I've got a first grader now. Just typing the words makes me weepy. He had a great year. He can read anything. He reads us the scriptures and amazes me at how he can break big words down and sound them out if they're too big for him to just read all at once. He can write in upper case and lower case and his handwriting is pretty decent for a five year old. I'm glad we decided to put him in school this past year, even though it feels like I'm rushing his life a long a bit. Now that it's said and done, it feels like we did the right thing. I'm sure that whole graduating at 17 thing will work itself out in the end.

David was in the middle of a big trial and was unable to make it to Ethan's kindergarten graduation. I didn't want to wrangle Elyse by myself, so a friend kept her, and Sara Katherine and I went to the graduation. I kind of went into this going, "Kindergarten graduation, really?", but left it thankful for the experience. Because Ethan attended a private Christian school this year, it was actually a very Spirit-filled meeting. They marched in one-by-one to background music of Pomp and Circumstance. Then the two kindergarten classes stood on their risers in their little caps and gowns and recited a Bible verse beginning with every letter of the alphabet from memory. Really, it was amazing. There was no teacher helping or prompting them. They just memorized them, and it was really precious to watch them say them with so much gusto. Then they sang a song called "Fingerprints", and that's when the big tears came. Basically it's one of the songs written to envoke tears, and it did its job. It talked about how we would miss all those fingerprints that dirtied up our walls and floors when they were grown. (Really? I'll miss that?? :) I just look at how quickly these last 5 1/2 years have gone since Ethan was born, and I realize roughly 1/3 of the time he will have in my home has already passed. I hope I am doing right by him. I hope I am teaching him in a way that pleases the Lord. I hope I'm spending enough quality time with him, and I hope he feels loved and secure. I guess that's what we all wish for our children.

He was so proud to march up and receive his diploma and my mind went into fast-forward mode as I watched it. I wondered what he would look like 12 years from now when he receives his high school diploma and what kind of man he will have become. We've got 12 more years to teach him well and to help him make good choices along the way. He is a precious child. I am so glad he is mine.

So onto first grade we go! He will be switching to the public school directly behind our house next year. I will have to open up the gate in the backyard and watch him walk across the street to the school he will be attending. Sara Katherine will be doing preschool 3 mornings per week, but I've already worked out a carpool for her with me and two other moms, so I will only have to leave my home once a week for school runs! Yes! I feel that it will spoil me, though, living this close to the school.

We've got a fun-filled summer planned. David is gearing up to leave for Iraq the end of July, so we've got to make the most of these few weeks we have left!

Receiving his diploma!

First day of schoolLast day of school
First day of school with his teacher, Mrs. ParkinLast day of school with Mrs. Parkin. I only hope I can get as lucky next year as far as teachers go. Mrs. Parkin truly loved her students, and the kids knew it. We will miss her so much.

Sara Katherine's 1st Dance Recital

2011-05-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

Sara Katherine started taking ballet lessons from Ms. BJ at the Dance Studio last September. Last December they had a little Winter Showcase and Sara Katherine stood with her arms folded the entire performance. I decided that maybe dance wasn't her thing, but I wanted her to finish the year. I don't want her to think it's okay to just quit something.

She really blossomed the second half of the year, and did a fabulous job at her recital. Aside from piano lessons which I want my kids to start around age 7 or 8, I'm only allowing my kids one activity per child. It's all me as a mother and us as a family can keep up with, I believe. Ethan is tossing around the idea of playing flag football in the fall or going back to Tae Kwan Do, and now Sara Katherine is trying to decide between trying soccer or doing another year of dance. We'll see what she chooses. But here are some pictures from her recital. They did two numbers, one to the song, "Never Smile at a Crocodile" and the other was to the song "Vacation". Both were with props, which I thought was very brave of the teacher to do with 3 and 4 year olds.

My first dance recital was when I was five, I think. Wish I had a scanner to scan in a picture for comparison. It's so fun to have a little girl and to watch her relive my childhood experiences!

Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead.

2011-05-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

Taking a small break from the usual comings and goings of my family, I must record my feelings here about the death of Osama Bin Laden. This is one of the most momentous occasions in recent history, or maybe even in all of history. I feel I need to record my feelings about it so my grandchildren can read about them one day when they are studying this in their history books.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on September 11, 2001. I was finishing up my final semester of college at the University of Alabama before heading to England to complete my internship. I was doing my secondary education methods class. We met at a local high school in a trailer for the two hour class. By the time we got done with that class at 10am, we walked outside the trailer to utter, total chaos. Parents were running with their children to their cars, and there was a general feeling of panic and a feeling that all was not right in the world. We went out as a group, and one of the guys in my class stopped a parent running to their car with their child to ask what was going on.

"Haven't you heard??" she yelled as she continued running to her car. "Both of the twin towers in New York have been hit, one has already fallen. Another plane went down in Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon has been hit too! The world has gone crazy!"

After hearing that news, one of the girls in my class bolted for her car. I mean, BOLTED. We found out when we met for our next class that that girl, who was on a track scholarship at UA but who was from New York, had a sister that began a temp job in one of the twin towers that day. Wanting to make a good impression, she was early. And she didn't make it out. That student didn't come back to class that semester.

I remember the swath of emotion I felt that day. My classes were cancelled for the rest of the day, and I went back to my apartment and camped out on my couch with a box of tissue and the remote control, scanning through all the channels that showed all the same thing: death, destruction, misery, and sadness. I called my dad, a retired Air Force officer and cried to him about what was happening. He assured me the U.S. would retaliate fast and hard.

Now you say what you want about George W. Bush. There were many things about his presidency that were not great and that could have been handled better, but I will always admire the way he went in fast and hard, just as my father assured me he would. He had been a soldier, had served in the military, and as someone who loved his country, he did just what he knew Americans would want him to do. He wanted JUSTICE, and admittedly maybe even revenge, for the man who masterminded the plan that killed 3000 innocent Americans on American soil.

No one knew it would take nearly a decade to achieve that objective. Many will ask if it's even worth it after the economic and human toll it has taken on our nation. I would answer with a resounding 'yes'. It is more dangerous to allow men like Bin Laden to breathe our air than it is to let him hide out in Afghani caves and plan the next plan of evil carnage he wishes to inflict on America and her people. That's why I was so sickened when one of Obama's main campaign platforms was the promise of pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan by x date, whether objectives had been acheived or not. And then to watch his speech tonight on TV where he made it sound like he's been behind this the whole time...I'm just a little disgusted with it all. Bush should have been giving that speech tonight. All the pundits keep talking about what a risky political move this was for Obama, that he authorized the risky operation to drop a Special Forces team down into the middle of a palace full of hostiles. I think he must have at least partly looked at it as a Hail Mary, offered up to try to pull him out of the sinking hole of unpopularity he was falling into. He gets to take credit for an operation he didn't even personally support. Maybe his title of commander-in-chief did, but he did not. And that makes me sort of sick.

It is a strange thing to almost rejoice in the death of another human being. Don't get me wrong. I would not have been one of the ones singing "Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey Goodbye" in front of the White House tonight. While watching the carnage of 9/11, I remember watching the footage of crowds in the streets of Afghanistan rejoicing over the destruction of those fallen towers and our smoking, burning Pentagon, and it literally sickened me. And I can't help but think that those drunken idiots (with the right to free speech and freedom of assembly) are doing nothing but fueling the fire of those who I'm sure are already agitated and no doubt angry. But I am not sad Osama Bin Laden is dead. It is not my judgement to make about his soul or eternal salvation; that belongs to the Lord. But I am not sad that a mass murderer has been incapicitated; not sad that he can longer mastermind plans that will take more of America's people, America's innocent people. I compare it to convicted murderers being killed via the death penalty. I'm not going to do cartwheels about it, but I'm not going to cry about it, either.

Tonight I think of the families who lost loved ones in the tradegy that was 9/11. I hope tonight they can feel a peace they have not felt in a decade. I don't have to worry about Obama's soul. I know the Lord will deal with him justly. I am, however, sad for his wives and his children who have been widowed and orphaned. But the Lord has them in His sites as well. The part of Obama's speech I did totally agree with tonight was when he said about Bin Laden, "his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity."

Finally, Mr. President, something on which we agree.

Prayers for Tuscaloosa

2011-04-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

My heart is so heavy. Probably all of you have seen on national news, as well as your local news too, about the gigantic and destructive tornado that ripped through my college town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I spent four years there while obtaining my undergraduate degree, then another three years with my family while David was in law school at UA. The pictures I have seen of that town are unrecognizable. There are some pictures of areas that I knew well where I simply can't orient myself. The death toll continues to rise, the news gets more grim. This is one of those situations, which seem to be coming in rapid succession lately, where I feel utterly and completely helpless.

The tornado in Tuscaloosa was just one of many to rip through the Southeast. My dad called this morning with sad news that his best friend's sister and niece were killed by a tornado in Eclectic, AL, not far from where my dad lives. The niece's 9 year old son is in a coma in Birmingham, and unless God intervenes with a miracle, things don't look good.

I had trouble sleeping last night for thinking about all the things going on in our fragile world today. Tsunamis, earthquakes, and tornadoes are natural disasters, then there are horrible, unspeakable things that happen to children behind closed doors, spouses who are abused, people who are murdered...abominations of every kind. Greed and pride are running rampant. Religion of any kind is unimportant to so many. I took a religion class in college where we studied the book of Revelation in the Bible. We heavily discussed the signs of the times, and my friends, we are witnessing them. I feel, and have felt for the past several months, an urgency to make sure I am doing all the things I need to be doing to make sure I am prepared to meet my Savior when He comes. Of course only He knows the timing of that, but I can't help but feel that it may happen in my lifetime, and if not in mine, certainly in my children's. The world is weary. And wicked. And for all the goodness and beauty it still thankfully possesses, we are on a slippery slope. I believe the world today would have crucified the Savior twice as fast as the Romans did 2000 years ago. We are pushing him out of schools and government, and I just wonder how long He will be able to tolerate that, not to mention the other acts of atrocity that take place in this world He created for us.

I don't mean for this to be a 'woe is me' post, and I am not an alarmist. However, I think it would do us all well to take a personal inventory of our lives. To sit and contemplate our lives from an eternal perspective and ask ourselves some really important questions about our life after death and about our eternal salvation. Really, this life is so brief, and we should not all walk around acting like we are never going to die.

I am thankful to know my Savior. I am thankful for the warm comfort of the Spirit that washes over me as I pray and plead for his help. I am thankful my children know Him as well. I believe that David and I have given them the greatest gifts of all - a knowledge of their Creator and Savior and that of an eternal family. Anything else we can give them will pale in comparison to those two things.

Please say a prayer for all those affected by the devestation in the South. It will be a long road of recovery, but America and her people are strong and resilient. That town will be all of what it once was and more.

"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy ashield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him." Psalms 91:2-15

Easter, etc.

2011-04-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

I got a few pictures of Easter this year. Unfortunately, none of the kids in their Easter duds. By the time we saw what the Easter bunny brought, got ready for church, etc, we were running out the door...no time for pictures. And my kids can't tear out of their church clothes fast enough after church, so I missed that photo op too. I will have to do better next year!The Easter Bunny was very generous this year; mainly because he had some help from Grandma Hendrix.The Easter bunny left a trail of jelly beans from the kids beds to their baskets. Elyse would pick them up and stuff them in her mouth on the way to the baskets. It was pretty funny. All Elyse really cared about was the candy. The Easter bunny knew that.
In one of the talks of this past General Conference (a bi-annual church meeting broadcast by sattelite out of Salt Lake), parents were encouraged to put pictures of the temple in their children's rooms. I ordered some pictures of the Birmingham Temple where David and I were married for the kids to put on their walls.We waited to hunt eggs until after church and our ham dinner. We are not enough of morning people to do it before church! Both the kids had Easter parties at school, as well as our Easter egg hunt and activity at church. I have to say I was pretty egged out. Was almost glad to put away all the Easter baskets and decorations away today! Ethan's teacher has been reading them Charlotte's Web this year. When they finished the book, they took a trip to a farm to help bring the story to life. They had a great time seeing all the animals! He has had such a special class this year with a special teacher.

And while I think Ethan is good at a lot of things, bless his heart, rollerskating is not one of them. We went to a birthday party for his best little friend from his class, and he was very discouraged when we left that he wasn't good at it. We'll just have to keep practicing!

Play Ball!

2011-04-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

So my life at the ball field has begun. But Ethan is absolutely loving Tball, and we are absolutely loving watching him play. And since this is my blog and none of you are forced to read this and I can brag a little about my children, I have to say that the kid is good. I've always sensed that he would have a natural ability for baseball, just at the way he would throw balls since the time he knew how to hold them, but now I see that I think there really may be something there; something that maybe, possibly, hopefully one day will produce a college scholarship. Too early to call that? Maybe.

My plan is raise smart athletes so they can put themselves through college one way or another (if they're not smart at least they'll be able to play sports or vice-versa -- you laugh, but I'm serious.) I'd much rather see Ethan thrive in baseball than in say, football, where the chances of having his brain throttled out of his head are exponentially greater. I don't mind giving away Saturdays at a ball field for the next 13 years if it winds up paying for his college later! Since I'm pretty certain college will cost about 3.2 billion dollars for a four-year education by the time Ethan gets around to going, he's going to have to be good at something to help him go. Military attorneys do NOT make that much money!

The first game he played, the coach put him at first base. He was the only kid that could throw the ball all the way from first base back to the catcher, and he did it with accuracy. He can't catch a ball worth a darn yet, but the kid can throw. It suprised even the coach. He still swings and misses sometimes when he bats, he still knocks over the T sometimes, but his arm....wow. I'm just going to call it now and say pitcher. Or some other position where you have to throw the ball hard and fast.

Truth is, I really don't care what sport he decides he wants to stick with one day or if he decides he doesn't want to play sports at all (which is unlikely, but possible, I guess). I'm just thankful we can provide him with exposure to different things and let him pick what he likes best. But I really hope if he decides to continue to play sports that he picks one I like. Oh my gosh, I can't imagine having to sit through 13 years of basketball games. But I would. For him.

He was thoroughly disappointed with the Opening Ceremonies. Had to get all dressed up, then couldn't even play!
And tell me what is funnier here; all these little kids trying to pay attention or the guy in the black hot pants standing next to them. I mean, really?!?
This is how I imagine tball typically. A bunch of little kids (and in this rare case their coach) not paying attention laying down on the field. The next week at their very first game warming up with his best bud from his class, Ethan M. And they always refer to themselves using the last intial. It's very cute. Ethan M's parents are from Andalusia, Alabama, and his mom and I became fast friends, despite the fact they are Auburn fans. And it is her and her very expensive Nikon D6000 camera (at least that's the one I think it is) that took all these amazing pictures. Very first hit!!

I love this picture. Look at his face. Joy, pure joy.
First time on base!
His first position in the field, first base.
Next up he was catcher. I mean, how cute is he?

Mercy. Is my baby boy, THIS baby boy
really old enough for all this? School and organized sports?

Sweet Little Baby Girl.

2011-04-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

One day last week about 9:30am, things got mighty quiet. Sara Katherine was busy coloring away (she is always coloring or drawing something these days), and I didn't hear Elyse. She has become a pro at climbing up and down the stairs here lately, so I figured she was upstairs, probably digging in my makeup and smearing (more) lipstick into my carpet. So I begin to head upstairs to check on her and I found her just like this in the middle of the floor, milk cup pressed up to her mouth and everything and just a couple hours after she had gotten up. Precious. She actually transferred nicely to her crib and slept for awhile; strange because she has completely cut out that morning nap and just takes one for a couple hours in the afternoon now. Don't know what was going on that morning, but she must have been tired!

Also, (after you admire the way this 12 month onesie is hanging off of her!), I had to share these cute pictures of her with her dolly. I know, incredibly boring to everyone except the grandparents, but I have to think my kids will appreciate my efforts at reccording their childhood one day.

My baby girl is also FINALLY walking everywhere now, as of just a little over two weeks ago. She took about 20 steps at a friends house one day and has been going ever since. She's never worn a pair of shoes in her entire life, and now when I try to put them on her, she kicks them right off. I remember it being the same way with Ethan and he eventually learned to walk in shoes. I guess she will too. I love to watch her toddle around. It's funny how once kids start doing things, you almost immediately forget what it was like before they started doing those things. Like walking, and talking. I hardly remember what Ethan and Sara Katherine were like before they could do those things. I guess that's where journal writing and blogging and video cameras come in! Our whole family is enamered with this baby and the sweetness of her little Spirit. She's cutting some top teeth right now and it has made her unusually fussy and cranky for a majority of her awake time these past few days, and even through that fussiness, she's still precious. And to think I had hoped she'd be a boy....

Miss Priss

2011-04-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

I just love my little Sara Katherine. Sometimes I feel like I need to go outside and just have a good scream at things she does or doesn't do, but I always wind up being very thankful for her and the personality she has. As long as we can teach her to make good choices, that personality will serve her well throughout her life.

She totally cracked me up last night. I've recently started chore charts with the kids. And I must tell you what a big difference it makes in the kids excitement level in doing things I expect them to do anyway. At the end of the day, we go over the list and check off the tasks they've accomplished. Make their beds, set and clear the table, brush their teeth, say their prayers, etc, etc. It's crazy, Ethan comes running into the kitchen now asking to set the table, just so he can check it off on the chore chart! And I have never seen that kid so excited about cleaning up the playroom or brushing his teeth! At the end of the week, as long as they have done their tasks, they get some kind of reward. I want to start an allowance with them as well. I remember getting an allowance growing up, and I really believe it was receiving an allowance that was the root of me being able to be responsible with money in my teenage and adult years...that and the fact my parents didn't pay for every little thing for me growing up. They expected me to work to pay for my car insurance, gas, and name-brand clothing. I hated it at the time, but I knew how to balance a checkbook at 15 and it gave me great habits that I still possess today. I didn't even know it was POSSIBLE to not pay off a credit card balance every month until I got to college. NO.LIE. An allowance for my kids also gives an opportunity to teach them about tithing. I don't ever want tithe-paying to be a difficult thing to them, I want it to be so totally normal that NOT paying tithing would be the difficult thing. Not everything is easy to me, but paying our tithing has never been hard for me. I've just found from many, many special experiences that when you try the Lord in this, you always win. He always gives you more back than what you give Him. It's an amazing commandment with amazing blessings that follow those who don't excuse themselves from it. And Ethan and Sara Katherine are totally old enough to be part of this process now.

I think everyone knows I make lists...lots of lists about lots of things. To-do items for the day, grocery lists, meal lists, long-term project lists, short-term project lists...lists, lists, lists, lists. I have them everywhere. Seems as if my little Sara Katherine has become my list-making protege. She carries a pen and a clipboard around a lot, scribbling nonsense on it (although, she can write 'SARA' in all caps by herself now. I guess we'll work on 'KATHERINE' later!)

So now I'm getting to the point of this post. She brings me one of her many lists last night while I'm making dinner and said,

"Mom, I have a list for you. Here's what's on it. Cook Dinner. You're doing that, so 'check'." And she makes a big production of checking that off her scribble list. "Change the baby's stinky diaper, and I think you should do that soon. Take me to Disney World. Help me ride my bike without training wheels. Do the dishes."

I interrupted to ask her about the Disney world list item. She looked at me, and said, "Moooom. I'm not done."

"Oh, excuse me, please continue."

"Take those baskets of folded laundry upstairs. They're in my way and to heavy for me to do it myself. And then read me a story tonight at bedtime."

She is such a funny kid. Totally, casually threw in Disney World like it was something I could do like making dinner. Maybe to her she really believes I can make that happen. Then she spun on her prissy little heel and walked out of the kitchen. She thinks she is totally in charge. She is always wanting to help me clean and cook dinner. And I feel too guilty to tell her no, even though sometimes it draaaggggs out whatever blessed task I am trying to finish BEFORE the baby wakes up from her nap, or before they go into meltdown mode from hunger at mealtime. I am so excited to watch her grow up and see what good things she does with that take-charge attitude.

I'm thankful for little moments like this with my children; thankful for my husband that encourages me and supports me to stay at home with our kids. Some days I'm hanging onto my sanity by a thread, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.

Ethan's 1st T-Ball Practice

2011-04-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

(Good follow through, just have to work on not knocking down the T!)

We're taking a break from Taekwando while baseball season is going. I have a strict one activity per kid rule. Figure they'll have to make hard choices in life; may as well let them start practicing now. But Ethan didn't take two seconds to think about whether or not he wanted to do taekwando over baseball, so I don't know that this was actually a hard choice for him. He enjoys taekwando, but he LOVES baseball.

Since he hasn't played on an organized team before, he has to have a year of Tball. And that's probably best. He can polish up on the basics before moving to coach-pitch little league next year. He's on the team called The Angels. How fitting. :)

His best friend from his kindergarten class and one of his best buddies from church is on our team. David is helping coach. I'm excited to watch him play!

And on a sidenote, he has recently hit a growth spurt and most of his size 6 blue jeans are too short. It happened pretty much overnight! Good thing we're almost finished with blue jean season. I can't believe how tall he's getting. He is growing up so very fast! Coach Mike with the post-practice huddle.

And just because I think she's precious...

The more things change...

2011-03-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

So just a week after David's 1st tasking getting cancelled, he received another one on Tuesday. He's headed to Balad Air Base in Iraq and has to be there by August 3 (or 3 August if I'm going to do this the correct military way!). He has some trainng he has to do at Hurlburt Field before he goes, but it will be done en route to Iraq, so he will leave here around mid-July and get home sometime next February. I figured it wouldn't be too long before he was picked up for something else since he was all ready and set to go. I'm so very bummed he's missing the holidays, but glad to have a definite date and not just wonder when it's going to happen and what kind of plans it will interrupt when it does happen.

He's replacing a Captain out of Hurlburt Field and is much more excited about this assignment than the last one he was assigned too in the Iraqi prison. I'm excited he'll be here for Ethan's T-ball season, Sara Katherine's dance recital, and his family's vacation to the beach in Florida over the 4th of July. I'll think about everything else he'll miss later. I'm so proud of him. He has the best attitude about his job and deployments. He just does what is best for the mission of the Air Force with no complaints. I could learn a lot from him. :)

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

2011-03-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

I didn't know these words could be so true! David called me today from New Jersey where he is finishing up his combat skills training to tell me that his deployment has been pushed back until October. Apparently, the Iraqi-run detention center in Baghdad where he was to be going is staffed by two JAGs. But since they're trying to pull out of Iraq and all, they cancelled one of the taskings and now only need one attorney instead of two. They were pulling one attorney from Hurlburt Field in Florida and David from here. They cancelled David. So I'm supposed to be thrilled, right?

Wrong.

I think I've shared the anticipation of the deployment I think has to be the worst part, based on what I've been feeling lately and what ladies have told me who have done this tons of time. I was so ready to start counting the days DOWN from his deployment rather than UP to it. Now, I've got seven months to count up, then six to count down. And now he will miss Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Elyse's birthday (again), my birthday (again), and Sara Katherine's before he gets home the following March or April.

Of course, there are some things that could change. And with this career, I've come to expect change. The goal is to have all U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq by Dec 31 of this year except for essential personnel and advisors. So that could change his October deployment, and they could reassign him to a different base in say, Afghanistan or Qatar at a different time, either before or after October. Also, he is 100% ready to be deployed right now, and there are likely not many JAGs out there like that; ones that have had all the training and shots and everything else needed before they can ship out; especially ones assigned to Special Ops bases, so his boss told him it's possible that JAG Headquarters can call up anytime and tell him he's shipping out to who knows where with very little notice. That would be swell.

Don't get me wrong, I would love for David not to have to be deployed at all. Ever. But the fact it is, it is highly, highly, highly unlikely that we will leave this base without him being deployed. There are two special operations bases: here and Hurlburt Field in Florida, and they deploy people out these two bases like MAD. To Afghanistan, to Qatar, to Iraq, to Africa, and lots of other places that don't ever make the news. Every single attorney in David's office has been deployed, even the guys who this was their first base and assignment (was that correct grammar? It's late; I'm tired). So, my point is this - I'm not all hot for him to deploy, but since it's almost 100% likely that he will deploy at some point before we leave, I'm just ready to go ahead and get it over with already. Now, before the holidays and when I can go home for a month in the middle of it to break it up. Spare me the months of angst and anticipation. Ugh.

David reminded me that this is all the Lord's plan for our family. And I'm glad he's not going now. Maybe if he did go something terrible would have happened. It's kind of like cursing a stop light. Sometimes it's because of a stop light you miss a terrible accident.

So that's all I have for you now. David's boss is thrilled he's not going. The entire JAG staff is turning over in David's office this summer, and the only two guys who would have been here were both going to be deployed during the fruit-basket-turnover. So now David gets to be here to usher all that in and unless they move him out of Civil Law into something else, he'll get to go through another end-of-fiscal year in September where I don't count on seeing him before midnight pretty much any night for a solid month.

I just had everything all worked out in my head for him to leave in April and it's tough to undo all that only to have to likely redo it again sometime in the near future, and probably with a different set of facts and circumstances.

BUT, despite everything, I'm very thankful for David's job. We are in a good place, we are in the right place. Neither of us will look back on his Air Force career and be sorry for it. We were definitely led to where we are now. We both know that. So come what may and love it!

Lysie-Lou loves to draw!

2011-03-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

This child may have inherited some of her father's artistic ability. She LOVES to color (she prefers markers!) and when she fills up the paper, she moves right on to herself! (Thank goodness for washables). And I just sit there and watch her do it because I think it's cute. I feel like that is going to bite me one of these days when she colors on something I WON'T think is cute.

I don't even remember Ethan holding a marker with such control at 14 months, and he did a lot of things that surprised me. I mean, she is serious and determined when she's coloring. She hunkers down and goes to town! (And I know for sure she is right-handed!) A tiny Picasso, perhaps??

Sara Katherine's Birthday at Pre-school

2011-03-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

Past due, I know, but had to get these on the blog. Sara Katherine celebrating her 4th birthday at her preschool!

Spring Break 2011

2011-03-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

**I have been trying to upload pictures to this post, unsucessfully for, like, a week. Finally was successful tonight. Sorry the timing of the post won't read right, though! Too lazy to change it!**

What a crazy week and a half! I am doing some breastfeeding consultation work for the Health Department here in town through the WIC program. My task is to try to encourage moms on the WIC program to choose to breastfeed over bottle feed, and to offer them support if they try and have problems. I'm like a lactation consultant minus the certification and tons of hours of training you have to have to be a certified lactation consultant. I'm just going on my 40 combined months of breastfeeding experience. There was a national breastfeeding conference in Albuquerque last Thursday and Friday that they paid me to go to (per diem, hourly rate, and mileage..sweet deal!) My mom flew in on Wednesday into Albuquerque to watch the girls while I was in the conference. David took the day off work Friday and drove over with Ethan. Friday started his spring break, so the kids, David and my mom went to the Albuquerque zoo while I was in the conference.

Saturday morning David and I got up early and did a session at the Albuquerque temple. Then later that morning, mom, the kids, and us went the aquarium and the botanical gardens.

Elyse took her first steps at the aquarium. Just three, but they were deliberate and steady! She's taken a few more since then, and I just hope she's really up and running before David leaves so he doesn't miss all that!

We drove mom through old town then David and the kids swam at the hotel while Mom and I shopped. Had to take advantage of having real stores while I was out of Clovis!

Sunday we took the tram to the top of the mountain again like David and I did when we were there in December for our anniversary. David wanted to take a 3 mile hike over to another peak and back, but we didn't want to haul the baby for 3 miles on the nature trail, so mom, Elyse and I went back to the bottom, and David and the big kids trekked off. The pictures he took from their little hike scared me slam to death. Me and my fear of heights could NOT have handled that little trek. Glad I wasn't there and that my family didn't go skidding down the side of the 10,000 foot mountain!He took a picture of the cable car as it came up the mountain.

We came home in enough time for David to unpack and repack, and he headed off to New Jersey on Monday for his combat skills training for his deployment. He's been shooting guns, finding out what to do if he's in a humvee and it rolls over, finding out how to spot IEDs and what he should do if he does spot one, finding out all kinds of stuff that I wish he wouldn't have told me about. Ugh. I'm really anxious about him heading out to "the desert". I think I'll be much better once he gets there and I'll know what his living conditions are, exactly how much he'll be traveling up and down the Baghdad roads, etc. But right now it's all just a bunch of big unknowns, and it makes me nervous. I mean, he's an attorney, right? They'll have him in a well-protected concrete bunker somewhere, right? I find myself not being able to going to sleep at night for thinking of him being over there, and the random bouts of crying have started. From women who have done this before, they assure me this, these few weeks before he leaves, is the worst part, and that it really does get better after they are gone. I trust these women. Some of them have sent their husbands off a dozen times or more, so I'm glad they're here in my corner. If I wasn't so assured that we were in the right place and in the right career for our family, then this would be so much harder. But peace always follows the anxiety. We're going to be okay.

Mom and I took Monday and Tuesday and worked around the house. Doing mounds of laundry, steam cleaning carpets, cleaning bathrooms. That woman is a workhorse. She could work circles around me. I'm always glad to have her help when she comes. That's pretty much the only time I get any deep cleaning done! Tuesday she took the kids to lunch and a movie and I spent four hours detailing the inside of my van. Took all the seats out, shampooed all the carpets, vacuummed EVERYWHERE, armour all'd everything...it felt so great to have such a clean vehicle. Then on the way to Lubbock on Wednesday to drop mom off at the airport, Ethan puked in the back of said clean van not once, not twice, but THREE times. Darn the luck! We got up reaaallly early, and he had eaten a lot of dinner the night before, so we chalked up the puking episodes to car sickness because he was totally fine the rest of the day.

We went to the park yesterday and enjoyed a gorgeous New Mexico springy day. This crazy NM wind is good for something! We had a picnic and flew kites and played on the playground; it was nice.

I did the winter/spring clothes cleanout today, vacuumed, did more laundry, dusted, and babysat a friend of mine's kids. We ate leftovers tonight and I have a date with Jack Bauer after the kids go to sleep (24 on Netflix is a wonderful thing). I have a stake relief society meeting in Roswell tomorrow, so we'll probably hit up the alien McDonalds while we're there! They have an alien museum I keep telling David we have to go to while we live here at some point!

So that's been our week (plus some!) in a nutshell! David will be home in another week, and will be home for about three weeks before he ships out. Please keep him, and us, in your prayers. The military is a life of sacrifice in so many ways, and I'm so honored for our entire family to be able to serve our country...David with his skill, and me and the kids with our willingness to let him go and do for an extended period of time. We will all be better for it, as will our country and her efforts in protecting and preserving freedom. David will be working at an Iraqi-run prison camp for Iraqi P.O.W.s. That's about all the details I have for what he will be doing; that and he will need a Top Secret security clearance, and I don't think I even want to know why he would need that. Everyone has their opinions about this war, and our country's efforts and actions overseas, but I just can't see how ridding the world of horrible dictators like Sadaam Hussein and Gadhafi is a bad thing. And no offense, I'm really not interested in hearing anyone's opinion if it differs from mine while I'm here single-parenting for 8 out of the 12 months of this year. I'm sure everyone can understand that, right?

So it's back to the grind next week, but it's been a really nice week of no schedules and sleeping in! A great spring break!

A Pixie Hollow Birthday - Sara Katherine turns 4!

2011-03-08T15:32:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Sara Katherine's 4th Birthday Tinkerbell style. We had a small party with four of her little friends from church and had a great time!
Welcome to Pixie Hollow!
Sooo, the cake. This was the first of her cakes I haven't made. David assures me she could care less, but it's something I like to do and was disappointed it didn't work out this year. David was gone in Virginia for training until literally just a few hours before her party, and I need a large block of kid-free time to do my cakes. I didn't have that while he was gone except at night, and I don't do good cake decorating exhausted at night! In addition to being low on time and inatitive, I had planned on using the Wilton Tinkerbell pan, and when I went to Hobby Lobby on the Wednesday before the party, they had NOTHING Tinkerbell. NOTHING. I was shocked! My only other option was to pay $25 rush shipping for a $7 pan, and that was not happening! So, I ordered this pretty cake from a bakery in town. I put it on Sara Katherine's little Tinkerbell table in the kitchen, and Elyse found it while I wasn't looking. She stuck her little hand right into the corner and pulled Tinkerbell off the cake! I thought I was going to cry when I saw it! (That or throw up!) David came rushing in and seeing I was nearing meltdown mode quickly tried to fix it. He salvaged a bit of the corner, but when he realized he wasn't going to make it new again, he just said that that was the place where Tink crash landed, then made little Tink footprints back to her little flower lair. After I convinced myself that it's just a cake and Sara Katherine will think it's awesome anyway, I got on with finishing the party prep.My over-the-top goodie bags. I can't help myself.
Pixie Petal Punch and Pixie Munch were on the menu.
Some of the things we did were:Ate lunch!I made flower fairy crowns for the girls! Colored Tinkerbell pictures! Made edible fairy bracelets!Sang Happy Birthday, of course! Yeaaah, he wasn't too thrilled I was taking his picture in a fairy crown. Opened presents!

February Happenings

2011-02-24T23:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't been on the blogging circuit much lately. I started selling random stuff around my house I didn't need on a virtual garage sale page on Facebook for the base here, which has monopolized my Internet time (trying to better about the amount of time I spend online. Sometimes I feel like I'm wasting my life away sitting in front a computer.) I've made $300 in two weeks just selling stuff I haven't used and/or don't need. So now I wander around the house looking for other things I can sell. It's pretty fun, and I've met some nice people doing it.

Another reason I wasn't online as much is I've been doing that 5am bootcamp, which I'm done with now. But for the last three weeks, I was pretty much in bed by 9 or 9:30 every night. Never thought I'd enjoy getting up at 4:30 so much to go do hardcore exercise, but it was great. I went with a great group of girls, and we actually had a lot of fun. And holy cow, I am so much stronger in just three weeks of doing it. We did a lot of push-ups and a lot of core strength training. She has a great mix of cardio and lots of reps with light weight. It's the best way to tone up. Unfortuantely, I didn't get to finish the last two days (details on that in a little bit) so I missed the final weigh-in, final measurement, and final assesment. Totally bummed about that, but glad to know that I can do hard things. I would love to fit in one more session before David heads to Iraq, but the dates she holds the bootcamp and the dates he's gone for pre-deployment training aren't going to match up very well. And even though none of my kids stir before 7am, I guess it wouldn't be a great idea to just leave them home sleeping in their beds, huh?

Ethan had a rough time recovering from his tonsils. Poor kid didn't go to the bathroom (if you know what I mean) for eight days. EIGHT days. He wasn't eating or drinking hardly anything, and he lost a lot of weight, but he's all better now, eating, drinking, and playing normally. Best part is, he doesn't snore anymore at all. It's so wonderful, and I know he has to be getting a better night's sleep because those giant mini-brains are out of his throat! I'm so thankful for modern medicine and good health insurance!

I'm getting more and more nervous about David's deployment the closer it gets to becoming a reality. I'm not nervous in a "I don't know if I'll be able to handle it" kind of way, but just more in a "It's going to be a lot of lonely nights" kind of way. He's gone to Virginia now for some training, then heads up to New Jersey for more training, then is home for about three weeks, then he's headed to Iraq. So seriously, start planning your visits. For real. I'm so okay for a week or two at a time, but as the weeks drag into months...that's going to get old, I can already tell.

Sara Katherine is learning her letters. I love her preschool so much. If I had a group of moms here that would do a preschool co-op, I would be so down with that, but all the moms that did that last year sent their kids to this preschool this year. My mom did a preschool co-op when I was a kid called Joy School. Such fun times. Sara Katherine is going to move up to the three morning a week preschool this fall, and because there are ZERO gyms in Clovis with childcare, I'm looking into putting Elyse into a Mom's Day Out program a few hours a week, just so I can go work out. There are rumors of a YMCA coming this summer, and I am PRAYING for childcare in it. I can't believe in a town with an Air Force base that there are no gyms with childcare. Ridiculous.

I made a TON of heart-shaped valentines cookies for the kids' school valentine's parties. I used my grandma's sugar cookie recipe, and converted even more friends to this sugar cookie recipe. It is fantabulous, and I think all of my college roommates have adopted that recipe as their standard sugar cookie recipe. I will post it on the cooking blog sometime. David worked an absolutely ridiculous amount of hours that week, so we didn't do anything special for Valentines Day. It's really an impratical "holiday" when you have small kids anyway. And I've discovered the law is a jealous mistress, even when practicing law in the miltary. Sigh. I gave the kids some goodies and baked like a mad woman for the Valentine's day parties at school and helped them with their Valentines they exchanged. I considered that a successful Valentine's Day.

A week after Valentine's Day, I turned 31. (Poor David, that those two events happen to be so close together!) David left for Virginia the day before my actual birthday, so the weekend before he left, we went and ate Japanese at Shogun to celebrate. Birthdays really aren't that fun anymore. Kind of just another day, especially when your husband is gone. A friend of mine here watched my kids so I could go to bootcamp (had to do the last week during her night session instead of the morning since David was gone), then she fed my kids (HUGE birthday present) and fed me dinner after I got home from bootcamp and made me protein pudding with sugar free cherries. So it turned out to be a great day.

Then, the day after my birthday, I spent the night in the E.R. because I thought I had a stroke. Like, for real. I was at bootcamp and we were doing squats and lunges, then she had us move to the floor for some core work. When I laid down, I felt a "pop" at the base of my skull. It hurt so bad it took my breath away. I saw stars. I had to just lay there on the floor for awhile. But stubborn me, wanting to finish my expensive workout, trudged through the throbbing, searing pain in my head. I couldn't do pushups; I tried to do one and thought my eyes were going to pop outside of my head, and had to pretty much modify everything else, but I was determined to finish. I got in the car afterwards and took a couple iboprofen. I had a halo of pain circling my entire head. I don't get many headaches, never had a migraine, so it was definitely out of the ordinary. On the way to my friend's house to pick up my kids, I started getting this tingly, hot sensation at the top of my head, and that's when I sorted of floated away into la-la land. Like, totally felt like I was floating around out in space somewhere. I had to really talk to myself to remind myself that I was driving a car. By the time I got to my friends house I was pale and not feeling good AT ALL. I told her what happened at the gym and that I wasn't feeling well. I joked that I was surely too young to be having a stroke. Then, mid-conversation, I turned my head to look at her, felt another pop, and my vision went blurry. That's when she and I both really freaked out. So she called a friend of ours who is a doctor, told him what was going on and he said to get me to the ER, ASAP. So she loaded up all five of our kids (her husband is deployed too) and off to the ER we go. On the way there, I start talking gibberish, and what was nuts is that I knew I was talking crazy, but couldn't make myself NOT talk crazy. We were both very, very scared. I have never felt so strange and abnormal in all my life. We get to the ER, and I'm having a hard time remembering really basic things like my phone number and my address. I was shaking really bad. There were all kinds of people from church waiting on us when I got the ER. It feels so good to be a place with such support. I didn't have to worry about my kids or anything, everything was just taken care of, and my sweet friend stayed with me until 1am in the morning until it was all over, and our friend who is the doctor stayed with me until midnight. So, turns out after a head CT I didn't have a stroke, thank goodness, but tore two ligaments in my neck...the big ones that hold your head up. That is what those two "pops" were, and somehow, the tearing of those ligaments affected the nerves that control speech, vision, memory, etc. All I know is that it was so scary and I hope to never deal with anything like it again. I knew the bootcamp was brutal and stressful on my old out-of-shape body, but I guess I didn't realize how much stress I was putting on my neck area. I know now, though. I have to lay off exercise for 7-10 days and give my neck some time to heal, and I miss my workouts! I hate I missed the last two days of bootcamp, but I guess I do need to get well.

So that's the excitement of my life right now. Some friends took me to eat Mexican on Friday for a post-birthday celebration, which was so great, and today I did little more than a couple loads of laundry and a braved a very quick trip to Walmart for milk and such with all three kids. I've got to finish planning Sara Katherine's Tinkerbell party we're having next weekend. She's going to be FOUR. Can you believe it?! And despite repeatedly telling Sara Katherine that Mommy's camera is OFF LIMITS, I keep finding pictures like this on it. I can't wait until she's a teenager. .

Feed me, Mommy!

2011-02-08T10:20:00.001-08:00

Apparently, I wasn't getting her bottle fast enough for her last night.

And I was trying to capture a picture to show that FINALLY, after nearly 13 months, Elyse is cutting her first tooth!!! But she moved too much and this is blurry, but it really is happening. Baby girl is getting some teeth! Whoever thought I could be so excited??

Tonsils be gone!

2011-02-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

So yesterday marked Ethan's fourth surgery in his five little years of life. After having fluid caught behind his ear drum for literally MONTHS, he got a brand spankin' new set of tubes in his ears. He had tubes when he was 2 that had already worked themselves out. The shape of his ear canal makes it very hard for fluid to drain without the tubes. So I don't know if he'll be getting tubes every few years for the rest of his life, or what, but I'm thankful he has them now and can hear again. The ENT said as soon as he made the incision to insert the tube that a whole bunch of gross fluid just flowed out. Ethan is as excited as I am that he can hear again. Sara Katherine was hollering last night near him and poor kid started crying because his hearing is so sensitive it hurt. The audiologist that did his hearing test a few weeks ago said he had the hearing of an 80 year old man. She said most 5 years old begin hearing at 15 decibles...Ethan wasn't hearing until 45 decibles. So glad that's all taken care of.

After the tubes were in, the doctor went ahead and removed his GINORMOUS tonsils and adenoids while he had him asleep. We really haven't had many problems with throat infections, but the dr. said with tonsils that big, he most certainly would in the future, not to mention they get in the way of a restful night's sleep. Two birds with one stone, I'm all for that. He brought us the tonsils in a specimen cup when he came to talk to us post surgery...a little memento for us to take home. They are the grossest things I have ever seen. They look like mini brains. They are about five times the size of normal 5 year old tonsils, and that was on a normal day with no infection. I just love the ENT that performed Ethan's surgery. He's the same one that took the rock out of his nose on the second attempt. The one that actually knows what he is doing. He gave us that pebble in a specimen cup too and Ethan took it for show and tell at school. The jury is still out on whether or not he'll take the tonsils! And because it's been requested (this one is for you, Tracy!) and because Ethan may one day want to remember what his removed tonsils looked like, I'm putting a picture on the blog. Gross, I know. But how many people can say they got to carry their body parts around in a cup?? **Not for the squeamish!** The ENT said he uses a cauterization procedure to remove tonsils instead of cutting and stitching like mine were removed. It's less bleeding, less pain, quicker recovery. I remember spitting up mouthfuls of blood when I had mine removed and I've seen no blood from Ethan. So if your kids ever have to have tonsils out, find an ENT that uses this procedure. Ethan slept all the way home from Lubbock yesterday, but I caught him playing Wii Sports last night and had to make him turn it off and lay back down on the couch. He slept all through the night last night. He's eaten soup and popsicles. He doesn't much care for his medicine, but with a little coaxing is getting it down. I just need him to drink more. From the horror stories I've heard (and experienced myself when I had mine out at 15), I consider myself lucky and am praying this isn't the calm before the storm. He'll be out of school a week.

Anyway, look at the size of the holes in the back of his throat! No wonder the kid snored so loud! So glad this is all taken and care of now when he's young and resilient! And when we have the most excellent medical insurance through the military. We have not paid one red cent for ANYTHING since we came in...not when I had Elyse, filled perscriptions, gone in for well checks, sick dr. visits, immunizations...nothing. What a blessing.

And this is so cute, when Ethan woke up in recovery, they would only let one parent back there. He told me the night before when we asked him who wanted back there, "Well, since I pick Daddy all the time, this time I'll pick you, Mom." So when he started coming out of the anesthesia, I went back there. He was bleeding out of his ears and crying, and after trying to soothe him and crying myself, he finally asked for dad. I was so relieved. (I have no idea what me or those kids are going to do without David for six months). So I went to go get David who is much better at dealing with sickness and things such as this. After about 20 minutes of not hearing anything, I texted him to see how Ethan was doing. He didn't answer, and so I just marched myself back to the recovery room and found this. David stayed like that for the better part of an hour. Exactly like that. It was the only time Ethan didn't cry when he was all wrapped around David. When they got ready to move him to the post-op room, David started to get up, and Ethan started crying again, so the nurse wheeled him and David to the post-op room just like this. We got some crazy looks from the people we passed in the hall! We were only at the hospital a little over four hours start to finish. All in all, it was a good experience. I highly recommend Texas Tech's University Medical Center. It was top notch care for my little man.

Here we go.

2011-02-04T17:53:00.000-08:00

So I think I may be a little bit crazy. I've signed up to do a three-week bootcamp that starts at 5am. Yes, you read that right. FIVE A.M. Which means I have to be up at FOUR THIRTY A.M. I'm almost positive that's before the roosters crow or farmers rise. Good news is, it's only for three weeks. And I can do ANYTHING for three weeks. The lady who does these runs them all year, though (crazy lady). So I risk actually liking this and wanting to do it on a more permanent basis. Which could turn me into a bonafide morning person forever. Oh, the horror. One of my friends that did it this last session lost over 10lbs and lost 4 inches in her waist in three weeks. I'm hoping for those kind of results. I think I could turn into an early riser for that.

Those of you who know me well know I am *not* a morning person. My mom has her day conquered by 7am, and I have yet to turn over in my bed. I know we should get up early. All that early to bed, early to rise yadda-yadda. The scriptures teach it, and from the times in my life when I was actually living that principle (early morning seminary, 5:30am workouts in college), I really was happier. And I do feel so much better about myself when I'm not rushing out the door last minute shoving a poptart into Ethan's mouth. When I get up before my kids, there's less hollering by me, less lolly-gagging by my kids, and my day seems to just move so much more smoothly. I will be back home from bootcamp by a little after six. I don't have to get Ethan up until 7:15 for school. That leaves me a whole hour to shower, read my scriptures, make his lunch, unload the dishwasher, and organize my day, all before anyone else in my house is out of bed. That part, I am really looking forward to. I was doing the early morning workout thing last summer with a friend, but Elyse was still getting up at night; it was tough. I was still nursing. I gave up. But now she's sleeping all night, not nursing, and I'm out of excuses. It's time. But it's getting over that mental block of not thinking I can (or not wanting to!) get out of bed when the alarm goes off. That is going to the be the hardest part of this whole ordeal (well, that and the ridiculous amount of pushups and situps we have to do as part of this bootcamp).

My sweet crazy-fit friend who talked me into this has helped me with an eating plan. She's got me eating six times a day to raise my metabolism. I'm thankful for her knowledge and help on how to live a healthful life. Everyone needs a Carlee Bunker in their life. She has introduced me to these yummy protein balls. To me, they taste almost exactly like a no-bake cookie, healthified. They are choked full of protein and good-for-you stuff like oatmeal and flax seed, which I am convinced is nothing but ground up bird seed, but it's got a lot of fiber and it tastes good when you mix it with all this other stuff. I had never heard of Agave before I moved here, but it's like honey, but better for you. So my plan is to have one of these before my workout at 4:30am (!), then do a vanilla protein shake with fruit after my workout. I'm actually sort of excited about it. We'll see how it goes.

Protein Balls
2 cups raw oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flax seed
1 cup protein powder
1 small jar (15 oz) natural peanut butter (look at ingredients, no sugar!)
1/2 cup agave or honey

Mix peanut butter and agave in glass bowl and warm in microwave for 30 seconds.
Then, add oatmeal, protein, and flax seed. Stir to combine. The mix will be kind of coarse and mealy. Form into one inch balls and put in airtight container. Separate layers with wax paper. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 36.

**I had to add a little extra agave so they would shape up well.
**I got everything at Wal-Mart, except for the protein powder I bought at Sams.

2011-02-02T20:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight in the car the kids and I had an interesting little conversation. It went something like this:

Sara Katherine - Out of the random-blue nowhere - "Mommy, I don't want to die when my kids get big."

Me - "Well that's an interesting thought. Why not?"

Sara Katherine - "Because I would miss Daddy if I were dead."

Ethan, butting into the conversation - "Well, Daddy will be dead before you will, so what's the problem?"

Sara Katherine - "I just want to stay little. I wish I could stay a kid, and you could stay par-wents, and we could be like this forever."

Then I cried. Despite my many imperfect moments as a parent and specifically as her mother, her big wish in her little world is to stay my little child forever (and that David will outlive me, but hey, I'll take what I can get!)

How grateful I am for the knowldege that she will be mine, and I will be hers. Forever.

First trip to the Roller Rink!

2011-01-22T16:34:00.001-08:00

So I'm not going to lie, when I was little, I was like, the roller skating queen. I would spend my entire $5 weekly allowance as soon as I got it and went roller skating nearly every Friday night. Even if I had to go by myself, I would go. I always remember being terribly embarassed when mom would come pick me up afterwards in the ugly blue station wagon we had. Surely my kids will never have any of those same feelings about our mini van??

Anyway, it was a great pastime for me. Good exercise, mom felt safe dropping me off there for a few hours, and I have some sweet childhood memories from it. I even had my 18th birthday party at the skating rink. Yes, I loved some rollerskating.

But that's the last time I went rollerskating, on my 18th birthday. I think I've been ice skating a few times since then, which, surprisingly, I'm good at. I can't walk in a straight line, but can roller and ice skate really well. Go figure.

When David got home from his TDY last weekend we decided we wanted to do something fun after we got all the chores out of the way that afternoon, so I decided we'd load up and go to the roller rink. While it seemed like a good idea, it was in actuality a pretty big waste of $20. Not roller skating in 13 years had taken it's toll on me, and I flopped around all over the place for awhile until I got a *little* of my groove back. I never fell, though, so I felt like I kept some sense of pride in tact. The kids did okay, but David had to hold them up and support their full body weight and pull them around the rink. I felt bad for him, because I wasn't strong enough to hold them up, especially Ethan, and skate at the same time. Then we had Elyse with us, so we had to take shifts sitting with her. So when David wasn't pulling kids around the rink, he was watching the baby while I skated free around the rink. But he's such a good sport about those kinds of things and didn't even care. Despite everything, we did have fun, the kids had a blast, and they can't wait to go back. Uhhhh, maybe in a few years.

Our newest Sunbeam!

2011-01-22T16:27:00.000-08:00

Sara Katherine graduated from nursery at church at the beginning of the month and is now a proud new Sunbeam! Such a big girl! Is she really about to be 4?!?!I told her to pose for the camera and this is what I got...After a little redirection, I got this shot. Much better. That girl...