Ouch!

Last week Noah came crying to me, telling me that he hurt his eye. He showed me later that he had run into the door frame of my bedroom door. I'm not sure what was going on to make him do that, but that night he had a huge bump on his eyebrow. I took this picture a few days ago and it's actually looking worse now. The bruise is a very dark purplish/black and above the bruise it's a yellowish/green.

I ended up taking Noah to the doctor yesterday just to make sure that his fever wasn't anything but a virus, and I was right, it was just a virus. His fever broke last night. While we were there, the doctor asked what had happend to his eye and I did feel a little foolish telling him that Noah ran into a doorway. The doctor was nice, but you could tell he was thinking about my answer a little bit.

Just so you know...............

Yesterday: I worked hard
Today: I'm wasting time

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

A Little Realization & A Sick Little Boy.................

I know this may sound silly, maybe even a little pathetic, but I had a realization a couple of days ago. I think I've been so involved in getting things done that I didn't quite see the real picture. I had it in my head that I'd have about a week after Chad got back before we packed out and so he'd be here to help with several things.................but the reality is that Chad will come home on Friday and we'll start packing out on the following Monday. Bugger!!!! That means I have to get things done, like NOW! I can't believe that all this time I didn't realize that. My "to do" list just doubled! That's kind of sad actually. So, that's what I've started doing today..........all the little last minute things that will take me longer now that I've realized Chad won't be here to help. The time seems to be going by pretty quick leading up to this move, although, it seems like Chad's been gone forever.........................interesting. I do have a not quite so stressful outlook right now, so that helps, too.
*****
Yesterday we went to a friends house to spend the afternoon, have a little BBQ, let the little kids play in the pool, and just visit. Noah fell asleep on the way to their house and was very fussy once we got there. Most of the time he just wanted to sit on my lap. He started rubbing his head on my neck and I realized he was running a fever. So, we packed up and left early. When I took his temperature at home it was 101. Once the motrin kicked in, though, he seemed to be doing ok. But then he woke up in the middle of the night and it was 102.5. I don't like that. It was a long night. Today it hasn't been as high, but once the medicine wears off the fever would come right back. He doesn't seem to have any other symptoms, so I'm not sure what's going on with him. I hope tonight is better and it finally breaks.

Mary Engelbreit Monday

You cannot always have happiness, but you can always give happiness.

****Anonymous

Busch Gardens

I really didn't get as many pictures as I really wanted, but these are fun. Noah went on the Escape from Pompeii ride. He was actually about 1/2 inch short, but they let him go anyway. In the picture I have of it, you can see Vance, Myshel and McKaylie standing at the gate watching the ride. They came back completely soaked! it was a fun day. I wish I would have taken more pictures!

Field Trip to the Norfolk Zoo

Pup-cakes

I did decorate these cup cakes and thank you for the nice compliments. I was really pleased with how they turned out for McKaylie's birthday. I was a little worried for awhile there. McKaylie loved them and that's all that mattered in the end.We decorated 30 in all. Chad helped me a lot, too.
This one is Chad's. I had to keep a close eye on him, the puppies were starting to get a little silly!

Ok, Ok, Ok........................

I hear that my blog has been full of fluff and not a lot of filler............ok, I'll try to catch up. This may take awhile. I didn't have anything else to do anyway.........NOT!(I'm showing my age with that one, aren't I?)

Let me sum a few things up before I start. McKaylie's birthday was on Saturday, the 19th, but we had decided to go to Busch Gardens on Saturday and knowing that we wouldn't have time to do the birthday "stuff" we decided to have her cake and ice cream and presents on Friday after school...............

Ok, Friday. The van was in the shop getting the AC fixed. It was suppose to have been done one Thursday, but it wasn't. I spent the morning making cupcakes and getting ready to decorate them. I was right on my "schedule" and not rushed. I realized I needed something from the store and convinced Chad to run to the store with me for a quick trip. We got out of his blazer and heard something........we had run over a nail and the tire was going flat. We could actually hear it! Luckily we were at Walmart and Chad took it around and had them fix it while we ate lunch and spent and extra hour in the store. We rushed home, now I'm behind schedule.........

We call to check on the van, it should be done around 4, right when we're suppose to have McKaylie's bithday party.......the place closes at 6 and I had a dinner to go to with friends at 6, Chad was going to the Tide's baseball game with friends at 7. How are we going to pick up the van and get both vehicles back to the house?????? We decided that I would stay and do the cake and presents with McKaylie and everyone and Chad would drive the blazer over to get the van, pay and get the keys, drive the van home and leave the blazer there. His friends would drop him off after the game to get his blazer. It was a good plan in theory.

Chad left to get the van, we had a nice little party with McKaylie. He missed the whole thing. It was 5, I tried calling him and his cell phone started ringing in the cupboard........he forgot to take it..........then it was 6, then it was 7. His friends had called twice already for him, he was late for his game, I missed my dinner and I had no idea where he was or what was going on. I was worried! He finally came in a little while later. The van wasn't done when he got there and it was a whole ordeal at the car place for him. He wasn't happy, I wasn't happy, we both missed out on our plans and we still had to go back and get the blazer.

Saturday was a great day though! We had a blast at Busch Gardens. It was a good day to go. All the kids went on lots of rides and Chad and I went on some too. We even got Noah on "Escape from Pompeii" (for those of you who know the rides) and "Roman Rapids". We were all completely drenched, but it was a lot of fun! On the way home we stopped and ate at Red Lobster. The waiters put a candle in a piece of cake and sang happy birthday to McKaylie. She loved that. We got home around 10:30PM, completely spent, but happy.

Sunday was church at 1PM and then home for a quick change and then off to Chesapeake to visit some friends. And, for the third time, We had cake and ice cream and sang to McKaylie.....there's nothing like a 3 day celebration!

Monday I had to drop Nutmeg off at the vet first thing (we had her spayed), run McKaylie to school, take care of another 3 errands, and then run home to babysit "J" at noon. "J" left at 3, ran back to the vet to get Nutmeg, then get McKaylie from school, run home to make dinner and wonder why Chad hasn't come home yet. He got home around 5 or 6, had an errand he had to run that night since he was getting underway and needed to go to walmart too. We decided to make it a family trip since it was going to be the only time we ended up having together for Family Home Evening. Yes, that's right, we went to walmart for FHE! It's a sad little house we live in sometimes.

Tuesday Chad left again, which you've already heard about my feelings there. I watched "J" in the morning and then in the afternoon both girls had dentist appointments. Stopped on the way home to get Myshel's hair cut, came home with a splitting head ache, made dinner and went to bed.

Wednesday, I went on a field trip to the zoo with McKaylie's class in the morning. Then ran Noah to speech, came home, and I'm not sure that I accomplished anything else, but I don't feel like I sat down all day.

Today, I've pretty much done nothing and I'm ok with that! I'll post some pictures of Busch Gardens and McKaylie's field trip a little later. Now, do I have an excuse for fluff instead of filler????

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Happy Birthday, Mckaylie!

A Little BooHooooin.............

As you can see there's a new countdown tracker for Chad's return and for any of you who read my blog on a regular basis, you know that that seems to be the theme for our family these days............counting down to when Chad comes back. It's not that we just sit around on our thumbs waiting for his return, but it is always in the back of our minds............Chad/dad will be back in "x" amount of days. It's not exactly a fun theme, but it's what we've got right now.
He hasn't left for a long time (more than 2 weeks) for a few months now, it's just been 2 weeks here, 2 weeks there, 2 more weeks here, etc. This is our last underway period before Chad transfers to shore duty. It will probably feel like the longest!
If you haven't guessed yet, I'm tired of it, I'm frustrated, I'm rather irritated........... I'm burned out. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever been as burned out on anything as I am on the navy right now. I don't want to have to keep track of how many days there are anymore. I should be looking at the bright side of things, like this is the last one for at least 3 years, but that doesn't help, not right now. I just don't want him to be gone......again, even if it is for just 2 1/2 weeks. And I also know, that we'll get through it, because we have to, but I don't want to feel like I have to anymore. We counted the days, and in the last year, Chad's been home for 130 days. 130 out of 365, that's barely a third of the year that we've spent together. It's good that Chad's transfer is coming up, because I'm done. I'm just done!
So this is my "poor, Cindy" post..........maybe tomorrow it will be better...............

Mary Engelbreit Monday

Let there be more joy and laughter in your living.

***Eileen Caddy

Only Mothers Can Appreciate....................

My sister emailed this story to me and I just had to share it. We've all been there in one way or another, haven't we!
***
The Ellen Show was on and she read this submission to a contest from a>viewer.>>
***
So, we had this great 10-year-old cat named Jack who just recently died.
>Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and>nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on
this mat in our bathroom.
>>Well, we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves Chapstick. LOVES IT. He kept asking to use my Chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my Chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.
>>Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush-around-and-try-to-get-ready-for-Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.
>>We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my Chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right—their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind.
>>And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth . . . ?
>>And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your Chapstick on the cat's butt.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Mary Engelbreit Monday

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can; All of them make me laugh.

----W.H. Auden

Happy Mother's Day

Mckaylie made me a little book for mother's day and this poem was in it.






I'm Trying So Hard


I'm trying so hard
To be really good,
And do all the things
I know that I should.



But I'm just a kid, Mom,
I'm messy and slow,
I don't eat my veggies,
And I'll clean my room, I know!



And I don't pick my toys up,
And I don't like my bath,
I'm trying to learn my spelling,
And I need help with my Math.



So, you're stuck with me, Mom,
And I'm a lot of work, I know.
But I'm sure that you will help me
As I learn new things and grow.



I won't always be so messy,
Some day I might be neat.
And then I won't hide my veggies
Every time I eat!



My room might end up tidy,
I won't complain about a bath,
Some day I'll teach you how to spell
And I'll be a genius at my Math.



But that might take a long, long time,
Cause, I'm still a kid you see.
I've got to grow up for awhile,
Then I'll make you proud of me.



So thanks for understanding,
Like Mothers always do,
And for taking me the way I am
I will always love you.

5 Senses Saturday

• Sight:
• Lots of laundry to be done
• a messy house
• cloudy skies
• Chad's smile
• beautiful roses

Sound:

• weed eater
• water running in the sink
• kids laughing
• "I love you, Cindy" from Chad
• clicking of the buttons on the computer

Touch:

• Chad's clean shaven face
• McKaylie's wet hair
• sand in my shoes
• wire racks from the freezer
• buttons on the telephone

Smell:

• onions cooking
• mud
• fresh cut grass
• Chad's aftershave
• Myshel's fruity lotion

Taste:

• Cheescake ice cream cake (from Cold Stone Creamry)
• enchiladas
• cold pizza
• ice cold water
• sweet mint gum

A Little Hoola-Hoopin' Hokie Pokie

Every spring, Mckaylie's school puts on a PE program. Each grade performs a little routine to music that they learned in PE class. They're always so fun to watch and it's always outside, which adds to the fun, too. The first graders were doing the hoola-hoopin' hokie pokie! It was fun. I didn't know Mckaylie was so good at hoola hoopin'. I think she was keeping it a secret to surprise me! She did great!

Overheard................

I was in the store shopping and noticed a young mom ahead of me in line. She had two small children and was obviously exasperated with them. The did look like a handful. I watched her several attempts to distract them with no success. Apparently as a last ditch effort, she said to them, "I'll give you until the count of zero and then I put everything back and we leave". I had to keep from laughing and unfortunatly for her, even that didn't work!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY----My First!

Just another evening.....................

Myshel and Vance are "playing" a game, apparently inbetween arguments..................Noah and McKaylie are fighting over the guitar that Noah swears Vance said he could play with, but McKaylie swears she was given the permission..................... the dog is digging up my azalea bush, the one that she already tore the leaves off of and is now basically just bare twigs sticking out of the ground, thanks to her..................................... Chad is floating around somewhere out there in the ocean on an aircraft carrier with, as I've been told, nothing to do.................. I am hiding................I'm hiding from the craziness of my kids, I'm hiding from the dog who is "loved" a little too much most of the time, I'm hiding from the thought of being a temporary "single mom", I'm hiding from all the housework that needs to be done, I'm hiding from the list of "to do's" for the move that Chad and I made together, yet I'm the only one who has accomplished anything on it, I'm hiding from the dishes and the laundry, I'm hiding from the phone calls that need to be made and I'm hiding from the pile of paperwork that needs to be sorted and filed away, I'm hiding from bedtime routines and bedtime stories, and I'm hiding from another night at home alone, basically I'm hiding from my life right now. In a few minutes, I'll take a few deep breathes and I'll stop hiding and jump back into life as I know it. Right now it's crazy and it's hectic and it's frustrating, and somewhat overwhelming, but it's mine. Besides when the kids are finally in bed asleep and I'm laying down fighting Nutmeg for my pillow, it won't seem quite so insane......................until tomorrow.

Mary Engelbreit Monday

Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart.
---Anthony J. D'Angelo

Complete disrespect!!

I read this blog entry and I just have to pass it along. It's about a radio station in Salt Lake City that showed complete disrespect for a military wife and her friends who were just trying to support her! It would be bad for them to have this kind of attitude with anyone, but a military wife on the day that she sent her husband back to Iraq is completely below the belt. Please click on this link and read the entry and then pass it on on your own blogs! Thanks!

K-Bull 93 in Salt Lake City: A Bunch of Bull

Noah, the Terrible.....or is that, Mom, the Terrible

Noah and I are having a trying day. Noah's temper has been getting the best of him lately. He knows that he can't get away with it, but he still tries. Today we went to walmart and usually he's fine, but he had fallen asleep in the car on the way over and was very grumpy. He wanted to be carried. That just wasn't happening. For one, he's way to big for that. I just can't carry him around for very long anymore. Two, the little boy I babysit, was sitting in the cart and there was no way I could carry Noah and push "J" in the cart. Noah was mad...............I got mad..........Noah tried to run off.............I picked him up and put him in the back of the cart while I was looking at some things..................he tried to climb out...................I held his hands so he couldn't....................he screamed, he cried, and then..................he tried to bite me!!!! I couldn't believe it! He knew he was in trouble, but he cried and yelled some more. We started to leave, Noah crying the whole time that he wanted a treat! A TREAT?????? Unbelieveable! Before long, though he started to calm down and so did I and we ended up finishing our shopping. Noah walked and held on to the cart and there was NO treat involved!

******************

A few hours later, at home, Noah took a toy that "J" had brought from home. He was asked to give it back...........Noah kept it.........................then he was told to give it back.............................Noah kept it........................I told him he was really trying my patience today! I tried to take the toy away from him..........................Noah started jumping around on the couch (another NO-NO) so I reached out to grab him to stop him from jumping and my thumb nail caught his cheek. I knew it was bad as soon as it happened. He stopped jumping and he gave back the toy and he gave me a look like I was the worst person in the world. His cheek was starting to bleed when we went to get a wash rag and some ice. It was an accident, but I still felt terrible!

********************

I guess karma has a way of working things out, if you believe in that sort of thing. He acts obnoxious all day and in the end he's the one that gets hurt. But if that's the case then why do I feel like such a bad mom, especially when he announced to my friend that I babysit for, "look what my mom did to me!"

My Kids Can Do It, Can You?

This goofyness is just the tip of the iceberg at our house!

************

My kids can raise one eyebrow, something they got from their dad.........................................

My kids can roll their tongues.....................

They can wink with either eye and Vance can twist his tongue upside down......................Can you????????

City Cowgirl

Here's my cowgirl! McKaylie loves these boots, I mean she LOVES these boots. I think she would wear them to bed if she could. They were on clearance and that was the only reason I bought them for her, thinking if she doesn't wear them, we're not out much. But she LOVES them. So much so, that we might have to consider getting her a better pair (back-home) Chad thinks the boots are cute, but I thought he was going to die when she put on this outfit to wear to her primary activity. Now, even though this is not the outfit I would put her in, I think I side with McKaylie, I love her, in her boots! I love the look she has when she wears them. Her eyes light up.******

Even though I grew up in Wyoming, I am not a cowgirl. I do own a pair of cowboy boots, which I really like, but I would not consider myself a cowgirl! McKaylie, I think, could be a cowgirl, though. She loves horses, loves her boots, and loves to get down and dirty! There's cowgirl in her! Seeing her in her boots reminds me of back home and maybe that's why I like her in them. I am proud to be from Wyoming and I guess seeing McKaylie in her boots makes Wyoming seem not so far away!

Naval Aviation Monument

We also saw this at the boardwalk in Virginia Beach on Saturday. It's fairly new and this was the first time I had seen them. These monuments were built to honor the men and women who serve or have served in naval aviation. It was very impressive and long over due, especially for this area!

King Neptune

Saturday we went to the beach. Last week we went to the beach, too, but it was Ocean View beach, which is actually a beach on the Chesapeake Bay, this week we went to Virginia Beach, which in on the ocean. It has softer sand, rougher waves, and lots more people and it's much further away! But we decided to brave all the cons so that I could get a picture of King Neptune before we move. This is an amazing statue. I watched a show on PBS about how they made him, in CHINA! It was really impressive and then to actually see it and stand under the turtle, amazing, really! King Neptune is the symbol for Virginia Beach and every September they have the Neptune Festival, which is really fun and they have a sand sculture contest, too! So here is one of several of my pictures of King Neptune. There are dolphins swimming around the base on the back, too. If you click on the picture of the plaque then you can see how big he really is and what all they used to build him.

Virginia Beach

We couldn't go down to the boardwalk without going on the beach!
Myshel was the camera lady most of the time that we were on the beach. So now we have 800 pictures of the waves! She's worse than I am when it comes to taking lots of pictures. At least I have a lot to choose from!
My kids thought they were going to die because I wouldn't let them get in the water! It was really cold ( I waded in it) and we didn't have anything for them to change into either. We walked along the shore for awhile, though, and I think everyone ended up with the edge of their pants/shorts wet!

We had a good day, despite how it ended! (see the next post)

See Mckaylie........................

See McKaylie. See McKaylie smile. McKaylie is playing in the sand. She is having fun. a short time later..............................See Mckaylie throw up. See the waves wash it away. McKaylie is sick. McKaylie is not happy. See the family go. See the family go to the car. Hurry family, hurry. McKaylie is sick again. She does not look good. McKaylie is very sick. McKaylie has a fever. Her fever will stay. Poor McKaylie. McKaylie is not happy. McKaylie's mom is not happy.

Going to the Zoo, Sewell's Point Style................

Last Thursday McKaylie had a school program. I love the way her school does their programs too. They only have 3 grades perform each month. That way you don't have to sit through hours of kids you don't know. (bah humbug for school programs? maybe, but I have too much going on on Thursday nights to listen to all 6 grades) Anyhoooo................This month it was the Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade (which I think are soooo cute anyway) The first graders say the song, "I'm going to the Zoo". It was very cute and McKaylie was an elephant. She didn't hold her mask up until the very end and then it was unside down, but that's ok, because that's what makes them cute! She did a great job and we had a great time watching!