The Adventures of Joshiecat

Newest installment

2011-08-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

of throw it in a pot and call it soup.

I had vegetables leftover from making Pico earlier this week, and figured it would be fun to try a mexican flare to my throw it in a pot and call it soup.

1 pkg smoked kielbasa,sliced
1/4 red onion, diced
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1/2 bunch cilanto, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 can pinto beans
1 tbsp chicken bouillion
1/2 pkg spiral pasta

I tossed the sausage and veggies in the pan, filled it with water, added the bouillion, brought it to a boil and cooked for 30 minutes. I added a dash of salt and cracked in some black pepper before adding the pasta and let it cook for an additional 14 minutes. It had just a little bit of heat, but wasn't overly spicy. I loved it, though I can't say the same for the boys.

Oh, and it's Thursday, which means it is Rookie Blue night. Woohoo!!

Branching out

2011-08-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

If you are on my facebook or google plus you know that I have a new obsession...Rookie Blue. Who knew that a show could grab you and pull you in so quickly. James used to make fun of me when I would cry over One Tree Hill. Well, Rookie Blue is WAY better than that. I don't think I've felt so invested in a show since Dawson's Creek or Third Watch. I mean, I loved Battlestar Galactica and I love Sons of Anarchy, but something about Rookie Blue just drew me in. Okay, maybe it was Sam Swarek (Ben Bass) and the way he looks at Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym). I mean, it's so HOT! Maybe I'm missing my husband a bit too much these days, but I am so jealous of how he looks at her, the love is almost overwhelming.

Anyways, tonight I decided to take the plunge and join the live tweet session with Eric Johnson on twitter while the show aired on the west coast. I had so much fun!!! The episode was great. I had read spoilers earlier in the day on a website devoted to Sam & Andy Two Worlds Collide: A Sam Swarek/Andy McNally Fan Forum and was expecting to be disappointed with the episode. Instead I found myself pleasantly surprised. If you haven't checked out this show yet you really should! I think I will try to blog about it each week (we know how well my blogging record is) and hopefully it will drum up more fans for the show. Rookie Blue has been picked up for season 3 already so that is great! I hate getting hooked on a show and then having it be cancelled after one season.

In keeping with confessions of my obsession, I have started writing again. When I was in high school I wrote a lot of poetry, and some stories. I learned about fanfiction.net when I became obsessed with Rookie Blue. It encouraged me to start writing again, and I published a story. It is a work in progress still, but if any of you care to check it out, here's the link. Not this time, McNally

Oh and I watched Soul Surfer today. It is an amazing and inspiring movie. I definitely recommend it!

Spaghetti and pretzels

2011-03-30T08:15:00.000-08:00

Monday was a fun day of baking and experimenting. I used my bread maker to make some soft pretzels. The boys thought it was a whole lot of fun rolling them out for their after school snack. Unfortunately I took a plate of warm pretzels to my neighbor and the rest were devoured before the camera came out. Oops! Here's the recipe I used, if you want to try it sometime.

Soft Pretzel Dough:
(add the ingredients as recommended by your machine. Mine asks for liquid first, then dry ingredients, then yeast)

1 1/4 cup Water (80 degrees, I just use warm water and don't measure the temp)
1 egg yolk, room temperature
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper (I didn't have any so I left it out)
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Put it all together and run the dough setting for 1.5 lbs.

When the dough cycle is done, on a lightly floured surface, cut the dough into 16 pieces. Roll or stretch out and form into pretzel shapes. Brush pretzels with a mixture of 1 egg white adn 1 tbps of water, then sprinkle with Kosher salt.(I also sprinkled on some garlic powder cause everything tastes better with garlic.) Bake on a greased baking sheet (I used my pampered chef bar pans so I didn't grease them) at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes. I think next time I am going to grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top with the garlic.

Now for the spaghetti -

My sister got me the pasta maker attachment to my Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas, and I finally got it out yesterday. I followed their basic egg noodle recipe, and had fun making it into thick spaghetti. I made turkey meatballs and used some HEB Spinach and cheese spaghetti sauce as a base for our sauce.

The pasta recipe:
3 large eggs
2 tbsp water (add the eggs to a measuring cup, add water to ensure you have 3/4 cup total liquid)
2 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
Combine ingredients with flat beater, then mix with the dough hook for 2 minutes at speed 2. Remove mixture and hand knead for 30 sec then wrap with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 15 minutes before putting into the pasta maker.

The meatballs:
2 lbs ground turkey
2 eggs
1 pkg saltine crackers crushed
1/2 onion diced small
I don't measure spices, but I put in
a bunch of worchestershire sauce
texas steak seasoning
garlic
cumin
black pepper

I mixed them together, rolled into balls, and baked at 400 for about 25 minutes. Then tossed them into the sauce. The sauce was one jar of HEB spinach and cheese sauce, with 2 cans of diced tomatoes, and some Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning. Josh isn't a fan of tomato sauces, so I left some meatballs separate for him, and he asked to take the leftovers to school in his lunch the next day. The rest of us had leftovers for our lunch the next day as well, so these recipes fed our family of 5 for two meals. I'm calling that a success!

All cooked and drained

The turkey meatballs in sauce

Yum!

We are all big fans of freshly grated parmesan

They look happy with the result

Seth was so happy he was shoveling it in with his hands!

Coupons!

2011-03-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

Why have I not put forth the effort before to do coupons? I spent a few hours playing around yesterday researching blogs and coupon sites. Then I went shopping and saved over $30!! I think this may become my new hobby!

Potato, bacon, and cheese soup

2011-03-08T16:22:00.000-09:00

10 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
water to fill pan 1-2 inches or so above the potatoes
3 tbsp knorr's chicken bouillion
Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are cooked through (about 45min)

Meanwhile, line a cookie sheet with foil, place bacon on it and cook at 350 degrees until crispy. Set aside on paper towels to cool, then crumble.

When the potatoes are tender add the following:
1 cup shredded italian blend cheese
3 tbsp Philadelphia garlic cooking cream

Mash together until a consistency that you like. Serve in bowls garnished with bacon and a little extra cheese.

Chicken and farfalle soup

2011-02-10T16:24:00.000-09:00

I tried out something new in the crock pot last night, and wanted to share the creation.

6 boneless skinless chicken tenders (frozen)
a bunch of water, til the crock pot was about 3/4 full
1 can of diced tomatoes
2-3 tbsp Knorr's chicken bouillion (I'm guessing the amt, I just dumped what was left in the container)
2 bay leaves
4 cloves of garlic

Cooked on low for about 4 hours, then tossed in:
1/2 pkg of chopped spinach
4 shakes of Mrs. Dash tomato, basil, garlic seasoning
Fresh ground sea salt and black pepper (to taste)

Cooked on high for 1 hr then tossed in:
1/2 pkg farfalle pasta

cooked an additional hour and served with whole wheat bread fresh out of the bread maker. It was so good.

2010-08-31T15:35:00.003-08:00

We are in week two of our homeschooling adventure. It is going better than expected in many areas, and is proving to be challenging in others. I don't think I expected Trey to have such a hard time with it, or for Seth to be so amazingly patient as I work with Josh. Josh is doing fantastic, and craves more information. I feel like I'm not prepared enough some days because he blows through the material so fast. I am really enjoying myself.

I started another blog for journaling the material we cover each day. It is partially for myself, to be able to look back and see what we have covered, or what we need to work more on. It's also because my husband doesn't seem to be totally on board with this homeschool thing, and I think it will be good for him to see all that we do each day. He is all for sticking Josh into K as soon as we are settled in TX, whereas I am all for continuing to homeschool indefinitely. I guess we will see where we end up. Yesterday he had the day off and "stayed out of my way" to see how the day goes when he isn't here. He kept asking me why I wasn't doing school exactly as our schedule is set up. I had to explain that some lessons we finish more quickly, and some take longer than anticipated. Plus, if Trey is screaming at me or stealing Josh's writing utensils I often need to take a break and nurse him or play with him. It was kind of funny, seeing how we differ in styles. He is militant and I am free spirit. I think he was impressed though when Josh went upstairs and asked if he could measure things in his office. He was like, wow, he got that really quick. He also quizzed Josh over dinner about things he learned during the day.

Josh's best funny quote of the day was "So, to be a good citizen I need to follow the rules and laws, help neighbors and my community, and clean the litter box." We had discussed cleaning the environment and not littering, which in his mind blended into cleaning the litter box. Silly, silly boy!!

The link to the homeschool blog, if anyone is interested is Little Dixon's Learning Zone

2010-08-24T23:47:00.000-08:00

We have officially embarked upon the journey of homeschooling. We started on Monday, Aug 23rd. It is going way better than I could have imagined it would. Josh is thriving, and asking to keep going instead of taking the breaks I had planned into the schedule. I am finding that my lessons and plans may not be advanced enough for his desires. I am doing a bit of this, and a bit of that kind of curriculum. I am following some of the pathways on www.lessonpathways.com and am supplementing with other workbooks and fun activities.

This week the book is The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Josh is almost reading the story, though I suspect some of that is because he has an amazing memory. He is definitely picking out certain sight words from the book and is enjoying himself. The math lessons are a bit below his level, as it focuses on 1-5 and he can count to one hundred, and backwards from 100-0. He is learning to write the numbers though, and as he is still struggling with proper holding of writing utensils I feel the review is good. I may end up bouncing him up to the 1st grade level of math if he seems bored with it. We are discussing what a scientist is, and different jobs a scientist could have. We did a few fun experiments with water, freezing and evaporation, and viewed a website that shows how scientists help the world. He seems extremely interested in those lessons. We are focusing on community this week, beginning with family, and moving to the world. It is so interesting to me to see Josh's perspective on things. This is as much fun for me as it is for him I suspect.

Seth and Trey are interacting with some of the lessons. Seth loves story time, science projects and arts/music activities. Trey just likes to steal papers and eat crayons, but hey, at least he is taking part in the adventure.

All in all I have found it to be such a rewarding adventure so far. I am not regretting my decision to homeschool at all. I was worried Josh would have trouble focusing, but he wakes up anxious to begin lessons and seems to love it. I do worry about the socialization aspect, but think that with church activities and our playgroup he will be okay. I plan to join a few homeschooling groups once we get to San Antonio, so I think that will help a lot also.

Did I mention that James is home? He came home early from his deployment. It was a mixed blessing, as the reason he came home was to have a dysplastic lesion removed from his tongue. They caught it in time before it turned into cancer, but the worry was there. It is a recurrent issue from a few years ago, and we were terrified that it had turned cancerous this time, as the initial biopsy couldn't rule out squamous cell carcinoma. Anyways, he is home and the surgery is done. The pathology came back that all of his moderate to severe dysplasia was removed. There is a small section in the back of the margins that showed mild dysplasia, so it is something we will have to closely monitor for the rest of his life. So, yeah, James is home and life is good.

We finally got the hard orders for his next assignment. We will be leaving Alaska on Oct 21 and heading to San Antonio for the next 4 years. We are excited, yet I am very sad to be leaving behind such an amazing community and some friends that I know I will miss so much. I am glad we'll be back by our family, but these friends are like my family, and it will be so hard to say goodbye. It's kind of like Army Wives, these ladies became my family.

Well Trey is awake and fussing so I must cut this short. I plan to try to use this blog in part as a record of our homeschooling accomplishments, so hopefully I will be a little bit better about updating it more often.

2010-03-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

So Mom said that I haven't blogged in awhile, and that she knows I have lots to write about, so I better get on that. I promised her I'd try to fire something off today, so here it goes.

Trey has always napped in his swing, and he was such a good napper. Well, the last week or two he's stopped taking his morning nap, and his afternoon nap has been short. Then he's more cranky all evening and it's just not that much fun. I was seriously contemplating buying him a crib, because then I could bring the pack-n-play downstairs for him to nap in, and he could sleep in the crib at night. For some reason, I didn't think he would nap well upstairs. But, let's be honest, by 2am he's in my bed and I was doing the "is it worth paying for a crib he won't really use?" battle in my head. I had pretty much decided to buy something, either a nice crib that can covert into a bed later on or a new pack n play to keep downstairs. Well, today I had a friend over and her baby was in the swing so when I got Trey down for his nap at 12:30pm I took him upstairs and layed him down in the pack and play. He slept for 2.5 hours, the longest nap he's taken in months. Why did I not want him to nap upstairs? Yeah, I was able to clean my house well while he slept, even vacuum without worrying about waking him up. Note to self: put the boy in the pack n play for his nap!! He was ready for bed by 8pm tonight, and is dozing well...in the pack n play :)

Joshie has had a rough week. He has been in meltdown stage all.the.time. He is missing James so much, and it comes out in his uber emotional state. It doesn't help that Seth has been pestering, hitting kicking, biting, etc him so much lately. They each are trying to express their emotions in different ways I guess. It really shows the differences in their personalities, that's for sure. Josh is a sad emotion shower, he cries and is so sensitive. Seth shows his emotion in an aggressive manner, hitting, yelling, kicking. It's such a challenge some days to cater to both of them and strike a good balance. The other night we were at my friend Candi's house. Josh was melting down and crying about every little thing. He was sad because M didn't hug him. He was sad because K closed the door. He was sad (and would not stop crying) because O didn't want to share the train. I sat and held him for about 20 minutes while he sobbed. I asked him what was making him so sad, and he finally said "I miss Daddy." We ended up leaving to come home because he was just too upset to stop crying. On the way home he said "Mama, I don't want to miss Daddy anymore. I want him to be home, at our house, right now." I tried to explain that Daddy's job takes him far away, and he said "well then Daddy just needs to get a new job". I'm not really sure how, or if I even can, make this better.

Last night after I put the kids to bed Seth came back downstairs. I asked him what he was doing up and he responded "Mama, I can't sleep. I miss my friend." I said, Oh you do?and he replied "I miss my friend Daddy. He's working a loooooong time." It broke my heart almost as much as listening to Josh cry. It also reinforced that Seth does have a kind sensitive soul, it just hides behind his "Bowser" LOL.

So, onto good things and happenings of late.

St. Patrick's Day we had lots of fun. There is this cool pottery place here in the mall that you can go to and paint things. They normally have a studio fee, but if you wore green on St. Patty's day they discounted the studio fee. So we went and made presents for Mother's Day. I sent the boys upstairs to get dressed before we left, with the instructions of put on something green. Well, Seth came down in his dinosaur costume...it's green. I totally let him wear it. Do you think I thought to get a single picture of him painting in his dinosaur costume? Nope. Darn it! It was so much fun painting with the boys though. They were really well behaved, and I was so proud of them! Josh chose to paint a "Piggy" bank, and Seth chose to paint a "Dinosaur" bank. I snapped a pic on my phone before we left. (You have to leave them to be fired, and they call in 10-14 days when they are done.)

I had this great vision of the plate I wanted to make for myself. I wanted a red plate with black handprints that said "Happy Mother's Day 2010" with the kids names under the handprints. So I paint the plate red, and I'm all excited about it. I paint the plates for the grandmas white, and get everything ready. As I am finishing getting my palate of paint for handprints I hear "Oops. I'm sorry, Mama" and Seth has painted a dark green slash across the red plate. Sigh. So, I decided they had a better vision than I did, and let all 3 boys paint the plate as they felt appropriate. After all, it is a "gift" from them right?

All in all, it was a great day. I can't wait to see how the plates turn out after firing, and to send them off to the Grandmas and see how they like them. It was a blast, and I hope to do it again for Father's Day.

Trey just woke up, so I'll have to continue the blogging another time.

2010-03-02T12:00:00.001-09:00

I might actually make it to the store today!!! I am one of those parents who actually keeps her sick children home for 24 hrs post fever. Honestly, I'm concerned about taking my sick children out for a few reasons. Mostly, I don't want them exposed to germs when they are already in a state of compromised immunity. But, I certainly don't want to share germs with anyone else. A facebook friend posted the other day about taking her son to the doctor to see if he had RSV (his 2 siblings did) and then tackling the commissary with her 3 kids. I was shocked. I mean, if your kid have RSV why, oh why are you taking them to the commissary? If her husband was deployed I could see it, but he's got a 9-5 job. All I can say is that she must have a greater patience threshold than I, because I am no where near willing to take 3 sick kids to the commissary. That right there is torture in my mind. Just the thought of it makes me cringe.

Of course, I say this after being shut in for the past 5 days with my 3 sick children. We went to the commissary on Thurs, and probably used the same cart as some other sick child. By Saturday evening Seth was running a fever. Sunday it hit me. Josh fell into the trap on Monday, and yesterday Trey woke with a fever. At this point we are all fever free. Finally. I am going stir crazy. My amazing neighbor was kind enough to run to the store yesterday and bring us some milk and bread, but I am in need of a freezer restock. Thankfully we have a decent amount of food storage, so we weren't in desperate need of payday shopping. It will be nice to have some fresh produce and meat in the house this evening though.

My boys are bummed about missing playgroup today, but the last thing I need/want to do is take Trey out until he has been fever free for a full 24 hours. You're probably wondering how I'll make it to the store right? Well my awesome neighbor is going to come hang out this evening long enough for me to do a child free outing. Woohoo!!!

2010-03-01T17:41:00.002-09:00

It's been a rotten few days, and I guess it's just more fun to blog when something funny happens, or it's been a good day. The truth is I'm miserable. I'm lonely, and I'm often overwhelmed, and the reality has set in that the next 8 months are going to be like this. I mean, I'm sure that every day won't be horrible, but dang my depression is kicking my butt right now. I decided to start taking my prozac in the morning instead of the evening, in hopes that it'll help my mood some. I may end up calling and making an appointment to discuss the dosage and see if I need an increase. I want to give myself a month to really get acclimated to the changes and see if I really need it.

Seth has been missing Daddy a lot the past few days. He is asking for him about once an hour. My heart breaks every time he asks for him. Normally Seth is a Mommy's boy, but the past few days he really wants James. It makes me sad to see his tears as he says that he wants Daddy to come home.

It's funny how time goes in a child's mind. To Seth, Daddy has been gone "forever" already. He doesn't quite get that it hasn't been a long time yet. We tried to prepare the boys for James leaving by telling them that Daddy was going to be gone for 8 months, and that it's a really long time. Well, Seth thinks it's already been a really long time and doesn't understand why we can't go pick up Daddy yet. Josh has been learning about time, days of the week, and months. He's starting to understand a little bit better but I have no clue how to explain it to a newly turned 3 year old. James was nice yesterday and sent us a video, so the boys can watch the video each night. The kids returned the favor and made a video that we sent to James today.

I put Trey down early tonight. He was obviously ready for bed. He is the polar opposite of his brothers, and needs lots of sleep to be pleasant. It seemed so foreign for me to put a boy to bed before 7pm. It sure is nice though! Maybe he wore himself out with his many attempts to get into the bathroom today. He is persistant, and loves the dog water bowl and the toilet paper. He discovered today how much fun it is to unroll the toilet paper and put it in the dog bowl today. Fun times!

Well Sethers has pushed his way behind me in my chair, which tells me he is starting to get tired and needs snuggles. I will try to blog again soon.

2010-02-27T00:23:00.001-09:00

The best free toy ever....

Look who's 3!!!!

Trey and Daddy. I love this picture. It's currently my desktop background.

Joshie

A little bit of Joshie fun to share. This morning he was all kinds of upset with me. They were, once again, fighting over the Wii and I said it was time to turn it off. He cried and cried, then asked "did I lose my Wii privileges?" I told him he didn't lose them, that they just needed to take a break for a bit because they were getting too frustrated playing together. He looked at me for a moment, and said "Well, can I go over to Miss Sydney's house and play Wii." I was like, nope sorry buddy, doesn't work that way. To which he replied "You're so mean!!"

Then this afternoon I was searching and searching the house for my cell phone. Josh was a great helper and came upstairs looking for it. Seth, in typical form, said "It's over there." I asked him if it was by the stairs, which is where he pointed. He looked at me like I was stupid and said really slowly, "Oooovvver Theeeeeeere". After about a half hour I found the phone...underneath Madden. I was all excited and said "Oh Joshie, I found it." He said "Where was it?" "Madden was laying on it." "Well, I guess you should have looked under the cat". I was like, gee thanks Capt. Obvious. LOL. He just cracks me up.

Sethers is getting to be quite the comedian as well. I was thinking about this today, and have decided I really am doomed. See, I married a smart ass, and we reproduced 2 smart asses, probably 3 once Trey starts to talk. I am going to have to pray that I can fine tune my "quick wit", cause it's so slow compared to these boys I live with.

Have you heard me mention before that Seth is totally James in miniature form? Cause he is. Just.Like.James. Today he showed me how much, in a few ways. He is potty training, and thus far the most successful approach is to have him naked here at home. He does awesome, except for the fact that he's discovered just how much fun his penis is. Yeah, he's figured out it can grow. I guess he got sick of me telling him to stop playing with his penis, because he popped off at me this evening, with a nasty tone "I can play with my penis any time I want to, Mama. So stop pestering me." Guffaw.

If you know James well you'll know that he thinks that his penis is a great toy, and a fun thing to practical joke with. He really is just a big kid, I swear. He does the things like 'mangina' and 'bald man on the trampoline' to me all the time. Now here's the thing...he has never done this in front of the kids, so Seth must come by it naturally.

Anyways, I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've turned my head to discover a penis sitting on my shoulder. If you guessed that Seth did this to Josh you would have guessed correctly. Poor Josh was mortified, and Seth quickly discovered he could chase his brother around the house trying to put his penis on him. Oh my. I never expected I'd have to be yelling "Seth, keep your penis to yourself!" or "Stop chasing your brother with your penis" Man, I wish James was here, because the past few weeks with Seth have been a blast. He is constantly cracking me up.

Trey is getting so big. He's so interested in whatever I am eating. Baby food, blech, he doesn't want it unless it's fruit. Tonight I ordered chinese food, and Trey was bound and determined that he was going to share it with me. I wasn't paying attention and he snagged one of my crab rangoons off my plate, then screamed when I took it away. He was only slightly appeased by the offer of white rice instead. He is becoming more vocal about his displeasures, and is saying Mama with more consistency. I fear he's entering the separation anxiety stage, as he has started freaking out if I leave the room. Today taking Seth potty (and Seth insisted the door be closed) resulted in tears, bawling Mama, and pulling up on the outside of the bathroom door. I felt awful that he was so upset.

I'm missing James a lot. He is my best friend, and I'm feeling so lost without him. I've tried to stay busy, because the house just feels so empty without him. I guess absence really does make the heart grown fonder. I hate not being able to just pick up the phone and call him when the boys do something so funny, or when I just need to hear his voice.

Before I get all sad and mushy I'm going to finish up the blog. The laptop battery is about to die anyways, and I'm going to go veg out to Sweet Home Alabama. That movie always makes me feel better.

2010-02-24T16:36:00.003-09:00

I've been experimenting in the kitchen a lot lately, and a friend said I should file away all the recipes I've been testing out. I figured this was as good of a place as any. Last night I made a fabulous soup. It was one of those toss it in a pot and call it soup moments, and it turned out great.

I took 1 pkg of keilbasa and sliced it thin. Then put it into my crockpot with 2 cans of pinto beans, a can of diced tomatoes, about 6 cups of water (guessing, I filled up my tea kettle, heated it and poured most of it into the crock pot), 1 bay leaf, a capful of Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning, and 2 tbsp of Knorr's chicken bouillion. I cooked up 4 handfuls of farfella (bowtie) pasta and tossed that in too. Oh, and a healthy sprinkle of cayenne pepper. It was so delicious. It was kind of a variation of a sausage and lentil soup that I've made before, which is what I was planning to make until I discovered I had forgotten to buy lentils. So I rummaged through the pantry and this is what I came up with.

Another day I'll have to compile all of my Amish Friendship Bread experiments from the past few weeks. I'm having company over for an American Idol night and need to get into the kitchen and work on our dinner.

The plan is to fry up a slice of bacon, and sautee diced chicken breast tenders in with it and 1 clove of garlic. I will then toss in a bag of fresh spinach and a can of diced tomatoes. I haven't decided what seasonings I will use quite yet, I'll go sift through the spice cabinet as I get started and wing it. Anyways, the chicken/spinach/tomato combo will get tossed with some rigatoni and topped with some grated parmesan. I'm serving it with some garlic and cheese bread. I hope it all turns out good.

*adding in the results from dinner* I thought I had a full box of rigatoni, but alas it was only a half of a box, so I used some bowtie pasta as well. I chose to use some Mrs. Dash tomato basil garlic seasoning and a tiny bit of sea salt. I didn't realize I had thawed out chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) by accident but that's what I used. I ended up choosing mozzarella cheese (I had more of it) and shredded that up to put on top. I made some garlic/cheese bread (french bread, sliced down the middle, buttered and sprinkled with Lawry's Garlic Salt, and topped with mozz cheese then broiled til melted and browned) to go with it. I loved the results, and my guests seemed to enjoy it as well. I wish I had taken a picture of it before devouring it. I will try to remember to snap pictures of things in the future.

2009-11-18T18:23:00.012-09:00

Let's see, I'm going to attempt to re-blog some of the stuff I so rudely lost last night.

Josh has grown up so much in the past year. I was looking back at some pictures from when I watched Harley, Cooper, and Christian. It's amazing how much Josh has grown and changed. It's been almost 2 years since those pictures were taken, and it's like he's a totally different person now. He is talking so well, other than his new found habit of adding "uh" to the end of words. He asked for a pieceuh of cakeuh, or a glassuh of drinkuh. It seems like we are constantly correcting him and telling him to talk right. It's frustrating, but I'm confident it's just an attention getting phase. I tend to ignore it, whereas James is highly irritated by it. Josh is the big instigator still. He enjoys messing with Seth, to the point where he gets injured. He is a great big brother for Trey though. He loves talking to, tickling, and kissing on Trey at every opportunity. He can make Trey giggle better than anyone else, and I suspect they are going to be close. It's quite adorable to see them together. Remember how difficult Josh used to be to get to bed? I remember so many nights of being up til 3 or 4am, battling him to sleep. Now he asks to get ready for bed. We read the Brush Your Teeth Please book and then he heads off to get ready. He brushes his teeth, then comes down as a "Jammie Cat" and meows at me to let me know he's ready to be tucked in. We read three or four stories then say our "payer" aka prayer, and he goes right to sleep. I am so proud of the amazing boy he is becoming. Here's a pic of him talking to Trey.

Sethers is definitely in the terrible twos, he'll be lucky to make it to three, stage. It seems like all the things that used to drive me nuts about the kids I provided daycare for have come together to bite me in the arse in Seth. He's a biter, a kicker, a hitter, a head butter, and a sasser. He is also a lover, a snuggler, and absolutely adorable (which is definitely his saving grace ;)). He talks so well, and is constantly cracking us up with his exuberance. Like the other night when he came up and gave me the big brown doe eyed look. He stood in front of me wielding those big brown eyes, and an innocent look and said "Mama, I want cake." I told him to go see if Daddy could resist that face. So he walks over and gives Daddy the same look. He said "Daddy, I want cake." James fell for it, and made the mistake of saying "you want some cake?" to which Seth replied, all excited "Yes, I do! Yay! Come on! To the Kitchen! Yay, I get cake". LOL he so played Daddy on that one. Then there's the sassy moments, when I tell him to not touch the tv and get the "Don't give me that tone, Mama" and stern look. Or when he hits his brother upside the head with a toy, and before I can even scold him he says "I'm going, I'm going. I'm going to time out, cause I hit. I'm going, I'm going" and rolls his eyes. When I tell him to say sorry he says "But I'm not sorry. I'm going to time out". Then when he's tired of sitting he'll say "I'm sorry. I'm ready to be nice now" (Which generally lasts for about 2 minutes, or until Josh starts antagonizing him again.) He is still our bedtime challenger, refusing to sleep in his own room. He falls asleep with us, gets moved to his bed, and is back in our bed by morning. Someday he'll sleep on his own.

Trey has had a rough couple of weeks. Between teething and the side effects of the antidepressants I've been taking he's been a miserable and ornery baby. Gone is the sweet, happy, good sleeper, and in his place is a non-napping, over tired, screaming baby. He still can't tolerate any dairy, as I found out when I was stupid this past weekend and indulged. He was even more miserable, with vomiting, rash and intense screaming for about 24 hours. Poor baby. He can give the best smiles though, smiles that can light the whole world up. He loves his new "hoparoo" as the boys call it (a jumperoo) and bounces his little heart out. He is rolling all over the place now, and starting to try to get his little feet underneath him to push himself forward for things. I bet he's crawling in a month or so. He is such a sweet baby and I'm lucky to get the chances to snuggle and love on him. He finally has a good latch, so that's a big relief.

We are for sure heading to Texas next year. James is deploying in Feb, and as soon as we get our tax refund this year I'll be purchasing plane tickets to fly the boys, our animals and I to Mom's place. It's going to be great for us, a chance to really save some good money for our second vehicle, be totally out of debt, and to not lose my sanity here all alone with the boys for 8 months. We'll meet back up with James once he gets to TX next Oct/Nov. We had a few scares with the assignment. They failed to tell James he needed an extension to his enlistment to take the position, so when he didn't get the extension his orders were cancelled. Now that he's taken care of that, has his extension, the assignment has been reinstated, and we're just waiting for the final orders to be dropped again. What a hassle, but thankfully he stayed on top of the situation and we know what is going on now. So, uh, yay, last winter in the snow!!

James got to see President Obama talk last week. It was a great speech. He unfortunately was stuck in the bleachers behind the president, so he didn't get to meet him or shake hands with him as he'd been told. But, he may meet him tonight as he is doing security for Air Force One when it stops for refueling again. I grabbed some pictures off adn.com. You have to look closely, but James is in these pictures. He is in the top row in the first one, and in the second one he's just to the right of the podium.

James lost another good friend this week. That makes two deaths in the past few months. Both Adam and Rory were fellow members of the EST (Swat) team at Hill AFB, and James is taking Rory's death even harder than he took Adam's. I think I am too, because Rory took his own life. It's so hard to understand, to try to accept, why someone would take their own life. What kind of demons was he carrying around? Was there anything we could have done to prevent it? On top of the loss my heart breaks for those who are grieving the loss of their good friend. Kevin (Buck) considered Rory to be his best friend, and after the hellacious year he's had this has hit him so hard. It's also really hard for Mikey (Salansky) who was Rory's roommate, and the recipient of the goodbye letter. My heart breaks for them, and I pray that they can find peace. I also pray that Rory has found the peace he so desperately sought in his death. Here's a picture of Rory with Seth from Christmas Eve 2007.

They do love each other

2009-11-18T00:14:00.002-09:00

I just sat here for the last hour and typed a blog detailing the antics and trials of each of the boys. In the blink of an eye it was gone. Right as the autosave kicked in my hand hit the mouse pad on the laptop wrong and poof there went my entire post. So let's try this again shall we? Unfortunately it's now 12:40 am and I'm exhausted, so it won't be nearly as long or detailed, in fact it's probably going to be super short and I'll attempt the long one again tomorrow. Sorry Mom, I know you're anxiously waiting for the next one...

They do love each other!

Josh "I love you, Seth"
Seth "I love you too!"
Josh "Let's go play"
Seth "Okay, play upstairs?"
off they ran up the stairs to play. Granted it only lasted about fifteen minutes before there were screams and tears, but hey, for fifteen minutes they loved each other!!

2009-10-20T15:35:00.001-08:00

It's been a nice week or so now that the drama has subsided. Tomorrow I am going to get my pessary, and I plan to start the couch to 5K program. I have been wanting to run for awhile, but the pain has been prohibitive for me being able to do so. I'm excited to be able to get out and enjoy a little peace while I run. I may take the boys, I may leave them here at home LOL. I think Josh could easily run with me, he's a fast little runner and let's face it, I'm anything but fast ;). Even back in the high school days when I ran all the time I was slow. I am just going to run for me, not for anyone else, but for my own pleasure. My goal is that once I reach the 5K point that I can run a 5K or more distance once a week, and run a mile or two at least 3 times a week.

Josh and Seth were playing so nicely a little while ago. Then I hear a thud, followed by screams and evil laughter. Sure enough, Seth had smacked Josh upside the head, then did an evil laugh. Josh was wailing, and Seth was so not apologetic. I asked him if he hit Josh and he laughed while saying yes. He is such a punk sometimes. Yesterday he lost a privilege for hours because he flat out refused to make amends for hitting Josh. Oh the joys of sibling rivalry. Of course, it could be payback for all the times Josh antagonizes him. At any rate, we're open to suggestions for getting Seth to stop hitting. We're trying time outs and loss of privileges now, and reiterating that hands aren't for hitting (and neither are toys!). Here's hoping the new plan works. He's been in time out 5 times so far today.

Josh was so cute on Sunday at a birthday party. He's such a little encourager. He walked around the table as the adults were finishing up painting their pumpkins and was like "Wow Miss Cara, you're doing a GREAT Job!" How I love that boy. Seth had a blast painting too, and kept saying "See Miss Sara!". He was totally a charmer. It seems he is finally coming out of his shell and becoming more friendly with others. Trey of course charms everyone he meets.

We went to church on Sunday too. The boys were so well behaved. They looked super cute in their little church outfits. I tried to snap a picture or two in the car as we got to the church, but they weren't good ones.

2009-10-17T10:15:00.004-08:00

I didn't realize it had been a month since I've gotten on here. It's been a month full of challenges. I've kicked negativity out of my life, and I'm trying to focus on the positives from here on out.

I have made some big decisions this month. I got rid of a "friend" that caused heartache and pain in my life. It wasn't an easy decision, and it didn't go down smoothly, but I think that we're *hopefully* on the flip side of the drama. It got so out of hand that it is now at a First Sargeant level, and if she contacts us again we can file harassment charges. It was a big challenge for me because my heart actually aches for the person. She obviously is unstable, and needs people to stand by her as she's got some challenges in the near future (pregnant, husband deploying). Unfortunately her stunts and stories could have had dire consequences on my husband's career, and after a talk with his supervisors he layed it down that I couldn't have any contact with her. He wasn't being a punk about it, he was being realistic, and while I agreed that cutting contact was the best choice my heart was heavy. I didn't want to hurt her. Why, I'm not sure. What I should have done, in hindsight, is to just be the bitch I didn't want to be. If I'd been frank and too the point, called her out and ripped her a good one, perhaps it would have gone down smoother. Instead, my being nice only proved to give her opportunities to make it all about her, and to rope more people into the drama. Sigh. Lessons learned I guess.

I actually learned quite a few lessons from this situation. I learned to trust my first instinct when it comes to friendships. If I don't have a good feeling about someone in the future, I'll back away quickly. I've given a lot of thought to what I want from friendships, and what path I want to take in the future. I have started going back to church. I've been inactive for about 2 years now, but he decided that looking back, the drama and heartache I've experienced the past 2 years has been from friends who didn't share my morals. You don't have to go to church to be a good person, but the two people who have hurt me deeply and made me question myself have been anti-religion people. It certainly gives me a moment's pause, to really contemplate the type of people I allow in my life in the future.

The weather is shifting here and winter is in the air. Most of the leaves are off the trees and we've had a hard frost the past week or so. Of course I'm giggling that NY has tons of snow, yet we haven't had any here in Alaska. We got our studded tires put on our car this morning, so it can snow any day now and I'll be okay with it. LOL. I am going to enjoy our (hopefully) last winter here in Alaska, then go relish in the heat of TX in the spring/summer.

James is looking at a deployment this spring, and I think we're going to put our stuff in storage and go stay with my parents when he leaves. I am ready to go home, and I think it'll be better for the boys and I than staying here by myself while he's gone. It means we'll be apart for about a year, but I think long term benefits will outweigh the separation. Josh will also be able to go to Kindergarten in one school for a semester instead of starting and moving a month or two into the school year.

It looks like it's going to be an adventurous year, and I'm looking forward to the changes.

Joshie

2009-09-17T10:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Josh!!

2009-09-16T23:14:00.003-08:00

My Mom knew I was pregnant before I did. We were having lunch at Arby's one weekend when Mom and Dad had come down to visit us, I think it was the weekend we went to check out some towns they might want to move to. Anyways, Mom says to Dad, "Vicie's going to have a baby." Sure enough, just a few weeks later James and I stood over the bathroom counter watching a line develop on the test. We were pregnant!

On Sept 15th I was admitted for an induction. The OB felt I was too small to have this baby that was measuring large for gestational age, and James was set to leave for Air Force Basic Training on Sept. 28th. So, in I go, at 37 weeks for an induction. My body obviously wasn't ready to give birth yet, and 53 hours later, around 10am on Sept. 17, 2004 Joshua was yanked rudely into the world with forceps. I don't look back fondly on his delivery, but I remember holding him for the first time and instantly feeling the overwhelming love immediately.

Josh does everything on his own terms and with energy. He doesn't cry silent tear; he wails as if someone is hanging him from his toenails. He doesn't smile and giggle, he shouts and shrieks with joy. He is intelligent, and constantly comes up with things that crack me up. He could be a fabulous lawyer some day, as he dissects and corrects everything he hears. He is a parrot, and quick witted just like his Daddy. He is a great big brother, and a terrific son.

Some classic Josh sayings from the past few months:
"Mom, gravity is so overrated"

"Mom, Princess Leia would like a banana muffin. I'd like one too."

"I know the couch isn't a trampoline. I SAID I was PRETENDING it was a trampoline. Use your imagination Mom!"

"We don't have any chicken fishies, Seth. We've got chicken whales and chicken duck feet though."

"Daddy are you giving Trey num nums?...oh, so boys don't have milk in their boobs? Only Moms do? Wow, you really do have super powers Mommy!"

"Mom, can you go in the other room so you won't see me jump on the couch?"

Happy Birthday Joshie! I love you with all my heart and soul. You inspire me daily to be better than I am, and shower me with your love. I'm truly blessed to be your Mom.

I'm having trouble with the slideshow...so pics will be added later.

Woohoo!!!

2009-09-10T14:40:00.002-08:00

Tuesday afternoon I got an awesome phone call. James was all non-chalant as he answered my question of how his day was going with "oh, I'm just sitting here looking at my acceptance letter for the MTI program". I said "WHAT?" and he repeated himself. He GOT IT!!! We are to report to San Antonio for his class for Military Training Instructor no later than December 3, 2010. It's the best of both scenarios, we get to stay in Alaska for one more year, and then get to go home for 4 years. I am so excited. Words can't do justice to the peace this notice brings to my heart. There is still a chance that he will deploy in a few months, and if so I'll take it that it is meant to be.

2009-09-06T23:54:00.005-08:00

It's been a long week full of ups and downs. I was telling James today that I don't know why things have hit me as hard as they have, but I can't sleep and I'm just blah. Obviously hearing about the death of a friend in Iraq was a big deal. Suddenly the whole deployment thing is REAL. I mean, he's deployed before. Once to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, and he's possibly heading back to the desert again this fall. I've never been scared about him deploying before, but now as it approaches I find myself almost paralyzed with fear.

I'm in a lot of pain right now. I wish that the military healthcare system was just a little bit faster. I am so very grateful for the care we receive and the benefits we are given. I still think it sucks that I am in pain, with the pain getting worse, and yet I have to wait until Sept 30th for my surgery consultation. Who knows how long it'll take after the consultation to actually schedule my surgery.

Trey had a milk exposure Saturday. My friend brought me a drink that had milk in it, and it wasn't until I'd had a few sips and remarked about how good it was that I realized there was milk in it. I'm pleased to report that the rash on his face, while it has returned, doesn't look as angry as it did before. He has been so fussy though. We had a stretch of about 3 hours where he just cried and arched his little back that night, and he's still not quite back to being a happy baby yet. I think James finally understands the difference between a non-dairy diet, and a Trey that has been exposed to dairy. I am hoping that he will outgrow the intolerance. We won't be testing any dairy products any time soon, and I'll be sure to be more careful in the future of what I eat and drink.

Saturday I spent the day bargain shopping with some friends. We had a great day, and I didn't spend very much money (always a bonus!). I scored a Darth Vader helmet that has the voice box. The boys absolutely love it. I also got Trevor a halloween costume. He will be a teddy bear. Jacie was awesome enough to send the bigger boys costumes last week. Josh wanted a Knight costume, and she was able to find one for him. He wore the costume for 3 days straight, and is asking about 5 times a day if it's halloween yet. Seth got a King Arthur costume, but he isn't too thrilled (or at all willing) to wear it quite yet. Thankfully Halloween is still a little bit off. They have had so much fun sword fighting though. Here are some pics of Teddy Trey and Knight Josh.

We went for a really nice hike on Monday up to Thunderbird Falls. Unfortunately the viewing deck for the falls was closed for construction. We did walk the creekside trail, and try to get up close to the falls. It was a bit too treacherous to do with the boys in the packs, but we had a great time anyways. I absolutely love waterfalls, and it was such a nice peaceful outing. The mosquitos were evil, and poor Sethers came home with about 10 bites on his little head. We used OFF, but apparently the mosquitos here in Alaska are immune to the repellant. James had Seth in the backpack, and I had Trey in my moby type wrap. Josh did great hiking the 2 miles. We were so proud he was able to make the whole thing on his own. Here are a few of the better pictures from the hike.

RIP Adam

2009-09-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

We got some really sad news today. Adam Hermanson, one of James' good friends from Utah was killed in Iraq yesterday. Tonight the Hill community, spread throughout the world, mourns the loss of a great man. My heart goes out to you, Janine. I can't imagine the pain you're in, or how your heart will heal from this terrible tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with all the people who were blessed to know Adam. Heaven has received an angel, their gain is our terrible loss. Herm, thank you for serving our country, and for laying down your life so that we can have freedom. You will be missed.

2009-08-31T09:12:00.004-08:00

It's been awhile. I could say I've been busy, or that I just haven't felt like writing because both are true. I've been in a bit of a funk, and I think I might just be coming out the other side now.

Josh is having a hard time with all of his friends heading back to school. If you remember, he had a horrible time with preschool last year and we ended up pulling him out after he was hit by his teacher and they refused to fire her. Yes, my poor 4 year old got his hand smacked for touching the hamster cage, and the administration did nothing. She was accused 3 more times afterwards and finally let go, but that was months after I had pulled Josh out of the class. Anyways, he's apparently forgotten about the incident, thank goodness, and was eager to go to school this year because most of his friends are back to school. Unfortunately, he misses the cut off for kindergarten by 17 days, and he's not going to be going til next year. If James deploys we intend to get him into head start or another area preschool (Not the one he attended before!).Unfortunately James has to have the car most days so preschool just isn't feasible right now. His "office" job in police services requires him to go to a lot of meetings, and he would be stuck without the car. We did sign Josh up for preschool online, and the bulk of his birthday presents this year are going to be homeschooling supplies. Hopefully we can make that fun enough, and host enough playdates, to soothe his wounded heart.

We're on a quest for leak proof diapers for Seth. He refuses to use the potty, which is totally fine since I want him to start when he's ready. Unfortunately, he's "ready" in the sense that he holds it and pees a massive amount, soaking his diapers and clothes when he goes. He is leaking nearly every night, and since he co-sleeps it's getting old. We have mattress protectors on our bed, which aren't that comfortable to sleep on. Gotta love that noise they make as you toss and turn. I'm also washing sheets every morning, and while my sheets are getting really soft, it's annoying. Oh, and of course the waking up to a soggy child spooning me as he fondles "the mole". I got him weaned off the breast, but he refuses to give up "the mole"...a tiny little mole on my left hip. He must have it in order to sleep, and seeks it out when he wakes during the night. Where was I, oh yeah, so soggy child spooning with me. So, last night I purchased some overnight pullups, and bought the next size up. Here's hoping he is dry when he wakes up this morning.

Trey is smiling more and seems to really enjoy chatting with us. He tries to mimic noises I make, and his little eyebrows are so cute. He moves them around as he studies our faces. I am amazed at how my love for him seems to grow with each passing day.

Sorry, if this seems disjointed. The boys got up, and we went about our day. Now Trey is napping and the boys are playing happily together so I'm back to try to finish.

We've had a back woods visitor every night for the past week or so. It looks like winter is fast approaching, as the moose are coming down from the mountains to eat. Here's our evening visitor.

2009-08-13T17:39:00.004-08:00

James needed some new shoes. He's put a few hundred miles on the ones he was wearing, and was having some knee pain from the lack of padding. Since he's running the marathon this weekend we figured he should get a new pair and break them in a touch before then.
James insisted I get a new pair as well. The last time I got a new pair of running shoes was back before I got pregnant with Josh. I have a hard time finding shoes that fit well, and since I haven't been super active I've just dealt with those. So today I got a new pair of Under Armor brand running shoes. They are sweet! It felt like walking on pillows when I put them on. Woohoo! So, yet another step in the right direction.

Last night I was looking at some pictures on facebook, and the person in the pictures has some gorgeous eye makeup on. James made a comment about how he loves it when I do eye makeup, and I said I would if I had any. Today he sent me to the makeup section at Target and I got some new stuff. Now I can "girly" myself up for him once in awhile. It's always fun to put forth that effort; kind of like getting dressed out of jammies or sweats, it makes me feel better about myself.

The increased dosage of fish oils seems to be working. I feel a bit less likely to blow my top, lol. Perhaps all of these things combined will lead to a happier me.

2009-08-11T17:41:00.001-08:00

James is on leave this week. It's been nice having him home more. We are still in the holding pattern, waiting to find out if he's been accepted for the TI position. The waiting is driving me bonkers.

Yesterday was a rough day, with good parts mixed in. We played outside for a bit early afternoon. Then we went for a drive down the Seward Highway. I got some great mountain pictures. Driving along next to the inlet and seeing all the mountains helped me to relax a bit. Unfortunately the boys all hit meltdown stage right when we got home, and that didn't help my mood at all. I'm upping my dosage of fish oils to see if that helps fend off some of the PPD that I"m dealing with.

2009-08-05T15:55:00.002-08:00

So I decided today that if I want to lose weight I need to get off my tuckus and actually do something. I did 25 minutes on the elliptical and then 25 pushups. I think it's a step in the right direction and I feel great. A favorite quote of mine, as many of you know, is "exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins make people happy. Happy people don't kill their husbands" (Legally Blonde). So, yeah, James should be safe for the night LOL.

I've felt the depression slipping in the past few days. I've been hoping to ward off PPD this time around with fish oils and exercise. I really don't want to take any antidepressants, as they caused me to gain all the weight I so desperately want to lose.

Josh had some hilarious moments yesterday. Seth is addicted to "Chicken Fishies", chicken nuggets in the shape of fish. So when we went shopping the other day they were all out of chicken fishies. (I learned that the Monday after a payday weekend is not the best time to go grocery shopping, as the shelves were bare at the commissary.) As we were driving home Seth asked if I got chicken fishies. I was honest and said that no, the store was out of chicken fishies, but I got other chicken nuggets. James, in a true comedic moment, said "No we got chicken whales and chicken duck feet instead. They're great!" Of course Josh was in the back seat and didn't see the smirk on his face, so he thought Daddy was being serious.

Fast forward to lunch time yesterday. Seth asked for chicken fishies. Josh pipes up "Seth we don't have any chicken fishies. We have chicken whales and chicken duck feet. They're great!" I just cracked up laughing.

Seth is a little repeater now too. I was telling Josh that he needed to listen, and Seth puts his hands on his hips and says "yeah Josh, you listen." Josh has taken to calling Seth "stinker punk", I can't imagine why ;).

Trevor is smiling more and more, and starting to interact with us through cooing. Josh is so in love with "baby Trey". He asks about once an hour to hold him, or lays next to him hugging him. Any sound of distress from Trey has his hollaring "Mom, Baby Trevor's fussing!" He's truly a great big brother.

Well my break time is up. I'm trying to actually get some cleaning done today. Off to vacuum while Trey is still snoozing.

Sleep deprived and hungry

2009-08-03T09:55:00.002-08:00

Eliminating dairy from my diet is a little harder than I realized. It's easy to cut out the obvious dairy, it's the hidden dairy that is getting me. I must not have read ingredients close enough, cause Trevor was miserable Saturday and the rash on his bum cropped back up. I'm craving chocolate and can't have any. I want a tuna melt, but can't have it. It's a big challenge for self control, and resisting tempation. Yesterday we went to Burger King. I made sure to order my Whopper Jr. without cheese, but I was craving onion rings. I told James as we ordered it that the evening would be stinky, because onion rings tear up my gut. I figured I couldn't have cheese, but by gosh I wanted some onion rings. Yeah, bad choice. I suffered for it all evening. My gas I can handle, but not poor Trevor. He cried and cried all evening, arching his little back, trying to get the gas out. I should have known better. I need to remember tonight when I go shopping to buy mylicon drops.

Yesterday was a day of challenges. The boys were ornery, and I just wanted a break. I didn't get one. Then Josh decided to fight bedtime, finally crashing around 2am. He then showed up in my bed, laying at the bottom across my feet, at 3am. I wish they made a bigger bed than a king size. Sharing a bed with a husband, 3 boys, 2 cats and our 100lb lab means I wake up tired and sore. Normally Goose sleeps in his kennel and Josh sleeps in his own bed, but last night it just didn't work out that way. Goose was sleeping in his kennel and I forgot to close his door. He waits til we fall asleep then jumps onto the bed, and once he's there he doesn't want to move. Thankfully he sleeps on James' side of the bed. Seth still needs "the mole" to sleep. He weaned but hasn't given up the mole on my hip that he twiddled while nursing, so he has to be touching me and be able to locate the mole throughout the night. Josh, seeing that there was no room to lay normally on the bed, chose to plop his pillow on my feet and lay across the bottom of the bed. Seth on one side, Trevor on the other, Madden on my pillow, Devin below Trevor and Josh on my feet. All on one side of a King size bed. I'm dragging today, my back and neck ache, and I'm praying for a nap at some point.

It's funny, sleep deprived and hungry as I may be, I love being a Mom. There's nothing like waking up to a sweet little baby cooing for num nums, and a little Seth saying "Hi Mom!". Josh is still sleeping off his late night and he looks so peaceful.

Well that's a relief

2009-07-29T12:07:00.004-08:00

Trevor had his audiology referral this morning. It appears it was just a machine failure when he was first tested, as he passed the test easily today. Unless we notice any problems in the future he doesn't need any further follow ups.

James and I worked as a team and got out the door right on time this morning. He helped get the boys dressed, I got to shower and we all got to sit and eat breakfast. I dropped him off and then drove the long way around to the base hospital. I got there nice and early, and boy am I glad I did. I walk into Audiology only to be informed that I can't bring the bigger boys into the appointment with me. Well gee, thanks for telling me that when I scheduled the appointment. The receptionist suggested I try to get them into Teddy Watch, a volunteer childcare in the hospital. I had to get a copy of their shot records, so I go to the immunizations clinic. It's about 7:50 by this point. I waited for 10 minutes while the airman at the desk was on the phone scheduling herself an appointment for something. Yes, 10 minutes. Never once did she look up and even acknowledge me or the 3 other people who came in behind me. She hangs up the phone and grabs a chart and walks out of the room. I waited another 5 minutes and no one came in to man the desk. So I went to the release of information desk and they had the shot records in my hand in less than 1 minute. (Next time I'll know to just go there first.) I headed down to Teddy Watch, where thankfully there was availability. Seth of course wasn't thrilled with being left and pitched a lovely fit.Josh on the other hand was thrilled with the chance to go play with friends. I got the boys signed in and back up to Audiology at exactly 8:15, my appt time. Phew.

I went by the WIC clinic on the way out to weigh Trevor. He's gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks. He is 11 pounds 3 ounces now. Josh is 37 pounds, and Seth is 29 pounds. They are all getting so big. They weren't feeling cooperative for the height measurements, so I didn't bother with that. I just wanted to see how much they had gained with their summer growth spurts.

I'm home now and ready to collapse. Trey is snoozing in the wrap on my chest, Seth is sound asleep on the floor where he passed out playing with Click The Camera, and if I'm lucky Josh will crash too so I can get a nap. Here's a picture of Seth sleeping with Click.

The waiting begins

2009-07-28T09:47:00.003-08:00

James is on his way to get the final signature on his MTI (military training instructor) package and then he'll be heading to the post office to mail it in. We should hear back sometime in the next month if he is accepted to the position. If he gets it we'll be heading to San Antonio for the next 4 years. I am so excited, scared, nervous, and so very happy. It's been a long process trying to get the package set. Lots of little road blocks along the way, and it's finally done.

I want to go "home" for a few years. I want to be able to hug my Dad, who I haven't seen in almost 3 years. I want my boys to get to know their grandparents. I want to have girls outings with my mom and sister. I want to watch my boys follow my nephew around and be the annoying little cousins. I want to enjoy the swealtering heat of TX instead of enduring another winter in subzero temps.

I'll be so disappointed if we don't get the position, but I know that whatever is meant to be will be. I just hope and pray we will get to embark on this new journey.

I forgot all about this blog

2009-07-27T10:10:00.003-08:00

I think it's time to revive this! I forgot all about having this blog until a friend mentioned it and sent me the link this morning. The last time I posted was almost 4 years ago. So many things have changed since then. We now have 3 boys. Josh is almost 5, Seth is 2 and Trevor is 1 month old. We're currently stationed in Alaska. We have gone from 5 cats to 3 and gained a giant yellow lab. We lost Motley to cancer right before Seth was born, and re-homed Apollo as he became more aggressive as the kids got older. Goose is our yellow lab, he's 2 years old.

I am still a stay at home Mom, and James is still in the Air Force. He's submitting his package to become a Military Training Instructor, and we are hoping to hear that we'll get to move to Texas sometime before the year is out. Being so far away from my family has been a great challenge for me, and I'd love to be closer to "home" for a few years.

Being the lone female in this house of males is often challenging, but mostly fun. I enjoy the loud craziness of it all, and just try to find joy in each day.

Hiking story

2005-08-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

James and his friend Gary decided to take a hike yesterday in the mountains. They left at 11 yesterday morning, and somehow managed to get off the trail. A good 7 hours later they made it back on trail, but Gary was having a really hard time walking by that point. He didn't plan well for his hike (he wore tennis shoes without socks) and had blisters all over his feet.

So at 7 James called me and said he didn't think they'd be down by 10 and the car might get towed if left at the trailhead after 10. I called the sheriff's department and advised them about the car. No big deal. At 9 he called me, very frustrated, Gary was having an extremely hard time. James decided to go ahead of him, he gave him his flashlight (the only one they had) and headed down the trailhead. He was having a hard time climbing down the trail in the dark, he was thirsty and had no idea how Gary was doing at that point because he wasn't answering his cell phone.

So I packaged up Josh and provisions and headed to the trailhead. My friend and I started up the trail with flashlights. She was too scared, so we went back to the cars. James asked me to call search and rescue for Gary. Just as the deputy got there James arrived at the trailhead. Since Gary hadn't been missing for more than 24 hours and wasn't "injured" they didn't send out search and rescue. My friend brought Josh back to the apartment to put him to bed, as it was about 10:30 at that point.

James and I started back up the trail with water and provisions to go meet up with Gary (who still wasn't answering his phone.) I hiked up into the mountains for the first time in the dark. This wasn't an easy trail either, we are talking rated difficult on the Utah trails website. We hiked in close to 2 miles, and saw no sign of his friend. James was too tired to go on at that point, so we sat by the river and waited for a few minutes trying to decide what to do.Finally Gary called and said he got signal on his phone again, that he was okay and not far behind us. We headed back down to the trailhead.

Right as we got back my friend called and I could hear Josh just screaming in the background. She had tried to lay him down in his crib when he wasn't quite asleep and all hell broke loose. I left James at the trailhead to wait for Gary, and drove home to get Josh. As I got out of the car I could hear him screaming from across the parking lot. We live on the third floor! Poor kiddo was so distraught.

After I nursed and calmed Josh I went back to pick up James and Gary. It was 1:30 am. I don't think their hike went quite as they had expected it!!

I'm sad today

2005-08-08T15:44:00.000-08:00

I had a nice long post typed out, and Josh killed the power on the computer on me. He is such a little monster sometimes. I guess I'll re-type my thoughts.

I haven't been feeling well lately. I've been rather melancholy and tired. I've had headaches, been nauseated, and starving. I'm talking hunger pains only an hour after I'd eaten. My mom called and asked if I felt pregnant. A bit of history - she knew when I was pregnant with Josh. She called the day after we had conceived and told me I was pregnant. I laughed at her, but then tested positive 5 weeks later. So anyways, I got a bit excited when she called. I had been feeling it, but was terrified to test. I didn't want to find out that I wasn't pregnant.

I don't know why I want to be pregnant so bad. Maybe it's because James is leaving for Iraq and subconsciously I am terrified something bad is going to happen. Maybe it's because suddenly James thinks we should only have 1 child, and I definitely want at least 2. Maybe it's because I keep seeing pictures of newborns and hearing birth stories. For whatever reason, I was so excited to think I was pregnant.

Of course I'm not. I went today for a blood test, and got a big fat negative. I feel like I want to cry, yet shouldn't, because obviously it's not God's will for us to have another child right now. I've thought about weaning Josh early, so that we can get pregnant before James leaves, but I know that would be selfish and unfair to Josh. He deserves to get the full year of nutrients, and not to be deprived just because mommy wants another baby. I feel guilty for even considering it. I feel sad and empty, and wonder why I have been feeling so strange lately. Hopefully it is just pms, with a bit of depression in anticipation of James' upcoming deployment.

Finally writing again

2005-08-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

James was teasing me the other night about not writing in my blog, so I figured I should get on that. I guess I've been pretty bummed since last week our computer hard drive decided to bite the big one on us. It just completely went dead. We lost everything, and sadly that included all the pictures of Josh we had on there. Our cd burner bit it about a month ago, so we had no way to back up our pictures :sob:. I also had been working on the enrichment routes for church, and lost about 2 weeks of work. Thankfully I had printed it out, so at least I can just re-enter it. I also lost a kick butt resume I had recently made. Guess this will teach me to back up my word documents! We were able to reload our secondary hard drive, thank goodness, but it's not the same as it was.

James will be deploying to Iraq in a few months. I am not thrilled, however I knew it was going to happen eventually. Josh is getting so big. He is trying with all his might to be able to stand up on his own. He is most certainly going to be a climber, well, really he already is. Today he climbed into his toy box to reach the rest of the dvds on the bookshelf, then proceeded to throw them all on the floor. He also loves to try to stand on the couch. He stood up today, lost his balance, went over the arm of the couch onto the end table and rolled off the end table onto the floor. I was sitting next to him, and seemed to view the entire thing in slow motion, yet couldn't catch him. It didn't faze him much, a minute later he had stopped crying and tried to provide us with an instant replay (I caught him that time, though.) I have a feeling he is going to be a thrill seeker just like his Daddy!

My thoughts

2005-07-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

The thing I hate the most about being a military wife is not knowing what is going to happen, or when it is going to happen. James is going to deploy...the question is when and where. It seems one day he'll tell me one thing, then the next day it has changed. Please someone make up your mind before I lose mine!

Josh is growing like a little weed. He is so cute. Today we took him to the park. He played on Daddy's skateboard and ate grass (even though we did our best to prevent it.) He is such a joy, and such a little stinker! He has learned to shake his head no. He learned to say no, much to my dismay, so I stopped saying it. Instead I would shake my head after saying his name then redirect him when he was doing something I didn't want him to. Now I say his name and he shakes his head at me. I fear he is going to be quite the challenge to discipline! Here's a few pictures from our day at the park.

I love the feeling of clean!

2005-07-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

My house is so clean! Well, at least the main rooms of the house are clean. Tomorrow I will tackle the bedrooms.

Today I rearranged our house...which is rather amusing, as I used to get so annoyed with James rearranging our apartments, yet I have been rearranging about once a month since becoming a SAHM. Oh well! Not only did I rearrange, but I cleaned. I don't mean picked up, I mean deep cleaning; dusting, mopping, throwing away junk, baby proofing, etc. I feel so good.

As I sit and look around my house I feel like this is my little haven. I admit that I absolutely love the feeling of a clean house. Too bad I don't always keep it this way! I was reading at bf.com how it is so much easier to keep a clean house if you do it every day; that if you stay on top of it, cleaning is quick and easy. So today I spent 4 hours getting my house spotless, and if I try to keep it this way maybe it'll only be like an hour a day.

I had a good day today. I was scheduled to host a scrapbooking night for our playgroup tonight. I was so excited to show off my nice clean house. Rochelle and Gabe came over and we had a nice visit. I am truly blessed to have Chelle as my friend. I truly believe that she was sent my way, as I had been praying that Heavenly Father would help me make a friend. I am really lucky to have such an amazing family and great friends. I know that without them my life would be pretty bleak. I hope that I can make my friends (and family) know how much I appreciate them.

Independence Day

2005-07-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

So the long holiday weekend is over. It was a great one. This is the first year James and I have had a holiday off together, so we tried to make the best of it. We enjoyed going around to a few skate parks in the area, and then went to the community fireworks display last night. We got there nice and early to get a good spot, and just sat talking for about 3 hours until the fireworks finally began. Josh was very nervous about the small fireworks a few families were setting off around us. He became really cuddly as they started. Around 9:45 he couldn't handle it anymore, had a snack and went off to sleep....and slept through the entire fireworks display! I covered his little ears, which helped some, but he snoozed through the whole show then woke up for the walk home. He is such a joy.

It was a nice weekend to reflect how lucky we are to live in a country that allows us so many freedoms; a country that wants to protect those freedoms as well as help others gain them. I am very grateful that my husband is willing to be among those that serve our country, and that he cares enough about the world to help secure freedom for others. I am grateful for the blessings that come with life in the USA, and I truly enjoyed this time of reflection.

Fireworks

2005-07-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday our apartment complex hosted a party in celebration of Fourth of July. It was a nice bbq, and I got to visit with a few neighbors.

The thing that really bothered me was that there were so many people out there smoking and drinking. I was really annoyed that they were lighting up around the children. I mean, sure we were outside, but why couldn't they move about 25 feet or more away from the children instead of lighting up right next to my baby....urrgh. I kept moving to get away from one person only to encounter another. I hate cigarette smoke!

The drinking didn't really bother me that much, until it came time for the fireworks. A bunch of drunk guys setting off fireworks, what a recipe for disaster. A little girl, about 12 years old I guess, got hit in the arm with a roman candle. Yep, such fun! That and Josh was less than impressed by the whole fireworks thing. He was a bit scared of the noise initially. He would hollar each time the noisy ones went off. Hopefully he'll like the ones tomorrow a bit more.

The complex held a drawing for door prizes. We won 7 tickets to the local baseball team games. It was actually quite amusing, first drawing...tickets - Vicie, fourth drawing....tickets - James. Then Josh won a cool paddle and ball set. I love baseball, but 7 tickets? I guess we'll either be going to a bunch of games or taking some friends to one.

My little winner...first baby contest

2005-07-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

We entered a baby contest in our community today. My little guy should have won the award for the biggest smile, but the little stinker refused to smile for the judges. He would go straight faced when they looked at him and then smile as soon as they walked away. They never do things when you want them to, right! Oh well. Here he is with his award....

how do I discipline this face?

2005-06-29T11:38:00.000-08:00

Seriously I would like to know how I am supposed to discipline this adorable face. I tell him no, no, or please don't play with that and the response I get is this big ol' smile! We are in the market for a new entertainment center, as Josh likes this one a bit too much. I know that he doesn't understand that he isn't supposed to play with these things, so I don't get mad at him. I just think it is funny how he is already using his charms to get out of trouble. Boy am I in for it as he gets older!!

I feel great!

2005-06-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

I just finished doing my first pilates workout. I 've lost all the weight I gained with Josh, but I just don't feel as good as I would like to. So today I began my new workout plan. My goal is to alternate between pilates and taebo to work out at least 4 days a week. I don't care about losing any pounds, but I would like to be able to look at my stomach without wanting to cringe. I feel really energized after the pilates workout. I also realize I am way out of shape and hope this plan will help with that.

Josh was really fun today. He got so excited about his bath and was trying to climb into the tub while the water was running. He then splashed away once he was in there, and had no interest in getting out. I think he misses swimming at Grandma's house. There are too many kids splashing about in our complex pool for him to enjoy himself, so we rarely venture there. I don't see the point in exposing him to the sun if he is unhappy in the pool.

Madden actually let Josh play with him today. Lately he's been smacking at Josh when he tries to touch him. but Josh managed to sneak up on him and layed his head on Madden's tummy. I would have loved a picture, but Madden was quick to move once he realized it was the baby giving him attention. I love the reactions our cats have to Josh! I can't wait to see how they feel about him learning to walk.

Sunday blues

2005-06-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

Today at church Josh decided the cheerios weren't working...so he flipped himself into position and proceeded to "latch" onto my shirt in the middle of our sacrament meeting. Unfortunately my shirt doesn't lactate, and he then proceeded to pitch a fit (his new favorite pastime.) I was a tad embarassed as I was leaving...my purple shirt had a beautiful mouth print right over my nipple, lol. James, of course, thought the whole thing was rather amusing...which it was I suppose.

What can I say? Josh knows what he wants and expects it right then, regardless of where we are! He is one opinionated little boy. My mom jokes that I've created a monster, today I have to agree, an absolutely adorable little monster.

Jumping on the bandwagon

2005-06-26T21:10:00.000-08:00

So I keep reading on bf.com about these "blog" things, and have decided that I need one too. So, along with my fellow bf.com junkies, I am jumping up on that bandwagon and creating a log of my adventures. I suppose if others are going to be reading my blog I should tell y'all a little bit about myself.

I am Vicie, yes pronounced Vicky, but seeing as Victoria doesn't contain the letters k or y, my mom decided to spell it Vicie. I am married to James. We've been married for about 2 1/2 years. Our family consists of one beautiful 9 month old son, Joshua and a whole crew of cats. I used to call the cats our "children" but must admit that since Josh joined the family they have been slightly demoted. We have Motley, a fat little torti who turned 10 last month. She is followed by Medler, our 3 legged black and white tuxedo kitty - who's 7th birthday is today. Next came Madden, whose name fits because he is annoying as can be. He also is a black and white tuxedo kitty and is 5 years old. The first cat we got together is Apollo, a spacy "freak" of a long haired black and white nature. He hates everyone except me. He has had a rough 3 years of life. And last but not least we round out our family with Devin. (Adopted because I vetoed a dog at that point, so James got a cat "of his own"instead.) Devin is 2 years old, and a loving little orange tabby.

So now you've heard about our zoo. I am an RVT, Registered Veterinary Techinican. I have an AAS in Veterinary Science Technology. I worked in a feline only practice, Just Cats, for almost 6 years before becoming a full time Mommy. I love my current career field, and wouldn't change it for anything. James is currently enlisted in the US Air Force as a member of Security Forces. He will be enlisted for at least another 5 years, and hopefully will make it a career to gain the retirement benefits.

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I try to be a good example, but know that I will fall short every day. I like the outdoors. I am looking forward to camping and hiking with James and Josh in the near future. Obviously I adore animals, but I also like to read, particularly medical mysteries and suspense novels, I like to sing and some day I would like to learn to play the piano. I am addicted to bf.com and the foodnetwork channel.