It's A Jungle Out There

We had Hannah's birthday party with her friends from her preschool today. Three of her classmates came and two brought a younger sibling which worked out perfectly. Since we moved here and she decided she wanted a jungle themed bedroom, she has been talking about having a jungle birthday party.

Since P.K. has to work on the weekends, we decided to do the party on one of his days off while Rachel and Aaron were at school. We did a family party with them on Sunday night. I think it was probably nice for Hannah to have something special that was focused on just her.

Here she is ready for her friends to arrive. We found the shirt last week when we were trying on fall clothes. One of our friends from Great Lakes passed it down and it was perfect. Watch for it again at Halloween. (Another jungle related dream of Hannah's.)

Instead of party hats, we used pith helmets. They also made great decorations and containers. I filled one with binoculars and as her guests arrived she let them each choose a pair. We played one game and everyone got to win once. I had the prizes in another hat.

Cookie cakes are becoming a tradition in our home. This one was decorated with plastic butterflies that were rings. I cleaned them up and added them to the goody bags.

As the guests were ready to leave, we realized we didn't take a picture of all of them with their hats. It is really difficult to get six preschoolers who are hyped up on sugar and birthday fun to stand still and look at the camera.

I'm very thankful that she had kids who were able to come to her party. She loves preschool and so wanted to have a party with kids other than just family.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

This little peanut is five years old today!

Encounter in the Night

Aaron: Mommy. Mommy.

Mommy: (I open my eyes and try to focus on the child standing next to my bed.) Yes, baby.

Aaron: I finished writing my song. (He has been writing songs which really express his feelings.)

Mommy: (I glance at the clock. 2:14a.m.) Did you finish writing just now?

Aaron: Yes! And I went ahead and got dressed and made my bed too!

Mommy: (I get the kids up between 6:20-6:30 to get ready for school and it is still dark at that time. They get dressed, make their beds and then come down for breakfast. He apparently thought because he felt energized that it was almost time to get up. I looked at the clock again to make sure I had not read it wrong. Yep, still 2:14a.m.) Honey, you don't have to get up for school for over four hours.

Aaron: (Very disappointed.) Really?

Mommy: Yes. It is just after 2:00.

Aaron: (He thankfully got back in bed.)

House Guest

*** UPDATE***

The lizard has been caught and released. I went to pick Rachel up from choir practice and Aaron called to let me know he found the lizard again and Daddy skillfully captured it. My heroes! After much debate, we decided it would not be a pet. P.K. put it in a clear container so the kids could observe it and then released it back into the wild.

We researched it to determine what type of lizard it was. It was a Six-lined Racerunner. One of the websites said due to the Six-lined Racerunner's exceptional speed, they are very difficult to capture. Lizards beware!! My husband and son are skilled lizard catchers.

The basement in our house is finished, for the most part. The carpet is the cheap stuff and the basement is divided into three areas by two "walls." I use the word "walls" loosely. They are more like studs waiting for drywall that was never hung. Regardless, I love the extra space the basement provides. In one room the owners left a pool table. I set up one area as a playroom for the kids. They don't play down there much unless P.K. or I are down there. The third area is where P.K. has set up his office including his many bookshelves. This part is actually half of the basement. On one end of this longer space I have a table where I want to set up my scrapbook and sewing stuff. Anything that is not unpacked and is not going to be stored in the garage is also down there.

Being a basement, we tend to find more creepy crawlies. I was sitting down there with P.K. this afternoon when Aaron came down. He says, "I just saw a lizard." This is not uncommon. We see them just about every time we go outside. When we didn't respond he added, "In the basement!" Yikes! This is what the four people in the room did next.

Jody: Immediately pulls her feet up into her chair.

Hannah (a.k.a. "Miss I'll touch any creature God put on this earth for my enjoyment.) Runs in the direction of the alleged sighting.

P.K.: Goes to get something to catch it in (as if we are going to keep it).

Aaron (a.k.a. "Mr. I really want a pet snake, but I will settle for a pet lizard): Is already in the general location asking if he can keep it for a pet.

Once I am sure the lizard is hiding and not running willy nilly all over the basement, I make a dash for the stairs so I can grab the camera and snag a picture for my blog worthy moment. Here is the lizard

I really couldn't get a good picture at the attempt to catch him because I refused to come down off the stairs once P.K. told Aaron to get something and poke it so it would run to him. At one point P.K. had it under his hand. When he adjusted to pick it up, it ran under the baseboard and is yet to be seen again. Needless to say, I am not typing this in the basement.

A Conversation With Hannah

Me: Hannah we have a little time before we have to leave for preschool. Would you like to choose a game and I will play with you.

Hannah: How about Mouse Trap?

Me: Well, we probably don't have enough time to finish that game. Why don't you choose something else?

Hannah: How about Memory Loss?

Me: (laughing) Memory Loss is a great choice!

I have no idea how she changed it from Memory to Memory Loss. Maybe it has something to do with a recent visit from her grandmother, great-aunt and great-grandmother. Ha, ha!

My Friendly Neighborhood Kroger

We are having a family outing all day tomorrow. We have a friend attending a conference in town who is coming home with us for dinner. Since we will be gone all day, I decided to run down to Kroger for a couple grocery items.

When I got into the check out lane the cashier, bag boy and another member of their posse were listening to the bag boy quote lines from the movie Wayne's World. I admit I have seen the movie and probably lost IQ points for having done so, but it was funny. The movie came out in 1992, but it was based on a skit from Saturday Night Live that appeared even earlier. Seeing as how the bag boy seemed to be all of twelve I in all of my mature adult wisdom said, "Wasn't Wayne's World a bit before your time?" To which he replies, "I love the old stuff." He proceeds to tell me his parents love all the old stuff from the 80s. I guess I set myself up for that one.

As I was leaving Kroger, I noticed all the cars lined up at the Kroger gas station. I had been watching coverage of Hurricane Ike before I left the house, but I didn't realize that gas prices had already jumped. I just happened to have my camera so I took some pictures to share. Cars were coming in from three different directions. There were probably about 20 cars in the three different lines not counting the ones that were actually at the pumps.

This one is taken out my front windshield. I am about the fifth car back in this line.

About the middle of the picture to the right of the red van that is parked is a line coming in off of the street. It is about six cars deep.

This is a shot I took after I fueled up. All of the cars are stopped and waiting to fuel up. The pictures don't show the whole area. Where was photographer extraordinaire (a.k.a. Gregg) when I needed him?

Gas at Kroger was $3.67/gallon. When I pulled out of the Kroger parking lot I was surprised to see the gas station across the street was not crowded at all. Their gas was $4.37/gallon.

Never Forget

September 11, 2001 I had an infant who wasn't quite three months old and a toddler who wasn't yet two. Sleep was a hot commodity. Aaron woke up for his morning bottle. I sleepily got him out of his crib and went to the kitchen to warm a bottle. I sat on the couch to feed him and turned on the t.v. That is the part I had done many times before and don't have a mental picture of in my head. The rest I do.

The t.v. just happened to be set to the Today Show. Bryant Gumble was talking about planes hitting the Twin Towers. The second plane had already hit and up to that point the coverage had been about what a tragic accident that was. In my mind I was still thinking what a freak accident it was that two planes had hit the towers. I'm sure words like hijackers and terrorists were coming from the t.v. but I just couldn't wrap my mind around what had occurred. Was this real? It was just seconds later when I realized what was truly happening. Bryant Gumble said, "My God. There is smoke pouring out of the Pentagon." As I type that I can remember that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

P.K. was active duty at the time and had a physical fitness test that morning so he had left the house really early and was not yet home. When he walked in the door I asked him if he knew what had happened. He said his CO had informed him. We just sat and stared at the t.v. I'm not sure we knew what to say or do. Eventually he said, "I had better get to work."

There was a women's group on base called CWF (Christian Women's Fellowship). We met on Tuesday mornings and that particular morning was our fall kickoff. I drug myself away from the t.v. long enough to get myself and the kids ready to go. Part of me wanted to just skip it and sit and watch t.v. I think the desire to not be alone was a bit stronger so I went. We prayed and worshipped together.

I will never forget those who lost their lives that day and how our nation came together and we stood united for a time.

I also will not forget what happened after. We have had many friends or spouses of friends deploy in this war on terror. To our service members who have deployed (some multiple times) and face future deployments, thank you. To their spouses who have stayed behind and made sacrifices of their own, thank you. Because of them we have not had to face the horrors of that day on our home soil. To my friends who have watched their spouses deploy, (this is a bit mushy) but I am so proud of you. You know who you are and you are some of the strongest women I know and I will not forget!

The Beginning of a New Era

Hannah was up by 5:45 this morning announcing it was her first day of preschool. P.K. has to leave for work early so we were already up. Hannah has been asking when she could go to preschool since the first day we got to our new house. We found one that is less than five minutes from our house. She will be attending on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-12 with the option to stay until 1:00 for lunch. The staff is very friendly. She will have music, PE and library once a week. She will even get to check out library books like Rachel and Aaron do at school.

Rachel and Aaron both attended preschool/daycare off and on when we lived in California. It was more so I could get things done than preparing them for school. Once Rachel started kindergarten, I would take Aaron and Hannah to the Child Development Center on base one day a week so I could volunteer in Rachel's class, run a couple of child free errands and P.K. and I would often have lunch together. I also always tried to schedule any appointments for myself on that day. We always had our neighborhood friends to play with. Hannah doesn't have that so it was time. Kindergarten here is all day so having preschool a few hours a week will make it easier on both of us next fall.

I was in a bit of a fog when I drove out of the parking lot. I've done stuff without kids before but this had a different feel to it. I think because it is the beginning of a new era. The season of having kids at home all day long is gone.

What does one do without kids at home? After all, I have had at least one at home for the past nine years. There were a dozen chores to do at home. After having company all weekend and not doing laundry since Friday, I could have easily busied myself around the house. Instead I went to WalMart and Target to pick up a couple things. I took my own sweet time at both places. When I came home I ate an early lunch all by myself. Then I put away the things I had purchased at the stores. I will be more productive from now on, but it was nice to just sit back this morning and take it all in.

The school has a pick up system much like Rachel and Aaron's school. I have a number I put in my window and they bring her to the car. When the teacher opened the door Hannah could hardly tell me fast enough about the swings on the playground that were low enough for her to get in all by herself and she didn't even need a push to get started. She gave me a run down of the day all the way home. She was almost as happy as Christmas morning going through her take home folder to show me all of her treasures. The teacher sent a note saying Hannah is a very smart girl. (Not to sound to biased or proud but was there any doubt?)

This picture was taken in our front yard. My mom took her shopping and let her pick out an outfit for her first day.

This is the "housekeeping" area in her classroom. The loft above is called "the listening loft." The whole class sits up there for story time.

This is another shot of Hannah in her fabulous new room.

Weekend Recap

We had Rachel's birthday party on Friday. It was fun and interesting to meet her new friends. There are certain personality types that make up each circle of friends. As I spent time with this group of girls, I could match up the personality of a new friend with the personality of one of Rachel's friends at her old school.

It was also nice to meet the parents. One of her little friends moved to the United States from Romania about 6 years ago. Another little girl just moved from England about 10 months ago. Kind of made our move seem pretty insignificant.

Rachel decided she didn't want to choose a theme for her party. Instead she chose to decorate with orange and pink.

I found these flowers in the dollar section at Target. They made a fun centerpiece for the table and each of the girls pulled one from the bouquet to take home at the end of the party.

As the party guests arrived we had them decorate their own goody bags. I was surprised how much time and detail they put into this project.

They ate pizza and then made these doorknob hangers. Foamies are a wonderful thing. As long as you get the kind that have the sticky backs, no glue is needed.

Rachel doesn't like cake with a lot of frosting (she doesn't get that from me) so we usually get her a cookie cake.

By the time they had their cookie and ice cream it was time to open gifts and parents started to arrive.

I went to a meeting at the school yesterday and the only other parents who attended were two I had met through Rachel's party. It is nice to have some connections.

Then on Saturday my mom, aunt and grandma came to visit from Indiana. They left this morning. My grandmother doesn't get around really well and doesn't venture out very often so it was a huge deal that she came to visit. We spent a lot of time reliving family folklore. You know the stories you have heard all of your life. Some of them you were even a part of, but you don't know if you really remember it or you've just heard them so many times you think you remember.

I was looking forward to making some memories around the new table and I made some fun ones this weekend.

Little Peanut

Today is Rachel's birthday. She turned nine. How can that possibly be? Did anyone else see the time racing by?

It wouldn't be right to write a birthday tribute without reliving at least part of the day. We had been in California all of two days before she made her appearance. P.K. went to work for a staff meeting that morning and then came to take me to my check up with my new ob. I had pre-eclampsia so the doctor admitted me. Rachel was such a peanut. She weighed in at a whopping 4 lbs 14 oz. We brought her home to the TLF(Temporary Lodging Facility...like a hotel) on base in 29 Palms.

Since we were still in temporary housing all of our stuff was in storage. We planned to have another month before we needed baby things. Thankfully, my aunt sent us an express box of preemie clothes. Rachel is wearing one of those outfits in the picture below.

So please tell me when she went from that little baby to the "big girl" in this picture I took this morning.

Happy birthday, Rachel! I love you!