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Happy 5th birthday, Owen!

Posted on February 2, 2014 @ 3:00 pm by Jen — 1 Comment ↓

We had Owen’s 5th birthday party at one of the local gymnastics places. We invited his entire class (16 kids) as well as our friends. Half of his class RSVPed (of which two asked to bring other siblings, which was fine) and I was annoyed but honestly pretty impressed that we got a 50% response rate. However, of those eight that RSVPed, four didn’t show…two of which were the ones that asked to bring extra kids. 😐 So that cost me extra because I opted to go with the 25+ kids plan (which allowed for another employee to be scheduled) because we were right on the line with RSVPs and I figured we’d likely get some that would show up without having RSVPed. So we ended up with 15 kids total instead of 23. Oh well, it’s only money, right? And Owen had fun so that’s what matters, right? But he did have fun so it’s all good!

Ursula made the awesome Ninjago cake!

When I called Owen over to see it (he was out playing) he said “It’s Jay!” (Of course, he was right, Jay is the blue ninja.)

Owen with two of his classmates, Tanner and Braxton (who I’ve posted pics of before). You see that Owen really isn’t the same size as the rest of his class. 🙂

Katie having fun running around:

Katie was very interested in what was going on in the bounce house—but we put her in with the kids and she screamed. So she was content to just peek in for a bit.

I showed Katie how to hang on the bar and she loved it! She’d hang and swing then drop off—over and over.

And then she got in the bounce house because it was fairly empty:

Back at the bar showing daddy her tricks!

The birthday boy in the middle of the parachute!

And here’s a 6 minute video of the parachute fun (pretty much for the grandparents). 🙂

Each kid got to do their own thing in the middle of the parachute balloon. Owen did a spinning twist.

A few last runs before leaving…

The last pic of our best friends for quite some time—our friend Tom is deploying next week and we’ll be moving this summer…

As Ursula was getting the cake packed up to go, Owen saw that the head was off to the side and was VERY concerned that it wasn’t coming home and kept asking about it. We assured him Jay was coming home. Then he saw Ursula carrying it to her car (to bring to our house) and he was concerned that the cake itself wasn’t coming home at all!

Overall, it was a great party for Owen’s first REAL birthday party (not just something at our house with a few friends or family). 🙂

Previous Throwback Thursdays

Posted on January 30, 2014 @ 3:52 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Getting ready for s’mores at our house on Valley Ridge Lane (during Tom’s first deployment in 2005) with Ursula Mitchell.

One of my favorite pictures from our wedding day—Jessica was our flower girl and she DID NOT want to take a picture with me no matter what.

In Traverse City at my apartment before heading out camping and to Mackinac Island in September 1997.

Circa 1991 at Tim Hough (now Nolan)’s graduation party. Who would have guessed we’d someday become cousins?

Trip to Baltimore in 2005 with our good friends Tom and Karen Trimble.

A somewhat recent Throwback Thursday (11/25/10)—with Kelly King.

Just a few years ago (2007—seems like yesterday)…one of my all-time favorite pictures with good friends Nancy and Kelly.

Camping with cousins Lisa and Lori in high school—I’m guessing ’89 or ’90?

I had completely forgotten about the trip to Toronto we took with Sue McLaughlin and Pam Williams—maybe 1988? 89?

Gymnastics birthday party!

Posted on January 11, 2014 @ 3:45 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Both kids had a blast today! Owen started on just the bounce house…

And Katie was having fun everywhere. She was a blur!

Owen was then busy running and jumping all over! I didn’t even try to get pictures!

She was really good—she just stopped at the top with no interest in the beam!!

The whole group!

Taking a break on mom. 🙂

My busy shutterbug

Posted on January 9, 2014 @ 8:55 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

P.S. In a hand-me-down sweater from…I think friend Angie!

Nerd parenting!

Posted on January 5, 2014 @ 11:57 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

I just told Owen there was a new Star Wars Mythbusters and he was positively gleeful.

My friend called it “Nerd parenting at its best!”

Pizza play date!

Posted on January 3, 2014 @ 5:15 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

One of my mommy group friends invited us over for a play date and pizza dinner. I really needed to get out of the house so I eagerly agreed!

The kids (but mostly Katie) were mesmerized by the BIG TV at their level.

Enjoying cupcakes after playing and dinner!

And after we put Katie’s high chair on the floor, she had to sit in it—and she tried to buckle herself in.

Post-party pictures with Gramma

Posted on December 25, 2013 @ 7:06 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

One of my mommy group friends invited a bunch of people over for Christmas dinner, so we all went! I made mashed potatoes and peas and peanuts. I forgot my phone (EEK!) so didn’t get to snap any pictures. I grabbed my friend’s phone to take a cute picture of Katie eating a candy cane, but long story short I didn’t end up with it. The kids had a blast running around playing with other kids—and Katie tested my nerves by wanting to go up and down the slippery wood stairs by herself! The dinner was delicious and there was about as much dessert as dinner!

When we got home, I managed to snap a few pics of the kids with Gramma—but we didn’t get any with me and the kids. (We had planned to before the party, but it was chaos trying to get out of the house on time.)

Pre-Christmas Chili Dinner & Parade

Posted on December 21, 2013 @ 6:45 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

We were invited to a friend’s house for a pre-Christmas chili dinner today. This is before we headed out. Yes, it was unseasonably warm.

Owen accidentally found his old Buzz Lightyear that I was going to surprise him with on Christmas…so I made him “help me around the house” to earn it—and he never set it down except to get dressed! (We just watched Toy Story for the first time a few weeks ago and he loves it!

Katie wanted to go outside.

Owen had fun playing with all the kids there—running around outside (with Buzz, of course!). And Katie had fun wandering in a new house. There were enough other parents there that you didn’t actually have to keep a dedicated eye on your kids so it was more enjoyable than I thought it would be.

We originally weren’t going to stay for the parade because it started at 7 (Katie’s bedtime) but they changed it to 5:30 so we were able to go! Our first parade! And a small-town parade at that! It’s been A LONG TIME since I’ve seen any parade—let alone a small-town one—and I was reminded just how interesting they were…about five police cars (county and city from surrounding areas), six fire trucks, ambulances, people who were running for mayor/commissioner/whatever, girl/boy scout troops, etc. Blah. Let’s just say I’d never have gone except I wanted Owen to see it since he’s in love with everything Christmas. And it was warm (it was 65).

But I have to say a parade in the dark is kinda crap. There’s lights on the trucks/floats/etc. but you can’t see any of the signs. But Owen had fun so that’s what matters!

Waiting for the parade to start:

The posse we were with (not everyone):

Yes, Buzz came with him. Owen never set him down all night.

Clapping!

Waving!

They were throwing candy and Owen got a raspberry lemonade sucker that he didn’t like—but Katie did!

The fire trucks were loud!

Happy boy!

Santa ending the parade!

Then it was a quick walk back to the host’s house, goodbyes, and we were home by 6:40!

Play date!

Posted on December 14, 2013 @ 2:12 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Owen and I went to the movies this morning (Frozen!) with friends of ours that are moving next week—Ruth (the one who helped me put up the lights and tree) and her daughter! We’re really going to miss them… Owen did pretty well at the movie—it was a sensory-friendly version which I don’t think he really needs anymore, but it’s at least $3pp less so we do go once in awhile. I think with the lights up and the sound down, he is actually more fidgety and doesn’t get as involved. I know I don’t get as involved because I hear the constant murmuring of all the other kids that aren’t paying attention and talking and running about…

But anyway, after the movie, they came over for sushi lunch (well, the kids had pizza bagels!) and then we went outside. Ruth just happened to have a pink baby swing in her car that she was getting rid of, so we hung it up! (I actually had one I hadn’t put up yet, so I just traded her for the pink one!) Katie liked it. Not loved it, but liked it. For a few minutes. 🙂

Owen getting tackled! He LOVED every second of it and was having a ball. He kept saying “Emily! I’m over here! Come get me!”

Emily tackling and then Katie attacking Owen once he was down!

Then he wanted to play Candyland so we got it set up and just let them play while we were in the other room talking. It apparently went well and soon we heard Owen saying “Congratulations!” 🙂

Saved by a friend.

Posted on December 5, 2013 @ 11:30 am by Jen — 2 Comments ↓

I wasn’t sure how I was going to get the lights up this year…it’s hard enough to do inside stuff…but outside stuff? Requiring a ladder and four arms? Plus the tree? Ugh. I had managed the mantle and was just going to plod along as much as I could during Katie’s naps and possibly skip the outside lights…until Owen asked when we were putting them up because he liked them. Cue mom guilt. So I posted my lament on Facebook and a friend graciously offered to help (they’re moving soon so aren’t decorating this season). Boooo for them moving, but woohoo for her offer to help!

But what a debacle. (Granted, a minor debacle or two in the grand scheme of things, but still a debacle typical of my life.) My friend is now the outside proof that STRANGE THINGS really do seem to happen to me.

First.

We plugged the lights in before we got started and they worked. By the time we got to the end, they were out. Huh? We look again. Yep, out. This can’t be, we think—we both saw them lit. RIGHT? Maybe it was the extension cord? We tried another. Nope. The outlet? Nope, another item plugged in and worked fine. Reset the outlet. Nope. Tried about six rearrangements of extension cords and direct into the outlet and…nothing.

WHAT. THE. HELL?

We took a step back off the porch and—AHA! It was only the last 4′ of lights that were out—the section right above us that we were looking up at. The rest were on. But seriously? They were brand new expensive LED lights last year. GRRR. So our options were to leave them as is or restring the whole house again with some old-school multi-colored lights that are many years old that were just extras. And I’m sure you can guess what option I chose. I couldn’t leave the mantle garland uneven…you think I’m leaving up lights that have a section burnt out? 🙂 So we restrung the whole house (at least we had the system down by then!) and I chucked the “old” ones.

Second.

This one should really be filed under YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. I wouldn’t have believed it if it didn’t happen to me—but I had photo proof and a friend watching. So there.

I think it was actually quite impressive:

Yes, that’s a light completely wedged in the sole of my flip flop. What? How? I mean really? I was just walking along and it got jammed in there. JAMMED. Like we needed to use pliers to get it out—and of course it broke. Which meant I had to take a light out of an extra string of all-blue lights. And then we had to replace a few other burnt-out lights with…blue lights.

Fixing the dips.

By the time we got to the end of the house, we had enough extra to put on the bushes…except we noticed that most of them were burnt out as well. Ugh. By that time I was burnt out on lights myself so I just let them hang down the side of the house and that was that!

Then Ruth, saint that she is, asked if there was anything else I needed help with. Well, I said, we could put the tree up… So we broke open two wine coolers as our celebratory drink after the escapade that was putting up the Christmas lights (plus we were both sweating from doing the lights—it was 72°!) and put the tree together and decorated most of it! (We left the bottom undone for Owen to finish.)

I can’t begin to thank Ruth enough. Really. She helped me not lose my shit when all kept going wonky. If I had been doing it by myself, the swearing would have been in utter frustration instead of in humor. 🙂

As soon as she left, someone was already making herself at home.

And her sister checking things out, too. Thankfully, this is as much interest as they both show.

Thanksgiving, photo fail, and friends.

Posted on November 28, 2013 @ 5:09 pm by Jen — 1 Comment ↓

The day started out well enough. Owen was very VERY excited about going to Uncle Roger’s for Thanksgiving…and kept asking me how many minutes how many minutes how many minutes. I told him it wouldn’t be until after Katie’s nap, so then he started asking how many minutes until her nap. Over and over and over. At 9am. 🙂 He told me he was going to go get in the car. I told him no, it wasn’t time yet. I finally told him it would be a few hours, and I would let him know when it was time…I wouldn’t let him miss it.

Fast forward until after Katie’s nap. I had the mashed potatoes going on the stove and their nice outfits all ready…and of course she woke up too early. Fine, no problem. I got them both dressed for pictures. Katie wasn’t terribly happy (she’s got a cold—as does Owen—and her nap wasn’t long enough) so it was challenging to say the least. And she was really REALLY cute, too, so I was disappointed. But I was snapping away and hoping I’d at least get one decent shot.

Then it was off to finish the potatoes. And take breaks every minute or so to wipe Katie’s nose. And try to get Owen to RELAX about getting his shoes and coat on and wanting to get in the car. And then I decided to take more pictures…AND DISCOVERED THERE WAS NO MEMORY CARD IN THE CAMERA SO I DIDN’T HAVE ANY PICTURES. I wasn’t in a great mood before that, so that just pushed me over the edge. (It’s the little things, I swear.)

So I was rushing to get everything packed to leave the house (changes of clothes for both kids because it was Owen’s Clean Out Weekend and because Katie accidentally got some of Owen’s “poop juice”, diapers, pull-ups, snacks, etc.), get the potatoes finished and in the crock pot, stack all the dirty dishes, let the dog out, and then—since I’m apparently a masochist—TRY TO TAKE MORE PICTURES WITH UNCOOPERATIVE KIDS… Needless to say I didn’t get one good picture.

The best picture of the super cute hand-me-down dress:

The best of the awful sibling pics:

The good thing about the day was going to our friend’s house—my babysitter’s house—so she took over Katie duty while her younger sister played with Owen. This became Katie’s favorite new activity:

The kids were having a great time playing (Owen even asked to play on the big outdoor trampoline!), I was drinking wine and visiting, and all seemed well. Until Owen came over to me asking where the bathroom was, so I went with him to show him—and watched as he puked in the toilet. Twice. Oh lovely. I told him he might be going home—if he was sick, we really couldn’t stay. He immediately started whining that he didn’t want go…he wanted to keep playing. So I told him we had to take his temperature and if he had a temp, we had to go. He didn’t have a temp, so we stayed.

The dinner was nice and it was good to be with friends—it helped not to miss Tom quite as much. But of course Owen was frustrating. He had told me he would try all the new foods…but come time, he didn’t touch anything. He claims he ate a bite of mashed potatoes but he didn’t. He didn’t even want his yogurt. Sigh. Then he had to go potty—and I went to check on him (I don’t trust him when we’re not at our house)—and it’s a good thing I did because he had peed all over the toilet, floor, and waste basket. SERIOUSLY?! Breathe. Breathe. I know where the cleaning supplies are, so off I went. It wasn’t a big deal (and they didn’t care) but still, it was like WHAT ELSE IS GOING TO HAPPEN?! Then we called it an early night because Katie was getting tired and I really just wanted to get into jammies and relax.

Once we got home, I tried pictures again…and didn’t have much more luck.

Both kids were in bed by 7 and then I got to relax…

Things about me you might not know.

Posted on November 21, 2013 @ 9:10 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

This game has been going around Facebook whereby you are given a number and you are then required to tell that many unique or fun things about yourself that most people wouldn’t know. I’ve really enjoyed reading the answers from all my friends, and while I didn’t officially get a number I thought it would be fun to play along.

At a very young age I knew I didn’t want children and actually asked my mom if I could get a hysterectomy. Wisely, she assured me I should wait.
I still didn’t want kids until a few years after getting married… But that changed during the few days after finding out my Grandpa Len had died and I was with all my extended family back in Michigan and I realized how much I loved my family and didn’t want it to end with me. It’s a good thing Tom was on board.
From that moment, it took three years to get pregnant and involved both of us being tested (no issues), though one of those years Tom was deployed. 🙂
We are currently on our third deployment: ~9 months, ~13 months, and hopefully this one with kids will be the shortest at ~6 months. When you dream about falling in love with a military man (Oh! Those uniforms!) you never think about the sucky parts.
In college I made a list of the top 25 or so things I was looking for in a partner. The top 5 were CRITICAL. When I met Tom? He had none of the top 5 but I still knew from the first night he was the one. Yes, I knew the very first night that we would get married. It took four years but we did it!
I loved every part of my wedding and would do it all over again in a hot second. I loved all the unique touches (trumpeter, writing our own vows, one of the groomsmen barfing in the bushes during the ceremony, reception on a dinner train, personalized cake topper, and a horse and carriage) and to this day people still tell me how awesome it was.
For someone who is a homebody and doesn’t like change, the military is not really the best thing for me. I always said I would wait to have kids until we were settled so they wouldn’t have to move schools…but life just doesn’t work that way (I got old too fast and Tom had decided to stay in for 20). But, we have met the greatest people and can’t imagine life without having met our best friends Roger & Ursula Mitchell and Tom & Karen Trimble).
I :heart: Amazon. If I never had to leave my house to shop I would be just fine. I have my fingers crossed that someday we move somewhere that Amazon delivers fresh groceries. If you ask me where I got something, chances are probably 90% it was from Amazon, 5% it was from another online source, and 5% it was local. 🙂
If I never had another job again I would be just fine. I am NOT someone who has to work to feel validated.
I don’t consider myself a hoarder, but my pantry has been referred to as Dharma. Yes, I also :heart: Costco and Sam’s Club.
I hate being late. For anything. Even with two kids on a hectic morning, I still make it to Pre-K (with a 15 minute drive) at least five minutes early.
This was the first year since we got married that we didn’t have Chinese for our anniversary dinner (it started as luck then we planned it and even managed during his past deployments). We changed it to steak and shrimp this year so we’d be eating the same thing on the same day!

Birthday Bowling + A Toe Tragedy

Posted on November 9, 2013 @ 4:00 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Today we had a birthday party at a bowling alley for one of Owen’s classmates.

He had great fun using up his allotted tokens:

And I played one game for him and won over 100 tickets! He liked feeding them into the counting machine! (I thought we were done at this point which is why I turned them in so early. By the time the day was done, I had three redemption slips!)

Then it was time for pizza, cake, and opening presents. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but the party room was SUPER tiny for all the kids and let me just ask: If you were having a birthday party at a bowling alley on a limited time schedule with little kids with a short attention span, why on earth would you bring ALL your personal presents (at least 10-12)? Bring maybe 2-3 from mom and dad (if any at all) and open the rest at home. But anyway.

Owen was really very patient, and finally it was time for bowling. He wasn’t thrilled with the shoes but I told him he had to wear them. The first few frames went pretty well (they had the bumpers up) but honestly, trying to corral ten or so ~5-year-olds into bowling is like trying to herd cats. Kids running here, running there, between lanes, down the lanes while others are bowling, not waiting their turns, wanting to punch all the buttons on the display… And the noise level? Eeesh. Owen started complaining that the shoes hurt his feet and even though they felt fine, I let him take them off. I bowled in socks as a kid and so could he.

Here was his first go at it!

Then they brought out the helper stands—which made a HUGE difference in the success of each turn.

So it was only Owen and another kid on the last lane. This kid seemed to be a little older and a little bit of a brat—and I have NO idea who his mother was/parents were because no one was ever once close to him the whole time I was there. Well, in about frame six, this kid grabs a ball off the ball return and I guess was trying to be nice and bring Owen a ball for his turn… And just as I’m realizing this could go horribly wrong…yep, bowling ball to the toe. Screaming, wailing, tears, and a little boy sobbing in my lap.

A few moms and kids came over to see if he was okay (he was, he just had to cry a bit and settle down) and one offered to get some ice (oh, yeah, that would be good—I was so concerned with calming him down I had completely zoned on getting ice). Anyway, that was the end of the fun and he just kept saying he wanted to go home. I said we could but we had to leave the ice on for a bit first. The other kid never apologized (I’m sure he didn’t think anything of it) and whoever was there with him never came over (I recognized the few moms that did come over) so that was kind of annoying.

We did have to stop and redeem his tickets on the way out. He had picked out what he wanted earlier and of course they were out of that item. But the guy said we could pick ANYTHING in the case! (I mean it’s all cheap crap, but Owen was excited!) So he picked handcuffs! 🙂 Then it was a slow hobble to the car (I obviously can’t carry him) and he really was a trooper for as painful as I know it was. On the way home I tried to get his mind off it it and had him smiling and laughing. And since he can take pills now, I stopped at Walgreens to get some children’s Advil.

Of course he couldn’t wait to get home to tell Gramma and Grandpa about it and show them. We asked him if he knew the kid and he said no, but he always drops the bowling ball on his foot. 🙂

Katie’s first of three Halloween costumes.

Posted on October 30, 2013 @ 9:47 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

Why does she have three costumes? I bought one last year when I found it cheap at the resale shop. Then later a friend said she’d send one her daughter didn’t use. Then I remembered we had saved the old costume of Owen’s but a friend had it—so she gave it back.

So we tried the friend’s costume today. It didn’t go over too well. She didn’t mind it terribly, but the hat part was too big and kept falling in her face. And she wouldn’t sit still with her legs out so you could see the cute cat feet.

And then she saw a roaming cat across the street and was excited about that…

So off she went.

Taking pictures of little ones in costumes is very hard when you have to be both the photographer and the retriever.

My cute little giraffe

Posted on October 26, 2013 @ 7:42 am by Jen — 1 Comment ↓

A hand-me-down outfit from a friend…soooo cute! (It also has a matching spotted jumper.)

Birthday Gymnastics

Posted on October 6, 2013 @ 3:55 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Friends had their kids birthday party at the local gymnastics place and Owen and Katie had a blast!

I love that you can see her pigtails in her shadow!

Red cupcake frosting!

Owen really liked it and didn’t want to leave…so I guess I’ll be looking into gymnastics or at least free gym time.

It’s about time! Wine me!

Posted on September 30, 2013 @ 9:36 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Thanks to one of my besties, Ursula, for gifting me our favorite bottle of wine… I couldn’t even take a picture of it with my new phone since it was still in the middle of restore hell. And I wanted to Instagram it so didn’t want to use my real camera…so had to use the iPad. 🙂

FUNNY STORY. I haven’t had that wine in awhile and I forgot how REALLY VERY GOOD it is…and I managed to drink the whole bottle in under an hour. I started feeling a little oogy and realized I needed to eat some carbs (I chose pretzels) to soak up the alcohol. Whew. You’d think at 40 I’d know better than to drink the bottle that fast…but it was just soooooooooo good!

Girls’ Night Out 40th Birthday Dinner

Posted on September 27, 2013 @ 8:30 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

The best self-portrait, but a little blurry.

A little better…

I invited the moms from my mommy group and my two oldest friends so we had a party of six!

Unfortunately, the restaurant ticked me off…oh, we weren’t late, but they told us we could only have the table until 7:30 because there was another reservation…so if we thought we’d be longer than an hour and a half, we had to move tables right then. I said “It might have been nice to know that when I called.” The owner didn’t respond. 🙁

So we missed out on the seating I wanted AND requested—cool bench seats and cushions with lots of space (it’s a middle eastern place) and instead got a cramped U-shaped booth which was hot and a little squished (we fit but it wasn’t as comfortable as I’d planned on).

To add insult to injury, we ended up being done about 7:35. And the drinks were weak. And while it was a really nice time and we had some great laughs, it wasn’t what I had imagined in my head…which was totally my own fault but still disappointing. (This is the same place we had a friends birthday dinner a few weeks back and we had an AWESOME waiter and the time just flew and I was annoyed to have to leave early.) Stupid me wanted to recreate that night and I should know that’s impossible. I should have just done Mexican like I first thought.

Karen (old friend) and Amy (mom group/our sitter):

Me and Alea (mom group/Braxton’s mom):

Kathryn (mom group) and me:

Ursula (old friend) was taking the pics so she didn’t get in one. She was also my DD for the night (even though it turned out I didn’t need it)!

But all in all it was a good way to ring in turning 40…I was with friends, I was home at a decent hour, and I didn’t drink enough to worry about a hangover. 🙂

Owen’s new classroom

Posted on September 23, 2013 @ 7:50 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

Playing with Katie while waiting for the teacher.

With his buddy, Braxton. (I tend to forget just how big Owen is until he gets next to other kids. Braxton is a few months younger than Owen.)

I know. Holy wah.

Morning at the playground

Posted on September 19, 2013 @ 9:00 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

I told Owen we could go to the playground this morning, thinking he would pick the one we’ve gone to a few times (the one we stopped at on the way back from seeing Tom off) that’s closest to us…but no…he requested the “baseball playground” (obviously, the one next to the ball fields we went to after playing baseball).

He also requested “socks like grannie’s at the hotel” so he could slide down the slides better. So I gave him some of mine (no pics, unfortunately)…and they stayed on pretty long, until he saw a girl in bare feet and then he wanted bare feet, too!

It was a nice, cool, fall-ish morning so we were all in long pants and long sleeves (which felt like heaven!)…but Katie just couldn’t quite understand the long sleeves and kept trying to pull them off.

This is how she sometimes goes down stairs.

Unlike Owen, she doesn’t mind sand at all.

Owen with Connor, one of the kids from my mommy group.

Katie had her first skinned-lip/chin fall on the sidewalk moments before this (she just stumbled). She cried for about 15 seconds while I brushed the sand off her face…and then she was fine.

I would think Michigan would be one of the more recognizable states.

Posted on September 14, 2013 @ 1:00 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

I was wearing this shirt today (find it here) and had someone ask me “So, what am I looking at? Where’s home?”

I would think Michigan would be one of the more recognizable states, wouldn’t you? Even if you had never lived there?

So I asked some of my online friends…and a few said no, they wouldn’t have recognized it! Even one who lives in a neighboring state!

I could see not knowing a boring square state like Colorado or one of the tiny ones like New Jersey…but Michigan?! REALLY?!

I was honestly gobsmacked.

My first substitute husband job!

Posted on September 7, 2013 @ 10:05 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

Thank heavens for friends! (I could actually say that a lot, but today it’s about Roger coming to look at the sink.) 🙂

At first he was afraid it was inside the faucet with the hot water lines—which would require a plumber—but then he said “Hey, let me check this quick…”

And bingo! It was the pull-out handle—it was loose and the water was dripping from there. A quick tighten and it’s fixed (and he could find the tool he needed right away thanks to Tom organizing everything before he left!). He also moved the hose to a less-constricted space (away from the dishwasher line) so it’s easier to pull when necessary (and will create less stress on the part).

I never would have thought to check that, but now I know if it happens again!

Phew! I was envisioning $$$ for a plumber and/or $$$ for a new faucet.

And I think it’s pretty good that I didn’t need a fill-in hubby until a month in to the deployment! 🙂

Kitchen Calamity

Posted on September 1, 2013 @ 5:05 pm by Jen — 1 Comment ↓

So you all know I hate our kitchen—it’s just ENTIRELY too small (even if every single counter was completely cleared off, there’s still no good place to put a cutting board or mixing bowls, etc.). So I was getting dinner ready for our little grilling dinner party—starting the water boiling for rice, turning the big pan on for sauteing onions, and chopping onions on a cutting board on the stove. (I had debated cutting them across the sink, but I had already dirtied up the too-small cutting board so figured why change mid-stream?)

So I’m peeling and cutting onions and I see a small wisp of smoke and notice that my cutting board is a little too close to the rice pot, so I move it and continue. A few minutes later, there’s suddenly way more smoke and a putrid toxic smell and HOLY SHIT—I had turned the wrong burner on and my big plastic cutting board was melting. 😯

So in about the span of three seconds, I grabbed the melting board and set in on the sink, turned off the burner, and turned on the fans…just as Ruth was walking in from outside. She was surprised, of course, but there wasn’t much she could do. I opened the sliding door and was fanning the smoke out to hopefully keep the smoke detector from blasting…when it hit me: GET THE BURNING PLASTIC OFF THE BURNER. So I grabbed the always-handy razor blade from the drawer and scraped off the melted plastic which just about immediately halted the toxic smoke (and man was it TOXIC—it was literally burning my nose and throat). The smoke alarm never went off and the kitchen was back to normal in about five minutes.

Thankfully the rest of the dinner went off without a hitch and was super delicious!

I joked that I cursed myself because just that morning I ordered three new bamboo cutting boards to replace some of my plastic ones that were getting a little janky…

Playground Morning

Posted on August 31, 2013 @ 10:01 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

After we had to leave the park yesterday since it was SO F’ING HOT, I promised Owen we could go back when it was cooler. It was cooler this morning, so I told him we could go as soon as he pooped. Instantly: “Mama! I have to go poop!” And he did! After a quick breakfast, it was off to the park. Some of the mommy group met us there.

Katie has no fear of the steps and climbs right up!

The slides were still wet and had some standing water. Katie thought that was great fun!

These are the same bars he couldn’t reach a few weeks ago! (This is the same park we stopped at one the way home from seeing Tom off.)

Katie getting ready to go down the slide.

This is how she went down the whole way…which was just fine because it was more of a sticking/scooching/slow-motion trip (and easier on my nerves).

The other way she goes down the slide.

Reaching to play with Emily’s shoes.

Owen (4), Emily (4), and Olivia (6)

Owen’s going to preschool!

Posted on August 30, 2013 @ 3:46 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Well, Owen is officially signed up for morning preschool three days a week! I wanted two, but she said better to start with more and cut a day (if necessary) than start with two and want to add a day and have there not be room.

Best part? One of his friends is in the same class! 🙂
Worst parts? Class starts at 8 and ends right in the middle of Katie’s nap. 🙁

So this means we’re all getting up by alarm (YUCK). This was a VERY rude surprise since we thought it was 8:30 (that’s what the paperwork I have said) and that was VERY doable with our regular schedule (Owen is up at 7, I’m usually up and showered by 7:30, but Katie can sleep until 8 or 8:30 sometimes—though it’s usually 7:30). But 8? Good god, that’s a BIG change in our schedule to be up and out the door by 7:35.

And on the other end, I either keep Katie up and deal with her being a hot mess and she falls asleep on the way to pick him up OR I let her nap but have to wake her up after 30-45m. Neither are appealing. Poor second kid gets the shaft nap-wise. The only thing I’m hoping is that maybe by getting her up earlier she will be tired earlier and will nap earlier… FINGERS CROSSED!

That said, one bonus to having a friend in the same class? I already know his mom well (she’s part of our mom’s group) and he’s an only child so she doesn’t have to deal with other kids napping…so she has GRACIOUSLY offered to pick up Owen on occasion and bring him home! So they’ll just come out for lunch and a play date! I swear, this mom’s group just keeps on giving and giving!

The only other thing I was planning on but didn’t pan out is dropping Katie off at the same place for once a week morning preschool…but they only do full-time care for one-year-olds (you have to be potty trained for pre-school classes). They do have drop-off first-come-first-serve daycare, though, so I may still be able to have a morning to myself now and again!

We got to meet his teacher, Miss Jennifer, and see his classroom. He had been SUPER excited about going to school and wanted to GO (not just visit) today but he didn’t seem too thrilled once we got in the classroom. I think (am hoping) it was because they just cleaned it (while the kids were outside) and it smelled like disinfectant. He also could see the playground and wanted to go play but that wasn’t an option.

After a few minutes he seemed a bit more at home and was walking around exploring. He had to go potty when he was there, so he got to check out the bathroom and wash his hands in the kid-sized sink (and learn how to use a different soap bottle and towel dispenser).

The teacher and I talked about his issues (mainly pooping and autism diagnoses) and she said she had another kid with GI issues and that she hadn’t noticed anything autism-related with him. She said they eat breakfast there, there’s no rest/nap time, water is available all day (they just have to ask for it), they have outdoor play time, and there’s no real regimented activity time (like “Okay, you HAVE TO sit here and practice writing for 15 minutes.”).

I still can’t believe this is happening. My baby is leaving the nest… I just wish he was taking a school bus so I didn’t have to spend an hour of my day trekking back and forth. 🙂

Birthday Party

Posted on August 24, 2013 @ 5:30 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

One of the playgroup kids had a birthday today. When telling Owen what house it was at, I told him “where you had cake and there was a waterside.” So we get there and as we walk in the front door, you can see straight through to the back yard where they have a bounce house set up. Owen was EXCITED. Before I know it, he’s in front of me pulling his shirt off and asking if he can be naked—I’m guessing he thought it was a water slide! I explained it was just a bouncy house (NOT a pool!) and he didn’t need to be naked. 🙂 Thankfully he was still excited!

A blast from the past + kids = surreal

Posted on August 23, 2013 @ 5:30 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

I had a good time visiting with a high school friend today—and our kids had A BLAST in the pool and playing hide and seek (he’s 4, she’s almost 7). It’s very surreal to me to remember all the times she and I spent together in middle and high school…and then be sitting there watching our kids play.

The girls before my girls’ night

Posted on August 22, 2013 @ 4:30 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Me and Katie before I headed out for a mom’s night out with my mommy group friends.

The kid crew

Posted on August 22, 2013 @ 11:43 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

It wasn’t until just now when I went to post this picture that I realized that Owen isn’t even in the picture (you can just see the top of his head)! But this is the main group of kids that Owen plays with—I didn’t even try to ask for a posed shot!

Pool Day

Posted on August 21, 2013 @ 2:19 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

We had an invite for the beach today, but I just am not ready to take Katie and Owen to the beach. Owen would be fine, but I have no idea if Katie will be a content to sit and play in the sand baby or if she’d be a run up and down the beach baby—and didn’t really have the energy to find out today…so I passed…but invited others over for the pool. One mom came over (the same one who went out to dinner with me on my anniversary) and it was great.

Getting ready for the sun:

This is what happened when I asked the kids to pose. She did and Owen looks like he’s attacking her! 🙂

Unfortunately, Katie was a total crankypants—the first time since she’s started this recent teething episode. But she liked the watermelon (and wanted to share, as you will see in the video).

I finally got out the baby pool we had when Owen was little (Tom just found it before he left):

And it was HOT. And with the running around with the kids and getting the air compressor out of the shed, yada yada yada, I really wanted to go in the pool. Ruth said “Sure, go ahead!” So I did! I spent about 15 minutes in with the kids—and Ruth even got Katie into a swim diaper and then brought her to the pool with us! Then Ruth even got in up to her knees to cool off. It was really, really great and I appreciated it immensely!