Fun at the motor home

Nana and Pops have come to visit in the motor home. Honestly, I am not a 'camping' person, but the kids are enamored with the whole idea. They love to go hang out at the motor home.

Ashlyn and Haley spend some time at the motor home doing exactly what they do while they are at home--play Text Twist on the computer.















Owen likes to walk around and push all the buttons, which is helping Pops in his quest to be completely gray headed. After he messes everything up he takes a breather while Pops tries to get it all right again. Personally I'm waiting for him to hit the button to raise the levelers and for the motor home to tip over. I think that would make a great story.














Owen doing his best Papa impersonation. Note the cap and plaid shorts. Not too shabby.






























This is not the happy picture it may appear to be. Owen was being held against his will.














Owen and Jake are hiding.















Owen walks dogs for a small fee...usually bananas or haystacks.

Passed out

Husker went back home Monday night. On his last afternoon here I talked to both dogs and told them that while the several-day-long sleepover was loads of fun, Husker needed to go back to his family. They both then spent the afternoon running around and wrestling, trying to squeeze as much fun into each passing minute as they possibly could until they crashed.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today I am 32 years old.

Strangely I cannot think of anything else to write about regarding me. This is the first birthday in two years that has included Scott, because for the past two he was in Afghanistan. As far as presents go, I did not get the money tree I asked for, but I did get some other really nice stuff.

I share a birthday with Carol. There has never been an April 18th in 32 years where I have not talked to her or seen her. Today will be the first one. Carol died 164 days ago. Not a day went by that I didn't think about how much I would miss talking to her today. If life was fair, I would have been able to share 30 more birthdays with her. But life is not fair, we lose some of the best people we have ever known, some of the best we ever will know. She is now free from pain and sickness and we are left to soldier on.

Happy Birthday Carol. I love you. I miss you.

FOUND!!

Found!! One sippy cup full of MILK! Lost approximately 3 weeks ago. Found today by Ashlyn pushed all the way back in the subwoofer. Smells heavenly. No wait, I mean it smells to high heaven.

Max! Can you hear me?

The only problem I have with Max (other than the fact that whenever he sees a trash bag he pees on it) is that he is extremely hyper. Since Husker has been here he has had a constant companion to run and wrestle with. At night Max just absolutely falls over because he's so tired. Owen was a little concerned after he threw his ball off Max's nose and Max didn't even flinch, so he went over to check him out.















Owen poked him and messed with his ears for a minute.















Then he lifted his ear and yelled Puppy! right at him. Max opened his eyes and looked, and Owen smiled "Puppy nite nite"

Bed Hog

Husker has really been wanting to lay on my bed. Today while I was folding clothes he waited for me to go into the closet and finally made his move. This picture has captured Husker and the cats within 3 feet of each other, which is the closest they've been since he got here. The cats were a little upset, as the bed is where they lay and they didn't want to share it with the dog. Max, meanwhile, was pitching a fit on the floor because he cannot jump on the bed...his legs are just too short.
















Husker takes up the whole dang bed. And Dude, you can keep the magazine. I haven't read it, but I'd rather not now that it's got your ass print on it.

Friday's Feast, 14 April 2006

Appetizer: What movie soundtracks do you own?
None.

Soup: How much cash do you usually carry with you?
$5-$10

Salad: Are you more comfortable around men or women? Why?
If it's people I know, then it makes no difference. If it's people I don't know well, then men, because I have nothing to prove to them.

Main Course: What is the most mischievous thing you remember doing as a child?
??--I guess the most mischievous thing probably included Adam and I've either blocked it out or it was beat out of my memory.

Dessert: Who is the funniest member of your family?
Haley--by a country mile

Horse sitting

Joe, Amber and Arden had to go to Arkansas today, so we are watching Husker for them. Husker and Max get along very well, but the cats are not at all excited about him staying for a few days. I'm reasonably sure he weighs about the same as me. The kids love Husker and he is great with them. I've never seen him run and jump so much, so I'm a little worried that he may have a heart attack, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he makes it through the weekend. All in all, he is very well behaved and he minds very well. Maybe that will rub off on Max and Owen.
















(L-R) Megan, Max, Haley, Owen, Husker, Aaron and Ashlyn (our house has turned into the party stop after school) I don't know the baby doll's name because it changes daily.

Hunting Easter Eggs. Again.

Today some of the classes from Haley's Joy School Preschool went to Myrtlewood Estates to have an Easter Egg hunt. I went along as a driver; Ellie and Maddison rode with Haley and me. The actual hunt lasted all of about 5 minutes, and Haley rounded up 10 eggs. She also put on a much more Happy! and Excited! face than she did at the Battalion hunt.
















Haley's hunting skills are vastly improved, as she can find eggs with her eyes closed.













































Here is Haley's class with the Easter Bunny. I must say that some of the children were not Happy! and Excited! at all about the Easter Bunny being present, and they did not want to get their picture made with him. So the class stood bunched up at the edge of the sidewalk while Miss Terrill tried to persuade them that they should stand by the bunny for me to take a picture.

There was protesting pretty much all around, but then Haley took it upon herself to let the class know there was really nothing to be afraid of... "It's not a real Easter Bunny, it's only someone dressed up like the Easter Bunny...probably a girl, because I can tell she has boobs...bunnies don't have boobs on their stomach, so it must just be someone dressed up."

No one said anything as all the 5 year olds studied the Easter Bunny.

As you can see, Haley got through to them, as every child from her class is in the picture. What a proud, proud day for me!
(L-R) Brook, Miss Terrill, Jacob, Camron, Madie-Claire, um, the Easter Bunny, Ellie, George, Maddison, Annalise, Haley, Miguel.

Tree climbing

The weather was beautiful this weekend. We all worked in the yard, meaning Scott worked, I held the trash bag, and the kids played in the dirt. The lowest branches on the tree in the front yard are too high for the girls to reach, but they always want to climb in it. Scott lifted them up and got them all posed and took the picture himself to suprise me. Surprise! I had no idea he even knew we had a camera!

CRASH!

That loud sound you may have heard Saturday morning was the sound of my computer crashing. According to Dell customer service we had "significant software corruption." After backing everything up we reformatted the hard drive, which unfortunately didn't work and even worse helped me lose all 1349 songs in my iTunes. As it turns out, we did not have "significant software corruption", we had a hardware problem, which was that our video card was shot. This was decided at 7:30 and Circuit City closes at 8:00 so I drove, um, I'll just say 'like the wind' to get there before they closed.

After purchasing a new video card from Circuit City I managed to get it put in correctly and I even got the drivers installed on the first try. Everything is working like a peach now, so I'm slowly putting all my crap back on the computer. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be able to put pictures on here again. Maybe sometime after that I can start all over with my iTunes...thank goodness for Limewire!

Friday's Feast, 07 April 2006

Appetizer: Name a trait you share with your parents or your children.
I'm naturally awesome...I'm not sure if I share that with my parents or children or if it just rubs off on them.

Soup: List 3 qualities of a good leader, in your opinion.
1. Honor
2. Loyalty
3. Personal Courage

Salad: Who is your favorite television chef?
Paula Dean

Main Course: Share a story about a gift you received from someone you love.
Two years ago Carol bought me a beautiful silver Brighton bracelet for Christmas. We usually didn't buy each other Christmas gifts, so I was surprised and didn't have anything for her. Three months later she got sick, and I remember crying to my mother about how I didn't get her a Christmas gift and what if I never got another chance... Carol died in November, so I was right, I never got another chance. And sometimes it sucks to be right.

Dessert: How do you react under pressure?
I yell at my husband. HA!

The school calls. Again.

Today at lunchtime we got another call from the school nurse saying Ashlyn had gotten hurt. Some people might freak out at this, but I was mostly calm about the whole thing. I mean, the school practically has us on speed dial, so it's no big deal really. It turns out Ashlyn was at after-lunch recess and hit her head on a bar. When I said "mostly calm" before I mean I was "mostly calm" until I heard she hit her head on some type of bar, but then I was "totally calm" after being assured by the school personnel that the bar in question was in fact stationary and not being swung by another stupid 1st grader. So she had a "small bump" but "her pupils were equal and reactive" and she was given and ice pack and sent back to class.

When I picked her up this afternoon the bump had receeded and all was well. I asked her to explain what happened and she said she was playing and jumped and hit her head on part of the monkey bars (someone please explain to me when they will stop putting these silly things on playgrounds where one teacher cannot possible watch 20 kids. honestly, get them some buckets and sand for crying out loud). I decided to take the high road and not point out that she was a moron, but Haley did it for me, which is a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black. Owen also had something to say "Ash, ouch, hahaha!"

I have to admit I am extremely proud of the fact that I am raising my children to be supportive of each other.

My beloved couch...

I have a couch in my house that will be 10 years old in January. This couch looks worse than the devil, but it is the most comfortable place in the world. I realize that's saying a lot, what with Scott's recliner and all (this is actually Joe's recliner, but Scott's is exactly like it, and you can get one too here), so maybe it's just the sentimental part of the couch I love. It was the second purchase we made in preparation for our life together, the first being the t.v. in the den that's hanging on by a thread but will soon be replaced by the huge t.v. my dad is bringing us.

Anyway, we have a very nice set of couches in the living room that you can sort of see here (this is the loveseat half) that we got at The Mall at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. No one is allowed to sit on these blue couches except for myself and company, unless there is some type of picture opportunity AND I am present.

However wonderful the nice blue couches are, they are not now and will never be as comfortable as my ugly plaid couch. There are only two seat cushions, and I sit right in the crack all the time. Also, when you sleep on them, your hip fits right into the crack, which is perfect for when you are pregnant and fat and your hips and back hurt. I spent many a night sleeping on this couch while Scott slept beside me in his old recliner for moral support. I would get rid of my BED before I got rid of this couch, which is saying a LOT because after repeated efforts I have now gotten my bed/bedroom exactly like I want it-I whole heartedly recommend tinfoil on bedroom windows...it makes your room like a cool dark cave which is perfect for a hermit like me, and it is totally white trash, which is the look I'm going for...

So tonight when Scott got home from work I was in the bedroom blabbing on the phone to Amber when I heard very loud screams and laughter coming from the den. When I went to see what the fuss was about, this is what I found. Clearly Scott does not share my sentimental feelings for the couch. Either that or I have completely lost my mind, as I just wrote an awful lot about a couch...reading it back I'm thinking Dang,lady, get a hobby...or a life...

3 down

There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you pull a tooth out of someone else's head. The small tearing sound right before it turns loose is one that will absolutely make you want to hurl. And then the blood comes.















Each time we check Ashlyn's loose teeth we have to check Owen's also. He is all about equality. Unless is has to do with candy.















After Owen's mug shot he pulled in Haley. They are always fussing all over each other.

Hunting Easter Eggs

After eating lunch all the kids got ready to hunt for easter eggs. Owen hunted in the '2 and under' ground, which he absolutely dominated. I took a picture before the hunt actually started to show that it was indeed geared for two year olds, as the eggs were just lying on the ground in plain view. The eggs were "hidden" before we ate, which gave the ants plenty of time to make the majority of them "unhuntable".















This is the '5 to 7' age group's hidden eggs. Please understand that it is hard to hide easter eggs in an open field, so they had to be creative.















After Scott showed Owen what to do, he really got into it. If anyone got near an egg he wanted, he shoved them. We were oh so proud. At one point a little girl walked by looking for an egg and Owen had about 5 cornered. We asked him to give the little girl an egg, and we were rewarded with a look that clearly said we were out of our stupid minds.















At this point it looks like Owen is the only kid hunting eggs, but all the others were bunched up by the side so Scott took Owen to the middle where there was no competition. We were also afraid Owen would begin taking eggs away from the other children...and there was an unfortunate situation where one little boy tried to take Owen's basket. Boy, did HE get an earful from Owen! Let me also add that there were a LOT of eggs for the '2 and under' group. It literally took DAYS for these kids to get all the eggs up.















Here are Ashlyn and Haley hunting eggs. Again, they are not the only two children hunting eggs, we just didn't know any of the other kids in their category so we didn't take their pictures.















At this point, Haley is done hunting eggs. Haley looked at the whole thing as too much work and did not enjoy having to run to beat others to the eggs.

Playground fun

Saturday we went to the Battalion Easter Party at Goodfellow Rec Camp. The Rec Camp is right on Lake Nasworthy. Before we ate lunch all the kids played on the playground.

Owen is halfway up the steps in this picture, but you can barely see him.






























Owen didn't want to go down any of the slides at first, so Haley slid down with him. After that we couldn't keep him off of them.















There were also monkey bars. Wonderful...it's been a while since we've taken anyone to the ER.















Here is Owen and Mr. Lets The Baby Hang Eight Feet Off The Ground Unaided So I Will Get More Grey Hair



































This is Owen and Molly. She is Cpt. Kane's daughter. Molly didn't want her picture taken.














Here Owen is trying to figure out what is wrong with Molly and why she would not smile, while the whole time Amber and Arden are shouting Cheater! Cheater!















After the Cheater! Cheater! taunting, Owen reassured Arden that he only has eyes for her.