Day 6 of The 12 Days of Jumping into fall and recovering from summer is all about loving the life that you have!

Don’t you love how one of the main themes of fall is thankfulness? What a healthy season! (trick-or-treating aside..) Pumpkins, thankfulness, more tolerable temperatures, beautiful foliage, and fall festivals! What’s not to love???

Being thankful for what you have has to be one of the most powerful sources we have to keep ourselves SANE in this roller coaster world.

We are thankful for many people and things, but today I want to focus on how thankful I am for this unpredictable, hectic, always-changing military life we lead.

Our life has been profoundly impacted by Alan’s military service. This summer my husband reached 16 years of service in the military. Right about that time, we also moved from Georgia to the Washington, D.C. area.

This was our 3rd move in 4 years. Not only that, but Alan brought me home a list of possibilities for his next assignment! So while the cardboard boxes were still on the curb, I was sitting on my sofa setting up my wishlist for where we will move NEXT, a little less than two years from now. In the words of Jack Black on Jumangi, “I can’t even with this.”

property of: https://tenor.com/view/jumanji-jumanji-welcome-to-the-jungle-jumanji-gifs-cant-even-with-this-place-jack-black-gif-9846302

I used to look at those lists with excitement. Now I’ll admit the only emotion I felt was tiredness and reluctancy. Move again? Must we? We’ve moved 11 times since we began this journey, and I’ve been with him every step of the way, but can’t I just dig a hole and stay in it already!!!??

And who knows? Maybe he’ll find a local office to work for, and we won’t move at all. One can certainly hope.

Many many years ago, Alan was a young captain, considering leaving the Army. The deployment tempo was high. He was headed back to Iraq, and our duty station in Alabama was miserable. Alan thought if he quit the Army, it would make me happy.

But I knew better. I never hated the Army, and I’ve always wanted Alan to have a job that he enjoys, which for him is the Army. Finding a job you love can be a hard thing to do, and he’s found his. I would never take that away from him.

So here are the 20 reasons I love being a military spouse, even when it may make me momentarily want to scream.

#21. G.I. Bill!!

This one should actually be much higher up on the list, so we’ll just say this list isn’t in any kind of order.

Alan signed his G.I. Bill over to be used by dependents, so we at least have one of the four children’s college paid for. That’s a very big deal!

The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta

#20. Our children are interesting, well educated young people.

Redwood trees and sequoias so big you can drive a car through them? They haven’t only read about those. They touched them and stepped inside of them.

The differences between the beaches on the Pacific coast and the Gulf of Mexico? They could tell you volumes.

Rafts of Sea lions and pods of dolphins swimming with humpback whales? We got to see those in action too. Did you know that those smaller water mammals follow the whales around in the ocean while they feed?

Stereotypes? Psssshh  My kids can tell you that from D.C. to California, from Alabama to..okay we really haven’t been very far north…people are mostly the same.

#19. I probably have HALF as much junk as someone who moves maybe only every 7 years.

We always clean out every knick and cranny of the house when we pack up and again when we unpack!

#18. Our boys have amazing social skills.

They are still shy and quiet sometimes, yes. But I think that’s a good thing. When you move every few years, you learn how to make friends and make them quickly, but not hastily. First, you observe your surroundings for just who it is you actually want to be friends with.

One of my sons even had to deal with a bully last year, but he held his own and created his own group in the process that was neither the “popular crowd” nor the outcasts. I was so proud of him.

Me with 2 of my mil spouse besties back in 2003, in Houston, Texas

#17. You learn something different from each person that you befriend.

Having lived in so many different places and starting over again and again, we’ve met way more people than if we had stayed in one spot.

From one family, we learned about lacrosse. From another, hilarious jokes. The list goes on: life in Hawaii, generosity, Catholicism, crawlfish, Chick-fil-a inner workings–Did you know that there are people who camp out at Chick fil a grand openings to score free chicken?

#16. Free Health Care (This one could also be #1..It’s a big deal.)

Yes, we like to gripe about our looooong pharmacy wait times, short clinic hours, and unpredictable service. But a lot of that you’d get anywhere, and the fact is that you can’t beat free.

I gave birth to 4 babies for free. Alan had PRK eye surgery for free. (Okay, they need to cut that out and switch to Lasik like everyone else, but that’s another topic for another day..)

Tricare has paid for plenty of MRIs and x-rays too. I never paid a dime for those. Free health care rocks!!!!!

Now if we could just stay in one place long enough for a doctor to finish evaluating my heart problem, it’d save me a lot of confusion.

#15. Military Discounts

Many stores will actually give us a discount for being active duty military, and that’s exciting, especially at Lowe’s!

The 2007 Army Recruiters Ball in Panama City Beach, Florida. I’ll never forget how uncomfortable that dress was. It was so tight around my ribcage I felt like I couldn’t breathe. We had to leave early so I could get a full breath of air!! LOL

#14.  Military Balls

Supposedly, there are frequently fancy dinners we call balls. I say supposedly because while I often see photos of my friends at these, I haven’t been to one since 2007. What’s the deal with that, Alan? Take your wife dancing.

#13. Good Dental Plan

Don’t ask me about braces, though. I will know soon enough. We have two kids approaching that hurdle soon.

Dental is important! More money saved!

#12. Disney Discounts

Yes, I know I mentioned discounts already, but since Disney is…well, Disney. I thought it deserved its own number.

There’s even a special resort on Disney World property just for military personnel and their families! We’ve never actually stayed there because as a family of 6 we require a ginormous room. (Ask me about the Art of Animation suites sometimes—AMAZING!)

Alan was working overseas, and I managed to meet up with him in Israel for a week.

#11. Overseas Travel Options

I always know if a friend has lived in Germany or not when I enter their home. How I love all the beautiful Polish pottery and European furniture they bring back with them, along with the BMW in their driveway.

We’ve never been stationed overseas because we’ve never asked to be, but how awesome is it that it’s an option?

Our former nanny, Analise, has spent the past 2 years living in Italy with the Airforce, and it looked like she had the time of her life.

#10.  Aafes Gas!!

Aafes stores, as in the PX, BX, etcetera do not seem to be much cheaper than any other store to me. But gas definitely is a better deal than in the civilian sector, so we love our Aafes “shopettes.”

Navy housing in California

#9. Safe, sidewalk neighborhoods– Living on post!

I love living on post. We don’t currently because we chose our home based on schools, but we have spent many years living on post. Military base living is a sweet deal. There are always sidewalks. You have a ton in common with every single one of your neighbors. The base usually has a hospital, a grocery store, a PX/BX, a gas station, a gym, and walking trails.

Best of all, when you move, which you always do…the move out procedure is simple and predictable. You know exactly what is expected. Basically, you just hand them some money, they clean it for you, and they do a walk through to make sure there’s nothing broken, and you go. Love!!!!

#8. The Commissary

I occasionally hear someone complain about this marvelous place, and I have to keep my face from looking at them like they have three eyeballs.

The commissary is my FAVE!!!! Meat is cheaper. Produce is GOOD and WAY cheaper. Boxed goods are reasonable. Coupons are everywhere throughout the store, and they will bring in regional foods from all over the world to make their oh-so-cosmopolitan customer base happy. What is not to like?

Oh, the bagger thing. You do have to tip the bagger. Buy produce and meat, and the savings will make up for it.

#7. Playgrounds everywhere

You know what else military bases always have? Playgrounds everywhere. It’s as though there’s some kind of building code that says per every 40 households there must be a unique playground. Hmmm..maybe there is some sort of regulation on that..

#6. Free gym!

You have to live or work close enough to base to take advantage of it, but you can’t beat free gym membership. No, there’s not childcare. I used to go only when Alan got home from work. Some gyms even have classes you can sign up for, like Pilates or Spin.

#5. For love of country

I recently read a person’s rant saying that being a military spouse is not service to your country. I was like, “Say whaaa?” She’s entitled to her opinion, but I think it’s laughable. Tell that to the young mom who hasn’t seen her husband in 15 months. Meanwhile, she’s on 24 hour toddler duty, Christmas decorating duty, and allll the potty training and dog poop scooping, all so that her husband can fight for our country. You’re going to say that is not patriotic service? Oh honey, that IS service.

If she didn’t do that service, her spouse would have to come home for “Lack of family care plan,” taking another soldier out of the fight. Therefore, yes, it counts.

As far as that goes, military kids are also rendering a patriotic service. They are sacrificing having a parent for months or a year at a time, for our country. My oldest two boys have sacrificed a total of 21 months of deployed parent service, and that’s only counting the time that their daddy was actually overseas fighting while they went on without having a father in the home, not counting all the time they were gone for training.

So yes, being a military family is a patriotic service.

There’s a song, I forget the name of it, but it’s about a child missing their military parent at Christmas. It’s one of those that touches a nerve so hard, my kids will stand up and scream at you until you turn it off if they hear it. It’s just too painful for them to listen to after all they’ve endured.

My AMAZING and FUN mil spouse friends.

#4. Community!!!

There’s an instant bonding between military families, which is part of the reason living on post is so much fun. When we lived in Navy housing in California, it was downright magical. I’m not even exaggerating.

The kids ran from house to house playing with each other. They biked all over the neighborhood. Our oldest could even run down to the shoppette for us to buy milk or bread. Sometimes I’d dream up errands for him to run just to give him a job to do.

Women on my street were all sharing the burden of raising families with a husband in graduate school. We did Thanksgiving together, birthdays, ball games, you name it. Most of us even ended up moving away around the same time, and I’ll never forget how empty and sad the street looked.

Those are friends for life. We could see them tomorrow and pick right up where we left off.

Actually most of them got together this past weekend in Virginia, as Laura was evacuated from the hurricane in North Carolina.

#3. Free Over the Counter Medicines

You can’t make this stuff up. If I go to the doctor for, say my bad hip, they will maybe prescribe me physical therapy and Lidocaine patches, but they will also give me free bottles of over-the-counter Advil or Tylenol. I will have to wait an hour for those to be ready, but hey, it’s free!

#2. Retirement Benefits

With my medical history, I’d be completely out of luck if I didn’t have Alan’s health insurance through the Army, and when we get out, that will still be there for us. Thank goodness!

If you do your 20 years, you get the healthcare insurance, the Commissary usage, and a nice retirement paycheck for the rest of your life. It’s one of our most comforting benefits!

Enjoying the snow in the D.C. area, 2013

#1. The Adventure

Yep, we love the adventure. Moving is my favorite and least favorite part of being a military spouse. You HAVE to choose to see it as an adventure and get out and explore each new area. This is what makes the nomad life doable!!

For our last move, we got a new kind of adventure. We returned to a place we’ve lived before, for the first time ever. My fourth son was able to start kindergarten at the same school my first son started kindergarten 7 years ago.

We moved back into the very same neighborhood we lived in before. I can’t tell you what a comforting feeling it was to return to our old paths. I have friends all over the neighborhood, and I love it. This must be what it feels like to stay in one place and actually know people. To see these 12-year-olds and be able to say, “I knew him before he started kindergarten,” is just so exciting for me.

I’m soaking it in and enjoying it as much as I can because it won’t be long before we are off on our next grand adventure!

The post 20 Reasons I Love Being a Military Spouse appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

This month I turned 36 years old. That sounds so weird to me, so I took a good hour to sit down and think about things I like about being 36 and also things I have learned.

Some of these are memories I love that I have, some are lessons that I’ve learned, and some are just good sense. And I can combine that many different things because after all, it is my list.

Mom and me. Due to the fire, I only have a handful of photos from my childhood. I found this one in a box in my living room. Thankfully, Mom had made us a box of old photos a few years ago.

1. I was there for the 80s…granted I was too young to understand it, but by golly I was there.

2. Free range childhood. No one used the word play date back then.

3. Swinging from vines in the forest.….That was part of the free range childhood.

4. 3 major bicycle injuries under my belt….Okay 1 was roller skates…There was the time my failed bike-stunt attempt resulted in me riding my bicycle up the front door, the time I flew downhill straight into a fence, and then the time I thought I could do some Nancy Kerrigan jumps in roller skates. Yeah. Lots of bleeding.

5. I’ve learned that People DO change with their life circumstances. For example, alphabetizing and re-alphabetizing, categorizing and re-categorizing my book collection…….That used to be me. Now I just shove them onto shelves. I can’t find any of my books at all, but the older I get the more responsibilities I have, and there is not time for perfecting. Priorities change.

6. The older I get, the less I care about what anyone thinks of me. (Mostly, no one’s thinking about me anyway!) If you are going to have a blog, you have to let go of that mess.

7. I’ve given birth 4 times, but actually that didn’t make me invincible or super-tough. It just means I’ve experienced a lot of things that can go wrong with child-birth, and I now know that all that matters in the end is delivering the baby safely. That’s right. Your birth plan does not impress me. Your living baby impresses me.

8. I finally know how to tame my own hair. 

First, I use a shampoo + conditioner twice. THEN I use conditioner. Whatever I do after that doesn’t matter so long as I use a straightening iron. If the air is cold and dry enough, I can skip the straightening.

9. I’ve learned that a degree or a trade of some kind is definitely worth having because life throws unexpected curves, and at some point you are going to need to make some money.

10. Mama Bear syndrome totally applies to humans. Do not mess with my kids. Do not mess with anyone’s children. In fact, there’s a Bible verse about that.

And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me. 6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!…       Matthew 18:6-7

11. Having 1 child was a big adjustment. Having 2 children is much more difficult than having 1. Having 3 is way more work than having 2. Having 4 children almost killed me (the stress!), and having 5 children is something I will never be able to tell you about because I hit my medical, emotional, physical, and everything else limit at 4. But I love it. I love every single one of them more than anything in this world, and as far as I am concerned they are perfect. They are my happiest moments and thoughts.

12. I’ve been through depression before, a couple of times, and I now know what works for me to come out of it. The only way I know how to come out of it is to focus on serving other people, open all your blinds/curtains everyday, play upbeat music, pray on your face for help, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. And if it gets bad enough, you may have to take antidepressants.  I’ve taken them before, although for me it was actually for anxiety.

sharing my love of sea mammals, boats, and the Pacific Ocean with my children. They loved it.

13. It took me 24 years to realize that what I really wanted to be when I grew up was a mom. Anything else was just a bonus.

14. I’ve sent a husband off to war 3 times, and I know that if I have to, I can do it again. But man, I hope I never have to!

15. No one tells me how young I look anymore, but I’ve made my peace with that.

16. I’m not poor-skinny like I was at 20, but that’s fine. Poor-skinny is when you are underweight, and it’s because you actually are having to save money by eating less food. That’s what I did in college.  Happy people are not poor-skinny because happy people aren’t hungry.

17. I have tried about 5 different kinds of jobs that I didn’t like, but that doesn’t mean I’m flaky. It just means those weren’t my callings. Why live miserable? Move on and try something new.

Caleb and me on the flight out to California 3 years ago.

18. Living all over the country was the hardest thing bout the past 15 years, and yet it was the thing I LOVED most about the past 15 years. Living in a place takes traveling to another level. It gives you understanding of other places and cultures, and the amount that you learn is just mind-boggling.

19. I killed a snake. Sure, it was a tiny snake, but still. I, April, who is terrified of all creepy crawly things, killed a snake because I thought it was necessary to protect my offspring. See, I told you #10 is a very real thing!!

Caleb, creating snow angels in Virginia. He was 6.

20. Virginia got in my blood. Someday I want to go back. I felt like I was with my people there. I can’t explain it.

21. I don’t have to do nursery duty anymore, and that is so freeing for me. I don’t have to spend my entire week dreading Sunday because I know I have nursery duty. My arthritis saved me from signing up for this task that I never liked. I love babies, but nursery duty KILLS me. I am unable to sit in the floor, bend over tedious activities, and the younger the babies the more it hurts my back, my shoulders, my neck, my legs, EVERYTHING to hold them. It used to take me a couple of days just to recover from holding them.

22. My children possess completely different talents than I do, and I’ve learned to appreciate everyone’s different gifts. We learn so much from our children!

23. I love that Jesus saved my whole entire family, and now I’m watching each of my children, one at a time, become believers too.

photo courtesy of Stephanie DuBose

24. I fully embrace celebrations! I love good ol’ American holidays. So what if they’re “commercial”? Have some fun already. Life is short. The only one I have a hard time always embracing is Christmas because it’s so much work, and plane tickets are expensive, but I do it anyway.

I believe you should never be too righteous for fun. Did you know that most of the feasts and holidays set up in the Old Testament were actually invented by God? Celebrate!

25. I’m focusing more on listening to women who are older than me and have already done what I am doing. I have many mentors, and sometimes those mentors have no idea that I think of them as a mentor, but there is so much wisdom to be gained from people who have already done what we’re doing.

26. You can’t beat a mini-van for a family of 6. Sure, giant SUVs are hip, but they guzzle the gas, their doors don’t open with a button, and nothing is as practical or affordable as a mini-van.

27. I stop for garage sales. One should never pay full price for kids’ bicycle helmets, tennis rackets, bunk beds, or board games.

28. Peanut/cashew allergies are terrifying. Sometimes I wonder how he will survive, but then I remember that that’s what Emergency Rooms are for.

29. You know how some people feel about Windex? That it can fix everything? That’s how I feel about Benadryl. Miracle drug.

30. I have now been to Disney World twice and Universal Studios twice. This makes the little girl inside of me beyond happy.

31. Eventually skinny jeans will go out of style. Thank goodness because they are not flattering for me. I rarely wear them.

32. Home schooling: I came, I tried, and I can honestly say that it’s simply not for everyone. 

33. I love that I got to live in California for 2 years and see the incredible beauty that is Big Sur, the Pacific Ocean, Monterey, San Francisco, and sea mammals! I will always cherish my memories of seeing a whale feeding 10 feet off the shore. Splendor.

34. I have 4 boys. That’s definitely not something I’d have never dreamed of in my 20s!!! I can’t tell you the wonder and adventures we are having. I love it. Love, love, love it. And to think, I only had girl names picked out. Ha!

35. My marriage. I’m so thankful we both stuck it out together because our marriage is so much greater now, in our late 30s, than it was in our 20s or our early 30s.

36. I love the things about me that are still young. That’s something to be THANKFUL for. I don’t have to color my hair yet. Menopause is still 10 years off. My freckles help me look young, and I still have my morning energy. Gradually, these things will change, but today they are still mine.

We might as well enjoy life, right? It all goes by so quickly.

We might as well be happy with what we have because it is what we have. The grass may always be greener on the other side. Whatever. That probably just means they spend way too much money on fertilizer, which smells bad anyway!!! So it’s all good.

 
Oh yeah!!!! And in case you missed my most recent Facebook live video, about trying to learn how to use essential oils. Here it is!

Thanks for reading, y’all! Thank you for being a part of my first 36 years! Love y’all!

The post 36 Reasons I Love Being 36 appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

How’s everyone’s Cyber Monday going? Ours was great. We did no shopping, but I did go to my cardio aqua-therapy class!!  So fun and invigorating!

This giveaway is for two packs of fill-in-the-blank notes from Lil’ Miss Gratitude!!  One of your packs will be thank-yous, and the other pack will either be birthday cards or “Hello” cards.

The front of the cards come blank so your kids color the front, or you can also send them out uncolored! These are appropriate for ALL AGES of kids.

I colored this one!

My boys colored this one. Creative.

These are an awesome way to get your kids expressing gratitude, brightening someone else’s day, and all without the whining and fussing.

Here’s a sample of a completed card:

Sample of a “hello” card that we used as a thank you note.

Joshua needed to write about 12 thank you notes after his birthday party, and when he saw these fill-in-the-blank cards, he was so relieved, he ACTUALLY SAID, “Oh, phew. Thank you, Mom. Thank you so much for these. This makes it so much easier.”

Click here to learn more about Lil’ Miss Gratitude!

Giveaway rules! TWO simple ways to enter the giveaway this time.

1.) Subscribe to my newsletter. I have one going out this week! Already subscribed? No problem. That also counts. No need to subscribe again. Just click on the giveaway form below.

OR

2.) Visit Lil’ Miss Gratitude on Facebook, and  give her a “Like.” 

OR You could also do BOTH and get double entries.

I wish you could all win! Merry Christmas!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Bye-bye trick-or-treaters

Any day now it will start to look like Christmas. I, of all people, should not be a Scrooge. I decided to own this whole Christian thing twenty years ago, and yet Christmas gets on my nerves a little bit.

Not like Scrooge.

More like Charlie. You know, Charlie Brown. I love that guy. No, I mean, way more than the average Joe likes him. I, no joke, read every single Charlie Brown collection at my city library when I was around 9 years old. That was about 10 hard back volumes of little “blockhead” comic strips. I know them like the back of my hand. You can see why I can never be a book snob. I completely relate to my son’s love for Big Nate.

But I, like that poor chap Charlie, do tire of the commercialism of the holidays. I need a Linus!

Before we start singing carols, let’s remember something….

It isn’t Christmas yet! It’s the season of THANKSGIVING!!!!!

We have a tradition in our family to never do the same thing twice in a row for Thanksgiving, and we don’t. We don’t go home. It’s too far away. We don’t always do anything. We do whatever we decide that particular year.

Well, we do ALWAYS do ONE thing. We give THANKS. We give thanks to God above, God the Creator, not to be confused with any god that someone made up with their own two hands. I’m sure there are many people who will give thanks TO their food, rather than give thanks FOR their food.

Why is giving thanks to God so important?

God deserves our thanks. Plus, when we are thankful, we are happier. When we are happier, we are more useful. When we are more useful, we bless others. When we bless others, we make THIS world a better place. After all, this world is where we live right now. If we aren’t any good HERE, right where we are, then what good are we?

It’s a chain effect!

When I am thankful, I am happy. Happiness gives us ENERGY! Like that scene in Despicable Me 2! Gru realizes he’s in love, and he’s thankful. He’s happy. He’s hopeful, and he becomes KIND. He brightens the day of every single person that he passes by.

Until someone squashes his hope. Just like that, his new love is gone.

Then he is gloomy, unthankful, and he walks home in despair, crushing many of the same people he just encouraged.

Don’t worry. It gets better at the end. I love those little minion movies.

Let’s be thankful. There is always SOMETHING  to be thankful for.

thankful for fun times with friends

Today I am thankful for rain. Caleb wrote this in his journal this morning, “It is a good day because today it rained.”

Ah! Thankfulness!

“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”     Colossians 3:14-15

Thank you for reading. I’m sick, and when I’m sick, I blog often. Have you noticed? 😉 Every cloud has a silver lining, right? I’m thankful, even thankful for bronchitis, well I mean, a little bit. I’m DEFINITELY thankful for DayQuil and Nyquil. hehe

The post Why Thankfulness is So Important appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

The oldest children are off on a play date. JD is taking his nap, and the house is quiet.

Can you feel the excitement??  I’m so excited; I could dance around and make carpet angels……if I had more energy. However, I’m old, and I spent all of my energy on teaching them and making their lunch, so instead I’m going to throw a VIRTUAL party, sitting right here, with my laptop. 🙂

Okay. I will calm down now and try to share what’s on my brain. I just heard a noise, and I sincerely hope that it was the wind and not a two-year-old waking up. I’m sure none of you want to see a grown woman cry.

Let’s talk about what’s been going on lately.

I’m still glowing from the women’s retreat. Real life is back in full force, but all’s well.

Every time I hear “all’s well”, I think of Disney’s Robin Hood and the little vultures that shouted, “It’s two-o’clock, and ALLLLLLL’S WAYEL! ALLLLL’S WAAAAAYEL!”

I only watched that movie 100 times when I was a child.

So yes, “All’s waaaaaayel!”

This weekend:

1. I was on my last pair of contacts because I keep forgetting to go pick up the new ones. JD broke the leg off of my glasses. Then the power went out for almost 24 hours! For a minute, I was worried I’d never get to see again. Ha! But all’s well that ends well.
2. I lost all of my home school paper work that was overdue to my umbrella school. We are not our own private school this year. This year I wisely chose a local Christian school to be a part of, which will make the move go much more smoothly.

So those were my issues, but those things have all been taken care of, for the most part. I totally just took all four boys into the eye clinic with me and picked up my new contacts. It was a long 20 minutes and a whole lot of little boys making faces at themselves in the mirror, but it is done. Phew.

Caleb has been improving in soccer like never before. Two games ago, he had SIX goal attempts. The goalie caught every single one, but we were still thoroughly impressed. Go, Caleb!

Daniel is tearing it up in pre-school. I’m as pleased as punch. I hit upon three must have tools for FUN pre-K learning:

1. Chutes and Ladders: This game will drill numbers, counting, and how to play a board game into a kid’s head like no other. Even for K and 1st grade it’s helpful because every board space is numbered, all the way to 100, which reinforces the higher numbers.
2. Alphabet Bingo: Now that Dan knows most of his letter sounds, this is perfect. We don’t call letters by their name, but by their phonetic sound, which makes for a quick transition to reading.
3. Popsicle Number Puzzles: Aunt Amy created a pre-school kit that is mega, mega wowza. Both littles love the craft stick-puzzle activity the best; I mean now that they’ve used up all of the sticker shapes. Here is the kit:

Here’s the WOWZA KIT! Dan and JD LOVE it. Their fave: She took 10 craft sticks, glued a photo onto them and then cut them apart and numbered the sticks. You can line up the numbers and the picture…..pic to come soon!

Big thank you to Luke!

Alan was privileged to go fishing in Big Sur with his friend Luke last week. If any of you are dying for ling cod, stop by, and we’ll give you a few fillets from our freezer. Alan caught the maximum allowable amount. Alan rarely does anything like this, so I can’t tell you how excited we were for him.

ling (?) cod

Big Sur area

Update on the back drama:

I have this ongoing hip, shoulder, lower back, and finger tip pain problem. Well, actually my fingers aren’t in pain. They are just sensitive to the touch, and I have trouble with fine motor movements. Plus, I get these random low fevers that only stay 24 hours (thankfully) and then go, but that’s been happening for a year now.

I still say I have psoriatic arthritis. I have ALL the symptoms, except for “sausage fingers”. I just haven’t asked my doctor about it, which I need to do.

Anyway, whether it is just a mechanical issue from always using all the wrong muscles or an arthritis issue, either way EXERCISE helps.

The only catch? I’m out of the exercise habit. I still walk daily, but that’s about it.

Enter physical therapy round #2. I’m very happy with my PT team, Ryan and Jesus. Yes, that’s Spanish, so it’s pronounced Hayseuss. I asked him if anyone ever calls him “Jesus” (pronounced the English way). He said, “No,” and I don’t think he laughed. Ha! I told him that just means he’s never been to the South because I know plenty of folks back where I’m from that do not know the Spanish pronunciations of anything.

I still laugh when I think of one family member calling queso, “queso,” pronounced the English way, at a Mexican restaurant.

Okay. Sorry. I got off topic. My point was two-fold:

#1. It will make their lives easier to know at least a little Spanish, so I do think that’s important for children raised in America.

and

#2. I’m hoping my chronic back pain issues will continue to get better as I go through my second round of physical therapy. It’s a terrible thing to pop Advil all the time. (Don’t worry. I typically only take a couple/day.)

It’s bed time that bothers me most. Who can sleep with an unhappy hip or back?

Don’t worry about me, though. Most of the time I’m so busy I don’t even notice it, and if I would take better care of myself, this would improve.

Which brings me to next year…..

We are now 8 months out from our next big move. We aren’t 100% sure where we are going, but we think we will be headed right back to where we came from. I’m researching the schooling possibilities, and this may come as a shock to some of you, so hold onto your seats:

I do not plan to home school the boys next year. I will explain more in a far-in-the-future blog post. I’m thankful I got to do this. It has been so ridiculously hard, but it’s also enlightening.

I have been forced to better discipline my children, and of course, that’s always a work in progress. They are people, after all.

I have had to prioritize deeply. I often scold myself for not doing things I would like to be doing, but the fact is that it just wasn’t a priority. The priority was educating and promoting character growth in my boys.

These boys are my charges. It is my duty to lay down everything else, if need be, to ensure that these boys are raised properly. Alan and I take responsibility for the kind of character that they are or are not developing. Even when I’m not home schooling, that will still be our responsibility as parents. 

I’m continuing to read all I can get my hands on about home schooling and learn from other moms who have done this before me! I may do it again, other years, as needed. Meanwhile, it gives me a great feeling of sweet relief to know that I have several options for next year. It makes the next 8 months feel more doable!

God has provided for me each step of the way, and I see His miraculous work in my life everyday. Some people say there are no more miracles. I guess I am ignorant as to why they say that. I hope no one ever informs me because I still see miracles happening, every single time that I see God intervening in my life. To me, that is a miracle.

I hope you all have a miraculously fabulous week.

…6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.                            Philippians 4:6-7

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”    Colossians 3:15

The post A Quiet House, Thankfulness, and Sweet Relief appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

If you’re hoping for another funny story about flying with all our boys, you are sort of in luck. 😉 This photo is us waiting at baggage claim at 11:30 pm, filing claims for lost luggage–on New Year’s Eve. Happy New Year to us! Hang with me, this is a long one…

Upon our arrival to the South, we realized we were missing a bag. We reported it, and 10 days later, that bag was still missing. That’s unusual. Airlines are usually pretty good at getting your suitcases to you. If you live close enough, they’ll even drive it to your house.

Let me tell you, after spending 5+hours on an airplane with your children, the very last thing you want to do is spend an extra hour and a half more in the air port upon arriving. At least in Atlanta we had family there helping us. As we waited there for our suitcases to get on the belt, I spotted an employee standing with a BIG empty cart. Not like the little ones that hold two suitcases. This was like the kind you get at hotels.  I said, “Oh, man, that is what we need.”

“You want it?” he asked.

“How do you get one of those??”

“Oh, I just put your bags on here for you and take them to your car, and you can just tip me.”

What!!  How had we not known about this??!! Happiest moment! Oh, it is the little things!!!

“Oh my goodness. Yes!! We have 15 bags!!!”

Fast forward to the return trip. It was a LATE night trip.

By the time we landed in San Francisco on NYE, we had to wake our children up, and do the major production that we do to complete the miracle of flight: deplane. I can’t even begin to explain why this is hard, so let’s just move on.

We got out. It took us all 30 minutes to use the bathrooms. We got almost to baggage claim, when all our talk about the coughing, influenza kid that we were sitting in front of on the plane, made us sure that we should stop and wash the boys’ hands again.  Was that really what happened, Alan? I don’t remember. It was 11pm. We were barely functioning. I definitely remember that we made someone rewash their hands. I just am not completely sure why, but there went another good 10 minutes for some reason.

We walked across the airport the wrong direction, to realize our luggage was a mile in the opposite direction. Gates were going down, employees were leaving, and we hadn’t even picked up our suitcases yet: 7 of them, plus 2 car seats.

It didn’t take long for us to realize that, yet again, another duffel bag did not make it. At least this time it was the baby’s suitcase, rather than the ELECTRONICS suitcase that went missing the first time. Sorry ya’ll, but I will be flying with expensive electronic equipment again never.

We have now ordered a new video baby monitor. We figured we’d never see that suitcase again, and it could also help me watch Caleb at night for seizures. (That’s another story for tomorrow’s blog…)

It took 20 minutes to get the claim written for the second bag and another half hour to write the claim for the still missing 1st bag, which had apparently never actually been reported. Thank you, Atlanta.

Ok. I think You should know that I probably exaggerate time frames because by 11:20 or so we had finally made it outside, and there were no shuttle buses at all. I called the hotel. We were in the wrong place……back to hiking around with our 15 suitcases.

No really. 7 large. 2 car seats. 8 carry-ons, a double stroller, and a baby.

We spotted what looked like our shuttle and dashed to it in relief.

“No, I don’t go to that hotel. Actually I go to blahablahblah….” the driver informed us. Nooooooo!

So we kept hiking and looking hiking and looking…there!  We see it! It’s coming!!  And it zoooooomed right past us. It’s almost midnight. That was the last run of the night, and Dude didn’t even stop.

We had made it through an entire day of traveling. We had converted to central time, so for us it was actually almost 2am. 2.a.m.

The baby didn’t cry. Daniel didn’t melt down. The boys were fine.

I was not. This is the point where I got reeeeeeal whiny. Noooooooooo!

Alan got on the phone with the hotel, and we got the driver back. Alan managed to get me on the shuttle without me chewing out the driver, and that was an accomplishment in itself.

At check in, they informed us that our Silver Club Level (like frequent flyer miles for hotels…Thank you, Cross Country Road trip), entitles us to FREE breakfast on the 14th floor. Yes!

The boys and I headed to the hotel room, and Alan headed to our minivan. There was a moment where I was afraid that I actually rang in 2015 in my hotel room with the bellhop, while Alan was still downstairs getting the ‘pack and play’ out of our van. Then I realized the hotel room clock was just fast, so I am so happy to report that at 12 am Pacific time, I kissed all four of my children and my husband. (And just to be clear, I did not kiss the bellhop.) 🙂

This will be a wonderful year. 🙂 I have HIGH hopes.

Let me tell you what happened today:

-JD woke me up at 1am. We have tried everything. Literally everything, so let’s not discuss this any further.

-Daniel woke me up at 5am and said, “My stomach hurts. I need some milk.”

“Daniel, if your stomach hurts, you don’t need milk. You can have water, and maybe you need to pee.”

“No me go pee. Me need water.”

“Okay. Here you can have mine.” Daniel climbed into our bed, and I rolled over to Alan and said, “I think Daniel is about to throw up.” People who guzzle water and say their stomach hurts always throw up.

Somehow Daniel managed to wait until 8am to begin the barfing.

We had some rough moments today, and I might have sort of lost it at one point, but I never did apologize to the children. We’ll come back to that later.

Early on, the phone rang. “Are you missing a suitcase?”

I felt like that man on the milk commercial, you know the Aaron Burr expert. His mouth was full of cookies, and the radio contest calls with an Aaron Burr question, but he can’t answer because he has no milk!!?? Remember???  So funny.

Anyway. I had JD holding one leg and screaming, and Daniel crying to watch “Paws Patrols” on the other leg. This was before Daniel barfed big time and I quarantined him in his room. I could barely make out the words on the other end of the phone, but I got the gist.

Don’t worry. I managed to speak.

“YES!!  YES!!!  We do! We did!”
“Can you describe the contents of the bag?”

“Oh ho yeah buddy. Hundreds of dollars worth of video equipment and a baby blanket!!!!”

dingdingding

The suitcase was found in Atlanta, 16 days after our flight. Isn’t that something?

“This is great!!! Thank you!!!”

I called Alan around 3pm. After a day of cleaning up puke and teaching school, I needed this to be an early day. Thankfully, Alan is in a much less stressful place right now than last semester, so he was able to be home early today.

I dashed off to the beach. First, I did such a poor job of parallel parking that I finally gave up and paid the $1.50 to park. Boo. My walk was nice, but kind of ho hum. Have I become spoiled??? I prayed about my problems, especially about the way I panic, or “freak out” too easily.

God told me I need to learn to depend on him more. Rather than panic, take a deep breath and pray about the problem.

Now, just in case anyone is new here: I don’t mean the audible voice of God, just that God speaks to my heart, my spirit if you will. Christianity is not a religion. It’s a relationship. It’s about having a relationship with God.

I got back to my van. I took my jacket off. I was hot. I cleaned out the pockets back into my purse. That’s when I realized that my identification was missing!!! What! I wanted to cry.

I retraced my steps back to the beach. I had walked a looooong way. I was so furious with myself for having put that ID card in my pocket and then not knowing it had fallen out. I looked and looked. I panicked a little. I prayed and prayed and looked and looked, but there was no sign of it.

I was very shaken. I drove home disappointed in myself, and disappointed in God. Why hadn’t he answered my prayer? Then I remembered about how I’d panicked and lost it with the children when they were all four hammering me at once this morning with their needs. I had never gone back and apologized, and I do believe that sin hinders our prayers. The Bible has a lot to say about reconciling with those that you have offended.

I prayed that my ID would fall into the right hands. Maybe I would still get it back.

I knew God was saying, “I got you back your suitcases. Why can’t you calm down and trust me with your ID?”

I went home, told Alan my problem, and walked straight over to the boys. I told all three that had seen my melt down from the morning, “I am so sorry. All four of you needed me at once, and it was just too much for me to handle, and I lost it. I am so sorry. You know that is not how I want to be. Please forgive me. Next time I start to raise my voice, I want you to touch my arm and tell me, ‘Mom, you’re starting to yell.'”

They all nodded and jumped to other topics. I walked straight to the kitchen to clear things off for pizza. I kept praying that the ID would fall into the right hands. The doorbell rang. We figured it was the pizza.

Nope.

It was the police. “Someone found your ID on the beach. Here you go.”

Excited doesn’t begin to describe it.  Thank you, God. We have a God we can depend on, and thank you to the kind stranger who handed my ID into the police. SUPER thank you! And thank you to the police man, who drove that card straight to my house. He arrived less than 10 minutes after I did.

So now you see why I am feeling unusually optimistic about this year, even if I do spend tomorrow cleaning up puke…hope I don’t end up hating myself for eating all those Christmas clearance cookies….

The post A God We Can Depend On appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I am just so thankful for my parents. As many women are poring over parenting books, trying to figure out how to “be a good mom”, I haven’t bothered to do that much of that. Yes, I realize I’m far from perfect, but I don’t think any of us are. I was greatly blessed though. I had a great example of motherhood to learn from, so I pretty much try to parent the way my mother did.

Growing up, we never once worried about whether or not our parents loved and cared for us. We knew they did. They told us, and they showed us. We were not wealthy, by the world’s standards, but we never did without anything that we needed. I never realized how many children think that they have to earn their parents’ love until I watched American Idol, about 8 years ago.

Did you watch those kids that would try out for the show? And by kids, I do mean 19 year olds. Over and over, I would hear them say, “I just want my dad to be proud of me,” or “I just want to make my mom happy.”

I never wanted to disappoint my parents either, but I wasn’t desperately trying to make them proud of me. I just knew that they were. They told me that all the time. I didn’t have to do anything extra to earn that.

I’m thankful my boys have gotten to spend the last two weeks with my parents. I feel like it’s just so good for them all–both the boys and my parents. The boys learn, and my parents–well, the boys keep them young. The first three babies always followed Grandaddy around, and he rocked them to sleep in his recliner many a night. Those memories will make me smile for the rest of my life.

John David loves Granddaddy too, but he has completely attached himself to Nana, and when I say attached, I mean he followed my mom as devotedly as he follows me, and JD is a clingy little thing. Nana enjoyed it, I’m sure. I know he stole some of her sleep and kept her on her toes– “Is the bathroom door open?  Quick! Close it! Close it!” (JD would love nothing more than to get his hands into that toilet.)

Actually, all four boys kept both of my parents on their toes. It’s quite a job, which you can’t fully appreciate until you try it. After a week of doing the boys’ laundry, and allowing Joshua to help her figure out whose clothes were whose, Mom noticed that Joshua had 13 pairs of shorts in his drawer, while Caleb had none.

“Joshua, are all of these shorts yours?”

“Yes, those are all mine.”

“Are you sure, because you have 13 pair, and Caleb’s drawer is empty.”

“Yes, those are mine. I wear all of those.”

Nana probably asked Joshua where Caleb’s were, and he probably told her that he just didn’t know.

*Sigh* See, the thing is that yes, Joshua does wear all of those shorts. So does Caleb. They are the same size and share all of their outfits. Nana divided the stack in half, and delivered some shorts back to Caleb’s drawer.

I flipped through Mom’s camera today to discover photos of JD riding Dad’s lawnmower, on Dad’s lap. Adorable. There were pictures of Caleb sitting in a chair, boldly labeled “Birthday Boy.” Mom took photos of the boys sitting at the library, reading. She also had a few of the boys just goofing around in the living room. I feel like I missed so much!

Oh, and Daniel called me “Nana” all day yesterday. I must have corrected him 100 times. “Mommy, Dan. I’m Mommy.”

“No, you Nana, and (pointing at my mom) you Nana. You bof Nana.” *giant grin and giggles* Dan is the funniest guy he knows.

I feel like I’ve busted up a party, in a way, but at least they do all seem very happy to see me.

Time goes by so terribly quickly. I’m going to cherish these bonds that my children have had with their grandparents for the rest of my life. Perhaps that was an unspoken extra benefit of the military life. Sure, if we’d lived closer, the boys might have seen our family more often, but would they have ever lived at their grandparents’ houses for weeks and months at a time? That has happened several different times over the years, between moves and deployments.

Tonight I feel so very thankful. I’m thankful for the example of motherhood that my mom set for me. I was never a rebellious teenager. I was a teen with an attitude, for sure, but I never wanted to rebel or go against my parents’ wishes. When I was in high school, my friends knew that I wasn’t interested in chasing trouble or going to drinking parties. No one ever bothered me about that. Teenage anger and rebellion was not my thing.

Alan was the same way. Perhaps when you come from a stable, loving home, there is no need to rebel. My greatest hope is that God will bless us in that way too. I pray that Alan and I will also have non-rebellious teenagers. I pray that our children will always feel loved, but also respect us enough to not want to hurt us.

I pray I will be as good a mom and grandma as my mom is. Thanks so much, Mom and Dad. I love you.

**Funny Dan**

Daniel: Where are the toys? (bath toys)

Nana: Joshua must have taken them out when he took his bath.

Dan: Him took a bath?

Nana: HE took a bath.

Daniel: Him took a bath.

Nana: Can you say HE took a bath?

Daniel: Yes, him did. Bof of us took a bath.

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