Mural

Today. Wow, what did I do today? It started off late. I was exhausted from last week... but it was worth every minute. I changed the linens, washed about 5 loads of laundry mostly because I had to clean up Bears mess. Time after time I have told that boy his bowl is larger then a cup and time after time he insists on pouring the contents of his bowl into his cup laughing while it overflows. One day he'll understand... not soon enough. Then this evening I sent them both into my bathroom to get ready for a bath while I got their PJ's. Why did I walk in on Bear smearing gobs of conditioner on my wall? Painting a mural - smearing conditioner... sorry, just doesn't compare. At least my bathroom had a pleasant smell... his materials could have been different. What am I gunna do with this boy. My princess pruny toes never did this.

Here I'm leaving you with some pictures. I'm hoping to be in bed by midnight tonight...3 hours earlier then I was last night. Tomorrows to do list keeps growing the later I stay up.

Mom said "Look at the squirrel....it's about to $h!# on your head!"...and I looked

I have received some interesting comments on this one already. From sitting on the net, to Wow you still got the skills... but leave it to Max's Aunt who pointed out how I had my legs and mouth open at the same time. I'm still stumped on the coorelation. My Mommy and I in the back yard...

...acting like angel's...whose angels is the question.

She doesn't have to pretend...she is her Daddy's angel. Ask her she'll tell ya.

Miss Me?

I know your thinking...


What has happened to Averi,
She's been gone for a few days.
Her blogs I sadly miss,
they make my eyebrows raise.



Well I'm back. I had 2 overlapping waves of family in town. We had a great visit. I got a nice breather. Mom and I even painted the formal living room while my sister read countless books to the kids...


I must apologise for not posting pictures as much as I was planning on....I can blog whenever....Mom could only see how I don't make these blog stories up for those few days.


Since it's late, I'm leaving you with this...

Only a dork would take a picture of her shadow on a crack in the cement.

Recent Happenings...

I know I'm a couple days behind in blogging. My Mom and Sister are in town. I had to explain to Bear that he needed to get dressed to welcome them...

...and he did!

My kids love singing. We sing songs to memorize the way the kids spell their name, the days of the week, the months of the year....and just the normal old school songs. While driving home from the Virginia Air and Space Museum Kalee was serenading us with these lyrics.

"I'm a little tea pot short and stout,

here is my handle and here is my spout

when I get all screwed up hear me shout...."

This was about the time I looked at my Mom and we all bursted into laughter. How? Wow! Surely this lil angel didn't get that from me...

I was looking at Kalee's globe. The one I stood behind a rope waiting to jog into the NEX because the NEX merchandise buyers in Yokosuka only ordered about 12 of them...I had to get one to show her where her family was in the world compared to her. We learned that Earth has different continents, Countries, Oceans, and about the Prime Meridian, Tropics, and... Equator... that I just discovered is....in the trash? I guess they didn't want Daddy to go on the other side of it??? Or possibly they decided to live on it because it's warm, beautiful, and grows lots of bananas? Now what am I going to do with a globe that's missing part of Africa? Paint it orange, draw a few lines on it and call it a basketball? Not a bad idea...It wont bounce off his sister's head like the hard one.

Here are some random pictures from the past 2 days for your enjoyment....

The next pilot....

Don't worry sis I'll direct your aircraft...

No Bear...if you push that button you'll make the space shuttle fly out the roof....

Man, if I didn't mow they would have had to really hunt...

Mom not letting me eat all this Easter candy is making my hair stand up....Yup, I hid an egg for my Sister too. It's large and not where the kids could reach. She's trying to read the kanji on the yummy Japanese drink.

Hey Mom, while your down there why don't you pluck those weeds...funny enough we did...on Easter...

HE IS RISEN!!!!!

The Mess With Feet!

The mess follows me. Mom is flying in tonight and naturally I'm trying to tidy up around the house. I started in the bathrooms. All was great but my 2 year old decided he needed to brush his teeth. Until yesterday I had to sit in a straddle holding his arms and legs down while I brushed them. Kalee never gave me a problem...once again, she was a whole different child. So I decided to go against my opinion of children using battery operated toothbrushes and get them each one. I will say it worked! The boy allowed the toothbrush to go past his lips. As a matter of fact he has brushed so much in the past 12 hours the toothbrush is spinning slower. So conveniently he climbs on my toilet seat, puts his foot on my toilet tank (oftentimes misses it and flushes with his toes) knees on Max's side of the counter and braces himself while smearing toothpaste on my mirror. He has to see what he's doing. I'm hoping eventually he will spit in the sink instead of on the faucet.

After vacuuming upstairs, I paused to check my e-mail and he comes walking in with the pack of the crumbiest Ritz crackers he could find. AHHH! So as I return them to the kitchen table I find crumbs EVERYWHERE! "That's it! You guys are not allowed to leave the kitchen/dining room area! I'M TIRED OF CLEANING UP MESSES where I just cleaned."

I have come to the conclusion... I'm done! I'm bathing the kids, brushing their teeth and leaving to get my Mom and Sister. They can take the kids out back to jump on the trampoline while I clean.

...then again, maybe I should give them a shovel and rake to till the area I'm going to attempt to plant seeds. Yeah, knowing them they'd dig their way back to Yokosuka. Kalee has been begging for the tiny purple grapes (like a mini concord grapes I think they call Delaware grapes), Asian pears, and persimmons. American produce just doesn't compare. *sigh* IDEA: my beloved friends can buy me seeds from Ave Livin or Holmes, mail them to me in Tupperware so they can label the customs form "kitchen storage" and I can try to grow them. Oh hush...I don't kill everything. I found a juice cup in my car today that was growing....

Happy...

...Anniversary my Love!!!

As I'm laying in bed this morning trying to play "I'm still sleeping":
K: Mom, will you come wipe my butt?
Me: Uhhh...*stretch*...Sweetie you know how to do it.
K: but I'm not a good butt wiper..
Thanks, now I know I'm good at something... I'll fall out laughing if she ever implies I'm a good cook.

So today... yes today... is a special day. Today 7 years ago Max became my Husband and I became his Wife. The day we married I didn't think I could love him anymore...boy was I mistakin'. That man was who God intended to be with me way beyond the old 'n grey years. 11 years ago, he would walk home with me from summer school, stopping by Taco Bell/A&W for bean burritos and root beer floats at the Texaco station just chillin' talking about school and people. Little did I know he was going to be my husband... Wow! ...and now we have a smart and beautiful 5 year old little girl and a handsome 2 year old... hand full boy. Who would have known?!?! For the record, I think we may actually get to spend it together next year...which will be the first in...um, 3 or 4 consecutive years... I purposely loose track. So what did I do today you might ask? After I read an awesome e-mail from my husband I picked up after the kids, fixed breakfast, did laundry, went for a jog... I looked at the clock around 18:00 and realized I needed to feed my kids dinner. So I took them to Chick-fil-A where I got to eat left over chicken nuggets (the real chicken pieces not the processed beaks and feathers other places serve) drink a chocolate shake for my husband and hug a cow. Wow! For me not being a fast food...let alone fried food kinda person...I love it! They got it goin' on... closed Sunday, play Christian music, got a ball pit-less (yea Ima concerned parent) play area that gets cleaned regularly...and the kids can trade their toy in for a ice cream or a book. WOW! I got 3 minutes of peace. No, not a typo. Three minutes...

*as I'm typing this blog I hear "Nanu's too old for computers Bear. She's super duper too old to use them...and old Papa that died is too old to use them too. ...I know Brother, it's not the same without old Papa." They were playing on their little v-tech laptops.*

Then this evening (I started this hours ago...and of course get interrupted every 12 words) Kalee wanted popcorn. OK we can do that... I'm going to vacuum tomorrow morning anyway. I air pop some popcorn...divvy it up between the two and start taking the coffee pot I just bought out of the box since family is coming out tomorrow, when I hear "Um, Mom look at brother!" Ya know, I'm really starting to become numb to those words. I turn around to find my Max's son peeing IN his bowl of popcorn! ...you know how when you pour butter on it, it shrivels down? Yeah well it does that with pee too! Why? Why does he do this stuff?

Off to lay down and listen to some adults talk on the T.V. Tomorrow night my Mom and Sister come in to town and later this week my Nana (the kids Nanu) will be here. I'll try to post pictures through out the week for my fan club that got the "go read my daughters blog" speech. Haha...sorry...I know my kids happenings may sometimes be addicting...

EGGSTRAVANGAZA!!!

A few pics from the Celebration Church Kids EGGSTRAVANGANZA. It was an awesome event! The kids had tons of fun and even had a little 'egg' lesson about the meaning on Easter and why we celebrate it.

My little lady!Cheatin'....your not supposed to hold the egg on the spoon.... silly.
My little man!
Sharing chocolate with the deer. It took forever to pull him away from that thing.

Too bad they don't clean their rooms like that....maybe if I tell them they might find candy??? Yeah right they'll move all the toys looking for the candy...

My Day!

My Today:



I learned how to fix a rip...Kalee style! I'll take credit for the creative gene...unless it involves opening up the fridge and making a meal with beans, rice, green chili, tortillas, lettuce and tomatoes...that's Max's department.
Speaking of tomatoes...we decided to start a tomato plant. Truth is, the outside of the box said it was "guaranteed" to grow...and if it doesn't is Wal-mart going to refund my whole $1.97? The kids will get a kick out of fighting over "the" strawberry that comes from that small one and smelling the lavender from the other small one. I sent them out with water and supervised them during the watering evolution and it all made it in the designated pots. Below will explain why the cement is wet...
LOL! I couldn't help it! Our conversation sounded something like "Max! Dresses are for girls. Go change back into your basketball shirt." He said "Nor-not (no I not)" and we argued which by the way "Ah-mah" did win! It drives me crazy how he only wants to wear basketball shirts...but I'll take that over a dress any day! Anyway, Kalee yelled "Um, Mom look what brother's doing" I caught him out there lifting up his dress...LOL...what's wrong with what I just said...I'm laughing so hard it's becoming more difficult to type. He lifted up the dress and peed IN the plants....not pants, pLants. I hope it still grows. If not I'll be taking it back to Wal-mart "...but Ma'am my son watered it and it still died". Seriously how do they think of these things?

But that didn't complete my day. I heard "pee-pee in there". I ran over "Hey Buddie do you have to go potty?" he said "no, pee-pee in there" while pointing to a Tupperware container. I found him pouring his pee from one Tupperware container to another...and another...and another...and it looked as if it traveled amongst half a dozen containers finally getting sealed in my Jell-ring mold.

So if your ever bored, come visit me for a day. I promise you'll have stories that will have you laughing for a lifetime between Max's 2 offspring....cuz surly I could never come up with this stuff.

Could a Calender Help?

I walked in the door from taking a jog this afternoon and the phone rang. The numbers appeared on caller ID...and the voice on the other end was oh-so familiar. During this conversation with my best friend...because after all that's what he is...a friend (whom we have often refered to as "Our East Coast Mom") called on the other line. I looked and saw it was her and figured I'd call her back. She understands. After all, she has tons of affiliations with the military and has seen everything from every angle. So upon the completion of communicating with my communicator... ;) I returned her call. She wanted to know if we were interested in meeting her, her girls, and their kids, at Olive Garden on her side of the water. Me, turn down adult conversation at my favorite restaurant? Of coarse not! See you at 5! I know, I know that place wasn't nice for me to type for my readers in Japan...especially that pregnant friend of mine...man I hated that part of being prego overseas...all I wanted was Dairy Queen. :P So I jumped in the shower...because I smelled...like fresh pig not so lovely, changed the Bear, got the kiddos drinks, grabbed my cell phone...I left on the bathroom counter in fear of it jumping out of my back pocket into the toilet while I pulled my pants down...realizing she called that too which I didn't bother to check the message because I talked to her, and headed out. I must say that workout made me build an appetite...cuz yeah, I could of eaten 4 Japanese "Jolly Pasta" portions. It was like 300X's better then that too. YUM! While we were there, one of the sisters gave the other a birthday card since it was the first time they had all been together since her birthday. Um clueless here missed the birthday memo...and now that I think about it I don't even remember saying "Happy belated Birthday" to her. Ima dork! That may have been when Bear poked the guy in the back dining directly behind him and ran. Of coarse I was on the other side of the table (stupid I know) and had to beeline after him. So after I got home I checked the messages to clear them. The message on my cell mentioned they were doing a late get together for her Birthday. Um...note to self....CHECK YOUR MESSAGES...even if you have talked to that person since. Ima dork! I know it!

I really need to do a birthday calender...

Bowling

Recently we attended the "Children's 1/2 way party"...wasn't really....but I'd like to think it was. Anyway, the kids got to bowl. It was a very well organized event for such a large group of kidlins. We had fun...here are some pictures.

Check out that perfect form! She managed to bounce the ball perfectly off the bumpers to strike. She may be better at pool?!?! Her score was better then my 2 digit one...Yup I taught him...line the ramp up with the little dots and push. If I allowed him to do without the ramp he'd slide walk it to the pins....or we would be constantly calling them to push it down the lane.

If your half way and you know it clap your hands...

What a doll she is!

I just got a apricot re-hydrated by saliva deposited into my hand...because he wanted some cheese....I love being a Mom!

You Look...Green!

I got outta bed this morning. Wasn't ready to. But I did. For some reason I'm really having a hard time with my eyes. The past few mornings I have had to manually open them. Once I get to the bathroom to brush my teeth and splash my face I'm good...until then, I can't function. For some it's "don't talk to me until I have coffee" ....for me all I think is "brush teeth- wash face-eat breakfast". You wouldn't want me to talk anyway...so my husband says. It would be safe to say something is not normal with my eyes... others call it 'getting old'...still not sure what that means?!?! Once we ate breakfast I let the kids have some coloring time. They really enjoy those fuzzy coloring sheets that keep the colors where they belong. Well I thought the colors were kept where they belong. I was checking my e-mail when my son came to show me his art work.

WOW! As my friends boy would say "look at the tattoos!" I think he was mistaking today for St. Patrick's Day. I stuck him in the tub for a quick scrub down and discovered he even colored his....stuff! For the sake of the picture I told him to hide it....but the face? He must think he's cool. You can imagine me calling Max's Grandma...."Good Morning Grandma- any ideas of how to get green marker of a wanker?". I even called a friend who's boy has done everything... "Has Aiden ever colored his ding-dong?" Funny enough it was one thing she didn't have an answer for. Surely my Mom would have a solution...after all she survived raising my brother...."Mom- since my son drew on his pee-pee, should I just let him pee the green off?" Her experiences were not limited to my brother peeing down the slide in pre-school....

I let nature cleanse the area in plastic pant lined underwear....which seemed to work. Then I thought twice about this potty training stuff. He does great when he streaks...but the minute clothing goes on the lower half... it's all over. A friend told me "It clicks with boys after 3". What? After 3 times peeing in buckets? We should of been good to go months ago. He was doing sooo good at one point. Now what happened? I know, I know....he's a BOY!!! No comparing him to my potty trained 16 month old daughter.

And to finish the story... I removed his markers from the room. He was limited to free play or Diego on TV. I thought I was safe...and he returned with a rainbow of colors on his inner thigh/groin area. What the heck? Took me a minute...but I realized he was using his sisters markers...

About that Frog

Yesterday was beautiful! We woke up to such nice weather I couldn't help but want to go out and enjoy. After breakfast and a few loads of laundry we headed outside. I vacuumed the goldfish crumbs out of my car while the kiddos rode their big wheels and scooter around. It was so nice out that I even washed my car! Me wash my car! Did you read that? Something I have done like 4 times in my life. Yes....and I didn't stop there. I washed Max's too. Nothing is perfect but the dirt is off....and I must say I really like the fact I didn't have to dry it. Yet another advantage of our water system. After washing the car I decided to pick up some of the leaves that were stuck around the perimeter of the bushes out front. I was hoping the wind would blow the few we had....but I guess my neighbor thought the same...I got theirs too. While I was sweeping bagging the leaves I jumped and screamed. Both kids run to inspect the frog. We not only have a pet ladybug...but we have this frog too.... Oh wait, wrong picture..... That is what happened when I sent my 2 year old to put his laundry away. That suit was in the way back end of her drawer....he had to hunt for Ariel. ;)...and to those curious of which green I chose for our bedroom...this is it. It's a great contrast with my bedding.

Yeah- there's the frog. After a bit of researching what kind of frog it was with Kalee, we discovered it may have been a "Copes grey tree frog". I thought it was dead. I didn't see it moving or breathing and I always thought frogs were green. I called the neighbors boy over to see what he thought. After he picked it up and freaked me out, we discovered it was alive. We got to stare for another 5 minutes admiring the yellow under the legs and it slowly hopped up into a nearby bush.

After doing a little reading on frogs, this one can cope with cold temperatures.

"Experiments have shown that Gray tree frogs can survive temperatures as low
as -6 C (21 F) for several days, when more than 40% of their body fluids may be
completely frozen. They accomplish this by producing large amounts of glycerol in their blood and body tissues, which acts as a natural "antifreeze" to prevent ice from forming inside their cells."

Interesting stuff huh? I also read that they hibernate in tree roots and under dead leaves....right where I found him. So basically I may have given the thing a heart attack poking at it with that broom stick. Didn't know you'd learn about frogs reading my blog didga?

Another for the List

Tornado warning is over. Officially I can add that to the list. In my daughters short life she has experienced wildfires, earthquakes in two different countries (yes it matters, the shake is different), thunder/lightening storms that keep the sky constantly lit, typhoons (hurricane-different names depending on region), tsunami...which would have to of been by far the scariest, and now this. WOW! Both kids slept through the whole thing...and I didn't. I drug them downstairs and laid next to them in the 1/2 bathroom while listening to the news. Well, trying to listen to the news. The cable cut out. Go ahead, laugh. But it was easier to do that then drag 2 sleeping heavy kids down the stairs into the lowest most center part of the house. Tomorrow if the neighbor hasn't fixed the fence...hoping he does...then I'll be "Bobette the Builder". A hammer and nails...cant be that hard...unless I mistake it for a finger nail.

I'll get a picture of a critter we found in the yard up tomorrow... with only 3 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours...it can wait...unless the camera walks itself up the stairs.

Name That Animal

When Max wasn't visiting us while the kids and I lived in Japan ;) he was seeing some pretty exotic places. Not many people can say they have ridden an elephant...unless they are in the Circus. Now that I'm thinking about this....that may explain a lot about that man. The guy he's with was so respectful and was my escort for Max's commissioning ceremony. Not sure if he's feeding my husband the bananas or the elephant...

This brings me to an e-mail I got tonight from my brother visiting the Philippines.... (Philistines for those VeggieTale lovers)

Um, can anyone explain why this looks weird? I mean most people ride HORSES....the crazy ones ride bulls. But water buffalo's? So I show the pictures to Kalee. She said "Haha Uncle Bubbie's rideing a water buffalo". Shortly later Bear walked back in the room "Ah-Mah, Ell-pent!" Um, no honey that's not an elephant. "Tow!" No cow. "Doat?" Wow, we might have to shelter you from taking hunting trips with your Daddy. Kalee shouts "Brooooother it's a water buffalo". Once again, I give VeggieTales credit for teaching my child...... what a water buffalo looks like...

And Max just got finished telling me about wanting to go ride a camel. I'm convinced that those pre-deployment 'vaccinations' are twisting with them mentally.

60 Things

My brains not working tonight so this is whatcha get...

60 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
banana chips, papers from map questing directions to my neighbors house, orange goldfish crumbs, half full bottles of water, a toy box between 2 car seats, toys, a handful of books, 'candy' (fruit snack) wrappers, and a Cinderella shoe.

2. When was the last time you threw up.
I'm thinking it was the last time I got sick.

3. What's your favorite curse word?
It would have to be UGH!

4. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
My husband, daughter, son, cousin, mother -in-law and Mom. (yeah, yeah, remember - I'm not mathy)

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
keeping my bed warm

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Yelling at Bear to quit grabbing himself pretending to pee and put a diaper on

7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now?
Am I psychic now? Hopefully sleeping....

8. Have you ever been to a strip club?
Nope. I've been to the Vegas strip and a club.... but I choose to strip at home thank you.

9. What is the last thing you said aloud?
I SAID GO TO BED!!!

10. What is the best ice cream flavor?
yes

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
water

12. What are you wearing right now?
a ball gown and a pair of heels... How about p.j.'s

13. What was the last thing you ate?
banana chips

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
not even this year...oh wait, I bought Max uniforms

15. When was the last time you ran?
couple hours ago to chase my kids into the tub

16. What's the last sporting event you watched?
the kids wrestling

18. Who is the last person you emailed?
prolly Max

19. Ever go camping?
Well, what do you consider camping. In a cabin on a mountain? In a tent in the backyard? Then yes.

20. Do you have a tan?
ROFL!!!! You can only see it in the dark.

24. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
Soda? Oh yeah I did....that one time.... I went out for Mexican with Max.

25. What did your last IM say?
"if youda called me then I woulda known" or something like that....but my dorky friend Morgan didn't even remember when I just asked her.

26. Are you someones best friend?
I hope so. But I wonder who that someone is?

27. What are you doing tomorrow?
Waking up. Fighting Sleeping Beauty to get out of bed. Going to Church. Doing some studying with the kids. AWANA in the evening and sitting in the hall reading a good book while listening to them have fun. Maybe I can vacuum goldfish crumbs out of my car sometime.

28. Where is your mom right now?
I don't keep tabs on her...but my best guess would be watchin some 'ballers'

29. Look to your left, what do you see?
a sewing machine. (Don't worry Mom, I'll explain what that is over the phone)

30. What color is your watch?
don't wear one

31. What do you think of when you think of Australia ?
Max feeding the Crock's

32. Would you consider plastic surgery?
Yup, I got approval for a re-inflate and getting the girls jacked up already....after our family is complete when I can decommission them of course.

33. What is your birthstone?
There's no place like home (tap-tap)

34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
I walk in...I can't drive through my kitchen...but the kids manage to on a turtle.

35.How many kids do you want?
14... Just kidding!

36. Do you have a dog?
not yet

37. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Morgan. She called to say "I'm calling you so you can get on".

38. Have you met anyone famous?
Pamela Lee....well I got her autograph and marker that she autographed with. I plan to be famous one day so if you do this survey my name goes here.

39. Any plans today?
Yeah sleep...it's midnight

40. How many states have you lived in?
3 states, 2 countries

41. Ever go to college?
yeah....and surprisingly I can't wait to go back

42. Where are you right now?
here

43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
deployments

44. Last song listened to?
Kalee singing Twinkle, Twinkle in Japanese.

46. Are you allergic to anything?
cooking

47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
none

48. Are you jealous of anyone?
Yeah actually....the 5,000 people that get to see my husband daily

50. Is anyone jealous of you?
LOL! That's funny.

51. What time is it?
I dono I can't hold my eyes open long enough to see.

52. Do any of your friends have children?
nope

53. Do you eat healthy?
Yes. I eat healthy in addition to eating candy

54. What do you usually do during the day?
damage control, search crew....maybe tomorrow will be the lucky day to find my boys missing shoe.

55. Do you hate anyone right now?
nah

56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
No. I answer the phone "what did I win this time?"

58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
I'm scheduled to skip this next one.

59. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
Yup.

60. How did you get one of your scars?
um....well from an iron....or was that one from the oven. See, if I don't cook or iron I'm safe!