Rewind

I have to share some of these pictures from Joshua's pool party. So what if these were taken 3 weeks ago? Yes, I am that slow.
We've been a little preoccupied with kissing Daddy. Just a bit.

Joshua blew out 5 candles this year. My "little" 11-lb baby boy has grown into a "little" kindergartner. As he has proudly proclaimed, "Now I'm a whole hand!"

It was so much fun to spend a few days with Jason's family. His sister is amazing with the kids. I cannot wait to be her neighbor when we get to Virginia. Anyone want to guess how long it will take before she is sick of us? (I'm guessing a week- or less.)

Sometimes I just stare at these girls and wonder how on earth I am lucky enough that they are mine. Seriously, how did two babies live inside me? (Twice!) They are just too cool. Twins really do share a special bond.

One of Joshua's favorite gifts was this water cannon that shoots water over 40 feet. He spent quite a bit of time trying to hit his cousin David with it.


Joshua enjoyed opening gifts and was especially delighted that his big brother picked something out just for him. Matthew even paid with his own money! Now that is love. Sometimes (ok, usually) they fight like cats and dogs but it's nice to get an occasional reminder that they do love each other.


Yet another penguin cake. He requested a penguin cake with red, white, and blue. I did my best. Those blobs of icing with carrot slivers are supposed to be penguins.

Uncle Rick got stuck on baby duty more than once. But you know what? I don't think he really minded too much!

Gee, do you think Jason missed his girls or what? I told you there was a lot of kissing going on!

No day could be complete without Matthew making his usual face. That. Boy. Is. Weird.

Wordless Wednesday

The Beautiful Southwest

These are some of the pictures from the last part of our trip. We spent a night in San Angelo, TX where we lived 4 years ago. It was during that move from TX to GA that I got pregnant with the girls!

We watched the fireworks there and drove around looking at the town. It hasn't changed a bit. I didn't really enjoy our time in Texas... We were supposed to be there for 4 months but it turned into 9 months and we didn't have any of our household items. Everything was in storage. Jason missed the start date for his class there and in general it was not a happy time. I had a miscarriage that spring and we went all year without seeing family. It was hard.

I have to admit that I was a little glad to get the heck out of Texas again! (Especially after our dog had diarrhea all over the back of Jason's car and all over the floor at the hotel.)

The view remained the same for hours. Nothing to see but desert and open highway. It remained cloudy with intermittent rain. It was here that we saw the tarantula. YUCK.

Finally, we reached El Paso. That big brown fence in the picture above is the border of Mexico. We took a little (accidental) detour into a tiny, little border town so that I could mail our postcard. It ended up being a big detour when we got stuck at an intersection where there was a traffic accident and then had to find our way back to highway.

New Mexico was beautiful and not nearly as creepy as I remembered it from our last trip. I guess the UFOs don't come out during the day, huh?

The views were just breathtaking as we headed farther and farther west.


In the middle of New Mexico we ran into a series of huge storms. There was nickel-sized hail (twice!) and wind strong enough to topple my trailer. I had to slow down to a crawl. Then the blinding rain git and visibility was near zero. Out of nowhere I came across a detour sign and the entire interstate was shut down- both westbound lanes. We exited off the highway and followed a 20 mile detour on a narrow country road. Apparently there was a major accident just minutes before we got there.

After one of the storms I saw a set of rainbows. I told the girls they were twin rainbows! I couldn't get a decent picture while driving. The twin rainbows were a much bigger hit than the sign for "Twin Buttes Reservoir" that we had seen earlier.

As daylight faded we enjoyed the spectacular scenes in Arizona. The mountains here are amazing! We actually had no idea that we were going to be living at the foot of these huge mountains until the morning after we arrived. When it was dark it looked like open desert but when the sun rose we saw that there are 7,000-9,000 foot mountains right at our doorstep. How cool is that?
Oh, and the swamp cooler? It's all we've got so we are making it work. It's about 72 at night and 78 during the day. We keep it running 24/7 (along with the fans) and we have a window cracked in each room. Still sweaty at night but what can I do? I guess we are still acclimating!

Life is a Highway

Here are some highlights of our cross-country trip!

Do you see that mountain of stuff behind Joshua? That is how full our van was when we left Virginia. It was pretty packed but I left the aisles clear so things were just piled to the ceiling everywhere else. We drove from Virginia to Nashville on the first day. It was just over 700 miles and we made it in about 13 or 14 hours. We got to Nashville in enough time to spend the evening swimming with a friend and 3 of her sweet kids.

The next morning we got up and ate breakfast in Nashville and took a little sight-seeing detour in my search for a mailbox. We have this little tradition of mailing ourselves a postcard each time we visit a new state. I have a pack of the 50 states postcards from the USPS (my mom works there) so each card already has the name of the state printed on it. I just write the date and a little about our trip and then mail the card to our home. We have been to 38 states so far!
For those who were wondering, yes, my kids do like to travel. Matthew was only 15 months old when we moved from the DC area to Monterey, CA. Joshua was 6 months old when we moved from CA to TX. The girls were only 2 weeks old the first time we made the trek from GA to VA. Sometimes they melt down but it's usually at the end of a very long day.

I try to do a few things to make our trips easier on all of us. First, I like to leave very early. If we can be out the door by 5am, that is perfect. The kids usually go back to sleep for awhile and we have a few hours before we need to stop for breakfast. Often I pack our breakfast and lunch in a big cooler so we don't have to east fast food. I can even toss back snacks for the kids without pulling over. I also do as much as possible at each stop- we eat, walk the dog, change diapers, nurse babies, get gas, go potty, etc. Just don't ask me how I go potty when traveling alone! (Please, don't ask!)

No offense to any of my readers in Arkansas, but I have to say it. Arkansas has now been added to my "Top 5 Most Boring States" list. Thus far the list also includes favorites such as Kansas and Nebraska. Yes, I know there are neat things to do in these states (we've done some of them) but overall, the highway driving is excruciatingly boring. If you like to look at farms, then perhaps it's not so boring.
But Jason was put to sleep out of boredom. Just kidding. He was driving so I can assure you he was not sleeping.
Highlights of Day 2 included Memphis and the aforementioned sleepy drive across Arkansas. We didn't hit Missouri this time (Sorry Anna!) but rest assured I'll be driving that way when I head back to Virginia. Jason and I took turns driving and we covered about 710 miles. We ended up in Dallas where Jason had parked his car the week before when he flew to DC. As you can probably imagine, Leila was just delighted to have her daddy back. She didn't want to leave his side!

Whenever I wasn't driving I was busy taking pictures out of my window. Too busy to stop.
Must. Keep. Driving.

Of course we made it to Dallas safely and by then we were halfway through our 4-day trip. More to come...

I'm Pooped!

It's been an exhausting week!

We haven't had much trouble adjusting to the time change going from Eastern time to Arizona (currently Pacific) time. It's been a little tougher to get the little ones to nap at the usual times. Nathan and Ryan have been particularly cranky and miserable but are finally starting to settle down now.
Today the repair man came to fix the water heater so we finally have hot water! Yes, we have lived with no hot water all week. And no dishwasher. The dishwasher still hasn't been connected so I'm stuck washing dishes by hand. I can tell you this- I would not have survived before they invented dishwashers. My back is breaking after just 30 minutes of washing! I must be a wuss or something!

One thing that's really wearing me out is the heat at night that makes it so uncomfortable. I try to sleep but with 4 of us in a (tiny) bed it is very difficult. We're all drenched in sweat. You Arizona girls are better women than me. I need my air conditioning. This swamp cooler stuff is just not cutting it for me. Any of you want to share your tips for staying cool at night? I need some sleep!

Did Someone Say Monsoon?

We arrived in Arizona just in time for monsoon season. It's ok, my kids love a good shower. Rain shower, that is. They hate the other kind.

What could be more fun that stomping and splashing in the mud and rain? It's a sweet relief from the heat of a July day.
The kids are liking Arizona so far. Leila complains each time we go outside that it is "too sunny!"

And shame on me for not explaining this sooner, but here's the deal. Yes, we bought a house in Virginia. We are just visiting Jason for a few weeks before we head back to Virginia and move into the new house. In the meantime all of our household goods are in my sister-in-law's basement. Closing isn't until July 29th so we figured a trip out west was in order.

Jason left in January and was at Ft, Benning, GA until April. He came home for a couple of weeks and then reported to Ft. Sill, OK. He finished training there on June 27th and he drove his car to Dallas, TX. Then he caught a flight to DC and we picked him up and spent 5 days in Virginia. He has to be at Ft. Huachuca, AZ until October so the kids and I drove out here with him and will stay for a few weeks. When we found out that he is deploying in November we decided to spend as much time together as possible before he leaves. He really misses the kids so we dropped everything and drove across the country to be with him. It just seemed like the logical thing to do.

So here we are in Arizona. We'll head up to Colorado in a few weeks and visit my dad before returning to Virginia. Jason will finish up here in October and then he'll have 2 weeks of leave before reporting to Ft. Lewis, WA. He'll spend a year in Iraq and will return home (to WA) next fall. The kids and I will go out to WA in early 2011 to stay with him until he gets his next assignment- hopefully back in the DC area!

I guess I am becoming a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl, huh?

Hello Arizona!

We have finally arrived in Arizona!

To briefly sum up our trip:

Swimming in Nashville with old friends? Check.

Picking up Jason's car in Dallas? Check.

Fireworks in San Angelo, TX? Check.

Hail storm? Check. Times two.

Huge traffic detour because of said hailstorms? Check.

Wind gusts strong enough to topple a trailer? Check.

Tarantula sighting? Check, unfortunately.

Driving over 2,000 miles with 6 kids 6 and under? Big check.

Two babies who learned how climb a baby gate already? Check.

Spending a small fortune at Starbucks? Check.

Using cloth diapers for a cross-country trip? Check.

Doggy diarrhea incident? Check, check, check, check, check, check.

Arriving in Arizona with sanity (mostly) intact? Check.

Discovering your new home is in the ghetto and you will never leave your house alone? Check!