It's Twinsanity

Wordless (Toothless) Wednesday

2012-02-08T19:03:00.000-08:00

(They lost 3 teeth today! Leila lost two and Sarah lost one.)

February Already??

2012-02-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

I cannot get over how quickly the last month has passed! Didn't we just get here and now suddenly it's February?

We are still getting used to our "new" routine (which is really just our old routine in a new place) and the days are flying by right now. We've had appointments all over town- speech therapy, occupational therapy, sports physicals, filing our intent to homeschool, and a dozen other things.

Leila and Sarah started gymnastics last month. They are having so much fun! But this means that we make a mad rush to fix hair and find leotards every Tuesday afternoon in the middle of nap time and school time. Somehow we have been making it work though. Organized chaos, I tell you.

We started gardening in our new backyard. Because we have plenty of space, I built a big raised bed that can be shaded in the hot summer months and covered on the cold nights. It's already planting season here, with days in the upper 60s. (That brief snow that greeted us in December was a fluke it seems... although there's still snow on the mountains outside our back door.) We should soon be enjoying tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, onions, sugar snap peas, greens, watermelon, sunflower seeds and various herbs.

The big kids have been studying hard. We don't have a school room (or play room or office) in this house, so we've had to get really creative with space. Our school area is actually a little alcove right off of the dining room. I'm going to be asking for suggestions for organizing small spaces, I promise.

We have our share of really rough days and there are times when homeschooling feels more like a chore than a blessing. There have been a few days when I have strongly considered sticking a backpack on Matthew and tossing him out the door when the school bus comes by... I don't think anyone would notice one extra kid. Fortunately, he wrote this note (guilt trip, maybe?) so that I won't do that. It's working so far...

Ignore the Christmas wreath because Jason took this picture last month and what-the-heck-is-it-really-February-already?!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-01T02:38:00.000-08:00

(Because, right now, wordless posts are all that I'm capable of...)

(Must find time to blog again!)

Duct Tape Really Does Fix Everything

2012-01-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

This post could be alternatively titled "How I Broke my Child's Finger Sucking Habit with Duct Tape."

Before anyone reports me for child abuse, let me explain...

Leila and Sarah have had this finger sucking habit since they were babies. It used to be cute, but by the time they turned five it was not so much. They both wanted to stop but couldn't because they sucked their fingers during their sleep.

One day Sarah saw my roll of Hello Kitty duct tape and asked me to tape her fingers. I loosely wrapped a small piece of tape around her 3 "sucking fingers" and it prevented her from sucking in her sleep. I did the same for Leila. Within a few weeks, Leila had stopped sucking her fingers and we never used the tape again. After a few more weeks, Sarah had stopped too. Now both girls are very proud that they have ditched the habit and we haven't used tape in months.

These girls are growing up! They both have their first loose teeth right now and I'm finding it impossible to believe that they're old enough for that. Of course, they look younger than they are because of their size, so in my mind they are still my babies.

A Fresh Start

2012-01-03T10:17:00.002-08:00

A new year, a new place, a new home... 2012 holds a lot of promise.

We are getting settled in our new home and it already feels like we have been here forever. The moving truck arrived just 4 days before Christmas and I think I beat my old unpacking record. By the following evening, I had almost 75% of the boxes unpacked.

It's almost hard to believe that just one month ago we were RVing in Washington.
While I certainly won't miss the rain, I will miss the Puget Sound and the beauty of the surrounding area. We were blessed to call it home for awhile.

We've traded the shore for the desert. We've traded wet and cool for hot and dry. We've traded cloudy skies for the clearest view of the stars imaginable.

We enjoyed our Christmas dinner seated around our own table, in our own house. We even had a (very last-minute) Christmas tree! Our tree went up the day before Christmas Eve and while we usually take it down right after my birthday and New Year's Eve, this year it is still standing.

Don't let the winter coats or the fire in the fireplace fool you. It's warm here! Although there is snow on the mountains outside our back door, it's been a blissful 70 degrees for the last week or two. We had a bit of snow on the ground one night, but it warmed right up the next morning.

The view from our front porch is particularly beautiful at sunrise and sunset. I love it!

And, like Washington, we have some neighborhood visitors. Unlike in Washington, they have not pooped on our driveway yet.
I think 2012 is going to be a good, good year.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

We made it safely to Arizona and found a house. There aren't many rentals available right now, so we will be in a very small house here, but we are moving in this week. The moving truck will arrive just in time for Christmas!
Below is a copy of our Christmas card this year. By some small miracle (and little bribery with chocolate) I was able to take our Christmas pictures before the move. It's the little things that make me smile!
It has been another CRAZY year in our house (camper?) this year. I can't wait to get unpacked, get settled, and get caught up with all of my blogging friends. Until then, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Too Good To Be True

2011-12-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

After making some tough decisions about moving, things are now falling into place. I had to pinch myself this morning when we got a phone call from our property manager in Georgia. After listing our house for rent on Thursday, we already have a family moving in next week! This is much better than we could have hoped for and is a huge relief for us. To find another military family moving at this time of year and have our house rent immediately after being listed? It's a little miracle that we are so thankful for today!

Now we just need to find a house for ourselves.
(These are pictures from our trip back from Colorado. In just 2 days, we'll be on the road again!)
(A familiar sight: the shadow of our van across the open plains.)

(Garden of the Gods)

(Ryan and my dad's wife, Kathleen)
We have been insanely busy for the last few days. We took a trip to the mountains to get a Christmas photo of the kids in the snow, a trip to Seattle to go up into the Space Needle, multiple visits with Santa, driving around looking at Christmas lights, a trip to an enormous car museum, and we've been packing up.

On Wednesday morning we will leave for Arizona. Jason will drive his car and I'll have the "partymobile"-aka the van with all of the kids, the dog, and towing the camper. Watch out, Southwest! Here we come!

What Month Is It Again?

2011-11-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that we cut down our (very tiny) Christmas tree today, I am going to post Halloween photos. Because apparently I have no idea what month it is anymore.

And on top of that, I'm going to post a bunch of photos in random order. This way when I look back in a few years and see this blog post, I'll be completely confused about what happened and when it happened. I plan these things, can't you tell?
We actually picked our pumpkins in Washington and they rode in the van with us all the way to Colorado. Then the kids insisted that I carve a goomba pumpkin. I wasn't sure that I could, but I did!
Our costume choices this year were also pretty random. We had planned to do a Mario Bros. theme, but after the movers packed up our costumes we had to go buy new ones. (Again, the planning thing! See a pattern here?)
We ended up with Matthew as a skeleton, Joshua as Toad, Leila as Cinderella, Sarah as Snow White, Nathan as a monster, and Ryan as a pirate (complete with one-eye glare.) The kids actually picked out their own costumes and I did not offer any input this year, which felt odd.
Our pumpkins came from Roloff Farms again. We really like their farm! The little ones felt even littler in the tall chair.
We saw giant pumpkins.
Matthew even gave birth to a pumpkin in the field, unassisted. Just kidding. Leila helped!
Hey, look! There's me! Now my children will remember I existed when they look back at old photos one day and see the (rather creepy) picture of Mommy in the eye of the pumpkin. (Am I the only mom who never gets in the pictures because I'm always taking them?)

One thing I love/hate about Washington... moss. It's so pretty but it grows on just about everything! We even had it growing on the roof of our house! But it's especially pretty when it's growing on an old stone wall.
Leila, Sarah, and I trekked up to the bridge at Multnomah Falls. It was so beautiful! All of the boys waited down below and the girls were so proud that they were brave enough to go look out over the edge of the bridge with water crashing down below.
See those people on the bridge? That's where we were.
We saw several other waterfalls that day as we visited the Columbia Gorge. It's so beautiful there!
Kids are so fascinated by water!
We found several frogs at the base of the waterfall. All six kids scrambled to be the one person hovering right over the poor, terrified frog. Well, I imagine that the frog was terrified but it didn't move, so maybe it was sleeping. Or maybe it has a half dozen froggy kids of its own and it just ignores the chaos.

It's hard to believe that we are leaving Washington next week...

...leaving the rain behind and taking some fun memories with us.

So Very Thankful

2011-11-21T19:09:00.000-08:00

He's home!

Jason is back after what felt like the longest month. How could a month feel so long after spending many months apart? Well, I am pretty sure that being in the middle of a big move has something to do with it. We are just so happy to have him home, just in time for Thanksgiving!

When we picked Jason up at the airport, the kids were all excited. We pulled up to the curb and I jumped out to run and tackle him. We shared a long embrace and kissed like a couple of teenagers. Then I opened the van door and Jason was greeted with a chorus of "DADDY!" Even Delmar (our sweet dog) was excited to see him. Just as Jason was climbing into the van, a stranger came up to the door, slipped some money into Jason's hand, and thanked him, wishing us a happy Thanksgiving. In that moment, we both felt so grateful that someone else was grateful. Military families sacrifice a lot and there are thousands of service members that won't be home for the holidays this year. For a perfect stranger to acknowledge that... it was a beautiful moment.
(The picture above is an example of how creative kids can be when they are left to use their imagination. Leila made a princess out of rocks and seashells!)
We've been spending a lot of time at the beach again lately. The kids and I discovered a new secret spot and we've been there almost every day, combing the shore for sea glass, pottery, and pretty shells. The beach has a perfect view of the Olympic mountains, which are covered with snow right now. The leaves are changing and the sea lions play in the water near the island. The kids like to watch the ferry boats and trains pass by and I am just happy to get out of the RV park.
We have been on a lot of adventures in the last few weeks. There have been new parks discovered and we have a little list of the things we want to see before we leave here. There are only days left now before we head out.
When Jason was gone, I took the kids on a lot of adventures. The picture above wasn't taken in Colorado, or even Montana. This was when we got back home to Washington! We took a day trip up to Mt. Rainier again and got to drive through a fantastic snowstorm.
It was really coming down! The kids wanted to stay up there forever, but after I watched a pickup truck drive off the road I decided we should probably head back down the mountain.
This little guy was obviously looking for food. He came right up to our van and watched me as I took pictures of him. The kids were thrilled!
And in between the snow and rain, we even had some sunshine! We hit the park behind our old house and burnt off some energy.

Of course, sometimes we just need to get out and go somewhere. Target is a favorite stop for us and Matthew had a few birthday gift cards to spend, so we have been there a lot lately. The other day we were stopped by a couple that just adopted their seventh child and have four toddlers. We chatted for awhile, right there in the housewares aisle. Sometimes adult conversation is such a blessing and this husband and wife had no idea how much they made my day. After we left, I wished that I'd gotten their names so I could contact them. It's not often that I come across other big families around here!
(Can you believe the size of this leaf? Matthew was finding leaves bigger than his head!)
It feels strange that this week is already Thanksgiving. We've been so focused on the move, the TDY assignment, and handling the houses, that we almost forgot to pause and be thankful. As I watch things work themselves out, the way they always do, I am very thankful. I let myself worry too much about things I can't control and when I just finally relax and give it up to God, it always works out better than I could have planned.

2012 is going to bring some big changes for us, and I'm going to do my best to write more, worry less, and just enjoy life.

To anyone who is still reading my neglected little blog, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you spend the day with those that you love and that you are able to count your blessings. To my friends with loved ones serving overseas, I'm praying for you.

Well, That Was Fun

2011-11-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

1,400+ more miles later... we are home. Home, of course, being not so much a home and more of a camper.

We had a great trip and really enjoyed spending some time with my dad. It was a great distraction from Jason's notable absence.

Back in the RV park, we returned to discover that fall had arrived and left soggy, wet leaves in a 2-foot pile all around our camper. And then there was the tiny matter of cleaning up my van. After any road trip, cleaning the van becomes a monumental task. This trip was no exception. Needless to say, I've had my work cut out for me.

Did I mention that Ryan is potty training? He is... mostly. I don't know why these little boys are determined to be 100 times more difficult than their 4 older siblings combined, but they are definitely not making it easy for me. Ryan is peeing in the potty with 95% accuracy but still poops in his pants 100% of the time. And since he refuses to wear diapers during the day, I'm usually cleaning up poop at night. Nathan still has no interest in the potty... except to flush things down it.

We are down to our final days in Washington. With less than a month left here, I'm getting more and more anxious about what happens next. Probably because I don't know what happens next. A blog post I read recently really hit home. It sums up our situation pretty well, too. There are a lot of military families being forced to make tough decisions when it comes time to move to the next duty station and they can't sell (or rent) their home. Sometimes a stationary life seems so much easier.

A few thousand miles down, a few thousand miles left to go...

The Second Great Road Trip of 2011

2011-11-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

What we've been up to...

...1,400 miles of driving in 2 days

...4 times across the Great Continental Divide

...647 potty stops

...1 (long) night in a hotel

...6 rambunctious kids excited about another road trip

...2 time zones

...5 pumpkin spice lattes

...2 major snowstorms

...122,655 miles on my van

...3 wonderful morning runs in complete silence

...8,000 foot elevation change

...2 hours of trick-or-treating with GDWNH (Granddad With No Hair)

...1 Goomba jack o' lantern

...6 hastily purchased costumes

...4 weeks until our big move

...1 almost potty-trained little guy (won't poop in the potty yet!)

...9 years since I became a mom

...1 missed birthday

...9 years of nursing babies

...2 homemade birthday cakes (one made entirely by two 5-year old girls!)

...8 years of Army life

...2 1/2 weeks until Jason comes home

...2,638 times I have worried about what will happen when we leave WA

...2,638 times I have realized that whatever will be, will be

On the Road Again (Again, Again, Again)

2011-10-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

I am sure it comes as no surprise that we are driving somewhere again. Jason left today and we're hitting the road for a quick trip to the Rocky Mountains. It's a much-needed distraction from RV life, military life, and the rainy weather!

Here's a look at our home on wheels... ...it looks much bigger than it actually is, of course! It's tiny. We try to eat outside as often as possible since there is more room and it means less mess, but the colder weather and incessant rain make it difficult. We store our shoes in that blue bin near the camper door so they stay dry but we have recently learned that the raccoons can open the lid quite easily.

We've done some remodeling inside the camper recently. We now have cute curtains and bold wall colors to brighten things up a bit. Here are the four little ones relaxing on my "bed"- aka the fold-out couch. Leila and Sarah are in love with their new magnetic "paper" dolls. (Thanks again, Michele!)

Tomorrow, we drive. Tonight, we miss Daddy.

Brain Dump

2011-10-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

Prepare yourself for what will probably be a very rambling blog post. I need to do a little brain dump and just clear a few things out of my head. (When did life get so complicated?) As has become pretty typical in our lives lately, things are changing again and we are just trying to hang on for the ride.

For those who have asked about me and my health, I'm ok. I'm not having my ear surgeries done right now because of the move. I am still having dizziness, but it comes and goes and really only bothers me when I'm in the car (or on the ferry) and it makes me feel motion sickness. I can feel most of my tongue now, except for the tip, which I bite or burn on an almost daily basis because of the numbness. Still tongue-tied. Not sure I'm going to fix that at all but will probably do another round of steroid injections to try to stretch the adhesions. Overall, I feel pretty good!

After writing my last blog post, "Being Honest", a friend sent me a text message. Lisa and I were both La Leche League Leaders in Georgia together and have stayed in touch on Facebook, even after we both moved away. Her husband returned from deployment shortly after my husband came home and we each have 6 children and parent very similarly. Imagine my surprise when she directed me to a blog post that she had recently written, which was also titled "Being Honest." She has shared her family's story of the deployment/redeployment cycle and how it has changed their family since her husband returned home with a brain injury.

This weekend ended up being a very difficult time for my family. I was already stressed out after realizing that I had been ripped off by a person on craigslist. Usually I'm much more cautious and I rarely buy anything from craigslist, but I fell for a scam this time and I feel incredibly dumb.

On Saturday we had to put our new dog to sleep. She was the 6-year old Jack Russell that we adopted over the summer. The rescue group that facilitated the adoption failed to inform us that the dog was aggressive and the previous owner failed to mention that the dog had bitten her toddler. We are fortunate that the dog was always very well-behaved around our children and our other dog, but she could not be trusted around other dogs. In the end, it was a very painful experience and has eroded much of the trust and respect I had for dog rescue organizations.

Sunday was a better day. We took the kids to a military kids appreciation event and it was a welcome distraction from the loss of our dog. The kids enjoyed pizza and played games to win little prizes that are now strewn all about the camper. We spent the day as a family and Jason endured all of the chaos (hundreds of children!) so that our kids could have some special fun just for them. If there is anyone else who understands the life of a military child, it's another military child.

I have been feeling so much like a failure lately that is often hard for me to see the things that are "right." Leaving behind our home in a nice neighborhood, saying good-bye to friends, and packing up to head to a new place is not easy for any of us. But I often feel like it is asking too much from our children and that it's not fair to them to expect them to go through so many changes. Then there are those moments when I let myself consider that maybe they will benefit from this life and maybe they might actually even enjoy it. When Jason and Matthew were having a conversation about what will happen when we leave Arizona, Jason mentioned the possibility of us getting stationed in the DC area for an extended period of time. Matthew's response? "But I don't want to stay in one place for that long!" Could it be that the 8-year old who has moved 9 times might actually think he has a pretty cool life?

And so the roller coaster life continues... For every high, there is an equal and opposite low. For every negative, there is a positive. I still feel like I'm trapped on this wild ride and I want to get off somehow. But what would be the fun in that?

Yesterday we abandoned school lessons in favor of a scenic fall drive. Any excuse to get out of the RV park will do! I was feeling particularly stressed after getting frustrated with myself over my own unrealistic expectations. The kids and Delmar loaded into the van and I just drove. We ended up at Jason's work and he came out and talked to me for a bit. He can always tell when I need him to talk some sense into me. So we have this nice conversation and I'm feeling better and then he casually mentions that he's leaving on Sunday. This Sunday. For a month.

Surely this is a joke, right? Jason wasn't laughing.

See what I mean? Roller coaster. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!

The bright side? It's only a month. And we have done this so many times before that it's really not a big deal. It just feels big to me because of the timing.

I'm not sure yet how/if our plans will change. The kids and I might stay here. We might go visit my dad in Colorado. It's anyone guess at this point. After all, it's only Tuesday.

Being Honest

2011-10-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have been wondering where I went and some of you may not have noticed I was gone. Thank you to those of you who called or emailed me to make sure I was ok. I’ve been struggling a lot lately and have wondered how much of that I wanted to share (or remember later) and so I have put off updating my blog. I finally decided that I am not being honest with myself if I don’t allow myself to reflect on my challenges as well as my triumphs.

The short version is this… the last year has been very difficult. Actually, in some ways the last year has been nearly as difficult as the previous two years when Jason was gone. Readjusting to life with Jason home has not been a walk in the park. He has changed and while he was gone our family changed too. Now, a full year after his homecoming, it stills feels like we are trying to make everything work like it did before the deployment. Why doesn’t anyone tell you about this part? We hear lots of talk about the changes during deployment but I had no idea that the homecoming was not the end of it.

In the midst of our readjusting, we are coping with even more changes. We found out in July that the homeowners of the house we were renting would be raising the rent. This forced us to move unexpectedly. When faced with the prospect of moving our entire house of furniture ourselves on little notice, we opted to have the Army move us to Jason’s next duty station. It was all very sudden and we had planned to stay in that house for 2 more years. It was frustrating to have things change so quickly, just when I had started to feel at home here in Washington.

Two weeks ago we moved out of our huge 3600+ sq. ft. home and into our cozy, 26-ft. camper. (First-world problems, right?) Yes, it’s the RV life for us again. Ironically, we were forced out of our rented home because of an increase in the rent while our home in Georgia is rented to a tenant who pays several hundred dollars less than our mortgage payment. Ahh, the things that happen when the economy stinks! We’ve ended up like so many other families-unable to sell our home and unable to recover any of our savings that we put into it.

Despite my emotional plea for Jason to beg for permission to attend school in Georgia, we are still headed to Arizona. Our tenants in the house in Georgia are moving out next month (they’re in the Army too) and so our house will be vacant once again. In my mind, this was an open invitation to return. However, it wasn’t meant to be. Instead, we will drive from WA to AZ in December and leave the RV there. Then the kids and I will spend a few months in GA while I try to deal with the house there and take advantage of the chance to see old friends. Early in 2012, the kids and I will join Jason in AZ.

For the next six months, everything we own will sit in storage-except for what I was able to cram into the RV. The holidays will be different this year, with even more emphasis on family and even less on the material aspects. We won’t have our decorations or Christmas stockings and we certainly won’t be roasting a Thanksgiving turkey in the tiny camper oven. I think it’s going to be a mixed blessing though. It will be nice to shift some of the focus away from our family traditions and instead think more about the reason behind them (our family.)

So here I sit, in our little “home” in the pouring rain (going on two weeks of that rain now), with no internet access, no dishwasher… and I am going to try to make the best of it. I painted the walls in the RV and am going to sew some cute curtains to cheer the place up a bit. I’ll drive down the road to use the wi-fi and we’ll enjoy something yummy from the crockpot for dinner. Even though things seem overwhelming (I have a little one with a fever and upset tummy today and all 8 of us are sharing one VERY tiny bathroom) we’ll get through this together. Somehow…. we always do.

A Year Ago Today...

2011-09-13T09:19:00.001-07:00

...he came home.

Thanks again to Danielle Weathers, who took the photos that will let us remember this day for years to come.

First Day of School

2011-09-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here we go again!

Another school year has begun. Another year that will be filled with big changes and plenty of surprises!

I have two adorable"kindergartners" that are thrilled to be doing more difficult work this year. We're actually using a first grade curriculum because Leila and Sarah are smarter than they look. (Side note: These girls may be tiny, but they can print more legibly than Matthew!)

Joshua is one proud second grader this year. He's too smart for his own good and math comes so easily to him. The best thing is his attitude, though. This child has the sweetest disposition... and a pretty rockin' mohawk.

Matthew is in third grade this year and I don't really feel old enough to admit that. Didn't I just graduate from high school myself? (Don't answer that.) Now I have a tall, skinny boy with long hair and big, grown up teeth who loves to read (just like his mama.)

Yes, I made my children pose on the front porch just like every other proud parent at the bus stop snapping pictures of their children on their first day of school. But you can probably still tell that my kids are homeschooled when you look at their feet...

The super cute "back to school" printables are available here. They're free and they're a great way to look back and remember who was in what grade when you took that great photo on the first day of school.

How was everyone else's first day of school?

Lost

2011-09-05T18:59:00.002-07:00

That's how I'm feeling lately.

Lost.

Jason is involved in a lot of training for his unit's upcoming deployment right now. And while I'm certainly grateful that he is not going on this deployment, I'm feeling guilty that he won't be joining them. It's something I can't really explain very well.

Then we have our upcoming move to Arizona. As expected, Jason still does not have his orders. And no matter how many times he reassures me that he will get his orders in time, I still have my doubts. If he doesn't have his orders this week, I'll be starting the packing process myself. No orders this week means no movers... which leaves me doing the packing and moving while Jason is gone again. Right now I am stuck in one of those moments when I think the Army life will be the end of my sanity.

If the Army life doesn't make me totally insane, my kids might! Nathan and Ryan have just turned 3 and are officially NOT potty trained. My other kids were all trained well before 3, so I'm having trouble not comparing them. Ryan is peeing in the potty with consistency, but the poop consistently remains on the floor. Both boys think that poo belongs anywhere but in the potty for some reason.

I've been feeling very emotional lately. I think all of the changes in our life right now, combined with the incredible isolation I already feel, are getting to me. I feel so lonely here and just never found my niche. We never found a church that we love and I was never a part of the clique of twin moms. Perhaps that's why it's not too difficult to say good-bye... there's hardly anyone to say good-bye to.

The next 3 weeks are going to be filled with change, stress, and excitement. I have no idea what is going to happen but I'm ready to find out!

This Crazy Life

2011-08-15T09:41:00.001-07:00

Life just never slows down in this house!

As seen around our house recently...

(not sure where he learned this)

(mohawk)

(driving)

(hair pulling)

(Matthew is quite obviously the ring leader)

(you can tell what kind of shoes I've been wearing lately... ignore my wonky toes)

(roses from the backyard)

(pajama party)

(my houseplant is crying)

(stop to smell the roses)

(I am totally not a fan of cut flowers, except when I get to cut them myself)

(Jason has been gone all week and having excitement of his own... a giant tree fell on the tent he's been sleeping in, but fortunately it fell during the day and nobody was hurt)

(counting the days until Jason comes home... getting ready to move... starting school... building furniture... canning fresh summer fruits... worrying about the economy... running to clear my head... still changing diapers... growing things... missing friends... trying to laugh more...)

Angry Birds Invasion

2011-08-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

I realize that these pictures are more than a month old now. But better late than never, right?

Joshua's 7th birthday was on June 30th and he was blessed with one glorious day of sunshine for his party. It had been raining on and off around his birthday, but the Saturday that we celebrated ended up being nice and warm. And when I say "party", I mean there was a cake. And when I say "celebrated", I mean that his friends came over. Because I am still the lamest mom ever and don't do the whole big party and gifts thing for my kids. Joshua is our little video game nerd and he requested an Angry Birds vs. Mario birthday cake. In the end, it was just an Angry Birds cake. This was only my second time using fondant and I greatly underestimated the amount of time it would take to make everything. Still, all of the kids loved the cake and even Nathan proclaimed his love for the "ankry bawds."
We filled up the inflatable pool in our front yard and invited all of the neighbors to come swim. Our new dog loves the water so she was jumping in with the kids. We put out the slip 'n slide so that the big boys could let their testosterone flow and show off their stunts. It was very, very entertaining!

It was a great birthday for Joshua and was even more special because Jason was here for it. Joshua is Jason's mini-me and has Jason's big heart. I love that kid.

In the end, this is what I found in our garage.
Scary.

Back to School

2011-08-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today I watched the back-to-school photos flood my Facebook feed as friends in Georgia began the new school year with their kids. I think the new school year is always a bittersweet milestone since it really highlights how much our kids are growing up. Those first-day-of-school photos serve as a visual reminder of what that child was like at that moment in time. When I think back to my childhood, I categorize important events based on what grade I was in at school. School was a big, big thing.

But here in The House of Twinsanity, I almost forgot that school was starting again.

Ok, not really.
I got all excited a few weeks ago when some new curriculum arrived in the mail. I set to work organizing everything and lining the books up neatly on our bookshelves. I used color-coded stickers to identify which books are for each grade level. (I'll have a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, and two kindergartners this year!)

I organized all of our school supplies and sorted our art supplies. I started labeling the bins that we used in the camper and brought them up to the closet in our school room. I spent an entire Saturday in OCD-mode with a labelmaker. No joke.
I even made new curtains for the school room/play room. (It's a really cute owl fabric but I didn't line them yet so it's hard to tell in the pictures.) I was feeling inspired and I wanted the kids to be even more excited about school starting.
I was eagerly awaiting the start of a new school year. Leila and Sarah are thrilled to be doing "real" school like their big brothers. (I guess all of the preschool learning was just "pretend"?) I was excited about a fresh start and was quite proud of how many things were ready and organized.

And then we got the news about moving.

And then I realized that Jason will be gone during this move. (Like almost every other move in the last 8 years!)

And then I realized that we'll be living in the camper for an extended period of time again.

And then I realized that all of my pretty labeled bins would be in a storage unit somewhere while our homeschooling books end up stuffed into a tiny cabinet in the camper.

But then today, a friend pointed me to my post about homeschooling in the midst of chaos.

And that's when I remembered that it doesn't matter where we learn. It doesn't matter if our pencils came out of an appropriately-labeled bin. It doesn't matter if all of our household goods are packed away and we're in the middle of a long distance move. What matters is that my kids love learning, I love teaching them, and we are going to make the best of whatever mess we end up in... literally!

So, here's to the start of another school year! Whether your kids are riding a bus, carpooling, or staying at home, I hope this is a great year for everyone!

Tortillas! Bread! Pie! Oh My!

2011-08-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

My family loves to eat Mexican food. At least once a week, you'll find us enjoying homemade salsa in some form of meal at our dinner table. I love making salsa in the summertime, when the tomatoes are fresh and ripe. (I actually don't like tomatoes, but I'll eat them if they're chopped up small enough or cooked in a sauce.) The tomato plants in our backyard are not producing yet so I wait for our CSA box to arrive each week with a generous helping of tomatoes.

Up until recently, I usually bought tortillas at a local market. I'd thought about making them myself but all of the recipes called for lard or just seemed complicated. But then, a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a flour tortilla recipe that sounded too good to be true.

This tortilla recipe only uses four, baking powder, salt, oil, and milk. The recipe is incredibly easy to follow. After making the dough, I used my iron skillet to cook the tortillas for just a minute. In the end, I had a plate full of light, fluffy tortillas that we devoured in just minutes.

You can find the recipe here. It's become one of my new favorites!

As for my salsa, there is no recipe. I just chop up whatever we have on hand and go with it. Last week it was black bean and corn salsa with fresh cilantro. I wish I was a better photographer because it looked much yummier than my photo shows.

I have had a few people ask about the recipe I use for our sandwich bread. First, let me say that buying the book, "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day" is well worth it. There are so many amazing recipes in the book and they are all so easy to make! The breads can be made without kneading the dough and you can literally have the dough made in 5 minutes. It's the simplest collection of bread recipes that I've ever seen.

That said, here is the basic recipe that I use for sandwich bread. I buy organic flour and yeast in bulk at a local market.

Light Wheat Sandwich Bread
-1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast
-1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
-3 cups warm water
-1 cup whole wheat flour
-5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix yeast, salt, and water in bowl of stand mixer. Add flour and mix until a big, moist ball of dough is formed. Cover the bowl (I use a plate) and let it sit for 2 hours.

When the dough is done sitting, you can either refrigerate it or bake it at 450 degrees for about 24 minutes. I bake it right away by just putting the dough into loaf pans coated with a light spray of olive oil. I bake 3 loaves out of one batch of dough all at the same time. I make small loaves because my pans are small. (If anyone knows of a place to get larger glass loaf pans, please let me know!)

That's it! Sandwich bread from scratch in just 5 minutes. It's so easy that my kids usually help me make it every week.

Because the bread recipes have been so easy, I've pretty much been baking everything we eat from scratch since last year. A few weeks ago we received a big box of cherries in our CSA box and I was inspired. I made a quick pastry dough and the kids helped me pit the cherries. And then we made a cherry pie!

I used this recipe for the pie and it turned out really well. It was delicious! I usually don't care for cherries, but I'll eat just about anything that comes in pie form. Except meat. Cuz that's weird.

Who would have ever thought that I'd fall in love with baking and cooking?
If you have any great recipes, please feel free to share!

On the Move

2011-07-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Again.

That's right... We are moving!

Where?

Here are a few hints...

Need a bigger hint?

If that giant cactus doesn't tell you, then check out the sign below.

If you guessed "Arizona", you're right.

We are headed back to the beautiful southwest. The last time that we were in Arizona, the kids and I were just visiting Jason while he was attending school there. This time, he'll be attending school again but our whole family will move and live there together. We should be there before the end of the year.

If the move seems sudden, it's because it is sudden. We had originally planned to stay in Washington until Jason finished school but moving to Arizona became an option recently. We were unsure of whether we should stay or go, but then God made a few things more clear for us. Staying in our home here is no longer an option. Although I have talked about the possibility of moving back to our old home in Georgia, we are not really sure that it would be the right choice. All signs seem to point to Arizona right now.

So, here we go again!

It's All A Blur (and A Bad Case of Mommy Guilt)

2011-07-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

Recently, two moms that I know have joined the "multiple multiples" club. I met both of them through our local mothers of multiples club. One has fraternal boys and just had a set of fraternal girls. The other just found out that she is expecting a second set (and has a set of boy/girl twins and a singleton.)

Right now, I still have a hard time understanding how a family survives the addition of more than one baby at a time. And I still can't understand how on earth anyone survives having more than one set of multiples. Yes, I know this sounds silly. But those first few weeks/months/years pass so quickly that all becomes a blur. And that's where I'm at now. Did we really do that?
I'm sure there are factors that contributed to the difficulty of my situation. Having a husband that was gone for the first 2 years of the little boys' lives did not help. Living far from family did not help. Having two young singletons already did not help. Fortunately, neither of the two new moms I know have similar situations. And yet, I still look at these other two moms and feel both excitement and sympathy.

Having twins takes a lot out of you as a mother. Your time is divided, your attention is split between two babies, and you are often left feeling exhausted and even (dare I say it) guilty. You start to second-guess yourself and your ability to take care of two crying, hungry babies. A single baby receives that special one-on-one attention that just doesn't happen the same way in a one-on-two situation. There are just not enough hours in the day.
While I love my kids and I wouldn't change anything about our family, I do sometimes wonder if I'd feel like a better mother if I didn't have multiples. Would I have a stronger bond with my children? Would they feel more loved? Would they get more attention from me and less attention from strangers? Possibly.

I guess that the trade-off in having twins is that those children share a bond unlike any other. Having a constant companion and best friend is surely a gift. And maybe that helps make up for the tougher parts of being raised as part of a pair?
One thing is certain: having two sets of twins is not for the faint of heart. Beyond the physical demands of caring for multiples, the mental demands challenge your sanity. It doesn't help that multiples are often "on display" when in public, so you start to feel like everyone in Target is critiquing your parenting abilities (or lack thereof) and everyone in line at Costco is concerned about the size of your family (or your shopping cart.)

I remember the fear that I had the first time I had to take six kids to the grocery store by myself. I remember sitting in the parking lot for such a long time, trying to convince myself that I really should take the kids into the store because we really did need food. I remember nursing Nathan and Ryan in the van so that they'd (hopefully) be quiet while we were shopping. And, in the end, it wasn't so bad. The fear of failure was all in my head and we did make it out of the store without a meltdown. This is not always the case, of course. I'm sure seeing my family in a moment of sheer chaos has been great birth control for many a young couple.
And now I can say that I've survived almost 3 years of having multiple multiples. Three years!?! As we approach the little boys' third birthday, I'm becoming increasingly aware that they will probably not be potty-trained (fail) and that they don't know their alphabet (fail) and that they still try to color on the walls and drink out of the dogs' water dish (fail.) But we have survived. And that is incredibly awesome!

As I stumble over my words in congratulating the other newest moms of two sets of twins, I can only say "it's a wild ride." And "you'll survive!"

The Summer That Never Was

2011-07-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

Don't let the photo fool you. It's not summer here.
In fact, we've only had 78 minutes of summer this year. That's right. Only 78 minutes.

It's been warm enough for the kids to play in the pool exactly twice.

It's not that I am longing for triple-digit temperatures or anything. And I certainly am not missing the Georgia humidity, especially when it's always humid here. But is it too much to ask to see a little sunshine? Just a little?

Thankfully, I took advantage of the only summery day so far and celebrated Joshua's birthday. And potentially we could be seeing a heck of lot more sunshine very soon... there may be big changes coming.

And for now, that's all I can say about that!

Our New Addition

2011-07-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

And, no, it's not a baby.

Meet Juno. She's 5 years old and we found her through a local rescue group. Ironically, she was born in Georgia and ended up here in Washington. She loves our almost 7-year old dog, Delmar and he loves her. She's been a wonderful addition to our family and Delmar is enjoying having a doggy playmate for the first time in the 6 years we've had him.

Juno arrived to us with the name Jera. The kids were calling her She-ra. Then Matthew pointed out that it sounded like Hera, the mythological Greek goddess. Juno was the Roman name for Hera and so it stuck. (Yes, my kids have spent a great deal of time studying Greek and Roman history this year!)
Juno has a soft, purple blanket that looks very similar to the blankets that Leila and Sarah have had since birth. Just the other day I caught Juno and Leila napping on the couch together with their blankets. At night, Juno prefers to crawl under my sheets and sleep next to my side. I guess I'm cosleeping with a dog now...

We Be Jammin'

2011-07-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

It feels strange to be posting this today, when the weather has been decidedly wintery. But it is summer and summer does mean strawberries, even though the sun is in hiding again.Last week we ordered some extra strawberries in our CSA box. When Jason was working overnight, the kids and I made strawberry jam after dinner. If you've never made jam before, you should try it! It's something fun that even young children can enjoy.
What could be better than smashing up hundreds of strawberries?
Perhaps adding a ton of sugar to those strawberries? I think so.
We smashed up enough strawberries to use up all of the canning jars that I had in the pantry!
We filled the jars and then boiled them in my stock pot using a canning rack.
During the ten minutes that the jars were in the pot, my kids asked me at least 67,000 times if they could eat a jar of jam now. But that defeats the purpose of sealing the lids on the jars and storing them... so we just ate some extra strawberries instead.
In the end, we had 11 jars of jam. Once I get more jars we are going to take advantage of the local harvest and make blueberry and cherry jam as well.
Of course, with a house full of kids this jam will be long gone before the strawberries are ripe next summer!

Here's My Ride

2011-07-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

I think one of the first few questions people ask me when they find out that I have six children, is "What do you drive?" Picturing six car seats in one vehicle is hard to imagine unless you've seen it. Fitting a quad stroller inside any vehicle is difficult to imagine.

Let me introduce you to my ride, aka "The Tank."

Our current family vehicle is a 2006 Chevy Express 3500 12-passenger van. It is definitely not my dream car. Far from it. But it works for us... for now. It also has almost 120,000 miles on it and will likely be replaced before we leave Washington. (My dream vehicle at this point is a Mercedes Sprinter.)

We have 3 rows of bench seats in our van. The first two rows have 3 seats each and the last row has 4 seats. Realistically, you could never fit 12 people in this van when there are car seats installed, but there is a decent amount of space.
(Above is the "before" picture and below is what our van looks like right now, after switching out a bench seat to accommodate new car seats.)
Our car seat arrangement has changed several times over the last couple of years. Last summer I moved Matthew and Joshua out of their 5-pt harnesses and into high-back booster seats. They ride in the last row of the van. Leila and Sarah ride in the middle row, in 5-pt harnesses. Nathan and Ryan are still rear-facing in the front row.

Right now, the big boys are in Graco Turboboosters in the outboard seats. They will have to stay in the high-back boosters until we get a new van because there is one glaring defect in the Chevy Express van-there are no rear headrests! This is a huge safety issue and is one reason that we'll look at the Sprinter when we finally outgrow this van. (The Sprinter has headrests and lap/shoulder belts in every seating position.)

Leila and Sarah recently got new car seats. They now ride in the Britax Frontier seats, which replaced their old True Fit seats. The process of installing seats in the middle row of our van has been an extremely difficult one. The seat belt buckles in the Express don't come out in the crack of the seat, which makes car seat installation often difficult and sometimes impossible. Also, our van did not come with LATCH in the middle row. The only LATCH connections were in the two outboard seats of the first row.

We solved the LATCH dilemma by replacing the middle bench in our van. I purchased a matching bench seat from the same kind of van on craigslist. It has two LATCH connections and we installed it in the middle row of the van. Now I have 4 LATCH positions, 4 tether positions, and all 6 seats in the front two benches have lap/shoulder belts. This means that I can easily install car seats! Now my girls are riding in the Frontier seats and have plenty of space between them. The seats were extremely easy to install with the LATCH connections in the new bench.

Nathan and Ryan are starting to outgrow their seats in the rear-facing position. Although the weight limit for rear-facing in their seats (My Ride 65) is 40 lbs, both boys' heads are only about 2 inches from the top of the seat shell. I'd guess that they'll be forward-facing by the end of the year. They'll be 3 in September. Their seats will just turn around and we'll still be able to use the LATCH connections to install them easily.

(That blue thing under their seats is a pool noodle, used to adjust the incline of the seats.)
One of the best features of my van is the large cargo area. Large, of course, is relative. When "The Beast" is back there, it doesn't feel so large. The Runabout Quad does not fold at all, so it's great to have a vehicle wide enough to accommodate such a wide load. And when I go shopping I just toss the bags in the seats of the stroller. That's pretty cool! And at least I don't usually have to use the special towing hitch that came with "The Beast."

We do still need to tow a trailer just to fit all of our gear when we travel. We have a tiny bit of room for extra passengers when we aren't piled full of luggage. Our dog always rides on his blanket in the back seat, between Matthew and Joshua. That's about all we can fit in the van though!
Up in the front, I have my essentials-a jumbo bottle of hand sanitizer, a stash of CDs and DVDs, and a power strip for charging phones, video games, GPS, etc. I use a little cleaning caddy to hold everything because the van doesn't have any kind of console between the front seats. Jason installed a DVD player when we bought the van and I have silently thanked him for that every time we go on a trip.

There you have it... Now you can see why I have had soldiers try to get into my van, mistaking it for the shuttle on base.

Digging Out

2011-07-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

I'm desperately trying to dig myself out of this enormous hole that has swallowed me. I have gotten myself buried under mountains of laundry, lengthy to-do lists, and the usual overwhelming workload that comes with having 6 children.

Since returning from our long trip to Georgia and back, I have not had a single day in which I did not declare that there are not enough hours in the day. Slowly, I'm realizing that life is never going to slow down enough for me to catch up. I just have to hang on for the ride and do the best I can.

Here's what the last week or two has involved for our family...
We finished up the school year for the 4 older kids and completed the end-of-year standardized testing for our homeschool. Matthew got his first pair of glasses and has started reading like crazy. Matthew also had to get an orthodontic appliance in preparation for braces. (At least 4 of my kids will need braces so I should probably start playing the lottery now.)

Jason has had staff duty at work a lot lately (3 times in the last 2 weeks.) Usually it doesn't bother me (it's even a nice break sometimes) but he had it on the weekend, Joshua's birthday, and the 4th of July. Staff duty means he spends 24 hours at work and sleeps on the floor in his office. It's not exactly the way you want to spend your holiday or weekend off.

The weather has finally warmed up and the sun is out so we are trying to take advantage of it while it lasts. I put together the girls' birthday bikes since they are riding without training wheels now. Then I dug out my old bike and stripped it, painted it, and reassembled it. We are going to be spending a lot of time riding bikes together now that I have 4 good bike riders and a borrowed double bike trailer for the little boys.

Today I started my first round of steroid injections to reduce the scar tissue under my tongue from the surgery. At least, I think that is what they're trying to do when they torture me with 6 injections in my mouth. I found out that the adhesion that formed after my surgery has left me tongue-tied. The irony here would be that 3 of my boys have had surgery to correct severe posterior tongue ties. I blogged about it here and here. I have had a lot of trouble eating solid foods and choking, partially because I still don't have feeling back on the right side of my tongue and face. The other factor is a thick band of scar tissue that is adhered to my frenulum, leaving me tongue-tied. They'll have to do a skin graft after they excise the adhesion. It should be loads of fun. Not.

I'm meeting with the ear doctor in a couple of weeks to find out when I'll have my ear surgery. I sincerely hope that this brings an end to my dizziness issues. Although I've gotten used to the sensation of constantly being off-balance, I have recently discovered that the dizziness also gives me motion sickness. This means I find myself suddenly feeling carsick and that roller coasters are probably a thing of the past for me now. I feel... old.

Jason and I have recently been discussing the future for us and our family. (No, I'm not pregnant!) Adoption has become a topic of conversation, interestingly enough. I'm not sure what the future will hold, but I'm excited. In the meantime, a sweet dog recently joined our family. She's 5 years old and we found her through a local rescue group. That's a whole other blog post, though.

In 2 weeks my mother and grandmother will be flying out to visit us on their way to Alaska. I am thrilled to have my grandmother here because she's 86 years old and hasn't been to the west coast since she visited us when we lived in California. She's so special to me. Besides, this motivates me to clean up our office/guest room. And I randomly busted out my sewing machine and made new curtains for the playroom the other day. I suppose I was feeling inspired.

I have about two thousand photos (literally) that I have been meaning to sort through and share. Of course, I also still have over 700 unread emails. I've really been so busy lately that I sometimes forget to get dressed in the morning. One of these days I will get caught up. Hopefully it will happen before my children leave for college. (Probably not.)

So, that's where I'm at today. How about you? What have I missed?

A Decade Together

2011-06-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

Monday was a special anniversary for me and my sweet, patient husband. Jason has put up with me for 10 years now, which is no small feat. Trust me. Aside from making me feeling a bit old, this feels like a pretty awesome milestone.

I've been thinking about how much our lives have changed over the last decade. When we said "I do" we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into...

Ten years...
...living in ten different houses.

...having six children, born over a 5-year span.

...surviving newborn twins. TWICE.

...visiting 47 states and living in 7 of them.

...Jason joining the Army and graduating from college.

...me quitting my job to be a stay-at-home mom.

...trading in our little car for a 12-passenger van.

...enduring multiple separations and one very long deployment.

...committing to make the best of any situation. Together.

Ten years have flown by already. (One-third of our lives!) And though we have weathered some rough times, we have always stood by each other. As corny as it may sound, we are still madly in love. There are times that we both want to knock each other over the head with a frying pan. I'm pretty sure that's normal. But I never imagined that I'd still get butterflies in my tummy when I see him after he's been gone for a little while. Or that simply having him next to me in bed at night would make me feel like I was in the safest place in the world. Ten years? I still can't believe it.

I am feeling totally blessed and completely grateful for everything in my life today. Jason is my sanity when I'm ready to lose my mind. He's my voice of reason when I'm tempted to be impulsive. He's endlessly patient, remarkably talented, amazingly intelligent, and hilariously funny. I still can't believe that I get to keep him!

We made it through all of the ups and downs of the last ten years and I am sure that the next ten years will be an adventure, too. I can't imagine what the future holds for us!

To Blog Or Not To Blog...

2011-06-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

That is the question.

It seems that after such a long blogging break, I'm finding it hard to find the time to sit down for more than 30 seconds at the computer. I have 770 emails that sit, unread, in my inbox. I have stories to share that I want to write before the details start to fade from my memory.

But for now, I'm swamped. Life is in overdrive since we returned home two weeks ago. I am getting ready to have a second surgery to correct a complication from the salivary gland removal. We're doing standardized testing to finish out our school year at home. Jason had eye surgery last week. Our good friends next door moved away and my kids (and I) miss them dearly. Sarah learned to ride her bike without training wheels and the sun has finally started to emerge in Washington. It's so wonderful/crazy/busy/fun/stressful/exciting right now!

I have 127,934 pictures from my trip that want to be shared. We just had to put 4 new tires on our van. It's a 2006 Chevy Express 3500 and it's now got 117,000 miles on it. We bought new tires when we were in Arizona, less than 2 years ago. But since I just drove 7,995 miles (yes, almost 8,000!) just on this last trip, the tires were done. I need to take a break from road tripping before we end up needing a new van. (And ours is paid for, so I don't want to buy anything for a long time!)

This week promises to be just as busy as the last two weeks have been. But I promise that I'm going to sit down and write again.

Part of me wonders if I should keep up with this whole blogging thing... and then part of me thinks that if it weren't for this blog I would never remember half of my life over the last several years. And someday I'd like to write a book so I probably ought to keep writing things down as they happen, right? Otherwise, my story would be something like "had twins, had twins again, lost my mind. The End."

The Road So Far...

2011-05-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

...has included rain, snow, hail, and warm sunshine.

...has taken us across mountains, over rivers, through forests, across grassy plains, and through big cities and small towns.

...has meant lots of pit stops, potty breaks, car seat snacking, watching movies in the van, and reading new books for the kids.

...has meant lots of Red Bull for me.

...has taken us over the Continental Divide (twice.)

...has brought us to visit family, friends, and homes we've lived in along the way.
...has led us to stay in 17 states.

...has meant teaching school lessons in unconventional places.

...has logged over 5,000 miles on our poor van.

...has led us from one coast to the other.

...has brought a lot of adventures, chaos, fun, excitement, homesickness, and happiness.

And tomorrow... we head home.

Why I've Disappeared

2011-05-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday I had surgery to remove my submandibular salivary gland. The surgery lasted longer than expected (over 3 hours) because the gland was so inflamed that the doctor had trouble getting it out. He was successful in removing it through the floor of my mouth, so that part is great! Having this method of surgery was the main reason for me returning to Georgia to have the surgery.

My mom flew down to Georgia the day before my surgery. She has been a huge blessing. Perhaps she feels badly for me to be in pain, but she has never been so easy to get along with before. It's been a huge relief for me. And the kids.

I remember waking up in recovery, nearly 7 hours after the surgery, and feeling frantic. Where were my kids? Where was I? It was a little overwhelming. And then, as is typical for my life, I ran into more complications.

The swelling from the surgery made it difficult for me to maintain an open airway so they admitted me. The hope was that I'd be discharged the following morning, but the swelling required another steroid treatment and so I didn't leave until that evening. Thanks to my mom and a few super awesome friends, my kids were well cared for and enjoyed a night at a local hotel. It was the first time they've spent the night without either Jason or me. When I left the hospital my mom drove us all up to Virginia and I've been recovering here ever since.

I ended up running into a little post-op issue and the resulting swelling causes me a great deal of pain. In the morning I can barely function, although my speech is slowly improving. I do have some paralysis in my tongue, lips, and chin because of trauma to the nerve. It should (hopefully!!!) go away in the coming weeks. But for now I can't move my tongue well and still can't eat solid foods. It's been a week today since I last had anything that wasn't liquid. Yuck. I miss real food.

I was unprepared for how long this recovery would take. I'm doing pretty well when my pain is controlled, but I had hoped the pain would be gone by now. The stitches still haven't dissolved either. I hope the end of the week brings some relief. We are visiting family and I feel like I'm missing out!

Jason is here in Virginia now. After being apart for 3 weeks, we were all glad to see him. He hasn't seen his family since before his deployment, so he's excited to be here. Next week we will begin the long drive back to Washington. We are trying to see a bunch of people in a very short amount of time. We aren't sure when we'll get to come back here to visit again.

I have an obnoxious amount of pictures from our adventures. It has been, as always, a wild ride! I can't wait to write it all down before I start to forget. We have had so much fun and I'm definitely glad that the surgery is over and everything has worked out. Huge relief!

Where Am I and How Did I Get Here?

2011-05-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

A funny thing happens when you drive over 3,000 miles through time changes and climate changes and diaper changes. You start to lose track of time. (Among other things!)

And here I sit, unable to upload pictures as proof, in another Starbucks parking lot... in Georgia this time. Last weekend I was surrounded by snow and this weekend I was basking in the hot sun. It hardly feels like I ever left Georgia at all. It's the strangest thing!

I have so much to say, so many pictures to share, and we've been through so much in the last 2 weeks. I must find time (and a wi-fi spot) to write it all down here. It's been another awesome adventure.

Signing off for now... in Georgia again...

:)

Halfway There

2011-05-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

Quick update...

...1600 miles down, 1500 miles to go

...almost ran out of gas (twice)

...seen on a semi truck today: "be a flirt, lift your shirt". classy.

...feed lot cattle on left side of interstate, free range cattle on the right side. sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side!

...spent the weekend surrounded by snow in the mountains

...saw my long-lost brother, if only for a few hours

...realized that leaving late did not leave me enough time to get to Georgia in time for my pre-op appointments. oops.

...had a screamer in the van today and almost lost my mind

...missing my husband, even after only one week

...looking forward to getting back to somewhere familiar

...need to go to bed before I collapse

Driving (Me Crazy!)

2011-04-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update since I'm currently parked in a Starbucks parking lot somewhere in Utah...

I'm driving, driving, driving...

The kids are going a bit crazy with excitement and anticipation...

We'll be seeing my dad tomorrow in Colorado and we can't wait...

Had lunch in Twin Falls, ID again, for obvious reasons...

We're having the usual road trip excitement- injuries, camper troubles, potty breaks every 30 seconds, etc. It's crazy fun!

Will update again soon...

Surviving Twins: The First Five Years

2011-04-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

As we prepare to set off on our journey across this big country, we are also celebrating a few birthdays.

Leila and Sarah turn 5 this week. And with their fifth birthday, I'm reminded that we have also survived 5 years of parenting twins. (And nearly 3 years of parenting two sets of twins!)

When I was still pregnant with the girls, I could not even imagine what it would be like to have two babies at the same time. I heard horror stories about twins and "double trouble" and how we'd be lucky to survive the first year. I was so scared that something would go wrong that I didn't even buy two of anything until I was almost in labor. I wondered whether having four kids ages 3 and under would be the end of my sanity. (It was not. Having six kids ages 5 and under was.)

And once Leila and Sarah arrived on the scene, I was pleasantly surprised. Life was crazy, but it was crazy good. And manageable.

Holding two babies became second nature. Nursing two (or three, or four) started to feel normal. Diapers took over the laundry room. Toys took over the living room. And pink shoes, purple dresses, and princess crowns found their place among the toy cars and camouflage.

If nothing else, having twin girls has taught me patience. In fact, I suspect that just one girl would have brought a good dose of patience, but two was just I needed.

We have weathered our share of crises over the last 5 years. Today Leila collapsed into a fit of tears over a seat on the swing in the backyard. Girls are so dramatic! The wrong color dress can bring on hysteria. The wrong sideways glance from an older brother is the end of the world. But, all in all, they are so much fun! And they really are the sweetest girls. They have the most amazing connection and they can barely keep their hands off of each other. They love each other in the most incredible, fascinating way.

Just the other day, we were discussing our trip and how we are going to visit Granddad With No Hair (my dad.) Leila said she can't wait to go see him but she does not want to go to the mountain house. I asked her why and she replied that Matthew would scare her with those "scary heads with hair sticking up." (AKA: the tiny, little Halloween toy shrunken heads that make creepy sounds and have glowing red eyes.) For some reason my dad has two of them at the mountain house and Matthew immediately discovered that the girls are terrified of them. He exploited their fears, chasing them around the house as the girls screamed, until I got them calm enough to tell me what in the world was wrong. My girls are emotional and sensitive. And so ridiculously cute!

Leila and Sarah will be spending their actual birthday in Colorado this week. This will be the first year they've not celebrated their birthday in Georgia, although we'll be arriving in Georgia very soon after. For now, we have already baked cakes, opened gifts, played dress up with friends, and partied hard in Washington.

Five years of being parents of multiples? It hardly seems possible. I'm looking forward to watching this sweet duo as they celebrate many more birthdays.

Birth Matters

2011-04-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

April is such a special month for me. It's the beginning of spring, the birth of new things. It's a fresh start. And five years ago, I gave birth to my first set of twins.

Yes, next week my twin girls will be five years old. As I sit wondering where the time has gone, I still can't believe that I have these two amazing little girls. And I still can't believe quite how much their birth transformed me.

April is Cesarean Awareness Month, and there was no time more fitting for my daughters to be born. When I became pregnant with Leila & Sarah, it had been just one year since Joshua's birth by cesarean. After a pretty standard hospital birth with Matthew, I opted for a homebirth with Joshua. Things didn't go as planned and I suddenly found myself recovering from an unexpected cesarean. After discovering I was pregnant again, I knew right away that I would plan another homebirth. What I didn't know was that I was carrying twins.

An ultrasound at 22 weeks confirmed my midwife's suspicions... I was expecting two babies, not just the one big baby I had thought. And suddenly, everything was complicated. Georgia is not a homebirth-friendly state and the midwife that I had hired was not willing to attend a twin birth. My previous cesarean made it even more difficult to find a midwife willing to care for me. Despite the evidence that VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) is no riskier with twins than with a singleton, I felt like everyone viewed me as a ticking time bomb. When I hit 38 weeks, my back-up OB scheduled my cesarean. I never showed up for the surgery.

By the grace of God, a series of small miracles led to a knock at my front door when I was in labor. Two amazing midwives came into my bedroom and, a few hours later, helped me give birth to my twin girls. The experience was life-changing. The birth was perfect. I could not believe how incredibly wonderful these midwives were, that they were willing to drive hours to come to my birth, that they trusted in my ability to give birth naturally. My homebirth was one of the most powerful, awesome experiences of my life.

Homebirth is not for everyone... but having a choice is every woman's right.

Nobody should have to drive to another state to have the birth they desire. Nobody should have surgery because they feels it's their only option. Nobody should receive substandard care because of insurance regulations or because of their ability (or inability) to pay for treatment.

In our country today, woman are frequently being denied the right to choose where (and how) they give birth. The cesarean rate is soaring as roughly 1/3 of U.S. women give birth via major abdominal surgery. Women are even being forced into surgery against their will. There is often no informed consent, as women are not accurately told of the risks and benefits to the many procedures performed during a typical hospital birth. Cesarean sections have become the most common major surgical procedure in the U.S., yet many falsely believe that it is a safer way to give birth. Our country's neonatal mortality rates are behind those of 33 other nations, despite the growing cesarean rate. Our maternal mortality rate ranks behind at least 40 other nations, yet we spend more money on maternity care than any other country in the world.

All of this needs to change.

If you have ever read anything about midwifery, you have probably heard of Ina May Gaskin. Ina May has been a midwife for nearly 40 years and is probably the most influential midwife in history. Her midwifery center (The Farm) has been a prime example of what birth can,and should, look like using the midwifery model of care. With low cesarean rates, low rates of postpartum hemorrhage, high success rates for vaginal breech births , and a high VBAC success rate, her midwifery practice illustrates the excellent outcomes that are possible with skilled midwives attending births.

The author of several books, Ina May Gaskin's newest book is called "Birth Matters." I find the title to be very fitting. Although many people will say "all that matters is a healthy baby", this is simply not true. A healthy mother is of the utmost importance as well. When you consider the maternal mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate in the U.S., it is clear that birth does matter. It matters for mothers and it matters for babies.

I recently read "Birth Matters" and had a chance to ask Ina May a few questions about the book. Before I share what she said, I want to point out one thing. "Birth Matters" paints a clear picture of birth in the U.S. today... and it isn't pretty. This book is one that appeals to all women, regardless of whether you're pregnant or not and regardless of whether you support homebirth, hospital birth, or both. This book is about the importance of birth in our society and how modern maternity care is changing, at the expense of mothers and babies.

Discussing "Birth Matters" with Ina May Gaskin
Me: In your book, you discuss the basic, manual skills that many new obstetricians lack. You point out that they are not being taught to palpate the fetus or to turn a breech manually, let alone to deliver a breech vaginally. Yet there are still some older doctors that have held onto this knowledge. I had the honor of witnessing an unmedicated, vaginal breech birth by one such OB and a young resident. After the successful birth, the OB asked the resident whether she would use what she had just learned to deliver breech babies vaginally when she began practicing. Her answer was “No way.” I don’t understand it. What will happen when the newest generation of obstetricians is unable to learn these skills? You wrote about speaking to groups of ob-gyn residents. Is this a good way to bring about change? Can obstetricians stand to learn these skills from experienced midwives?

IMG: To answer your first question, more women will have unnecessary cesareans. To answer your second, talking to ob-gyn residents might not change this trend, but it could keep some from panicking if confronted with an undiagnosed breech that is coming too fast for a cesarean. A nurse told me about such a case in which the baby’s body had been born just as the anesthesiologist walked in the room, whereupon the panicked ob-gyn asked the anesthesiologist to put the woman under general anesthesia. That baby did not survive, and the nurse (who had more experience with vaginal breech birth than the ob-gyn) was sure that the baby could have been born if the doctor hadn’t panicked and asked for anesthesia when it wasn’t necessary.

The answer to your third question is yes, I think that obstetricians can stand to learn these skills from midwives, but we’ll have to get certain barriers out of the way before this can happen.

I just had a conversation with an obstetrician who is nearing retirement about the de-skilling of his profession that has been on-going since the late 1970s. He thinks it likely that if current trends continue, there will be no obstetricians in the future—only surgeons to do the cesareans. This truly is a race to the bottom. One of our problems is that most people don’t understand that it was insurance companies refusing to provide malpractice coverage to teaching hospitals that allowed doctors who were skilled at breech from teaching residents these same time-honored skills that caused this problem. I can’t think of any good reason why insurance companies should be allowed to have power over what doctors and midwives are allowed to know.

There will continue to be women with breech presentations who will insist that midwives provide the services that obstetricians refuse to provide. Increasingly, midwives are recognizing that someone has to keep knowledge and skills about how to deal with breech presentations alive, so leading midwifery educators are accepting this responsibility. It is important to recognize that there are obstetricians and family physicians who are philosophically opposed to the downgrading of their respective professions represented by the loss of traditional obstetrical skills. What has to change is medical education here. European medical and midwifery education has never abandoned the teaching of manual skills, including how to deal with breech presentations, even though these cases comprise less than 5% of the total. Instead of depending upon students being able to witness such births, they rely on teaching the various maneuvers using mannequins and dolls. Such mannequins have to be well-crafted to mimic what happens in real life as a baby is pushed through the pelvis, but I have found at least one great one that was made in Germany.

Me: One of most important things that I took away from reading your book was the need for our country to establish a system of reporting maternal deaths. You discuss this in great detail and you created the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project to work towards this goal. What can we (as mothers, activists, the general public, etc.) do to help bring about this change? What things can we do on an individual basis that can help make a difference?

IMG: Join Amnesty International USA’s Demand Dignity Campaign.

www.amnestyusa.org

Dear Human Rights Activist,

The Demand Dignity Campaign was excited to see so many activists from around the nation willing to raise their voice to pressure congressional leaders to protect the right to maternal health at this year's inspirations Youth Summit and Annual General Meeting. As we continue to take action to fight poverty with human rights, we are pressing onward with our agenda to help reduce rates of maternal mortality in the US and around the world. But we cannot do this alone .

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, it is important to let domestic and international decision-makers know that we care about ensuring that the right of every woman to a safe pregnancy and childbirth is fulfilled. This is where you must get involved. In the four weeks surrounding Mother’s Day – April 23 rd to May 22nd – Amnesty International activists from around the country will be holding Mother’s Day card-writing events, visiting their congressional representatives, hosting film screenings, and more. You can join this fight to demand dignity for mothers and get decision-makers to hear our voice by:

1. Writing Mother’s Day cards.
Individuals and groups can register to host a card-writing event at amnestyusa.org/mothersday to receive copies of our cards and case sheets.

2. Lobbying during our spring in-district lobby week.
In March, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the Maternal Health Accountability Act of 2011 to protect women’s health in the United States. From April 29th through May 8th, you can lead or join a delegation to lobby your congressional representatives to support this vital piece of legislation. Register at amnestyusa.org/lobby .

3. Using the power of film to raise awareness in your community .
· Host a party to watch the network premier of Christy Turlington Burns’ new documentary on maternal health, No Woman, No Cry (May 7 at 9:30 PM ET/PT on OWN).
· Screen the BBC documentary, Dead Mums Don’t Cry (any time between April 23 and May 22).

Register at amnestyusa.org/mothersday to request a copy of Dead Mums Don’t Cry and film guides for both movies.

You can also check amnestyusa.org/mothersday to find more events to join to support other activists in your community.

Don’t wait. Shine a light on maternal health this Mother’s Day by joining the fight to save the lives of mothers everywhere. Take action now!

In Solidarity,
The Demand Dignity Campaign Team

"Birth Matters" discusses several other initiatives aimed at changing maternity care today. The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project's goal is the creation of a system for reporting and reviewing maternal deaths. The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services seeks to promote a wellness model of maternity care that will improve birth outcomes and reduce costs. (Can you say "midwives?")

Did you know that in the industrialized countries with the best perinatal outcomes, midwives attend the vast majority of births? Yet in our country, most births are attended by surgeons. OBs are skilled surgeons, yet they are providing most of the care for low-risk women who do not need surgery. Midwives attend only a small fraction of the births in the U.S., despite the evidence that midwifery care is most appropriate for the majority of women. Women in the U.S. today are more like to die in childbirth than their mothers were.

For those who want to learn more about the safety of homebirth, "Birth Matters" exposes the flaws in the recent "Wax study" that claimed that planned home births had higher neonatal mortality rates than planned hospital births. Ina May does an excellent job of explaining the defects of this "study" and shares the data to back it up. Her discussion of the tactics used by those who seek to put an end to midwifery and homebirth is quite eye-opening.

What it boils down to is this: midwifery care and homebirth should be valid options for low-risk women. Maternity care in the U.S. is being controlled by those with special interests-the insurance companies, trade organizations- without regard for what is safest for mothers and babies. Women should have autonomy when it comes to their bodies and their births.

"Birth Matters" is really a must-read for women everywhere. These issues impact us, our children, and the future of our culture. The way that we treat mothers and babies speaks volumes about our society as a whole.

"Birth Matters" is available now in stores. I'm also giving away a copy on my review blog, just in time for Cesarean Awareness Month and my daughters' birthday (and the anniversary of my twin HBAC!)

I'm Dyeing

2011-04-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Yep, dyeing Easter eggs.
Aren't they pretty? Sarah says the blue ones look like Daddy's work clothes. (Camo!)

Instead of leaving on our big trip today, I'm going to be climbing into my own warm bed here in Washington tonight. Because, as usual, we are having to get past a few road blocks before we can leave.

But first, let me show you how we dyed our Easter eggs. You probably know that we try really hard to avoid food dyes. What we've suspected for years is finally starting to be covered by the mainstream media. Food dyes might not be safe. I've read a number of recent articles (here and here) that call into question the safety of food dyes and the possible reactions that some people have to the dyes used in certain foods.

Anyway, I am always trying to live as naturally as possible, which is pretty tough these days. But we have a lot of fun finding ways to make it work.For dyeing our Easter eggs, we just used things we had on hand in our house. I have used berries as a food dye before, but we didn't have any this week. No pink eggs this year. We did have some turmeric (a spice) and a head of red cabbage. Perfect.
I poured 4 cups of water, 1 Tbsp of vinegar, 1 Tbsp of salt, and about 6 Tbsp of turmeric into a pot. I let it simmer until it was mixed pretty well. Then I turned off the heat and the kids added the eggs. We let them soak for a couple of hours.

I chopped up the head of cabbage and added it to a pot of 4 cups of water, 1 Tbsp of vinegar, and 1 Tbsp of salt. I let this simmer for about 30 minutes and then we turned off the heat. The kids added the eggs and we decided to leave the cabbage in the pot instead of straining it. We were wondering what the eggs would look like and were pleasantly surprised with some neat designs on our eggs!

And then we took the eggs and had a yummy lunch the next day. It was great!

Anyway, we are still headed to the east coast this week. When? I don't know. It wouldn't be my life if everything wasn't complicated.

We picked up the camper from the storage lot and had some issues that had to be fixed before we could leave. Nothing major, but still things that had to be done before the camper could be used. (Cleaning, fixing a water valve, replacing a light fixture, etc.)

Just after I'd sent an email to my family letting them know about the potential delay, I got a phone call. It was the surgery scheduler from the hospital in Georgia. One of the surgeons that is operating on me next month just had a death in his family and had to cancel the surgery. They offered to reschedule, but it changed everything. In the end, I did schedule the surgery for a week later than originally planned. Because of the changes, the second surgeon isn't going to do my ear surgery in Georgia. I'll have to have it done here in Washington instead.

I will have my salivary gland removed in Georgia, which is great. The bad part is that I'll have to have 3 more surgeries for my ears when I get back to Washington. And I'll likely be driving from Georgia to Virginia by myself after the gland removal surgery. I bought my mom a plane ticket to Georgia so that she could come to be with my kids and then help me drive up to Virginia after the surgery. But because of the change in the surgery date, I won't be able to have her there. I tried calling the airline and they told me I'll have to buy a new plane ticket. Considering that the cost of gas is already nearly $4.00/gallon right now, I'm not exactly jumping at the chance to pay for another plane ticket (for the same exact flight, same ticket fare, just a different date.) I'm pretty certain that I'll be just fine to drive anyway, so I'm not too worried. I might just drive to my friend's house in North Carolina and invade her house for a stop along the way.

Yesterday we celebrated the girls' birthday a little bit early and we spent today getting the camper ready for the road. In the next couple of days, we'll be setting off for Georgia. Again. I never thought I'd be saying that.

Before we leave I will have to share some birthday pictures and a special post about homebirth. It's going to be a fun week!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

(*boobies*)

The Month of the Military Child

2011-04-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

April is a special month in our house for several reasons, one of which is because it is the Month of the Military Child. There are almost 1.8 million children with a parent in the U.S. military. These children grow up facing challenges unique to the military lifestyle: frequent moves, absence of a parent, and possibly even the loss of a parent. It's a tough life. When you're living everyday life, it's sometimes easy to forget how difficult growing up in a military family can be for children. I know that I am only now starting to realize how many aspects of our life are affected by Jason's military service.

As my children are getting older, I see the beginnings of friendships between them and other school-age kids. And, inevitably, they will say many, many good-byes to these special friends. Since moving here, my kids have become very close friends with our next-door neighbors. They are a military family as well, and in just a few weeks they will be moving to the east coast. Saying good-bye to a best friend is pretty difficult for an 8-year old.

Our frequent moves have meant that our children have grown up without much contact with their extended family. If you ask my 4 oldest children where "home" is, you're likely to hear 4 different answers. Matthew was born in Virginia and has lived in 7 different states. Joshua was born in California and has lived in 6 different states. It's a stark contrast to the way I grew up, living in the same state for more than 20 years.

Perhaps the most obvious challenge of military life is the threat of deployment. It's always there. Some of these kids have lived through 3, 4, or 5 deployments already. Even when their parent is home, the possibility of another deployment is a constant fear. And, as I learned last year, even when you think your kids are handling it really well, it's always affecting them more than you realize. You can't just take a parent away for a year at a time and not have it change your life in some way. It's hard to promise your kids that Daddy will be coming home when it's something you are so unsure of yourself.

The greatest difficulty for any military child comes with the loss of a parent. I don't know how any parent explains to their child that Daddy (or Mommy) is not coming home. It breaks my heart to think of all the families who have had to cope with such unimaginable loss. And yet, in the military, it is all around you. One of our neighbors lost her husband last summer. When your kids are surrounded by other military kids, they know children who have lost a parent. You have to explain things to your kids that you can't really explain. Jason is on funeral detail right now and my boys are old enough to understand what Daddy is doing. (And honestly, I don't know how Jason can handle attending funerals of fallen soldiers, because it must incredibly difficult to face those families under such difficult circumstances.) Military life can't be easy for a kid. That's for sure. Of course, the military life has plenty of good parts too. Along with the challenges come opportunities that make us forget about the difficulties. Military children learn about service to our country and they gain strength from overcoming all of the challenges they face. They get to travel and see the world, living in different places and learning about different cultures.

There is also a special bond among military kids. I've seen it. It's that sense of understanding when your friend down the street matter-of-factly states that her dad just deployed again. It's that feeling of relief when your best friend's dad returns from deployment and life returns to "normal" for their family. One of the biggest blessings for our family has been ending up in this neighborhood where we live right now, surrounded by military families. There are four 8-year olds on our block that are all good friends and are all military brats. There are also four 4-year old girls that have become inseparable. And there are almost a dozen other military kids on our street that have become good friends with my children. Having friends that understand the military life has been a priceless gift for us.

This month is a reminder of all that these kids go through as they grow up in military families. When my backyard is full of a dozen, loud, hungry, energetic kids from all over the neighborhood, I'm going to make it a point to remember how awesome these kids are and how much strength they have. They really are special!

To all of you who grew up with parents in the military, thank you for your sacrifice.

Any ideas about how to make these military kids feel appreciated?

All my fellow military families, what are you doing to celebrate this month?

They Suck

2011-04-06T07:46:00.001-07:00

And they suck. And they suck some more. Yes, I have two little finger suckers.

They've done it since they were babies.

But now that they are almost 5 years old (FIVE?!?!) it's not so cute anymore.

Out of six children, my daughters are the only ones that suck their fingers. Some might say it's because I didn't give them a pacifier, but Joshua and the little boys never had pacifiers either. And while Matthew had a pacifier from 2 months old until 8 months old (when I worked and Jason was a SAHD) he dropped it easily and never looked back.

But these girls are just not ready to give up this little habit. Aside from this one odd picture above, the girls always suck the same fingers. For Leila, it's her right index and middle finger and for Sarah, it's her left 3 little fingers. They suck when they're tired, when they're scared, or when they're hurt. And yes, they are weaned. And no, I don't think this has anything to do with how long they nursed. It's just a comfort thing.

But it's time to stop. I have more pictures of my girls with their fingers in their mouths than I can count. I am constantly reminding them not to suck their fingers in public. We've tried to limit it to bedtime only, but even that isn't working. Sarah struggles with it more than Leila. If she's upset, the fingers go in the mouth. And no amount of hand sanitizing can prevent the major ick factor when two 4-year olds touch everything in sight and then suck their fingers. Yuck. In fact, they'll sanitize their hands and then immediately put them in their mouths.

The dentist isn't too concerned yet. She has encouraged a gentle approach and I'm all about gentle parenting and gentle discipline. But I find myself wanting to tape those fingers up to put an end to the sucking! (It wouldn't work. Leila has sucked off half of her fingernail and so I put a Band-Aid on it. She had the Band-Aid off and fingers in her mouth a few minutes later.)

All you wise parents out there... What next? Do I let them outgrow this on their own? Do I reward them for not sucking their fingers? I've promised them that they could have their fingernails painted for the first time once they stop sucking, but that has not worked so far. I hate to push the issue, but I'm not sure what to do. They are definitely more aware of what they're doing now. They have made some effort to stop (wearing gloves has helped a tiny bit) but they just can't help themselves.

The Plague

2011-04-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have this irrational fear of germy places. (Think indoor play places, bathrooms, church nurseries, etc.) Only perhaps my irrational fear isn't really so irrational after all.

The weekend before last, we took the kids to a birthday party for one of our neighbors. It was the first party the younger kids have ever been to in their lives, actually. It was at one of those indoor inflatables places. They had a blast! And when we left, I jokingly told Jason that we'd probably be sick the next day. And we were.

All six kids had fevers and a horrible, barking cough. The cough kept them up at night. The fever kept them laying around in misery on the couch. (Only bright side? No mess to clean up!) And slowly, they started to feel better. They're still coughing all day and all night right now, but they feel good. But on Wednesday I started to have a sore throat and figured I was catching the creeping crud from the children. It's a good thing I scheduled my blog post for Thursday because I was dead for the rest of last week. Somehow I ended up with the worst strep throat that I've ever had in my life. At one point I was drooling uncontrollably. It was totally not pretty.

A visit to the doctor on Thursday confirmed a nasty case of strep. The doctor surprised me by being completely supportive of my refusal of antibiotics. And then he offered me pain medication to boot. After 5 days of misery, I'm finally feeling better and can finally swallow liquids with minimal pain. Whenever I have strep throat, I think that I should really consider having my tonsils removed like the doctor always suggests. But then I recover and I think that there is no way I want to go through the pain of having my tonsils out!

If you're wondering about why I don't take antibiotics, I'll explain. Most people realize these days that the overuse of antibiotics leads to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria and other nasty complications. After a childhood of constant ear infections treated with antibiotics, I developed an allergy to penicillin. Then, after a case of strep throat in 2006, I had a bout with C. diff. C. diff (Clostridium difficile) is a strain of bacteria that causes the-worst-diarrhea-you'll-ever-have-in-your-life by altering the natural flora of the gut. When the good bacteria in your body are gone, it becomes very difficult for your body to fight off the bad bacteria and so the bad bacteria easily take over. And it is just not pretty.

My case of C. diff went undiagnosed after 3 trips to the local ER. Finally, after I'd lost more than 20 pounds and was dangerously dehydrated, they admitted me for further testing. After checking my blood gases, they knew that something was very wrong. I was whisked away to a room in quarantine where every nurse or doctor who entered my room wore what looked like a space suit and I wondered if I contracted the flesh-eating bacteria or something. At the tender age of 26, I received my first colonoscopy. After they were done probing me, they showed pictures of my ulcerated colon to poor Jason, who was almost as horrified as I was.

Despite taking probiotics on a daily basis, I had colitis as a result of the C. diff and I spent a week in the hospital. Not only did I have to battle the C. diff, but I also lost my milk supply as well. Leila & Sarah were 6 months old, exclusively breastfed, and I suddenly had no milk. Jason used every drop of milk that was in the freezer. And so began a week-long process of reestablishing my milk supply so that I could feed my starving babies. It was a very trying time for our family. It was scary and, up until the day I landed in the hospital, I'd never even heard of C. diff. Now I look at antibiotics as a necessary evil. I will use them if they are absolutely necessary, and that is the only time I will use them. In my eyes, I see the potential for C. diff everywhere and it's scary. I never want to experience that again. Strep throat goes away without antibiotics and the risk of a rare complication like rheumatic fever is only 1 in a million, compared to the very real risk of a C. diff relapse-about a 1 in 5 chance. For me, that makes the decision easy. I'll suffer through strep throat before I'll suffer through diarrhea hell again any day!

Anyway, now you know more about me than you ever wanted to know. Just be glad you weren't there to see the pictures of my colon.

She's Crafty

2011-03-31T03:37:00.000-07:00

(and thrifty) Nathan and Ryan are still in diapers (although both are just starting to use the potty infrequently) and they are getting big. Nathan weighs as much as Leila & Sarah and is wearing the same size clothes as them too. Some of our cloth diapers are getting too small and some are on their last leg. I hate to buy more diapers when it feels like we are just on the verge of potty training and I'm not having another baby at the moment. What to do? I decided to sew a few quick diapers out of some materials I had in my sewing closet.

And then I decided to use up the fleece scraps to make some crude training pants. They didn't turn out half bad, considering I spent no more than 10 minutes making them.

I made some for the little boys and a pair for my bedwetter (at his request.)

I cut the fleece from some scraps I had purchased for just pennies (literally) so I wasn't too worried about messing them up. I used some ratty, old prefolds to cut out a soaker for the center of the training pants.

Then I stitched the pieces together and that was it! I only used the fleece, prefolds, and thread. No elastic necessary. That is one cheap and easy pair of training pants!

Once my sewing machine is out, I like to tackle a bunch of projects all at once. I finally (2 years later) finished the blankets for Nathan and Ryan that I had started before they were born.

I made reversible blankets with coordinating fabric bought through a co-op a couple of years ago. I'm no quilter so I just trimmed the blankets with the fabric, cutting a simple square with a frog on it for each corner, and stitched it together. They turned out nice and match the frog wall decals that Nathan & Ryan got for Christmas.

Then I took their plain, cream-colored crib skirts and added a border of the frog fabric. As an added bonus, the longer length crib skirts perfectly hide the 3 bins of summer clothes that are stored under the crib! And yes, it might seem crazy to make a crib bedding set for 2-year olds, but these kids will be in cribs until they're fifteen. Those crib tents save my sanity. For real.

I could have done something a lot more interesting, but I made a quick, plain valance for the window. I only had this narrow strip of fabric left, so my options were limited. And then, when Matthew saw me sewing for Nathan & Ryan, I had to bust out the fabric I bought (2 years ago) for Matthew's bed. One "Shampoo" comforter completed and one very happy boy. (Matthew is especially fond of Shamu and has an attachment to the stuffed whale he brought home from Sea World 5 years ago. He always called him "Shampoo." He's wanted this blanket for a long time so it felt good to finally finish it.)

Next on my list: a blanket for Joshua and some more training pants. Because these little boys are going to potty train soon, whether they like it or not. (I hope.)

And my last crafty project was an idea I borrowed from Ann Marie, a fellow Army wife. She had the awesome idea of using old wooden hangers to create a jewelry organizer. I just loved hers and had to make my own!

Fortunately, I had an old wooden hanger that worked just perfectly. I pre-drilled tiny holes in the wood and screwed in tiny silver cup hooks.

Sadly for me, I only needed one hanger. I'm just not a big jewelry girl. This is all I had to hang on it! (And three of those pairs of earrings came from Mary Grace, another mom to two sets of twins.) But still, this sure is a pretty way to keep your jewelry organized!

On my extended to-do list: making more furniture. I'm going to have to wait until we get back from our long trip, but I have plans to build a media unit for our TV and a coat rack for our foyer, among other things. I have scrap wood in the garage that is calling my name.

I'm particularly fond of recycling projects and using things that might otherwise be thrown out. And I love sewing. Do you have any crafty projects to share? (Because I totally need more things to do around here, right?)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

You know that most of your family works for the Post Office when...

The Countdown Is On

2011-03-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Less than 3 weeks until we head east! I still can't believe it's already time to hit the road again.

I'm trying to focus more on the fun of traveling and less on the thought of being on the operating table. I am not looking forward to being in the hospital but I will be so glad to get some of my problems resolved. Every time I eat, I'm reminded that my salivary gland needs to come out. Secretly I am hoping they will let me take home the rest of the stones that are in there so that I can add them to my collection.

My children are excited about our upcoming trip and seeing their family and friends. There has been a lot of whispering about what they'll get to do when they visit Granddad-With-No-Hair and I'm pretty sure they are up to something. Matthew has also been busy writing letters (that have not yet been mailed) to a bunch of his friends in Georgia to announce his impending arrival. We have plotted out our camp sites across the country and who we'll visit in each state.

Yesterday my mom even informed me that she might be retired when we come to visit. Retired!! This is a huge deal to me because, for as long as I have known my mother, her life has revolved around her job. I can't even picture her not working. I think she'll be so much happier and more relaxed and I would be willing to bet that her health improves without the stress of work. She has a government job and she isn't old enough to retire yet, but she has an option to retire early if she chooses to take it. I have my fingers crossed that she decides to do it and that it does make her happy.

I have a few final thoughts on the great car seat debate. As one commenter pointed out, there is one critical bit of information to remember. Regardless of what car seat you use or how it's installed, it's extremely important that the car seat straps are correctly tightened and that the chest clip is at armpit level for the child. As many car seat techs have said, the safest car seat is one that fits your child, fits your vehicle, and is being used correctly.

Despite what some people may think, I really believe that the people who are most passionate about car seat safety speak out because they care about children being safe. Nobody wants to see a child get hurt, especially when it's preventable. This is not about who is a better parent. It's not about selling more car seats. It really just comes down to keeping kids safe. I read a very good editorial in the Chicago Tribune that highlights the reasoning behind the new guidelines and dispels some of the myths around them. And there's a very informative video here that explains each of the recommendations.

One of the best things I've read recently was a blog post about activism. The post was written last year, but was being passed around again last week in response to the car seat discussions. There are so many parents that are quick to judge one person's choices as an attack on their own choices. I think we've all come across this at some point. I don't think most of us are making our parenting decisions based on what other people think. As I said last week, I also don't think that our choices are a reflection of condemning anyone who chooses differently. Actually, I believe that those who are outspoken about certain topics are usually the people who have struggled themselves. They just want to tell other parents what they wish someone would have told them. Whether it's car seat safety, breastfeeding, or something else, the motivation behind the activism is often the same and rarely (I believe) comes from a desire to feel superior to anyone else.

Anyway, that's enough about that. Next I'll be stirring up more trouble with some discussion about birth. Seriously. I've just read an eye-opening new book about birth in the United States and I'll get to share some of that very soon. Then I'll zip up my flame proof suit and hide under my bed.

P.S.-Military families- If you have a minute, go over to my Blog Frog community and read the post from Annette. She's a military mom and her son is about to deploy. She's having a hard time and could really use any helpful tips or advice from those of you who have experience dealing with deployments. Do any of you military moms know of a way she can connect with other mothers facing a child's deployment?

Judgement Day

2011-03-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I'm still surprised at the amount of anger some people have over the new car seat guidelines. I really never thought that posting the new guidelines here would elicit such a negative response that suddenly called into question my parenting choices.

Why is there such animosity between moms? Why the personal attacks on anyone who chooses something other than what you would choose?

I really, honestly do try not to judge others. It's a struggle. I'm only human. I can promise you that I do not look at a mom who did not breastfeed and silently condemn her. I do not hate mothers who choose to give birth in a hospital. (On the contrary, I've attended many hospital births as a doula to support moms in that environment.) I don't force my parenting choices on anyone else. I don't dislike working mothers. (I was one too.) I don't think that public schools are evil.

Regarding the car seat issue, I apologize if anything I said was interpreted as a personal attack. It was not. All I said was that the guidelines are supposed to keep kids safe, they don't seem that difficult to follow, and that I don't understand why there is such a controversy over them. That's it. That's just, like, my opinion, man.

I may make parenting choices that leave some of you wondering on earth I'm thinking. I know that what I choose to do for our family will not work for every family. I sometimes make mistakes. I'm not telling anyone that they should do things the way that I do them. Maybe I'm not a very good writer and sometimes things sound better in my head before I write them down. I have dozens of unpublished posts that I never got the courage to share. This blog was never intended to be any sort of parenting advice blog. I do not have all the answers, and I don't pretend to have all the answers. I can only share what goes on in our family.

Each of us, as moms, have to make the choices that are best for our families. I read and ask questions and talk to other moms to figure this whole parenting thing out because I'm constantly learning something new and I want to know more. We are never going to agree on everything. That's life. But let's do our best not to judge each other so much.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

New Car Seat Safety Guidelines

2011-03-22T02:50:00.000-07:00

Unless you don't watch the news or don't read anything on Facebook, you've probably heard about the new car seat guidelines. I think the word has spread throughout the mom community in record time. If you don't know what I'm talking about, the NHTSA and the AAP issued new standards yesterday for car seat safety. The specific guidelines for each age group can bee seen here.

Basically, these organizations are finally suggesting that parents follow the safety standards that car seat safety experts have been recommending for the last several years. The new guidelines direct parents to keep children in a rear-facing car seat until at least age 2, then moving them into a forward-facing seat with a 5-point harness. Children that outgrow the 5-point harness should be in a booster seat until age 12 or until they are at least 4'9" and able to fit properly into a vehicle seat belt.

Much of this sounds like common sense to those who have researched car seat safety. But to many people (especially those without young children) this is stirring up some controversy. I have read some people leaving nasty comments about the new guidelines and heard others use that wonderful phrase, "Well, when I was a child we didn't even have car seats and I'm fine!" As a friend pointed out, if they had been in an accident they wouldn't be around to tell everyone that they're fine. Right? I just don't understand the reasoning for not following these simple guidelines.

It never ceases to amaze me that there are parents who do not safely restrain their children (or themselves) in a vehicle. A friend of mine once told me about how she holds her baby on her lap in the front seat of her van on long trips while her husband drives. A baby. On her lap. Not restrained. I just can't believe people really do that. Do they not realize that, in a crash, that baby becomes a flying object that shoots through the windshield? Mommy's arms are just not going to protect that sweet baby in a collision.

Then there are people that don't use car seats correctly, for whatever reason. A child is safest when in a rear-facing seat. Everyone would be safer in rear-facing seats! But many parents turn their children's seats around too quickly, placing them at increased (and unnecessary) risk. A toddler can safely ride rear-facing, even if their legs are bent. When comparing risks, the risk of a broken neck trumps a broken leg any day as far as I'm concerned. (Broken legs = cast it, broken neck = casket.)

(Here's Joshua when he was around 30 lbs, still rear-facing.)

There are car seats on the market today that allow children to remain rear-facing up to 40 lbs. Nathan and Ryan have a seat with a 40-lb limit and are still rear-facing. Their legs are bent but they love to travel in the van and don't seem to care at all about the position of their seat. My big boys stayed in their rear-facing seats until they were 35 lbs (which was the limit of the seat.) They didn't end up bow-legged. I wish that I could have kept Leila & Sarah rear-facing longer (they could still be rear-facing now) but our van could not accommodate all 4 rear-facing seats. You are limited by what car seats you have and by what vehicle you drive, of course.

Speaking of vehicles, my van is awful when it comes to car seat installation. We only have LATCH in two seat positions, we have no headrests in any of the back seats at all, we only have 3 tether anchors, and our seat belt buckles have an unusual placement. It's impossible to install certain seats in our van. For those with big families, I've heard that the Ford full-size van has better options than they Chevy (what we have) and that the Dodge Sprinter (what I have always wanted) has even better seating arrangements.

Still, vehicle issues aside, you can find the safest seat for your child and your vehicle that still follows the guidelines. There are so many seats available that you don't have to pay a fortune or buy a new vehicle to find something that works. I was able to keep Matthew and Joshua in a 5-point harness until last summer, only needing to switch their seats because of the lack of tethers in my van. They're both in belt-positioning boosters now. Matthew does have friends his age (8 years old) that don't ride in booster seats, but these kids are in adult seat belts that don't fit them properly. That's just not safe.

Sure, it's a pain to buckle kids in and out of car seats. Yes, it can be inconvenient. But it is worth it to keep them safe. Car accidents are the number one cause of death for children in the U.S. The extra time that it takes to buckle a child into their car seat will be worth it if there is an accident. It takes me forever to go anywhere with 6 kids in car seats but I just leave myself extra time for all of the buckling and unbuckling. It's definitely worth it.

I have always been concerned about vehicle safety. One of my biggest fears is getting into a car accident with my children on board. I suppose that my concern may, in part, be from past experiences. I walked away from 2 major car accidents thanks to my seat belt. Not many people get hit by a dump truck and live to tell about it. I also lost a cousin (a child) to a drunk driver and my brother-in-law is in a wheelchair because of a drunk driver. You just never know when someone else's driving is going to affect you.

I see it this way... There is only so much that I can really control when it comes to safety on the road. I can't control the other drivers around me. I can't control the way my vehicle will react in a collision. I can't control the weather or the road conditions. I can control my kids and their car seats. One of the best ways I can keep them safe is just to follow the car seat guidelines.

Remember the guidelines listed here.

The NHTSA recommendations:

Select a car seat based on your child's age, height, and weight.
Keep your child in the proper car seat for as long as possible.
All children under 13 should ride in the back seat.

Stay safe!

To The Leprokon

2011-03-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know St. Patrick's Day was last week. I'm just slow.

Much like my heart-shaped pancakes that I made pink (with strawberries) for Valentine's Day, I went with a green theme for St. Patrick's Day. We had green eggs that tasted much better than they looked.
I baked green bread that could have passed for moldy bread, but was warm out of the oven. We had green smoothies with less fruit and more spinach than usual so they were really green!

But that was the extent of my plans for St. Patrick's Day. Apparently I was supposed to help the kids catch a leprechaun?

Matthew rigged an elaborate "leprechaun trap" in his room. Joshua followed suit, even alarming his with a noise trigger so that he would be woken up when the leprechaun tripped the trap. Even the girls had two traps set up in their room. I totally don't remember doing this as a kid.
Matthew left notes for the leprechaun and tried to entice him with TV and a Dyson. (A Dyson? Seriously?) He told the little green guy that he was welcome to stay until 6am. I was trying so hard not to laugh at the incredibly cute notes that were left all around this trap!

It makes me sad to think about what my life would be like if I wasn't cleaning up notes to leprechauns and making green eggs for breakfast. I really don't want my kids to grow up!

Twins and Birth Order

2011-03-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I read an interesting article about twins and identity. The article was written by an identical twin and he offered his perspective on the challenges that twins face as they struggle to form their own unique identity, separate from their twin.

Some of the things that the author mentioned were issues that many parents of multiples think about, read about, discuss, and debate- such as whether to dress twins alike or not. (I let my girls choose their clothes and they usually dress alike because they fight over clothes if they aren't wearing the same thing. My boys are usually in coordinating outfits of different colors.) He also briefly mentions mirror image twins (I have 2 sets of mirror image twins!) and some interesting twin statistics (which I've blogged about before.) One of the things that really surprised me, though, was the subject of birth order.

The author's parents had never allowed him to know who was the firstborn twin of the pair. When he and his brother asked, their parents refused to tell. Nobody in the family knew. He believes that this helped them to become separate individuals and not fall into the traditional roles of birth order where the older sibling is typically more dominant. This issue had never crossed my mind before. My twins are all young enough that they have never asked who was older of the pairs. In fact, the first person to ask me that question was Matthew. He watched Leila and Sarah being born and actually chose which baby would be named Leila. (We had not assigned names to them before birth.) Recently he has asked which of the twins were born first (he doesn't remember) so that he can have the children line up in birth order when waiting at the front door. It seemed like a totally benign question and so I told him that Leila was 14 minutes older than Sarah.

I really don't think that my daughters are old enough to understand (or care about) birth order. I don't think they fit the typical birth order traits. Actually, Sarah was "Baby A" and would have been born first until the girls switched places (repositioning from breech to vertex) at 36 weeks. Suddenly Leila became "Baby A" and was indeed born first. Sarah fits into the role of the firstborn child though, as she is more dominant and less timid than her sister.

Nathan and Ryan have not really displayed any behavior that makes me think that one is more outgoing than the other or that one is more of a leader than his brother. Maybe this will change in the future.

The author of the article also points out that he and his twin brother were always asked about their birth order. Everyone wanted to know who was older. I have not found this to be true at all for our family. I don't think I've ever had someone ask which twin was older from either pair. I don't know that the girls would even know the answer to that question. Perhaps this is something that will be asked of them when they are older, but for now it has never come up in conversation. (People typically just ask me if I have 3 sets of twins, if I have quads, whether I used fertility drugs or if twins run in my family!) Birth order has just never been questioned.

I'm not sure that I believe that knowing about their birth order will make a pair of twins more likely to assume the typical birth order roles. The only person in our family who seems to care about birth order is Matthew. He proudly proclaims his role as the oldest and the leader of his younger siblings. I don't treat my twins any differently than I treat their singleton siblings. Or perhaps I should say that I've always treated my singletons in the same way as I treat the twins? They share clothes, share a room, share toys, and share a row of seats in the van, just like their twin siblings. When it comes to personalities, all six of my kids are different and I don't think knowing (or not knowing) their birth order would change that.

What do you think?

If you have multiples, do they know their birth order?

If you are a multiple yourself, what are your thoughts?

Do people usually ask about birth order?

(ETA: When I asked Leila & Sarah who was born first, they both had no idea. I guess the only one that knows, or cares, is Matthew. Too funny!)

I Kissed A Moose

2011-03-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

(and I liked it.)

There's this little thing we've discovered since moving to Washington... When the sun comes out, you get out.

As in, go outside and soak up every bit of sunshine before it starts raining again.
That's exactly what we've been doing.

It's come to the point that we now drop everything and go outside if the sun comes out. I have never appreciated dry weather so much in my life!

Our last day out involved a family trip to a local wildlife park.
We rode a tram and saw some of the animals that call the pacific northwest home.

We were sitting right behind the driver and I'm sure we were a bit annoying. The driver would ask questions about the different animals and my kids would call out all of the answers. The driver loved it and wanted to know how my kids knew about all of these animals. I realized that my kids have really learned a lot from our crazy adventures.

My kids remembered visiting Granddad With No Hair and driving through the Rocky Mountains where we saw our first moose. The heard the elk bugling last fall. We drove with the bison in South Dakota. I think they are really taking it all in, even when I am not sure they'll remember the places we visit.

I am quite sure that the big kids will always remember our time living here though. We are finally settling in and feeling at home. It's such an important transition for military families.

Part of getting out and enjoying this place has meant bringing The Beast out of retirement. Yes, I thought we were past the point of needing a quad stroller. But I was wrong. The reality is, I have twin toddlers who run in opposite directions and twin girls who have tiny little legs that tire out after walking approximately 10 yards. The Beast makes life so much easier and we can get out and go anywhere!

And that's just what we're doing.

I realize that I really need to get a zoom lens for my camera. See those little furry blobs in this picture? Those are wolves.

This furry blob is a bear. Just so you know.

Sometimes Jason gets impatient with me when I'm pushing The Beast up a steep incline. He'll tease me and ask why I'm not walking faster. And then I'll say something about how the stroller weighs more than me (it really does!) and I've been doing P90X but I'm still just a girl and the stroller is heavy. And then he'll grab the stroller and sprint up the hills and the big boys will chase him and I'll be left at the bottom of the hill wondering what just happened. And then we laugh until we collapse.
Things are crazy. Things are good. I'm still reading and rereading all of the helpful comments about babysitters. I have a few leads and I'm hoping to find someone (or a couple of someones) who I can trust with my children once we get back from our big trip.

Babbling About Babysitting

2011-03-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

I used to babysit a lot when I was a kid. I have always loved children and have always adored babies. Babysitting was fun for me, not just a job. I couldn't get enough. I longed to be a mother someday. But now I have 6 kids of my own, and I am starting to wonder what it would be like to get a break.

A break?!

Yeah, that. Jason and I have been on 3 dates since having children. Three dates in 8 years. We have also been to 3 military balls. So that's 6 nights out altogether. Lame, I know. But it's hard to get away.

Part of our problem in getting out together has just been finding a babysitter. The military lifestyle has made it challenging for me to be away from my kids. We don't have family nearby to babysit for us and even if we did, our kids are a lot for anyone to handle. We're often moving to a new area where we don't know anyone. We have to find new a new church, meet new neighbors, and learn our way around a new city.

On the one hand, I don't want to be away from my kids at all. On the other hand, I don't even remember what it's like to go out to dinner and a movie with my husband. But I still feel guilty just thinking about hiring a babysitter.

And then there's the details. Assuming I find a babysitter... How much do I pay them? How old should the babysitter be? Do I need more than one babysitter? Can a teenager handle 6 kids?

During our brief time in Virginia I learned a few things about babysitters. First of all, there are some people who just can't deal with 6 children. Six kids are a lot. Even my mom, who loves her grandchildren, just can't take more than one or two of them at a time. Second of all, homeschooled teenagers that can drive are perfect "mommy's helpers." Third, I know nothing about babysitting etiquette.

I remember reading comments on one of my posts last year in which there was discussion about what amount is a fair rate to pay for babysitting or for a mommy's helper. A mommy's helper is in the home with me, so I would think they would be paid less than a babysitter who is left alone with my children. Even if I hired a babysitter so that Jason and I could go out on a date, my kids would probably be in bed before we left the house. Bedtime with 6 kids is just too much crazy for most people. I would expect to pay more for babysitting during the day when all of the kids are awake and need to be supervised.

When I was used to babysit, I typically got $20 for watching 2 kids for about 4 hours. That included any tip I may have gotten. I changed diapers, put kids to bed, cooked meals, washed dishes, and cleaned the house up. I think that's why the parents all liked me. And I was cheap. I don't think I was ever paid more than twenty bucks. Now, times are different. Mommy's helpers are getting paid $10/hr. I am clueless.

Do you use a babysitter?
How did you find your babysitter?
What age babysitter would be appropriate to hire to watch 6 kids?
What's the going rate these days?
How much do you tip?

Please fill me in!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

(They are "frozen." They pretend to be statues whenever we go outside to get in the van. It's actually pretty funny!)

Hitting the Road (Again, Again, Again)

2011-03-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

First of all, I have to thank each of you that left a comment about your small children. It's great to able to reassure each other when a lot of people question our kids' tiny size! Second, check out the giveaways link above because I'm giving away a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag!

So I happened to glance at the calendar yesterday and a sudden sense of panic washed over me when I realized that I am leaving on another road trip in just 6 short weeks. Where has the time gone? It feels like it was just yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting Jason's return from Iraq and suddenly here we are, almost 6 months later. And once again, I'm headed out by myself with 6 kids in tow as we cross the country in our camper. The last time we made this trip was just 6 months ago when I drove from Georgia to Washington to be there for Jason's homecoming. This time, I don't have anything quite so wonderful to anticipate, although I am excited to see friends and family on the east coast again. But this time, I'm headed from Washington to Georgia to have surgery. Not so fun.

If you've read my blog for long, you have probably read my posts about the stones in my salivary gland and my (unrelated) dizziness. After having multiple, large stones removed from my salivary gland, the doctors have recommended that I have it removed. And seeing as how it's currently blocked by several more large stones at this very moment, I have to agree. The problem is that the surgeon here in Washington has never performed this surgery and wasn't even sure he'd get to practice on a cadaver before he did it on me. He told me that there aren't any surgeons in the state that do this type of surgery (using intraoral approach instead of 2-3 inch incision on outside of neck.) So I'm headed to the hospital in Georgia where the surgeon there is one of the best in this field. And while I'm there, his colleague is going to do surgery on my ear at the same time-getting 2 problems solved at once! (The surgeons here were going to make me have 2 separate surgeries.)

The ear surgery is sort of an unknown at this point. We don't know whether it will help with my dizziness. We don't know what they'll need to do until they cut my ear open and see how bad it is on the inside. They are planning to remove a cholesteatoma and correct the damage to my ear drum, with a second surgery in a few months to replace the tiny bones inside my ear with prosthetics. All in all, I'm probably going to be a bit of a mes for a few days!

After the surgeries, I'm driving from Georgia up to Virginia to visit family. Jason is flying to Virginia to meet us there. He hasn't seen his family in over a year, so this will be a fun trip for him. We'll have a week in Virginia before turning around and driving back to Washington.

One of the tough parts about being a military family is often living far from our extended family. With 6 young children, flying home is just not an option. Driving takes weeks, but it's the best way for us to get home. And knowing that this is our only trip home for the next 2 years makes it worth the trouble.

And so we are hitting the road again and surely chaos will ensue. This time I'm going to have a working laptop and I'm going to be blogging all along the way. Hopefully there won't be any dead cats, flat tires, broken towing equipment, or babies locking us out of the camper. But you never know...

Little Sisters

2011-03-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, I'm reminded of just how little these little sisters are... We had a long week of illness in this house again. I think that one of the yuckiest parts of moving so frequently in the military is the adjustment to new climates. Every time we move, it seems that we spend the first year going from illness to the next. Washington is wet and cold, Arizona was hot and dry, Georgia was hot and humid, and Virginia changed with each season. I'm not sure if it's the weather or just being in a new area, but it feels like we are more susceptible to whatever viruses are hanging around. Last week some of the kids had colds and this week it was the dreaded sore throat & fever with a little vomiting thrown in for good measure.

The kids are feeling better this morning and I randomly popped Leila onto the bathroom scale while I was brushing her hair. She weighs 28 lbs right now. 28 lbs! She was only a hair over 30 lbs before she got sick but there was something so shocking about seeing her weight dip back down into the twenties. She will be 5 next month. She is so tiny!

Although Leila & Sarah were born at 39+ weeks and each weighed over 7 lbs, they quickly dropped from being average size to being... little. When our (pretty hands-off, osteopath) doctor saw them when they were a year old, she was concerned that they only weighed 16 lbs each. I hadn't been concerned about their size until then because they were having plenty of wet and poopy diapers and were developing normally and meeting milestones. But the doctor wanted to have some metabolic testing done, just in case. The blood work came back normal and now we just laugh about the girls being "late bloomers."

One of the funniest things about this is that Jason and I are both on the tall side. He's 6' 3" and I'm 5'10". The thought of having two daughters that are so tiny makes us all giggle. Our other kids are all of average weight and height, starting out on the bigger side and then averaging out as toddlers. Leila and Sarah are only 39 inches tall at nearly 5 years old, which puts them in the 3rd percentile for height. And their weight (at 30 lbs) is not even on the chart. Matthew even asked if the girls might be little people (dwarfism) which is most certainly not the case. They are just little.

I don't usually think about the girls' size unless they're playing next to another child their age or I'm buying their clothes. I bought clothes a few seasons ahead at a consignment sale a few years ago and they still haven't grown into them yet. They are wearing size 3T clothes, which is the same size that Nathan and Ryan are wearing. (And, for the record, Nathan and Ryan weigh more than the girls now.)

I have no idea why my girls are so tiny, but I just love it. There is something so sweet about being petite! (I would not know about that personally, as I am a giraffe.) Hey, someone has to be in the lowest percentiles, right? Added bonus: these girls take forever to outgrow clothes and shoes!

Does anyone else have a child at the bottom of the growth chart?

An Oldie, But A Goodie

2011-03-03T05:26:00.000-08:00

This was a little video clip that I put together a few years ago for a contest sponsored by Kissaluvs diaper company. Leila & Sarah weren't even a year old then. We ended up winning a bunch of beautiful diapers! I just happened to stumble across this old video and had to share.

We Saw the White Stuff

2011-03-02T21:10:00.002-08:00

It snowed last week...

...and then it melted.

But before the snow was gone, my children were anxious to get outside and eat it/throw it/build with it/stomp on it/watch it fall. You would think that they've never seen snow before. But of course they have.

Matthew made the world's smallest snowman with the light coating of snow that covered our deck.
Nathan stepped outside to watch for a minute. He has started making Ryan's "smiley" face for the camera. This was probably the first time that the little boys ever played in the snow because they were too little and the snow was way too high when we were in Virginia.
Our little snowman. Pathetic, I know. But we do the best with what we've got!

The snow was beautiful while it lasted... even if there wasn't much of it.

The evergreens look even more amazing when the snow is falling.

In the front yard, the neighborhood kids gathered and had a snowball fight. At one point I had at least a dozen kids in my yard building snowmen and snow forts. It was great! They built a snowman that was taller than Sarah! (Which actually isn't saying much since my poor girls are the size of 2-year olds.)

We went on a little hike in the woods and the girls made snow angels while Matthew and Joshua hurled rocks into the creek.

Then we came home and I baked fresh sugar cookies and made hot chocolate on the stove.

And all of that before Jason even came home from work!

I am finally able to post pictures again! Jason had to do a lot of work to get the computer situation under control. I still don't have the files that were on my hard drive, but we're going to find a place to recover them. Fortunately most of my photos were already saved on an external drive, but I hadn't backed up my computer since before Jason deployed. Oops. Lesson learned!

I have a super exciting giveaway coming up on Friday so stay tuned! In the meantime, check out my other giveaways by clicking the link at the top of this page.

I Hate It When That Happens

2011-02-27T20:59:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, my computer crashed. To make matters worse, Jason couldn't recover the files on my hard drive. I lost everything on it. Fortunately, we had backed up most of the files recently and we store most of the pictures on an external hard drive. But I still lost hundreds of photos and stock images for my doula website/store. I'm taking over Jason's laptop for now but it's just not the same.

It's been another busy week in our house... as always. Our local multiples club had a huge consignment sale and I spent most of yesterday helping out at the sale and hanging out with the other mothers. It felt so nice to get out of the house for a change.

Speaking of change, I'm hoping to be at the end of changing diapers soon. Nathan is showing renewed interest in using the potty, although Ryan still prefers his diapers. We added a new potty chair to our extensive collection. I snagged a frog potty at the consignment sale with the hope that it might entice Ryan. No such luck. Apparently none of our 7 potty chairs are good enough for him. Nathan loved the frog potty and immediately put it on his head and wore it around the living room.

I'm gearing up for warmer weather and starting our miniature garden in the backyard. We had a few flurries here last week but it was pretty lame as far as snowfall goes. I can't say I miss the Georgia weather since it still feels like we haven't had a real winter here in Washington yet.

I am now going to go investigate options for recovering the files from my hard drive. I hear that there are places that will do this. Anyone know where?

Crash and Chaos

2011-02-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

My computer crashed. Everything I was working on is... gone. Chaos ensues.

I have a number of giveaways coming up soon. Check out the link above.

My little ones are sick again. I think we will just have to stop going to church until after cold and flu season is over. (See why I'm a homebody?)

Things are even crazier here than usual, which is saying a lot.

Have I mentioned that we leave for Georgia in less than 2 months?

It's going to be a wild ride for the next few months!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

Forcing Myself Out of My Shell

2011-02-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what's causing it, but I've become such a recluse lately! It's a battle just to get motivated to leave the house.

I wake up in the morning, look outside at the gray sky, and have no desire to go anywhere. As a result of this self-imposed house restriction, I am not exactly making new friends or having much social interaction.

Moving is nothing new to us. I have lived in 7 states just since Matthew was born. Usually I find my niche pretty quickly in a new place by hitting the local LLL meetings or the parents of multiples club or finding a homeschool co-op. Some of the first people that I met in the very first days that I was in Georgia are now the people who I still consider my good friends.

But for some reason, I haven't really made much effort to make friends here in Washington yet. (Maybe because I already know when we'll be leaving?) And that's going to change!

Last week I hosted a playdate at my house, met with a small group of mothers with twins, talked to one of the other LLL Leaders here in town, chatted with 2 of my neighbors, and tried to make contact with some local homeschooling families. I even invited some other moms over to talk about (and sew) cloth diapers! On Sunday I even got dressed up and went to a dinner for military wives. I am so out of my element here.

I'm making baby steps toward making friends in this new place. It feels... awkward. I'm the new person and I'm "the one with two sets of twins." Having those labels makes me feel like the odd one in any social situation. I'm trying not to think about that. Baby steps...

How do you make friends in a new place? How did you find your "community" of like-minded people? Anyone else have trouble getting motivated to go out and meet new people?

Labyrinths

2011-02-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Because of my boys' recent fascination with Greek mythology, we went on an interesting field trip this week...
A friend of mine recently shared a website that lists labyrinths all around the world. As it turns out, there are several labyrinths right in our area! We decided that we should go and visit a few of them.
We found a pretty labyrinth at a local school and we stopped and spent some time walking and talking about the Minotaur and Theseus. Matthew was very disappointed that this labyrinth did not have walls, tunnels, and a beast that was part man and part bull in the center. I guess I understand now why he likes reading about the Greeks so much.

Minotaur or not, it was still fun to wander around this little labyrinth, tucked under the evergreen trees near the shores of Puget Sound.
Our next trip to a different labyrinth failed when we couldn't actually find it where it was supposed to be located. The boys were disappointed but I promised them we'd find more when we head up to Seattle this weekend.
Isn't this beautiful? I wish I had this in my backyard!

A Good, Good Day

2011-02-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

Wake up.

Nurse babies. (Can I still call them babies?)

Change diapers. (Potty training is not happening yet.)

Dress everyone.

Breakfast. (Muffins I baked yesterday. Easy.)

Check email. (Consider a mass delete but convince myself I will get caught up... someday.)
Decide to walk to Matthew's eye doctor appointment. (A little over 2 miles each way.)

Glorious sunshine.

Walk too quickly and arrive early. (Good exercise!)

Stop at coffee shop and grab coffee for me and cookies for the kids. (This negates all of the exercise, of course.)

Try to stop by library but it's closed.

Take all of the kids in to Matthew's appointment. (He has a minor eye problem and might need glasses.)

The eye doctor has the same first name and middle name as me. (And my middle name is very uncommon for someone my age!)

Kids get a prize from the "treasure chest" and we head home.

Explore under a bridge, touch moss, climb rocks, and pretend to be spies on the walk back.

Realize that I am not ready to part with "The Beast." (And that I am still in love with this wonderful, ginormous stroller!)

Come home and eat lunch. (Starving!!!)
Babies nap. (I think I really should stop calling them that.)

Big boys do school. (Can't get enough of the Greek Mythology we're studying right now!)

Try to check email. (Babies wake up.)

Bake a loaf of bread.

Clean house. (Why do I bother?)

Make dinner.

Eat. Talk. Laugh at Matthew's jokes. (How does the bee get to school? On a school buzz!)

Bedtime for kiddos. (Diapers and nursing and jammies, oh my!)

Clean up. Again.

Stand in front of computer and wonder where the day went. (Smile because we all survived!)

Food Budget

2011-02-05T12:28:00.000-08:00

I have had many people ask about our food budget and, specifically, how we eat mostly organic food. I have never written about budgeting before so this is my first attempt! I can tell you that our food expenses have gotten much lower now that we are in Washington. Our expenses have always varied when we move as I try to seek out new food sources and find my groove. (That's an interesting part of military life.)

When we lived in Arizona, there was a year-round farmer's market and we had easy access to local, organic produce and meat. In Georgia I spent a lot of time at the local health food store because they had a good selection of local, organic produce and meat but it was much, much more expensive than buying from the source. I even went out of state to stock up on meat when we lived there. There is a CSA there that delivers as well. In Virginia there was a decent selection of organic produce at the local supermarket but it was not local. The farmer's market was seasonal. We did have an abundance of organic, locally pastured meat. There was no local CSA for produce. Here in Washington, we are blessed to have a CSA that delivers produce and an almost-year-round farmer's market. Obviously, each area is very different and the climate dictates the growing season and availability of local produce. Plus, it is sometimes hard to find sources for good food if you don't know the area yet. I always go to www.localharvest.org to check for local CSAs and then scout our farmer's markets from there.

That said, most of our food does come from the CSAs and farmer's markets. And more and more, we are making food from scratch at home and buying less and less from the store. In turn, we are spending less and less on food. So while $400/month buys a lot here, it doesn't buy a lot in other areas of the country and it varies widely based on what's available in our area.

In an average month, we spend around $400 on food for our family of eight. This is 2 adults, 2 boys that almost eat as much as adults, 2 preschool girls that eat an average amount of food, and 2 toddlers that are always hungry. We also only eat meat a few times a week. Take that for what's it worth. (Disclaimer: I'm not saying everyone can, or should, eat what we eat or spend what we spend, or anything else. This is just what works for us.)

Monthly Food Budget

Produce CSA box, delivered weekly (includes 95% of the fruits and vegetables we eat)

Cost: $148 for the month

Meat (local grass-fed beef, chicken, and occasionally turkey or pork)

Cost: $50-60 for the month

Baking & cooking supplies and dried goods in bulk (flour, honey, sugar, raisins, rice, eggs, etc.)

Cost: $140-$155 for the month

Supermarket (for us-the commissary)

Cost: $40-70 for the month

Total: $378-433 for the month

Produce: Almost all of our produce comes from the CSA box that is delivered weekly. Sometimes I will grab something at the farmer's market, but for the most part I get everything in the CSA box and can add/delete items to make sure I always have what I need coming in the box.

Meat: I always try to buy beef in bulk and store it in the freezer in our garage. It's cheaper to buy a 1/4 share of a cow than to buy individual cuts of meat. When I buy chicken, turkey or pork, I get it from the farmer's market. Because we don't eat it everyday, we save money since meat is our most expensive food.

Baking and cooking supplies: I just found an awesome, local source for organic flour. I can get enough organic flour to last for the entire month for around $25-30. Costco sometimes carries local, organic eggs but when they aren't available there I can get them from the farm directly or from the farmer's market. I buy organic sugar in bulk at Costco, as well as organic olive oil, organic raisins, organic peanut butter, organic quinoa, organic steel cut oats, and whatever other things I find. The selection varies and sometimes I go there to buy something and they don't have it. Plus, whatever I buy usually last longer than a month. I usually go to Costco once or twice a month and I typically spend $45-75 per trip.

Supermarket: There are only a handful of things that I buy in a grocery store these days. I do buy milk there because it is cheaper for me to buy organic, local milk there than it is to buy it from the source. I buy organic yogurt there and the kids it quite frequently. I also get organic, canned beans there because I can't get organic, dried beans anywhere else. (Although I will have to check the place where I buy the bulk flour and nuts because it just occurred to me that they might have them there.) I buy organic pasta sauce there because it is so much faster than making my own. I sometimes buy cheese from the commissary, sometimes from the farmer's market, and rarely from Costco. We try not to eat much cheese but it is a guilty pleasure and Jason loves it, so we usually have some in the house. Another treat are the organic animal crackers from Costco which are perfect for snacking when we are running errands and require zero preparation. Our organic butter has been coming from the commissary or Costco, depending on who has it cheaper at the time. I also buy dry cereal from either place, depending on who has the lowest price.

The amount that we spend always varies quite a bit based on what I have left in the pantry. It's usually staggered so that we don't run out of meat, flour, peanut butter, etc. all at once. I spend more when we're traveling because we eat more convenience foods. For example, when we were in the camper I made a lot of rice, pasta/vegetable dishes because rice/pasta is easy to store and cook and storage space was extremely limited. We ate a lot of oatmeal, yogurt, and dry cereal for breakfast because we didn't have time or space to make hot breakfasts. I was spending around $30/month on bakery items (mostly just sandwich bread) but now that money is spent buying extra flour and yeast since I'm making my own at home.

Although I don't clip coupons, I think I'm still saving money. Eating less meat/dairy, making more foods from scratch, and buying from the source have cut our food expenses a lot. I know we will not always be able to eat an organic diet for $400/month, but as we start to explore growing our own food we might be able to maintain something close to this amount. Thoughts?

P.S.- Speaking of food... I was about to hit 'publish' and then came across this blog: http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/. What an eye opener! This is what kids are being fed in school? I had no idea! While I don't exactly have fond memories of the school lunches I was forced to eat as a child, I surely didn't realize that so much of what we ate was just pure garbage. I am also pretty sure that my parents had no idea that from middle school through high school I only ate Snickers bars and drank fruit punch from the a la carte line in the cafeteria.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

Extreme Room Makeover: Boy Edition

2011-02-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

I don't want anyone to think that my boys get left out. They each had their bedrooms fixed up last month as well. While I did not build them any elaborate play house beds, I can assure you that they are still just as spoiled as my girls.

Nathan and Ryan are destined to stay in cribs until I have more babies. (Or not.) I look back and laugh because Matthew was sleeping in his own race car bed at 15 months old. And yet with twins, I cannot imagine it. Nathan and Ryan would be up out of bed and burning the house down if they were not contained in their crib tents. Oh, how I love crib tents.
We don't usually put toys in the kids' rooms but this house has enormous bedrooms. Each of the kids has a few small things in their room and it's really easy to keep clean. (As opposed to the play room, which often looks as though a tornado has blown through-until I start collecting toys to donate and then it gets picked up really quickly!)
Nathan and Ryan have a frog theme going on in their room. And soon I will finish sewing their quilts that I started... more than 2 years ago.

These awesome decals were from Etsy and were another great Christmas gift from family. We love these froggies!

See? Sometimes the play room is clean. We have really purged a ton of toys. That helps.

The big boys now have matching loft beds (from Ikea.) Joshua was so excited to move up to a bigger bed.

I bought some sheets that were on clearance at Company Kids and made them into panels to cover the lower part of the bed. I sewed on a long, thin strip of velcro at the top and then used a staple gun to attach the other side of the velcro to the bed.

Now the boys each have a "secret" hiding spot. The velcro makes it easy to open the curtain whenever they want. Plus, it keeps the room looking clean. I hate clutter... can you tell?

The big boys also got new wall decals for Christmas. They have Nathan & Ryan's favorite duo-Mario & Luigi! The kids love watching episodes of the old Super Mario Bros. cartoon. I will have to post the video of Nathan & Ryan dancing to the cheesy rap song. It's classic.
At any given time, you can expect to step on 400 cars that Matthew has arranged carefully all over the floor. The cars pictured above were in a tornado. Yes, that is what he told me. He is an interesting kid!

I'm still working on my next building/sewing project...

A Week of Meals in My House

2011-01-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

Before I post the details about my food budget for all who have asked, I wanted to post an example of what we eat. I don't make meal menus because I am a procrastinator and because our food on hand differs each week. We have a few things that we eat pretty regularly and a few freezer meals that I make in advance when I have time. (We ate a lot of freezer meals when we were living in the camper!) If you want recipes, let me know and I can post them. I never follow recipes and am forever modifying them to what I want, but I should be writing things down.

Day 1

Breakfast: Omelets with spinach, onion and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese (We eat omelets a few times a week and what I put in them always depends on what comes in our CSA box-sometimes spinach, collard greens, peppers, etc.)

Lunch: Raw veggies with hummus, yogurt & fruit, granola (The hummus is homemade, the produce is from our CSA box, and the yogurt is store-bought.)

Dinner: Cabbage Runza casserole (This is cabbage, onion, ground beef, cheese & pastry layered in a casserole dish. It's delicious and it's a great way to get my kids to eat a TON of cabbage.)

Dessert: Pear pie (We have had an abundance of pears this month so I've been using them in everything lately! This is not a healthy dessert when you consider the amount of butter I used, but it was delicious.)

Day 2

Breakfast: Crockpot oatmeal with cinnamon, apples, raisins, flax seed, and brown sugar (I modified this recipe from Kate's blog. I use either steel cut oats and add a bit of extra water, or just use the regular organic oats. It cooks overnight so it's ready to go in the morning and I like to drizzle it with a bit of coconut milk.)

Lunch: Sandwiches with peanut butter and honey, yogurt & granola, apple slices (We didn't can any jellies this year and our supply ran out so we've been using honey more often until berries are in season again.)

Dinner: Leek & Potato Soup with bread (Confession: I had never had a leek until I started making this soup recently. I usually make soup once a week and the type depends on what's in our CSA box. My kids are particularly fond of the leek soup and cream of celery soup. Both of these soups are pureed so they are thick and smooth and very filling. I had green onions a few weeks ago and rinsed them, chopped them, dried them, and popped them in the freezer to be easily added into any meal.)

Day 3

Breakfast: Cereal & fruit (Dry cereal, often Cheerios, is for the days when I'm too busy to make something. On a super busy week when I have to run out somewhere , the box of cereal saves me.)

Lunch: Tortilla chips with salsa, yogurt, fruit salad (We love Mexican food and eat it at least once a week in some form. I make it from scratch so I consider it pretty healthy since it's full of fresh veggies. I buy the organic tortilla chips in huge bags from Costco. The fruit salad is never the same-it also varies based on the contents of the CSA box. Right now it's mostly apples, pears, and citrus fruits.)

Dinner: Thai chicken stir-fry (This is one of our favorite meals! I never make it the same way twice. Last week we had this beautiful veggie in our box-Romanesco broccoli! I added it to our usual stir-fry ingredients of broccoli, onions, and peppers. Sometimes I serve the stir-fry over noodles and sometimes I add in cabbage and omit the noodles. I make the sauce with organic peanut butter and a delicious bottled Thai sauce. There is nothing funnier than watching my kids slurp up long strings of onion and cabbage just like it is spaghetti noodles! Oh, and speaking of spaghetti, we do eat that as a fast meal when I'm in a rush. I like to layer spaghetti ingredients and spinach leaves in a casserole dish and bake it. Yum!)

Day 4

Breakfast: Breakfast bars (This is a recipe of my own creation using oats, Cheerios, raisins, and coconut along with some "secret" ingredients like wheat germ and flax meal.)

Lunch: Sandwiches with almond butter, oranges, carrots (This was our picnic lunch at the park so I grabbed anything portable. The artisan bread book has an amazing recipe for sandwich bread and it's the best sandwich bread I've ever tried. We always used to buy the organic wheat sandwich bread but this is so much better!)

Dinner: Mexican vegetarian mix on tortillas (This was my homemade salsa with tomatoes, peppers, onions, black beans, corn, and cilantro. I rolled it up in tortillas but I sometimes layer it on tortilla chips and melt cheese on top. If we have avocados I will make fresh guacamole too.)

Dessert: Bubbly Pear cupcakes (It's a long story, but I had this old bottle of champagne that had been sitting around for years. When googling recipes for pears cupcakes, I found one that called for bubbly in the mix. I decided to go for it and I made the most delicious, moist, pear cupcakes. They had a cream cheese icing. I couldn't believe how good they were!)

Day 5

Breakfast: Oatmeal (on the stove) with honey and raisins (My dad got us hooked on this oatmeal. I love trying new types of honey-right now it's blueberry honey from a local farm. I have never had a problem finding delicious, raw honey wherever we live. Perfect for oatmeal on a chilly morning!)

Lunch: Peanut butter & honey sandwiches, yogurt, fruit salad (I always mix it up by adding different things to the oatmeal. Brittany gave me the idea of using chia seeds as a topping for yogurt and oatmeal.

Dinner: Omelets stuffed with the last of the Mexican mix (Jason calls these "MVF omelets" because we've seen similar omelets on Man Vs. Food. These particular omelets were filled with my salsa and veggies, black beans, a bit of shredder cheese, and sour cream. They were oh-so-good in a bad sort of way.)

Dessert: Grapefruit Morning Cake (This was a recipe I had never tried and was considering using it when I have guests over next week so I wanted to test it. The cake uses the fresh juice of 2 grapefruits and oatmeal, among other things. Then you top it with the grapefruit wedges and a bit of yogurt. Tasty!)

Thursday is the day my CSA box shows up. For those wondering, this is what it looks like.

Day 6

Breakfast: Grapefruit morning bars (These were the leftovers from dessert.)

Lunch: Hardboiled eggs, yogurt & blueberries, veggies & hummus

Dinner: Pizza Night!!! (For the past several weeks we have been enjoying the most delicious pizzas ever. I've tried some interesting ones-like caramelized onion & Gorgonzola cheese- and some traditional ones-like cheese pizza or pineapple pizza. We usually have it with a fresh salad and some raw veggies. The bottom line is that the homemade pizza crust is what makes it so awesome.)

Dessert: Chocolate Lava cakes (In case you haven't noticed, I have a sweet tooth. We usually have dessert a couple of times during the week and sometimes I just feel the need to make something really sweet. The chocolate lava cakes were a fast recipe and I made them the size of mini cupcakes so they were a small portion.)

Day 7

Breakfast: Caramel Pecan Sticky Rolls (To die for. Seriously. The recipe was from the artisan bread book. I picked up some organic pecans from the bulk section of the store where I buy my wheat. The kids told me I was the best mommy ever. The rolls were that good.)

Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwiches, salad, fruit (I like to add things to the sandwich-like avocado. Some of the kids prefer tomato. The salad is mixed with whatever veggies we have on hand-spinach, carrots, cucumber, red onion, tomato, etc.)

Dinner: Chili & bread (I did not eat chili until I was in my twenties and even then, I'd only eaten it one time in my life. I had never cooked it until recently. Now chili is one of my favorite meals. I make it with very little meat or without meat at all and I use fresh, organic produce. Sometimes I hide things in it (like pureed squash-I hide that in spaghetti sauce too) and I use flax meal to thicken it up. This is a perfect freezer meal.)

There you have it. That's what we ate last week. You also have to remember that what we eat varies by season. I am finishing up a post about how much I spend on food each month. Everything we ate during this week was organic except for the Thai sauce. The meat for the 3 non-vegetarian meals was locally pastured. All of the produce came from the CSA box-except for the beans, which were canned. I think our meals are pretty "normal" when compared to what most Americans might eat. (I am not really sure what "normal" is though!) I didn't include what we drank because we are boring and only drink water. I also didn't include snacks because I rarely prepare anything for snacks. I let the kids grab a piece of fruit, some crackers, or veggies & hummus. They'll eat whatever is in sight so it's pretty easy. That's it-food for 8 for a week.

I'd love recipe ideas so please feel free to share what your family loves to eat!

One of Those Days

2011-01-26T17:39:00.000-08:00

You know, one of those days...

We spent 2 hours today taking a scenic tour of a local town. (Read: I got really lost.) I was trying to meet up with some homeschooling families and got turned around and missed the whole get together. The kids were not pleased. I was disappointed.

I finally saw a doctor today about my recurring shin splints. My shin splints may actually be stress fractures in my legs and the doctor told me this morning that I need to stay away from anything high-impact until I'm recovered. This means no running. I hate not being able to run. Running is my release.

I tried to salvage the day by taking the kids to a park down the street for a picnic lunch. Nathan threw a fit on the way there and I realized that missing a nap and then going to the park was a bad combination. We ate lunch and tried to get our sillies out before walking back home.

A quick trip to the store went surprisingly well. After loading my six hooligans into the van to head home, I returned our two shopping carts to the cart corral. Then I came back to my van to find my driver's side door blocked by someone's empty shopping cart. They really had to park it up against my van door and just leave it there?

Tonight I have to hunt around the garage and find all of the items that were damaged by the movers. They're coming to inspect the damage tomorrow.

My grandmother was released from the hospital today (for the second time in as many weeks.) My mom got stuck in the sudden snowstorm that hit DC and it took her 3 hours to get home. I guess they are having one of those days too!

What do I do when I have one of those days?

Grin and bear it, of course!

I Am...

2011-01-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

...so busy! (Shocker, right?)

...baking bread like crazy.

...working on a post about our food budget.

...making plans to drive to Georgia in May to have my surgeries there.

...taking a break from running because my shin splints are back.

...so proud of my boys who are both falling in love with reading some really great books.

...pondering whether Nathan and Ryan will ever be interested in potty training.

...wondering when I'll ever have enough time to make an effort at potty training.

...missing the snow and cold weather.

...ready for the rain to end.

...loving Washington, despite the weather.

...making plans for a straw bale garden.

...thinking about my next construction project.

...contemplating the future of my business that's been on hold indefinitely.
...wondering when my children got so big.

...laughing at my goofy husband.

...glad to be laughing.

My Newest Addiction: Freshly Baked Bread

2011-01-22T11:22:00.000-08:00

As if my coffee addiction is not bad enough, I am now hooked on freshly baked bread. I guess there are worse things that could happen. And my family seems genuinely pleased with my infatuation with creating the perfect dough.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned on Facebook that I have been wanting to bake my own bread. I gave away my bread maker more than 10 years ago because I rarely used it. And, until now, I thought that was the only easy way to make homemade bread. I was very wrong.

Immediately after I posted on Facebook, several people told me that I needed to get the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day." I checked it out and did what any impatient girl would do... I ordered it from Amazon right then. Two days later the book arrived and I have not stopped baking since then.

Do you all know about this book? If you do, then why have you not told me about it?! Seriously, this book is amazing!
In fact, I had to buy new, larger flour canisters to support my new addiction. Here you can see my big-enough-to-feed-an-Army sized jars of wheat flour, white flour, and the sugars. I found a local source for bulk organic flours, nuts, oats, and dried fruits. I am in heaven.

So here's the deal:

The book is based on the discovery that you can prepare a large batch of wet bread dough that will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, allowing you to quickly bake small batches using the ready dough. It's very fast and very easy and you don't need a bread maker or any other special equipment. In other words, even if you have 6 children, you can still bake your own fresh bread each day because it is just that easy.

For the first few days I experimented with loaves of white or wheat bread so that I could get the feel for making the dough. I used the bread in place of our usual store-bought organic bread for sandwiches. It was simple enough that I was expecting a disaster in the kitchen and it just never happened. (Disasters in other rooms, yes, but not in the kitchen.)

Using my stand mixer, I just added water, yeast, salt, and flour. It makes a perfect, moist dough. Then I toss it in the fridge and cut off chunks as needed to bake each day.

After quite a few loaves of bread, I decided to expand my horizons a bit. Next I made the most delicious, sweet, sticky caramel pecan rolls that our house has ever seen. It was a Sunday morning treat that my kids will never forget. They were proclaiming their love for me for the rest of the day.

A recipe for olive oil dough got me thinking that I really should try making a pizza. I've made my own pizzas many, many times but have not once attempted to make my own dough. The olive oil recipe was simple and I tossed the dough by hand to make a large pizza crust. I used a store-bought sauce (Newman's Own Organic Marinara) this time because I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I sprinkled the sauce with fresh basil. Then I added a layer of fresh spinach leaves from our co-op box and topped it all with a shredded block of organic mozzarella cheese. I made a second pizza with the same ingredients and then added a bit of local sausage that I seasoned with spices and browned first. Jason loves meat on his pizza.

I have to say that those pizzas were amazing. The crust was perfect! They were so delicious that I never want to order pizza delivery again. Even the kids agreed that it was the best pizza they'd ever tasted. And it only took me 5 minutes to mix the dough.

It's only been two weeks, but I am in love with "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day." I love the feeling that comes with making something that tastes so good. I love being able to control the ingredients that are going into our breads. We have never been big bread-eaters, but my kids always had sandwiches a few times a week and now those sandwiches have become a special treat. I am afraid to even say it, but for the first time in my life I think I am starting to love cooking and baking. (What?! Did I really just say that? I used to hate cooking!)

I don't know what is happening here. I bake my own bread? What is next? Will I start growing my own vegetables in the backyard? (Don't answer that.)

What Day is it?

2011-01-20T02:54:00.000-08:00

Have you ever felt like life was just moving too fast and you couldn't quite keep up? I have had a week like that and I've been frantically searching for the pause button.

Our days are so busy that I often find myself plopping into a chair at night and wondering where the day went. It gets away from me too quickly!

The girls have spent the better part of every morning this week inside their playhouse. They have tea parties and sell "ice cream" to each other. And then they fight about who is supposed to do what and then they make up and play some more. It's a very entertaining cycle to observe from the other room. I love using the mirrors in the hallway that provide a sneak peek into their room. These silly girls make me laugh so much!

The big boys have just finished up some studies on ancient Egypt and are now studying Greek Myths. They want me to read them every myth that I can find. They want me to help them draw minotaurs and match up planets that are named after Greek gods. We are having too much fun and before I know it, the babies are waking up from naps and it's time to start dinner.

Nathan and Ryan are resistant to my feeble potty training attempts. They are insistent upon climbing onto the kitchen counters using random objects, such as a drum or a couch cushion. They are hilariously entertaining and are in love with Mario and Luigi.

In the last month, 4 of my friends have found out they are pregnant. Two of them found out on the same day! When the kids overhead me on the phone the other day, they had some ideas of their own. Sarah told me that "we need another baby." Leila asked if I can "just have another baby." I laughed and told them to talk to Daddy. Then Joshua said, very seriously, "Just have one and surprise him so he won't get mad." They are hilarious, aren't they? I think we've had a similar conversation before.
I've been spending my early mornings working out and then feeding the kids. Then I have been making phone call after phone call and running around the house trying to escape the giggling, shrieking, and talking so that I can hear the person on the other end of the phone. Our tenants in our home in Virginia didn't pay their rent this month. I'm scheduling my surgery in Georgia instead of having it here in Washington. The moving company is picking over our claim for the items damaged during our move. I've been spending my evenings getting documents ready for tax filing. It's a constant list of things-that-must-be-done-or-the-earth-will-implode. Being a grown up is too much work sometimes, don't you think?
Jason had three 24-hour (actually, longer) shifts at work in the last week. We are both ready for the weekend and some sort of exploring. Last weekend we took the kids to Point Defiance and we explored around town. We had a blast just checking out the scene.

I'm working on a few new projects that will force me to make some time for myself. And one day I will get caught up on email and finish writing my next blog post and maybe get out and make some friends here... one day.

TGIF. Wait. It's not Friday yet?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-19T02:29:00.000-08:00

Secret Project: Complete

2011-01-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

What started as a massive pile of lumber in my garage has been transformed into the coolest project I've ever completed.
It took me a couple of days to cut all of the wood and begin assembly. I spent my birthday drilling and building. I loved every minute of it!
Jason reluctantly helped me cut the huge sheets of MDF since they were pretty heavy. He hates building things, so he was happy to let this be my little project. And I relished the time by myself, sipping coffee and listening to music. I love creating things and this project was perfect for me.

It was very quickly coming together! Boards became walls and railings...
...and walls and railings became an awesome bed!

For just under $300, I built the most amazing loft bed for Leila & Sarah. I'd had my eye on a dollhouse loft bed since the girls were born, but the $2000 price tag was just never going to be something we could afford. When I saw these free plans on Ana White's website, I fell in love.

Building the bed was the easy part. When it came time to start finishing it, I was getting impatient. Filling the pocket hole screw holes and sanding everything took one day. Then I started painting and that took the better part of a week since I couldn't paint with 6 kids under foot. I waited until they were in bed and then did the painting in sections. It took a long time!
The girls were anxious to see the finished bed. I was anxious to hang the cute curtains that I'd made. I carelessly left out a paint brush one night and Ryan painted lavender designs onto the white trim (and himself) so I added a little extra work. I followed the plans exactly and only made one modification-adding window sills.
Once everything was finished, I hung a strand of rope lights inside the playhouse area. I hung the two matching sets of curtains in the windows and tidied up. Then it was time for the big reveal! The girls oohed and ahhed over the bed and couldn't wait to climb up into it together. As a matter of fact, Matthew and Joshua joined them in it last night. I haven't put a second mattress in the bottom area yet because the girls wanted to sleep together up top. The twin mattress feels huge to them after being on crib mattresses for so long.

I also added "carpet" to the stairs. The stairs are actually a storage space, with each step opening to reveal a spot for toys, linens, or clothes. It is such a great idea and was one of the reasons I fell in love with Ana White's plans for this bed. The bed is cute and functional. It was Sarah's idea to add the carpet to the steps and Jason told me about it. I grabbed the bath rug that was in the girls' room already and cut it into 3 pieces. Then I nailed the pieces onto the lids of the steps. It makes climbing up and down the stairs much softer and quieter.

We are all just totally in love with this bed! All 6 kids have ended up getting room makeovers and I'll share the photos soon. This was part of their Christmas gifts this year.
Several years ago I refinished the dressers that I used as a child. The girls have my childhood furniture with new knobs and fresh, lavender paint. (Cost: around $30) I painted the wooden name cutouts a few years ago and added ribbon to hang them. (Cost: around $15)

We have 4 matching lavender bins for storing books and accessories. (Cost: $40)
My mom and grandmother sent money for Christmas and we used some of it to buy wall decals. Because we are renting this house we can't paint the walls. The are a fun and non-permanent way to decorate!

The wall decal is from Etsy. (Cost: $38) The vintage doll cradles once belonged to my mom and aunt and I refinished them with lavender paint. (Cost: $1 for paint on the "oops" shelf at Home Depot) I sewed the little doll blankets when I made the cradles. (Cost: $5 each)

The girls have new sheets and comforters from Target, using gift cards that they received for Christmas. The flowered sheets are a perfect match for the room! (Cost for comforters: $40 each and sheets were $14) I made the curtains myself and that took me almost as long as it took to build the whole bed. I wanted the curtains to look nice on both sides so the reverse is made of the same dollhouse fabric that I used on the ruffles. I used fabric that I already had in my stash.

I had custom decals made from an Etsy seller. The girls love ballet and these were a perfect addition to the new bed. (Cost: $12 each) The rope lighting inside was from our box of Christmas lights and I found some brackets in the garage that I used to attach them. The beanbags are from Target and we bought those when we were living in Georgia with no furniture. (Cost: around $20 each)

The fabulous rug is my favorite part of the room (besides the new bed of course!) I won it at a La Leche League conference during the silent auction. (Cost: around $200) The money went to a great cause so I felt good spending so much on a rug. It had the perfect color combination for the girls. Leila loves purple (like me) and Sarah prefers pink. That's why I painted the inside of the playhouse with pink paint.

In the end, this lumber, hardware, and paint for the bed was just under $300. The only new purchases were the wall decals and bedding. Everything else in the room was either already here or was repurposed from elsewhere in the house.

Sarah insisted on posing in her ballerina outfit (which she never takes off.) I think the girls are pretty pleased. Matthew says I'm the coolest Mommy ever... and he didn't even get a new bed!

A big thank you to Ana White at Knock-off Wood. Her plans are easy to follow and her creativity is amazing! Best of all, everything on her website is FREE! I now have a list of ten other projects that I must complete. Go check it out and tell me what you end up making!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-12T01:05:00.000-08:00

I Love Worm Poop

2011-01-10T22:11:00.000-08:00

In my garage there is...

...a pile of lumber scraps.

...a shelf full of power tools.

...a pile of boxes to donate to the thrift store.

...a big, pink hula hoop.

...a messy collection of bikes and scooters.

...a box full of worm poop.

What? Yes, I said a box full of worm poop.

A large plastic bin holds a happy worm family that lives in our garage and eats our waste. It's called vermiposting and it's a natural, easy way to dispose of food scraps and other organic waste. In return for your waste, the worms provide you with their waste, which is the perfect addition to any garden.

We always used to have a compost pile in our backyard for disposing of organic waste, but it soon became too difficult to find the time to go out and turn it often enough. I filled it up too quickly with grass clipping and soon the pile was larger than me. Enter the worm bin. The worm bin requires very little maintenance. It's small and compact. It's very efficient. I like efficiency.

I made our worm bin by drilling holes into the tops and sides of two large Rubbermaid bins and their lids. You can see an easy tutorial here. The holes allow for ventilation and the dark color of the bins keeps it dark inside so the worms are happy.

Inside the bin is a busy, thriving worm poop facility. The bottom of the bin is covered in a layer of shredded paper. I used to use newspaper for this until a friend gave me the idea of using the paper scraps from my paper shredder. I had been recycling the shredded paper without even thinking of using it for worm bedding. (Genius!)

The shredded paper is what the worms use for bedding. I place a moist piece of cardboard over the top of the paper to keep everything damp. (Not that that is a problem in Washington.) Every couple of days I bring our food waste out to the garage and bury it in a corner of the worm bin. The worms eat the food scraps very quickly and I collect the scraps in a metal compost container under the kitchen sink.

Our worm bin is bustling with activity. I started out with about 2 pounds of red worms but there are many, many more than that in our bin now. They can devour all of the food scraps for a family of eight in just a day or two. It is amazing! As the bin fills up with worm castings (aka poop) I can use their waste to fertilize our plants. I wish we had a garden, but we don't have the space. (I want to try square foot gardening on our deck though.)

A worm bin is an excellent project to do with children. It's green-you can't get much more environmentally friendly than using organic food waste to create organic waste fertilizer! Learning about vermiposting affords great teaching opportunities for homeschooling families too. (Field trip to a worm farm, anyone?) Worms bins are easy to maintain and they are very clean. There is no odor from our bin and zero mess. The entire process is fascinating for kids and costs nearly nothing.

Do you compost or vermipost? I'd love to hear about it!

My Secret Project

2011-01-10T07:38:00.002-08:00

I have been working on a little project...

...and it's almost finished.

Can you guess what it is?

Here's a hint...

And if you are friends with me on Facebook, don't tell the secret yet!

The Shipwreck

2011-01-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

After a few hours of exploring the other day, we did find our shipwreck.
We walked a long, frosty dirt trail that led from our neighborhood down to the water. Through the tall evergreens we walked, up and down, until we heard the sound of harbor seals. Matthew's eyes got wide. "Seals!!!" Seals mean water so we knew we were close.
At the bottom of a steep ravine were railroad tracks running right along the shore of Puget Sound. A sand bar stretched from the shore out to a ship, cracked in half, resting at the tip. The sand bar was covered by water and so most of the ship was submerged. We could still tell right away that it was the WWII Navy ship that we had hoped to find. We'll have to come back in the summer and see it when the water is low and we can walk out on the sand bar.

Matthew was angry that I wouldn't take him down to the water. Never mind that it was getting dark. He even made a special angry face for me.

Joshua was afraid to stand too close to the edge and hung around this tree instead. Oh, and it was cold.

From our perch above the water we could see the large group of seals resting on the shipwreck. We listened to their sounds to our right as we watched the sun setting to our left. It was spectacular.

As we stood there watching, the sun dipped below the mountains and the sky was filled with fabulous colors.

I am pretty sure that there is no better time to see God's handiwork than at sunrise or sunset when the sky becomes His canvas.

With darkness settling in, we rushed back along the trail. The frost made everything seem magical!

We passed several trees that were covered in this pale green growth. I think it's lichen. Does anyone know? We have it on a tree in our yard too.

Coming out of the forest, we saw this evergreen. It was taller than the other trees and naked, aside from a little puff of branches at the tip. The kids thought it was hilarious. Naked. Ahh, the things that entertain children... shipwrecks and naked trees.

A Field Trip in Our Own Backyard

2011-01-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, we set out on a little adventure. We were seeking a shipwreck. Eventually we did find it, but looking for it proved to be quite an adventure!
It's hard to see, but if you look closely on the horizon, you can see the mountains to our west. Puget Sound lies between us and those snow-capped mountains. It's really a beautiful sight on a clear day.
And on a clear day, we can see Mt. Rainier. You can see it from everywhere around here. I took these pictures in our neighborhood. I have a thing for mountains. I love living near the mountains and never grow tired of seeing them, no matter where we live.
The clear days in Washington definitely make up for the rainy days. The clear days take my breath away.
Jason waited with the 4 youngest children while I took Matthew and Joshua down a trail near our house. We walked for quite a distance before realizing that we were not getting close to the water. No water=no shipwreck. But we did find beautiful pebbles.
And a lot of ice. Matthew took pleasure in shattering every inch of the ice. In some places it was more than an inch thick. It was strangely therapeutic for him.
Joshua eventually fell flat on his bum but he quickly jumped up and started smashing ice again. We spent twenty minutes breaking ice in the woods.
We found a large concrete block. It was covered in moss, just like everything around here! I'm not sure what this used to be, but I thought it was interesting.
The boys thought it was perfect for climbing.
We climbed this ridge and looked out over the field where the coyotes "scream" at night. The boys were disappointed that we didn't see any this time. I was relieved. I think all of the ice-smashing and hollering scared away any deer or other wildlife.
On the way back, we spotted a little trampled trail through the woods. It was covered in a delicate coating of frost. It sparkled like fresh snow.

My favorite part of military life is exploring the new places we live. In the last 18 months we have lived in Arizona, Virginia, Georgia... and now, Washington. Each place is so different and there is so much to see right in our own backyard!

What's in your backyard?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-04T23:04:00.000-08:00

A Fresh Start

2011-01-04T08:20:00.002-08:00

It's a new year. A fresh start. 2011 holds no threat of deployment for us. There will be no cross-country moves. It should be a pretty dull year in comparison to 2010!

We finished of 2010 with the almighty stomach bug. After ravaging our house for 3 weeks, all eight of us eventually succumbed to the nasty virus. I spent my birthday feeling mighty queasy. New Year's Day was pretty rough. But now, hopefully, it is gone for good. A fresh start!

This is what happens to snowmen in Washington. Very sad. But a fitting birthday cake for me, I think! Turning 29 (for the third time) is not too bad.

This week the Christmas decorations came down. The kids went back to school. (And by "went", I mean they went upstairs.) I finished up a little secret project that I've been working on for the last week. We're being pretty productive so far this year.

It's been very cold here in Washington. But there is no snow! We have had a brief respite from the never-ending rain though, and for that I am grateful. This place is amazingly beautiful when the sky is clear and you can see everything around you.

I am not making any New Year's resolutions this year. I am just going to keep living life one day at a time!

2010 in Pictures

2010-12-31T18:44:00.004-08:00

I think 2010 was the toughest year of my life. And that says a lot.

January: We were in Virginia. Lots of snow. Deployment blues.

February: More snow. More deployment blues.

March: A spur-of-the-moment move back to Georgia. Our old house. Familiarity. No furniture.

April: Georgia. HOT. Having fun. Missing Jason.

May: An awesome visit with friends. Dizziness.

June: Saying good-byes again. Savoring the sunshine.

July: Hitting the road. Life in a camper. Virginia again.

August: A 6,000 mile journey. Life on the road. Simplify.

September: The end of the deployment. Reunited at last. Making a new home in Washington.

October: Settling into this new "normal." Making friends.

November: Missing our family. Wishing 3,000 miles weren't so far to drive. Thankful.

December: Grateful to have survived 2010. Blessed to be together. Looking forward to 2011...

My Year in Words

2010-12-31T18:28:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all the best in 2011!

When It Rains, It Pours

2010-12-30T15:13:00.007-08:00

I got a phone call from my mom this morning, wishing me a happy birthday and letting me know that she's in the hospital. Hold on, back up a second. What?!

My mom's husband failed a non-stress test before Christmas and the doctors saw an arrhythmia that showed up without any symptoms. They brought him back in yesterday for an ablation and while getting ready to do it, they triggered the arrhythmia again and had to use the defibrillator to stop it. He had surgery this morning to insert a pacemaker. This is a man who was perfectly healthy, not overweight, and had never had any heart problems in his life. Suddenly he is getting a pacemaker?!

My mom has been worried about him and worried about my grandmother, who was just hospitalized for several days with diverticulitis. After returning home, she blacked out in her bathroom and ended up in the hospital again with a concussion and 5 staples in her head. She's 84 years old and still is very, very independent. My mother lives just down the road and worries about her a lot though.

Last night, my mom woke up in the middle of the night with chest pains. She's only 53 years old. She's healthy, although she just had a full hysterectomy a few weeks ago. Today they admitted her to run a non-stress test and monitor her overnight. I don't think she can handle all of the stress right now. I am hoping that's all that this is... stress can cause chest pain, right?

All of this, out of the blue, all at once. It's too much to even wrap my brain around. I feel guilty for being 3,000 miles away at a time when my family needs me. Will update when I know more...

Update: They are both getting out of the hospital right now! My mom's husband is doing fine with the pacemaker and is headed home. My mom has more testing next week. I'm pretty sure she just is not handling the stress well. Hopefully that is all it is! Now, back to regularly scheduled programming...

It Just Hit Him

2010-12-29T13:06:00.003-08:00

Last night, Jason and I had just put the kids in bed after a long day. I'd made a special "dinner" of homemade pear & raisin muffins and homemade hot chocolate. I'd washed 2 loads of dishes. I had just put away the fourth load of laundry that day. I'd changed the babies' diapers and nursed them and tucked all six kids into bed. And then, just as I sat down on the couch, Nathan started crying. He had taken off all of his clothes and his diaper and was naked in his crib, calling for me. As Jason headed up the stairs to take care of Nathan, he said something over his shoulder...

"I don't know how you did this by yourself for so long."

And I had to smile because that is the very first time I've heard him say that. Ever. And in some small way, I felt like making it through 2010 was the greatest accomplishment of my life.

ETA:

And in some sick twist, it turns out that my compliment was not actually a compliment at all! It was actually Jason's lovely sarcasm, intended to make me aware of the fact that he has been helping at bedtime. So, silly me for thinking that my work was appreciated. That'll teach me.