A Year Gone By.. and I Still Can't Pee Alone

Totally forgot that I had a blog.. you know how it is - especially if you're a mom.. I mean, seriously, there are days I am lucky if I get a single minute to myself.. Lord knows, I don't even get to pee alone without two kids (and sometimes three cats) all crowding in the bathroom to see whats going on.. Obviously, my bathroom habits are much more entertaining than Wonder Pets, Dora and Diego combined.. Maybe I should start selling tickets?? Bath time is even more fun.. After a long day of the heathens antics, there's nothing more relaxing then drawing a hot bath...maybe some scented bubble bath...dimming the lights and lowering myself to my neck with my Kindle for an hour or so.. I deserve it, right?? My son has taken the notion that this is the time he and Mom should have a heart to heart (as much as an Autistic 6 year old can have a heart to heart.) My bathroom and his closet share a wall and so when he hears the water running, he gets read for his ambush. He climbs into his closet and it starts. "Mommy, are you taking a bath".. "Yes son, Mommy is taking a bath.. Go to bed"...."Mommy, I love you." "I Love you too hunny, no go to bed."..... a few moments pass.. "Mommy, are you taking a bath??" "Yes baby, mommy is taking a bath, go to bed".. "Okay Mommy, I go to bed, you take a bath"..No such luck.... "Mommy, you still taking a bath?".. OOOOOH, someone shoot me please...

Time flies when mom is exhausted and sleep deprived.. haha..

All the cooking, cleaning and child rearing falls pretty much solely on my back.. The cooking and child rearing is one of those things that has to be done but sometimes, the cleaning gets put off for a bit.. People come to my house to visit and they are always amazed how clean it is considering the household of rugrats but fail to understand that we start preparing the night ahead for their visit.. On a normal day (like today) one can look over what use to be beige carpet (now stained with various shades of Kool-Aid) and see the everyday living of the kids. Puzzle pieces, blocks, books and various other toys scatter the living room floor waiting for the moment one of the kids remembers the fun they had with that particular object and decides to play with it again. And it never fails, you put everything back in its place and 5 minutes later, its exactly as it was.. Add to the fact that my husbands three telescopes take up a large portion of the room. A mom's work is never done..

We've tried to start a habit of the kids picking up their toys after they are done with them...YEAH RIGHT?? This is how it normally works: Garrett finished playing with the puzzle of the map of the United States.. all together, there are 50 pieces.. So, we tell him to pick up the pieces and put them back in the box. he's done with it, right?? I mean, the pieces have been left on the floor for over an hour and he's resorted to playing on the computer.. Sure enough, my wonderful son is more than happy to pick up the pieces as told.. All 50 pieces find their way back into the box as asked.. Mom is so proud.. and then the moment is gone.. "Okay hunny, great job. Now put the puzzle back on its shelf.".. NOPE, not gonna happen.. His interest is suddenly back on the puzzle and instead he dumps the entire mass back on the floor to once again assemble.. And again, once he is done, they will sit another 2 hours on the floor, until the kids go to bed and Mom picks them up and puts them on the shelf, only to begin the cycle again the next day..


I suspect that grey hairs are in my near future.. The oldest Princess of the household will be finishing 8th grade next week and will officially be a high schooler.. Now, I don't mean to toot my own horn but I gotta admit, I make some great looking offspring.. the younger princess is only 5 and will officially be starting Kindergarten next year so I have some years to worry about her, but the oldest has turned into quite the young woman.. I have a feeling sometime over the course of the summer,  I will be obtaining a couple of shotguns and a backhoe.. There's plenty of desert expanse to hide the bodies of the young boys who will be knocking on our door thinking they will be taking our daughter out..  the rule is she will be 16 before she can date..God still smiles down on me that she doesn't seem too interested in boys just yet, that anime and music videos seem to be the main focus in her life at this moment.
The final Princess is going through her obstinate phase at the moment. Terrible twos my butt.. I would take the twos and the threes anyday over the "Ferocious Fives"... Meal times are a battle... While my son loves healthy foods (and tends to snack on fruit and carrots rather than junk) my daughter will have nothing to do with anything that might have one single nutrient in it.. Fruits and veggies are the enemy. I have to wonder about this - I mean, what about a strawberry or a clementine makes my daughter clamp her mouth shut as if it contains a secret biological weapon set on her death. How is apple sauce safe but the actual red shiny fruit the stuff nightmares are made of. When did the Pear make a deal with the government and become the latest from of torture? . At one point, we tried to go vegan, or at least vegetarian.. We figured that if there were no other choices, the kids would get hungry enough and spoon something healthy down their gullets... After a week of watching her dinner plate remain untouched, we threw that idea to the wayside. Anyone who says kids will eat anything when they get hungry enough obviously never met my daughter. I know that if she ever were to become a POW, withholding food would NOT be her downfall.. Take away her Wonder Pets or tell her she cannot watch mom make a trip to the bathroom would dissolve her to tears.
AHHHHH.. Just another day in the Prince Kingdom..

Starting a School Year

So it has been forever since I have posted anything on this blog.. I guess most people gave up on me.  Lets see how long I last this time before the demands of real life take over and pull me away again. The biggest event right now in our kingdom is the start of a new school year.. This year all three kids have started school - Alyssa starting 8th grade and the two little ones have began Kindergarten. While Alyssa continues to attend the public middle school, I have taken upon myself the task of teaching the babies myself. This was a decision that had already started demanding alot of thought and prayer but ultimately the decision was made for me. The fact that Garrett would not be able to fit into a regular classroom meant that he would have to attend special ed. Unfortunately, the school doesn't offer it and he would have had to have been bussed to a "nearby" school nearly 45 minutes away. Instead, I decided I would teach him myself and so as of Monday both Garrett and Ashleigh started Kindergarten.... Figuring out a curriculum that would serve both to educate the kids to my satisfaction as well as meet the core standards for the state of California that didn't bankrupt me proved to me a challenge. We decided on doing both Readingeggs.com's phonics curriculum and Sonlight's curriculum for english, Saxton for Math, and Apologia Science's Astronomy and Zoology 1 (Flying animals) for Science. I'll also fill in the gaps for Social studies and Science on my own with units regarding different cultures and well as health. Part of me thinks I have bit of a much bigger bite then I can handle, especially with Garrett, but then I think that if anyone understands my son it's me... If anyone can find the key to unlocking him, its going to be me.. We started this journey on Monday.. Getting Garrett to do anything has been a real challenge.. He asks for crayons yet he won't color anything I supply.. instead he would rather scribble on a cardboard box.. I supply simple math and number handouts, he refuses to do them without a fight.. He won't answer when a number is pointed out (basic numbers like 1 or 2).. I really REALLY questioned if I had made a HUGE mistake... Until he started playing with coke cans... Being in California, we recycle the cans.. and so there's almost always cans on the counter waiting to be crushed and put in the bag.. Garrett has a fascination with crushing them.. So, we turned it into a game.. before I knew it, we were counting cans and doing simple math.. and he was getting it.. Today was a bit hard.. he would not concentrate on anything at all.. wouldn't color, wouldn't do computer work.. This weekend, I am going to sit down and actually structure something for him - if he refuses to do worksheets and coloring, we will play counting games instead.. 

The Dust Has Settled

It's another beautiful day in southern California as I sit here enjoying what bit of peace I can prior to everyone getting up. Surprisingly, its quiet so far, the birds are chirping outside and as of yet, I have heard no signs of impending "sonic booms". I have been here over 2 months now and they still scare the absolute crap out of me. Michigan was quiet, the loudest sound I heard from my apartment was the garbage truck in the early morning hours - the "beep, beep, beep" it makes when it backs up.. Here, the aircraft seem to have an agenda - to fly over at supersonic sounds just as they pass over my home, the percussion of breaking the sound barrier rattling my windows and causing my heart to jump in my chest a few times a day. Welcome to Air Force life, I guess.

Most of the boxes are finally unpacked and the house is somewhat organized. Its amazing to remember how cluttered my old apartment was and then look around this house and realize the difference. The apartment, being 850sf, seemed as if things were shoved everywhere. Here, with the same amount of stuff, looks so empty. The living room set which seemed to fill so much room in Michigan just barely fills half the living room here. This can be dangerous as each time I look to my left and see the empty area I want to go and buy furniture to fill it. Maybe once I start actually decorating and the walls aren't so gleaming white, it will look different.

But at least the dust has settled on this cross country move. Our lives have begun to fit into a routine. Alyssa has finished her 6th grade year and has been out of school for almost a week, and already I have heard "I'm Bored!!!" more times then I care to recall.. Garrett and Ashleigh have picked up the pieces as if we never left Michigan, falling into their same patterns of play as if its just another day to them. Even the cat has settled back into her old routine, jumping on my lap demanding affection at the most inopportune times. Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one who has noticed the change in venue - trading sand for dust and stucco for an apartment building. Maybe its the fact the carpet is the same dull beige color that has everyone else falling into the same lull... Maybe its the pine trees outside the window that seems to make everyone else think that things really haven't changed all that much. Or maybe, just maybe, it truly is correct when one says "home is where the heart is"..

California Living

As I look out the window of my new 3 bedroom home at a perfectly blue clear sky and temperatures in the high 60's, I'm struck by just how much everything has changed in just a matter of a couple of weeks. The kids now have a huge back yard to play in, we have a beautiful front yard we can decorate, great neighbors who already have invited us over a few times, and a clean slate to work with on rebuilding our lives together. My new home has had an influx of Airmen who come and go trying to score a free meal because they have heard that "Prince's Wife" is a hell of a cook.... Laughter has been a constant and there's almost always something going on, whether its the guys playing video games, or everyone sitting around playing a round of whatever board game we are in the mood for that night (Monopoly anyone?) Life is good...

While our base is out in the middle of nowhere, we are finding there is plenty to be had in the immediate vicinity. There's plenty of programs on base for both the babies and for Alyssa. Alyssa will even be attending her first dance this coming weekend for Mardi Gras. Thirty miles up the road are plenty of nice restaurants that we scoped out this past weekend and are already making plans for date nights in the future. And of course, I get to see my husband dressed in ABU's every morning, which is beyond awesome. I do believe I can get use to this.

On the downside, there's already talk of deployments in the future. I hate talking about it, as I just got my husband back after a full year of being away and the thought of him being gone again is depressing.... I guess we can cross that bridge when we get to it. Also, as I unpack things that the movers packed, I'm finding that I really wish they had packed our goods with a bit more care. Several things are broke, including a few pieces of furniture. Luckily they will replace items (which means I get a new entertainment center) but finding that they broke my fireplace that I had just bought over Christmas was upsetting. So far I have found about 5 things damaged.

But all in all, I see this move as a good thing. Good friends, a nice home, a nice location. The view outside my backyard of the Sierra Nevada's is breathtaking and I look forward to buying a BBQ pit and doing entertaining outside this summer. So for all that are starting a new life, good luck, and make the most of it :)

Updates

So its been some time since I’ve updated things on here. Charles had graduated from BMT and has moved on to prepare to start tech school. Currently he’s at Keesler AFB where he will start school on July 26th. After 8 weeks of that, he will move on to Sheppard AFB for lord knows how long.
AF Graduation was definitely an experience.  Back in 1998 I attended my ex husbands Basic Training graduation at Fort Jackson. The Army has nothing on the AF when it comes to graduation. I think of all the events, the coin ceremony was probably one of my favorites. Seeing my husband be awarded his coin and to see the emotions that he felt moved me. The Graduation itself was much like what the Army did  but the coin ceremony was a treat.  Spending time with Charles after 8.5 weeks was the highlight of the trip. Walking around San Antonio with my husband looking proud in his uniform and seeing the changes in him made being his wife that much sweeter.
So now I prepare for the next chapter in my life. While he starts school, I begin looking to trying to move into the vicinity of Keesler so that our family can be closer. The idea of months without my husband terrifies me, and I really don’t want to put our marriage through a long separation if not necessary.  For the last 6 years we have always been together. BMT was the first time in those years that we have not shared a bed together. I hate being away from him and figure moving there with the kids is a small sacrifice compared to what he has given up. I don’t want him to miss out on a year of our lives together if we do not have to.

The Picasso of Poop

Why is it that young children and the extreme elderly like to play with their poop? What about poop makes one think "Hey, that would look good on the wall"? One would think the smell alone would deter one for placing their hands down there, much less going back for seconds and thirds. But, no, such is not the case.

My kids seem to have this fascination with covering their bedroom walls in poop. Twice this week, I have opened their bedroom door to find one of them (usually Garrett) naked as a jaybird, dirty diaper discarded on the floor, and poop smeared on the walls. Each time both kids have poop on their hands, under their fingernails, sometimes in their hair. Mom then spends 20 minute giving them a bath and another 30 minutes cleaning the walls. The artwork leaves alot to be desired. I guess its hard to paint breathtaking scenic images or a inspiring still life with only one color to work with.... Nope, usually the smears on the wall resemble a brown tumbleweed floating in a sea of white.

I've tried to deter my lil poop Picasso's. A roll of duct tape stands ready for our nighttime diaper changes. This usually keeps Ash's diaper on securely but there are nights where Garrett is able to pull the tape off. We've tried onsies on backwards and that doesn't work.. its too warm now to put the blanket pajamas on backwards with the feet cut off.. I'm about ready to make suspenders out of the ducktape and just strap the diapers on that way..

Any sugggestions on how to curb the artistic impulses of these two? lol

The Drama Continues

So, DH's parents called me last night.. This is the first time they have called beyond zero week since he's been gone and I thought something was up. Well, they didn't disappoint me, that's for certain.
I spent the first half the conversation telling them the recent updates on Charles. His mom sounded somewhat interested. About 20 minutes into the conversation, I said I needed to go because the kids were getting cranky.. She says "before you go, I want to ask you something."
So, i spent another 20 minutes (with Ash crying in the background) listening to her trying to give me a guilt trip. SHe kept saying how they wanted to go to DH's graduation and feel horrible for telling him they would go when they can't. Turns out, the Aunt that they have been living with for the past year (rent free mind you) wants them out and they need to find another place to stay. They called another relative, they said outright no. So they tried yet another relative but when they heard the request, they said they would think about it and now won't answer the phone or return calls. (Sounds like a no to me). So, she keeps going on and on to me about how She knows Charles is going to be so disappointed that they aren't going to be able to go because they have to find someplace to live, and if the could only move in somewhere with relatives, they could go and he wouldn't be disappointed. She even tried to say that she thought he would be SOO disappointed that he would flunk out of basic because he would lose sight of why he was there since they couldn't go. As said, major guilt trip.

BUT I stuck to my guns. I never offered my home. I told them that I was buying a copy of the DVD of graduation and would be happy to send a copy of the pictures as well as a copy of the dVD to them. I said that I was sure Charles would be fine - after all, he's a 24 year old man - not a 5 year old who just found out that he's not going to get to go to the zoo..
I mean, even if they were good people who didn't use or manipulate others, it wouldn't be possible. He graduates the end of next month and then he has a little over 3 months for tech school (1 month at Keesler and then 74 days at Vandenberg) and then I'm leaving my apartment and moving on base. Where would they do then, without any job, anywhere to live, ect.. But after the way they treated me last time they came to my home, i just don't need that type of stress in my life.. No thanks. Im already worried enough about Charles making it through BMT. Then, they would hog all my phone time with him, which would be yet another issue.. and I can't stand the brother.. OMG!!

I guess for now, I just sit back and home they don't just show up on my doorstep between now and October.