A Day at the Ocean

Jared had his end of year program at school today. We got there just seconds before it began and I rushed in to save our seats but Dad slipped into a seat in the back instead. After looking around the room and spotting me Jared's face broke into a huge grin and as the teacher is announcing the program he calls out in a very loud voice "hey DAD! Why don't you go sit down beside MOM" I don't think there was any doubt whom HIS parents were! The kids all did an outstanding job singing and dancing. Jared was quite a character and during the "crabby claws" moment he was "pinching" the crabbie ears of the kid in front of him. At one point I thought he might fall off the "stage" he was bouncing up and down and wiggling all about so much. He has a LOT of energy! Later the teacher said that he had memorized everyone's line in the play. Way to go Jared! We had punch and cookies for refreshment afterwards and then the children were dismissed to go home early.

I need your help!

What are some of your favorite things to do in summer??? BBQ? Campouts? Swimming? What are some of your favorite FOODS???

Summer is my absolute favorite time of the year! I love fresh fruit and veggies straight out of the garden, hot summer days, sunshine, the feel of fresh cut grass beneath my feet, campfires, roasting marshmallows, vacations, water fights, the sound of crickets chirping away the nights...aah summer!

As of today I am now a registered Tupperware consultant and I even have a website! I would like to offer a special gift to my first 10 customers so please shop the site and drop me an order! There are so many cool new products just in time for summer! I know there is something you will just LOVE!

To be honest, I until about two weeks ago I had not been to a tupperware party EVER. I have a lot of tupperware which I use a lot, but I've ordered it from friends over the years. At the party I got to see so many of the new products available exclusively through Tupperware. My favorite is the marinader and now it comes in a sassy RED for summer! I got two - one for chicken and one for beef, and this month they come with a free shaker so you can whip up your favorite marinades in just minutes right at home. Do you have any favorite recipes you'd like to share??? I could really use a good steak recipe.

I am really excited about the flat outs! They are an inovative new bowl that expands or flattens out according to your needs. I love this!!! I am so limited with storage and I don't know about you but I am forever looking through cabinets trying to find a bowl and then can't find the lid! So frustrating! With the new flat outs you can store the bowl and the lid together - it just squashes right down flat! I can't wait to get my set and put it to use!

With summer upon us we will be doing more barbques and microwave cooking. My kitchen gets HOT, HOT, HOT and I surely don't need to turn on the oven to make it any warmer so I will be utilizing my hubbies new grill and our microwave quite a bit I think. The multi-level microwave cooker allows you to whip up a wide variety of foods in a fraction of the time...saving on time and electricity too. I'll be chillaxin with a tall cool drink while dinner cooks instead of slaving over a hot oven!

So here's to summer! Care to join me?

Happy Birthday Jared!

Wednesday Update
Jared turned 6 today!!!

He woke early - at around 6 am. I was making coffee in the kitchen when he walks up and gives me a hug so I sang him the happy birthday song and his smile was ear to ear.

I promised him I would bring the cupcakes that I had made the day before to his class and have lunch with him so that got him off to school in a happy mood.

The day was perfect! Very sunny and WARM...ok well maybe it was HOT :) the temps were mid 80s by mid morning. when I arrived at his school the kids were just lining up with their trays and heading outside to eat on the grass. Jaiden and I got the cupcakes set up and headed out to sit with Jared for lunch. It was so fun to hang out with the 5 year olds - they are so sweet and inquisitive. I was very amused by them and the silly things they come up with just over hot dogs. they were very interested in Jaiden and were all trying to "help" with her and let her sit at the big kids table with them and have a big kid cup and a cupcake. After the sweet snack they settled in for naptime - tee hee hee while I slipped out and headed home. I stopped and picked up some icecream, a balloon and tropical plant for Jared - Jaiden blew kisses to an nice older man that works as greeter. (so sweet!)

We came home and set up for a tupperware party I was having that night (Jared's birthday party is on Saturday) there were a few boys that came with their mom's so Jared enjoyed having them around to play with outside on the trampoline.

It had gotten into the 80s INSIDE so I had to turn on a/c for the first time and with the sun baking through all the windows, even with the shades drawn, it didn't cool down until after sunset. I was loving it! The party was fun, the most people I've ever had in my house at one time. 7 ladies came out - several from the neighborhood and one I'd never met. it was good to finally meet some new friends.

I finally went to bed exhausted after a busy but rewarding day. I ached all the way to the tips of my toes. When I woke this morning I felt extremely exhausted so I got up and took a B vitamin supplement right away hoping it would kick some of the blahs away. Drug myself around to get the morning routine started, felt ready to head back to bed but somehow got myself and the kids ready for the day. I had a woman's appt first thing so after dropping the boys off at school I headed to base. Dropped Jaiden off with Daddy, headed to the clinic, checked in, read a magazine, check vitals, sit forever in flimsy gown feeling very cold and bored to tears, doc comes in and chit chats about how I'm feeling, I tell her about my cronic exhaustion just like i've told every doc I've seen over the past 10 years or so - I tell her I am interested in getting back on depression meds because I just can't shake the blahs anymore, she say's "ooooh, I'm afraid you will have to go see your primary care manager, I don't deal with that" Fast forward past the routine exam, she was a super nice doctor but I am highly frustrated anyway with the fact that now I have to call back at 7am and try to get a same day appt. That is the way the appt system works - I have to drive another hour, get someone to watch Jaiden...just to go through the hoopla to talk to yet another doctor. I'm sorry, I have nothing against doctors personally but I just HATE to go to the hospital. I avoid it like the plague. Whatever it is will fall off or self heal quicker than they can figure out what is wrong.

So I leave there an even more emotional wreck than I was before - I tried to get help and they turned me away. I walk out to a blast of frigid north wind blowing so that just made my mood sooooo much better. I call hubby to let him know I am coming to pick up baby J and head to the grocery store. By the time I get there I am in tears. I am so not a crier so this is freaking me out. Why am I crying over this??? It's just a change in the weather. It's just a tiny thing. Why does something so blase have to be so detrimental to my well being? Hubby takes one look at me and knows something is up. I head to the store and a few minutes later he calls to invite me to lunch. What a sweetie! So we go to BK - grab some cheeseburgers and fries and have a nice lunch. that helps, J babe and I head home.

J babe takes a nap and I read my tupperware book and dream of organizing my cluttered pantry :) such delish colors too! I will end here and not tell you how our evening ended on a not so happy note when we tried to take J bear out to dinner and he was there 5 min and wanted to come home because he was freezing and pappa bear and mamma bear are not quite speaking to each other at the moment.

I know I am losing track of the everyday in may posting - I am soooo sorry! please forgive me?

Back in the saddle again

Today was a much better day. It was warm and sunny, as opposed to cold and sunny. I don't know why this makes such a difference in my mood but it seems to have a sever impact. I was able to get out and plant some new flowers. Oregano and rosemary and some new things for my rock garden. It felt good to have my hands in the dirt, kick of my shoes again and feel the warm sunshine kiss my pale cheeks.

We had our first batch of home grown asparagus for dinner tonight with grilled chicken and boy was it delicious! It has started to grow by leaps and bounds and the rain this weekend sent it into a growth spurt like you wouldn't believe. It grew a foot in one day! Of course those shoots weren't very tender, but the young ones were soooo good! The strawberries are starting to flower too so it won't be long until we should have a few berries to enjoy...if we can beat the birds to them.

The boys got haircuts tonight - you will have to wait till tommorrow to see Jared's new doo. He's off to bed now like a good boy should be on a school night. He informed me today that I need to contact his teacher because "she doesn't know how to make school fun" oh dear. he's only in kindergarten! He has a lot of school ahead of him yet but this year alone he has been in three separate schools and had three different teachers. the curriculum is pretty intense too - they are supposed to be reading by the end of the school year. Jared loves books but he is not interested in reading the words anymore. It used to be fun for him but he has lost interest and seems to shut his mind off when we read and tends to just focus on the pictures and make up the story as we go along. I love to read but I'm not sure what to do to get him interested in learning to sound out words. He makes up words that are no where near the word that he is looking at. He knows the sounds of letters so this is what confuses me. But he seems to not even be looking at the word when he "reads". He is great at memorizing and can recite a poem he learned months ago - but if you put the same words in front of him, he will stumble over sounding them out. I think he may have to repeat kindergarten. His focus is not quite as "mature" as it should be according to his previous teacher at our conference. This was during mid winter when he could not go outside and play and we had just moved into a tiny apartment where he could not make any noise. Of course his focus was a bit muddled! He had no outlet for his boundless energy and he was going stir crazy cooped up inside. He is a hands on learner. He learns best by doing. I wish there were schools that adapted to the students way of learning instead of making them all fit into the same standard. Each child is different, why can't we figure out a way to help them grow up to be whom they are meant to be instead of trying to shape them into something that fits the standard?

Sunday update

Sorry I missed posting Sunday. I just didn't. It was a rough weekend - story on my other blog. I've been in a funky mood all weekend. It will pass. I hope.

Rain, Baseball and Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo day!

Will Boston Sock it to the Twins?

It's a rainy saturday and we are just chillin inside - the babes and I. The guys (- Jared) went to watch a baseball game in Minneapolis.

so why was the birthday boy who loves baseball left behind? Not my idea but older son needed some quality time with father bonding so they planned this out months ago. meanwhile younger son is going stir crazy - he can look at his new trampoline but can't go out and play on it. Rotten Luck! So he's stuck watching cartoons and playing games indoors.

And me...I think I'm supposed to be organizing the basement or something like that. Better get on that, unfortunately it won't organize itself.

Friday

Dad took Cody to the Twins/Red Socks game this weekend so the babes and I are all alone with no camera. I'll have to do some flashback photos for a few days. Today is a very dreary and rainy day and for the next 3 days so we are cooped up inside and all are feeling a bit whiney. Even the puppy kept looking out the window all day and wanting to go out and play. I know we really need the rain but why does being cooped up inside have to make a person so crabby? I think I could use a double shot of chocolate please!

*Photo is of Jared (ever the helper) in the kitchen baking chocolate chip cookies. Our favorite!



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Thursday Thoughts

Today I am wishing it were the weekend. it's time to get up and get the kids off to school and I can't find my mojo to get going this morning. I just read on Yahoo news where a stay at home mom would earn around $138,000 if the job actually paid in anything other than smiles. But it doesn't and to earn even a smile is sometimes a struggle. There are days when I don't know what to make for dinner - like yesterday. I wanted to make something yummy, creative and eye appealing that didn't come out of a box. I drooled over cookbooks for hours and what did I come up with? Hamburger Helper - Crunchy Taco - that is so NOT thinking outside the box isn't it? My family loved it though and it only took a few minutes to prepare - if I'd spent hours preparing a meal they would probably only tasted it to be kind and then it would have sat in the fridge until it turned green.

Ok, it's getting late and the kids won't get up unless I wake them...ahhh unless it's Saturday morning and then they seem to wake at the crack of dawn.

High Ho, High Ho! :)

*Nightly Update
Today we put up a new trampoline. Our last trampoline was in Texas back in 1997? The Texas sun baked it so that Cody was jumping one day and fell right through. I really wish I'd seen the look on his face - that would have been quite a moment! He just came calmly into the house and said "uh, Mom I just fell through the trampoline" He was only around 6 or 7 at the time.

Ok, fast forward 10 years...Jared has always been a bouncy little boy full of energy and we have wanted to get him a trampoline for quite a while but have never been around in one place long enough and were overseas for two years...so anyway we are finally back in a place where we can buy stuff like that so that is what we did for his early birthday present. We spent some good family time out in the yard putting it together this afternoon and everyone pitched in to help, even Jaiden. Then we all had a turn bouncing each other around. It's amazing how much fun those things still are. I always wanted one as a kid but never had one so I get to relive some of my childhood too :)

Everyday in May #2

Today Jared had a field trip to the airport.

He got to see planes flip over on the ramp, take off going 80 mph and run out of gas midair. Of course all of this comes from a 5 year old so please do not be alarmed. There were no catastrophes - just a very wild imagination taking flight.

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This is Jared coming to the rescue of his sister, she was wailing (very dramatically) on the stairs and we couldn't figure out what happened - she was sitting there playing a toy video game...she was not stuck as it may appear.

Busy Day Today

Every day in May Post #1

Today was the busiest day I've had in a while...

after dropping the boys off at school, J babe and I ran to the hardware store and found a 36x36" mirror for the boys bathroom. Loaded it up and brought it home, ran to the bank, paid some bills, got the oil changed in the SUV, went to base, had lunch with daddy at the golf course - 1/2 yummy roast beef sandwich, 1/2 chicken and ham sandwich (shared with daddy) went to the thrift shop on base, J babe did a stinky, ran out to car, changed diapie, went to the commissary, FOOD!!! came home, unloaded FOOD!!! and spent some time outside with J babe and puppy.

That's all before 2 - at 5 I am going to meet a friend, go to her daughters soccer game and then to a tupperware party. so may not have time to blog a photo today....so I will try to post a pic from the past...ok maybe not; it's time to go get boys from school.

tryyying to load a photo...ok it's loaded - here's a photo of J bear in the sandbox building a castle.

Ok, I've got about 1 minute to tell something about this photo...this is somewhere close to Jared's 10th attempt to build a sandcastle. Each time he got this far his sister Jaiden would come over and smash it into bits as she laughed and laughed gleefully. He was getting just a bit annoyed by this point so I had to take a photo of it so he could remember his work. Yes, we were using a cottage cheese container to build it - we haven't gotten our sand toys yet. anyone have any other great "homeade" or recycled tools for the sandbox? This pic was not from today but with limited time I don't think I can get it loaded today. Today Jared is busy playing with the puppy...I'll try to go get a photo.

Ok Photo #2 - or is it 1? I don't know how they will look on blogger...anyway this was just taken at 4:30 pm this afternoon (right now actually) Jared was playing with Chloe our puppy and she was giving him kisses. Jared is "her boy" she adores him and this is the first dog we've had since he was born so they have claimed each other. She still gets a bit rough at times and snips at him with her tiny sharp teeth so he doesn't let her play with him all the time but when they are "buddies" it is so cute to watch them. We have only had Chloe for 3 weeks so each day we are growing and each day is a new adventure.