Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Or that the older generation doesn't play video games? While out and about we had to get the new game for Wii "you can play with your butt." I think Terry had such a blast watching us make fools out of ourselves that he couldn't help but join in. Now of course we didn't make him get down on the floor and play with his butt, but we showed him how to use the Wii remote to bowl. He started kicking our butts after only two games of bowling. What was the first thing he wanted to do when he got up this morning? That's right, bowl.

He took a short break to watch the Vikings kick butt with only a few seconds left. Then back to bowling. Now the kids are showing him how to golf. Hmmm, will someone put a Wii on their Christmas list next year? LOL

Weather, Weather, Weather

Everyone around us is having all these winter storms. My father in laws train departure was delayed 7 hours because of storms in Chicago. He is going to be almost 8 hours late getting here. My family in Washington has over 30 inches of snow already and no sign of it letting up. Even Seattle and Portland are getting lots of snow.

We saw a little bit a couple of weeks ago. Now the worst part is 5 miles up the road from us the elevation changes enough that they even have snow! What the heck?

All I want for Christmas is snow! I don't want gifts, I don't want teeth, I would be perfectly happy with a couple of inches of snow! The rain in Germany may have been awful but at least we got snow in the winter!

Merry Christmas to all and to all good night.

The Magic of Christmas

After finishing our shopping a little earlier than normal this year we decided to go ahead and wrap what we had and put it under the tree. This must have motivated my children because we awoke this morning to breakfast in bed! They had made us french toast (ala Kaitlin as they call it) and orange juice.

After dragging our tired rear ends out of bed we walked into the kitchen knowing there would be a huge mess. NOPE! They had done their dishes and even emptied and reloaded the dishwasher. I wish it could be Christmas every day, LOL.

It was really nice after a full day of baking and knowing I had another full day ahead of me it was nice to be waited on even if only for a minute.

Every year...

Every year I get excited about Christmas and am ready to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. Every year Jason says I don't want to go crazy this year.
Every year I say that's okay ;-)
Every year we get all the lights and decorations out.
Every year we spend a whole afternoon making sure all the lights still work.
Every year we go outside and he asks where I want lights.
Every year I point out where I think we need to have lights at minimum.
Every year he says are you sure?
Every year I say yes dear.
Every year he starts putting up the lights I ask for.
Every year he says Let's put some here, here, and here.
Every year I kiss him and say that's why I love you.
Every year I let him think it was his idea.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Try not to overstuff yourself on Turkey like we always end up doing. :-)

Tis the Season

This time of the year I always get a little sentimental. Of course with this emotion comes questions. Why does it take this time of the year to realize how important family is? We all love our families and wish we could spend more time with them, but that isn't always possible. It is funny that even if we see our extended family throughout the year our heart aches to be with them over the holidays. There is no more lonely time of the year than to be without the ones you love over the holidays.

I was very lucky that even though my parents divorced I got to spend holidays with all of my family. Until moving to Germany I never knew what it would be like to be without my parents and grandparents. Do not get me wrong I am very thankful for my husband and children and would never choose to be away from them, but I still wish it were easier to spend holidays with them and the rest of the family.

Call me old fashioned but nothing makes me happier than having a house full of family and a big dinner to share with everyone.

When I start to think of these things, I realize just how lucky I am. I hug my children a little tighter, hold my husband a little closer, and realize that there are people out there who are not as lucky as I am. Happy Thanksgiving and when saying your fmaily blessing this year, please say a little prayer for those who are less fortunate than you.

Stupid little pet peeves...

We all have them, whether we admit it or not.

Jason and I are polar opposites on this issue, so I would like to know where others stand. I believe that I pay for childcare (not anymore but I used to) for somewhere for my children to go while I can't be with them. If I am not working or am home that I am not taking them to daycare. Maybe it is because I work in the field that I feel this way, but I really do enjoy being around my kids (when they aren't fighting). Jason, however; feels since we pay for it we might as well use it.

I work at a child development center and the rule is no child may be there for more than 10 hours per day unless they have a letter from their commander (which isn't so easy to get). I understand childcare is expensive but does that mean that our children need to be a pawn in a game of "getting your money's worth?"

Now I am certainly not talking about leaving your kids at daycare for an extra hour or so one day a week to get the grocery shopping done in peace. But seriously, I have seen parents waiting for the building to open at 0615 and will not pick their kids up until 1630 or later.

It has to be like a Childcare "Murphy's Law" that the children that listen and are easier to care for are always the ones who are dropped off later and picked up earlier. The children who are a little more challenging to care for are dropped off at opening and usually stay until closing.

Can you tell I am a little frustrated from work today? LOL

Who said dogs don't remember?

I used to believe it. Lately though I am thinking it is less than true. Either that or I have extremely intelligent dogs. Generally when my dogs do something such as chewing something up or having an accident we say to the "What did you do?" They give us a look like 'I'm sorry'.

Leyna recently confirmed our suspicions. Lastnight we were outside on the deck and Jason took them down to go potty. This may be TMI (as Kaitlin would say) but after a Bowel Movement our dogs have an extreme amount of energy. (Wish that was true for us).

So they come back up to the deck and are running around like they have been in their kennel for hours. They are playing and running and Leyna heads for the house, only she doesn't realize the screen door is closed.She slams into it with such force that she almost bends it in half. She cowers and just lays there for a moment until we all burst out in alughter because it was hilarious and what else could we do at this point?

Jason bent it back into shape and we were still outside, but we left the screen open. For the next half hour or so she would run over to the opening where the door would be and stop, stick her nose out to see if there was something there. Once she realized it was open she would go in.

So, to the person who says dogs don't remember... Bullshit!

So what is up with this?

I have seen it so often and yet it stillnever ceases to amaze me. Simply because I can't understand it. Have you ever looked at something that grossed you out so you looked away but had to look back to see just one more time?

What is with men who grow out one or more of their fingernails? The funny part is that most of these men that I have seen are in the military, so while it is not impossible that drugs are a reason I find it less likely than in the civilian sector.

Does anyone know the answer to this question?

Customer Service

To elaborate more upon my earlier post...

So, Dalton being a 10 year old boy has broken his glasses 1 too many times. This time they just were not fixable. We had went to Roseville to get the fabric I needed for our classroom curtains. We thought hey since we are here let's run to LensCrafters to get him some new glasses. What a fiasco that turned out to be.

I have been to America's Best and thought it was along the same line. Maybe it is but I will go back to America's Best, I will never go back to LensCrafters!

We walked in and signed in and started browsing the glasses. A sales lady walked up to us and we told her that Dalton has broken his glasses and he needed a new perscription as well as new glasses. She said well our children's lenses and frames are 50% off. I think right on! NOT!

She showed me the lenses that you "MUST" get for children. Either this one or that one. Jason and I talked about it and said he needs them, what choice do we have?

So we go back for the beginning of his eye exam. He had an eye exam not too long ago and our insurance will pay for an exam but we didn't have enough time during the week to get him in so we thought what the hey let's just get it done with. So we opt for the basic exam. Evidentally, this didn't please them very much because they do the prescreening (some of the tests multiple times). Then we wait to see the eye doctor. We waited for about 30 minutes.

We get in to see the doctor and I don't remember eye exams being this difficult. We told him it would be real quick then we will grab something to eat while we wait for his glasses. How wrong we were! The doctor was having a hard time checking the pressure in his eyes and Dalton had had enough! Then she said that she wanted part of the prescreening done again! I said 1 more time and then he is done. Really he was done about 30 minutes ago!

While we wait to get this prescreening done for the third time. We go out to the lobby to pay for his glasses while we wait. It was at this time they bend you over and give it to you! He tells me what our lens options are and the prices are much higher than what we were originall told. I was beyond irritated at this point. Jason could tell too and he tries to bring the issue out right in the lobby. Which irritated me even more. I do not like to make a scene in public and we were really beginning to.

So while I am paying way too much for a pair of glasses for a 10 year old the doctor pulls Jason into the back room and proceeds to talk to him. I have to look around are we buying a used car or a pair of glasses?

They tell us to come back in 1 hour for the glasses. I gladly leave the store! During this whole process I never once felt appreciated as a customer, I felt like they were irritated that we didn't spend any more money. Well they don't need to worry about me coming back into their store.

The worst part is that Jason found out AFTERWARDS that we can get 2 pairs of glasses at Travis AFB for half the price we paid for one! ARGGHH....

What is up with Customer Service?

I am so sick and tired of poor customer service that I think customer service should be a mandatory course in high school!

I will elaborate later, for right now I am still too irritated!

anything but all American mutts

So when we had to give away our beloved dog Jenna to move to Germany we decided we would not be getting another pet while we lived in Germany. That lasted a whole 4 months. We are animal lovers and a home does not feel complete to us without an animal.

As (I hope) most women do I go through baby phases. Where I wish I could have another. Those usually last until the kids start fighting. I think Jason gives in to these by letting me get a dog. LOL





So about 4 months after moving to Germany a classmate of Dalton's had a Boxer who had puppies with a Great Dane. Needless to say I fell in love with one of the puppies. She was the lightest colored and smallest puppy, I think she was the runt. From day one she has loved sleeping in the bed under the covers with any one of us who will let her. We named her Leyna (which in Indian means Little Angel).





About 6 months after getting her my mom came to visit and we took her running (about 1 mile). The next morning she was very stiff and didn't want to lay down. Took her to the vet and the vet said not to take a puppy running and gave her some medicine. LOL that is like saying not to let a toddler run.





I will save the long story and say that over the next year and a half we went to multiple vets because she would go through spells where she would stop eating, get very stiff, and would stop drinking. We would have to get water down her throat with a turkey baster and I would spoon feed her canned food because a dog that usually sits at about 55-60 pounds would wither away to about 40-45 pounds. Anybody that saw her probably thought we starved her.





We almost lost her a couple of times. We noticed something would change in her when we would have other dogs around. So we asked our Landlord if we could get a cat and off to the flea market in Belgium we went.





The only cats we could find were Persian and Jason is allergic to animals so we didn't think an ugly $600 cat with long hair would be a good choice. We took 200 Euro with us to the flea market and after not finding a new pet we grabbed something to eat and Jason bought a puzzle.





We were heading back to the car when Dalton spotted a pet store and we said sure why not. OH MY GOD, they had the cutest puppies. The sign said they were Maltese and Yorkshire Terrier. I immediately fell in love, but the price was 200 Euro. I left like a sad kid and my wonderful husband said lets see how much change I have in the car. In Euro the $1 and $2 are coins, so when you look at change you could end up having about 20 Euro easily.

We scrounge up 200 Euro (including pennies)LOL. I ran, not walked ran, back to the store and there was a lady holding the puppy that I wanted. I stood back for a moment and watched. She went to put her back in the box (I don't think the puppy's feet actually touched the bottom) and I swooped her up and yelled I want this one!

We took her home and hoped Leyna would accept her.

I think it all worked out. More on the adventures of Leyna and Molly later.

Uggg....you mean I still am not done with laundry?

I have been trying to finish the laundry for the last 13 years!

Why is it when you have children the laundry never ends? We do a pretty good job of dividing up the chores in our house but some things never end.

The kids didn't like (or do a very good job at) doing the dishes so we traded Jason and I decided to do dishes and the kids were in charge of laundry. That is until I could never find any clean clothes. So I would go down to the laundry room and find baskets overflowing!

So recently I took the laundry back (at least washing and drying). The kids still fold and put away, because I believe in chores! I have been working tirelessly at the laundry this weekend and I just went down to transfer the second to last load and breathed a sigh of relief. THEN...I walked into their bedrooms.

I give up, until they move out I will NEVER be "caught up" on laundry!

I've been tagged...

10 Years Ago (1998):
1. I had been married for 1 year
2. I had a new baby
3. I moved into base housing
4. I traveled cross country on a train
5. I was adapting to the military life style

5 Things on Today’s “To Do” List:
1. Take care of Jason
2. Watch my recorded Lipstick Jungle
3. Get clothes and lunch ready for tomorrow
4. Make a welcome packet for our classroom
5. Go to bed before 11:00

5 Things that I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off bills
2. Kids college money
3. BOOBS!
4. Buy Jason a new truck
5. Go on the cruise Jason has been promising me for 6 years

5 Places I have lived:
1. Spokane, WA
2. Chewelah, WA
3. Colville, WA
4. Germay
5. Penn Valley, CA

5 Jobs I have had:
1. AAA Auto Travel Counselor
2. CNA
3. Child Development Program Assistant
4. Merry Maid
5. Medicare Claims Customer Service Rep.

My poor baby

The alarm goes off at 0430 this morning. I grumble and roll over. Jason gets up and gets in the shower. Next thing I know he is waking me up, "Come on honey, we gotta go."

I get up and get in the shower throw on some comfy clothes and out the door we go. It is now 5:30 am. I am dreading the 2 1/2 hour drive to Travis AFB. I go back to sleep in the car because I know it is going to be a long day. I had no idea how long it was actually going to turn out to be!

We check in at the Oral Surgery clinic at 8:15 and they say to have a seat. So we sit. And we sit. And we sit until 10:00 am. I MADE him go ask at the desk what is taking so long.

They said his actual appointment is at 10:00 they needed to make sure he didn't eat anything! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The Air Force trusts him to work on its multi million dollar aircraft, but they don't trust him to not eat before surgery?

FINALLY, about 10:30 they call his name. By this time I am starving because I can't eat in front of him. I decide to just wait because I know he will want a milkshake when he gets out.

So I wait. And I wait. And I wait, until 12:15. I finally asked if they knew how long. They said at least 30 more minutes. So I go get a drink and smoke 1 cigarette which is about 9 less than I wanted at this point. They have my cell number, but I want to be there when he comes out.

I get back to the clinic and the nurse saw me and said, "You Jason's wife?" I said yes. "That tooth is stubborn." I looked at her puzzled. See, Jason had a baby tooth up until a couple of years ago and they pulled it expecting the adult tooth to come down. Needless to say it never did. So for the second time in his adult life he is wearing braces and for the second time in his adult life he had surgery to uncover this adult tooth. The goal was to uncover the adult tooth and hook a bracket to it, to screw a hook into his bottom jawbone and later they will use that hook to pull on the tooth to tempt it to come down.

I say tempt because in my "professional" opinion it aint goin' nowhere!

At 1:30 I was freaked out! I asked at the desk "Is my husband okay?" They probably didn't like this question very well considering there were other people in the waiting room. They said he had just been wheeled to recovery and I should be able to go to him shortly.

So, finally around 2:00 they tell me I can go to the recovery room. Now anyone that knows Jason very well knows he is silly. Let me tell you what a little anesthesia does to him! LMAO

I walk thru the door and he is hollering "over here." He looks so cute and yet so pitiful with his ice packes tied over his head around his face. The nurse gives me the info for aftercare and says let me close the curtains so you can get dressed. HAHA! Little does she know how unmodest my husband is. He rips the gown off like it was nothing. I try to take the stickers off his chest that the monitor was connected to but he wouldn't let me. I didn't even ask.

We finally get to the car and get headed home about 2:15.

He is starving, as am I, at this point. So we get through Sacramento and I deicde to find a KFC so he can have some mashed potatoes with his milkshake. I go into KFC and ask if they serve milkshakes and I am told "This isn't A&W." I was in awe. I love customer service!

Luckily there was a McDonald's nearby. We get about 30 minutes from home and I realize it is 4:30 and I do not have nearly enough energy to cook so we have to stop again!

We get home and I feel that I am finally done. Then I realize Kaitlin has Youth group tonight! MAN! Is the day of a mother never done? I have finally figured out the answer to that question is NO! But I wouldn't have it any other way! Hopefully after a couple days of rest my hubby will feel better. Bust as for me, I am finally heading to bed. right now.

Can I contain my excitement?

NO!

So, after being out of the field for awhile I went back to child care. Of course starting over you are at the bottom of the totem pole. Regardless of all the experience and having a current background check.

Today, after 3 months of employment, I was offered a classroom! The classroom is pre-tods (12-24 months) which is "my" age group. I cannot contain my excitement. The other teachers in the classroom are almost as excited as I am and we have big changes in store for the kids. Might be a little rocky until we get everything organized but I am right back where I want to be and now I can get started on my C.D.A.

Sunday Football tradition

How many households in America tune into Football on Sundays? I don't care. The only one I care about is mine. Let me tell you a typical Sunday in my household.

7:30 am - Alarm clock goes off I get in the shower while everyone else sleeps
8:15 am - I get out and wake up Jason who grumbles the whole way out of bed to the shower
8:30 am - Wake the kids up get ready for church
9:30 am - Leave for church
12:00 pm - Arrive home from church to hope that the whole game recorded
12:05 pm - Kiss Jason goodbye because I won't have his attention again until about 9:00 pm

The kids and I do our own thing usually this does not involve watching football.

Today was only a little bit different. The Vikings were playing the Bears and Jason has a friend who is a Bears fan. So the kids really got involved with the friendly rivalry. They got all dressed up in Vikings gear, Dalton even built a Lego statue as a tribute.

The best part of the day was that I actually got out of the house with another adult! We headed to a store in Roseville, where I found a few bottles of my favorite wines and even bought a couple of cigars. Yes, cigars. Jason and I were introduced by a friend of ours to cigars and we really like them.

"Mom, did you know you don't have a cerebellum?"

So, anyone that knows me knows I am clumsy! Let me set the stage by telling a little story. My family loves to play practical jokes and the most common one in our house is cold water while you are in the shower.

Shortly after we were married I thought I would be funny and get my husband. I filled my large plastic cup with freezing cold water in the kitchen and proceeded very quietly to the bathroom. I successfully sneak in without his knowledge. I 'gracefully' step onto the toilet lid and reach for the shower curtain rod which is directly across from the toilet.

I guess I didn't take into account that the bathroom was nice and moist at this time. My foot slipped and I landed on the floor on my back with the toilet seat making a perfect ringer around my right leg.

Knowing this tidbit of information I can tell you my 13 year old daughter came home from school the other day and said, "Mom did you know that you don't have a cerebellum?" Of course my reaction was what in the world are you talking about?

She said, "The cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls your balance and coordination. You don't have either of those."

Of course I couldn't help but giggle and my husband all out hysterically laughed. I didn't think it was that funny.