In a flash

My October has been insane. I can't believe it's gone, almost.

I'm still check my blog. I just never have a chance to just sit and write my thoughts.

Have a very busy weekend.

I will not say that I hope it slows down, cause let's just face it. Every time I say that, life speeds up.

Goodbye Oct.

Sporadic

Here I am again....yep no regularity. Just when I can. I really don't have time to be typing this out but I will forget some funny things if I don't.

Noah ran into the living room last Friday night yelling, "There is a deer in our tree! There is a deer in our tree!" There is a tree that is right in front of the window in the front yard. I reassure Noah, that there are not typically deer around, but then WAIT, IT'S A MOOSE! Kids run to the window! There it was a baby moose, yes a baby, eating the branches out of our tree. Let that run by you again.....a baby moose eating the branches out of the tree. Yes, the babies are huge! So, we were wandering, if that is the baby, where is the momma? Hmmmm. We walk to the back of the house, oh and look. There she is. She was right at our back yard. If we didnt have a fence she would have been in our yard.
Well, we were watching Murphy, Krista's dog. She was there picking him up taking in the moose watching as well. Then the light bulb goes off over Krista's head - I will let Murphy see the moose. uhhhmmm, yeah. It took Krista and Kevin pulling on Murphy to get him back in the house, cause ya see, those moose looked like fun for chasing and Murph was going fetch one.
So, ya know we went in the dining room to watch out the back window to see mama moose. Well, Kevin goes in the back yard, closes the door - Murphy stays in the house looking out the window with me, the kids, and Krista. Well in all the excitement, Noah left the window and went out back with his daddy and DID NOT close the door. So, Murphy saw this and darted out the back door. Krista and I were so wrapped up in Caleb's excitement at the mama moose, that we freak out when we see Murphy - flying through the back yard, jumping on top of our four ft fence, to get him some mama moose. Then we see Kevin sprinting after Murphy all while mama moose looks like the fence is small potatoes, she is going have some labrador. Well, mama moose decides she is going get baby moose instead of Murphy, since Murphy is being pulled back by a mud covered Kevin, cause you see, it is the rainy season here and our backyard is a swamp, and sprinting in a swamp, well that just gets messy. Oh the excitement random moose bring to our lives. Krista now knows, Murphy and a friendly romp with a moose just don't mix. :)

I have my first girl's night coming up. I am so excited!! No husbands, kids, just the girls. Now all my friends back in SC know how important we take girls nights. This is my first one since SC! I am very ready. The hubbys are going to men's retreat, so we all thought, no better time than this to take advantage of girl time.

Our new nephew should be arriving any day now, hopefully today. Noah and I were making a Christmas present for Andrew. Noah kept saying "but I don't know him". Finally he starting getting it and saying, "William is going to be a big brother like me?" and "I will be older than Andrew", and lots more things. It was sweet. He is wanting to meet him really bad, so let's get on the ball Jillina! hee hee. UPDATE: Baby Andrew arrived safely Friday morning Oct 3. He and parents are doing great. Can't wait to meet you little guy!!!

Noah is still loving school. I have pictures where they had a little party for Johnny Appleseed's bday. They had a little parade and had an all out apple day. It was cute.

Caleb has become quite the talker (big surprise!) and all around meanie. He got put in time-out 3 times last night in his bible class at church. Apparently, his teachers are letting his cuteness get in the way! Looks like Caleb is going to present to me some parenting challenges I never had to face with Noah. Yay me. Yipee. Woo hoo. seriously. Right now I am the mom of the 1.5yr old bully. :(

I have pics to post but not today, I am already running behind. So later.........

Where have I been?

As soon as I got back from Hawaii I hit the ground running.

Meetings at church, craft project hell, and now a speaking engagement. WHAT!

So, I agreed to be on a committee at church and thought I would help out this program by making a wall organizer to help them out. No big deal. Jo Ann's is a crafter's friend. So, for 3.5 days I channeled the craftiness of my SIL and BFF to get this out like it looked in my head. Sometimes I get these great ideas, and um yeah, they don't turn out looking like what my brain imagined.

So here it is......

It looks way better in person. The pockets are on a denim background. I think I actually did a good job this time. So, after I finished this I had to start working on the topic to be discussed at the ladies night out, which is tonight, the same night this wall dealie-o had to be completed.

I have never spoke at any function, so please pray for me. I am gonna need it. Sheesh.

So, I am starting to feel the busyness of life. Noah has school 3 days a week, I try to fit in the gym while he is at school, the ladies functions, squadron functions, teaching at church, and trying to make time for kids, husband, and miscellaneous items to make for school, church, and home. Oh and I met with a personal trainer today, cause I am gonna do a triathlon. Yeah, that's right. I have gone crazy.

However, this personal trainer is exactly what I needed. I have hit my plateau and I have tried and tried to get over it, with no success. He and I worked together for about an hour this morning and I feel like I fell down a mountain. Ya know, like on tv, when folks go tumbling down a mountain and they just keep flipping, and pounding into the ground. And when the tumbling is over you know that person is gonna be in some serious pain. That would be yours truly today. URGH! However, I asked for it.

So, I will try to get Skinny Tuesday back up and going. Hopefully after tonight I can get back into a groove. It is bad, when my BFF calls me and says, "uhm, are you ok, cause you are not updating your blog". Ok, my bad. I am the blog pooper here lately and I won't promise but I will try to get a little better.

Friday is out, cause that is Johnny Appleseed's birthday and we are having a party! hee hee. Seriously, we are!

Hawaii

There are not enough words for this vacation. Our room was terrible, but hanging out with my boys on the beach can make up for anything. Kevin had to work all but a day and a half, but we made the most of it. I love Oahu. Noah learned how to use a boogie board, and Caleb did a little body surfing with his momma. I am sufficiently sunburned, hopefully enough to avoid skin cancer but give me a little color through the Alaskan winter. I can't wait to go back!
Here is a little summary of all the fun we had and places we visited:

Honolulu Zoo
Dole Plantation
Matsumoto Grocery - best shaved ice in the world
Waikiki beach
North Shore beaches
Duke's - great place to eat
Hanging out with the Cosme's
Snorkeling on the North Shore
Luau at Paradise Cove

The boys gave it all they had and are sufficiently worn out. We got home about 2am this morning. The boys and I were waiting for Kev to bring around the car to load it up and when Kev drove up N had a break down. Apparently, N loved our rental car soooo much he was devastated that we did not have it in Alaska. Amidst all the tears he told us he wanted us to sell the van and by a SUV. It was so funny! Bless his little heart, he loves those rentals.
We can't wait to go back!

Laid Back

Usually I am laid back when it comes to politics. I never force my issue and if someone disagrees with my position I do not argue with them or try to change theirs. However, I read an article this morning that just fires me up.
Why is it that celebrities are stupid and selfish enough to blast a candidate over ONE issue. This particular celebrity is just completely unintelligent in her argument because it is selfish and based on ONE issue, her homosexuality. Lindsay Lohan is speaking out against Palin and if she was arguing on something more besides her gayness maybe she wouldn't look so stupid. Seriously, what about our economy, taxes, iraq, pakistan, iran, education? No apparently for some in the Hollywood area, abortion and being gay is the only important issues and the health of our nation is really not that big of a concern. Vote Obama cause he is for gays and abortion? GIVE ME A BREAK! This just goes to show how seriously dumb the celebrity scene is, it does not matter about the nation, just what is good for the celebs and their insane lifestyles.
Just because God blessed you with a mouth does not mean He blessed you with intelligence. And BOO on the media for putting out such crap. Seriously, what impact does lohan have on the political scene? Yep, none. Just another pretty face spewing her dumb-ness.
I would seriously like more news on J-Lo finishing the Malibu triathlon than a highschool dropout letting crap fall out of her mouth.
ok...I am done.
Well, not yet. lohan says, "Is being gay a sin?", well, as a matter of fact, yes it is.
Now, I am done.

First Day of PreSchool

Well, like so many of N's family and friends, he too started preschool today. N has really shown a need to be in a more structured learning environment despite my best efforts to keep a "fun" learning environment at home. He has partially sprouted wings to total independence. He was so excited this morning and got out of bed an hour before he was supposed to. He carried his backpack with pride and was so happy to be the first one to school this morning. There were no reservations about mommy and daddy leaving him there, he went right on in met with his teacher and began his day at her instruction. I had to press for his attention to get a hug and kiss goodbye. C and I took advantage of N's preschool time and ran lots of errands. When we went to pick up "bubba", Noah looked at me with sad eyes and said, "Are you here to pick me up?" There were more tears shed at leaving school than going! His teacher was impressed with N. She has made N the class cheerleader cause he was so excited and got the others going with his excitement and overall loudness. So, after day 1, preschool is a hit.

First day pic before we left home

N in front of his locker - he shares with 4 others

N in his classroom with one of his teachers Ms. Ivany

Following the leader - end of day activity - that's his other teacher Ms Thea - he walked right by me and did not see me taking the picture - that is how much fun he was having!

N at his locker at the end of the day - we are picking up his craft he made today - it was a hand print with a poem about all the things he did on his first day of preschool.

To top off this day of complete excitement and fun, we let the kids know that we are leaving for Hawaii in the morning!!!! YAY!! Here we come surf, sun, and FUN!!!

I just have to say.....

God has blessed me with the best kids in the world.

Last entry I mentioned about being able to pass on the love of being outside to my kids. Well, this year we were able to go to Midnight Sun Bible Camp. This is a camp that is owned by our church and is used all summer long for youth to learn more about God and fellowship. One weekend is Family Weekend or FamCamp. It kinda marks the end of the summer season since Labor Day is when most everyone closes up and prepares for winter. It was a great weekend. We camped in a cabin with several bunks built in, no electricity, water, etc. Pure Bliss! I know you are thinking I am crazy, but this was heaven. We hung out with our friends, cooked for one another, had fun together, and let me tell you, my boys were made by God to be outside.

We canoed, walked, picked blueberries, relaxed, sang, worshiped, and we just enjoyed every minute we had out there.

One big shout out goes to the Hewlett Family. They let us borrow their 4x4 jeep. We would not have made it down the dirt road in our minivan to the camp, so THANK YOU!!!!

Ok - back to the boys. I needed to walk to the jeep and it was going down just a little bit on a steep grade, so I asked Noah to stay at the top of the hill, I would run down and back and we would walk on together. So, I am coming back up and he is lying down with his arms outstretched, eyes closed, completely relaxed, and I say, "Noah what are you doing?" He says, "I was born to be in the woods." I love it!

Both boys went nonstop while at camp. This is already on the calendar for next year.