I'm Working On It...

I promise. I have FINALLY figured out how to get the video from my camera onto the computer. That FINALLY being done, I am now close to finishing the Christmas video I've been trying to work on with no success since, well, Christmas. Hence my silence here the past few days. Hence the shortness of this particular post, since I want to get going and get some more work on the video, which requires learning more of my new program. That being said, here are two things for you before I go:

1. I'm thinking more and more about Blog 365 and I am thinking about starting a second blog, solely for 365, and each day I will just put up a picture, if I have time or whatever a story to go with the picture. But the picture will sort of be my day in a snapshot. One picture that defines my day. What do you think? Should I go for it? Should I not? Should I just do it here? What say ye?

2.

Kinky in Helsinki

That's the color that my toe nails are right now. See...

On Saturday, Joni took her mother-in-law, Sue, and sister-in-law, Shelley, to get pedicures for Christmas. Much to Joni's surprise (and to Sue and Shelley's pleasure) I invited myself along for the fun. And it was fun. I have to admit that I chose my color solely on it's name, but I am quite pleased with it. And quite pleased with my Saturday morning. It was great seeing the other Starling ladies again.

I am also quite pleased with the rest of my Saturday as Chad and Ellie came to visit us for the weekend! We had such a fabulous time with the Ramskuglers, just hanging out, and playing board games, and watching movies, and playing with the kids. It was WONDERFUL seeing them again, we feel so special that they included us in their holiday travels. Here are some pictures from our fabulous time with the Ramskuglers...

brushing teeth with Mr. Chad

play time = FUN time

what lovely ladies :)

As for the rest of our week here, it's been full of non-excitement. Just hanging out, getting ready for tomorrow. And speaking of getting ready for tomorrow, I should get going so I can get these kids into bed and clean up and set out all the presents under the tree. And let me just say, those boys are going to be busy tomorrow! Before I go, I am going to share this Lolcat with you simply because I enjoyed it so much. Enjoy.

What, Oh What, Should I Title This Post?

I was originally going to go with "It's a Christmas Miracle!" after what Linda said when I told her I "found" the Christmas presents that had been "lost" in the mail the last two weeks. Then I thought about "Oh, I am SO Embarrassed" after how I feel about where the presents were. You see, as I mentioned before I had ordered half of the Christmas presents online. Half of that half came, but other half were MIA.

So today I called the website that the missing gifts were from to see what was going on with my order. I had to call because I didn't have my invoice number because the email with it got sent to my junk folder of the email I got in high school, and I don't check that very often, so I didn't think to until it was two weeks past when I ordered, but by then, it had been deleted. The woman I talked to was lovely. She asked me for my order number and simply laughed when I whined, "I don't have it." Through phone numbers and mailing addresses and the like, she was able to figure out which order was mine (yay!). Here's where it gets embarrassing. Apparently the packages had been left by my front door on the 4th and 5th of this month. WHAT?!? I said, "No they weren't. I never got them." I was afraid that maybe they were delivered while I wasn't home and that someone stole them.

The woman said, "Well, your mailing address is on NW 68th Street, right?" And I said, "Yes." And she continued, "2303?" And I said, "No. My house number is 2302." And there you go. When filling out the forms online I put the wrong house number and I presents were delivered to the 75 year old gentleman living across the street. While I'm not entirely surprised I did that, I am sort of surprised that VISA did not catch the mistake when they approved the transaction since I put 2303 as the billing address too.

Anyhoodledido, as I was so embarrassed by this, I waited until Josh got home from work this afternoon and had him go ask our neighbor if, by any chance, he had actually received the packages and if he still had them. And wouldn't you know it? He did! In fact, he had told Josh that he brought them to the post office to return them but it was going to cost him $14 to mail them back and he wasn't sure if he would get that money back so he was waiting for the mailman to come by so he could give the packages to him. Wow. How awesome is God to work all that out for me? So the presents got wrapped, they all got boxed, and they are merrily on their way to New Jersey! Wahooie!

My other thoughts for naming this post were "I'm Finally Finished" or "I'm Ready! I'm Ready! I'm Ready-eady-eady for Christmas!" (A little Spongebob for you fans out there.) This week we finished the tree. That's right, we finally got around to putting up all ten ornaments that we own. And I will say this, my boys are candy cane maniacs. Wow. I was making some monkey bread yesterday morning when I realized it was a little on the quiet side in the living room. I poked my head around the corner to see my little men folk, each with a candy cane in hand, trying to eat said candy canes through the wrappers. Oh those Walter boys.

So, that means, the lights on the house are up. The tree is up, lit, and decorated. The packages are all accounted for, wrapped, boxed, and shipped. AND we baked sugar cookies yesterday. I think I can say that we are all ready for Christmas. Well, there's still some food shopping to do, but that's nothing that won't be done anyway.

AND I was going to post a little bit about the weather here. It was in the 70's last weekend. Most of the week it was FREEZING. Like, 20 degrees freezing (I know, I know, just wait until I get to Alaska in February). Then, the last two days it's been high 50's/low 60's. But no matter the temperature, it has been dry. Apparently, the kind of dry they have here leads to lots and lots of static electricity...

See what I mean?

Now we are just cleaning up the house for Chad and Ellie, who will be visiting us this weekend! Yay! (Okay, we're cleaning the house because it really needs it, but the Ramskuglermeisterhoffs are an added incentive.) And on that note, I had better go and mop my embarrassingly gross kitchen floor and vaccuum and all that fun stuff.

The Power of Words

This video was posted on a friend's blog the other day (week?). In my opinion, it is incredibly well done. As I watched it I was reminded of all those Proverbs that talk about words and the power they hold. First, I thought of Proverbs 15:1 which says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." While I love that verse, I wasn't sure if it really fit what I felt the message of this video was, so I looked around the book a little more and found Proverbs 16:24. "Pleasant words area a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." That is it. That is the point, again, as I see it, to this video. As you watch it, I challenge you to think about Proverbs 16:24. Think about Proverbs 15:1 as well, if you're so inclined. Think about the people in your life and your words towards them. Think beyond your family or the people you see/work with/live with every day to those you only happen on once - the gas station attendant, the sales clerk at the mall, the telemarketer who calls and interrupts dinner. Think about how you use your words.

**this video is a good 15 or 16 minutes long, just so you know, but it is worth watching**

The Hip-Happenings

So, I feel like it's been forever since I last posted here, but looking back, it's only been five days. Hmm. Even so, I have missed you all. And I am going to blame Christmas cards for my absence. But they are finished and stuffed and stamped and went off to work with Josh today, hoping to be mailed today (or really any day this week he finds the time, but we're really hoping for today). Now that that's out of the way, here's what all's been going on.

I bought half my Christmas presents in the stores this year, and half online. Half of the half I ordered online are still not here. And of course, the presents that did come don't make a full "set" for any box I need to send out. For example, I got my mom's, the twins', Jenny's and Rich's, but I haven't received my stepdad's, so that box can't go out. I got my stepmom's and my brother's but not my father's, so that box can't go out. I got Linda and Sam, but not Jeff or either of Josh's parents. Seriously, I would have gladly traded Linda's and Sam's to get my dad and stepdad's so I could have sent those two boxes last week when everything else showed up. But no. So, they're all sitting in the garage, all dressed and ready to go, just waiting for their friends to show up. Typical. (That's not a picture of the presents I have waiting to go out, by the way.)

Friday morning, Josh made it home from PT in time to get the boys up so I could stay in bed a few extra minutes (isn't he fabulous?). After they both were up and had their diapers changed, Zeke came back to get me. He climed up into my bed, crawled over me, put his head on my pillow next to my head so we were forehead to forehead and said, in the sweetest voice ever (of course), "How's it going, Momma?" Once I finished laughing, I told him it was going well and asked how he was doing, which launched him off on some story or other in his "Zeke speak". Sweet boy.

Deacon had a pretty big week last week. His first two molars FINALLY broke through. There has been A LOT of drooling going on, but they are here. Deacon also started saying "No" and "Thank You" (which actually sounds like "day doo") this week. We put the tree up Saturday and he stands there, patting the branches saying, "Noo. Noo." All the while shaking his little head. Yeah. He cracks me up. He also started pulling back and shrieking when Zeke tries to take toys from him now. Yes. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about that.

What I am excited about though, is that we got our Christmas tree this weekend. The post here was giving away free Christmas trees to the first 400 or something people who showed up at 7am. When Josh got up to go he heard Zeke moving around in his bed, got him up and brought him along. What fun! (Deacon and I stayed in our cozy beds and slept in until 7:20.) Josh said Zeke picked out the tree himself, and it is a nice one. We put it up while the kids were in bed for their morning "rest time", and I think it made it about a half an hour once they got up before being knocked over. It's still not decorated. We did put lights on it last night. Unfortunately most of our tree lights from the last 5+ years broke in the move or something, and half of them didn't work. Sad. SO we found some icicle lights in the box that worked and we put those on. They still need some rearranging, but they look pretty good. I guess we'll give the boys a day or two to adjust to the lights before we hang ornaments. Maybe we just won't do ornaments this year. I kid. But now I do understand why Josh wanted to put the tree outside this year. That just made me too sad, and I can't do it. I'm sure they'll leave it alone after awhile.

And that's about all from here for now. I hope y'all are having a fabulous December so far!

All Together Now...

AWWWW!!!

This really was too cute not to share.

BFFs

I have to admit, at first, I was a little worried about having two boys so close together in age. I was nervous that there would be jealousy (which, there is to some degree, but not at all what I was originally expecting), and that Zeke would hate us forever for bringing home another kid, and that even though EVERYONE told me they would be best friends and it's going to be so wonderful having two boys so close together in age, I found it somewhat hard to believe. I don't know why I was so skeptical. I mean, just look at them...

...whether it's coloring or playing in the dirt...

...playing in the tub or watching TV...

...these boys play so nicely together. Most of the time anyways. They love to just look at each other and laugh. For no apparent reason. It's great. They bring each other their juice cups and things. And Zeke knows that if Deacon gets upset to go and find either his juice/milk or his blankie and that that will make Deacon feel better. Sure, he still tries to steal whatever toy Deacon is playing with, but it's all out of brotherly love. Right?

A quick story before I go. This past Saturday, Zeke had out one of those toys where you have to put the pieces through the holes that match the shapes (you know what I'm talking about). So Deacon sits down next to him and Zeke hands Deacon the current piece and says, "Here you go, Dee Dee." As Deacon attempts to put the piece into the wrong hole Zeke says, "Good try." Then, as Deacon turns the toy around to the side that actually has the right hole for the piece Zeke says, "That's it." And finally, as Deacon gets the piece into the correct hole (which Zeke helped him with by pointing to it) Zeke sat there and cheered for him saying, "Yay, Dee Dee! Good job!" It was very sweet. Very sweet indeed.

Saturday Silliness Continues!

This is a video of a band that was recommened to me by a dear friend of mine. I fell in serious like with these guys upon watching the video she linked to me and then all of the subsequent videos I spent the next half hour or so watching. In fact, I enjoyed them so much I went ahead and downloaded the HBO special they did, back whenever they did it. (That's where this video comes from, by the by.) I have already showed them to Josh and passed them on to Linda. Such was the positive feedback that I have decided to post my favorite song by these guys for you here today. The band is Flight of the Conchords. The song is "The Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros". Oh, and as my friend put it when she sent the link to the song that she linked to me, "I hope it doesn't scandalize you." And with that, enjoy!

It's a Christmas Version...

...of one of those "Getting to Know You" emails. My friend, Corry, sent me the email and I thought, "Well, maybe I'll do it and just put it up on my blog. It seems kind of fun and maybe it'll get me a little more into the Christmas spirit." So, here goes...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper if it's being mailed, otherwise I try to use the gift bags I have lying around the house from previous Christmases (birthdays/showers/etc).

2. Real tree or Artificial? real thank you...although I hear they are hard to get here in OK.

3. When do you put up the tree? whenever we get around to getting it sometime in December.

4. When do you take the tree down? sometime after Christmas...there's really no rhyme or reason to tree stuff here.

5. Do you like eggnog? not so much

6. Favorite gift received as a child? wow. I have no idea...I can't seem to focus long enough to think that far back right now.

7. Hardest person to buy for? my brother

8. Easiest person to buy for? Linda

9. Do you have a nativity scene? If you count the kid's VeggieTales one, we have three :)

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? snail mail (and I really need to get moving on those)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? What kind of a question is that? What if the person who gave me that gift is reading this? Then their feelings will be incredibly hurt. Geez people. But really, I don't know that I've gotten any terrible gifts that I can recall like that.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Charlie Brown

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? whenever I am inspired to

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? as another Christmas present or for some other occassion?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? candy canes

16. Lights on the tree? yes. Oh, like colors or white? Colors.

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night and Hark the Herald Angels Sing (which I didn't realize I liked so much until it almost made me cry today driving home from PWOC - it is so beautiful!)

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? nope! Staying home and enjoying the "peace" of it being just us (and the Starling family)

19. Can you name all of Santa's? Who can't? I mean, come on.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I think we have an angel...although...maybe we don't put anything on top? Hmm...

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Eve, morning, afternoon, evening, next day, the following Saturday...you know.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? When the music and decorations come up before Halloween is even over.

23. What theme or color are you using? for what? I don't understand this question.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham/turkey, potatoes, gravy, bread, Thanksgiving, really all over again.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? all sorts of stuff :)

Now, if you'd like to play along, consider yourself "tagged". OH, and just for kicks, here's a picture from last Christmas for you to enjoy...

He's Ba-a-ck!

Ba-dum!






Baaa-duum!







Ba-dum!Ba-dum!Ba-dum!Ba-dum! BA-DUM!!

The day after Thanksgiving, Josh and I (mostly Josh) went through ALL of the boys toys and made four separate boxes/tubs worth of toys that we will rotate through the toy box as they grow bored with whatever's currently out. All of this is to say (besides the fact that my kid have way too many toys already) that some of Zeke's old favorites have made their way back out and he has not wasted any time making good use of them. That's my boy!

(The last one is my favorite. Who thinks to line up cars on the fireplace gate? Fabulous!)

I Did It!

I made it through NaBloPoMo! I blogged every single day this month. I guess that makes me a NaBloPoMoMoFo. (I hope that doesn't offend anyone.) It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe I will just keep going and see how long I can make it. Maybe I'll sign up for Blog 365. Or maybe I won't. I guess we will see.

I ALSO ventured forth into my first ever "Black Friday" shopping foray. Now, I did not get up at the butt crack of dawn to wait on any lines, and I didn't really push and/or shove to get to the "greatest deals". I went to the Wal-Mart across the street after the boys were in bed. I am guessing I missed most of the rush. Oh, it was still a little on the crazy side, but then, it is Lawton, Oklahoma. However, I did get about half of my Christmas shopping done the forty-five minutes I was there. Score!

AND, I went to a movie. In the theaters. In the evening. Whoa. Joni and I went and saw "Four Christmases" last night. I thought the movie was pretty darn funny. Definitely on the predicatble side, but it was a fun, romantic comedy, Christmas movie. Vince Vaughn just kills me and I think Reese Witherspoon is fantastic. So, if you're looking for something to see and you don't want anything that'll make you think too hard, but is funny enough to keep you laughing throughout most of it without going the raunchy/gross humor route I would recommend this movie. And now that I have turned from blog post to movie review column entry, I think I will end this.

Saturday Silliness Part D

I almost forgot today is Saturday! (See what happens on long weekends? I lose all track of time and days and such.) Now, today's video is one that some of you may have seen before. I know I have received it via email at least twice, if not three times, in the last few months. However, I think it is worth sharing, so here it is (it picks up around the minute and a half mark, so stick with it)...

Isn't that cool?! It almost makes me wish we had dancing at our wedding, and that we had thought of this too. Other couples have done the same sort of thing, but I think these two take the "cake". Get it? Cake? Wedding video? Wedding cake? (insert moan here)

Doing a Meme

According to Urban Dictionary, the fourth definition for the word "meme" is "in blogspeak, an idea that is spread from blog to blog."

That being said, I have seen this meme on a few other blogs and thought I'd give it a whirl since it seems like fun. The rules are as follows:

Go to your sixth picture folder
Select the sixth picture
Tell the story behind the picture

Now, I take a lot of pictures, and I have a slight case of OCD, so I have folders inside of folders inside of folders when it comes to my pictures. That means, I had to bend the rules a little (which I think is okay). From my sixth picture folder, I then went to the sixth folder, and then I found the sixth picture. Sure, that makes 666, but it's all good. Anyhoo...here is the picture I found...

This is a picture I took in Heidelberg, Germany when Josh and I visited one day while I was pregnant with Zeke. It is a picture of an Asian tour group, walking around with their big umbrellas. I have to say that I heart Asian tour groups. I hope no one thinks I am making fun of them, because I'm not. I think they are great, and it makes me truly happy every time I am out and I see one (unless they are getting in my way or slowing down my process, but that could be said about any tour group regardless of where they're from). The reason it's orange, is because I did this little personal art project where I played with the tints and shades and then made it all one color. I actually have this same picture in several other colors. I even printed them out in different sizes and put them into a frame. It is actually pretty sharp.

So, there you have it. What's the sixth picture in the sixth photo folder on your computer?

A Bird of a Different Kind

Let me being by saying, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there! I hope you all had (have) a fabulous day. I know I did.

This morning we went over the Starling's house for brunch. Joni made delicious homemade cinnamon rolls and a fruit salad. The kids played, we all ate and talked. It was nice. After we got home, I put in a little video for the boys (it was a little on the early side to start their naps) and gave them a small snack. Once they were down for their naps I started on the bird.

The duck to be exact. That's right, this Thanksgiving we did things a little differently here in Walterland. Instead of a turkey, we had a duck. A delicious duck. A duck stuffed with apples and onions and covered in strips of bacon. Also, it was just me and my men folk. Just the four of us. No one else. It was so nice. We ate at our normal dinner time, we gave the boys baths, then we started our new family Thanksgiving Day tradition of watching "Madame Blueberry" (it's the VeggieTale all about being thankful), and put the boys in bed. Now Josh is finishing up the cleaning and I am here blogging, thinking about the cup of tea I'm going to make once I'm finished. Ahh...a most successful Thanksgiving if ever there was one.

*I posted a picture of the duck and of Deacon's belly here. The rest are on Flickr, here.

Another Toothy Entry

Who knew one could blog so much about teeth? Maybe this is the last of it though. Maybe not. Only time will tell. On that note, my poor baby is teething. Wow! And stinky! Good thing Josh is home to take care of that one. Anyhoo...Deacon is teething. He is currently working on teeth 9-12, all four of them being molars. Just look at how miserable they make him...

We all know how much Deacon likes to eat, right? Well, this was taken yesterday morning. I think he ate maybe one of those apple slices. Poor baby. He spent all morning (besides the 15 minutes he sat at the table) in my arms. Oh how he did WAIL if I tried to put him down. At least he napped well. He did perk up at the dentist's office though. And he's been doing better since then. It was just a rough morning, and it's been rough sleeping (or not sleeping) the last few nights.

Now Zeke, on the other hand, has been cracking me up the past few days. He has developed a little bit of a runny nose. He used to come to me with his nose in the air, sniff really big, and wait for me to wipe his nose. Sometimes he'd find a tissue and do it himself. Then he decided in the last two days that he couldn't really be bothered with that and started using his sleeve. Yuck. Now, just starting this evening, he has started walking over to me, inspecting my hands, and selecting a specific finger to stick into his nose. Oh yeah. Thaaaat's sweet.

He has also started doing this every morning...

Yup. My little man likes to "read" the cereal box during breakfast. Sometimes lunch. I think he tells me stories about what's going on, but you know. Occassionally he'll burst out laughing at something he sees on the box. It is pretty funny.

He has also started that phase where he wants whatever any other kid (namely Deacon and Sammie) is playing with. This morning, for example, Zeke was happily playing with his Thomas trains, which Deacon was trying to take from him. So I gave Deacon some cars to play with so he'd leave Zeke alone. Next thing I knew Zeke was crying because he wanted the cars I had given to Deacon. I tried to give him two different cars, but they weren't good enough I guess. So Deacon decided he wanted the new cars and I gave Zeke the cars Deacon had been playing with that he just cried over wanting so badly. What happened next? Zeke started crying because he wanted the cars Deacon was playing with now. I mean, really, is all that necessary? I guess when you're 2 going on 3 it is.

But both boys are incredibly sweet, and usually pretty giving with their kisses (especially when they're for Mommy). In case you can't tell, I love these guys...

I Wish We Could All See Pediatric Dentists

I tell you what, our visit to the dentist didn't get off to the greatest start, but it sure did wind up being fantastic. And really, the only reason it got off to a bad start is that I left the house without the office's phone number and/or address (which I made me pretty sore at myself), and I only had a vague idea where I was going based on directions I got from Joni yesterday. Her directions were good, I just got them all backwards when it came time to put them into action. Sigh.

BUT, as I drove down Gore (the street the office is on) for the seventh or so time, I finally decided to stop in an oral surgeon's office. I figured, one dentist should know where another one is, right? The woman at the front desk was fabulous! She not only gave me perfect directions, the phone number and the address, but she called the office to let them know I had gotten lost and was on my way so I could keep my appointment. See? She's fabulous.

So we finally make it there, and unlike the pediatricians office we went to for the boys flu shots, this office had toys in it! (Seriously, how do have an office where you see kids on a daily basis and NOT have toys in the waiting room?) It also had a series of kids magazines and I read some of the one on archeology. I've always been fascinated by that stuff. Anyhoo...our appointment was at 10:30, but with arriving five minutes late and having to fill out paperwork, it was about 11:15 before the boys were called back. They hygenist was great. The doctor had
Spongebob on his cap, so Zeke was happy with him. Both boys did great and got all sorts of treats (toothbrushes, stickers, and toys, oh boy!). The dentist did say that Deacon may need braces when he gets older. The kid is 17 months old and has eight teeth. I think we'll hold off on making that call for a few more years.

But it all went pretty quickly. We were in the car and on the road by noon. OH! This is just great. As we were getting ready to leave, the hygenist said to bring them back in six months, and I told her we would be in Alaska by then. So she says, "Well, let us know if you want us to make copies of their records from today, and do you know where in Alaska?" So I told her Anchorage. She then made a photocopy of a list of pediatric dentists in Alaska for me! Wow. I think that is just so cool. To celebrate the boys doing so well, we stopped at McDonalds on the way home for some french fries, which I gave them with some chicken nuggets I made. Nothing like going through the drive thru for a large order of fries that went right onto the old Visa. Now they are napping, and I am enjoying the quiet afternoon.

Maybe They Just Aren't Meant To Come Out

Let me tell you about the saga that is my wisdom teeth, and their "removal".

All little over two years ago, I had been told by the dentist in Germany that my wisdom teeth needed to come out. Two have cavities (they're hard to reach), one is growing out of my cheek instead of straight out of the gum, and if you're gonig for three, might as well go for all four before my mouth desides there isn't room for them all and my teeth start shifting. "Fine." I said. "Let's do it." So we made an appointment.

And then I found out I was pregnant with Deacon. Appointment cancelled. Bummer. These things cause me serious pain at times. Not that it's unbearable or constant or anything. Just annoying every once in a while. Like when I eat super sweet treats. Or when a small piece of popcorn gets lodged back there under the gum somehow.

So, I have Deacon. I finish breastfeeding Deacon. I call the dental clinic on post to remake the appointment (mind you, this is a good year or so later), only to be told that they were currently NOT making appointments for family members and to call back around April when they should be seeing family members again. Okay. I call back in April. I am told they still aren't seeing family members and to try again next month. Ooookay. I call in May, and am told that I can either call back next month when they should be seeing family members again, OR I can go in every day as a standby patient, and if someone cancels or doesn't show up, I can then have their appointment. Right. Like I'm going to go down to the dental clinic, every day, waiting for an open appointment to just appear. And what am I supposed to do with my kids EVERY DAY while I sit there twiddling my thumbs, hoping someone won't show up for their dental appointment?

So, I call again in June. Do you want to guess what they told me? They still weren't seeing family members and had no immediate plans to start doing so! At least this time I was told that I could be referred to a German dentist, on the economy, if I wanted to go into the dental clinic on post and get the required paperwork (which would also mean a visit to TriCare - and I don't want to get started on that). Why couldn't someone have offered that to me months ago when I started the phone calling process? By now, it was too late to go through all of that because we would be moving in July, and I would have to make an appointment for x-rays and a cleaning before I could even get an appointment for wisdom tooth extraction. Sigh. So I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to wait until I got to Oklahoma to get these stinkin teeth removed.

Of course, the dental clinic here doesn't see family members and we had to apply for and wait for dental insurance. Now that that's been taken care of, I started calling dentist around here, trying to get an appointment for a cleaning and x-rays so I could get a referral to an oral surgeon to have the wisdom teeth taken out. Can you even believe that they are ALL booked through until the middle of February?!? Which, if you remember, is when we will be moving to Alaska. (Oh, Fort Richardson, outside of Anchorage, for those of you who asked more specifics.) Double sigh.

Now I'm putting it off again. I am, however, thinking about checking out how dental works in Alaska. And I think I might call now to see if I can't get an appointment for after we get out there. Of course, I'll make an appointment, only to get to that date and time and not have a house, car, friend who can watch my kids, and/or any-idea-where-to-go-and-wind-up-being-uber-late-thus-meaning-I-won't-be-seen-and-have-to-make-a-new-appointment-four-months-from-then.

On the other hand, I called to make dental appointments for the boys today, thinking we'd run into the same thing, expecting the receptionist to tell me January would be the earliest they can be seen. Not so much. They have appointments for 10:30 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning. Not only did they have an opening for tomorrow, but they had FOUR openings for tomorrow. How does that happen?!? And I bet you all know what I'll be posting about tomorrow now. Until then...

There Are Few Things Sweeter...

...than a Sunday afternoon nap. Ahhh. I can't remember the last time I took a nap, let alone a nap on a Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful. All of us napping. So peaceful. So sweet. I am wishing you a Sunday afternoon nap wherever you are.

Saturday Silliness Part 3

I have no idea when this commercial came out. I have no idea how I ever even found it and downloaded it all those years ago. But I do know that every time I see this commercial I cannot help but laugh. I hope it makes you laugh too.

Maybe It's Not the Safest Activity

But they sure do have fun doing it!

(And don't worry, Zeke's head was perfectly fine after that little bounce off of the couch.)

Where Do You Blog From?

My dear friend, Marie, posed the question, "Where do you blog from?" on her blog, to all of her friends. Well Marie (and everyone else reading this blog), here is where I blog from...

A little "desk" from Wal-mart. A roller chair that doesn't roll so well on rug that Josh got for me while we were in Germany (it did roll fantastically on those hard floors). Next to my little computer area is a book shelf littered with papers and binders and my current knitting project. You will also see, on the other side, Josh's guitar. This makes a fabulous foot rest. And it's centrally located in the living room with the TV and the couches and the toys. But it faces away from the TV, so I can't watch a movie and be on the computer at the same time, which is probably a good thing, because then I miss out on a lot that's happening either in the movie, or on whatever I'm doing online.

As for what I should be doing when I blog, that would be nothing. Usually, I sit down to do this after I put the boys down for their afternoon nap. So, there are no distractions, no kids running around who should be supervised, nothing but quiet. Or my music. Currently I've been switching back and forth between Elton John and Phil Wickham. I know, I know. They are pretty different guys. But I like them both. And Rusted Root. Been jamming to Rusted Root a bit lately too. Although, that is usually when I'm food shopping. Which has nothing to do with where I blog. So I guess this means I'm done with this post. Now, like Marie, I pose the question to all of you...Where do you blog from?

Does It Count?

Have you ever had this happen to you? Where you are doing something routine or whatever (driving, getting dressed, playing with your kids [if you have kids], brushing your teeth, doing the dishes, etc) when for no reason at all someone just pops into your head? This happens to me often, and when it does, I usually like to pray for the person, or people, who popped in for a little visit.

However, I have realized recently that I don't stop what I'm doing to pray. Say, for example, I'm brushing my hair after my shower and getting ready for the day and someone I haven't seen since high school pops into my head. I usually think, "Hmm. How weird that I would think of that person after so much time has gone by, I wonder how they're doing?" Then I will pray a little something for them along the lines of, "Lord, I have no idea why Soandso popped into my head right now. I have no idea what they are doing with their lives. I lift them up to you now, Lord. I pray for them, their loved ones, and I pray that you would draw them closer to You at this time in their lives. Amen." All the while, I'm still brushing my hair, or I've moved on to applying the deodorant, or I'm driving, or having a little conversation with Zeke.

So, now I'm wondering, does it count? Does it really count as praying for them? Does God take my little prayer seriously even though I'm talking to Him and to Zeke at the same time? Can it really be considered praying if I'm saying this in my head, while forming a list of things I need to get done that day, while getting dressed, while eating a snack, while texting a message to Josh? I mean, if someone was going to talk to me and ask me for my help or to look after someone for them, I would probably like their undivided attention. But then, I think, is that limiting God? I mean, if God can listen to every single prayer that is prayed all day long, then why would I think He couldn't pull the prayer out of my head and my heart admist all the other stuff that's going on in there?

I mean the prayer. There is nothing but sincerity in my heart towards that person and that prayer when I'm praying it, even if I'm in the middle of something else. So, should I stop what I'm doing and pray, even if it means pulling over to the side of the road, or kneeling by my bed half dressed with knotty hair, or walking away from Zeke to get a quick ten seconds of "quiet time"? I don't know. Which is why this post probably feels like a bunch of rambling. I just go around and around with it in my head, but to not go around and around with it in this post, I'm going to end it here. Somewhat abruptly, probably. But I'd like to know, what do you think?

I Can't Believe I Won!

Well, maybe I can believe it. Let's start from the beginning, shall we? A few weeks ago I started attending the local chapter of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) with Joni. Today was a MOPS day and we were all supposed to bake and bring in 2 dozen of our favorite cookies, or holiday cookies, for a cookie swap. We all got to grab up some of each others cookies and now we all have tons of cookies in all different varieties.

I decided to go with a cookie recipe that Kirsten had given to me a few months ago. I made them for a picnic two months ago, and they came out pretty well, and they were kind of different, so I figured I would make them again for today. They are called Jam Thumbprint Cookies and look something like this...

Yum! So I bring in my cookies, and I enter them into the contest. The cookies were judged and three winners were picked: Tastiest, Most Original, and Most Holiday Themed (or something like that). And wouldn't you know it, MINE won for Tastiest! I couldn't believe it. I mean, they are tasty cookies, no doubt, but I thougth for sure someone else's should have tasted better.

Then I saw that the prize was a candle, and I wasn't so surprised anymore. You see, I have a fair amount of candles in my house - too many if you ask Josh. And I've stopped buying them because I have so many. Now, I don't enter too many raffles or contests or whatsit, as there aren't many for me to enter (at coffee's there would be one, or at PWOC on occasion), and I don't usually win. Which is fine. I usually just give my dollar or whatever to help out whatever cause they're raising money for, or if it's a game prize, I play for the fun of playing. HOWEVER, if the prize is a candle, you DO NOT want to play/enter/go up against me because I will bring you down. For whatever unexplicable reason, I just cannot seem to lose when it comes to winning candles. Or coffee mugs. But those aren't as sure of a thing as candles. (You can see the candle in the picture of the cookies.)

Now I just can't wait until Josh gets home so I can tell him that, not only did my cookies win Tastiest, but, BUT I won a candle! He is going to be SO thrilled.

C'mon Zeke. Smile for the camera.

Sorry, Momma. But "Joe Cool" doesn't smile for anything (except maybe for the pretty ladies out there).

And yes, those are on upside down. And yes, they are Deacon's sunglasses. So yes, they are a little snug. And no, those aren't all his cups. Yes, two of them are, but the one all the way to the left is Deacon's. Silly boy.

It's Our Turn!

So, after everyone left Schweinfurt (besides me), there would be the occasional "get together"/"reunion" type of thing with our friends from Schweinfurt. Usually in the Ft. Bragg area. After said reunion, those who were there would blog/email about the awesomly awesome time they all had getting together again. Yet, there were always two of us missing from these gatherings - Joni and me. So Joni and I would get the blogs and emails and then we'd call each other and say things like, "It must be nice being able to see your friends again. Too bad we weren't there" and the like.

WELL, yesterday, Joni and I drove the three hours to Dallas, Texas to meet up with Jenn Wake and Suzanne and David Mikkelson (who were all down there for a PWOC conference), and we had our own little mini-Schweinfurt reunion! Yay us!

And yes, we are standing in height order like a bunch of nerds. I promise you it was unintentional though.

Now, here's something random, but SO great. I went to the bathroom at one point. That's not the random/great part. Upon returning from the bathroom, I walked past a woman who looked rather familiar to me. I sat down, looked at Joni and said, "Does anyone remember what Kristen Toth's mom looks like? I think that lady in the red jacket is her." So we all looked, no one knew for sure, and Jenn said, "I'll take care of it." I informed her Kristen's mom's name is Mrs. Chandler, and so Jenn walked over and asked her, "Is your last name Chandler?" She said yes, turned around to the rest of us, and I jumped up saying (rather loudly - but not quite yelling), "You're Kristen Toth's mom!" Well, she is just fabulous, as you can tell by the picture.


I also met a woman whose hubby is stationed at Ft. Richardson, Alaska, where we are heading in February, and so she and I talked for a good fifteen or so minutes. Now I am SUPER excited to be heading out there.

After sitting on the hotel couches for four or so hours it was time for those attending the PWOC conference to have dinner, so Jenn handed me her ID card, handed Joni Suzanne's ID card, and off we all went to dinner. Then I got busted by a woman from our PWOC, who thought it was great that we drove down for the day, but says she's going to call me "Jennifer" on Thursday and let me explain to everyone why. Sweet.


After dinner, it was time to hit the road and head back home. Oh, and by the way, Josh was absolutely AWESOME and watched ALL THREE KIDS the entire day. Jim had a field thing so he couldn't help, but Josh volunteered so Joni could go unencumbered. Isn't he greatest? Jim did make it home way earlier than expected, so that was nice too, but HURRAY for Josh, for doing it and surviving. And hurray for us for getting to see our fabulous friends again. We love you guys, and we miss all of you. Anyone else coming to the area anytime soon?

Saturday Silliness Part Two

Today's video is one that was sent to me a few (or many) months ago from Linda. I am a huge fan of Hugh Laurie, and so this video just tickles me. I hope you enjoy it too.

This Kid Just Kills Me

I am talking about Deacon. Seriously, this kid kills me.

I mean, who just sits in a box on a whim, then makes the Zoolander face?

Or, who can make a mess out of anything they eat, including animal crackers? Quite possibly, one of the neatest, plainest foods on earth (after white rice), Deacon usually needs a bath after eating just one of them.

Obviously, that's not animal crackers. That's him going to town on some honey mustard sauce. Mmm.

My current favorite though, is that he loves beads, but hasn't figured out how to put them around his head yet, so he just sticks them under his chin and hangs out like that.

Deacon is such a sweet, sweet boy, I almost can't stand it. OH! I also thoroughly enjoy it when we're eating and Zeke decides to have some of his drink and Deacon has a mini panic attack. It's as if he's thinking, "WAIT! We're drinking now? Why didn't anyone tell me?!? I can't miss out on the drinking. AHHHHH!" And then he drinks with such ferocity I'm afraid he might hurt something.

I can't wait to see what this kid comes up with next.

That's it. I'm Just NOT Doing It.

And that is all I have to say on the matter of potty training. Okay, that's not really all I have to say about it, otherwise, this would be the shortest blog entry ever. Okay, maybe not ever but it would not make for very good reading. Anyhoo.

We were all set to go this past weekend. Josh had a four day weekend, I took a poll here on this blog, and we got the toilets and the underroos and everything all ready. Mentally, I was totally prepared. The weather was nice, and we were going to do this thing! Saturday was a busy day for us so nothing doing then. So, I figured we'd start Sunday after their "after church" naps.

And then Josh got sick. Again. On a long weekend. Again. There was no throwing up or anything nasty like that going on. He just slept. And slept. And when he was awake he complained about his whole body aching and making him not feel good. Then he would sleep. Sigh.

So, I'm giving up for the time being. Maybe we'll try over Christmas break when Josh is around more and it's unlikely he'll be sick the entire two weeks or whatever he has "off". Sure, he'll be sick some of it, I mean, it wouldn't be time off if he was perfectly well the whole time. And it'll be too cold (I hope) to really go anywhere or want to do anything, so we'll be spending PLENTY of time in the house just hanging out. Or, we'll just decide that Christmas is too close to moving and so we should just wait until the spring. Or whenever it gets warm in Alaska.

At this point, I don't even care anymore. And please don't misunderstand me. I'm not upset or frustrated or anything negative about it. I was excited two months ago when we first started talking about it, but now I'm just like, "Whatever. I really don't mind changing diapers. I don't care if they stay in them for another couple of months. They'll get trained eventually, maybe I should just wait until they tell me they're ready so it'll take three days instead of three months." I mean, they all learn how to use the toilet by the time they reach kindergarten, right? So, why rush it? For all I care, the toilet can stay where it is, right at the end of the line-up.

Okay, maybe not right where it is, as that is a terribly inconvenient place for Zeke to have set those up, but you get my point.