Stuff Christians Like

I have been reading this blog/website/whatever called Stuff Christians Like, and I LOVE it. This guy, Jon, who writes it is, in my opinion anyways, hilarious. So, I am here, now, writing this little post, to let you all know about it so you can check it out and laugh along with me. If you want a place to start instead of "wherever" here is a link to my favorite entry so far "Eagles." To quote Josh about this site (yes, I've made him read it too, and he enjoys it also), "He writes like I think." Yeah. He's that funny.

However, since this site is about my boys more than anything else, and since I think they are so, SO, cute, here are some pictures from their first dual bubble bath (they're boys...we didn't ever think about bubbles because they're boys I guess...but Zeke has had one before...literally, one), and Zeke "on the phone" this morning. Enjoy!

Bye, Bye Bravo Battery!

Yesterday was Josh's change of command ceremony. This means he is no longer in command here, which means we are one step closer to being done here. We still no nothing about anything concerning our leaving, but we're one step closer to whatever. For those of you who do not know what a change of command ceremony is, or how it goes, take a look at Kristen Golby's post about Jim's change of command. Like she says, it's pretty much the same everywhere. Obviously we didn't get lei-ed (I did get a dozen red roses), or sing their unit's song, but we did sing the Army song. Here are a few pictures of our day. Oh, and unlike Kristen's girls, my boys ran around the back the whole time. There are more pictures and essentially a step-by-step, moment-by-moment recount of the event on my flickr site, which you can access through the box on the left of this site.

Josh did an excellent job as Bravo Battery's commander, and I am incredibly proud of him! I love you Honey!

Fun Times With Guests and Rice

Last week, a dear friend of ours, Tracy, came back to Germany for a visit (she used to live here but moved to the states a few months ago). And we were lucky enough to have her over for dinner! I don't think I've truly laughed that hard in awhile. I don't think Zeke has ever laughed that hard...ever. Zeke and Tracy were truly a comedic team that night. He would say something to her, she would say something back, then the two of them would throw their heads back and crack up. Here's a picture illustrating how most of the evening went:

As you can see, fun was had by all!

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The last week has also brought us some chilly, rainy days. Ugh. This made the boys a little on the crazy side (see And How Was Your Day?). So last Friday, I decided to get out the "indoor sandbox" that Josh's parents sent Zeke. I think it was the quietest hour the two of them have ever spent together, playing with the same toy.

It's fifteen pounds of rice in a plastic bin...in case anyone was wondering.

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I don't know what it is about "Hot Dogs and Macaroni & Cheese Night", but that seems to be the night that the boys tend to make poor choices as to what activity they amuse themselves with while I'm cooking. A few weeks ago was the Q-tip fiasco. This week it was Zeke deciding to color all over the bench with his blue crayon, then feed that same crayon to Deacon (whose mouth and hands were nice and "Smurfy" by the time I realized they were being too quiet), then getting into my coupons and crinkling them up and throwing them all over the floor, the table, and the radiator. Oh, he also colored with his blue crayon all over my Bible. Yeah.

I don't know why I don't think to check on them a little more often while I'm cooking. I guess I just figure that as long as they're quiet, I don't mind cleaning up the mess.

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And finally, here are some videos we took the last two days. The first is of Zeke walking around in Josh's houseshoes, then "falling" in them. He's a ham. The second is of Deacon just cracking up last night. Sorry that one's a little blurry and all, it required a special motion and noise on Mommy's part to get that sweet laugh. Besides, we were all laughing pretty hard at this point.

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend. Enjoy your Memorial Day!

What Was I Doing?

I saw this on my friend Julie’s blog and decided that I wanted to do it too (I did modify it a little bit from hers though - I took off my 5 favorite TV shows because I just felt it didn't really apply).

What was I doing 20 years ago? I had to laugh that I could even answer this question. Man, it made me feel a little old. But 20 years ago I was 8 and I was finishing up second grade. I have no idea what else to say. It might have been the first year I went to Pine Bush Bible Camp. I'm not sure.

What was I doing 10 years ago? Let's see...ten years ago was 1998, and I was getting ready to graduate from high school. Wow. I guess that means my ten year reunion should be sometime soon, huh? I was probably more focused on going back to camp and beach mission that summer though.

What was I doing 5 years ago? Five years ago I arrived in Germany after getting married to Josh a month before. I started my new life as a wife - an army wife at that. Oh how exciting!

What was I doing 1 year ago? One year ago I was getting ready to give birth to Deacon. I still had a month to go, but I was ready. We were also getting ready for Josh to deploy for a few months to start his new command.

What was I doing yesterday? Yesterday we went to chapel, the library and the commissary. Then we just hung out at home. I got to take a little nap. Josh and I played World of Warcraft most of the afternoon and night (the boys were napping/in bed for the night). My mom called and I talked to her for a little bit. It was a nice day.

5 Things I enjoy? Worshipping God. Spending time with my husband and children. Ice cream. Reading. Crafty things - knitting, crocheting, pasteling, etc.

5 Things I hate? Hate is a strong word I don't like to use often. 5 Things I dislike though, would be spiders. When Zeke doesn't nap and I know he's just going to be a bear until the next time I can put him in bed. Deployments and the overall uncertainty the military life brings. When the weather is backwards (warm and sunny in the winter, cold and snowy in the spring). And seafood.

And there you have it. This was fun. Oh, and I "tag" anyone else who wants to give it a go.

And How Was Your Day?

Mine was just dandy.

That Boy and His Toys

"How are you today, Sir?"

"I'm just fine, thank you. How are you?"
(times 2...well, really 3...there was a third couple that didn't fit the frame properly)

This one makes me want to sing, "One of these things just doesn't belong here.

One of these things just isn't the same..."

In case you weren't sure, Thomas is kind of a big deal here.
Just look at all those animals and cars lined up to see him.

My favorite is the cat bouncer/ticket checker/money collector.
Whatever his job, it's all about crowd control.

I can just hear all those little animals saying,
"Oooh! Just look at those beautiful flowers!"

Bubble Smubble

So Josh came home from work on Wednesday and told me all about a meeting he had with the colonel that day (who from this point on will be referred to as Col. H). Apparently it was a long discussion about how long we've been in Germany, and what all Josh has done since arriving here five years ago, and how Josh is currently in his second command, etc, etc, etc. Col. H talked abut how he realizes it's time for Josh to go and he's been thinking about it for the last month or so, but he just didn't know what to do.

You see, the guys leave for training the first two weeks of June. The second two weeks are block leave, then all of July, and August, and the beginning of September will be time spent in the field, training, again. Col. H's main concern/point was that whoever went to the field with the guys this summer is the one who should deploy with them whenever the next deployment gets underway. Which, is totally understandable, and a very good point. And since Josh is the current commander of the battery, and since he'd be the one to go to the field with them, he'd HAVE to be the one to deploy with them. All of this we had kind of figured on our own, and we were preparing to get stop-lossed and have Josh deploy for a year...again.

Then the conversation turned to Josh's options once he deployed. Those options were 1) keep his command the entire time they're gone - not a good option in any one's opinion; 2) Josh would change command after a few months and then get a staff job down there and finish out the deployment with the unit - okay, and most likely what would happen; 3) Josh changes command after a few months, then gets to leave and go to the career course - obviously our #1 choice.

And that's where we were on Wednesday. As we bathed the boys that evening I teased Josh saying, "Wouldn't it be funny if Col. H called you tomorrow and said, 'Hey, you're changing command next week'?" And oh how we all did laugh. Even Zeke.

Here's where I'm going with this...Friday, two days later, Josh called me around 9:30 or so in the morning. He was supposed to pick up the boys from me around 4:30 so I could go help out at a PWOC outreach event without having the boys to worry about. Then he would take them to the Hail & Farewell he had to go to, and use them as an excuse to leave early. Score! HOWEVER, he called me and said, "I can't pick up the boys tonight. I have to work through dinner." I asked if everything was okay and he said, "Yeah. (pause) I'm changing command in two weeks and I'm going to be going to the career course." WHAT?!? Yeah. Apparently, Col. H decided that it's now or never to get Josh out of command and has chosen to go for it.

Now, before you all ask, we don't know anything else yet. We don't have a class date yet. Col. H is still working on one, but it'll most likely be in September, as originally planned. I would like to thank all of you who prayed for us and this situation. God is truly working right now. I would ask that you all continue to pray for Josh these next few weeks as he tries to do an entire change of command in, oh, two weeks. I'm not planning on seeing him much until after Memorial Day. Maybe you should pray for me too that I don't kill one of the boys before then. Just kidding.

So there you have it. We are no longer "on the bubble". We are (eventually) on our way to Oklahoma. Jim and Joni, I hope you're ready for this!

He's a Special Boy

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Quite frankly, I'm a little surprised it took this long. After being in a toddler bed since February, Zeke got himself out of bed for the first time on Sunday. Josh thinks Zeke was on his way to get Josh since Zeke's diaper was stinky. I think he was planning on playing quietly in his room until naptime was over. Unfortunately, we'll never know since the only way he was discovered out of bed is because the blew his door partly open and Josh went to close it. He hasn't done it again since (as far as I know), so we'll see.

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The other day Zeke had done something he wasn't supposed to. I can't remember what, but Josh sprung into action, scooping up Zeke and started giving him a talkin' to in his "stern voice". Zeke all but melted into tears causing Josh to laugh and say, "How am I supposed to ever yell at you when you make that face?!?" Yeah, discipling is going to be a lot of fun with Mr. Waterworks.

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Last week I took Zeke to the dentist for the first time. He did awesome. The dentist did well also. It was pretty neat. The dentist had me hold Zeke on my lap with his legs wrapped around my waist. Then I had Zeke lay down on my lap and his head rested in the dentist's lap, who could then look directly into Zeke's mouth and down his throat and all. Clever. I was also impressed that the dentist could tell that Zeke fell and broke one of his teeth at some point.

He did tell me that Zeke drinks too much juice. To quote the dentist, "The best thing a parent can do for their kids teeth is to feed them every two to two and a half hours. Between feedings, only let them drink water or milk. And no sippy cups. It's okay to give kids 4 to 6 ounces of juice a day, but that should only be given at the table during a meal." Hmm. Sounds logical to me. Not so much to Zeke though. Now I give him his sippy cup (I'm working on non-sippy cups, I promise) with water in it and he hands it back, makes his saddest face EVER, does the sign for juice (it's actually the sign for milk, but whatever), and says (in his saddest voice EVER), "Juice? Juice? Juice?" Getting sadder and sadder, with each repetition of the word juice. Eventually he drinks the water, but it's still a sad sight.

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Saturday, Josh's boss had a "cinco de mayo" fiesta (sorry if I spelled that wrong) and we went for a bit. Zeke had a great time just running around all the open space of their backyard. At one point, all these kids were running around and chasing each other, etc. and there was Zeke, just standing there by himself talking to himself. He's so stinkin' precious. Just talking to himself and his little maraca souvenir he got while all the action went on around him. I wish I had gotten a picture. He was a bit younger than most of the other kids.

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Last night I went out to dinner with Sandra, and left the boys home with Daddy. Josh said the night went well, and that Zeke ate a ton of dinner. After Zeke was done eating a Josh-sized portion of dinner, he walked around the house patting his full belly. He was obviously very pleased with his performance.

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I took Zeke for his second hearing test today. Same results as last time - the right ear passed, the left ear got two "refers". Again, the tester said she thinks his ear is fine, but he moved too much at the end and the test couldn't finish. So, now we can either try again in two weeks, go to the audiologist in Graf (about two hours away), or go the pediatrician who can write a referral to an ENT (ears, nose, throat) on the economy. I'll let you know what we decide.

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I've started playing patty-cake with Deacon a little more lately, and Zeke has really picked it up. So the other day he and I were upstairs doing some stuff, and Zeke decided that it would be a great idea to play patty-cake with Peavey. Unfortunately, Peavey does not share Zeke's new enthusiasm for this game, and kind of freaked out when Zeke got to the "Put it in the oven for Zeke and me!" part. In the cats defense, I just think he did not know what to do when Zeke attempted to "tickle" him in his face, so he scratched Zeke's hand. It could have been a lot worse. But it was funny to watch. Zeke also played patty-cake with the VCR last night. Yes, he is a special boy indeed.