Mixed Signs

Yesterday I saw my first sign of spring:

 

Crocuses! These have been my favorite things to see each March because by the time they start to show up, I'm way past ready for some nicer weather. Thus, I was super excited to see them as Deacon and I were walking back to my car after school.

Fastforward about 7 minutes to when we get back on post where I see this:

 

 

On the road, on front of my car are the Seven Stripes of Slurry as I call them (I love me some alliteration- and I apologize for the terrible picture). When that stuff is put on the roads like that it means snow's a coming. Siiiiigh. So I went from sprouting crocuses, which mean Spring (yay!), to seven stripes of slurry, which mean winter (boo!), in a matter of minutes.

And as I look out my window right now, would you like to guess what's going on out there? It's snowing. Oh Spring, will you ever arrive?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I WILL NOT CAVE!

When Josh and I got married (10 years next month!) we talked about how we'd like to have dogs eventually.  We both like labs, so we figured 2 would be fun, a black one and a yellow one.  We were living in Germany at the time and decided 1. we didn't want to have to move across the ocean with dogs - especially 2 big ones, and 2. we wanted to have kids first.  Fast foward 8 years to when we found out we'd be moving to New Jersey for our next duty station.  Immediately Josh was all, "We can get our dogs now! The spring after we get there we can get our dogs!"  I wasn't as enthusastic as he was, but the boys did seem to be a good age for it.

Then we got here. About 2 days after signing in, Josh was off on his first trip. Then it was trip after trip after trip and I decided there was NO WAY I was going to get puppies and do that whole house training thing by myself with him coming and going like that.  Especially with Finn being too young to take out on walks and stuff - the winter was kind of chilly.  Not to mention that the more time we spent in our home, the more we realized it really isn't a great place to have puppies.  Older, trained dogs sure, but puppies (which is what we want so our kids have a chance to get used to them as they tend to "weird out" around dogs) not so much.

 

Fast foward another year or so to this past weekend.  Sunday we went to my dad's to have dinner and hang out and what's it.  For those who don't know, my dad and stepmom have a boxer named Lenox who is the sweetest mushface ever. It's hard not to have a soft spot for this dog, and clearly, I'm not the only one who does:

I will not cave! I will not cave! I will NOT cave and get that boy a dog right now!

 

You see, the older 2 boys never seemed to care much about dogs.  Yes, they got excited whenever they saw one, and yes, they always wanted to pet one if they saw one, but like I said above, they always got wiggly and jumpy once they got close to dogs and usually didn't even pet them once permission was given (by both myself and the dog's owner).  Then they'd be on their way like, "That was cool, but I'm kind of okay with not having one of my own."  Now, there's Finn.  Finn, apparently really likes dogs and isn't afraid of them nor does he "get weird" around them.  In fact, he followed Lenox around the better part of the afternoon.  He kept "giving" Lenox a toy, or tried to get him to drink water, or just hang out next to him like in the picture.  It was SO sweet I wanted to buy him a dog right there and then. Just do a little, "See you in a half hour Josh, Finn and I are going to the pet store!" and off we'd go.  Thankfully I came to my senses.  Well, I mostly came to my senses.  I did volunteer us to watch Lenox the next time they go on vacation and need someone to take care of him. And truth be told, I'm really kind of looking forward to that day.

Like a Lion

There was a delayed opening for schools today because March is running around, roaring like a lion:

 

 

The boys have been acting like a bunch of monkey-headed hooligans this morning because March is roaring like a lion outside:

 

 

Actually, I think the real reason they've been a little...difficult, let's say...this morning is because Josh got home this morning from his most recent trip. You see, usually when Josh goes away he brings back a little something for the boys, a new Skylander for their game, Lego mini-figs for the bigger two, books, something else along those lines.  Last time he was gone the boys were less than well behaved and so Josh didn't give them a gift when he returned.  So when he was putting the boys in bed Sunday night (he left around 4:30 Monday morning) he told them to be good and maybe they'd get a special gift.  Well, once the boys saw Josh this morning it was as if all bets were off.  Dad's home and that's the end of our "we must be good time".  Between the attitudes (Deacon), the meltdowns (Finn) and  the superexcitedohmygoshdaddy'shomeIhavetotellhimeverythingandanythingatonce-ness (Zeke, although I'm sure you guessed that already) I was like, "Jinkies March! Enough with the lion-ing already! I'm ready for the lamb portion of the month - the calmer, warmer, springtime weather)."

 

It's probably a really good thing Josh, Deacon and Finn are all taking naps right now - and from the sound of it, actually sleeping.  Ahh peace and quiet. I think I shall enjoy you now, by having some tea and reading my book.

Whoa, March! Where Did You Come From?

How is it March already?  I feel like it was February only yesterday.  Har har.  Seriously though, 2013 is flying by at breakneck speeds and I am getting whiplash.  And we really aren't doing much.  Josh has been working and lego-ing and traveling (a little), I've been Bible studying and knitting and taking care of the kids and house (sort of on the house), the older boys have been schooling and playing and growing like stinkin weeds (Deacon grew  almost 1/2 inch over the last 10 days alone) and Finn has been going everywhere with me, playing and growing quite a bit himself (hence the new bed I posted about...whenever that was).

 

Even looking back through my pictures, there isn't much to go on.  There were a few things though, so I'll highlight them now so I can hopefully start March afresh and try to blog a little more consistenly from now on (I'll aim for at least once a week, if not 2 or 3 times).

 

WAY back in January, after Zeke turned 7, I took him to the doctor for his yearly check up.  My sweet boy weighed in at 52 pounds (about 70%ish for his age) and measured 50 inches tall (pretty close to 95% for his age).  That's right, my 7 year old is 4 feet 2 inches tall.  Well, he was 4'2".  He's grown a little since then.

 

 

Let's see...Zeke's birthday...oh, then my birthday.  Not too much to report there.  Then my stepdad's birthday where we all went out to dinner.

 

 

According to my pictures, that's it for January.

 

February started with a fair amount of snow, which resulted in fun times for ALL of my boys.

 

Snow playing in New Jersey is WAY better than snow playing in Alaska, as it's like 25 or degrees warmer here, so the boys can stay out longer and enjoy it more.  Even Finn went out this time around and had a great time.  The hot chocolate afterwards was probably my favorite part though.

 

 

Then there was Valentine's Day and the boys had a great time there.  My 2 "issues" with this holiday are: 1. Why do valentines come in every incriment of 4 except 20 - you know, the number I needed?  I seriously found boxes with 4, 8, 16, 24 and 32, with 16 and 32 being the most common.  Why? 2. When did everyone decide that just sending valentines by themselves was no longer enough? When did it become the thing to add candy or pencils or tatoos or something to the valentine?  Thankfully Zeke's teacher said "NO CANDY", but Deacon's didn't, and that's ALL he had attached to his cards from his classmates.  Sigh.  But the boys had a great day, Josh got me beautiful red roses, and it was a nice day.

 

 

Valentine's Day was followed closely by Josh's dad's birthday. Josh's parents came up for the day, and the boys had a super good time celebrating with PopPop.

 

 

Then there were the things I already blogged about: the boys' haircuts and Finn's new bed (both linked to above) and that brings us up to date.  I think.  Yep, I'm pretty sure that's it.  So, thanks for bearing with me as I took March's motto to heart "in like a lion, out like a lamb".  Well, the "in like a lion" party anway, as this is a lion of post.  Which I'm ending...now!