Trains

There are SO many “choo choo’s” out there. I can’t believe how much most of them cost! Those awesome Thomas trains are completely ridiculous. Who pays $90 for a simple circle track? I am not going to lie, I spent $6 on one train. Ethan LOVES “Choo Choo’s” and those are the only ones they sell at the NEX. They are convenient, durable and portable. Some make noise but most do not. Ethan really loves them but I knew that if he got a whole bunch he was just going to want tracks eventually. We can not afford that! So I started looking around. We found GeoTrax and after reading reviews, that is what we decided on! I know Ethan will be stoked when he opens up his Christmas gift and sees a big train, just for him!

The best part? At Toys R Us today, we found the starter set, normally $50, on sale for $15 for a short sale! Totally in my budget and I was so excited! When I brought it home to show Conor, he LOVED it! I can’t wait for Christmas morning. I picture Ethan, Conor, Chris, Ben and my dad all lying around on the living room floor playing trains! So excited!

Overwhelmed.

We are all a little overwhelmed with Conor going back to class. Ethan is obviously still adjusting to Conor not being home at lunch. I am adjusting to not coming home to a clean house (since Conor got off early everyday, our house was clean!). And Conor is still adjusting to being away all day and having to put in so many hours just to get caught up! He has been out of class for 4 months and only has 2 weeks of review before grades count! I know he will do great but to saw we are all overwhelmed sums up our house perfectly!

Feet, Feet, Feet

Somehow I pulled the muscle/tendon under my foot. I am in a whole lot of pain and it seems like I will have to be going to the doctor Monday morning if not sooner. I know I initially hurt if stepping off a curb but now it seems like it is getting worse and spreading to the outside bone thing. Grrr. I am WAY to busy to have an injured foot. All three boys need to be chased, etc regularly. Plus it hurts WAY worse when I carry them so they can only be snuggled on the couches. Last night, it hurt so bad I just sobbed in Conors arm. It feels a little better wearing my shoes but that just provides temporary relief. Hopefully it feels better soon!

Helpless

When I first moved to South Carolina, I expected to feel homesick and probably lonely. Thanks to lots of visitors at first, I, suprisingly, haven’t been too homesick. When Liz and Erin came to visit, they helped me find a job AND friends! (I know, I am super lucky) I have kept myself busy to avoid some of the feeling of missing my family and friends from back home. I am realistic in knowing that there are no NAVY bases in Iowa and that submarines aren’t in the Gulf of Mexico. I WILL be away from family for a while, this is what we signed up for. I expected those things.

I didn’t expect, however, the frequency of times I would feel helpless. Everyone knows what it is like, it sucks. There have been lots of times in my year out of the midwest when I wish I could just jump in the car and drive home. Obviously I can’t do that. (I often wonder if I could if I had enough fruit snacks and Thomas movies…but back to point) This week, in particular, has been filled with the longing to be with family.

It is so hard when I get a call that says “Reggie’s mom was killed in a car accident. He is flying in from Spain and your brothers are coming home.” or “We were supposed to be raising our kids together. I miss you!” The list goes on but when I am on the phone what do I say?

I didn’t get to bearhug Erin and tell her I missed her too. I didn’t get to stand with my family to support Reggie at the wake. I didn’t get to hug Shawn and tell him I’m sorry his dad passed away. I know this is what we signed up for but it sucks.

A sign

You know how sometimes you think about doing something LOTS of times but never do it. Then randomly, one day, you decide to just do it? I (We) did that this morning.

A while ago I read that on the first or last of the month, it was a good idea to write new goals for the month. Short term goals and post them. The month of October has been all about learning to live solely within our means and focus on our family. It has been a little bit of a struggle but we are finding our way. Anyway, I decided that this morning was going to be the morning we wrote our family goals.

We divided the paper into four sections and wrote FAMILY, CONOR, AMANDA and ETHAN. Then we each wrote a few goals in our category. (Ethan’s goal, I know you are curious! is to work on SAYing the words THANK YOU and picking up his books in the morning) Conor really laughed at the idea of a family meeting but in the end I think he thought it was a good idea. We posted our nice and colorful piece of paper on the fridge.

Where was I going this? Oh yes. So tonight, I found a great deal on this. Star wars tickets, it was going to be amazing…but $70.00. One of our lovely goals was to NOT spend money on ourselves. Fast food, clothes, etc. We were so tempted, especially since I wanted to surprise Conor. Then I thought of the list. I knew we created that list for a reason. Simple reminders for a successful month. That is the plan anyway!

Before/After

We took Ethan to Marrington Plantation here on base so I could mess around with my camera and its settings. This is my favorite picture I think I have ever taken. I loved it the moment I took it but then I came home and fiddled with the settings and now I love it even more!! Thoughts?

Before:

After:

Not Me Monday!

This past weekend, I was definitely not too busy thinking about the Navy Ball to notice Ethan hurting his arm. He would never be unsupervised long enough in his new playroom to perhaps fall off the couch or wrestle Ayden or Zach while I was showering. No, definitely not me! I always wake up before Ethan to get a shower in. 

And if Ethan had injured his arm on Thursday or Friday, I most definitely would have believed him when he told me owie the first time! I didn’t shrug it off to growing pains or anything like that. 

It was definitely not me, who, while rushing off to abandon let Ethan sleepover for the first night away from me, called for 3 different opinions from trained medical professionals, aka my mom, grandma and best friend, just so I could have a great time at the ball. 

I also didn’t completely forget about the injury while dancing the night away with my super, sexy sailor man! (Pictures to come when I can find my camera) I would never forget about an injury that was randomly causing my son pain for one minute at a time. 

When I was reminded of the injury after an uneventful morning and peaceful nap by an “Owie Mama! Owie!” and called the oncall number on base, I would never have exaggerate the pain so they would call me back with a referral faster. I  would NEVER do something like that JUST to ensure he would still make it to bed on time. 

After a nurse called me FIVE HOURS later, I would not have freaked out on her and the offices NEW FREAKIN SYSTEM. I am a cool, calm and collected mom.  It would also NEVER be like me to freak out at the lady on the appointment line this morning after being on hold for 20 minutes only to be told, the earliest we could be seen is 3:30. 

Ethan has a bowed bone (still waiting to confirm that) and I would never have kicked myself in the butt for being a tad bit of a slacker parent seeing as how I have NO IDEA how he actually got hurt. I also pay very close attention when the doctor talks so I TOTALLY know what the next step is in his healing process. 

None of this would ever happen in my house…nope, never! If you want to read more of what NEVER happens to other people click here!

Max

Have you seen many dogs do this? 

No, the small child and even smaller dog did not chew their way out of this kennel. That would be Max, this lovely dog…

…so apparently I don’t have a picture of Max on this computer. So imagine a sweet, golden colored retreiver/hound/random short dog mix. Apparently, Max doesn’t like to be confined. He was left alone in this kennel for an hour and this happened. Everyone was shocked, especially by neighbor Brea and she TRAINS dogs for a living!

VTech Giraffe!

Several weeks ago, I participated in a Twitter Party and was lucky enough to win this for Ethan! I wasn’t sure how big it was going to be because I haven’t seen it is stores. I was excited when it arrived in only a week. Conor and Ethan quickly assembled it…

(Never mind the fact that in the 7 minutes it took to assemble the giraffe, Ethan somehow took off is pants…he was wearing a diaper!)

After the lovely 7 minutes of assembly and a tad bit of confusion on how that green part (pictures above) clipped on (look at the box when assembling, lol) it was finally time to let Ethan climb on!

Ethan loved it! He uses it mainly as a seat right now because he can’t quite pedal. He can reach them but can’t push them down. The buttons are very easy to push…

…and we love that their are so many animals to choose from! Zach, the 2 year old I nanny, is loving the pedaling and chasing the animals. That game is definitely the most frequently playing in our house.

My personal favorite part is the ABC song. It is a relatively slow version of the song with clear letters that flash on the screen. The main negative is I can’t find a volume control. I wish it had a quieter setting but other than that we love it! In fact, I love the whole “keep kids active” idea. I personally think getting out and playing in the park or going for a bike ride would be the ideal situation for healthy activity but I know not everyone does that. This line of toys is setting a good message and we are thinking of getting Ethan the “weights” so he can use his instead of mine when we work out!!

Blue Eyes

I have very blue eyes. 

I got them from my dad. I don’t do anything to make them look bluer BUT according to Ayden I must have eaten lots of blue foods to make them so pretty. I drew that conclusion after this lunch conversation:

Me: Ayden, what would you like for lunch?

Ayden:  Miss Amanda, you have very blue eyes. When I get big, I am going to get blue eyes too!

Me: You don’t just get new eyes! You are big, beautiful brown eyes. You should keep them.

Ayden: No, I want blue Iron Man eyes. 

Me: Ayden, Iron Man has brown eyes, his costume is blue. You can wear a blue shirt and still have brown eyes.

Ayden: No, I want blue eyes like you.

Me: But Zachy and Mommy and Daddy and Conor and Max all have brown eyes and Ethan has hazel!

Ayden: But you have blue eyes.

Me: Ayden, God gave  you your brown eyes. How are you going to get blue eyes?

Ayden: I am going to eat blue food. Like my Fruit by the Foot and blue popsicles. 

Me: So if you eat Fruit by the Foot and popsicles you will get blue eyes?

Ayden: No Miss Amanda! You have to eat blueberries and cereal too.

Me: Oh really? I had no idea.

He was totally serious, like he was thinking of this for days! Too funny!