Saturday, June 30, 2007

Kenny

I swear I could devote an entire blog to the things Kenny says or does. He keeps me entertained every single day. While we were in Bainbridge for the dog show we went to a Cracker Barrel for dinner. He wanted to try to eat the lemon that was in my drink. He thought it was super-sour, but tasted good. He just kept eating it and making funny faces over and over. We were all laughing and I just had to snap a couple of pictures of the sour faces he was making.







Here's another silly Kenny story: He was playing in the side yard with Chase and my brother, Shelley. He made a "hook" to replace his hand out of a stick and a broken bungee cord.

Shelley asked him, "How would you pick your nose?" And he said, "Duh! With this hand!"

Corning Museum of Glass

My mom and I took the boys to the Corning Museum of Glass. Although it made me extremely nervous to take Kenny into a place entirely made with and filled with breakable objects, he did very well. Most everything was behind large, thick sheets of glass so he couldn't even get close enough to cause any damage. I made him keep his hands in his pockets through the part of the gift shop dedicated to expensive, fancy souveniers. He got to take his hands out in the "normal" gift shop.
This glass spider was only one of several tiny bugs and insects in a display of "bed bugs". The little glass figures were all on top of a mattress. The boys really liked this display.
This picture was part of the "Curiosities of Glassmaking" exhibit. There were tons of displays that we could play with to experience the interesting things that can be done with glass. Chase was looking through the periscope down into the town of Corning.

Here Kenny is creating a telescope with two hand-held microscopes.

This picture was also part of the "Curiosities of Glass" exhibit. When you stand about 12-14 feet from the mirror you can see yourself upside down. As you get closer you get larger and larger and then all of a sudden your reflection flips right-side-up.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Dog Show

We spent the last two days in Bainbridge, NY at a dog show. Chase showed Country Pride's Jelly Bean and my mom showed Country Pride's Dilly Jam and Country Pride's Sir Valtrin Odin. They did a great job and had a lot of fun. Dilly earned another point and got "Winner's Bitch" which means she was the best girl bulldog there. She competed for "Best of Breed" with the famous bulldog Champion Cherokee Legend Rock. He won and she got "Best of Opposite."





In between all of our shows we had fun looking at all of the other dogs and crazy dog show people. Here are a few of the pictures I took. There are tons of shih-tzu because I am infatuated with the breed right now.




Monday, June 25, 2007

Next Blog

Have you ever noticed the little link at the top of the page that says "Next Blog"? Sometimes it is fun to click on it to see where you end up. Often times I see blogs in foreign languages that I can't read. (They are usually my favorites.) Anyway, I saw this one today and thought I'd share it:

http://stylus-fc.blogspot.com/

Sunday, June 24, 2007

The drama never ends!


Really, my week could not get any better ... Kenny chipped a tooth today at the park. We're going to try to get an appointment at the dentist tomorrow to have it fixed. It isn't like I have anything else to do (like a ton of homework for my online classes)

The talk


This afternoon the boys and I went to visit my Aunt Carol and my cousins Suzanne and Colleen. We sat and talked and really enjoyed our visit. I have been a little stressed lately with all of the traveling we have been doing and the worrying I have been doing for my friend Chris who recently lost her husband in Afghanistan. Well, that led to a very early, unexpected visit from another relative of mine ... my Aunt Flo (aren't you glad you decided to read my blog today?!?) This left me in a very embarrassing situation at my Aunt Carol's house today. The worst part was that it forced me into a "talk" with the boys that I had not anticipated having today and was not prepared to have. So, on the way home I gave them a very scientific explanation of what was going on. When I was all done explaining everything I asked them if they had any questions. Chase had very intelligent, equally scientific questions. Kenny asked me if I thought PJ's hair was going to get lighter as she got older. Ahhh ... the life of a parent ... always exciting. I am starting to think I should have used Jennifer's reasoning to explain everything to the boys. It would have been easier and I definitely would have felt better after a couple of shots of tequila!

Herkimer Diamond Mine

On Thursday we took the boys to the Herkimer Diamond Mines. You pay to break open rocks and look for quartz crystals. It was fun, but the only thing you are truly guaranteed to get is blisters! The boys did find some interesting rocks and a few really pretty crystals, but only after they started working harder because my Mom offered them $10 to quit and go to the gift shop to buy a crystal (which I vetoed). Of course we were all hoping to be as lucky as the girl in Arkansas, but we weren't! We did get some cute pictures though...


Traveling

On Monday (6/18) we drove to Austin to start our trip. We went to the Texas State Capital Building for a tour. The boys really liked that.

Then on Tuesday morning we got up very early to fly to NY. Everything went extremely well for our first flight and I was very happy with how easy it was to fly with two older kids (the last time we flew Chase was 4 and Kenny was 1) and a dog. She did very well in her little carry-on kennel. Unfortunately our good luck ran out in NYC. I opted to give up our seats on our 1:15 flight in exchange for seats on the 4:00 flight and three $400 flight vouchers. It was pretty exciting until our 4:00 flight was delayed until 6:00 and then we sat on the airplane until 8:30 waiting for a storm to pass. Then at 8:30 they cancelled our flight and we stood in a customer service line until midnight. Kenny fell asleep on the floor a couple of times. Chase made conversation with everyone around him that wasn't so angry at the airline that they wouldn't talk. At midnight people were being told that the next confirmed flight to Syracuse would be on Friday (yes, three days later). Passengers were being given stand-by spots on other airlines for the next day. And nobody was getting hotel or meal vouchers -- they were handing out tiny blankets and pillows so that people could sleep in the airport! It was our turn in line and the customer service rep was having trouble finding us a flight because there were three of us (and a dog!) when all of a sudden a woman came running around the corner asking for four people for seats that were empty on a flight that was leaving for Syracuse -- right then and there. I fought for three of those seats! I mean, I yelled and argued until I won them ... it was very unlady-like and very mama-bear like! 30 minutes later we were in the air and at 1:30 am we finally landed in Syracuse. My dad got up in the middle of the night to come and get us. The boys had fun playing in an empty airport while we waited for him. We got to Oswego around 3:00 am -- exactly 24 hours after we woke up in our hotel in Austin to make it to the airport on time. We were exhausted, but glad to be here. Kenny is still telling everyone who will listen that it is "all my Mom's fault" that we were stuck in the airport for 12 hours. And then I tell anyone who will listen that it was worth it because the next time we decide to embark on a flying adventure it will be $1200 cheaper!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Art Lilley

My friend Chris lost her husband in Afghanistan on Friday. Here's a link to a story that was in the local news from their hometown and a link to the official Army press release.









With a little help from my friends...

The Army Ball was last night. I was able to pull together this great outfit with a little help from my friends (and some strangers too!) Thanks to Lisa for the necklace that looked so great with my dress. Thanks to Joanna for the shoes and earrings. I wore the same shoes in her wedding a few years ago and they were too comfortable and matched too well for me not to ask to borrow them again! Thanks to Jo's sister Debbie who sent me the earrings that she had at her house because she had borrowed them from Jo for her college graduation. Thanks to Tisha @ the salon who put my hair up so nicely. Thanks to the nice lady in town who put this gorgeous dress in the consignment shop for only $32. And last, but not least, thanks to Crest White Strips and Spanx. Where would I be without my Spanx?!? ;)




We had a pretty good time and I am relieved to say that my social duties as a 1SG's wife are done until the Christmas party. (The boys and I are conveniently going to be in Missouri during the company picnic)



From left to right: CPT Will Jumper and Precious Jumper (B Co Commander), CPT Scott Starr and Jennifer Starr (A Co Commander), 1SG Eric Ludwigsen and Kelly Ludwigsen (B Co 1SG), Brian and me (A Co 1SG)




This is Scott, Brian and their senior drill sergeant, Drill Sergeant Furman. She is tiny, but tough! And smart. And nice. And very, very organized (which Brian loves!)




Here is a student taking pictures with Brian and Scott. They were like celebrities all night. Jennifer and I started teasing them about their paparazzi following.




Here are some classy examples of good Army soldiers!


Now we can focus on getting ready for our big trip. We're heading to Austin tomorrow and flying to New York from the Austin airport on Tuesday morning. We're really looking forward to a nice, long visit with my parents, my brother & his girlfriend. It's always great to be home -- especially during the summer when the weather is pleasant (70's) and the snow is all gone!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Stupid College!!

They increased tuition rates about 48 hours after I turned down the student loans that were offered to me. I was willing to pay for books, but now I am feeling like I need a loan to buy books AND the higher tuition rates. Of course I learned about it in today's paper ... which I didn't read until after 5:00 ... and we are leaving for our vacation on Monday morning before the financial aid office opens !!!! UGH!!! What a pain!!!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Saturday

We had a great weekend with the boys. I want to share some of the pictures I took.

First we went to the Twin Buttes to do some shooting. That really is fun entertainment for us now that we are Texans. Really! While we were there Chase got to see a snake eating a frog. That's the kind of thing you only get to see on nature shows on TV, or at the Twin Buttes apparently! Here are some pictures from our target practice:




Then we went to set up our campsite. I have this great new tent from LL Bean that I just love! It was the perfect size and very easy to set up. Even though it was big enough for all of us, Chase wanted to set up and sleep in a smaller tent. He thought that was great.




By the middle of the afternoon it was really hot so we went to the GAFB Rec center and swam in the pool:


Then we went back to camp for some more fun, fun, fun!





The whole weekend was a lot of fun. The campsite is only a short drive from the house so planning and taking care of the dogs was not a problem. Brian works such long hours at work that it was almost like a mini-vacation to get out and do something purely for entertainment on a normal 2-day weekend. And speaking of entertainment, if you want a laugh (at my expense) make sure you read my post about the snake ("Hiking on Sunday morning")