Our Weekend

We went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma over the weekend so that we could spend some time with Brian. In the 40-something hours that we were together we tried to do a few things that we thought would be fun. On post there is a large military museum which includes lots of Army stuff that I can't really tell you about (because it all just seems the same to me!) I do know that this particular tank is the tank Brian worked on the first time he was in the Army. When he was a cute 18-19 year old boy in Desert Storm. Before he went into the MI field. Before he learned a language (or four). And before he met me. So basically we'll call this time period BA for Before Amy.


One of the places we took the boys was the Wichita Wildlife Refuge. Brian and I went here the week before we got married. This weekend we thought it would be a fun place to take the boys. It's a great way to spend a day ... especially a nice warm fall day. The weather was perfect!


The first thing we saw when we drove in was a couple of longhorn cattle crossing the road.


Then we climbed Mount Scott. As we were driving up in the car we stopped for a couple of snapshots.




Then we got to the top and got out to explore a little. Here are the boys with Brian on their "recliner" in the rocks.


This is me being silly and jumping like Super Mario.


On the way back down the mountain we stopped to take pictures of some buffalo. This is a picture of me taking a picture of a buffalo (Chase had his camera with him too).


Here is a picture of Chase trying to MOO to the buffalo. He was hoping to get him to chase me around a little. What a nice kid.


Here's my picture:


We stopped at Lake Quanah Parker to check out some geese.


Then we went hiking at Cache Creek Canyon to find the Forty Foot Hole where Brian and I went skinny dipping swimming when we were here over a decade ago. We found it. Being there with our kids was a lot different! But not in a bad way :)




Here are the boys crossing the French Lake Dam on our way out of Cache Creek Canyon.


And our last stop (probably everyone's favorite) was to Prairie Dog Village.


We brought some Ritz crackers and spent a long time feeding the Prairie Dogs. It was fun for all of us, but especially so for Brian because his parents used to bring him here a lot when he was a boy. It seems like we are constantly going places and doing things that I did when I was little so it was really special to share something with the boys that Brian did when he was a kid.




And of course ... on the way out we saw more cattle. They were crossing the road and we had to pull over to wait for them. I thought I'd get a few snapshots before we headed out.


The entire weekend was a lot of fun and a good way to spend some time with Brian.

Helper

Just trying to get a little homework done around here!

Boy Time

This was Saturday night. They played Galaga in Chase's pigpen of a room for hours and hours and hours! It seems I would have enjoyed the break, but I actually ended up pretty bored. I think I watched something boring on the history channel before passing out alone in bed. This is why I need a daughter!

Wordless Wednesday -- School Spirit Day

My New Toy

This is my new toy. It is a Film and Slide Digital Converter. We didn't join the digital camera world until Christmas 2003 so I have about 8 years worth of pictures/negatives from 1995 - 2003 that I plan to convert this winter. Unfortunately I wasn't very organized with my negatives. They are all mixed up in a big shoe box! I guess that means that every time I grab a strip of negatives I will be surprised at what I get. At least it will give me something to do while Brian is gone. And I am sure I'll get some new blogging material out of it too. Fun!

80 Days Left

There are 80 days left until Christmas. 11 people voted on my little poll and only 4 of you have started your shopping. You better get going people! I have two things to tell you ... amazon.com and free shipping on orders over $25.

Readathon

On Friday Kenny's school had an all day Readathon. He got to go to school with a blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, books, and snacks. I am sure the main reason for the readathon was to give the teachers time to get their grades in the system (it was the last day of the first marking period). I think it's a great idea. Last year I was doing some observation time in a different elementary school in town and the students watched videos all day on the last day of the marking period. I'd much rather the kids read all day than watch tv! Anyway, Kenny had a great time and the teachers got their grades in. Sounds like a win-win situation to me!

A Million Reasons

Here are a million reasons why it is not cool to have two dogs and three cats in one house! I swept yesterday ... and this is what I swept up today. 24 hours later. Gross, I know. Aren't you glad you looked at my blog today?

Kenny's Birthday

Kenny's birthday is coming up. Last year I was really organized and created a list on the side of my blog telling you some things he might be interested in if you planned to give him a gift. Not that I am asking you to send him a gift. Because that would be rude. I don't have the energy to create a list right now, but if you were planning to send him a gift, I do know that he has been wanting this book and this book and this book.

He also loves football right now. His team is the Texas Longhorns. Don't ask me anything about it. I just know that all of the kids around here like either the Longhorns or Texas Tech. I happen to have one kid that likes the Longhorns and another kid that likes Tech. To me that simply means twice the sports junk in my house.

And of course, there's always money. He's saving for a wii. Chase has about $83 saved so far and Kenny has $38 so some birthday cash would definitely help him out. We told the boys that if they saved up enough to buy their wii that we would buy them Rock Band 2. I am hoping they save their money up fast enough that we can all spend our entire holiday break playing wii rock band. Feel free to come visit and we'll make fools of ourselves music all night.

My Medicinal Experiments

I have always been one of those rudely skeptical people when it comes to allergies. See, even now ... I feel the need to put the word allergies in italics. Like they aren't real. Like maybe the people who say they have allergies are just making it up. I think it all started when I was a teenage babysitter and the parents would tell me that the thick green snot their kids were spewing all over the place was just allergies and that there wasn't any reason they needed to send me home and cancel their golf luncheon with their friends from the country club. Then amazingly about 48 hours later I had green snot spewing out of my nose too.

For the last two years I have suspected that maybe Chase suffers from allergies (see, no italics there -- we're talking about my kid now). My stubborn self didn't buy him anything for it the first year, but last year he had nasal sprays and the occassional dose of Claritin. It helped, but I was still pretty set on not medicating him to his eyeballs and making him into a Zyrtec Zombie.

I know that some of you have used Zyrtec successfully. And some of you have given it to your kids successfully. That's great and I am happy for you and your noses. Unfortunately my teenage babysitting experiences were only justified more when I spent time with one particular kid who never seemed to be ill at all, whose mother kept him on Zyrtec 365 days a year, and who took it at 11 pm ever night, therefore not being able to wake up enough to function until about noon the next day.

Last year I was sick a lot. I think it was because I was in the elementary schools weekly and my boys were back in school after a year of homeschooling. The three of us brought home enough germs to go around. I spent all of February and March very sick. I shared with Brian. We both went to the doctor and he prescribed antibiotics, cough meds, decongestants, and pain pills. (that's how bad we were!) He also prescribed Zyrtec, Allegra D, Claritin, and enough bottles of nasal spray to last until I am so old I won't care if I have snot running out of my nose any more. We gobbled up the real medicines and let the allergy medicines sit there, unopened. We were definitely sick and didn't need allergy medicines at the time, but my skepticism was lessening and I was thinking I might want to hold on to those allergy medicines just in case.

Last night I decided to try out my Zyrtec. I have had a stuffy nose and runny/watery/itchy eyes for a few days without any other symptoms (no fever, no aches & pains, etc). I took it at 7:30 last night. It's now almost noon and I feel like I am still asleep! And my nose is still stuffy. And my eyes are still runny/watery/itchy. So I guess I will keep being a skeptic. But if you have any advice for me ... anything that you think might help me, please feel free to comment. Tell me to try the Allegra D. Or tell me it's just another cold and that allergies don't really exist. What's your opinion/experience?!?

PS I can guarantee you that if you are reading this blog I was not talking about your kid earlier. The Zyrtec Zombie's mother doesn't know how to read. ha ha ha Just kidding, but she doesn't read my blog anyway.

In the Nick of Time

I got an email today from a scholarship committee whose scholarship I applied for (and didn't win). The email talked about a program that I didn't even know existed -- a military program called Spouses to Teachers that helps pay for certification exams. I've heard of Troops to Teachers before, but never Spouses to Teachers. Unfortunately the email was to inform everyone who was a military spouse that the Spouses to Teachers program was not going to continue to receive funding for the next fiscal year and that it would be ending soon. The good news? If I registered before September 30th (today!!), I would be eligible for teacher certification exam fee reimbursement through March 31, 2009. I have three exams to take that each cost $120. I read my email at 4:30, did some fast clicking around online to get to the right phone number for the Spouses to Teachers representative in Texas, called her up and registered over the phone. 21 minutes before the deadline, I got in! I basically earned $360 that I thought I was going to be spending on my own. Just in the nick of time :)

Vote

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88 Days

There are 88 shopping days left until Christmas. Have you started your shopping yet? I have! I have gifts for all four of our kids, my niece & nephew, and Mandy's daughter Cate. I usually don't get started this early, but I am already thinking about holiday baking and all of that yummy food. Here's my thinking: if I get all of my shopping done before Thanksgiving then the only thing I need to do in between Thanksgiving and New Year's is bake & eat. I can't believe I've never thought of this plan before, but I am up for the challenge. The challenge of getting my shopping done, that is. Ever since I went back to school my motherly instinct to bake, bake, bake has been squashed by homework, homework, homework. Wouldn't it be nice if the only two places I spent those 6 weeks was the grocery store & kitchen?!? Oh, and on my treadmill for about four hours a day to make up for all of that food!!!

Things I've Been Meaning To Tell You

Ok, so I have not been so good with the blogging lately. As usual my excuse is that I am too busy with school. So let's get a little caught up ...

PJ went to the groomers to get a short hair cut. I was not able to keep up with her long hair any more. They did a pretty good job and she smells great, but they shaved her little nose (which I did not want them to do). Other than that she is looking good. She has the cutest pink bows in her hair that have tiny purple teddy bears on them. They came from Puppy Pals. Thanks mom!! If I can't have a daughter, at least I can put cute little pink things on my dog.


Here's a picture of a picture of PJ when she was 6 months old and I was trying to grow her hair out. She looks very pretty, but it was too much work to keep her hair from staying tangled all the time.

This picture is on a gift that my friend Mandy sent to me that I would like to show you. It is a magnetic board that has been painted with textured paint. The buttons are magnets that you use to hold the picture.

One side is a nice khaki color ...


And the other side is black ...


Isn't it just great?!? I love it! And the best part is that Mandy made it! All by herself :) She is starting a little business called Prairie Designs. Her slogan is "Prairie Designs: A Simple Way to Design"

Here is a picture she took for me to show off some of her button inventory. She sent it to me right side up, my computer saved it right side up, but Blogger is insisting on rotating it sideways and I can not fix it. Sorry about that! But you get the idea ... she makes cute magnetic picture boards and has tons of buttons to go on them. Let me know if you want to order one. I think you should buy some for me for Christmas they'd be great Christmas gifts.


Next order of business...

Do you remember last June when Lisa & I took the kids to have their pictures taken? Here is the final product. I had a custom matte made at Hobby Lobby and it looks so great!!! (forgive me for the angle, it's right here next to my computer desk and I took the picture from my seat). I just love it and wanted to share it with you.

Moving on ...

Kenny is trying to get into the triathlon thing too. I can't help but think his motivation is a little different than Chase & Brian's. Maybe that is because Brian bribes rewards him with 30 minutes on the computer for every triathlon he completes.


Now that my semester is getting busier Brian has been taking the boys out front to play football every night after dinner. Yesterday I took a break so that I could go out and snap some action shots:

And here's a picture I took of my new flip flops. I think I was avoiding my school work!


And here's another picture from our barbecue a couple of weeks ago. Even though he is wearing a swim cap I still think he's hot. So I thought I'd share with you.


I think those are all of my updates for now. Brian is still home on leave and we are enjoying every minute of it. I promise to try to be better about blogging. But I probably won't succeed.

PJ vs Led Zeppelin

Why is it that the dog barking to be let out of the bathroom that she shut herself into during the night makes me wide awake at 3:00 AM, but Led Zeppelin blaring from my alarm clock at 6:00 does absolutely nothing for me?!?

Farewell Barbecue

Last weekend was Brian's farewell barbecue. I wrote about it a little in my posting about my new House Husband. I thought I'd post a few pictures and videos from the day, but if you weren't there or don't know any of these people it will probably be boring so you can stop reading now.

Here's Ryan (company commander) presenting Brian with an amazing plaque the company all pitched in and bought for him.

And here's Karl (senior drill sergeant) presenting Brian with another plaque that is from all of the drill sergeants. Also very, very cool!

Here's Drill Sergeant Williams working hard to cook for all of us.

Chase at the pool.

Kenny at the pool.

Zachary (Karl & DJ's son) at the pool.

Brian throwing another drill sergeant's kid into the pool.

Karl acting as the pied piper with all of the kids swarming around him.

DJ & Karl in the pool (look at DJ's face ... it was coooold in there!)


And a couple of videos of the boys trying to catch a football while simultaneously jumping into the pool. It was pretty funny at the time. (If you decide to watch they are about a minute each and you have to block out the loud discussion in the background about racism and sexism in politics and the military)

Kenny then Brian then Ryan

Karl then Ryan then Chase then Karl again

Zachary then Will then Chase then Ryan

Yahoo Popular Blog Material Part 2

On any given day you can find strange things from all over the world on Yahoo Popular. The page refreshes every ten minutes and it is amazing how many weird things they can get on there. For example, the featherless chickens:

I suppose I could search the internet for stories about the featherless chickens, but frankly I am not sure I want to know the story behind this picture. They look too much like dinner with legs & a head!

And here is a picture of the world's smallest man sitting under the "Queen of the Longest Legs." Strange!

An upside down house in Germany.

Some Obama Waffles. WTF?!?

The Fat American. This bottom has been on Yahoo Popular on and off for almost two years. I am telling you, if this were my bottom I would not be happy. Hopefully this woman does not read Yahoo Popular!

And last, but not least ... the most unsual dive into a pool ever. Oh, wait a minute ... that is not from Yahoo Popular, that is from my camera! And that is my husband. I guess I don't need Yahoo Popular for entertainment after all.