Crowther Clan

Christmas 2011

2012-02-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

Matching Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.

I intended to have them made by the beginning of December, but it didn't happen.

Better late than never right?

Santa arrived and filled the stockings. Ready for Christmas morning!

I get a new Nativity every year, and this year I didn't have to buy it!

My awesome SIL Jenna bought this for me for Christmas. Love it!!

Grandpa Vaughan wanted to read the kids a story on Christmas Eve - How The Grinch Stole Christmas (if you know my Dad you'll get it!)

So we did a FaceTime chat (Love, love, love FaceTime), and he read while the kids flipped the pages. They loved it, and actually listened and were quiet the whole time!

Me holding up the phone, so my Dad could see the kids and they could see him.

Tyson's favorite gift - a new Nerf gun. I've lost count of how many of these we have - honestly!

Zach's favorite gift - a How to Draw Dragons book, and new art pencils and paper. He is our resident artist.

Emma's favorite gift - a BopIt. Its not as easy as it looks, and quite addicting.

Tessa's favorite gift - a Dora Pillow Pet. She actually got 2 pillow pets, one was a pee-wee lady bug.

The only sad thing about Christmas is we missed being with all the family. Luckily Macc and Lisa live close, so they drove down the afternoon of Christmas Day and we had Christmas dinner together, and they stayed for a few days. It was wonderful having them with us, it made the holiday a lot more fun!

My nieces, Ella and Olivia in the cute shirts that Aunt Adriann made for them. I had a much better picture of them with Olivia actually looking at the camera, but it won't download for some reason - sorry.

Great Wolf Lodge

2012-02-01T15:19:00.000-05:00

For Christmas this year we gave the kids the option of less "gifts" and one big family gift or trip instead. They voted for a family trip instead, so we chose Great Wolf Lodge. It is an awesome family resort with an indoor water park. They have them all over the East coast, we've been to ones in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Luckily they have one outside Cincinnati, which is just 2 hours from us. Another great thing about this location, is it's only 15 minutes from my brother Macc's house. So he and his daughter Ella came and joined us for the day - TONS OF FUN!!

Family Photo under the giant bucket.

With a little coaxing, we got Ella to go down the slide. After the first time down, she was hooked!!

Cute Ella

Tyson was a great buddy for Tessa. They had tons of fun in the wave pool.

Quibbit

2012-01-31T16:58:00.000-05:00

Quibbit is Tessa's preschool class' stuffed frog. On the weekend he takes turns going home with the kids. When he comes home with you, you're suppose to take pictures of you doing things with him. Tessa made and read him a book, and played a song for him on Emma's recorder.

Ginger Bread Houses

2011-12-29T10:11:00.000-05:00

One of our family Christmas Traditions is making ginger bread houses. I don't make them from scratch, I buy the kits, WAY EASIER! It is so much fun to create the beautiful houses. The kids love it, I love it, and Ron tolerates it for us :-) This year we invited some new friends to do it with us - the more the merrier!!

Tyson was a little too cool to participate, his loss!!

Trimming the Tree

2011-12-16T09:56:00.000-05:00

Trimming the Tree

This year we got a very special gift - the gift of a Christmas Tree. 600 Christmas Trees were bought and donated to the soldiers at Fort Knox. So sweet and thoughtful. Thank you so much.

No matter how hard you try, the lights always get tangled. Ron put the kids to work untangeling.

Tessa really wanted to put the star on top of the tree, daddy gave her a lift.

Ornaments on the tree

The Masterpiece!!!

THANKSGIVING

2011-12-16T09:43:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving we spent alone with just our little family. I was pretty sad that we couldn't be with any extended family, but Ron kept reminding me that WE were a family and it was okay to be alone.

I just have such fond memories of spending every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and grandparents. It just isn't the same without them (love you guys - you know who you are!) I want my kids to have those same wonderful memories - but the Army life makes that a little more difficult.

Anywhoo..... I figured if we were going to do it, we would do it right. So I went all out - a huge Turkey and all the extras. Yummy appetizers,dinner,and deserts. We decorated the table, got out the fancy dishes, and even drank sparkling cider (that was the kids favorite - they kept toasting eachother). It would have been perfect if my children would have actually eaten what I made. Now, I didn't make anything I didn't think they would like, in fact it was all normal food. Almost all of them had a small piece of turkey, a roll, and some corn; for desert they didn't want any of my two gorgeous pies, just ice cream. Woohoo? So we had tons of left overs and I spent two days in the kitchen for nothing. Oh well. So I learned my lesson, and now for Christmas dinner I am taking suggestions and making everyone's favorite foods, so maybe this time they'll eat what I make!

Fall Break Camping Trip

2011-11-24T20:41:00.000-05:00

The kids get a week off at the end of each quarter of school. Since they started in August, their fall break came at the first week of October. We decided to take the kids camping because Ron has lots of leave saved up and he could take the time off. There is a great campsite called Otter Creek, just a few minutes from Post, which is so convenient!! It was a great campsite, and believe it or not noone else was camping in October on a Tuesday, so we had the whole site to ourselves - SCORE!!

This is what it takes to take a family of 6 camping - family camping as Ron would say. And to be fair, Ron didn't pack the trailer tight at all, but its still crazy how much stuff you need to go camping. Bringing Hailey along did add some extra baggage.

Everyone happily helped set up our campsite - can you tell?

Home sweet home for 3 days

The kids did get a little bored waiting for dinner and luckily we brought some cards along

Did you know that they still sell Jiffy Pop? And did you know that its yummy popcorn? It was our kids favorite treat, even over the smores.

We went on a hike down to the Ohio River. It was gorgeous country, and Tessa sang songs the whole way.

The mighty O-Hi-O River. The kids haven't seen rivers this big before. And I had no idea how long the Ohio River is - goes from Pennsylvania East to Kentucky.

We came back later and tried our hand at fishing. Tessa loved looking at the worms.

Despite the fact that the kids were suprisingly quiet, we didn't catch a thing. The kids were pretty bummed. We must be doing something wrong because we never catch anything.

Despite the lack of success at fishing, we had a wonderful time camping. We can't wait to go again in the Spring.

FALL BIRTHDAYS

2011-11-16T12:51:00.000-05:00

Fall is a busy time for us for birthdays. Mine is mid September and then Emma and Ron are back to back on the 8th and 9th of October. For my birthday I was out in Utah running the marathon, so I got to party twice - once with my parents and brothers and sisters, and then with my family. Ron made me a cake, and it was super yummy!!! In Utah they bought me one of those double chocolate cakes from Costco (you know the one with the chocolte shavings on top? - Delicious!!) , I was just bummed I only got one slice.

We had tons of cake and ice cream for almost a week and a half!! It got to the point that I was asking the kids if they wanted any cake, because I wanted it out of the house!! Ron got a chocolate cake with whip cream frosting and a vanilla pudding center. Emma wanted a Barbie Fairy cake from WalMart - yeah! I only had to make 1 cake!! Ron turned the big 38, Emma turned 9.

Lots of fun birthday parties!!

Sunrise

2011-11-16T10:26:00.001-05:00

We had a gorgeous sunrise the other day. With the daylight savings coming so late in the year, our sunrise comes after the kids get on the bus. I suppose one positive of that is I get to see the sunrise, when normally I'd be sleeping!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-13T22:22:00.001-05:00

Halloween in Kentucky is awesome because it was perfect Fall weather, 60 degrees and all the beautiful fall colors on the trees. Unfortunately I was pretty lax with the costumes this year. Nobody could decide on what they wanted to be, except Zach he wanted to be a ninja. Tessa wanted to be a fairy princess or a fairy mermaid, and we had everything for that. So I basically didn't worry about it at all. Until the day of the Trunk-or-Treat when Tyson and Emma informed me they wanted to be ninjas too. So back to the PX I went and luckily they still had ninja costumes. They didn't have one big enough for Tyson, so he had to wear Ron's PT pants because the other ones were WAY too short. So Tyson and Zach were Ninja Masters and Emma was their apprentice.

I strongly encouraged Tessa to be a fairy mermaid because her princess costumes are in pretty bad shape. Thanfully it wasn't much of a fight. She is my best poser when it comes to taking pictures!! She is sitting next to her pumpkins.

My Ninja crew. What is a group of ninja's called anyway?

The time honored tradition of trading candy after the Trunk or Treat.

Pumpkin carving. It was really hard to find pumpkins here - no pumpkin patch!! I couldn't believe it!! WalMart was almost the only option for pumpkins - so sad!! We found 2 pathetic ones at a church - the boys didn't want to do pumpkins this year.

Emma's pumpkin was hard as a rock. Ron almost had to bust out the power tools just to carve it (of course he liked that idea), but Emma was pretty bummed that she couldn't carve her own pumpkin - can you tell?

I love our trees, they turned a beautiful shade of yellow.

What a crazy group I have.

Veterans Day

2011-11-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

On the actual Veterans Day we celebrated Tessa's birthday. But on Saturday we went to the Veterans Day Parade. Emma walked in the parade with her Girl Scout Troop. It was a fun parade, and we got more candy then we did on Halloween! I think everyone was trying to get rid of their left over Halloween candy - and we benefited.

Tessa is a total ham waiting for the parade to start. We had an hour to kill before it started,so we got donuts and chocolate milk.

The Fort Knox Army Band was awesome. There are several Jr. ROTC companies from the local High Schools, and they looked fantastic marching in their uniforms.

Emma loved throwing the candy to the crowd.

We had a great time.

Tessa Turns 5 (sort of)

2011-11-13T21:33:00.000-05:00

My baby is 5!! I really can't believe it. I remember so clearly the day she was born, and how I would just sit and hold her all day long when she was a newborn - cherishing every second with her. She is such a joy to our family, and so full of life. She is in preschool every day, and it is so fun to listen to her talk about school and watch her learn and discover new things every day. We absolutely love her to pieces.

We celebrated her birthday on November 11th, even though her actual birthday isn't until December 11th. I just like being able to focus completely on her birthday and not have it mixed with Christmas; and it helps that she doesn't know any different.

We started the day with m&m pancakes. She kept asking us to sing the "Happy Birthday" song to her. She wanted her birthday to last for "lots of day!"

She absolutely loves balloons, so they were a must have for her special day.

There was no school on her birthday so we let her open one present in the morning. We decided to give her the BIG present first - her princess scooter. She was so excited!!

Chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting was her order. She wanted it to be a Barbie Fairy cake so we threw on one of her toys. (I really need to learn how to make cool cakes, but at least they taste really good)

Her two favorite presents were the scooter and a teddy bear that her new BFF gave her. She loves telling everyone that she is 5 now.

She is my little angel.

Training Update

2011-09-06T13:10:00.000-04:00

I promised to keep you updated about my half-marathon training. I've struggled since moving to Kentucky. I made it to 6 miles, but then kind of got stuck, mentally. So I was really worried that I wasn't going to be ready for the marathon in 2 weeks. But my awesome brother came to my rescue. He came to visit for the Labor Day weekend (he's the one that started this whole thing, my big brother Macc), and he told me that he was going to help me get my distance run in. So here is the post I put on our families training blog.

"I knew when Macc got here he would make me do a long run. I'd been putting it off, I had a big mental block about getting past 6 miles. So I mentally prepped myself all week. Saturday we did 5 miles and it was pathetic; I walked at least 5 times. So Monday was the big day to shoot for 10 miles. Macc diagnosed my biggest problem being lack of energy meaning I wasn't eating enough carbs. So Sunday was carb loading day. We fasted, so all we had was dinner. We had pancakes (2), and then 2 hours later I had a HUGE portion of old fashioned oatmeal with raisins. Then right before bed I had another piece of wheat bread with peanut butter. I was stuffed to the gills with carbs - but man it made an ENORMOUS difference.

It was a perfect morning. Nice and cool, cloudy, and a nice breeze. I felt good. First 2 miles are always hard but no biggie. I told myself I couldn't walk till getting to 6 miles. But at 6 miles I felt great so I decided to try for my new goal of 8 miles without stopping. I totally made it; even though 8 miles came at the top of a big hill- yuck. So then I let myself walk for a water break about 200 yards then the guys made me keep going and decided I should be able to make it the last 2 miles home without stopping, and I did. The last 2 miles were very slow, but I still ran and I finished at exactly 10.02 miles.

My support crew on this run was Macc, Ron, and Zachary (on a bike). It was great having them all with me; especially since Ron was my "pack man" and wore the camelback for my water breaks. Zach added humor to the run and it was nice and distracting listening to Ron and Macc talk the whole time.

So what I learned. Macc is absolutely right about the carbs. I can do things and push myself past my comfort zone. Having someone running with you is a big support and help. So glad that Macc came and made me do it. So now I know that I can absolutely do this marathon with minimal walking, and at a 14 minute mile pace. Now I'm totally psyched for the marathon. "

I promise to post pictures of the marathon and tell you all about it. So next Saturday the 17th be thinking of me and my pain and suffering.

Trying to fight through it

2011-08-31T10:47:00.000-04:00

Most of you know that I struggle with depression. I have been on and off anti-depressants for years now. Every once in a while I get it in my head that I should be able to conquer my depression symptoms on my own, so I go off my meds, like now for example. That decision is somewhat questionable. Can I fight through it most days and keep functioning? - yes. Like today. I don't want to do anything, and I really mean everything. I have to physically make myself get up and move and do things - even simple things like getting dressed. Right now it is 10:40am and I am proud of myself because I got a shower, got dressed, just finished my hair (that's big because I could have just put it in a pony tail), got kids off to school, sewed 4 of my placemats (current project) and finished 2 loads of laundry (3 more to go). But I am forcing myself to do this because I know that when Tess gets on the bus at 11:30 that I am going to lay down and take a nap - hopefully until 3pm when my kids start getting home. You might be impressed but don't be, because there are big things that I didn't do today - like going on my run for example, and eating healthy (just ate a ding dong and there is half a blizzard in the freezer with my name on it).

So you can see that I struggle. I know logically that this time of the month is harder on my emotions, and I try to not let that get me more down, but it's hard. It's hard to move, when all you want to do is lie down on your bed and stare out your window. But I have to get through today, and the next day, and the next. I keep trying to fight through it.

First Day of School

2011-08-20T09:36:00.000-04:00

First Day of School for us was actually 3 weeks ago. The three oldest started on August 1st and Tess started this past Tuesday on August 16th. Unfortunately for my kids but fortunately for me they had a very short summer, only 6 weeks long. Thats just the way it is, sometimes you get the short end of the stick. Maybe the next time we move they'll have a really long summer. Anyway, to the pictures.

I try to not emabaress my teenager, so I took pictures from a distance with the zoom so he wouldn't be mortified. Tyson is now a big 8th grader, HOLY COW!!

I had to take a picture of him getting on the bus because my kids have never riden a bus to school before. So far they still like it. I hope it lasts the whole year!!

Next up were Emma and Zach. They were nice and let me get their picture up close!! They aren't embarressed of their mom yet. Zach is a big 6th grader and Emma is in 4th.

The Fort Knox schools are organized rather oddly to me. Pre-K thru 3rd grade is at the Elementary School. 4-6th grade is at the Intermediate School. 7 and 8th grade are at the Middle School and then 9-12 is at the High School. So this year I have kids at 3 different schools. Next year I'll have all 4 schools. I am soooo glad they ride the bus. Oh and the bus stop is just right next door, HOORAY!

Tess was very anxious for her first day of school. She got bored very quickly when her siblings left her all alone all day. The only kink was that Tess has afternoon preschool so all morning long it was "Is it time for school yet?" It drove me crazy very quickly, but I tried to be patient because I knew she didn't understand.

Isn't she just so cute!! I took some pictures of her at school with my iPhone that I put on facebook. It was a little chaotic at the school that first morning. Tess also rides the bus but on the first day I drove her. Now she rides the bus to and from school with her sweet bus driver and monitor to sit with all the little ones and keep them safe (they have a seperate bus for just the preschoolers and the kindergardners). They say that she sings the whole way to school and home. Apparantly the current favorite is The Wheels On The Bus. Appropriate I think, don't you?

Exploring Kentucky

2011-08-05T13:14:00.000-04:00

Every place we move we try to explore our area and find all the cool places to go. So I've been asking everyone I talk to where we should go and what we should do. With the current heat wave we wanted to avoid most things outdoors, but the caves are nice and cool so we checked them out.

Who knew that Kentucky had so many awesome caves? We went down to Mammoth Caves State Park when my mom came to visit. They have lots of tours but they filled up, so we took the self guided short tour. It was nice and cool and the kids thought it was really neat. They were hoping to see some bats, but thankfully we didn't.

Walking down to the cave entrance. It was steaming hot out!!

I kept trying to take pictures and the flash kept blinding everyone! I thought it was kind of funny but it was driving everyone else crazy (hee hee hee!)

With my mom with us we got to take a family photo. Unfortunately I didn't realize how see through my blouse was!!

Zach holding up the cave walls. What a strong boy!

So Frustrated

2011-08-03T19:21:00.000-04:00

Everything is so frustrating lately. Nothing has been straight forward or easy. Everything from setting up cable and internet, putting up a fence, registering my kids for sports and school, buying school supplies and school clothes, and even doing a "simple" craft. I don't expect everything to be easy, but when everything gets complicated when it doesn't need to be, or when I'm not given all the information I need to complete my task, so it ends up taking a million extra steps - it gets really old really fast.

I'm an Army wife. I'm learning the Army system. I expect needless, useless, endless paper work to be apart of the program. But when I think I've done everything that I need to, jumped through all the military "hoops", and then you throw a stupid curve ball at me, I want to throw things at you!!! So needless to say I am a little tired of everything going wrong.

Then today, I thought I would do a fun craft to use some of my creativity and finish decorating my girls room. All I wanted to do was spray paint some letters and hang them up in my girls room. But no, that would be too easy!! I set up the spray paint outside on the driveway, one coat in, and the bugs started swarming. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh! I kept picking off bugs and got the main coat on. After it was dry enough I brought them inside to my basement, picked of the last of the bug guts and put another coat on to try and cover up the mess. So frustrating, that I couldn't even do something simple like spray paint letters without something going wrong. Eventually it turned out cute, but it took alot longer than it needed too.

I need something to go right for a change. Please!!!

Finally settled in Kentucky

2011-07-27T11:32:00.000-04:00

Well, we are finally pretty settled in Kentucky. Everything is unpacked, mostly organized, and 90% of the decorating is done (only because I ran out of nails so I can't hang anything else up). The kids are registered for school and school supplies are bought. They start school on Monday August 1st, only a few more days to go. They will ride the bus this year, which we are all excited about,and the bus stop is just a few yards from the house. Tyson's school starts at 7:30 so he gets on the bus at 7:05. Zach and Emma start at 8:15, but they are the first pick up so they get on the bus at 7:25. Tess will also ride the bus to half day preschool, but I don't know if she has the am or pm class yet. Tess is super excited to go to school everyday like her brothers and sister and we are all excited for her.

So this is a whole new phase for me. Several hours a day with no kids. I'm super excited for the break, it's been 13 years in coming, but I'm also worried. What am I going to do? I'm not working, at least not yet, I don't have any friends yet, and I haven't done any projects in forever. I haven't had time for hobbies in a long time, so I don't know what to do with myself. If Tess has a.m. preschool, then I can get my workout in while she is at school, but other than that I am stumped. I've been completely bored lately. Besides unpacking and organizing (which gets really old, really fast) I have nothing to do. Oh and its a million degrees here with high humidity so we stay inside all day because its like a sauna outside. So I need some advice here people!!! What do I do with my life and my extra time?

My biggest complaint about this move is that noone has been friendly or welcoming. Three people at church have talked to us on a weekly basis, and none of the neighbors have stopped by to introduce themselves. So I know what your going to say, "you have to get out of your comfort zone and go to them." Well I have. I've gone to the neighbors with kids and introduced our family so the kids have friends to play with. I went to the family that just moved in last week, baked them some banana bread, and welcomed them to the neighborhood. We went to the ward pioneer activity and everyone ignored us except for the three people I mentioned earlier. I'm just really frustrated. I'm sick of having to initiate everything. Why can't just one person be nice and come up to me? Just one!

I sit in church and look around (at the not very many people) and think "who here could be my friend?" Wanna know what I come up with, NOONE! And of course this primary is really struggling so I'm pretty sure I know what my calling with be. Oh and get this - our second week in the ward I was pretty sick with a cold so I was totally drugged up for church. Right after sacrament meeting, a sister comes up to me, says "I know your new in the ward but would you be willing to help out in Nursery today?" I just stared at her for a second. She didn't introduce herself, say hello, or even ask me my name, just a "will you help?" Normally I would have bit the bullet and said yes, but since I was sick I used that excuse and said no. I was pretty perturbed by that encounter. I realize they really need help, but I just couldn't get over how rude she was. She didn't even say hello or welcome to the ward. I'm not having any warm and fuzzy feelings about this ward yet. Anyone want to PCS to Fort Knox so I can have a friend? Pretty please???? I promise to help you unpack and get settled!!

Anyway, I'll post pictures soon of our fun summer activities. My pictures are being stupid, so when they start cooperating then I'll post things. In the mean time, I welcome any and all suggestions.

Days Like Today Are Hard

2011-06-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

Today should have been a great day. Zach had his promotion ceremony for finishing 5th grade and moving on the Middle School. He received an award for maintaining a 4.0 gpa for the whole school year. That means alot to me since he's the one that has struggled the most with this deployment. Tyson also got 3 awards at school for his academic excellence (he is also a straight A student). So why was it not a good day? Ron wasn't here to see it, again. I sat there all alone clapping for my kids surrounded by all these other moms and dads.

Then today was a very important day for Ron. He has been a company commander for over 2 years now. Average command length is 12 - 18 months. Ron served for 27 months. Today was his last day as commander. He handed over the company to a new commander. There is a whole ceremony where he passes the company flag to the new commander. The whole company is there and stands at attention. The outgoing commander (Ron) gets to say a few words in goodbye to his unit. It's a really moving ceremony. I was there when he was given that flag to carry and I missed him handing that flag off. I missed it. I should have been there. These are the things that military wives look forward too. But I wasn't there for it. I couldn't be there for Ron and he couldn't be here for our kids.

So, this was a hard day for me. Only one more week till Ron gets here. Can't happen soon enough for me.

My Slow Progress, and a Little Bit of Memory Lane

2011-05-30T22:24:00.000-04:00

Can you think back on your life and find things that you are proud of yourself for accomplishing?

I can think of only one. Don't get me wrong I have done plenty of things, but I don't consider any of them accomplishments. And don't bring up the deployments, because I don't think that I accomplished anything with those, I simply SURVIVED them. Most things in my life I simply make it through, or survive. There is only one that I feel like "I did it!" " I accomplished this hard task." For me that task was getting my Bachelors Degree.

A little back story for you. Ron and I met our first week of Freshman Year of College. I was a 17 year old freshman, he was a 21 year old freshman. We married that next summer, and had Tyson two years after that. Ron made a promise to my dad when we got engaged that I would finish my college degree. I promised the same thing, but having Ron say that he would support me in that goal was a big deal. Tyson was born when I was a Jr. at BYU. He was an angel baby and with the help of my siblings who babysat for me, I kept going to school full time. Then Zach was born my last semester of BYU. Luckily my last semester was only 2 classes, both at night only once a week. Finishing my degree was not easy. The school work wasn't difficult it was managing being a wife, mother, and student that got the better of me many times. I struggled alot with feeling overwhelmed and incapable of doing everything that was expected of me. Many, many, many times as I walked back up the hill to our apartment after my day on campus, I would just cry and cry. I would visualize in my head the day that I had my last class, when I was finished, and I could call my dad and tell him that I had done it! I visualized that image alot, and every time I would cry, just thinking about the relief and the pride that I would feel knowing I had accomplished that goal of mine. I still cry when I think about those days. I wanted the picture of me in cap and gown with my 3 boys standing by my side. I got that picture, and it's priceless to me.

Well, now I am training for a half marathon and trying desperately to loose 40 pounds. Today was a hard run for me. I've had a hard few weeks and last week I let my depression get the better of me and I didn't run at all. So today was back to the pavement, and I felt the pain! About a mile in I was dying - legs like lead, chest killing me, couldn't get my breath. So I started to visualize that picture in my head - running past the finish line, seeing my entire family there cheering me on (because I will be the last of us to finish, I'm sure), and knowing that I did it!! I finished! I accomplished something that I didn't think I could do!!! As I started visualizing my grand finish, I started crying. Have you ever tried to run while your crying? I don't recommend it. Basically I had to take a little break and walk for a bit before I could start running again. But I kept that image in my head the whole run, and I will keep it in my head for the next few months. That image is what will get me through, keep me pushing, and hopefully get me past that finish line.

Ready, Set, Run!

2011-05-14T17:29:00.000-04:00

So my oldest brother Macc went to cheer on a friend at a Marathon a few weeks ago. Watching his friend finish the marathon and watching all the families and friends running together got him inspired. Inspired to do what you say? well run a marathon of course. But he didn't want to run a marathon by himself, no no no, he wanted his entire family to do it with him. So he started calling all his siblings. Lucky for me my sister Adriann was the first one to tell him no to the marathon idea, but yes to a half marathon. I jumped on that one right away. I'll run a half marathon, but a full marathon is just way way way too long. So my brother convinced all his crazy siblings (and most of their spouses) to do a half marathon with him in September. But my big brother doesn't do anything half way. Oh, no, that would be too simple. So he created a blog where we can all post about our experiences and cheer each other on. He created a training schedule for us. He also created a BOM reading schedule to go along with our running schedule. He wants this to be both a physical challenge as well as a spiritual challenge. So along with training for a half marathon we will also be reading the entire BOM by race day. We will also have inspiration thoughts once a week, and of course for race day we have to have matching shirts. He also picked a half marathon that also has a 5K race as well. So for those family members that don't want to run the half marathon can run the 5K instead. The name for this family challenge is "The Inconceivable Vaughan Challenge". He chose the name from one of our families favorite movies, The Princess Bride; and there is a hilarious scene where one character keeps using the term "inconceivable". Its funny - go watch it.

Official training started this week. I ran fairly well the first 2 mile runs on Monday and Wednesday. In fact Wednesday was the best run I've had to date. I felt great and ran great. But today was the longer run for the week, a whole 3 miles - don't mock, its a long way. Anyway, my run today totally stunk. I felt horrible and had to walk quite a bit. But there is a lesson in all of this. I will have great days and bad days, but as long as I get my butt out there running, thats all that matters.

So here I go on a great challenge. Wish me luck, I'll need it!

Easter

2011-05-06T14:26:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know I know. Way behind. If you want my excuses I have a whole list, but let's just skip that part and jump right in to now. I might go back and do some posts on things that I missed, but that will only happen when I have tons of time on my hands - so who knows when that will happen!!!

So lets start back up with Easter! We were on vacation over Easter Sunday so when we got back home I made the kids get dressed up in their Easter clothes in the middle of the week - they were not happy about that. But I wanted Ron there to help me keep the kids happy and make them smile. So here are the results of the group effort.

I don't know what the deal with Emma was. She kept making goofy faces and she looks like she was leaning sideways in the pictures. But I think everybody else looks great. And I really wanted to take the pictures in front of one of my parents orange trees, to commemorate our stay here in California.

The Place Where Dreams Come True

2010-11-15T21:49:00.000-05:00

The kids voted to have a smaller Christmas so we could go to Disneyland as a family. I even convinced Grandma and Grandpa to come with us. We had so much fun! We went on everything we wanted to, and found awesome souveniers (I'm all about the souveniers!). At the Star Tours gift shop you can build your own Lightsaber. Emma made herself a purple one (shock!), Zach made a double ended red one and Tyson made a blue one. Tess of course picked a princess toy set and a fun princess mickey ear hat.

Tyson isn't a big roller coaster person, but he loved the rockets.

There is a fun Jedi training show where they pull kids from the crowd to learn the art of the Jedi's. Tyson tried twice and Emma and Zach once, with no luck. They like the younger kids in the show. I felt so sad for them, they wanted to do it so badly. (A fun side note. I took Tyson back to Disneyland for his birthday two weeks ago and he was picked to be in the show that time, I'll post that later)

Don't look too closely at this photo, we don't look that great!

Tess got to meet Cinderella, Aurora, and Jasmine

Emma got pulled out of the crowd to dance during the parade.

Tess had such a great time and was happy the whole day! When we finally got in the car she zonked right out, but wouldn't let go of her bag with her souvenier in it!

I can't believe we went to Disneyland to ride a carousel, but it was one of their favorite rides.

My kids are weird, but it was a great day!

BAPTISM

2010-11-14T23:16:00.000-05:00

Baptism's are a very special and sacred event for our family. We purposely had Ron come home for R&R after Emma turned 8 so he could baptize her while he was here. We had tons of family come and it meant so much to us. Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures, which I really regret. But I did get some of Emma and Ron after the baptism. Emma always beams when she is with her daddy.

And per our family tradition, Grandma and Grandpa Vaughan bought Emma her first set of scriptures. Of course the case HAD to be purple!

New Beds!

2010-11-13T15:33:00.000-05:00

The girls have been sharing a full size bed for a few years now. It started becoming a bit of an issue (that's a bit of an understatement). So when Ron was here, I recruited him to help me find the girls new bunk beds. We finally found some that fit out requirments: they needed to look similar when they seperated into individual beds,they needed to be REALLY sturdy, and there needed to be enough head room on the bottom bunk. We had the beds delivered when Emma was at school and suprised her with them. She was THRILLED! She has been telling everyone she sees about her new bed. I love them! And for now I let the girls pick their own bedding, Tess is princess of course, and Emma is purple and green with flowers. Lots of fun! Oh, and it came with a trundle bed, which we are currently using for storage! Love it!

Their room is pretty small, so its hard to get a good shot of the headboards and footboards, but they are really pretty. I'm thrilled with what we picked and I'm even more thrilled that the fights at bedtime have stopped!

P.S. a side effect I wasn't expecting is Tess misses sleeping next to someone so now I have become her someone, usually around 5:30am!

Pumpkin Picking

2010-11-11T15:59:00.000-05:00

I miss REAL FALL so much it's driving me crazy. Luckily there are a few fun fall things here, like Bates Nut Farm where you can go and pick your pumpkin, buy candy, pet and feed some goats and take a pony ride. Luckily Ron was with us to do the heavy lifting!

HALLOWEEN FUN

2010-10-31T22:30:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody!! Okay, I know I'm extremely behind in posting, but its been CRAZY!!!

So, I will start with last night and our fun Halloween night.

Oh, and yes Ron is back in Afghanistan. Pics of our fun together to come later.

Emma - a 20's Flapper

Tessa - A Princess Mermaid

Zach - an Aprentice Ninja

Tyson - Davy Crockett

I PROMISE that I will catch up on my posts this week.

I hope you all had a wonderful All Hallows Eve.

R&R, Worth It?

2010-10-06T18:21:00.000-04:00

I need to vent a little. I am having such a hard time with this one. Ron left Afghanistan on Saturday, still not a word from him. I have no idea where he is or when he’ll get here. I want to kill him for not keeping me informed. I am so terrified, nervous, anxious, and frustrated that I think I’m getting an ulcer; I feel like I’m going to throw up all day long. I hate feeling like this, but I have felt it every time we are reunited after a separation, all the way back to when we dated. For some reason I get horribly nervous and terrified that I won’t still love him, that things will be different, he’ll be different, I’ll be different. Its torture!

And I wonder if this whole R&R thing is really worth it. I don’t know if I want him to come and visit. It’s really hard to go back to normal life for a few weeks and then be ripped apart again inside. It’s like being told you won a million dollars in the lottery, so for two whole weeks you’re on cloud nine and then they rip it away from you and say “Just kidding!” I’d much rather stay in this frame of mind that the kids and I are all alone and we have this routine going, and not mess it up. I don’t want to deal with the sadness that my kids will go through when their dad leaves them again. The worrying starts again, will he come back whole (mentally and physically), will he get hurt, will we get a horrible knock at the door or a scary phone call? It’s never ending.

Do I want him around? Will I be able to talk to him? Will our relationship still be strong? Who knows! How can anyone stay connected to someone else that they can only talk to once a week for twenty minutes? It’s impossible! By the time I get used to him again, it will be time for him to go back to “work”.

Oh, and try explaining to a 4 year old that her daddy is just coming for a visit, like cousins do, and then he has to go back to “work”. Do you think she gets it? Of course not! And again, who gets to deal with that aftermath – you got it – ME!

I do want to see him, of course I do, but it’s still awkward and weird at first. I just really hate this. I wish it were already over. Just get here already!!!

My Day on Tuesday

2010-09-29T20:01:00.000-04:00

7 am - wake up, gets kids up and ready for school
7:50- take kids to school, drop off Tess with sitter
8-8:45- go back home to make pan of brownies for Scouts tonight and put one coat of paint on a sail boat for rain gutter rigata on Wed
9-1:20 - work
1:45 - pick up Zach and Tyson at school (different schools mind you) for their 2 pm dentist apt
2:05 - drop off Zach and Ty at Dentist, leave to get Tess
2:15 - get Tess from babysitter
2:30 - pick up Emma and two friends from school
2:45 - head back to dentist office to pick up Ty & Zach (make follow up apts for next day for tooth extraction and sealants)
3:05 - drop Ty off back at school for flag football practice
3:10 - drop friends off at home
3:15 - get home, eat snack, do some homework, get ready for Taekwondo
4 - leave for Taekwondo
5:15 - leave Taekwondo head to school to pick up Ty from football practice
5:22 - phone call from Ty yelling at me because "why is it taking you so long?"
5:23 - hang up on Tyson (if it was safe to leave him at school by himself, I would)
5:27 - pick up Ty and instruct him to not open his mouth and to go directly to his room when we get home until I want to see his face again.
6:00 - dinner, and yelling at Tyson to never talk to me that way again. Ty is very apologetic and thankful for everything I do the rest of the evening.
7:00 - go to church for Boy Scout Court of Honor, Tyson gets 5 merrit badges and earns rank of 2nd class
8:00 - go home and send everyone to bed

This was by far one of the craziest days I've had in a long time. I hope I don't duplicate it anytime soon.

Looking forward too...

2010-09-27T18:43:00.000-04:00

Ron coming home for his two week R&R vacation. He leaves Afghanistan on the 3rd, and we just get to wait with baited breath until he calls from Atlanta telling us when he'll be landing here in San Diego (usually takes 4 days of travel time to get state side).

For fall to arrive. We are having a HUGE heat wave right now, with highs in the 114 range - uck! Where did my beautiful fall weather go? Oh yeah, its back in New York :-(

And for Emma's big day. I really can't wait for that! And Emma can't wait to wear her beautiful dress again.

Our friend J.J. Campbell did the photo shoot, and my sis Adriann made the announcement - Thank you guys!

For family and friends that are far away, my intention is to order these and mail them to you. But in case that doesn't happen, here you go!

1 Down

2010-09-20T22:52:00.000-04:00

I'm Back! And I had a FANTASTIC weekend and birthday. I talked, and talked, and talked; shopped, and shopped and shopped, and ate and ate. I quickly must thank a few people that facilitated my ability to run away and have a break for a few days. My parents, (who watched the girls), my brother Andy ( who watched his children and my boys so his wife could run away with me), my brother-in-law Shane (who watched Ivy so my sis could play with me and who picked up 32 quail and brought them down from Ogden for my brother Andy), and Ivy (who gave up her bed for her aunties to sleep in). I love you all and I'm so grateful for your help in support of my mental health. :-)

So these are pics of my latest completed project. I took all of our "family" pics and put them in these albums. There is easily over 4,000 pictures there. I still scrapbook the kids personal pictures (birthdays, awards, special events), but every other picture got put in a photo box. So I finally got all the pictures out of those photo boxes and put them in viewable albums. I also had to suck it up and order 3 years worth of pictures online (here's the key, wait till they have a screaming deal on prints - and free shipping!) So I am thrilled that I finished this and I can have a small sense of accomplishment. I'll just ignore the 8 years behind I am in scrapbooking the kids photos!

Each album is label and organized chronologically. These albums are from Michaels and they fit 10 to a page. I also waited until these babies were 40% to buy them.

I love being able to flip through the pictures and watch the kids grow up. So many precious memories. These albums are definately what I'm grabbing if we have a fire.

Looser as a mother

2010-09-15T23:49:00.000-04:00

Do you ever feel like a total looser as a mother? I feel like a total looser as a mother this week.

Why?

Well, since I don't mind making myself look bad, I'll tell you.

Some days are just crazy, you know the days. When everybody has something happening after school and you don't know how you're going to fit it all in. Tuesday was like that for us. So the only way that I could make everything work was to bribe Zach into thinking it was a good thing to miss his Taekwondo class. He was thrilled but I felt bad that I couldn't pull it all off.

Then today. (Side note, tomorrow is my bday but I am leaving in the afternoon to run away to Utah for the weekend so we were having my birthday dinner and cake tonight) This afternoon was pretty calm, and I actually fell asleep watching a movie with Tess. Well, then I wake up at 5:30. Noone has their homework done, Zach was suppose to be at scouts at 6 and I still hadn't picked up the pizza for dinner (pizza is my favorite). So then everything got crazy, we didn't eat til 6:30 and Zach missed scouts. Oh, and it was Tyson's back to school night from 6-8 where I was suppose to go and meet all of his teachers! Yeah, didn't happen either.

MY BAD! So tonight I totally messed up, but mostly because I just wanted a nice night to enjoy my birthday and have some cake (that was super yummy and I didn't have to make - THANKS MOM!).

Maybe tomorrow I won't be a looser or let my kids down, yet again.

Favorite Time of Day

2010-09-01T22:33:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite time of day.

So beautiful, so calming.

This is the view from my parents deck. The sun just went down over the Escondido hills.

When I was in High School I use to go for walks at sunset and go to "my" spot to watch the sun go down.

It was my peaceful, thoughtful time.

One of the biggest perks of living near the beach on the West Coast is watchng the sun set over the water. If I could watch that every day I would, and I'd never get sick of it.

Of course, I keep missing my chance to get a picture of the really gorgeous part of our sunsets. I'm usually in the car when I notice it and then I rush home and I've missed it. I promise to catch it one of these days.

A message to all my friends:

there is still an open invitation to come stay with us for a visit and enjoy these sunsets yourself.

What is your favorite time of day?

It doesn't happen to Dads

2010-08-30T19:56:00.000-04:00

The other day when I was in the shower the kids were bombarding me the entire time I was in there (about 10 minutes). They were banging and pounding on my door, "Mom!" "Mom, I need your help!" "Mom can you get ... for me?"

And the same thing happens every time I use the bathroom.

Why is that? Why does it always happen to the Moms and not the Dad's?

Are Mom's just so awesome that we can do amazing feats including help put shoes on AND shower at the same time?

Can I just have 10 minutes of peace for myself? Please!!

First Day of School

2010-08-27T13:02:00.000-04:00

Emma, the big 3rd grader

Zach, the shaggy 5th grader

(Yes, the mom was too tired to give him a hair cut for the first day. He did have one by the 3rd day though)

Ty, the big 7th grader

(If you noticed, Zach and Ty have the same shirt. I swear anything with camo or military they are both drawn too. At least they aren't at the same school.)

(Oh, and Tysons new hair do is wet/flat/messy. If I try to put a comb to it, or part it, he freaks out. Hello to pre-adolescence!)

The consensus after the first day was they all loved their teachers. I'm really hoping for an awesome school year and no more drama.

14, but really 10

2010-08-25T00:14:00.000-04:00

Today is Ron and my 14th Wedding Anniversary.

I can't believe we've been married that long. But then I got to thinking about it. If I deduct all of his deployments and training, we've really only lived together for about 10 years. I tease him that I can't believe I still love him after all this time. Maybe the separations really do make the heart grow fonder. I certainly do appreciate everything he does for us while he is home.

I mentioned to Tyson yesterday that today was going to be our anniversary. I asked him to guess how many years we've been married. (Quick explanation, this is the son that just turned 12). He looked at me and said without hesitation "10 years." I said, "Tyson think about that and think about how old you are. We were married before you were born." Then he guessed the correct number.

I realize that MANY couples get married after they have a baby - but not me.

So honey, I want you to know how much I love you and miss you. You are my rock; without you everything would fall to pieces. Thank you for your sacrifice for our family and for our country. Stay safe, and come home to me soon.

Love always and forever,

Vaughan Family EXTRAVAGANZA

2010-08-22T19:29:00.002-04:00

We weren't aloud to call our reunion a reunion. It had to be called an EXTRAVAGANZA! And it was! My amazing brother Macc flawlessly organized our activites and we had a great time!

The water was suprisingly warm the day we went to the beach. Even the moms were willing to get in!

The boys spent the whole time in the water. They love the beach!

Emma actually let the boogie board get in the water a little.

Uncle Shane brought a kite to the beach. It was a huge hit!

Tess loved it! And I love her smile!

We brought kyaks to the beach with us. My dad and I took them out and it was so much fun! It is so peaceful out on the water. I did keep a sharp eye out for sharks, but we made it back safe and sound.

The cousins burried themselves in the sand

The girl cousins were so cute together. The 3 in princess dress up even called each other by their princess names. They got along so great and it was adorable watching them together.

And we collapsed at the end of every day!

My mom and sister put together an AMAZING, Amazing Race for us. We split up into 3 teams and we had tons of challenges and pit stops. We had to organize everyones birthdays by their baby picture, race between trees, shoot baskets, buy something at a dollar store, eat cold mac'n cheese, go to the Wild Animal Park and have this picture taken, dive for marked poker chips in the pool and then race to the end. The best of all was MY TEAM WON!!!

Of course we did other awesome things. We spent a day at the lake having fun on the boat. We had a Wii tournament that came down to the boy cousins of course, Zach won! We played baseball at the park, ate In-n-Out twice, had a movie night outside (Darby O'Gill and the Little People), and did a service project of care packages for soldiers in Afghanistan.

I love my family so much and I'm very greatful that we had such a wonderful week.

Beach

2010-08-21T17:12:00.001-04:00

We went to the beach almost every week. One night a friend of ours was camping at the beach and we went and bummed with them and roasted marshmellows over a fire. I took these pics that night. I love watching the sun set over the water.

My Family

2010-08-20T16:47:00.000-04:00

Whenever we're together we attempt a family picture. Ron is usually the only missing member, so it isn't the entire family, but close enough. This time, it was my children who were the uncooperative ones. Tess was a complete nightmare, and I HATE the way I look, all I see is fat (working hard on that one!) But here is my awesome family!

L-R: Adriann, Andy, Me, Macc, Jacque and my Mom & Dad

All the grandkids. See what I mean about my kids being the naughty ones?

Lots to BLOG about..

2010-08-19T19:23:00.000-04:00

I know its been a while,and I'm very sorry. We've been having FUN!!

I have lots to show you and lots to say, but a few things first.

I've been a little sad lately because I've been missing Ron a little more than usual. We finally sold our house last week ( a financial blessing yes, but still sad). I feel like I've lost a part of Ron. He literally put blood sweat and tears into remaking that house for us, and now it's gone. I've also cut my last tie to New York. I really miss my friends there (Hi everybody!) and it absolutely felt like HOME. I will miss it very much. I also visited the place where Ron and I met, fell in love, and started our lives together; very bitter sweet. Anytime the kids and I have an adventure (like those we've had this summer) it makes me sad that Ron isn't here to share them with us. Like I said, this summer has been a little bitter/sweet for me, I'm ready for fall to come.

We had TONS of fun this summer, despite all my complaining and worrying. We spent tons of time at the beach, had a PHENOMENAL family reunion and spent a fun week at my parents cabin in Idaho. Don't you worry, I took over 200 pictures, and those will be coming soon.

Next week, life gets back to a new normal. Ty, Zach, and Emma go back to school. I go back to work, and Tess goes to some sort of child care (still working on that). Ron and I will celebrate our 14th Anniversary next week, and we are already counting down the days till Ron comes home for R&R in October YIPPIE!!

I promise that posts on our summer fun will be coming soon!

Where's my cape?

2010-07-23T15:54:00.001-04:00

Okay, so my latest conquest is to become

SUPER MOM!

I started working again. I got a part time job at my Dad's office doing his invoicing and billing. I absolutely LOVE it. Mostly because it helps me feel productive. Well, there are other reasons too, but that is the biggest one for me personally. At first I was so frustrated because I couldn't remember everything I was being taught. But then I came to a realization. I know that moms joke that their kids turn their minds to mush, but they really do. My brain is completely OUT OF SHAPE! There is definately a learning curve at the office and more juggling with the kids, but it's worth it.

Right now their main babysitter is Tonya, and they love her. In fact, Tess definately prefers her to me, since Tonya plays with her and I don't. Tonya is really tall (over 6 ft.) so at first Tess just called her "tall girl", it was pretty cute. I love that I can trust Tonya with the kids and they adore her. I only work 4 days a week for 4-5 hours a day, so I'm only gone about half the day. When school starts I will work while the kids are at school. I'm still in search for a sitter for Tess once school starts.

I love using parts of my brain that have been dormant for FOREVER. I love interacting with more adults than kids. I love feeling productive; coming in to a full inbox, and seeing it empty at the end of the day. IT'S FANTASTIC!

Right now I'm not overwhelmed, but when the school year starts and projects, homework, and activities start piling up I might change my mind.

So if I pull of this Super Mom thing, anybody want to make me a cape?

Self Analyzing

2010-07-18T00:22:00.001-04:00

I self analyze a little too much I think, which is probably why I am so critical of myself. But in all the introspection comes a few insights. Like this one for example.

I hate being alone, it makes my depression worse.

I still feel alone surrounded by my kids. I feel alone sitting in my bedroom with my parents upstairs watching t.v. I basically feel alone whenever I am not with my friends / extended family/ or my husband. In part of my analyzing about this I really think this is a key reason why I do struggle with depression.

As much as I crave "me" time and "quiet" time, the minute I get it, I'm lonely. I took some "me" time this week to go see Eclipse (yes, you are all shocked because I swore I never would --- but hey, it looked good, so I caved). I was so sad the whole time, because I was alone. I was grateful for the kid break, but my spirit wasn't rejuvinated like I wanted it to be because I wasn't sharing it with anyone.

Today we went to a friends Baptism to show our love and support. Afterward they had a dinner for everyone at their house and they invited us to join in (me and the kids that is). We were the only "non-family" there. At first I felt a little self-concious about that, but I go over it pretty fast. Everyone was very kind and friendly to us. I got to sit and listen to and talk to other friends and adults, and the kids had a blast with all their friends and their friends cousins. Before we left I thanked my friend for letting us "horde" in on their family day. She told me we weren't hording in and that we were just adopted family. I cried all the way home, I'm crying now. I needed to feel included. I needed to feel not alone.

Maybe part of my growth process during this deployment is finding peace with myself when I am alone. To be okay with being alone and not feel lonely. But it is so hard sometimes. I just want Ron home.

Need to Do Something

2010-07-13T22:01:00.000-04:00

I have a great desire to do something, but I don't know what, and I don't know how.

Soldiers are being killed, almost every week, in Afghanistan. I think 10th Mountain's 1st Brigade is up to 8 casualties in 4 months. I get an email every time there are casualties. As soon as I see it in my in box, I feel my heart sink. This week it was SGT Donald Edgerton and SSG Jesse Ainsworth; both of whom were husbands and fathers. Ron has served as a notification officer before, and I'm just devestated for these families that get that horrible knock on their door.

I want to do something for their families, and to honor their service. I just don't know what I could do. I'm just me. I think I could make a little bit of difference, but how?

I will concider any and all suggestions. You want to help me too?

Tyson Ordained

2010-07-08T14:19:00.000-04:00

Tyson was ordained to the office of a Deacon in the Aaron Priesthood on Sunday, June 13th 2010. Several family members were able to come, which made it very special for me and for Tyson. I can't believe Ty is already 12. Doesn't he look so grown up? I told him he'll be as tall as me by the time his dad gets home.

These are the phenomenal, wonderful, spectaclar priesthood holders in my family that came to be in the circle to ordain Tyson. Lots of family couldn't come, and you were missed, but we understand.

L-R, Jason Coleman (cousin), Andrew Vaughan (brother), Robin Vaughan (dad), Bob Coleman (uncle), and Troy Vaughan (grandpa).

Obviously there were more family members there that I didn't photograph. Thank you Jason and Dawn for dragging your whole family down for just a few hours, I REALLY appreciate it. Thanks to Aunt Kathi and Uncle Bob, cousin Sara, Andy and Alec and my Grandparents for making the effort to come. I love you all so much. Tyson was very overwhelmed that so many people came just for his special day.

A special side note. My grandfather was baptized just a few years ago and this was the first time I got to see him participate in a Priesthood Ordinance. Usually he was the one in the back ground taking pictures, but not anymore. It was so special to have him in the circle standing next to his son, grandson, and great grandson. It was a very special day.

Cub Camp Wrap Up

2010-07-08T13:59:00.000-04:00

We made it through Cub Scout Camp! It was actually a good week. I had a FANTASTIC group of boys. I kept bragging about them because I never had to yell once, or stop an argument or fighting. Everyone got along great and listened to instructions and had a great week. We were definately exhausted at the end of each day, I collapsed on the couch for a few hours, but it was worth it - especially because of what it taught Tyson.

Tyson was made a Den Chief for a group of Bears, most of whom were 7 or 8 years old. He did an awesome job being in charge and helping his Den Leader round up the boys for all their activities. After the second or third day Tyson was talking to me on our way home from camp. He informed me that he had no idea taking care of kids could be "so mentally exhausting!" I said, "Really? Now you know how I feel. Its just as exhausting when they're your own kids as well." And then he was quiet the rest of the way home. Abut a week later Tyson came up to me and told me that he would do whatever he could to help me, because he knew I worked so hard. And he really has been so incredibly helpful, I am so grateful he is my son. To top it all off, on Sunday at church he bore his testimony about this exact experience and how he remembered the commandment to "Honor thy Father and thy Mother". He said he was so grateful for me and that he wanted to do everything he could to help me take care of everyone until his dad got home. I am so proud of him and I am impressed with how responsible and trustworthy he is. I know his daddy is proud of him too. After church I gave him a huge hug and told him how much I love him. I also told him this is exactly the kind of experiences he should write down in his journal.

I would do 100 Cub Scout camps if I knew I would get this result. It was sooo worth it. Thanks Becky for having a baby so my son could have that experience.

Cub Scout Camp Day1

2010-06-21T19:22:00.000-04:00

What? Why are you doing Cub Scout Camp? I didn't know you work with Cub Scouts?

Well, I don't. But my friend that is our Den Leader is 9+ months pregnant (being enduced on Friday), so I agreed to do camp for her. Now don't say I'm such a nice person, because I'm really not, and there are only a few people I would do this for, and she is one of them.

So I am a Den Leader for 8 Bear Scouts for this whole week, 8am-3pm. Tyson is a Den Chief for a Wolf den, and Zach is a participant as a Webelo. They have a chipmunk camp for all the non participating siblings of the people working at camp, so Emma and Tess go to the Chipmunk camp. It's a family affair.

Day 1 went fairly well, there was actually quite a bit of down time, and I had to keep the boys entertained. But my boys are all pretty good, except one, but 1 in 8 isn't bad odds (right?). The only scarry part was at the end when I thought I lost a boy. Turns out that his nanny picked him up and didn't tell me - naughty nanny!! So after that mild heart attack, I calmed down and went home.

Now I am lying on the couch not moving, and I have no idea what we are having for dinner. Luckily everyone else wants to sit and do nothing too, so again, its a family affair.

Life Ends Today

2010-06-16T12:19:00.000-04:00

I am not one of those mothers that can't wait till summer vacation to have her kids home. In fact, I am the exact oposite of those mothers. I hate (maybe thats too strong a word, no I think it's about right) having my kids home ALL DAY EVERY DAY!

This is what summer vacation means to me:

fighting,

messes,

headaches,

more fighting,

more messes,

yelling,

crabiness,

ungratefullness,

complaining,

whining

packing,

unpacking,

driving,

more driving,

coordinating schedules,

and more fighting.

The one positive is that my alarm clock gets to be turned off for most days. So today, is the end of my happy life for he next 2 1/2 months. Today at 12:06 pm to be exact.

Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Memorial Day fun

2010-06-04T19:47:00.000-04:00

I finally have something fun to blog about. For Memorial Day weekend we had a big adventure. Actually it was more like a week long, instead of a weekend which is even better.

Thursday morning the kids and I loaded up in the truck with bikes and gear, and headed for St. George, UT, my brother Andy's house. About 2 hours after we got there, we unloaded all the girls stuff and loaded all of Andy's stuff and his boys, Alec and Nathan, and all the boys headed north - final destination Island Park, ID, by way of Salt Lake that evening. My two boys, my nephews, Andy, my sister Adriann and her family, and my parents, treked up to the cabin to go fishing for the weekend. The girls and I got to stay in St. George and play with Jenna and her girls for the weekend. It was wonderful!! We had such a ball. The boys on the other hand, were wet and cold all weekend and didn't catch any fish. Oh well, I had fun!

So our girls weekend (Friday to Tuesday) was full of fun, good food, and shopping.

The girls on our first day of fun. front to back, left to right: Tess, Elisabeth, Annie, & Emma

My awesome SIL Jenna. I could have given her the chance to turn and look at me, but where's the fun in that?

We got and gave pedicures

Played at fun parks

Splashed at a fun splash park

Dug in the sand at the sand dunes. Note to any St.George visitors, go to the dunes first thing in the morning, the sand gets hot!

3 of our boys have birthdays close together. Tyson is the end of May, and Nathan and Alec are in June. So we did a HUGE joint birthday cake, and it was good!!!

Had to add this silly picture and me and Tess.

So our 5 days in St. George were wonderful. It was relaxing, rejuvinating, and stuffing (I ate too much!)

My 3 extra pounds at the end of trip came courtesy of: Cafe Rio, Cold Stone, Sweet Tooth Fairy, Jimmy Johns, Pizza, Costco churros and smoothies, Gummie Bears, Chocolate shakes, and Birthday Cake. I think it was well worth it.

Randomness

2010-05-18T18:39:00.000-04:00

I realize its been a while since I posted, and I don't have much to say. Life is the same, yada yada yada.

So I decided to post these pics of the kids.

My parents have tons of lizards in their yard, and as soon as we got here

Zach made it his mission to catch one. After about a month, he accomplished his goal. Now he doesn't care about the lizards - once conquered, forgotten I guess.

Escondido has tons of awesome "Mom and Pop" donut shops. Petersons is our personal favorite. These huge donuts are delicious and cheap! They have a huge selection and unlike in Watertown they have donuts 24 hours a day!! We love that place! After the kids finished these donuts they complained that their tummies hurt. The second time, they were just fine!!!!

Emma and Tess are now obsessed with dressing up.

My mom pulled out mine and my sisters old dance dresses, drill costumes, and dance recital costumes. Emma loves them! It cracks me up to see her wearing my old Prom dresses. And Tess now fits into Emma's old dance recital costumes. Doesn't she look so cute!!

So, otherwise, nothing new to report. We are going on a fun vacation up to Utah for Memorial Day weekend, so we'll have fun pictures to share when we get back.

Current Happenings

2010-05-04T17:20:00.000-04:00

So life has gotten busy again, or crazy is a little more like it. School is in full swing, and activities have started: cub scouts, boy scouts, gymnastics (for both girls) and swim lessons. I am trying to exercise every school day in my goal to get more healthy. I am taking sewing classes and will finish making my first dress next week - go me!! And last week got really busy when I found out that a close friend had died of a heart attack and I decided to fly back to New York for the funeral. He is Tim Babcock, my church Bishop and I love him so much. Ron worked very closely with him on the Bishopric, and we felt that one of us should be there. So I had a bitter/sweet trip to Watertown for 3 days. I got to see all my friends, and show my love and respect for my friend, and love and support for his wife and kids.

My last day in New York I got the scary phone call from Zach's Principal saying that Zach had run away from school. Yes, you read that right, HE RAN AWAY FROM SCHOOL!! They couldn't find him and were calling the police and thought that he might be trying to walk home. I couldn't do anything but wait frantically for my mom to call me when they found him, and she did. She drove around the park that is right next to the school and found him hiding behind some rocks. There are several reasons why he ran away, and hopefully we have addressed all of them, but it was quite a terrifying experience. And here I was thinking that the kids were doing pretty well with the adjustment. I guess I was wrong.

But on happy news, our house is in Escrow and we should close any day now. And Ron is still very safe in Afghanistan. Oh, if anyone wants to email him, he would love it: ron@crowther.com
The best news of all is that Tess is finally potty trained and she is doing great!! She tells me when she needs to go and hasn't had an accident in almost a week. We are all very excited about how well she is doing. Goodbye DIAPERS!!!!

So there you have it - the good, the bad, and the scary.

Picture of Ron in Afghanistan

2010-04-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

Here is the only picture of have right now of Ron in Afghanistan.

His unit has a page on Facebook (if your family email me and I'll give you the address) and someone keeps taking pictures and posting them. Who ever it is, I am so grateful to them. Its wonderful to see where they are living and to see all their faces. I was shocked to see this awesome picture of Ron, usually he isn't in any pictures. And doesn't he look like the classic soldier?! I love it!! I think in this shot he had just landed in Afghanistan and they were unloading off the choppers. If you can't tell which one he is, he is the front right soldier, squint and you can read his name tag on his uniform.

The Great Bike Swap

2010-04-18T20:37:00.000-04:00

We had a great bike swap this week. Tyson got a new really nice bike last year for his birthday, and it still fits him well. Zach on the other hand has an old bike that is too small for him. I knew I would need to get a new bike for him soon, but it wasn't a pressing issue since we can't ride bikes that often here in Ca.

(Side note: we can't ride bikes here except on our driveway because my moms street is way too busy and doesn't have sidewalks. We can take the bikes down to the park, but that takes alot of effort, so hasn't happened yet.)

Well, then this week for Boy Scouts Tyson's troop was going on a 15 mile bike ride. His leaders suggested he ride a 10 speed bike (his is not a 10 speed). Tyson's leader said he had one he could borrow if he didn't have one. I told my dad about the bike ride and he suggested I buy Tyson a new 10 speed and let Zach have Tysons bike. It did make a little bit of sense once I thought about it, I just wasn't in the mood to buy a new bike.

So my dad, Tyson, and I went bike shopping on Thursday night and $230 later we had a new ten speed and a new helmet ; the bike was on sale by the way :-( .

So on Friday after school we took all the bikes down to our church parking lot to teach Tyson how to use his new 10 speed bike. Everyone rode bikes, except Tess who hasn't figured out the bike thing yet, and my cute niece Ivy took advantage of the vacant bike and had fun. Zach had a ball on his new bike and was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. A win, win for everyone, except for my wallet :-)

"If I can't make this thing move with my feet, I'll use my hands!"

Striking a pose, my cute niece Ivy Lou

Check out the new ride!!

Tyson got a little frustrated trying to figure out how to switch gears, but he was very patient and figured it out in the end. My Dad did a great job teaching him - thanks Dad!

Easter

2010-04-14T22:47:00.000-04:00

Easter weekend came one week after our arrival in Escondido. My father "bribed" his children to come home for the weekend by buying tickets to the Lakers/Jazz basketball game. So both my brothers and their families and my sister Jacque came home for the weekend (I was not invited to the game, only the boys and Jacque).
It was so nice to see everyone. The only pictures I got were of our Easter egg hunt. Little Ella didn't participate because she was taking her nap.

Tess, Emma, Annie, and Elisabeth (Lizzie or Ellie depending on who you ask :-) )

Jenna dressed her girls so cute and did their hair so beautifully. I just combed my girls hair and put on dresses and called it good. Aren't I a great mom!!

We had an easy egg hunt set up in the front yard for the girls.

The back yard had the hard hunt for the boys.

Sweet, beautiful, Elisabeth

And the boys are off!!

Unfortunately I cut off Alec's head in this shot, but I loved Nathan's expression.

They had a great time trying to beat eachother to the eggs.

Aunt Jacque pointing out some eggs up in the Apricot tree.

The dogs whined the whole time, but we needed to keep them out of the way for the hunt. L-R, Max, Hailey and Yankee. Max is my dad's dog, Hailey is ours, and Yankee is my brother Andy's new puppy.

Being with my family is always wonderful; and I'm so glad that I wasn't alone in New York being depressed that we were missing all the fun. Now we get to be at the center of all the fun.

Drive out West Part 2

2010-04-10T18:54:00.000-04:00

It took us 2 days to get to our next respite. We crashed in a hotel in New Mexico where we swam in the pool and had fun climbing on the luggage rack.

Then we headed for a small town in southeast Arizona, known as Safford, home of the Hargis family : Clay, Kristen, Grae, Barbara, Cal, Van, and Laurel. They were our first good Army friends at our first PCS station at Ft. Bliss, Tx. Clay was an Army doc, but has left the Army for the civilian world of Emergency Medicine. We spent a wonderful day and a half with them. They generously missed a day of school so they could play with us - isn't that nice? The highlights of the visit were:

Lego Rock Band - definately aquiring this game!!

Trampoline mayhem

And a hike along Ladybug trail, up to Frog rock

walking sticks are a must

I think Cal's might be a little too big

My hiking buddy, Tess

Clay is the leader of the pack and natural explorer. If you want to discover all the beauties of the Arizona dessert, you need to go hiking with Clay and his brother Wes - they are the MASTERS!

Regretably this is the only group shot I got and the only picture of Kristen (so sad about that). We made it to frog rock and stopped for a snack of cookies and chips before heading back. It was such an amazingly beautiful spring day, we loved it.

Clay is also a great story teller. He filled the kids heads with stories about searching for gold and turquoise in the mountains. He convinced them all that we could be rich and buy our own islands - keep wishing!!!

We had such a wonderful time with them. One of the great things about the Army is that you end up knowing people that live all over the country. I know we didn't stop and see everybody - that would take forever - but we are forever greatful to the Petty's and the Hargis' for letting us stay with them and for playing with us. We love you both so much.

Part 3 coming soon.....

Drive out West Part 1

2010-04-08T23:23:00.000-04:00

Our move out to California from New York was a fun adventure. Our first stop was in Ohio with my brother and his family. The second and third days were spent with our friends the Petty's: Jon, Tamara, Allison, Brooke, Taylor, Steven, Ryan, and Mathew. We also spent a day at Tamara's parents home which was tons of fun, and good shopping.

The whole crew at dinner. Did you notice there are a few extra people? We also got to visit our friends the Mendenall's: Shane, Sara, Andrew, Owen, and Noah. We all knew each other at Ft. Drum. It is so great to be with good friends again.

Tyson with his buds Taylor and Andrew

Emmas buddy Noah. They went to preschool together.

Zach with Steven and Owen

We had a little beauty parlor moment while I was there. Tamara and her daughter Brooke both have GORGEOUS naturally curly hair. I helped Brooke straighten it for church and after dinner I suggested we straighten Tamara's hair (she had NEVER straightened her hair before). She agreed and Brooke and I went to work. Doesn't she look FANTASTIC!! Her husband loved it too!! Sara and I both thought she looked very stylish and trendy.

More pictures of her gorgeousness (is that a word?)

Jon Petty. My very kind and wise friend. He always helps me think about what is truely important and I always leave feeling uplifted and enlightened.

Me with my awesome friends, Sara and Tamara. I wish we could always be stationed at the same place. What fun we would have!!

The kids and I all loved seeing our good friends again. I was sad that we had to get back on the road and we couldn't stay longer.

Part 2 coming soon......

Idyllic

2010-04-01T19:43:00.000-04:00

So, I know I am way behind in posting pictures from all our adventures and I'm sorry about that. I will get to it, but not till after Easter because all my siblings are coming to visit this weekend - LOVE IT!!

But something happened today, that is a classic Southern California moment, so I captured it on film. This was my kids first time experiencing it, and they will have many more to come.

My dad picked them off the tree and dropped them on the ground and the kids picked them up and put them in the bucket. Fun times!!

In the mood for an orange or fresh squeezed o.j.? Just got out to the backyard and grab one off a tree! Oh, and smell the orange blossoms while you're at it, they smell DIVINE!!

It Begins

2010-03-22T23:23:00.000-04:00

It has officially begun, the deployment. The kids and I are currently on the road. Tonight we are in a hotel in Santa Rosa, NM. We left last Thursday and are taking our sweet time making it out to San Diego. We spent a night at my brothers in Ohio. Then spent a day at our wonderful friends parents home (Thank you Stoddards!). Then on Saturday we drove to Kansas and stayed with the Pettys. They are the most fantastic friends in the whole world and I love them so much. We had a fantastic time with them. They wanted us to stay longer, but we need to keep moving. So today the kids and I made it to New Mexico. Tomorrrow we head south to Safford, Az to see more awesome friends, the Hargis'. And then Thursday is the last stretch to the new homestead. The kids are doing awesome, and so am I. I am enjoying seeing the ENTIRE continental United States, its all brown right now, and lots of farm country. I am trying hard to make this trip a fun adventure for the kids and I think is working.

Ron had to work super hard to finish fixing the house and move everything out. Apparantly he only slept for 6 hours from Thursday to Sunday (I feel really bad about that). And a HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to all the friends that came to help him on Saturday. He really needed it and he couldn't have finished without you. Then on Sunday he flew out and headed for Afghanistan. He even called me on Sunday night when he landed in Germany. He was thrilled because he got to sit in Business class all the way there. So the 365 day countdown has begun, only 364 more to go. I hope it goes fast. And another ENORMOUS thank you to my dad who flew out to New York so he could drive the truck and our Uhaul trailer with all our stuff to California for us. He even volunteered to take our dog with him - what a guy!! I absolutely love my dad and I'm so greatful for all he does for me. He made the trip in 3 1/2 days - amazing!! And now my mom, dad, and our friends the Marlers and Campbells are unloading all my stuff for me. There are so many amazing people that love me and are helping me and I can't say THANK YOU enough.

I promise I have pictures to show, and more details of our adventures to share. But right now, I need to go to sleep. I'll post more when we finally get to California.

Hijacked

2010-03-12T22:06:00.003-05:00

Grace, I hope you don't mind but I'm going to hijack your blog. I have to show the pictures of the house leading up where it has finally ended up.

The Kitchen

OK, I was going to label all the pictures to tell you what you’re looking at, but realized it wouldn't really help you know what you're seeing. So I'm just going to post the pictures, you'll get the idea.

So a year later and the house is almost done, just in time for us to move. At least we'll get a chance to enjoy it for a few days. I've already told the kids our next house will not be a fixer upper. Tyson and Zach were ecstatic, although Emma then asked, "Then what will you do all day Dad?" Guess she's still figuring out that I'm suppose to spent more time with her than with my tools...

House Pictures - for Adriann

2010-03-02T15:49:00.000-05:00

Some people (Adriann mostly) have been asking to see pictures of our finally completed house. There are still a few small things for Ron to finish, but it is MOSTLY done. Just in time for us to move! So here are pictures of my entire house, excluding closets :-) I usually have alot more pictures on the walls but we packed up a lot of our decorations when we put the house on the maket.

View from the front door - looking through our study into the dining room

Family room equipped with a little girl

She was watching Dora, and was mad at me when I closed the doors on the entertainment center to take the picture. You can see the small entry way, straight ahead.

View from dining room into the study and family room.

Down stairs bathroom/laundry room. Bathroom side.

Laundry room half with linen cabinet on the left.

Study. Our favorite reading chairs and desk.

Book shelf that is normally busting, but we downsized during our "staging" phase.

Upstairs bathroom. Did you know how hard it is to take a good picture of a small bathroom? HARD!

Girls room. Again, there is usually a lot more toys in there, but they are already packed up.

My room. Tight squeeze for my big furniture, but I love it.

There is a small room attached to my room which I did not take pictures of. Mostly because right now it only has my dresser in it. It was my craft room, but that is already packed up as well, to help the house look bigger.

Boys room. All their stuff is packed up too, so their room is pretty boring also. Notice the camo bedding? They are all camo!!

We are down to only one reptile - the tortoise went to live with another family.

So there you have it. My house. I didn't include any outside photos - sorry. That will come later.

Happy Adriann?

COUNTDOWN

2010-03-01T18:20:00.000-05:00

Do you ever want to scream at people and tell them to just stop pointing out the obvious? That’s how I have felt the last 4 days. Starting with Thursday night when I went to my last Coffee group. I was so sad to say goodbye to these PHENOMENAL women and my Army support group. Everyone was asking me when I was leaving, where I was going, blah blah blah. They pointed out to me that it was just 3 weeks away – 3 weeks!! Leaving that night I was filled with so many emotions. All of these women are pillars of strength to me, and wonderful examples of what being an Army Wife is all about. I was incredibly sad to be losing their support and encouragement for this upcoming deployment. They all “said” that they understood why I was going home and that I needed to do what was best for my family, but they also pointed out something to me that I knew but didn’t want to think about. Having family to support you during a deployment is great, but they just don’t “get it”. They don’t. They can try all they want but there is a huge void there that they can’t fill. There is nothing they can say or do to help you truly feel comforted. As opposed to your Army family, who all you have to do is be with them and you are comforted. You don’t have to cry on each other’s shoulders, or complain about all your woes, or even say anything at all. Because we get it, and that is enough. Just being together is a calming balm on my spirit. I was crushed when they pointed out this fact, that I already knew, I have already lived, and it all came rushing back. This is going to be very, very tough. The pit in my stomach arrived.

What is the pit you say? Well I’ll tell you. The pit comes before every deployment. The heavy pit of loneliness that just lies in wait for the day that he leaves. The pit that is your constant companion until he steps off that plane. It never, never, ever, goes away. I’ve been very happy that the pit waited so long to come this time. Usually I put up my wall before he leaves, a way to protect myself from losing it. I haven’t put up the wall yet. I am blissfully trying to live in denial for as long as possible, so I can enjoy every last second with him.

The second time I wanted everyone to shut up and stop pointing out the obvious was on Friday. I had a fun play date with two of my closest friends and a new friend. I told them the exact date of my departure (Thursday, March 18th) and they flipped out. They must have said “That’s less than 3 weeks away!” at least 10 times. I just kept thinking, “I know, so stop pointing it out!” I haven’t made lists yet, I haven’t started major packing, I have been putting off doing EVERYTHING. Because in 3 weeks I don’t just move. If that was it, it would be a whole different ball of wax. In 3 weeks, I leave the first place I have loved living in. I leave our first home that my husband has spent thousands of hours making beautiful for me. I am leaving dear friends. I am saying goodbye to my best friend, my companion, my rock. I am driving across the continental United States with 4 kids and a leopard gecko. I am moving in with my parents. Do you see why I want to live in denial just a little bit longer? Just a little bit – pretty please!! I know I can’t stop time. I know I have to get serious and make things happen. I have to start packing, make all the arrangements to close up shop here and move to California. I KNOW WHAT I HAVE TO DO. I just don’t want other people pointing it out to me – not yet anyway.

Lots of Random

2010-02-24T11:28:00.000-05:00

So many little things have happened that I want to share them all. I was smart enough to take pictures of them, but never took the time to post about them. So instead of doing lots of small posts, I'm doing one big random post. Hope you don't mind :-)

KITCHEN HELPER
Tess is my little kitchen helper. She LOVES to help me in the kitchen. She'll say "I want to cook, I want to cook!" She helps me stir things and loves to play with the measuring utensils. The first pic is when I had to make rolls for a church party and I was in my painting clothes (aren't I gorgeous?). The second is Tess helping me make waffles for Sunday night dinner. She just climbs right up on the counter and gets to work. Such a cutie! Of course I wish the older kids showed an interest in cooking since they would be more help, but I'll take what I can get!

OFF TO SCHOOL

This is how my children head off to school everyday in the winter (from November - March). They are getting pretty sick of it since they know they will quickly shed these winter clothes for shorts and sandals when we get to California. But I had to get proof for posterity and their children, when they claim that they had to walk "2 miles through the snow, uphill both ways, to get to school" - because its pretty close to the truth. 2 miles is actually 1/2 mile and it is flat the whole way for Emma and Zach, Tyson does have to climb a hill. It all builds character right?

NAUGHTY DOG

Hailey is actually a fantastic dog, and we love her to pieces. So when I catch her doing something naughty I have to get proof. She loves anything soft and fluffy. If there is a pillow or blanket left on the floor she will find it and lay on it. And sometimes she resorts to the furniture.

VALENTINES DAY

With Ron leaving soon, we decided to make Valentines Day a family celebration, and we celebrated on Saturday. So Saturday morning I made a special breakfast of pink heart shaped pancakes. I searched for a heart shaped pancake mold and finally found one at Michaels. It works great but it takes a while to make pancakes for a family of 6 when you can only do one at a time. Later that day we took the kids to dinner and a movie. We say Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Lightning Theif. Tyson, Zach, and I had all read the books so we really wanted to see the movie. Tess fell asleep on the way to the theatre so she missed over half of it (which was good because she missed the scary parts). But we all loved it and left the theatre comparing the differences between the movie and the book (book is always better!). Then we went to dinner to Bob Evans (a breakfast place like Dennys). The kids love it there, and they were all good and had a great night.

SLEEPING BABY

I call Tess my baby, even though she is 3 I still think of her that way. But lately she has been falling asleep in very funny positions, which we had to catch on camera. I will say this for her, mastering the art of sleeping sitting up is a very handy talent, especially in church and on a plane!! :-)

This was a hard time out. Completely wore her out!

Randomness Complete!!

I have no words..

2010-02-17T18:09:00.000-05:00

So the latest drama at our house has been getting the house ready to put on the market. That goal was acheived last week - Saturday being the official day that the house went on the MLS. Since then we have had 4 showings, 2 on Monday, and 2 yesterday. That resulted in 2, second showings. Both people said they loved the house, and one said they were writing up an offer. But this morning, I heard from my realtor saying that they decided to try for another house first and if they don't get that one, then they'll put an offer on ours. TOTAL DOWNER!!! I have been on such a stress roller coaster. Stressing and working to get it ready for showings, keeping it clean this week while the kids are home for a week off of school (AGHHHHHHHH), getting excited that we were getting an offer, and then nothing. So guess what I did to cope - laid in bed and watched t.v., and then made cookies that became our dinner. Go me!!!!

Caffeine Yes or No?

2010-02-03T16:05:00.000-05:00

I am so tired lately. And its not because I'm killing myself all day long working on the house. Its mostly due to my medicine, it makes me tired, and I haven't been sleeping very well. So I am exhausted all day and end up taking several mini naps just to function. So here is my dilema - drink caffinated soda to help stay awake or find some other method? The only caffinated soda that I like is Mountain Dew. I try to only drink it on long car trips, and I justify that as medicinal purposes for the safety of my family. But I am torn about drinking it at home. I know some people say that Mormons are aloud to drink caffinated soda, but I don't think we should, except for the previously stated reason. So what should I do? Does anybody know of anything else I could drink or eat that will help me stay awake? And don't tell me to go to bed earlier. I'm already sleeping 9 hours at night, its just fitful sleep, and I'm stil EXHAUSTED!!!! HELP PLEASE! I want everybody's opinion!!

Great Day

2010-01-27T12:26:00.000-05:00

This is starting out to be a great day!! I am feeling a lot better, which makes me very happy. And, I have chocolate chip bannana bread in the oven, which smells fantastic!! And we are finally getting a good snow storm, with the big fluffy flakes and everything! Oh, it makes me so happy to just watch the snow fall. I am going to miss the weather here terribly, it makes me sad to even think about it. Oh, and Tess hasn't had an accident yet today - yippie!! She had 5 accidents yesterday, so any success is worth celebrating. Most importantly I am trying to find joy in my journey and cherish the small things in my daily life - like fresh banana bread and beautiful snow.

I did have to eat some "humble pie" as my sister put it. I knew admiting my depression problems would have some back lash, but I didn't expect this back lash. My parents read the blog and got worried about me. I dont know why having my parents know I'm having a hard time is so much worse than my friends knowing, but it is. So they offered to have my mom fly out and help me with all my projects. I would love help, but asking for help is very difficult for me - very difficult. I told my dad how bad I felt that my mom would have to fly across the country to help their pathetic daughter. In typical dad fashion he told me to get over it. And I do need to get over it. I have a fantastic family that just wants to help me and I need to accept their help. So my fantastic sister Jacque is coming next weekend, and now my mom might come out too. So I am very grateful for my family and their willingness to help me.

It is a good day. And now that I think about it, pizza for dinner would make it even better!!!

Confession

2010-01-21T10:49:00.000-05:00

Most of you already know this, but for some unknown reason I feel the need to confess this to the world wide web. I take anti-depressants. I have been on and off them for years now. I take myself off every once in a while when I think I can conquer things myself, which always ends badly by the way. So I have been off my meds since my pregnancy in May, and needless to say I should have been on them. I get really frustrated with myself that I just can't snap out of my depression or when I can't control my emotions. I even blame myself, I think its because I'm "weak" or "defective".

One of my biggest problems is lack of interest. There are tons of things I want to do, I just can't get myself to do them. I think of these great things I could do for my kids, and I imagine myself being this "super mom" and then I can't do it. I just want to lay on my bed or sit on the couch and do nothing. And my kids deserve better, and my husband deserves better.

So I finally started taking my meds again, and I had some bad side effects - pain in the butt!! So I made it to the doctor and he switched me to a new brand. Now I wake up every morning hopeing to feel better. This is absolutely the worst time for me to be struggling with this. We were suppose to have the house on the market this week, and its not going to happen. Mostly because I haven't finished my projects yet. I have tons of painting to do, and I just don't want to do it. And I need to start packing and making arrangements for our move. So I am hopeing that I will be feeling better very very soon. I do desperately wish that I didn't have to take anti-depressants to feel whole and normal. But I also know that its not because I'm weak or defective, and I need to take them so I can be the mom my kids deserve.

Random pics

2010-01-18T11:36:00.000-05:00

Tess got a trampoline for Christmas and she loves it. She loves jumping on it but she also loves making a tent over it and hiding inside. On New Years Eve, she made a tent and then fell asleep inside. And of course she is wearing her mandatory princess dress - its a daily must lately.

And here's Tess with her "dampa". She can't wait to go live at his house!!

Tyson's story

2010-01-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

Tyson loves to write stories. His class wrote Folk tales and submitted them online to Scholastic Books. Tysons was one of the stories that they put on their website. So here is the link if you want to read a good short folk tale.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/folktale_readrep.asp?id=48321&age=11&Page=1

3rd Times the Charm

2010-01-11T12:39:00.002-05:00

Started potty training Tess again today. It has been a HUGE success so far. 4 successes, no accidents. I think she and I are both finally ready to ditch the diapers. I really hope that 3 times is the charm, and not 3 strikes your out!!

Helping

2010-01-08T16:49:00.000-05:00

Today I made some cookies and Tess was my little "helper". Why is it that the little ones like to help in the kitchen but the older/more capable ones don't? Anyway....

So when it came to putting in the eggs, at first she was doing great and just handed them to me. But then she grabbed one and cracked it on the counter. I told her no and that she couldn't crack the eggs.

She looked at me and said, " I have to hatch it!!" Its so fun to see her little brain work :-) And of course I forgave her for making the mess.

Jesus Wants Me For A...

2010-01-04T17:18:00.000-05:00

SUNBEAM!! My youngest is a Sunbeam!! This year will be a first for many things, including: my youngest entering Primary, and my oldest leaving it. I really can't wrap my head around how fast time goes. So here is our cute little Sunbeam, who really didn't get what all the fuss was about. All she knew was that she didn't get to play with toys at church anymore. :-)

She kept raising her arms like they do in the Sunbeam song.

And this is her "CHEESE" face

Sledding take 2

2009-12-31T17:44:00.000-05:00

More fun pictures from sledding.

Tess kept making snow angels. So cute!

This sled was everyone's favorite. It was a gift from my sister Jacque and everyone faught over it.

My poor freezing parents. San Diego'ers don't adjust to the cold very well.

Ron used most of his energy pushing kids down the hill. They got going pretty fast.

At the end of our adventure, heading home. What a fun afternoon!

Sledding

2009-12-31T17:36:00.000-05:00

We braved the cold weather and went sledding today. The kids had a blast, especially Tess. She was in heaven. And I even passed the camera off to other people so I could be included in the memories.

My parents didn't travel with snow pants or boots so they stayed on the hard packed snow so they wouldn't freeze to death. The big joke is that my dads coat is good for -20 degree weather (he only wears it when he comes to visit us!!)

The only non fun thing about sledding is hiking back up the hill. But they were troopers.

Tyson was very cautious, but he had fun too.

Visitors, Finally!

2009-12-30T16:44:00.000-05:00

My parents are here! We are so excited to finally have some family here to visit us! They will be here for New Years and the weekend. The kids are super excited, and so am I. They are even willing to help us work on the house while they are here. And as awesome grandparents, they are going to babysit the kids so Ron and I can finally go on a date, YIPPIE!!

Christmas

2009-12-30T16:40:00.000-05:00

"This Christmas was AWESOME!", to quote my kids. And when your kids think it was awesome, and you didn't spend tons of money to make it awesome, then you did your job well. I was really bad about taking pictures this year. I usually get a shot of the tree with all the presents under, and the stockings, and Santas gifts - but no. So I'll have to tell you what Santa brought. Santa brought Tyson a new skateboard, which ironically he can't use until the snow thaws (April at the earliest). Zachary got the Bakugan Wii game (he's obsessed with Bakugan at the moment). Emma got a gift card for Build a Bear Workshop. And finally, Tess got a trampoline, which she calls her "bouncy, bouncy".

So here's the tree after some opening of presents. You get the general idea.

All the boys got this Nerf gun. There has already been many sneak attacks made between the boys and Ron. Ron got more extra amo than the boys. They still don't think its fair to have a shoot out with a trained soldier thats an "expert" shot, but tough for them!!

And we couldn't forget Hailey. She got a new soft bed, and lots of bones She was very happy.

I got some new pajama bottoms that are FINALLY long enough, a new silver chain, and the big present was a really nice speaker/docking station for my ipod. I love it! Ron only asked for the new book "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey and his software. But we also got him a new wallet, the workbook to go with the book and I framed a copy of the Declaration of Independence to go in his office. We spent all Christmas day alone as a family. It felt a little weird to not be with family or friends for a big dinner, but we still had fun. I turned out all the lights except for the Christmas tree and lit candles and we had a special dinner. Tess of course kept asking if she could make a wish with the candles. :-) It was a wonderful white Christmas, and I'm sad that it is our last in the North Country.

Mountain Man

2009-12-29T12:33:00.000-05:00

It was -15 degrees this morning with the wind chill, and Ron was outside snowblowing the neighborhood. He is such a tough mountain man!! And boy do I love it, because it means I don't have to!!!

Early present

2009-12-29T12:31:00.000-05:00

There was just a little bit of wrapping paper left on the roll, and Ron didn't want it to go to waste. So he wrapped an early present for the family.

It's Wonderful

2009-12-28T18:00:00.000-05:00

It's wonderful having Ron home. He has two weeks off for the Holidays and it is pure HEAVEN!! He still works on the house during the day, but has breakfast with us in the morning and stops working after dinner. I have changed since this last deployment, I've gotten: harder, meaner, less patient, and over all grumpy. Even when he came home it didn't go away, and now I know why. I needed him HOME with me. Having him in the house with us, and getting to spend time with him EVERYDAY makes a world of difference for me. I am feeling calmer, happier, content, and much more patient. Of course the patience thing might come from the fact that he is disciplining the kids more and I am letting him!! When people say that you shouldn't need anyone or anything to make yourself complete, I say thats CRAP!! I am proud to say I NEED my husband to help me feel whole, complete. So even though he is still busy, I am in heaven just getting to see his face all day long!

Poseing

2009-12-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

While we were waiting for Santa to arrive at our church Christmas party, Tess asked me to take her picture. Then she proceeded to make all those funny faces. The other day I also caught her making faces into a mirror. Its so fun to watch her discover all the things that she can do.

I'm so close!!

2009-12-27T19:13:00.000-05:00

I noticed on my post summary that I have done 92 posts this year, 93 including this one. So I decided it would be cool to do an even 100 for the year of 2009. So I'm going to shoot for it. There are still pictures to post from Christmas, and I may have to ramble a little bit, but I am going to do it!!

So don't be anoyed with all my posts this week - I promise that most will be good.

The Big Red Man

2009-12-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

The Big Red Jolly Man came to our church Christmas Party. The boys boycotted sitting on his lap this year - of their own choosing. They don't believe in him anymore, so they won't indulge mom and sit on his lap for the yearly picture anymore. So it was just the girls. This might be Emma's last year of "believing" and I am so glad she made it this long. Tess was completely enthrawled with Santa. She kept trying to cut in line and sit on his lap again and again. When he finally left, she came to me and said "Where did my Santa go?" She was very sad that he left her.

I think Tess has such a cute angelic face here. She never told Santa what she wanted, she just asked for "presents", which makes my job very easy!!

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-26T11:56:00.000-05:00

Making Gingerbread Houses is a Christmas tradition. No, I do not take the time to make my own gingerbread, and we don't use graham crackers. I love to support the comercialism of the holidays by buying a lovely Wilton Gingerbread kit. This year, I found their village collection; 5 little houses instead of one big one. I thought this was brilliant, since we have 4 kids, they could each do their own, and I could have one all to myself!! So you get to be bored by the pictures of everyone's house, and there are actually pictures of me - Ron grabbed the camera to document that I am actually a member of the family. Don't I look so focused!! All the good candy was gone by the time I got to do mine, but it was still fun. And working on a tiny house is hard!! You have to be really careful with the icing!

My finished product. The kids voted that I had the prettiest walk way. Yeah me!

Tess' house. Of course I helped her, but she put the candies on and loved it!

Ron is the master architect. He scrapes all the sides to make them fit "perfectly" together.

Zach's house.

Emma's house

Tyson's house

Our little village. We didn't make the sleigh, that was a gift. Don't they look great!! It was definately a fun family evening.

A Crowther Afternoon

2009-12-21T17:06:00.000-05:00

Our afternoon... Well, I caught myself giggling about something this afternoon. I was in the kitchen baking sugar cookies, Ron was in the entry way using power tools to put up molding, and the kids were yelling and fighting over their computer games. It was a hilarious combination of activities that have made up this last year. I informed Ron of my epiphony and he agreed with me. So I quickly grabed the camera to document our funny afternoon. So here is our afternoon, in pictures.

Ron working INCREDIBLY hard to make our home beautiful.

Yes, those are power tools at the foot of my Christmas tree.

"Electronic" time is the coveted activity of the day. 30 minutes goes way to fast, so they have to HOVER and watch each other play.

Sugar cookie explosion. I had a small panic attack when I couldn't find my Christmas cookie cutters. Luckily I found 4, but it just won't be the same without my Santa and Angel cookies.

I had to take a picture of my sweater. I am a very messy baker. I really need to get in the habit of wearing an apron. And believe it or not, this is nothing compared to what it use to look like. This is me after trying to wipe off all the flour!!

And Tess with her HOT CHOCOLATE face, because whenever you are sad or grumpy, Hot Chocolate will fix anything!! It is our beverage of choice at the Crowther house.

What did you do this afternoon?

Decorating the tree

2009-12-20T17:01:00.000-05:00

We've started a new tradition at our house. We wait to buy and decorate our Christmas tree until after Tess' birthday on the 11th. I think this will help her feel special on her birthday and seperate the two special events. So on December 12th, up went the Christmas tree, and we had a fun night decorating. Another tradition is that I read the Symbols of Christmas story and we place ornaments on the tree that are the symbols of Christmas. These are the first ornaments on the tree. And then we let loose and have fun!

Zach is our resident character, and he had to pretend to be Santa. He is so crazy and fun!

Indoor Campout

2009-12-19T14:57:00.000-05:00

We never got to go camping this summer and we were all pretty bummed about it. So Ron finally caved to the kids request to have a campout; we had one inside!! If you can tell by the pictures, the tent pretty much takes up our whole front room. The kids had a total blast, and it once again proved that their Dad is the coolest!

Tess' Birthday Bash

2009-12-15T11:45:00.010-05:00

My baby turned 3!! I can't believe it. I literally had a HUGE flashback to the day that she was born. I can still remember almost every detail - and all the pain and after delivery FUN - but it was such an amazing day because I knew that when she got here my family would be complete - I would be complete. She has been my little angel, my special gift. I don't know what my life would be without her special spirit.

I LOVE THIS FACE!!

I made her all her favorite foods for her birthday. Pink Princess Pancakes for breakfast, and Chicken Nuggets and Mac n Cheese for dinner.

And I had to let her blow out candles at every opportunity. Its her favorite part!!

We just had one little friend over - Madeline - and she got Tess a Snow White Barbie. Tess loves it. It was one of the princess that we actually didn't have!
She had a hard time ripping the paper off her presents. I guess she hasn't had practice since last Christmas!

She loves Little Einsteins, so she got their figurines to play with.

And lots of dress up stuff courtesy of Grandma. In total she got a Dora movie, Dress up dress, jewelry, crown, feather boa, tutu, and Little Einstein figurines.

And of course, there was a Princess Birthday cake!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LITTLEST PRINCESS!!!

FINALLY!!!

2009-12-08T08:29:00.004-05:00

FINALLY:
1. We have the blessed, beautiful, white stuff! THE SNOW HAS ARRIVED!! Everyone is thrilled and excited, especially Tess. When I finally suck it up and let her play outside in it, I'll take some pictures.

2. Ron finally has orders. March (ish). Yes, I said, Marchish. They don't have a specific date yet, but they know it will be sometime around March. Gotta love the Army!!

3. We can make some concrete decisions as a family. We have been stewing about moving home for this deployment - for lots of reasons - but mostly for the extra support. Unfortunately, my mental and emotional banks are pretty much on empty and I'm a little concerned about how well I'll do alone on this next go around. So my crazy parents offered to let us move back to Cali and live with them, and we decided to take them up on it. We still haven't "officially" decided when the kids and I will move home, but we will probably move as soon as Ron leaves, so in Marchish time frame. So now, I am in crazy WE HAVE TO SELL OUR HOUSE AND MOVE IN 3 MONTHS mode. I may not survive.

There Are Signs

2009-12-01T21:45:00.004-05:00

There are finally signs that winter is coming. The biggest of which was our first snow flurries that appeared yesterday - yes I said our FIRST, snow has come late for us here. Yesterdays snow fall lasted 10 minutes, but last night we got a real "dusting". The dusting was so little that by 10am the snow had melted so I didn't even get a picture.

But there are other signs - like the Geese!! Yesterday, I went outside to get something from the garage and I heard this loud honking noise. I knew it was geese but it literally sounded like there should have been geese in my back yard, they were so loud. Then I looked up and the sky was FULL of geese, all flying south for the winter. It was so beautiful to see them flying in their V shapes and talking to eachother. This is one of the things I will really miss about living in New York. I love seeing Mother Nature at work.

And this is Miss Tess in her new hat and gloves. She saw her brothers and sister getting all geared up for their cold walk to school and she didn't want to be left out of the fun. So I finally let her put on her hat and gloves, and she was happy. She left them on for over 3 hours. She is so excited about the snow and Christmas coming soon. Its so cute that she is finally understanding all the fun holiday activites.

GRUMPY

2009-11-20T09:43:00.004-05:00

Today I am grumpy. I'm grumpy because I woke up at 6:30 to a crying 3 year old. I'm grumpy that after sleeping for 1 hour last night I was awake until 2 am. I'm grumpy at kids who can't seem to remember to flush the toilet or pick their underwear off the floor! I'm grumpy at kids who forget to feed their pets. I'm grumpy at kids who waste an entire bowl of cereal. I'm grumpy at teachers who only give me 2 days notice on projects. I'm grumpy at teachers who feel the need to call me repeatedly to tell me all of my daughters character flaws- like I didn't already know!! I'm grumpy with my tiny house that has no room for anything!! I'm grumpy at stupid computers that don't work right and their continuous updates and anti-virus junk ( I need a Mac). I'm grumpy at people who complain about me behind my back, but aren't willing to help me do the things they're complaining about - put up or shut up people!! I'm grumpy that I don't have time to do anything that I WANT to do. I'm grumpy that my son isn't getting his Faith in God because his mother is a flake and hasn't done anything to help him earn it. I'm grumpy at people who already have their Christmas shopping done - I've barely started!! I'm grumpy at my almost 3 year old for having NO interest in using the toilet!! I'm grumpy that I don't have anyone to vent to about being grumpy!!! So today, I am grumpy. And if any of you tell me to count my blessings I will be grumpy about that too!!!

Emotional ramblings

2009-11-16T17:02:00.004-05:00

Today I am so emotional, and I would love to blame it on hormones but who knows. I have been down on myself all day and really doubting my choices and my capabilities. A few weeks ago I felt so strong, so able to do what was asked of me. Its amazing how a few simple things can derail my self confidence. A few weeks ago I was also content in who I was, in my opinions, and my abilities. Again, today, not so sure. Why do I let others wear me down? Why do I let extemporaneous things effect how I feel about myself? Why do I let others make me feel like I should apologize for being me?

I wish so badly that I could always be strong, confident, and capable. I wish I could say "Stick It!" to those who try to bring me down, or who don't support me, or who criticize me behind my back. I am grateful for my friends and family who are honest with me and help support me. Its so hard to be criticized when all I'm trying to do is my best. I know you probably want to know what triggered all this, and its a bunch of inconsequential little things that just built up to today. I think the final one was someone at work today telling me that I was "too loud for this early in the morning", and I didn't even think I was speaking loudly. When he criticized me for something about myself that I can't change, it really bugged me. And that just opened the flood gates.

So, tonight, I'm a little down. I can't wait for my husband to come home so he can give me a hug and listen to me ramble on and on. And I have a fun evening of games and treats with my kids to help perk me up. But some days, like today, are not so great. I hope tomorrow is better.

State Fair

2009-11-12T11:10:00.001-05:00

One of my very favorite things in the whole wide world is going to the County or State Fair. I love them, I love them, I love them!! We had the New York State Fair here in Syracuse in September. It was the perfect thing to end our summer with. The kids had fun seeing all the animals and they loved riding the rides!!

Who doesn't love an adorable, clean baby calf!!

Tess loved every single animal!

These beautiful gray cows were enormous!! And I loved their beautiful color.

I made the boys take a picture in the bunny face too, but I kindly decided not to post those.

Talk about a double chin!! :-)

I really think these Chinese chickens were naturally these crazy colors. I couldn't believe it!! If I'm wrong, someone tell me, but I'm gullible enough to believe that God made them that way - why not?

They had an incubator where chicks were hatching and it was mesmerizing!! I could have stared at them for hours. I just kept routing for those poor little chicks to break out of their shells!

They had a few chicks that they let the kids hold. I'm a little concerned that the chicks never recovered, especially this little guy.

Tess was willing to ride anything that she was tall enough for. The other kids were not as fearless.

The slide seemed safe enough.

It took alot of talking to convince them that the swings would be fun. Eventually they went on, and I even got a turn. I love the swings - it feels like flying!

The ride that the kids were really looking forward to was the bumper cars. They rode them twice. Why don't they do bumper cars for adults? Oh wait, is that a demolition derby?

Oh, and of course we had to have yummy fair food!! We had popcorn, cotton candy, and ice cream. I wanted to sing the song from Charlottes Web "The fair, is a veritable smorgasbord, orgasbord, orgasbord, after the day is through...."

Peek a Boo

2009-11-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

Where's Tessa?

There she is!!

The Big 7

2009-11-05T10:57:00.000-05:00

Emma finally turned 7. I say finally because I have been saying she's 7 for several months now. So now its official. Emmas birthday was a 3 part event. On her actual birth day Ron and I were leaving for a weekend getaway, so we let her open a few presents in the morning. Then when we got back on Sunday, she got her birthday cake and the rest of her presents. Then the following Saturday she got her birthday party with friends. Saturday night at dinner Tyson said "Thank goodness Emma's birthday is FINALLY over!" And I felt the exact same way, Emma however did not. But she had a lot of fun and loved her birthday.

Emma wearing her birthday crown and her new rock and roll t-shirt.

Emma is currently obsessed with scarves so she got 3 new ones for her to enjoy and be "stylish" with.

Grandma made her a beautiful new quilt.

One of two birthday cakes. I didn't take a picture of the cake at her party because I cheated. It was a horse party so it was a horse cake. I didn't take the time to decorate it with the star tip and make it oh so beautiful. I frosted it with chocolate frosting and just outlined it with yellow. It turned out cute, but not up to my perfectionist standards - so - no picture. But they were both super yummy!!

All Hallows Eve

2009-11-01T14:14:00.007-05:00

Halloween day was rainy and windy, it was actually quite miserable. The kids prayed all day long that it would stop raining in time for trick or treating. Their prayers were answered and the rain stopped around 4. Ron thought it was funny that the kids were praying that they could celebrate a pagan holiday - but who cares - they had fun!!a> The kids kept changing their minds about what they wanted to be for Halloween. They basically ended up making their costumes from our dress-up collection, which suited me just fine. Tess was the only one wearing a hand-me-down costume. Emma was Belle when she was 3 too, and shockingly the dress was still in great condition. She couldn't wear the shoes that matched because it was too darn cold and there were too many puddles still. We basically put her dress on top of her clothes and added her cute Belle jacket, and she was ready to go! Tyson is a soldier (of course), Zach is a Ranger from his favorite series Rangers Apprentice and Emma is a cowgirl.

Can you tell how windy it was? It was crazy!!

We told the kids to keep Tess in the front of the pack because she was so darn cute that everyone would love her and they would give them extra candy. It worked too!!

I know this pic is a little blurry but I wanted to show how blustery of a night it was. I love that word - blustery - thanks Pooh!

Headed home. Tess' bucket got pretty heavy but she wouldn't let us help carry it. So Ron and I kept taking handfuls of candy out of her bucket and started shoving them into our pockets. She didn't seem to care about that, as long as she had her bucket.

I wanted to get a video of Tess saying Trick or Treat and thankyou. She was so cute about it, and I love her little voice. I ran home in front of everybody so they could knock on our door last and I could get this video of Tess.

Pumpkin Carving Fun

2009-10-30T10:35:00.005-04:00

Family Home Evening carving pumpkin night. So much fun!!! To quote Tess, "I love it, the punkins - I love it!!"
Daddy gets the job of carving out the lids and scooping out the gunk for the girls (and mommy :-)!

I love the, "I have to touch that?" face!!

Tess loved every minute of it!!

Here's Emma drawing out a picture of what face she wanted to carve on her pumpkin. In the end, she neeeded some help from mom, but it turned out great.

The mostly finished pumpkins (Ty ran out of time to finish his). L - R : Zach, Ty, Tess, Mom, and Emma. Daddy never does his own because he is too busy helping everyone or finishing peoples when they get too tired to finish their own!!! This year, he completely redid Zach's pumpkin, because Zach tried to "wing it" and it didn't turn out so good.

Zach's re-done pumpkin. Looks really cool!!

Mine - I love it!!

Emma's mean faced pumpkin. Are you scared?

Tess' cute face

Tyson's completed pumpkin. It looks cool!

We put up orange lights this year and I think it looks so cool!! Next year, we'll put up even more.

The end of my good day

2009-10-26T18:25:00.007-04:00

First this post was going to be about something ridiculous that my son said to me today. But now it has morphed into a mommy complaining post. To begin the story, there is a little news, I got a job. Just part time at Michaels. I work 3, 5 hour shifts a week and its when the kids are in school. I have been so busy. I started working at the beginning of the month and I have been so busy with extra stuff like birthdays and coffees and Halloween parties that I have been going non stop. I really never get to sit down anymore. But today, I was feeling pretty good about my ability to handle the new schedule and get everything done. I even considered myself a wonder woman of sorts. That was around 2:30 pm. Then my kids got home at 3, and that all changed.

Tonight for dinner we had hamburgers, homemade potato salad and chips. I was proud of myself for taking the time to make the potato salad from scratch. I knew the kids would love the hamburgers and chips; well I thought they would. When Tyson asked me what was for dinner and I told him he said "I was having a good day until now!!" Apparently he was angry with me that we were having hamburgers and not hot dogs. He proclaimed that his day would be salvaged if I would only add hot dogs to the menu. I refused on a matter of principle. My kids don't get to tell me what we are having, nor do they get to pick and choose what they will or wont eat!!! Oh, and I'm not a short order cook either. So I was annoyed, but I let it go. I figured I would blog about it and vent my annoyance to the world wide web.

Then dinner time came. Tyson still wasn't thrilled about the hamburger thing but he was willing to choke 1/2 of one down. But then came the dreaded, miserable, disgusting, revolting, awful, potato salad. I gave each of the kids one small spoonful, I promise they were small. Tyson put one spoonful in his mouth and started to gag, he actually looked like he would throw up. By this point I had had it!! I was so furious!! I am sick and tired of making nice meals for my family and then all they do is complain. I can't believe that a dinner of hamburgers and potato salad could make my son physically gag at the table. I finally couldn't even look at him he made me so mad. Then Emma and Zach started in and would only pick out the egg pieces. What has happened to my world? What can I do to make my children appreciate good food and not be so ungrateful? AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Oh, and just so you know this complaining about what I cook for dinner is a pretty regular occurrence around here and I have had enough!!! Ron thinks we should start feeding them bread and water. What do you think?

Cowgirl

2009-10-23T19:52:00.002-04:00

Family Photos

2009-10-19T17:56:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I wanted a GOOD family picture taken before Ron deployed again. And since my awesome photographer friend Kerri happens to live over a thousand miles away, I had to find someone here to take her place. I did find someone, and she did a great job. Of course, it is always impossible to get a picture where everyone is smiling and looks great, but we got pretty close. So below is the link to her website where you can go and see some of our favorites. Go under Client Proofing, and the password is Crowther (with a capitol C). And just so you know, the family picture that we ordered for us and for our Christmas cards is not included in these pics because I want it to be a surprise for everyone when they get our Christmas card in the mail.

****Disclaimer**** I know I am vain, but I hate the way I look!! Every time I think I'm not too fat, I see a picture of me and I am shocked back into reality!! So needless to say that I am back on that never ending diet to finally loose those last 20 pounds - yes 20!! Wish me luck!!

http://www.aprilmacphoto.com/index2.php

Good News

2009-10-16T18:47:00.003-04:00

Good News, Good News!!! Ron's January deployment to Iraq has been canceled. 1st Brigade Combat Team is now waiting on new orders. In other words they are probably going to Afghanistan with the surge of troops and will deploy sometime after January. We are just THRILLED to know that we have him for a few more months, and that he is guaranteed to be home for Christmas. So it has been a good day for members of 10th Mountains 1st Brigade Combat Team!! Climb to Glory!!

Lake Placid, NY

2009-10-11T19:23:00.004-04:00

Ron and I got to go on a little vacation up to Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains for the weekend. My mom is awesome and came out to watch the kids so we could have this time together. We combined our usual post-deployment vacation with our Anniversary and his birthday, we covered all the bases. It was wonderful and relaxing and we didn't want to come home!! The Adirondacks are at their peak Fall beauty and I was in heaven! My biggest regret is that we didn't bring our camera :-( :-( :-(. So all of these pictures we snapped with Ron's iphone. I hope you can imagine how spectacular all the rolling mountains were. We could never get a good shot of the mountains - Ron doesn't have zoom on his phone so the pictures just never turned out. There are rivers and lakes everywhere, and as you can tell I love the fall leaves and the water.

Fire Pit Fun

2009-10-06T15:43:00.002-04:00

I have always wanted a fire pit and Ron surprised me this summer with one. We only got to use it once before he left in August, so we busted it out a few weekends ago. It is so much fun!!
An evening in pictures........

All gathered around the fire.

Tess couldn't wait for the roasting to start.

Zach was the only one who torched his marshmallows.

Now this is more like it!

Hailey stayed far away from the fire.

The final product - ooey, gooey, goodness!!

The key is to place the chocolate bar between two marshmallows, so the warm marshmallows help to melt the chocolate. Its the best!!

Telling stories around the fire. My Uncle Randy use to tell the best campfire stories, I just can't remember any of them!! So we made up our own - and they ended up pretty weird :-)

Ty doesn't like smores but he is a master roaster.

All done with the fun, and time for baths.

What an awesome evening!