Guenther Family News

Art!! ?

2010-02-16T07:57:00.001-08:00

Malaki drew his first real picture. Something other than just scribbles! His choice of canvas for the wonderful self portrait...

The walls of our new house which we had been in for less than 48 hours at the time...

Thank you Raven!

2010-02-16T06:57:00.000-08:00

First of all, I don't know if you read this Rae but THANK YOU SO MUCH!

The kids and I were Living in a hotel, not a bad hotel, nor was it really nice. It made eating meals hard, and it was just one room, not much of a car to use, and kids going stir crazy.

Then one day I drove the car to post. The thing has a transmission leak, and it doesn't like to go unless it wants to. So it is very frustrating to drive. I get there, we fill it with gas, hang out with Jereme for a bit. While we were sitting there I thought I smelled gas, but since we had just filled up I didn't think much of it.

Jereme had to go eat and we had to head home, so he took off with some of the guys while I buckled the kids and we started to leave. As soon as I backed out I saw that the gas I was smelling was because my car had leaked gas all over the parking lot. I quickly parked and one of the Sgts there told me to get the kids out of the car and yelled for someone to go get "Guenther".

They didn't want me driving the car, but they didn't want it there either.

Not knowing what to do I called Raven. At this point we had never met. We had talked via facebook, and one time on the phone. I only "knew her" because our husbands are friends and are in the same AIT.

She came and followed Jereme, who went and parked the car somewhere else, and then loaded the kids and I in her car. She and her little girl Zoe, and me and my three kids, were one person more than the car should handle. But we managed to make it work with all the kids in carseats. We stopped at my hotel, grabbed my stuff, and she insisted the kids and I stay with her.

Oh one thing I forgot... the night before all of this Lillie was throwing up all night. she was feeling mostly better by the morning, but Malaki and Kori were throwing up all night now. So we sat in the soldiers day room for over an hour while they worked on the car, with my kids throwing up... not much fun. Raven knew this and still had us come and stay with her.

That night her friend Wendy came over with her 4 month old Charlie. We got all 5 kids to bed and were just hanging out, then I started throwing up. All night long.

The next day everyone was feeling way better! We spent about a week at Ravens, going on post to see the boys as often as we could.

Eventually we got our papers signed and got our house here on post. I am so grateful to Raven for letting us stay in her little 2 bedroom apartment with her. While I was there she found out she was pregnant! So it was an interesting time.

She still had to help us out with the car thing, picking up the boys so we could see them, and taking me shopping for food. But finally my car came and we could go from me leaning on her, to being great friends who hung out by choice and not by force! :)

Love you Raven, and thanks again!!!

Zoe has this amazing pink rocking horse, which Kori stands over and waddles around carrying.

So much fun!

Grocery stores are different over here. They don't have Safeway, they have Krogers. And thankfully they have a shopping cart that holds 4 kids AND groceries!

Kori and Zoe Sittin Pretty

Malaki and Lillie take the Wheel (s)

My beautiful little blondie!

FOUND MY CAMERA! YAY! FlashBack

2010-02-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

Found my camera again... here is a quick flashback before catching everyone up on current news.

Over the summer while Jereme was at basic the kids and I went on with our summer as normal as we could without having daddy around. This is a bunch of pictures and clips from our camping trip with the Wilson side of the family. We have been going to this same spot at the dunes for as long as I can remember, although we did have a few years where we went elsewhere. This will always be my favorite. I have so many great memories with my cousins there and love to see my kids enjoying the same things I did.

Lillie boarding on the dune, she's so cool!

Malaki REALLY loved sand boarding

"Mom my hands are dirty

We went for a bike ride and everyone was wiped out by the end, the kids actually all fell asleep. We only wished we could...

My sister Mandi, and her son Kaden.

The girls passed out in the trailer.

Nice view at the end of the ride.

Sunscreen hair... READY TO GO

This is a different bike ride, yet he fell asleep again. It was a sure fire way to get Kori and Kaden to take a nap.

Sand babies

1. My cousin takes the kids for a ride down the dunes.

2. Malaki boarding, someone says "thats awesome!" his response "thats me"

3 & 4. Papa helps Malaki board, he is pretty proud of himself for how good he is getting.

5. Lillie boards, then gets bored.

6. Morgan helps Lillie get going.

7. Morgan wipes out.

There was a lot of really good wipe outs from various cousin but I don't have them on my computer...

Coming soon

posts about:

living with Raven

The joys of an empty house

Getting our stuff back

Picking up sticks

and more...

Settled

2010-01-24T20:53:00.000-08:00

Sort of....

It feels like one thing after another has happened since we got here, not much of which was good. But yet as I look back, it sucks, but it's not so bad. I'm with my husband, well sort of. And things are finally seeming to go right. Lets pray that lasts.

ANyhow Starting tomorrow I will start getting a more normal routine going. My goal is to post 1-3 times a week. We shall see how it goes.

I got the house all unpacked on Friday. THAT was an exciting day. It took 5 days for me to unpack and put away everything. It would have been less but I got sick on day 2 and did not do a thing that day and hardly anything on day 3...

I got my car today, there will be a post about the "adventure" that came with that later.

So life is starting to get normal again.

I am watching what I eat and working out and have lost about 9 pounds, so I am feel encouraged. :)

Well that is it for tonight, it is 2 minutes till midnight here. Tomorrow I will hopefully get time and start posting, I have some cute picture to share and some fun stories.

Adventure? A quick update

2010-01-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

So since we got here we bought a car, the transmission isn't great on it, it leaks and is starting to go out... not good. HOWEVER, not bad enough I guess, cause i got it filled the other day, then parked outside of the barracks for a few minutes to say goodbye to Jereme (he still isn't living with us) and when I backed out noticed my car had leaked allover, I thought I had smelled gas.

So The car can not hold more than half a tank of gas or it starts to leak.

Not really safe to be driving around with the kids in that thing, so we parked it and Raven came and got me and the kids. Her car is made to hold 5, and with 4 kids in car seats it is interesting. She is letting us stay with her till out stuff gets here, which is so sweet of her.

Thankfully they said the last day they have to get the stuff off the truck is the 18th... so It should be less than a week now, and my car should be here just a few days after that (we are having it shipped) so I should be doing really good soon.

Other than all that we are doing good. We we got to sign for the house and get keys, so we now have a house on post. It isn't perfect, it doesn't have carpet, but it is big (4 beds 2 1/2 baths) and it is ours. Malaki was sad we didn't get to sleep there tonight. He is ready to have his own space as we are a little crammed in this 2 bedroom apartment with Raven and Zoe. The kids have already picked there own rooms. Malaki picked the smallest room right away. Lillie tried to pick the room with it's own potty but I told her that one was mine, so she carefully checked the other rooms and then picked the biggest. It will be interesting to see if they actually sleep in their own rooms or if they end up in the same. They have always shared before. Raven has an extra twin bed she has been trying to get rid of, so she is giving it to us to put in Lillie's room. Now we just need a washer and dryer, a few more dressers, and I would like to get a full or queen size bed to put in Kori's room, so when we have company we can move her toddler bed to Lillie's room and that can become a guest room.

Oh I also want to get a piano now that I have the space for it.

We are doing pretty good in spite of everything, I really miss home and everyone there, but I think that will be a lot better once Jereme and I are able to live together and see each other everyday.

I hope you are all doing well, feel free to email or write, I love hearing from everyone!!!

Our new address is

1838 B Shaffer Dr

Fort Gordon 30905

I will be getting a new phone soon and will try to either keep the same number or get my new number out to everyone somehow. :)

We miss you and love you all! I will post picture when we get more settled in... hmm, that wasn't a very "QUICK" update! Oh well!

Stylin kids, crazy hair and sick babies

2010-01-06T05:13:00.000-08:00

Our first night here Jereme got to stay in the hotel with us. The next day we got our stuff all ready to go, most of it packed and loaded to the car, and snapped a few pictures of my super stylish kids ;)

"Look mom! I got one like YOU!!!!"

Like mother like daughter

Super stud is still not to cool to give mom a kiss

One thing we have quickly learned through being here is that the weather is not friendly to our hair!!!

Don't touch me or I'll zap you!

"Mom take a picture me! Look at MY hair!"

"She smoothed it down, but it WAS sticking straight out!"

"Mom look, my hair is CWAZY!"

Once again the kids didn't go to sleep till about 10:30. I couldn't fall asleep till about 2 am. Then at 4 Lillie woke up throwing up, which she has done 5 times since. I now need new towels, bedding, and an air freshener! We are supposed to go see the house this afternoon but she is pale and not feeling good, Kori is acting like she might be feeling crummy, Malaki is getting a fever and I don't feel so hot myself, so i need to see if I can reschedule.

A little behind? Perhaps... ;)

2010-01-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ok I know I am way behind, and for now I am not going to try and back track and catch everything I missed. So lets start with now, or a few days ago at least....

And the journey begins.

Jereme came home from exodus on December 17th. Picking him up at the airport was one of the best days of my life. We spent two week together, the army came and loaded up everything in our townhouse, and then on Jan 2nd my parents drove us to the airport.

Traveling right after new years is a very busy time.. we got there and waited in line for a long time before getting our bags checked.

We were able to get passes for my parents so they could help us through security and see us to our gate with the kids.

We didn't have much time so we had to say quick and very tearful goodbyes, Malaki wanted to stay with grandma and grandpa, it was one of the hardest moments of my life. Of course I want to be with my husband, but that doesn't make it easy to leave my family and everything I have always known, my comfort zone.

Once on the plane things went pretty good. Our flight got into the airport a little later than it was supposed to, making us run from one end of the airport to the other to make our connecting fight. Which also ended up leaving late, meaning we didn't have to run the first time, but the we had to run again from one end of the airport to the other at our next stop to make that flight... which ALSO left late. So really we never needed to run, but we did and it wasn't fun. 3 kids, stroller, blankets, carry on bags, and flip flops for shoes.

Anyhow we got there, got a cab to our hotel. At which time he suggested a different hotel. So we spent 2 nights in the first hotel at $69 a night... nothing special, the pool was closed, not many channels on tv and in the middle of nowhere. Then we moved to the suggested hotel, $169 for 1 week. Right by a lot of places to eat and shop. Oh and way more channels so I can actually fine something that I am ok with the kids watching.

Jereme got a car for us, however it has issues (thats what you get for cheap) so I can't drive much till we get it fixed.

Tomorrow at 2:30 we get to see the house we are going to be living in, then the next day we sign papers and it becomes mine.

Our stuff will be here no later that the 18th, so we stay here for one week and if it is still not here Raven (an army wife with a little girl) said we can stay with her.

That pretty much catches you up to now. The weather makes our hair crazy, Lillie's gets so bad it sticks straight out! no one else seems to have this problem, will our hair just get used to the weather?

My parents got a web cam and skype so we have talked to them and to my sister a couple times. If you have skype add us... jenifer.guenther@gmail.com is the one I currently use. We have another one that is mine and Jereme's but he uses it right now. I think it is jereme.guenther@gmail.com

Hope everyone is doing well, we miss you all already! The weather here is beautiful!!! From inside! Blue skies and sunny, then you walk outside and it is 20 degrees! BRRRR! So far no rain though, and always very pretty looking!

Picture didn't turn out good cause my finger was over part of the flash so I had to crop it, we didn't have a ton of time and I wanted to give hugs goodbye rather than try for the perfect picture. We love you and misses you Grandma and "crappa"

Not a great picture... last plane, leaning across the aisle. The kids are in the row behind us, it was a small plane, the last rows, short ride, and they really wanted to sit together alone.

Almost to our new home.

"take my "piscur" mom"

being silly with no grownups!

Kori sat next to me and quickly fell asleep!

My big kids! They are getting so grownup!

The time has come

2009-10-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night at 11:50pm we fly out of PDX and head across the states to see Jereme graduate. We are so proud of him. I will have a ton of pictures when we come home (on Saturday) that I will try to get up as soon as I can. But for now, here is a couple that a fellow soldier took with his phone and sent to me...

Work out clothes

Class A's

He has his cell now, so I should get to talk to him every night before we go over there... only 2 days, but oh well, better than nothing I guess :)

Tickets!

2009-09-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

So Jereme had better not mess up now cause I just bought plane tickets, reserved a car and a hotel. We leave Late at night on Tuesday October 13th, and get to North Carolina early Wednesday the 14th. We will get our car and drive to Columbia, South Carolina where our hotel is, get checked in and hang out for the day.

Thursday morning we will get up early and get the kids ready to go see daddy. My mother in Law is going with me so that will make things way easier. Once there we will go to a reception sort of thing where we can look around a little and get all kinds of information on being a military family while we wait for Jereme. Eventually we will get to see him and go to some planned activities for "family day" although I don't really know what they are.

It will be interesting to see his reaction to the kids, as well as theirs to him. He hasn't seen them in so long and they have already changed so much. Korinthia was only crawling when he left, now she is walking, climbing, and terrorizing! :)

We will get to spend the first part of the day with him, then he has to go get ready for graduation. That starts at 5... there is a lot of companies graduating, so it may be a LONG day. After that we will be allowed to come back to the hotel with us, but he will have to be back to the base the next morning I believe. Not a whole lot of time, but I am hoping the kids won't be too tired because I want for them to be able to reconnect with their daddy. This has been hard on all of us, but I am a grown up and I understand what is going on, they don't. And since it looks like we won't be moving I feel it is important for them to spend as much time with him as possible.

Our flight returns home on Saturday afternoon, so it is possible that I will drive him to AIT and drop him off. I won't get to stay there or anything, but at least then I will have an idea of what it is like where he is living.

From everything he has said in his letters it sounds like he is doing good and feeling more like his old self. They are back to white phase, although still no phone privileges, but at least they are on track for graduating.

Bad news...

2009-09-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

I got a letter from Jereme today. He could really use some prayer right now as things aren't going so good. Last week several guys from his platoon got caught with a bunch of candy in their lockers. This is not ok for many reason and the whole platoon is in huge trouble. They got set back to red phase (which is the first phase they started on) and the drill sergeant is recommending to the captain that the whole platoon be recycled. What that means is basically they start at day one all over again, and it will be another 9 weeks before they graduate. We thought we were half done, now it may not even be close.

We don't know anything for sure yet, but they did get phone privileges away and now he can't even call to let me know. I hadn't bought our plane tickets yet because I was waiting for my bank card. I just got it today, thankfully I got the letter today as well. I can't buy tickets till I know for sure that he is going to graduate...

Be praying for him. He says this is the most depressed he has been since he left. The kids are so excited to go on a big plane and see them and I don't know how to tell them it is going to be even longer.

The hardest part of being a military wife is the not knowing what is going to happen.....

Letters

2009-08-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

We have gotten several letters. I'm not going to type them all up since they are a bit mushy at times, and very long. :)

But I will say Jereme is doing alright. It is way harder than he thought.

He has his ACU's now, and all his other uniform gear. The boots aren't too bad he said, and as of his last letter he still hasn't gotten any blisters, just a couple hot, sore spots.

They have all been punished for various things, though it doesn't sound like he has been the cause of anything so far. Anytime one member of the platoon does something wrong they all pay though.

They had to hold their full water canteens out in front of them using only their index fingers for about 20 minutes. Another thing they had to do was hold their water canteens and "smart book" up above their heads for about 30 minutes. He said he made it about 25 before needing to take a quick break. In his line of vision he was the only one that made it that long.

The working out has been easy, less than what he was doing while training at home. However when they get in trouble and get "smoked" he gets a really good work out in then.

So far he hasn't had his bed torn apart or his locker tipped over. Although it did get knocked over when another was thrown at it.

He hasn't made a ton of friends as most of the soldiers are young kids who think they are cool. He does have one pretty good friend though, Spector, but he has asked for prayer for him. Spector has a heart mummer I guess and he will find out next week if he gets to stay in or if they are kicking him out. Spector and his wife are pretty worried because they have no idea what they will do if he is discharged. The DS (Drill Sergeant) says he has about a 50% chance of staying. Please pray lots for him.

Jereme called today, we got to talk for 3 minutes... actually it was 2 minutes and 59 seconds. They are still in the first phase right now though, white phase, so hopefully when then move on to red phase we will get more phone time.

He said they did the gas chamber, it was awful, and they had a breathing tube shoved down their noses... gross...

Being there has really changed his way of thinking. He has apologised for taking the kids and I, as well as the life we had, for granted. He asks about the kids all the time, and sounded excited when I mentioned bringing them with me to see him Graduate in October.

October 16th is his graduation date, we are going to fly late on Tuesday and then get there Wednesday morning. My mother In Law is going to go with me so she can watch as well, and also so she can help with the kids. We will rent a car, and after he graduates we get to drive him to Fort Gordon, where he will do AIT. I am pretty excited about that since that is where we will be living if we get to more to Georgia with him.

This has been way harder than either of us imagined it would be. But we are making it through one day at a time.

If anyone plans to go watch him graduate I need to know 3 or 4 weeks before hand so that I can let him know, that way he can be sure to get enough tickets for everyone.

He is feeling lonely and home sick, so I know any letter would be appreciated... and he is trying to reply to everyone that writes. If you do write try to include a "return envelope" with address, and stamp already on it, as well as a blank paper. The stuff I sent him with got ruined, and I did send him more, but he is using a lot more than he expected too...

Thanks for all the continued prayers!

A letter from Jereme

2009-08-14T16:16:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready to go camping, but when I got home this morning there was a letter for me, and then when the mail came a few moments ago there was 2 more. I will share them all with you when I get back, for now, if you get a chance send Jereme a letter, I know he would appreciate it. He may not write back, but he needs everyones love, prayers, and support right now.

SPC Jereme Guenther
A Co, 3/13th IN Regt
1st Platoon Outlaws
5422 Jackson Blvd
Fort Jackson, SC 29207

(yes that whole thing is his address... )

Daddy misses me

2009-08-12T11:35:00.001-07:00

So Malaki is finally started to really notice daddy is gone and miss him.

1. "mommy, you take me see my daddy please"

2. *playing with toy cell phone* "it's my daddy. Daddy sad" "why is daddy sad sweety?" "cause daddy misses me"

3. "daddy no more work, daddy just come home now, it's ok"

4. "daddy wanna come home watch voltron with my Malaki"

Having him miss daddy is the hardest thing so far. I hope we are able to talk to him or get a letter from him soon!

Handsome Hubby

2009-08-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

How do I know he is Handsome without seeing him, I just know! Today he got his uniforms and gear and all that jazz. He had to wear his boots all day and he said his feet are a bit sore, but no blisters so far.

I got to talk to him for nearly an hour tonight! It was so great! He misses me and the kids, but he is glad they are shipping out for basic tomorrow morning... hooah for no more reception!

The only bad part is, now I don't know when I will get to talk to him again. But we pray for him daily, and he left the kids and I some voicemails to listen to while he is gone... which the kids love!

God Said Yes

2009-08-04T10:41:00.001-07:00

God Said Yes - by Malaki W. Guenther Background vocals by Lillie L. Guenther

God said yes, mom said no

mom said no canny

God said yes you can canny

(only canny when you potty you can canny potty canny potty canny)

No no no God said yes

mommy says no canny right noooooowwwwwww maybe laterrrrrrrr

but Goooooooood say yesssss

he moms boss and he say yes

God says yes

(God God God say Yes yes yes yesssssss yes yes)

*sadly*

but mom say no, mom my boss, mom say no

as sung by my 4 and three year old... lol

A few calls

2009-08-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

So Yesterday at church I had a melt down. I was doing ok with Jereme leaving, just keeping busy and trying to not think about it too much... that way I was only crying a little here and there. But then at Church during communion I had to just sit, be still, and my mind started thinking. I broke down and started crying in the middle of communion, in the second pew from the front, so it's not like I could just get up and walk out.

Then later that say I got a call from Jereme. He called just long enough to say "I love you, I miss you, and I won't be done as soon as I thought" *click*... ok not that bad, but pretty close to it.

Then I left to take Morgan and Amy tubing on the river... while picking up tubes at my in-laws Jereme called again. It turned out he had more time than he had thought so I go to talk to him a little longer.

He told me how he hasn't been sleeping well due to missing me, and the fact that they keep them up late and get them up at 4am. Plus something happened so they hadn't actually shipped out to basic yet, they were still at reception. Which meant pushing back their graduation.

The connection wasn't very clear, and hearing him all choked up was so hard for me. Up till that point I was able to imagine him having a good time and enjoying himself, but no more... So I let his mom talk to him for a couple minutes and worried about if we were doing the right thing or not. I know, too late now!

The whole time we were floating down the river I was trying not to think about how sad he sounded and how much I missed him.

Today I was a chaperon for the youth group. They needed someone to go hang out with the kids on shore while the youth leader took another group out tubing on the boat. I had a good time with the kids, and I got a LOT of sun. I am pretty red right now, but it is dark enough it should tan soon.

Anyhow, after we were done I was on my way back from taking Morgan home when my phone rang. It was Jereme again. We didn't get to talk long because I was driving and on my cell *gasp* but I told him I would be home in 10-15 minutes and he could call be back. He said he needed a shower anyhow and promised to call. When he called I let each of the kids talk to him for a couple minutes, and then I go to talk to him for about 20.

He said they get up at 4am, stand in formation, march to breakfast, get in line, stand in line for anywhere from 1-2 hours. Eat FAST. Go stand in formation again for a few hours, sometimes get a short break. March to lunch, stand in line for 1 -2 hours again, eat fast, march back, stand in formation for several more hours, maybe go do some paperwork, formation, line, eat, formation bed.... and that is all he has been doing since he got there. He is looking forward to basic so he can start working out rather than stand all day every day.

Laundry is hard because the only time to do it is late at night really, so you sleep or do laundry. They have one little laundry room for over 1000 soldiers....

He has about 60 other guys in his barracks, so the worst thing at night is just that some of the guys like to talk.... LOUDLY. However he told me today that after he and I talked last night and he found out I was doing ok with this he finally got his first night of good sleep, so I was glad tohear that. I finally feel like I will get a good night sleep tonight after hearing that. He called me at about 10 his time, so he was getting ready to go to bed.... but then an inspector was on his way to their barracks, so he may be up all night scrubbing floors or something.

Anyhow... he said that they will ship out to basic on Wednesday, and once he is there he will send me the address so I can start sending him letters. I have written a few already, now i just need to be able to send them. He is mailing me a letter tomorrow at 4am when he gets up, so I am looking forward to getting that. Once i get his address I will post it. He sounds homesick so I am sure he would love as many letters as possible. I don't know if he will have time to write back or not, but I do know that he will have time to read them. :)

Thanks for all the continued prayers!

thoughtfulness

2009-08-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

I still have not yet actually heard from Jereme, but I guess no news is good news. Before he left he wrote me some emails, and he has them set to send to me various times while he is gone. I didn't know this until today...

The first email was the day he left, an I love you and a goodbye.

Today I got one as well, reminding me he loves me, and that he will be thinking about me and we will see each other soon.

Seeing as how I was having a hard day today, it was perfect timing for the email! It isn't as good as really getting to communicate, but at this point I I'll take what I can get!

Not much time

2009-07-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you all know that Jereme's plane arrived safely in SC, as to him and his group making it, I have no way of knowing if they got on the plane... but I haven't heard anything from anyone saying otherwise, so I assume they did.

He should be processing today and the rest of the week, so this will be a pretty easy week for him. The yelling will start later, but not today, at least that is what we have been told.

I have some fun things about the kids to share as weel, but right now I need to get ready to go clean out the apartment and turn in the keys.... so more to come later.

I will be sure to let Jereme know when I talk to him about all the love and support he has back home. :)

Keep our Daddy safe

2009-07-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last night at 8pm I said goodbye to my husband. Our goodbye started at 7:15, standing outside my car in the hot hot weather we both clung to each other as we cried our eyes out.

This morning at 6:00am he got on a plane and flew to Chicago. He is there currently, but will be flying again soon. Once he gets to Columbia he will have about a week of "reception" which is orientation, paper work, all that fun stuff.

During that time he will be able to write to me, but I won't be able to write him because as soon as he is done his address will change. Once he is actually at basic training I will be able to start writing him. I don't like that I have no way of contacting him, but I am just trying to keep busy and not think about it too much.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, I know we all can use it!

Jeni

Mommy WOW! I'm a big girl now!

2009-07-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

The pictures are in no particular order as I am getting ready to take Jereme to MEPs... but here they are anyhow. Lillie is now 3 years old!

Kori really enjoyed the cake, Lillie ate

hers to fast to get pics.

Lillie was having a hard time waiting to blow out the candles while I tried to get her to show me how old she is now. Daddy tried to help her but she was to excited! :)

The cars were a bigger hit the the actual present!

Happy Birthday beautiful, Mommy and Daddy love you!

Family Photos

2009-07-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get some family photos before Jereme left since I think the only ones I have that might have all five of us are from when kori was born and I am in the hospital bed... not my most gorgeous shot! :)

So my wonderful sissy took some fantastic photos for us! I love the way they turned out. If anyone wants copies let me know which ones and make sure I have your email address. Or I can get some printed when I get ours printed.

Strong Like Daddy

"I'm gonna kiss you daddy"

"Cheese"

"We love you daddy! Be safe and come home soon!!!"

Who made you?

2009-07-26T22:38:00.001-07:00

"Mom look!" Malaki exclaimed excitedly from the back seat, "the MOON!"

"Yes, I see" I said glancing at it as I drove, "who made the moon?" It was 9:45 and we were heading back to my parents for bed after spending a fun evening with his family.

"God made the moon!"

"What else did God make?" I asked

"God made the stars!"

"Who made Malaki?"

"Oh God make Malaki!"

up to this point Lillie was pretty quiet... then she pipes up "My make myself!"

"No" I laughed a little, "God made Lillie too"

At this point she went on to argue, being rather silly, that she made her self and she made the moon and she made the stars... I think she was more than a little tired, she normally agrees that she is indeed not a god. *sigh* I think she may be a tad difficult as a teenager! :)

Here we are

2009-07-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well we are moved out of the apartment now. The kids said goodbye to it as they will not be going back. I still have a few things to do there, which I will do next week while Jereme is at MEPS and after he is gone. I will stay there Monday - Wednesday and then come down here and head back up to do the final cleaning on Thursday.

It is almost time for us to say goodbye. We have talked to the kids, and I know they don't really understand right now. But hopefully later when they are missing him they will remember how we talked about daddy will be back.

We are excited and scared about the changes coming our way, but for now we are just enjoying the little time we have left together before daddy leaves to "learn how to be REALLY strong!"

A quick update

2009-07-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how fast the time has come. Tonight is our last night in this apartment together. Then a few nights at my parents, and then he is gone. I am having a hard time, because I know I need to pack, but every time I come across something of Jereme's I have to put it in the pile of storage stuff... which reminds me that I will soon be sleeping alone.

However I am also excited. I am looking forward to good times with family and friends before I go as well. I am excited to learn where we will be living, and scared at the same time.

Jereme is doing great, I know he will miss the kids and I, he has told me more than once. But he has also told me he is excited to go to basic. I am excited to see him when he is done.

I forgot how much I love it when he works out, till he started working out again... :)

His bag is pretty much packed, I just need to get some stamps to put on the envelopes that I preaddressed for him, and some pens to go with the paper so he can fill the envelopes with letters for me and the kids. When I get letters for him I will be sure to update everyone a little on how things are going for him. And I will also try to keep up on all the fun the kids and I are having here.

Once he gets there I will get his address and post it so anyone can write him letters... he may or may not write back, we aren't sure how much time he will have for things like that, and his main priority during free time will be making sure he gets enough sleep. So don't feel bad if he doesn't write back, I had to force him to promise to write me every now and then... :p

I have gotten both bedrooms packed and ready to go, now I just have the living room and bathroom, which will both be really easy, and the kitchen, which I think will be a little harder.

Tomorrow after Jereme's physical fitness test we will come back here, load up the car and move the kids and I down to my parents. We will stay there till Monday. Monday we will spend a few hours with the kids and then he will say goodbye to them.

I will drive him to MEPs (by the Portland Airport) and stay with him till curfew (I think it is 11pm). I will sleep at the apartment that night, although it will be empty probably... and then meet him at MEPs at 9:30am on Tuesday. We will go back and forth getting all his orders and everything, which means a lot of sitting and waiting... when he is done we will go out to a nice dinner, and maybe a walk or something. He has to be back to the hotel by curfew again. Then Wednesday morning I should be able to see him for a minute or two before he goes to the airport, so I can say goodbye one last time. And then I will head back to Lebanon and try not to be an emotional wreck for the day. Thursday my friend Breanna is going to come up to the apartment with me to help me get it all cleaned and turn in the keys. Then we will go out to lunch or something and maybe do a little shopping since we will both be kid free.

Ok that was a little long for a "quick" update.... oh well, that is where we are at right now! Keep the prayers coming please. Thank you!

Boys and Girls... oh what to do

2009-07-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

So Malaki comes to me today and tells me that his "Penuh" hurts... I will let you clever people figure out what that means. :)

Of course I have to check him and make sure he is ok, nothing wrong with him... Well Lillie, who was in another room, apparently over heard us, and for those of you who know Lillie anything that is hurt on her brother is hurt on her.

Example:

Malaki is running really fast and trips and hurts his knees. A real injury, but we make it through. Lillie, seeing her brother has fallen and is being asked if he is ok, quickly imitates his run and fall (although falling very careful as to avoid real injury) and then insists that she to is hurt.

So once I find that Malaki is ok and will just have to wait it out and then be fine he decides to go sit in his room in self pity....

In walks Lillie "hey Malki"

"No Lillie, it's just got hurt my penuh, leave me alone" he says somewhat crossly.

"OH" Lillie replies cheerfully, "I got my penuh hurt too!!! See it is SO BROKE!"

I have tried to explain that she is a girl before, but so far she doesn't get it.... this time I just sat and laughed while they went back and forth about their 'owies" and wondered how I am going to get Lille to understand the difference between boys and girls... and this is only the beginning!!!! Yikes!

Say a little prayer

2009-07-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, after Jereme is gone I will try to update all my posts, right now with just 2 weeks left we are spending as much time together as possible.

Right now though please take time to say a little prayer for us, While camping over the weekend Lillie got a flu and started throwing up, so we headed back to my parents a day early.

On the way home last night I started, and then Malaki in the middle of the night. Lillie who had stopped is back to throwing up again, so all three of us are miserable. Thankfully Kori is still sleep this morning, because I feel terrible, and am having a hard time keeping up with my other two kids.

Apartment kids

2009-06-30T17:59:00.001-07:00

So we love the apartments we are, sure they are small, but small can be good. One thing that I find interesting though, the kids around here.

Malaki has made a few friends, not sure of most of their names, but for the most part he has learned who the bullies are, and who the nice kids are. Lillie has a little friend named Vanessa, she is a little hispanic girl who is 4. Her brother Abraham (age 5) and Malaki have a lot of fun together as well. Their parents don't speak english at all, Abraham is pretty good at it because he goes to school, Vanessa does ok, but she is shy on top of not speaking english very weel, which makes things hard.

Anyhow Lillie and Vanessa both have Ponies that they like to play with. They gather all their ponies together and play with them outside, switching ponies, sharing, and always managing to bring their own ponies home.

Today as I was in my room hanging up a few clothes the kids were outside playing. I came out and was playing with Kori when I heard Lillie go in her room and close the door. This is pretty normal for her lately so I thought nothing of it. I could here her talking on occasion, also normal... I just let her be because Lillie sometimes needs uninterrupted quiet time to just be on her own, otherwise she can become a bit of a grouch. About 35 minutes later she and Vanessa come walking out of her room with all their ponies.

First I find it strange that children just walk in and start playing, but what I found the most scary, is that I never heard a frantic mom wondering where her daughter was. I was outside several times checking on Malaki, and not once did I see a mom wondering where her child was.

I personally would not be happy if my child went in to someone else's house without telling me. They tried that once, they were in there for under 2 minutes and we had a long talk about how that is not safe and not ok.

I don't mind Vanessa and Abraham coming in here, I just wish I could talk to their mom a little so she knows where I live and that her children are safe... I told Abraham he needs to let him mom know where he is if he wants to come in... he says he did and she said it was fine, but I am still uneasy about it and encourage them to play outside.

We also have a boy whom Malaki is NOT really friends with, who will walk in, go to the kids room, grab a toy and take it outside. I sat on the couch with my jaw in my lap the first time it happened. I have talked to him a couple times now. Telling him it is not ok to come in without asking first, and that he can't take the kids' toys outside... also that he can't take their bikes without talking to me first, especially when we are not at home. Most of the kids around here share outside toys, but only when the child is outside playing as well...

We like it here, and the kids love all the "friends" to play with, but there are times when I am very puzzled about how parents have no idea where their kids are or what they are doing... :)

The hardships of one car

2009-06-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Since Jereme is leaving soon we sold his Geo. He was sad to see it go, he loved his little car, but it made sense to sell it, so that is what we did.

This means we now have one car, no big deal really. With three kids it isn't like I go many places anyhow. And if I really need the car I can take him to work and pick him up.

Well last night we ran out of diapers in the house. Jereme called me at work, I had walked, and I told him to go out to the car because there were some in the diaper bag.

This morning I discovered that he only brought in one diaper, not the diaper bag... of course I didn't discover this until he was gone. I had thought I would have enough diapers to get me through tonight, and then I would go to the store when he got home... but with the diaper bag in the car and the car gone, we were OUT of diapers. I found a smaller size (just 1) to put on Kori, but I knew it wouldn't last anywhere close to the whole day.

So I loaded all three kids up in the double stroller and we headed for Safeway. It is exactly a mile one way according to google maps. However it is not a flat mile... it is a mile with some pretty good hills. Had it been flat I would have let Malaki ride his bike (which he begged to do) but I was picturing him flying down the hill on the way to Safeway, scary enough... and then having to drag his bike up the hill while pushing the stroller, on the way back. So I opted to have him just ride in the stroller with the girls.

2 miles is really not that far, a mile there a mile back, a few annoying hills, no big deal... 2 miles pushing around 120lbs up and down hills with no water, lets just say I got a good work but it wasn't much fun! :)

It only took me about 25 minutes each way (that includes taking time to stop and rearrange children to make sure everyone is comfortable, not kicking each other, and not whining... I think I did pretty good! :) And the lesson I learned is that with just one car I am going to be watching the necessary things in life a little more closely than normal, and not allow myself to get anywhere near running out again!

Free Lunch and things yet to come

2009-06-25T16:37:00.001-07:00

So I have a TON of stuff to post, I just need all the pictures and the time. but hopefully next week I will be able to get up a whole bunch of stuff about the kids and the wonderful birthday weekend they had at grandma's house.

We learned today that the park right next to us is serving healthy (ish) free lunches courtesy of the local schools ever Monday - Friday for kids 1-18. We went over today, they help the kids properly wash their hands and then go through a little line. Today that had burgers, baked beans, watermelon, and a little carton of milk. After lunch they will have a game or craft everyday as well. The kids ate a great lunch, Malaki and Lillie each ate half of their burgers, and Korinthia at the other 2 half's. Yes my not yet one year old can out eat my big kids...

The kids were playing kickball after, but Malaki and Lillie are a little young, so they just found a bunch of "friends" to run around the park with. They had a blast, got completely filthy, and I didn't have to make lunch! Woohoo!

After we were done we came home, took a bath, and then a 2 hour nap. Well I took a 30 minutes nap, but the kids got in 2 hours... They are already asking if we can go again, I think I like this park thing.... :)

The Cruelty of Children

2009-06-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

It is sad the way children pick at each other. My son is a bit of a backwards kid. He can count from 7-1, but can only sometimes go from 1-7. He almost always has his clothes on backwards... underwear, pants, and sometimes shirt. And he puts his bike helmet on backwards as well. Today he came in from playing quite upset. It seems that some of the kids around here are heartless to my 4 year old. His pants were on backwards and he was crying to me as he came in to put them on right. I told him it was ok, he could wear them however he wanted, and to just ignore people who are mean. He got his pants on the right way and went back out to play. About an hour later he came in and showed me the proper way to put on a helmet, "NOT THIS WAY" he said rather loudly and a bit upset as he showed be the wrong way. Then he told me the kids outside are "neam" which I am pretty sure means mean. It is sad that he is getting picked on, I will have to watch a little closer. At least physically they don't hurt him, and they do play really nice with him. They just don't think I guess. I guess it is good in the sense that he now is wearing his helmet the right way.....

Pow Pow Power Wheel "GATOR"

2009-06-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

Our apartment Manager Mindy is a very nice young mom, she has a 2 1/2 year old daughter named Emma, and a baby who is right around 2 weeks I think. He was born 4 weeks early, was 6 lbs 13oz, and finally makes Kori look like a big girl!

Anyhow, Mindy's is the only porch without railing around it... and they have a ton of outdoor toys that they share with all the kids when they are outside.

Day before yesterday her husband (I don't remember his name) was outside and gave Malaki a squirt gun to play with, which he was shooting in the air and laughing when it got him wet. Then he asked Malaki if he wanted to drive the "Gator" which is a John Deer Power Wheel type toy. I was way off in thinking that it would be scary to Malaki. He took his sister and Emaa cruising for about half an hour before it was time to come inside.

The next day Emma was outside with another little girl, she is a littl older, I don't remember her name. And they were driving the Gator.... so Malaki and Lillie waited and each got a turn driving. I got my camera out this time and got some pictures and Videos.... here they are.

Malaki and Lillie hold on tight in the back

Changing drivers, everyone moving around

Lillie drives like she walks, without paying attention to where she is going.... thankfully she didn't get mad when help was offered. This also worked well since the little girl didn't want to share, and so she let the other kids sit in the driver seat while she still ran the gas pedal and the steering wheel.

When it was Malaki's turn she still didn't want to give up control. Malaki wasn't to upset with it though, and she eventually got bored and let him do it on his own. really he was just so glad to get to be riding that it wasn't a big deal.

Now he really IS 4!

2009-06-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

Well it was something we couldn't stop, Malaki is now 4 years old. And inspite of the early morning "birthday" he did on his own, the rest of the day went well.

While it is true I told Malaki on his birthday we would open presents, he has been getting into things way to much without asking, so he had to have a timeout for opening without asking.

While he was in timeout I rewrapped his present.

Jereme decided we needed ice cream to go with the cake, so I went to the store and got some. While there I stopped by the dollar store and picked him up some new crayons and a coloring book. He has been very into coloring lately, and since he already knew what his present was I felt bad.

When I got home I made lunch (spaghetti with broccoli and Cheddar sauce, one of his favorites) and the cake. I had planned to do blue frosting with white clouds and the airplane Lillie and I picked out for him. However I didn't have food coloring as I thought I did, so I just did the white frosting and sprinkles, I still but the plane on, and Malaki was quite concerned telling me not to light it on fire.

After lunch he asked, for the 100th time, if he could open his presents. We told him he could, but that he had to wait while I got the camera ready. As soon as I was ready he eagerly opened, and reopened his presents. He was very excited to play his new computer game. I told him we would have cake while we waited for it to install.

Lillie had a hard time watching and not helping.

Kori was more interested in attacking the camera than watching the presents get open.

We sang happy birthday and he started to blow the candles out, so I re lit them and made him tell me how old he was and then blow them out while I recorded.

His game was ready shortly after, so he lost interest in the cake very fast. He ate a few bites then put it on the counter so that he could play. Lillie finished her piece and his piece though. And Korinthia was not at all shy about eating her piece as well.

I can't wait to see how she handles her own chocolate cake for her birthday!

Malaki shows me how big and strong he is now that he is 4, he then insists that I take a close up picture of his strong arm....

The next day Lillie asked if it was her birthday and wear her cake and presents were. I did say her birthday was after Malaki's, now daily she asks me about her birthday. Another month or so to go!

The difficulties of turning four

2009-06-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Malaki's birthday will come later, but for now I have an early morning birthday story.

Thursday evening - Malaki and Korinthia were taking a nap, and Malaki's birthday was fast approaching. I still hadn't gotten stuff to make a cake, nor had I gotten him a gift. I knew what I wanted to get him, sort of, he had been playing some of those free trial computer games online and was getting very good at them. So I know I wanted something like that for him, after all we had just gotten rid of a ton of stuff, so I wanted something that wouldn't be a pain to pack in a month and a half when it is time to move again.

So I told Jereme I had to go birthday shopping, and I took Lillie with me. Once we got to the store she helped me pick out a preschool game for Malaki. It is a Disney game with three discs, one with Mickey, one with Winnie the Pooh, and one with someone else I don't know. I think it was Stanley and sharks or something like that... Anyhow, since he is four I wanted something that would teach him while he plays. This game is supposed to help him learn everything from Letters, counting 1 - 100, colors, opposites, shapes and much more... pretty much everything you learn in preschool is on these discs. We then picked out wrapping paper and stuff for his cake before heading home.

Friday Nap time - While the kids were all in their room I decided it was a good time to wrap Malaki's Present.

Friday night - Lillie had noticed the present first. After having been told the day before over and over that we were getting things for Malaki's birthday she knew what the present was for. She showed Malaki, who was having a hard time waiting for his birthday. As we put them to bed I reminded Malaki, "tomorrow is your birthday, You will get to open your present!"

"oooh" he said in his special way with his funny expression. I can't not describe it but can only say if you have seen him do it, you know what I am talking about.

6:30am this morning (Malaki's Birthday) - our door opens and Malaki peeks his head in. "Happy birthday Malaki" I say to him, I heard him get up since I was already wide awake. I have a cold and can't breathe very well....

"mom, I'm awake" he tells me.

"Ok, that's fine"

about 45 minutes later my door opens again, in he walks with a dvd. I assume it is a movie he wants to watch, as he often does this in the mornings, but I can only see the back of the dvd. "bring it here" I tell him. As he hands it to me I see it is the Stanly and Sharks (or whatever it is) "Malaki, did you open your present?"

"Yeah" he happily replies...

When I came out I found the discs (one in the dvd player and the other by it, the third is in my hand) I then had Malaki show me where the box and paper was, which he had thrown in the garbage.

After I had everything I sent him to his room, he has to learn not to get into things without asking, even if it is his birthday.

As I pondered how on earth he could have gotten it off of the top of the dvd shelf, still not sure but I think he must have climbed on the TV, I rewrapped his present and put it back.

Now he is asking if he can open it... to which we have decided he will now have to wait till after cake. However we are still planning to have a good time. He and Lillie will get to help me make the cake, so I am sure he won't feel his 4th birthday was ruined or anything....

Later I will post pictures of the birthday fun.

things that remind me my "babies" are no longer babies

2009-06-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

Malaki is no longer terrified of everything, in fact he often surprises me in how NOT scared he can be. Except when it comes to dogs, he is still petrified of dogs.
When asked "How old are you Malaki?" He replies "oh Malaki's 4" however he is not yet 4, that comes this Saturday, when you try ad remind him of that he responds with "no I AM 4!"
Malaki and Lillie can both change DVD's, turn on the TV and start a movie of their choice.
when thirsty the go to the fridge and bring me whatever it is that they want to drink for me to pour into their cups.
When washing dishes they are actually able to help, and by help I don't mean make things harder.
Korinthia is now standing with no help, and thinking about trying to walk.
Lillie enjoys picking out her own clothes, and insists on wearing "pretties" all the time
At the zoo they were able to name almost all of the animals, and they remember where they all are and are able to lead me in the direction of the animal they want to see.
When we turn on to 6th Avenue the kids immediately get excited because we are at Grandmas house, even though we are actually still a few blocks away.
Malaki will often tell me which ways I need to turn to get home from the store.
My mom is getting "big kid" bikes for them for their birthdays.
Malaki understand that he only has a few days till his birthday and he needs "presents and a birthday cake... um chocolate please"
Everyday I look at them I see kids, not babies, and I wonder when they grew up, didn't I just get married!?!?

Slip 'N Slide

2009-06-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

One of the great (and not so great) things about our apartments is all the kids. Most of the time it is fun having lots of kids around to play with, but there are some times when the kids around here are not so nice, and they do thinks I don't want my kids picking up on.

However on Saturday it was very hot. And so one of the moms of a couple boys, ages 7 and 9 I think, brought out her boys new "Slip 'N Slide" to share with everyone.

Malaki and Lillie were inside watching a movie and having some juice when she brought it out, and we watched fascinated from the window for a few minutes. Then Malaki said he wanted to go outside.... so I told them to get their swim suits on first and that I would go out with them.

It took awhile for either of them to be willing to try it, in spite of a couple slightly older children, whom Malaki calls "my friens", cheering them on and telling them they could have a turn. I finally held Lillie's hand and ran next to her, she hit the first spray of water and ran away. We did this a couple times, but she never really got in to the whole thing. She preferred sitting on the side lines watching, and putting her hand in the water every once in awhile.

Malaki on the other hand, went next to me once, I just ran beside him, when he hit the "slide" he slipped and slid a little, thus the name I suppose. I thought that would be it for him, that he would hate it... but I was wrong. He spent about an hour waiting in line with the other kids and eagerly taking his turn when it cam around. Only stopping when it was time to pack it up and put it away...

So here are some pictures of my almost 4 year old being all grown up and playing with the big kids, and having a BLAST!

Sorry about the video, for some reason my camera decide to record like it was on speed or something....

These shots were taken from 3 or 4 runs down the slide.

Malaki gets water in the face

He could slide down the whole thing, so he slid, and then got up and slid again till he reached the end.

The "pool" at the end! Go Malaki!!

Malaki is telling me what he did and showing me "I did like this mom and so fast!"

Lillie, just getting a tan...

Again, don't know why it recorded in hyper speed, but gives you a good idea of how much fun he had!

DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!

2009-05-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

I come home from work and the kids are no where to be seen.

"They are in their bedroom, I told them to clean and they haven't done it so they are still in their room" Jereme says as he passes me on his way out the door to go to work.

Korinthia starts crying so I go in and get her, change her diaper, fix her a bottle... apparently the kids think my being home means they are done.

"Oh hi mom!" Malaki says "wanna play, wanna go outside, wanna have a peanutbutter?" Pretty much anything but clean is what he is thinking.

I smile at him, "sure, after you clean your room like Daddy says, then we can have some fun!"

"ok" he replies enthusiastically, as he picks up a toy to put away and gets distracted. "I'ma super!"

"Your a super hero?" I ask, trying to understand what it is he is talking about.

"No, I'm super Malaki! And I'm super, and your super too mom, your a super and I'm a super, super Malaki and mom super."

"Ok super Malaki use your superpowers to clean your room" I replied.

At this point Lillie has gone in to go potty about 4 times in the 10 minutes I have been home. I am pretty sure she needs to poop but is a little constipated judging by the way she is crying. I go sit with her for a little while, which just encourages her wailing and crying.

"If your going to carry on like this I am not going to sit here and listen" I tell her as I leave the bathroom. This causes her to really start throwing a fit. "if you are going to throw a fit you need to either go poop or go to your room"

Wailing she runs into her room and slams the door. Normally she would get in trouble for this, but when the windows are open the doors close pretty fast, and so I don't know if she meant to slam it or if the wind got it.

Malaki starts talking to me again and so he goes to open the door so I can here him. "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!!!!!" Lillie screams at him as she rushes over and shoves it shut.

At this point I had no choice but to punish her for her attitude. Now they are both laying in bed pouting that they don't want to clean. Oh well, it looks like they will take a nap, and since I worked this morning, I could use one as well!

Here comes the sun

2009-05-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went down to visit family and have my mom look at Korinthia to make sure she was ok.

While we were there, before Lillie got sick, the kids had a blast playing outside and riding the 4wheeler with Papa. I wasn't there, but apparently Malaki hit the throttle on Sunday while they were riding and he and my dad did a wheelie... I am so glad I didn't see that! I guess it scared them both pretty good... Dad normally hits the brakes when Malaki tries to make it go, but he uses the front brakes, and when the front tires are not on the ground the breaks don't work.

Anyhow, Malaki was telling me what happened and demonstrated with his hand how he used his thumb to hit the throttle. Then on Monday when they were getting ready to go ride again I mimicked his hand motion and asked Malaki if he was going to do this again...

"nooo that's so scared!" he replied. Thank goodness, no stunt child yet!

Anyhow, here are some pics and a couple videos of them having a blast! The pictures are in no particular order, and in fact the first ones are them tired out on the way home.

Sleepy kids

She is so beautiful, and she looks so sweet... ha!

Still not feeling good, cuddle time with Papa

Goine for a ride with Grandma

Malaki tries to talk someone into taking him for another ride

Lillie pretends to drive

these pictures are backwards, from bottom to top she climbs on to "ride"

"Your turn mom, wanna ride?!" (after trying papa and grandma)

Poor little sickie

Taking a break and having a snack

"Fixing" the 4wheeler

Pumping the tires

Playing in the garden

Malaki and Lillie work together to pump up the tires.

Lillie fixes it all by herself

Feeling better

2009-05-27T09:04:00.001-07:00

So Korinthia is back to eating a good amount again. She just had 2 eggs and a piece of toast... so hopefully she will gain back some weight she lost. So far non one has thrown up since yesterday, so we are doing good! Fingers crossed that we are over it!

2009-05-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday night Korinthia started throwing up. She did this till early yesterday morning. She has also had diarrhea. All she has wanted to do it to be held. She sleeps and she lays on us pitifully, or rather she did.

Daddy holds a very sick baby and lets her sleep.

Relaxing and trying to make Kori feel better

We went down to my parents on Sunday to do Laundry and have mom look at Korinthia to make sure she was ok. My parents took turns with her, getting their fill of being thrown up on. And by Monday she was starting to feel better. She got us all up around what I think was 4am. My mom came down and changed her, she has the worst diaper rash ever right now (although it is looking a lot better now) and I made her a bottle. Dad came down as well, so he offered to sit and rock her while mom and I went back to bed. I don't know if he stayed up or if they fell asleep together, but I was so grateful to have the chance to go back to bed. I didn't realize HOW grateful until today though. With all my parents help I came home feeling rested, which is good because Lillie started being sick on Monday, and has been pretty bad since. I was up countless times last night, with both girls.... and am having a hard time keeping up with them right now. And to top it off Malaki is starting to complain that his tummy "feels so yuck" which means I will probably have a third sickie on my hand soon.

Currently Korinthia is passed out in her bed, Lillie on the couch, and Malaki is watching peter pan. My first bit of quiet all day. Now I have the task of scrubbing the house to make it smell a little less like puke, when what I would really like is a nap... but who could sleep with this smell!

Oh and to top it all off, even though I just did laundry, I already have a ton more to do. Blankies with throw up, beds with diarrhea... I hope they feel better soon!

Bases are Loaded

2009-05-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

So here is a list of the places the Army could take us... In the order of appeal to me

HAWAII, HI

CAMP ROBERTS, CALI

FT. BUCKNER, JAPAN
LANDSTUHL, GERMANY
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO

FT. MEADE, MARYLAND

Japan and Germany can be switched, I don't have a preference of the two. I am feeling like I would like to see different though. It is hard because I don't want to be far from my family, but at the same time, how likely is it that they will come see much more if I am in Maryland, as opposed to Japan. My family likes travel, so I hope they will get to come see me wherever I go... and I think it would be fun to have them come stay for a week or two and do some sightseeing. It will just be cheaper sightseeing because they won't need food or lodging, I will be able to provide that.

I know that this is hard on my family, and on my friends, but I hope you can all be excited for us. I am nervous and scared of course, but I am also excited. I feel like God has been preparing me for this and like this is his will. Sure I have listed a preference of bases, but I am ok with going anywhere at this point. I feel like it will bring me closer to God and us closer as a family. Jereme and I have spent hours talking about the things that will be hard, the way this will affect us as a family, but all in all it has already drawn us closer to each other, and to the kids.

I hope that we will have the opportunity to have as many family and friends visit as want to. Our doors will always be open, and even though I don't know how big of a place we will be yet, we will always have room for family and friends. As long as they don't mind being in close quarters with a family of 5 should that be the case.

For you who have kids, I will even babysit while you go do some sightseeing if you want. Whatever you need to get you to come see us, whether we be in Hawaii, Germany, or Maryland.... or any of the other places they could send us.

Also the list is not technically an official list... so it is possible we could end up somewhere totally different. This is just the only places that the SFC we have talked to knows of. His friend did the same job for years and that is what he told him.

By the way, for those of you who are wondering and don't already know... Jereme's title/rank is 'SPC (Specialist) Guenther' E4

Fun in the Sun

2009-05-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

So now that we are living in an apartment and we got rid of a ton of stuff I feel like life is so much easier. Sure I have to hand wash dishes, and go to the laundry center on site to wash clothes... but I have found that I like going to do the laundry and folding it there on the big table things they have. It is easier on my back, and it is a nice little bit of quiet time for me.

The small size of the apartment makes it take a matter of minutes to have it clean, so I feel like I have more time for my kids. We have had more time to read and play and I love it!

So one of the first nice days we had this last weekend the kids and I went outside in the courtyard. This is right out our front door, and they are currently building a really nice play structure. It is almost done, and now that the slide is on the kids can hardly wait.

Here are some pictures of the kids out enjoying the nice weather. Side note, the older two have taken to picking out their own clothes lately....

Malaki is showing me a blade of grass

Lillie wanted her "cheese" with mommy too!!!

IAnd Korinthia could care less

Korinthia is getting so big, and she LOVES being outside. She tries to escape anytime the door is open. She is crawling, standing alone, walking with hands or something to hold on to and babbling.

Trying to get her attention...

"Big girl' getting annoyed with me and the camera

Malaki is bug hunting

Lillie poses for the camera

Malaki takes Lillie for a ride

The kids start to load in the wagon "Take us for a walk mom"

'ok mom, go!!!!!"

Don't let her fall out

sisters, sisters

"Are you ready?" "YEAH!!!!!!"

Good morning

2009-05-08T08:29:00.001-07:00

My camera decided to work today so I thought I would share a few pictures of the kids.

Malaki is trying to take the camera from me so I won't take his picture.

Lillie counts to 5 with mommy

Yes Lillie is shirtless, she spilt something on herself and took it off right before I started taking pictures.

Malaki gives Kori a kiss

Lillie tried very hard to give Kori a kiss from where she was sitting, but started crying when she couldn't reach. It took awhile but she finally figured out she could get up to give her a kiss, even though I told her she didn't have to give her a kiss in the first place... The girl likes drama!

Lillie shares a cheerio with "Quinta"

mmmmm yummy!

stop flashing in my eyes mom!

I HATE getting sick!

2009-05-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I was struggling to get things done because I had a terrible headache. My goal is to be all done with the house and have it company ready by this weekend. Not that anyone is coming over, I just want it to be done.

However with my headache yesterday I decided to just take it easy and not do much, figuring on today and tomorrow to get it done. I am close after all.

Then last night I got a fever of 104 and was up all night shaking. Today I ache from the fever, but was feeling a little better, so I thought I would work on the house a little... which brought my fever back, I am now at 102.9 and it still seems to be climbing... What a rotten time to get sick, I was almost done, and now I am going to have a really hard time having it all done before Saturday. Jereme offered to help, but there isn't a lot he can do... being sick is not fun at all, I hope my kids don't get this!

It doesn't have to be so hard!!!

2009-05-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

Today the kids started trashing their room while they were supposed to be cleaning it. I don't understand the logic.... it went like this

Malaki: mom can I watch a tv

Me: sure, but first you and Lillie need to put your blankets on your bed and put away your toys

(at this point there were 2 ponies and a couple cars on the floor)

Both kids start whining and complaining.

Me: (upbeat) it's ok it won't take that long, just toss your blanket on your bed and put your toys on the shelf and then we can watch a cartoon and play a game.

The kids go in there room and close the door, crying about not wanting to clean it. Kori crawls over and bangs on the door a little so Lillie lets her in.

this was all about noonish, right after lunch.

It is now 2:30, they pulled out all there toys, tossed blankets around the room... I drew the line when they started getting into the clothes. Now we are having a battle of wills, one that I will win. We are progressive spanking. They don't listen they get one spanking. wait a couple minutes, they still don't clean they get 2... wait, then 3... and so on. They have been told that if we get to five all the toys will be gone. I will pick up everything on the floor and "throw it away". This was met with wails and "NO NOT MY TOYS!!!"

to which I calmly responded, ok then lets get them cleaned up and then you can get them out and play with them later if you want to.

We just did spanking number 3, and they are finally starting to clean, after a reminder that they will soon be loosing the toys.

I keep having to go get Korinthia tho because she is making it hard for them to clean, pulling toys out as they put them away.

I just wish they could see how easy it would be to just pick up the 3 things each at the beginning of this whole thing... we could have had such a better day!

Realization

2009-05-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

So we are almost all moved into the apartment where we will live till Jereme leaves for basic, at which point I will try and stay here and keep working, or I may decide to pack up and move to Lebanon or something till we can go live with Jereme again.

I will go into the detail of how that will all work later... for now I have a short amount of time as I am trying to finish unpacking.

This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Each box I unpack reminds me that I am that much closer to living on my own for awhile, something I have never done. Part of me wants to stop unpacking me because I know Jereme would never leave me without knowing that I will be ok and taken care of. He doesn't want me to have to worry about thing when he goes, so if I don't unpack he won't leave right? Perhaps, but that isn't what I want to do. This is a dream of his and I support it. Am I scared? Of course! But I will just have to trust that God will keep us all safe.

As I unpack I find stupid things make me cry, I unpacked envelopes that I bought when we first got married, almost 5 years ago. The thing is still nearly full, we do most everything online, so we RARELY use envelopes. But I realize now that soon that box will be empty, because the only way I will have to communicate with the love of my life is by writing letters. I think it will be something good for our marriage, but it is so scary at the same time. I find myself asking how I will sleep at night without his arms here to protect me? How I will get through each day without a morning kiss and an I love you... Each day bring us closer to saying goodbye, and I try to pretend like I am strong, but that wall is crumbling fast as reality sets in more and more everyday. Can you tell we haven't spent much time apart?

I know I have family and friends that love me and they will help me get through, but no one can make me feel the way Jereme does. I know that each day I will run to the mailbox hoping to get a letter saying he is ok and telling of his love for me, and I know I will be writing him about a million letters saying the same.

9 weeks may not seem so long, but I know it will feel so much longer. I am thankful that we have family camping trips planned for the summer while he is gone... I think the hardest day will be 9 days after he leaves. That will be our 5 year anniversary, thankfully the following weekend is the family loon lake trip, so I will just bury myself in getting ready for that.

Sorry, this blog may turn a bit sappy for awhile... I am excited for the changes we have coming in our life, but I am already missing my husband, and he isn't even gone yet. I am just trying to remember to live each day being with him as much as I can. Doing everything I can not to fight, because I don't want to waste a single second that we have left. I think that is a good way to live at all times though, because we never really know when we may have to say goodbye.

Army

2009-04-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Most of you know we have been looking into the military for the past
few months. We started out looking at the air force, but things
didn't work out well for that. The recruiters seem lazy and unwilling
to try and work fast. And they just make it so hard to get in, plus
they don't really give out much by way of job descriptions.
So a week or two ago we started talking with people who are in, or
have been in, the Army. We got a lot of info, and we were able to
read very detailed job descriptions online, so that we could be sure
they had something in Jereme's area of expertise.
Last Thursday Jereme headed to MEPS in Portland, where he took his
ASVAB and his physical the next morning. He had to stay the night
there, which was our first really night away from each other since we
got married.
Everyone there was VERY impressed by his ASVAB score, although we have
still not been told what it was... :) and he did great on the
physical.
He called me at 11 on Friday and I headed down to sit around and wait
with him, we picked out his job, went over his contract, and then he
got to swear in. Sounds fast, but it isn't, we waited a lot!
Anyhow, here is what is going on now.
I am looking at apartments today in our current area. We will be
moving out this week (hopefully) so that the lady who wants to rent
this place from us can move in.
Jereme wants the kids and I to be settled somewhere before he ships to
basic, which is why we are moving now instead of later.
He ships out on July 28th, which means he will be here for all of the
kids birthdays, and be driven to Portland on July 27th (Lillie's
birthday) at night sometime so he can do all the things required
before flying out on the 28th.
He will go to Basic at Fort Jackson in South Carolina for 9 weeks and
4 days. Then ship out to AIT for 26 weeks and 3 days at Fort Gordon
in Georgia.
Our hope is that the kids and I will be able to move to Georgia with
him while he is at AIT, but there is no telling for sure till the time
comes. Most likely the Army won't pay for that move because the
length of training isn't long enough, but once he is at AIT he may be
able to get them to approve it. If not the kids and I will try and
move over there to a furnished apt if our finances allow it.
Otherwise we will just try and visit at some point, and he will be
able to fly home for Christmas. He will finish AIT in April of 2010.
At that point they will probably ship him straight to his duty
station. Jereme will be an E4, and his job (25 sierra) means that
there is only 6 bases he can be located at. California, Colorado
Springs, Maryland (I think), Japan, Germany, and one other over seas
one, but I don't remember where. We are probably going to choose the
one in California, but haven't decided for sure yet. The other nice
thing about his job is that it doesn't deploy. He will be working
with satellites, and the only places he will ever need to be are the 6
places that have the satellites.
Once he is at his duty station the Army will come to wherever we tell
them we have our stuff, they will pack everything for us, and move it
all. The kids and I will have to drive wherever his duty station is
so that we have a car, Jereme will be flown there from AIT, unless he
decides to take leave at that time and pays to fly himself back here.
Then he can drive with us.
So that is where we are at right now, If you have any questions just
ask, and I will let you all know more as we learn more. :)
We are so proud of Jereme, and are all scared and excited about the
changes coming our way!

Little explorer

2009-04-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

So the camera isn't working again, but I just thought I would let people know, my daughter likes men in uniforms....

Malaki and Lillie are spending some time with grandma and grandpa again. I miss them like crazy, but we have gotten a lot done while they have been gone.

One of the things we have been doing is meeting with the Army recruiter (yes Army, not Air Force... long story for another time)

Anyhow, Korinthia has now gone in twice with us to meet with the recruiter, and she always flirts with the guys in there. They have on the uniform and she just is all smiles for them. Then I take her to work with me and all the friendly ladies who say hi to her just get this little glare... it cracks me up. So I have decided that at the young age of 9 months, my daughter is already showing signs of the type of guy she will marry, now we just have to wait about 20 years to see if I am right :)

She is also getting great at crawling and has started exploring from room to room. She pulls herself of to standing and then stands and cries and whines because she doesn't know how to get down without a *THUNK*

Not so hot tubbin

2009-04-06T14:09:00.001-07:00

We Have been out enjoying the sun for the last few days... burning things, roasting hot dogs, playing in the dirt and grass, and enjoying the not so hot hot tub to help cool us down :)

Camera work when it wants to and only when it wants to!

2009-04-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

So Kori is now crawling, and pulling herself up on things. After having a bottle on the couch she half crawled up a pillow and became so exausted from trying to stand that she fell asleep, something I wish she would do right now!

After she slept for awhile and the camera decided to turn on I took a couple pictures, which woke her up, and she was none to happy about it either!

Sleepy girl

Why did you wake me up mommy?

She got a tooth and has been making this funny face since it first started coming through

Watching Malaki and Lillie try to cheer up

Daddy's Grubby Little Helper

2009-04-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

Most parents know how proud a daddy can be as his son follows him around "helping" with the fixing and tools. Malaki has gotten pretty good at bringing the right tools and actually helping, or rather, going to get mommy so mommy can help.

In any case, today's little helper is not Malaki, because todays project requires going under the house, which is very very dirty and "ick ick eww gross."

Our day started out by building a fire and doing some much needed burning outside, a project both kids love to help daddy do. Then Jereme decided that he would start re-plumbing the hot water under the house since we have nearly zero water pressure.

So he turned off the hot water and set to work under the house, Malaki hands him tools from out here, but doesn't want to go in with him. Lillie on the other hand is a grubby mess. She has been under the house with him nearly all day, chatting his ear off and getting caked in dirt, mud, cob webs and having a blast. Malaki wanders in and out of the house, watching a movie for a bit, then going out and standing at the opening to go under the house where he talks with Lillie and daddy a little... yet still he won't go under.

Korinthia got to go out for a little while and crawl in the grass which she loved, however she has a corner of her bottom tooth through and is working on getting that through the rest of the way, so she is a bit cranky.

I am going to have to run to the store because we ended up needing more part for the plumbing, and until I get them we have no hot water, which means I have been burning all day, I smell like a fire, and I can't take a shower! ick... I did get a bit of color from being out in the sun all day though!

Stand up Please

2009-04-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

So I still have no pictures, stupid camera! Anyhow, I went in to the bedroom to get Korinthia after her nap, she was crying and sounded more panicked than I have ever heard her so I went in to see what was wrong.

She was standing up, holding the railing, and trying to figure out how to sit back down without falling. As I type she is working very hard to pull herself up on my leg. :) She is growing up! I think she is just barely over 12 pounds now, the scale at work goes back and forth from 11.5 and 12... :)

No pictures

2009-03-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

So I was doing good about taking pics, and I was going to take pictures of the kids in the hot tub with Daddy before I went and got in myself, but my camera won't turn on now! Bummer... I have bad luck with cameras!

ok it's my turn

2009-03-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, you guys did it so I had to do it too, but if my husband is mad that I didn't clean house I blame you all! lol
A. Pick 25 of your favorite movies.

B. Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.

C. Post them for everyone to guess.

D. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, listing the correct answer and who guessed it.

E. No Googling/using IMDb search functions. That's cheating, and it ruins the fun.

Here we go:

1. This old gypsy woman once told me that if you jump backwards nine times before the sun come up you won't be pregnant. Well, I jumped so far I had to take a bus back and then I had twins.

(Where the Heart is - Mandi)

2. Jump in after her! I can't swim
I only dog paddle.
(The Princess Bride - Julie)

3. You should have seen these guys, complete amateurs. Biggest risk was I'd fall down laughing and hurt myself.

(Undercover Blues - Mandi)

4. $38 for a Christmas tree and they don't deliver? You order $10 worth of chow mein from Mr. Wong they bring it to your door.
(While you were Sleeping - Mandi)

5. Dancing's just a conversation between two people. Talk to me

6. The mouse's name is Cheese?

Must be. He always comes when we yell it.

7. You can't defeat me! You... you're just a big... fat... panda!

I'm not a big fat panda. I'm *the* big fat panda.

(Kung Fu Panda - Julie)

8. Yeeeeeees, hurry home, princess. We wouldn't want to miss old Daddy's celebration, now, would we? Huh! Celebration indeed. Bah! In *my* day, we had fantastical feasts when I lived in the palace. And now, look at me - wasted away to practically nothing - banished and exiled and practically starving, while he and his flimsy fish-folk celebrate. Well, I'll give 'em something to celebrate soon enough.

(The Little Mermaid - Carrie)

9. Unattached?

Currently.
Likewise.
Surprising.
Psycho?
Rarely, Interested?
Perhaps.
Hungry?
Starving.
Leaving?
Now?

(How to Loose a Guy in Ten Days - Mandi)

10. The walls are mushy!

(Josie and the Pussy Cats - Julie)

11. Feminine weaknesses and fainting spells are the direct result of our confining young girls to

the house, bent over their needlework in restrictive corsets.

(Little Women - Mandi)

12. If she liked me any more, she'd sic the dogs on me.

(Oklahoma - Mandi)

13. That's better. Next time I tell a story, keep your hands in your *pockets* you toothless old buffalo!

(Calamity Jane - Julie)

14. how do I look?

Like a beautiful blonde pineapple!

(Grease - Mandi)

15. I've got two jobs. I've discovered that you have to work twice as hard when it's honest

(Gone in 60 Seconds - Julie)

16. Yeah one more thing, um... none of them wanna pay taxes again. EVER.

17. Your aim's as bad as your cooking sweetheart... and that's saying something!

18. Fraulein, is it to be at every meal, or merely at dinnertime, that you intend on leading us all through this rare and wonderful new world of... indigestion?

(The Sound of Music - Carrie)

19. It's amazing the clarity that comes with psychotic jealousy.

(My Best Friends Wedding - Mandi)

20. What about lunch Eat it, its healthy

No, I mean we don't have any
I'll take care of it

21. C... Cornelius Well, that's a funny name! Oh! I mean, I mean it's perfect.

(Thumbelina - Mandi)

22. It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting *ideas*, and *thinking*...

(Beauty and the Beast - Carrie)

23. Good gracious! Who left the mop running?

(Sleeping Beauty - Mandi)

24. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck! It's terrible and wonderful at the same time! It's like freedom in a cup!

(Open Season - Mandi)

25. I love tickets!

(Charlies Angles - Julie)

Braids, or something like them

2009-03-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

So grown up!

I was so excited the other day when I was able to put Lillie's hair into two little braids. It would be better if I knew how to french braid, but trying to learn on a wiggly toddler of not yet 3 is slightly difficult!

"I love my pretties"

I did it!

enough pictures mom!

Sibling love

2009-03-18T03:50:00.000-07:00

Ok it isn't even 4am yet, but I couldn't sleep and I have to go to work in a bit anyhow... so here are a few pictures of my kids relaxing and watching a movie... the big kids are so helpful with Korinthia, she loves it when they hold her!

Feeding Kori Cheerios

Pretty ladies

My three wonderful children

Kori kickin it with her Brother

Scrub a dub-dub in a great big "tub"

2009-03-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

Jereme didn't go into work on Friday (he worked from home for a few hours in the morning) so we decided to work on our hot tub. We got it off craigslist.org for free several months back. But found out we were going to have to add a breaker box with a main power off for the house... it became a big project. With the help of my parents we got the electrical stuff all taken care of and passed the inspection. So we decided to scrub the hot tub and hook it up. The previous owner said it worked a couple month before we got it, but that it hadn't been used since. So after getting it all pretty and clean, with the help of my kids, we filled it and tried to start it. And nothing happened.

It was looking like we would have to buy a new pump, but while I was at work last night Jereme talked to my parents on the phone and discovered the pump is fine, it just has some wiring issues. We have a friend bringing over his multi meter later today for us to borrow so that we can get it all fixed... and hopefully it will be in running order when we have company over for the weekend! That way we can put all the babies (mine and Erika's) to bed and sit out in the hot tub and relax! The kids are excited about it too!

I don't have any pictures of Malaki helping because he got drenched when we were scooping water out and went inside to watch a movie, and of course Korinthia was not helping, she was taking a nap.

Motherhood: not a job for wimps

2009-03-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Being a mom is no easy task. If you are a mom, you are probably smiling and nodding your head. If your a mommy to be, you have NO IDEA what you just got yourself into. If you are not a mom, you will probably think me a mean person who is an unfit mother.... talk to me after you have your own kids and we will see how you feel then.

There are all different types of mommies as well... today we are going to look at the (mostly) stay at home mom of multiple children. Namely, myself!

I look around at the other moms I know who are in the same boat I am and think, wow, that girl has got it all together! Her kids are all the same age as mine, she also does some part time work, but look how great her life is.

Take for instance my wonderful cousin in law Jenn. Not only does she have a great name, she always seems to have everything under control. I mean, I can hardly keep Lillie's hair under control, thank goodness Korinthia doesn't have hair yet! And somehow every time I see Jenn and her girls they all have the cutest (cleanest) clothes and their hair is up and out of their eyes, and she has 2 girls with hair! Even when we were camping. Now I know my daughter is a slob, she can make messes like no one else, but why can't I keep up with her?

And her girls are so smart and polite... My son apparently while visiting my parents, greeted those at church who spoke to him with an obnoxious noise. What on earth? That is not how Jereme nor I greet people, where did he learn that!

Anyhow, it wasn't until I read Jenn's blog that I realized her life isn't as perfect as I thought it was.. I mean, to me it still looks pretty grand, but it is nice to know that I am not the only one who feels like I sometimes suffer through my days as a mother of three children!

Ok, on to what prompted the post...

So the kids are allowed to spend "nap time" as more of a quiet time, strike that, WERE allowed, no longer though.

Normally we would tell the kids to go to their room for the set hours of "nap time" to give mommy some get things done time. During this time they could play with toys, read books, or take a nap... as long as they stayed in their room and were not to loud it was fine. Well this weekend they decided it was time to trash the room completely. This was on Friday. Books all over the room, toys, pretty much everything they owned with the exception of clothing. For once they didn't empty their dressers. This would not have been such a big deal, but they have a small room, and all three are in it. We couldn't hardly put them to bed at night because there was no where to walk. Plus the fact

that they also went into the bathroom to go "potty" and got my makeup bag and gave themselves and their room a "makeover" which I discovered when they came out from nap time and Lillie looked like she had a black eye. I didn't get a picture of that, but I did get Malaki wearing mascara... this was hardly the worst of it but I wasn't thinking about pictures at the time (this was actually taken quite a bit later)

So we told the kids that they had till Sunday to clean the room, or ALL of the toys would be put away in the attic where they can't get them. We frequently reminded them and sent them to clean their room, at which point they trashed it even more (how was that possible!) till Sunday finally came. That afternoon we told them to get on the top bunk (Malaki's bed) and watch mommy and daddy clean. "You won't like it when mommy and daddy clean your room" we told them. We started throwing everything into big blue tubs, telling them the whole time why we were taking all of their toys. When we were done we told them they were each going to get one toy because they didn't throw a fit while we cleaned out the room.

Lillie got to keep her baby, and Malaki his rat, this was done more so we could get them to sleep at night then anything else.

Anyhow, the kids didn't really notice too much about the toys and books being gone. I left one book for each so we can still read stories... plus they like to read to themselves before going to sleep at night.

It didn't really sink in with Lillie till today that her toys are gone. She went looking for her puppy and was devastated to find all of her toys missing. It was heartbreaking as she sat on my lap and sobbed, but Jereme and I decided that they need to learn to stop doing this, and when I clean it up because I am tired of making them do it I am enabling them. So by doing this they can start slowly learning to keep things picked and and they won't get more than they can mange. It is hard to be the bad guy though.

We decided that in a few days they can start earning back their toys, although some we just plan to get rid of... We will slowly start letting them have toys back if they clean their room when they are told.. they get a "new" toy from upstairs. If they don't, everything not put away goes back upstairs... With all three of them in there it doesn't take long for the room to become too hard to walk in. And since Korinthia has a cold and is getting up at night I am sick of stubbing my toes trying to go get her.

For now I am just watching closely to make sure that they don't get into other things, and we have been coloring and playing with the few things we have... while I remind them that if they keep things clean they will get some more toys.

The plus side of the lack of toys is that Lillie is not so distracted and is remembering to go use the potty again (she had a bit of a rough patch for awhile)

ATTACK!!!

2009-03-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

My kids LOVE spending time with grandparents... one of their favorite things to do is wrestle with Grandpa. Or just climb on him... :)

Look who's moving now

2009-03-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

As I had mentioned, Korinthia started crawling over the weekend, she is so proud of herself!

Babble

2009-03-04T14:20:00.001-08:00

So Korinthia was not gaining any weight for awhile and she had sort of stopped developing... However now that she is doing formula along with nursing she is doing great. She started crawling last weekend, she is still slow, but she is moving. So yesterday we went to the zoo with some friends and Kori who has just been oohing and ahhing, started going dadadada and bababa and trying to mimic me when I said mamama... he mouth moved but no sound came out on that one. lol

The Little Things I Missed

2009-03-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

My two older kids got to spend sometime going back and forth between grandparents (my parents and Jereme's) over the last week and a half. They had a great time, but Lillie was ready to come home, even Malaki wasn't upset about having to come home.

It was nice to have the time with Kori and give her a little special attention, plus we got stuff done that needed to be done, and I got a new (used) car! So I can't complain.

However I did miss the little things while the kids were gone. Hug and kisses were of course missed! But I also missed my little "helper Lillie" when I was changing Korinthia or doing dishes. I missed Malaki's imagination... and I missed our mornings when the kids are in good moods, like this morning.

Clarification

2009-02-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to add on to my "silly things that make me cry" post.

I am enjoying my break from the kids, I miss them and I am excited to see them on the weekend, but the time has been good.

Jereme and I (and Korinthia) went out to old spaghetti factory for dinner last night and enjoyed some time talking without having to go over children's voices.

Also I very much appreciate my parents, and my in laws, for being so willing to take the kids, and I am glad the kids get this special time with their grandparents.

I am just emotional and starting to get a cold... anyhow, I didn't want to seem ungrateful or whiny.

Airforce test

2009-02-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

By the way, I know some of you were waiting to here how Jereme's AFOQT went. It didn't...

His recruiter told him he just needed his ID, so I dropped him off then headed down to Oregon Vital records to pick up the girls' birth certificates... inside an office where Cell phones are not allowed. Jereme got this mean lady who would not let him get set up in the system without his SS card, even though he was told he didn't need. His recruiter even offered to fax a copy of it since he had to copy it when Jereme first went in, and then he said he would sign saying it is a true copy of Jereme's real SS card, but she wouldn't allow it and said if he didn't have it before 9 he would have to take the test later. So he tried to call me, but my phone was off since I was in the Vital Records office.

The REALLY frustrating part though, when I did get back (9:45ish) he went to get put in the system so next time he went he would be all ready, and the guy that put him in (the lady was elsewhere) never once asked for his SS card OR ID! He would have been able to take the test if he had went to him in the first place! We were more than a little annoyed! So he will take the test the first Wednesday in March now, hopefully!

The silly things that make me cry

2009-02-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

I have always been an emotional roller coaster of a person, just ask my family... but as I get older I find different things make me cry.

The thing I find the most strange though, is how I can not wait for free time. No kids (except the baby) so I can get things done and go shopping with ease, then the time comes and I stand on the porch watching them drive away to grandma's house for 2 days crying as they cheerfully chatter and don't once look back.

But why am I crying? Is it because I will miss them so much I can't stand to be apart from them? I don't really think so. I think it is that I feel guilty, I couldn't wait to be without them for a couple days, but I really do love them so much. So if I love them why do I feel like I need to have some time without them... Is it because I started my family so young? Were all the poeple who frowned at me and told me I shouldn't be a mom yet right? Or would I feel the same way if I had waited 5-10 years and :lived" my life first? I think if I waited though I would have always been wishing I could be a mom, it is after all what I have always wanted.

So this time I console myself with the fact that I "sent the kids away" so that I could focus my energy on my sick baby who through up milk and fries all over herself (and my hand) as we walked in to Target, even if that isn't why they are gone.

Since I miss my kids I thought I would post a few little video's of them. Now everytime Lillie see's the camera she wants to "hi grandma"

Lillie really wanted to sing a song for grandma, till I got the camera out...

So I have been working on memory verses with Malaki, and he was doing this one perfect till I tried to video him doing it for Grandma and Grandpa. We have a kids easy verse book from our pastor and his wife that we are using....

6 month itsy bitsy girl

2009-02-17T21:09:00.000-08:00

These are Korinthia's 6 month photos, she is actually about 6 1/2 months, but close enough. She still only weighs about 11 pounds. When my sister put the skirt on her and then picked her up to "fly" her skirt fell off... oops!

MARCHing to 2010

2009-02-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

In the year 2010 Easter will be in April, so we did a Saint Patricks day theme for March.

This is the second set up of pictures we did on our picture day.

2010 Continued - It's All About love

2009-02-12T11:28:00.000-08:00

This was actually the 3rd set of photos we did with the kids, they were troopers as we changed them yet again. We nursed the babies, bribed the big kids with Candy and started snapping away. These were my favorites of all of the set's we did, I LOVE the white red and denim. I for got to put Lillie in her Jean jacket though, so she was the only one not in denim.

Lillie enjoys some M&Ms while we take pictures

Malaki thinks a couple M&Ms are not worth what we put him through

He can be so sweet though

Kaden slept through this whole set of pictures

Korinthia picks out a rose for Kaden

Snoozin Away

Kori makes some funny faces!

I think Lillie is already playing hard to get!

Or not!

Lillie tries to return the flowers

Take the flowers!!!

All four kids, the coolest cousins ever!

Still to come:

March 2010

Korinthia's 6 month pictures

Fun at the zoo with friends

The start of 2010

2009-02-11T16:03:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, I know what year it is, but my sister and I are being smart this year and getting a jump start on next years calendar. Generally we don't think about it till at least half way through the year. But not this year! This year we have decided to get together once a quarter, that way we only have to do three month pictures at a time. This may not seem like very many pictures, but for the months of January, February and March plus Korinthia's 6 month pictures (that is a total of 5 pictures we wanted to be able to print) we took 426 pictures!

You have to remember that we are trying to catch the attention (and hopefully smiles) of a 3 1/2 year old, a 2 1/2 year old, a 7 month old, and a 1 1/2 month old! This my friends, is no easy task. I am generally the "clown" standing behind my sister (who takes the pictures) doing everything I can think of to get the kids to not just LOOK at me, but SMILE, or resemble a smile anyhow!

So here we are, The following pictures are for the month of January, some we may actually use, and some are to give you an idea of what we go through to get these!

Trying to get attention with a pom pom and throwing it over their heads...

Kaden wondering why there is so much noise!

Korinthia reads Curious George

Kaden was not at all thrilled with this set up!

I think the boys are tired of the camera (and this was one of the first picutres taken!)

I think this one was probably the best of them all together

I don't remember what happened here, I think the flash on Mandi's camera didn't work so the flash boxes did or seomthing like that... Make her eyes look cool though!

Stay tuned, more of 2010 is on the way

Lovely Potatoes

2009-02-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Thursday I went down to my moms to take pictures of the kids for our calendar next year. More of that to come later.

After we were done I left the kids there to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. We said we were "kid free" for the weekend, however we still had Korinthia. It is amazing how one kid feels like nothing after having three!

Anyhow, we enjoyed our "time off" spending most of it at home or going for walks. We got caught up on a little house work, and got to spend some much needed time together.

Sunday I made a turkey dinner while I waited for the kids to get home... I was peeling potatoes and found the coolest potato ever, after I started peeling it I realised I should have waited and baked it for Valentines day... I had to take a picture of it, does that make me a nerd?

I know this is a somewhat lame post, but our kid free weekend was pretty much just playing games and planning and getting rid of stuff... and I have not yet gone through and picked which of the 426 pictures we took for the calendar to post on here.

My next post will include the children and be slightly more interesting!

She's My Cherry Pie

2009-02-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

If that is a bad song I apolozie, that is the only part of the song I know! :)

Over thee weekend Jereme's mom and dad came up to spend the night. We had a great time with them (Erika and Mel (his cousin and her baby) were here Friday night and Saturday) we all went out to dinner at Ihop on Saturday before Erika and Mel had to go home. We enjoyed a wonderful meal, till Lillie pooped in her underwear, thankfully we were about done. She seems to have started regressing again, although life is a little more normal today and she is doing better.

Sunday we walked to church as nomral, but after church we left the kids with Ed and Debbie and went groccery shopping. If you have kids you will understand how something so simple can be such an amazing date. Plus Ed and Debbie gave us money and told us to go on a date, so we went to DQ. The kids had a great time with grandma and grandpa and we got to enjoy our shopping trip.

They had brought up a cherry pie that I believe they said Rebekah made. This morning after being forced to eat something else first, the kids got to have some pie, Malaki ate a couple bites and was done, Lillie loved her pie, as usall!

A little to much maybe??

so lady like...

Who needs a fork, it is finger lick'n good!

She is starting to like to pose for the camera...

Enjoying the sunlight

Smile for the camera, I love her eyes here!

Welcome to the new blog - Life Changes

2009-02-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have had a couple emails from various followers on my web page saying I should do a "blog" instead. I originally didn't do this because I wanted more freedom to be creative should I ever have the time.

Who was I kidding? I am a mother of three, I will not have the time anytime soon! So I am choosing to switch the a more simple method, without the limits on space that came with my previous site. I figured we have enough life changes starting to take place, what's one more right?

So here I am!

After a bout a week of spending all free time (and some not so free time) researching we have decided that Jereme joining the Air Force would be a good fit for our family right now. He has not been getting as many hours at work, and this is something he has always dreamed of. He put the idea aside when he married me. I was the one who brought it up this time, it just sort of came out of my mouth before thinking, and I was shocked to discover I no longer hated the idea, and I am actually excited about it!

He will get to go in a an officer if he gets accepted! We need lots of prayers as we start to embark on a new adventure for our family!