Christmas

I'm having a bit of a dilemna regarding Christmas right now. When we were down in Texas, we opened presents and basically celebrated Christmas with my family. So that leaves me a little unsure of what exactly to do on the actual day. Nathan is still excited because we have stockings, but he doesn't know that, well, I really don't have anything to go in them! Usually we have some little things, and some candy, but this year all we bought were little flashlights from Walmart. And I don't have any special candy for them either, so anything food-related is going to be the same things they have been snacking on as we drove across the US! I am disappointed that almost no churches around here are having services actually on Christmas morning. There is a little church not too far away that celebrates Mass in Latin, and we have talked about visiting there, so we are going to try to find out if it has a service on Christmas morning. Maybe we will go there. If not, I think I will at least make a special breakfast dish, although there are not many of those that don't have a lot of cheese in them, making them not edible for Caleb! I am also at a loss as to what to do for Christmas dinner. We might possibly have 2 of Bob's sisters and their families come for a few nights next week, so I was thinking that I would make a ham and have a traditional dinner while they are here. For one thing, my ham is not defrosted, so I couldn't make it Sunday even if I wanted to! But what do I make to make it seem special? I can't decide! I am planning on baking a cake tomorrow so that we can do our traditional celebration of Jesus' birthday. We'll read the Christmas story while we put up the figures on our flannel background, and we'll probably sing some Christmas carols or something. Then we'll sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and eat his birthday cake. Still, it doesn't seem that special of a day, and I can't think of anything else to do. It doesn't help that we are all just so tired from the drive, so no creative juices are flowing!

Update: maybe we won't be doing much at all, even tomorrow, when we were planning on going to a living Nativity at a local church. Nathan has just thrown up for the second time. The first time, we all just assumed he had eaten something this morning at Sams' (we had tons of free samples!) that hadn't agreed with him. The second time, however, makes me think it is a bug, possible the one that was going around our homeschool co-op before we left. Apparently there were kids vomiting all over the place, and many families were affected, even the L's. Weird that it would start for us so much later, and after a few weeks of no exposure to any other kids. I guess no matter what, this will indeed be a Christmas to remember.

Tire Excitement

I mentioned that Dan and Melinda seemed to have been cursed with tire problems, and it looks like they rubbed it off on us! As we were driving through Arkansas on Wednesday (we seem to have problems mainly in Arkansas, lol), I pulled off at a rest stop to go to the bathroom. I was changing Joanthan's diaper in the van when a lady and her husband came up and told me that our back right tire was very, very low. I told Bob when he came back out, and they were quite right. Fortunately, they had one of those little guys in their car that blows up tires, so they tried to reinflate the tire. It got a little bigger, but it was obvious we had a pretty big hole, which Bob found by running his hand over the tire. We were able to make it to the next exit, where we found a can of Fix-A-Flat in our back. That enabled us to limp onto 40 more miles to a WalMart that had a tire center. When we got there, the mechanics took the tire off to patch it and found a huge goose-egg bulging out on the inner sidewall. They told us it could have blown at any time, but we would never have been warned about it if we hadn't had the leak, since we would never have seen anything suspicious. Wow! The Lord was really watching over us, and we're so thankful that he answered our prayers for safety that morning before we left. So we got a new tire, and while they were putting it on, we bought a package of turkey, some cheese, a loaf of bread, some chips, and a half-gallon of orange juice (it was a Super-Walmart, obviously!), and we had a little picnic back at the tire waiting area. What an exciting dinner stop!

We're home!!!

Here is the trip summary--3700 miles driven in 10 days, one new tire, countless M&Ms, cookies, crackers, raisins, etc. consumed, and 6 all-too-short days spent with family!

We had such a great trip. We left Tuesday, Dec. 13 and drove to Nashville. The next day we drove on to the Dallas-area, to Dan and Melinda's house. We did run into a huge traffic jam on the west side of Memphis, so we took a sudden 30-mile detour to try to get around it. That led us through many poverty-stricken little Arkansas towns such as Earle, which looked as though every building in it should be condemned. Wow, you don't see those things from the interstate. A sobering perspective.

Thursday Dan worked half a day, and then we started down to Corpus Christi in a caravan. We again ran into a traffic jam in the middle of Dallas, and we rerouted ourselves for another detour when Dan's tire blew out. Not to worry! We all pulled off between the highway and an exit ramp, and Bob and Dan changed the tire like a pair of pit stop mechanics. The detour led us through Grand Prairie, which reminded us somewhat of an urban "Earle". We also ran into lots of traffic in Austin, leading us to conclude that we are magnets for traffic tie-ups, while Dan and Melinda are magnets for flat tires, since that was their 4th in a year. We had a lot of fun caravaning with them. Melinda rode in the minivan some, giving her practice in being the "stewardress of the van", the person responsible for picking up dropped toys, getting new books for people, choosing new music, distributing snacks, etc. It's a full time job! We ate dinner at Cracker Barrel and got into Corpus pretty late.

Friday was the day of the big ceremony! It was freezing cold and rainy, but we (the boys especially) had a great time sitting in James' airplane. The ceremony was at 3:00 in the afternoon. I was concerned, since that is naptime, but the boys did okay. Jonathan and Caleb were very wiggly, but there were a lot of other kids there who were crying, etc., so it was fine. James looked so handsome and distinguished in his uniform with his wings pinned on! We were so very proud! We all went out to Olive Garden to celebrate. THere were 18 of us there, so it was quite the party!

Saturday we went to the Texas State Aquarium, which was very nice. We were thrilled to find out it is a reciprocating member of the American Zoological Association, so we were able to get half off admission with our membership card from Boonshoft. My personal favorites were the jelly fish display, and also the seahorses. They are just so cute, and you probably know that female seahorses only carry the eggs to the father--he fertilizes them, carries them until they are ready to be born, then he pushes them out by contracting his body. Very attractive species, especially to a pregnant woman!

In the afternoon, we all went back to our hotel and watched football in our room. We got an amazing room--it was literally the size of two rooms, and we had 2 king size beds, plus a pull-put couch, 2 easy chairs, and 2 poofy chairs that went around a little table. There was a ton of empty space in the middle for the boys to play in as well, and it was obviously the best place for everyone to gather and socialize! We ordered pizza and had a regular party there! We were really thankful for the perfect room that the Lord provided!

Sunday we drove back to Dallas with Dan and Melinda. As we were heading out of Corpus, we stopped to get gas, and I realized that I had left a folder with driving instructions and more importantly, the extra pictures of the boys from WalMart that I had been handing out. Bob and Dan volunteered to go back and try to find them (which they did, praise the Lord), and Melinda rode with us again. Bob thought maybe I left them there on purpose so Melinda and I could have more time together, but I can assure you that I did not! I did really enjoy riding and talking with her though--it made the miles pass quite quickly! We met up with Mom and Dad at Cracker Barrel, and Bob and Dan caught up to us there too, and we all ate lunch. Then we did a little bit of shopping at the San Marcos Outlet Malls. The only flaw in our plan was that it was the last Sunday before Christmas, and they were PACKED!!!

Monday I did laundry, and in the afternoon Mom and I ventured to Lewisville to a homeschool resource store that I had heard about on the Well-Trained Mind board. It was fantastic, but I will devote another post to it. I had too much fun! That night we celebrated Christmas together and opened our presents. Tuesday we got packed up while the boys played with their new Bionicle toy and watched Lone Ranger videos. Wednesday morning we said sad goodbyes, drove to Nashville, and then got home yesterday at about 9:30. We're all so tired, but it was an absolutely wonderful trip. My family is so spread out that we all get together so rarely, and when we do, it is a very precious thing.

Just to mix it up a little

The boys were unloading the dishwasher this morning, and Luke was complaining about all the mixing bowls in there. Nathan rather condescendingly pointed out that it was because we had done lots of baking lately.

Luke: "Duh."

Nathan: "Luke, you don't always need to say, 'duh'."

Luke: "But I don't!"

Caleb: "Yeah, sometimes you should say, 'for Pete's sake'."

It finally happened today . . .

At church, a friend was introducing me to her mother. She said something about the one in my tummy being a girl, and the mom said, "She won't be there much longer, I'd reckon!" So now I have proof that my belly is huge, and I look like I could deliver any day, while in fact, I am only almost 25 weeks along and still have a good 3 1/2 MONTHS left! Sigh. Where is the chocolate? LOL--just kidding! See, that's the kicker--I haven't actually gained any more weight than I ever have at this point. I have gained a respectable 17 pounds, which is not super great, but it's certainly not obese either. I am right on track to gain my usual 35 pounds. But I look as big as I did when I went into labor with Nathan. I think this is just another example of how people aren't really used to seeing women with big families. You can be cutely pregnant with 2, even 3 pregnancies, if they are spaced far apart. Then you can wear those modern maternity fashions where your shirts hug and accent your poochy little belly. When you are carrying number 5 in 8 years, you outgrow those shirts at about 4 months, so what's the point of buying them?! Those stomach muscles are permanently damaged!

In other news, our garbage disposal broke this afternoon. I was grinding (is that the right verb?) some cereal that didn't get eaten before church when there was a tremendous clunking, big-broken-metal sound. At least I know it wasn't because I was putting some hard thing down there! That cereal was beyond soggy! The dispposal is not a huge priority before we leave, but hopefully Bob can replace it when we get back. At least it is something he knows how to do!

I am pleased to report that I am mowing my way through my to-do list before we leave for Texas on Tuesday. I mailed off a package to Bob's mom yesterday, I got all of our Christmas cards done and stamped, all our presents are wrapped, and I've started laundry and packing.

Also, for those we will be seeing in Texas, be prepared for Luke's hole-y grin. His second front tooth came out just a day or so later than the first, so he is definitely speaking with a bit of a whistle. Feel free to sing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth", but don't expect that he hasn't heard it before! LOL!

Well, now we know why I had my blood clot . . .

. . . it's something beautiful people have troubles with! My brother was kind enough to send me this article link , which discusses Miss Indiana-USA. She noticed her arm was purple and swollen last week, and she was admitted to the hospital. The doctors found a blood clot, and they also did surgery to remove her first rib. Here is some more information on Paget-Schroetter syndrome, which is exactly what I had, although my doctor never called it that. He always just used the more generic "thoracic outlet syndrome", but Paget-Schroetter syndrome is evidently a specific manifestation of thoracic outlet syndrome. Interesting. My clot was in the subclavian vein, and my symptoms were just as are described in the second link. And I too felt "like an elephant kicked me in the chest" after my surgery. Wow, we have so much in common! The picture in the first article looks just like me too. . . LOL!

Christmas Letters

Yay! We finally got our Christmas letter done and copied! I guess we just weren't really inspired this year--I felt like pretty much everything we're doing now is what we were also doing last year. We are having another baby, but let's face it--it's not like that is exactly an unusual occurance based on past newsletters either! So our update is pretty brief, but at least it's done. Also, I didn't want to buy any more paper this year. Each year we buy a pack of 100 sheets, and we use about 70 or 75 of them. We faithfully save the rest, which really adds up after awhile! I decided that we should try to use up all these odds and ends this year, which required some different formatting for various "editions". We're using 3 different types of papers--one with snowflakes, one with a ribbon around it, and one with some greenery. So now you all can just wait and wonder which one you'll get! What excitement! I would love to get these out before we leave for Texas, so I think I will sign off and go fold some letters. And if you are someone we are planning on seeing in Texas, then you can just expect to get yours there! : )

I can't wait to start getting everyone's newsletters and Christmas cards. So far we've gotten a grand total of two! I have never understood those people who hate them. I love them! We have enough friends that I know we won't see anytime in the near future, some we probably won't see again until we meet in heaven, and I absolutely love to hear what they and their families are up to. We usually get such boring, non-personal mail, but December is a great month!

A Crazy Night with Friends

We usually have Bible study at the L's house Friday nights, but last night Ed has his work Christmas party, and we're between books, and it's almost Christmas, so the rest of us met over here for pizza and fellowship. Tim and Amy stopped by Costco and picked up three of their take-n-bake pizzas for all of us (3 families--6 adults and 10 kids). We cook the take-n-bake pizzas from Sams all the time , so we fired up our ovens and popped 2 of them in. About halfway through, we noticed smoke coming out of the top oven. We looked in and found that the crust was pretty "done", although the rest of the pizza wasn't. That's odd. We turned the oven way down and kept watching it. A few minutes later a blob of something actually caught on fire on the bottom of the oven, so we had to rescue the pizza quickly before it really burned! In all that excitement, we noticed smoke coming out of the bottom oven--what is up with smoking ovens?!! So that pizza had a burned bottom crust too. Good grief! Can I just say again that we NEVER have had problems cooking pizzas (or really anything else either) ever before?!!! The third pizza was just fine however (are we stuck in Goldilocks or something?!). Fortunately none of us are too picky, so we did a good job on all the pizzas, burned or not.

Then the kids went downstairs and the adults sat arounds and talked. Soon we could hear Caleb wailing downstairs. To my expert ear, it sounded like someone had taken something away from him, so I wasn't too worried. It turns out that he uses the same cry for both small and big things, however, and he and Luke had banged heads pretty hard. He just had a bump, but Luke had quite the swollen and bleeding upper lip. And that tooth that was loose is now VERY loose! Luke was crying too, but fortunately I had some medicinal chocolate Snickers cheesecake on hand, and that made a cool, soothing compress. : ) It was my first attempt at a cheesecake, because I don't really LIKE cheesecake, but this one was all chocolate with a chocolate crust and cut-up Snickers bars in the filling as well as on top, along with drizzled chocolate sauce. YUM! (My oven did NOT burn the cheesecake or even the chocolate crinkle cookies I made earlier that afternoon, I am pleased to report. So evidently the oven became possessed sometime after 4:00 Friday afternoon. LOL!) The cheesecake was a big hit with everyone, as were the cookies and also the buckeyes that Amy brought.

After dessert, the kids disappeared back downstairs again. Soon one of them came upstairs to tell us that the glass in our coffee table had broken because "they were trying to put it in right". Bob leaped downstairs to clean that all up. We never did get a satisfactory story for why the glass was OUT of the coffee table, but I will say that our kids did not appear to have anything to do with it, as they all had believeable alibis at the time of the incident! I never really cared for that coffee table--another thing that Bob got I think when he graduated from the Academy in 1987, and frankly once you have kids, a table with glass in it will NEVER look clean. But still, now we have to replace it, although it is pretty low on the priority list.

So the night was full of excitement, as well as good fellowship! I guess this is why I don't as a rule throw any formal parties! LOL!

UPDATE: Luke did indeed lose his first tooth last night (Saturday) while watching football. And the 2 right next to it are also pretty loose, so I expect it won't be too long before they are out too. It was quite a hit he took!

Jonathan--another one like me

First, as funny story about Jonathan from a few mornings ago while we were eating breakfast.

Jonathan: ROAR!!

Luke (in a kindly, big brother voice): Are you being a lion, Jonny?

Jonathan (still roaring): NO! I'M A BUTTERFLY!

LOL! Luke pointed out to him that butterflies don't roar, but he was unconvinced.

A few days ago I wrote that Luke was a lot like me. Well, it turns out that Jonathan also shares some of my personality traits. Specifically, he is very picky about some anal little things. For instance, he has particular ways that his shoes must go on, and they absolutely must not be "too tight". It never fails that when we are running late, all I hear is "Too tight! Too tight!" along with lots of fussing. So I have to make a big show of undoing the velcro strap and then redoing it so that the shoe will be acceptably loose. When I was a little girl, my particular bugaboo was "shoes that slide up and down on my heels". I have distinct memories of some mall in L.A. with a Buster Brown shoe store, and us walking around trying on shoes, but me always saying "No, not these--these slide up and down on my heels". So I guess what goes around, comes around, although ironically my shoes could never be tight enough.

Jonathan's other particular idiosyncresy is that his pant legs must always be down, NOT hitched up at all on his socks or by his knees. This normally doesn't present much of a problem, but recently we've been on a real "Lone Ranger" kick around here, and so he wants to wear his cowboy boots pretty much constantly. And when you wear sweat pants and cowboy boots, it's almost impossible to keep your cuffs down around your ankles! A good deal of my time seems to be spent carefully folding over his pants cuff, then carefully inserting them into the boot, taking care to keep them as far down as possible. It's quite a process, and it rarely works to his exact satisfaction. And you can tell that my argument of "You NEVER see the Lone Ranger fussing about his pants cuffs and boots" just isn't convincing enough. I wonder what Jonathan's kids will be like? LOL!

Doctor Update

I had my doctor appointment this morning, and it went pretty much as I expected! Everything looks fine with the baby, and I told her about my rash. She looked at it, said "Hmmm . . . " and then said there were lots of pregnancy-related rashes, but it was very unusual for them to start this early and to not be on my stomach. Exactly what my research said. So she didn't have anything new to suggest, and she wants me to go to a dermatologist. Which is easier said than done! I don't have authorization to go off-base for anything other than OB care, so I think I will have to call the Fairfax Clinic, which is my primary care provider, and then see if whoever I see will refer me to dermatology at either Ft. Belvoir or Bethesda. Then I will have to try to get an appointment there. If I'm extremely lucky, I may be able to get seen before the pregnancy is over! (You may think I am joking, but alas, I am quite serious!) So I am not counting on any relief or answers in the near future, other than miraculous relief from the Lord. I have found something that does numb the itching--it has as the main ingredient camphor, and it gives a nice icy/hot sensation. I use that before I go to bed, and that does help. Right now I am praying that the Lord will just take the rash away, and that He will enable me to deal with it until it is gone, whenever that may be. I guess this is fair play, since I have never struggled with morning sickness, heartburn, varicose veins, etc. that so many other people suffer from during pregnancy!

Art Show

Nathan and Luke have been taking an art class for the last 10 weeks. It's from 2:00 to 3:30, and the class had 9 little boys, and 1 girl. Wow, brave teacher! Actually the boys were all from our homeschool group, so they were well-behaved and interested in being there, and the class went really well. Nathan and Luke had a lot of fun. Today was their last class, and they had an art show at the end. Everyone picked out their favorite 2 pieces, the teacher matted them on colored paper and hung them up, and then individually they were supposed to talk about their pieces in front of the other kids and parents. Well, the teacher called on Luke first. I was a little apprehensive when I found out that the kids were going to have to talk in front of the group, and, as it turned out, my fears were well-founded! Luke bounded up to the front, looked out at his audience, and collapsed into a puddle of silent tears. Ahh, so much like his mother, poor boy. Mrs. Mellon handled it very well though. She asked him questions about his pictures and then related his answers to everyone without embarrassing him further, so he did stop crying by the end, although he never really did turn away from the wall. Nathan was a little shy in that he faced his pictures while talking, but at least he did tell about them without any prompting or tears. Obviously, speaking in front of a group has been something I have struggled with all my life, but look at me now! I can be in leadership positions on science fair committees, lead class reunions, be in book clubs and give plenty of opinions, teach at co-op, etc.! So I have managed to cope quite well and get better at it. But I vividly remember the sense of dread that hung over me for weeks as the day to give my "oral book report" loomed closer and closer. And I vividly remember turning bright red and barely being able to talk, yet knowing that my grade hinged on the stupid report. How humiliating! I am glad that Luke has the opportunity to work through these issues without grades hinging upon them, and without a whole class making fun. It just takes time and confidence, and those do not come just from constantly being forced to get in front of people. Some people were simply not made to give oral reports in the first grade! (Or second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth as well!)

Rash Update

I did call the doctor's office this morning, and the nurse told me it was fine to put hydrocortisone cream on the whole rash. That was the extent of her suggestions, though, and she didn't have any clues as to what it might be from either. I did some internet research on pregnancy urticaria, and while the pictures do look like my rash, my experience has been totally different than their descriptions. PUPPP usually starts in the final few weeks of pregnancy, and it usually only occurs in people during their first pregnancies. It starts on the abdomen, and then spreads. Mine has never been on my abdomen at all; in fact, it started behind my armpits, and has now spread to all my extremities but is still not on my trunk! Interestingly, I do think I had this during my first pregnancy--my belly was so itchy and bumpy the last few weeks that I thought I was going to scratch myself to bleeding! But I never said anything about it, and obviously I survived just fine. Now, however, with around 17 weeks to go, I don't know that I can last the whole time! One forum I found in my search recommended bathing with mint tea leaves. Showing you how incredibly desperate I am, after lunch we all marched over to the health food store to buy some, and I am planning on taking a bath after the boys go down. Yes, me--a bath! Like I said, you can tell I am desperate for relief! I will certainly give an update after my appointment on Friday!

A Few More Details

We've been doing a few other things besides eat and play games! We're still taking care of Ned, the L's dog. He loves us because we are spoiling him! We bought a 5-pack of pigs' ears, and we have been doling them out to him every few days. He can't wait to go into his crate, hoping maybe it will be his lucky day! I feel like the grandparents, giving tons of junk to their grandkids. Poor Anthony!

Bob and my Dad have been dueling it out with our shower. Unfortunately our shower is winning. A few days ago, we were horrified to notice that one of our baseboards in our bedroom had mildew on it! Our shower hasn't turned off all the way for awhile now, dripping every so often, so we thought that must be the problem. Bob and Dad tried some things, and then they had to cut into the dry wall to try to figure out the problem. The problem is that the copper pipe itself leaks. Sigh. However it gets solved, it is going to be a hassle!

I am itching. All over. Somehow over the past several weeks I have developed a big rash all over my limbs. It doesn't look like bug bites, but rather like little pimples or something. It looks to me like a contact dermatitis sort of thing, but I can't imagine what it would be from. I haven't changed detergent or soap or anything, and I've never had really sensitive skin. The rash started with just a few bumps on my upper arm back before we went to Ohio in October. Then it spread to behind my armpits, and it was so itchy. I put some OTC hydrocortisone cream on that, and that helped. Then it just spread everywhere else, all over my arms and legs. Ack! But oddly enough it is not on my trunk at all. I would think that my pregnant belly would be a big candidate for any itching, but so far nothing there. I am going crazy! I have an OB appointment on Friday, so I'll mention it then. I hesitate to try to go to the primary care clinic for a regular appointment. The doctors there do not speak good English, and I never feel like I am really able to communicate with them. The lack of good military medical care here is the thing I most hate about Virginia--it makes me miss the nice hospital at Wright-Pat so much! So right now my strategy is just grin and bear it, but I am ready to scrape off my skin with a sharp potshard ala Job. Any other suggestions, LOL?

I keep forgetting to mention that Luke has his first loose tooth. Since he is rapidly approaching the ripe old age of 7, we were beginning to wonder if it was ever going to happen! He is pretty excited about it. I am glad that we got pictures taken in October with no big gap in the front though.

There, now it's almost like you've been here for our Thanksgiving break! : )

Thanksgiving Report

A few days ago, I was rereading a book, and I noticed this character description for the first time:

"She had . . . the wide-hipped, sturdy frame that Jude would imagine in a woman
required to carry and birth five children."

LOL! Well, I don't know about that, but after all the eating we've been doing lately, I look and feel like I now have that sturdy frame! We had a wonderful day on Thanksgiving with delicious food and warm family times. We've been playing tons of games--Life, Clue, Ginnykub, Power, Rummikub, Skip-Bo, etc. It's so nice when the boys are old enough to play more than Uno! : ) Grandma and Grandpa are having a nice, relaxing break from moving and all those boxes. I baked a second chocolate-pecan pie (recipe from Pam many years ago--it's really the only pie I like, and it's delicious!!) for our neighbors to say "thank you' for their help in cutting down a tree, but they left before I could deliver it. So after we polished off the first one, we dove right into that one too! Hey, why let a good pie get stale, or whatever it is that old pies get?!

This afternoon we put up our Christmas tree and the boys decorated it. I'm not usually this on top of things, but Grandma and Grandpa aren't going to put one up this year, since things are pretty chaotic there right now, and all of us are going to Texas for 2 weeks in the middle of December for my cousin's graduation from pilot training. I wanted us to be able to enjoy it for a few weeks before we go!

It was actually a big struggle for me to put up the tree. We have a very puny, pathetic "tree" that Bob brought into the marriage. We think he bought it when he was stationed in Alabama, so that would make it at least 16 years old. It is so scrawny and ugly. I really abhor it. I would love to get a big one (9 feet) with lights already on, since lights are such a huge hassle, and we are running out of room for all the boys' ornaments on our little excuse of a tree. Finally this year, some of the branches on our "tree" have started breaking off, so they are being held on with tape. Classy! But this means that it is finally showing its age, and maybe next year we will get a new tree. Maybe. I am not holding my breath! Fortunately, the little boys especially don't care what the tree looks like--they are just thrilled to see something new in the family room! And ornaments--what fun!! So they helped me recover some of my Christmas spirit!

Cleaning and Clutter

Yesterday we started a good housecleaning in honor of Mom and Dad coming for Thnakdgiving. Now, they aren't really the kind of people who poke around with white gloves, looking for dirt, but I have a terrible time cleaning (not counting picking up) on a regular schedule. So when company is expected, we clean. Good thing we have company fairly frequently, LOL!

I made a long list, and the boys got to work on their part. I will say they were very diligent workers, and that their future wives should be thrilled that they can clean bathrooms, vacuum, etc. We were making great progress when Bob called from the DMV office by where he works. We needed to renew our registration on our minivan and the Pathfinder. They're registered in PA, but for a variety of reasons, Bob decided we should go ahead and register them here in VA. While he was waiting there, he realized that he didn't have the bills of sales for those cars, and he needed the numbers off of them. So he called me to have me look. Well, they weren't in the "Important Papers" or "Automobile" folders in the file cabinet, although there was a lot of stuff relating to our white Mazda, which we no longer own. I found that bill of sale, plus a long and detailed insurance correspondence relating to an accident that occured when we lived on the Academy and a man ran into our car at Burger King. So if anyone wants those details, just let me know, because I can put my fingers on them right away! But for actual papers relating to the cars we currently do own, well, that was a different story. So then I started looking in other somewhat likely places, places where we have papers that haven't gotten filed. No luck. I was getting very frustrated, and I really didn't have any more bright ideas. The last time we actually had these papers was before we moved, when we went to PA to register the cars there, so who knows where they would have ended up after the move?! I wandered around, praying for inspiration, and then I started looking through a big box of folders in the study. Most of the papers related to the morgage on this house and last year's taxes, but I did find a folder which seemed to have random papers in it, and wonder of wonders, there were both bills of sale! And nothing else even remotely important, so I'm not sure at all why those papers were in there. But praise the Lord, there they were! So we leaped into the car and drove down to Chantilly to the DMV office. We got there right as Bob was being called up to the window, so it was perfect timing. We stuck around until he was done, then we went out for pizza, then straight off to art class. It was a busy day, although not accomplishing the things on my list! We worked hard after dinner though, and we did finish everything on the list. Yay!

This little episode has given me a mission though--death to paper clutter. Beware a pregnant woman with latent nesting instincts who has a target! I have been filling bags with old papers. I just hate not knowing where things are, and it wastes so much time when you just have to randomly search for things. I do very well when it comes to not hoarding actual things--every so many weeks, I go through and throw away all broken toys, unmatched things, stuff lying around, etc. In fact, I just did this in Nathan and Luke's room while they were at AWANA on Sunday (the key to successful junk decluttering--do it while the kids are not around). They came back and were so amazed at the difference! "WOW, Mom! Thanks! This is SO clean! How did you do it?!" Yes, well, I threw away a whole ton of junk. LOL! I didn't say that of course. But now they can actually find what they are looking for, and they have more room to play, so they are happy. But I have real problems throwing away papers! I have figured out what I need though--I need someone to take all the kids for at least a week so I can dedicate myself to filing and decluttering! Any takers? LOL!

Catching Up

Well, blogging has been rather slow of late! What has been happening?! Obviously nothing too terribly exciting. Starting yesterday, we are taking care of the L's dog (well, specifically Anthony's dog) Ned. He's a beautiful black lab, and he reminds us so much of Pascal. He is still just a big puppy, so he has a lot of energy. Caleb and Jonathan are terrified of him when he's out of his cage, but there is also a morbid fascination, and they are the first in the van when it's time to go over and let him out! Luke is somewhat scared, but braver than the little guys. Nathan really likes Ned, but Ned bowls him over with his enthusiastic greetings! Ned definitely responds better to Bob than to me--guess he's used to a man's authority, LOL! We took him for a walk this afternoon. Anthony has a great harness thing for him--it goes around his front legs, and it really seems to be effective. He still pulls some, but not too hard at all. Much better than the choke collar we had for Pascal!

In return for us taking care of Ned, Anthony is going to give us some free piano lessons, starting sometime after Christmas! This really works out perfectly because we are the proud new owners of a nice keyboard, and Nathan and Luke are interested in learning to play. I told them I could help them read music, and I know which notes on the piano to press, but I have no idea about hand placement or any technical details of actually playing the piano! And besides, shouldn't every child take piano at some point? : ) We got the keyboard at Sam's, and it seems like a nice one for the price.

I'm so excited that my parents are going to be here Tuesday for Thanksgiving! And then it will only be a few more weeks until we head down to Texas to see my cousin James receive his Air Force wings! Lots of other family will alos be down in Texas, and we'll also get to see my brother and sister-in-law's new house in Dallas! Tons of exciting things to look forward to!

And last but definitely not least, here's a happy birthday to my dearest friend in the world, Amy! Her husband got her tickets to see Riverdance on Tuesday--isn't she the lucky one! Bob took me to see that for one of our anniversaries in Colorado. It was WONDERFUL. I would love to see it again. I know it will be a special birthday present!

Latin Christmas Gift Idea

Okay, I saw this book recommended on the Well Trained Mind board--it's called Latin For All Occasions , and it looks hilarious! Just what we need to practically liven up our Latin studies! Here's one review:

This wonderful little book was presented to me many years ago after I had completed a Latin seminar. It was a wonderful gift, and I have found much use for the various phrases, and an extraordinary amount of humour that can be derived from the blandest of statements when translated into Latin. For example, the innocuous phrase 'Darn! There goes my beeper!' becomes quite funny in Latin:
Heu! Tintinnuntius meus sonat!
One has visions of Caesar fumbling through his tunic for some beeping object.
So, if you need a little Latin on the golf course (Alterum ictum faciam); on the tennis court (minime latum!), at the beach when spotting a shark (Pistrix! Pistrix!), or you just need to say Illud Latine dici non potest (you can't say that in Latin), you'll be prepared with this volume.
It even comes with a section on what to say when at the Vatican (where it might truly come in handy). For instance you might need to say 'Ubi possum potiri petasi similis isti?' when passing a cardinal or nun (translation: Where can I get a hat like that?).
So, don't waste your time on watching reruns of Insula Gilliganis or game shows such as Periculum and Rota Fortunae -- pick up this book today, and merge the worlds past and present.
Die dulci fruere. (Have a nice day.)

Seriously, I am pleased to report that Latin is going quite well here. We finished Minimus several weeks ago, and we charged right into Latin Christiana I. I have been quite pleased to see how much vocabulary the boys have retained, especially since a lot of the words from the first several lessons are the same as in Prima Latina. They also have the first conjugation down with no problems (that's the famous one--amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant). I love Latin!

Eating Out

Last night we ate dinner at TGI Fridays. We actually ate there last Tuesday as well. Tuesday is their "Kids' Day", at least at the one by the Dulles Town Center, and so kids eat free. Well, that actually turned out to not be totally true, but anyway, more on that later! You may recall that we had eaten a few Tuesday nights at Lone Star Steakhouse, since they had the same deal on Tuesdays (obviously Tuesday is the dead night for chain restaurants in the NoVA area!), but the last time we went was not a real great experience, and I cheerfully would never go back there again. We went with our friends the P's, and I ordered a steak-ke-bob, since I was getting very tired of their plain steaks. That's the problem--I was just tired of their menu. If you want something other than a big, plain hunk of grilled meat, then you are out of luck. So I ordered the ke bob, and I got a stick with 3 hunks of meat, as well as the usual onions, peppers tomatoes, etc. There was a small hunk of meat, and it was cooked just right. The medium-sized hunk was fairly raw, and the large hunk was so raw it was mooing. Of course, I had to send it back, and they butterflied the hunk, which helped the doneness issue. When they brought it back, however, it was still just a plain hunk of meat--absolutely no seasoning whatsoever. Bleh. So you can imagine my excitement when Amy P. said she thought TGI Fridays had the same deal on Tuesdays! I knew their menu was a lot more exciting--at least it had some variety! Last Tuesday night was great. I had a delicious oriental chicken salad, and Bob had a chipotle chicken thing that was also quite tasty. And we got 4 free kids meals. So last night we were expecting the same thing, but our server told us that you can only get one free kids meal per adult meal. What?! Lone Star lets you get 2 kids meals per adult entree. He said our server last week just "messed up". So technically only kids from "appropriately sized" families eat free. Ah well, I knew it was too good to last! I'll tell what does last though--onions. I had chicken fajitas (okay, but not as good as Chilis), and I burped onions all night long. I had to have a bowl of ice cream before bed to attempt to get rid of the taste! It didn't work. Anyways, the whole thing has kind of left a bad taste in my mouth (ha, ha) about eating out. It's nice to get the break, but I don't think it's worth the heartburn on a regular basis! : )

Introductions

It has been brought to my attention that I have been remiss in making some introductions! Some of you clever readers have been wondering if in fact the "Pam" who has been commenting recently is our former next-door neighbor from Colorado Springs. Well, yes, she is, so you all win Sherlock Holmes prizes! For those of you who don't know Pam, or never even knew or cared that we lived in Colorado, then let me fill you in. We moved to Colorado Springs 2 years after we got married and right after I graduated from Cedarville. Bob worked in Cheyenne Mountain, and we bought our first house together. It was a new house in a little development in south Colorado Springs, not too far from Peterson AFB. Bill and Pam were already moved in when our hosue was done, but they wasted no time in being neighborly. Pam is a great hostess, so we had Halloween parties, St. Patrick Day parties, Cinco de Mayo parties--you get the picture! Pam is a nurse, although you will see by reading her blog that she has recently changed jobs to more of a management/development position. Pam also sells Shaklee vitamins, and she has done just about everything I have always wished I could do--learned calligraphy, cake-decorating, Irish dancing, etc. In fact, she and Bill took a big trip to Ireland this summer for their vacation, something that has always been a big dream of mine! Although we moved out of our house 6 years ago, we have still remained in contact. She's always been a good writer, so I'm sure her blog will be filled with interesting observations and commentaries on life!

Another new blog you might want to check out is that of my friend Beverly. She is also an Air Force wife and homeschooling mother, and they just moved to Nevada this summer. We met them when we first started going to Faircreek back in Ohio in September 2001. I was only a few weeks from having Caleb, and Beverly was pretty newly pregnant with their second child. Now she and Ted have Charis, who is 5, Tobin, who is 3 1/2, and Arden, who is 2. They followed us here to D.C for a year while Ted was going to a school, but they lived in Maryland, so we didn't get to see each other much. Beverly and the kids did make it over in July before they moved, and we got to talk homeschooling and curricula for several hours! We have similar homeschooling and character goals in general in common, so if you read her blog, you can see what I was doing a few years ago!

I don't really think of myself as someone who convinces people to do new things, so I am amazed that here are two people whom I have directly influenced to start blogging! Wow! Who will be next? LOL!

Early Christmas Present

Last year I posted this entry about the early Christmas present I bought myself (it was a big KitchenAid mixer, which I am still quite happy with!). This afternoon Bob and Jonathan went off to Target and WalMart to take something back, pick up pictures (of Nathan and Luke in their soccer uniforms, since we were way too cheap to do the picture deal from the team), and stuff like that. When they got home, Bob announced that he had bought me my Christmas present already and was ready to bring it in! It is a nice, big, sturdy pan that is about 12" by 16". It is technically a roaster, and it came with a nice rack, but I am also going to use it for other dishes. I have mentioned a few times that I really need something bigger than a 9"by13" pan for casseroles. We're at a point where just our family can almost finish off a pan of whatever, so I can never make casseroles if we have company over. And what will I do when the boys are in high school?! I was talking about this very subject last night after Bible study with Amy P., and Bob heard and took note. Now this is why I love him--not only does he realize that I love getting practical gifts for Christmas, birthdays, etc., he also realizes that I would rather have them immediately so I can start using them than wait to open a box under the tree! So now I am already thinking of the huge quantities of lasagna (I'll need that recipe, Ames!), enchilada casserole, chicken and broccoli casserole, etc. that I can make--enough for leftovers another night, maybe!

I am feeling better this evening--maybe my cold will just go away. I pretty much laid around all day though. I was happy to find a bag of beef barley soup in the freezer, so we had that for dinner. Here's to planning ahead and freezing meals for when you really don't feel like cooking! Since I didn't have to actually make dinner, I did feel inspired enough to make biscuits to go along with the soup. They are whole wheat biscuits, and they're pretty fool-proof. I got them from an old Taste of Home magazine many years ago, and they are big favorites here. Since my Aunt Claire often posts recipes on her blog, I thought I would follow her lead and post this easy one.

Sky-High Whole Wheat Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup milk (I use soymilk obviously, and it turns out great)

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Combine egg and milk, then add to crumbly mixture, stirring just until moistened. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10-15 times. Roll out to 1 inch thickness; cut with 2 1/2 inch biscuit butter. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.