My dad at his finest

Video of Gampy doing his thang.

Sparkly Eyes

We have been having a great time! For Thanksgiving, we had ourselves and our girls, my parents and sister and my husband's mom, step-dad and my husband's sister. We also invited a man from my husband's class over to eat with us. He is from Jordan and is a Muslim. He was a very nice guy and really seemed to enjoy eating a traditional Thanksgiving and loved the Pumpkin pie! It was a perfect Thanksgiving and I am so thankful we were all together and all healthy and all happy and that our families get along! Ok. I know that was a huge run-on sentence, but I was very Thankful this year.
Today we spent the day touring a local town and taking a walk together. We came home and all decorated the Christmas Tree together. The girls have their own trees to decorate and put in their room (little trees). The youngest was taking hers back and said, "Every time I see the sparkly star I will think about my eyes sparkling. " I asked her if she had sparkly eyes. She said yes and asked if I wanted to see. Of course I said yes and she made very cute eyes at me. I asked her if my eyes sparkled. She gazed into my eyes and said, "No, but you have red things streaking out from them and they are very pretty too." I was rolling! What a funny kid!
After dinner tonight, the oldest asked to get down after eating very little. I wondered why. She wandered around (while the other 6 of us were eating) and she reverently touched the tree, the new decorations and she just looked at everything. Very sweet! I hope to have some pictures from our weekend later. Meanwhile, go visit the blog on the side at www.trinkaj.blogspot.com and see a cute photo.

Turkey Day

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!

Commercialism

We strictly monitor what our girls watch on T.V. They usually watch 60-90 minutes of approved PBS shows each day. There are NO commercials on there. I know there are lots of people (probably a lot of our friends and family included) who think this is crazy, over-protective, harsh etc... But I have to share a story. My oldest and I were browsing in the Christian bookstore today and she found these little rocks that had Bible verses on them. As we were walking back to the van, she brought up Christmas. She asked me something like what I thought they'd get. I said (jokingly), "Well, maybe a few leaves for you and a couple rocks for little sister." She lit up and said, "OH! Maybe I'll get some of those rocks from the store and those yellow leaves we saw on our nature hike!" Now, I am sure some readers are appalled that our 5 year old would like leaves and rocks with bible verses on them. We, on the other hand, are SO proud of our girls! I think it is great that our girls have asked for this year a pretty winter hat, shiny rocks and a new ball. Now, if only they can repeat this list at 16...... LOL!

Broken toy, broken heart

Sadly, the girls broke their first "real" toy tonight. They were playing happily in their room. We went in and found and they had decided to use the youngests guitar as a bridge. yeah. Not real smart. It broke in two and we had to throw it away. I held her during prayer and her little body was doing that, "I just cried my heart out" kind of jerking thing. It was very sad, but hopefully a good lesson learned. Reality discipline is the name of the game. All those times we told them to be careful or gentle and now maybe they understand why. I sure hope so, because I have no desire to hold another crying child like that for awhile!

No news

I had nothing to blog about till my husband got a text earlier that said, "How you doing sexy girl?" Hmmmm. We sent a text back and evidently "Jay" thought my husband was "Emily from Saturday." We got that cleared up! I had such a great laugh over it though and seeing how he laughed at me and the craft show incident, I felt this was fair blog fodder!
I am also please with the results from the latest poll on here!!!

The Rumor was TRUE!!!!!

Take a close look at the picture. Do you SEE who is in the bed? BIG BUNNY! Our youngest was right! He really DOES steal her blankets at night!

What's my age again?

My husband said I must blog about this. I am offended and he thinks it is the funniest thing he has ever heard. Yesterday I went to a craft show and he kept the girls. As I was walking around a little girl (maybe 9?) came up and asked me is I had any grandkids who would want a marshmallow gun. I said, "WHAT????" She repeated her question and I firmly said, "no." I hope I do not look old enough to have grandkids. I did not find any humor in the situation, but will humor my hubby and post it. =) By the way, he is 6 years older than me.....

Bye-Bye

Another post on Selective Mutism here. Saying "Bye" to others is something we all do all the time. We never give it a second thought. Unless you happen to be a parent of a child with Selective Mutism. One of the common traits with these children is that they do not usually say "hi" or "bye". Yesterday I took the girls to a playland and we ended up staying for almost 3 hours. Both of the girls were talking and laughing and wearing themselves out! Mostly it was the talking that thrilled me. Now, something else you need to know is that when they leave the door to a playland, they cease talking to the kids they have been playing with. Yesterday though, as their friend was leaving I said, "Say bye to Allison." Our oldest said LOUDLY, "BYE!" I about passed out! Obviously, I did not say anything, but when I told my hubby, he said I had to blog it. You cannot imagine what a huge thing this is. She struggles to say "bye" to anyone and to the best of our knowledge this is the first time she has said by to a friend and def. the first time she talked to a child outside of the playland area. I was ecstatic!!!!

I WON!

I won my first ever blog giveaway!! I was shocked that I won. Mostly, because she was my friend and I just entered for fun. Plus, my entry was true but Hallmark cheesy.
You can see my entry here http://iaminthearmytoo.blogspot.com/

Other than that, we had a great day. I was able to attend MOPS. On the way out our oldest says, "Mommy. Something happened today." I said, "Oh rea..." "NO. It is NOT something you will be proud about." I said, "Why?" She said, "A mommy forgot to send a snack for her boy and the teacher pointed to OUR COOKIES that YOU baked us and said, 'Do you want a cookie?' " I said, "Would you have been happy?" She said, "No. I would have been sad. Sad and angry." At least she was honest! =)

Fun with the Dr.

The girls had their therapy this afternoon for their Selective Mutism. It was great! They had a breakthrough there today! We have been going there for 2 months already. Last week, the girls started talking to the doctor if I was in the room and later when I was not in the room, but only if they were together. Today they both spoke to her in those settings AND they each spoke to her when they were alone with her!! If you have children, think about how many times someone has come up to you and said, "Your child is so cute! He/She said.....". Other than my parents and sister telling us things, not once has anyone ever said, "Your kids said..." Today, the doctor said, "Your oldest is hilarious! She said....". I cried. Not buckets or anything, but it was an amazing moment for me! Also for her. She said our girls actually behave like twins and when they are together but apart from me, she said they have a silent form of communication! I thought that was kinda cool. The story she told on our oldest is so funny that I have to share. Lately, our objective has been to not be able to understand the girls in public settings. Therefore, hopefully making them either verbalize or just speak louder. Well, she was not able to understand head nods today. When the oldest started speaking to the doctor in another room she said, "Ok. I will tell you this once. When I go like this (shakes head) it means 'No'. But if I go like this (nods head) it means 'Yes'". The doc. said it was SO hard not to laugh!
Tonight we got our girls their biggie Christmas gift. We settled on a BIG dollhouse that was on a huge sale. I think they will have tons of fun!

Toothpaste Trauma

Our oldest has always had troubled taste buds. She is a very picky eater. She did have an eating problem as an infant though and was not able to eat food till she was almost 2. The poor child lived on milk and juice. I am saying that so that you understand the following post and do NOT think that she is being manipulative. She can be real mean to her sister, but in general is your typical type A first child. Extremely eager to please. She will even try foods that make her gag just to get 1 chocolate chip. But when it comes to toothpaste we have MAJOR trauma. For awhile, she was fine using Oral B baby stuff. ONLY fruit punch NOT Berry Blast. Then we switched to a toothpaste containing Flouride. She gagged and threw up over several kinds till we found Sponge Bob toothpaste. I cannot remember the flavor but it was NOT Mild Bubble Fruit OR Bubble Gum. But something similar. There were at least 3 variations, but only this one did not send her to the toilet. We were fine with that. UNTIL.... THEY DISCONTINUED THE TOOTHPASTE!!!!!!! Not all of them mind you, JUST the ONE kind she would use happily. Since then, I believe we have spent around $30 on every kind and flavor and registered trademark toothpaste we can find. You see, mint is out. It burns her mouth. Orange makes her cry. Cinnamon, tastes like mint. Strawberry stinks and just the smell makes her start to gag. Tonight we found a flavor that sparkles and is mild mint. Will it work? Doubtful. So, we are back to the overpriced baby Oral B WITHOUT the much needed flouride. What are we to do? It is amazingly funny and very annoying. The only bright spot is that the youngest now has like 30 tubes of toothpaste and thinks she is in Heaven. She brushes her teeth about 5 times a day and uses ALL of the flavors. If anyone has a suggestion, make sure you share it in the comments!

Shopping

Our van has had the left blinker out for a week or so and I finally made an appointment to get this fixed. It was neat. I took our school with us and the oldest and I did school there in the waiting area. It was fun and she got complimented on her behavior! As we were leaving she reminded me that she wanted to go to Krogers to get her sisters Christmas gift. After hitting the sales at Old Navy we went there and she took her time selecting the right horse for her sister. It was so sweet! She was skipping into the store because she was so excited to get her this horse. She has it all planned out. She said, "First little sister will snort like a horse and then hug the horse and then hug me!" So, she picks out this huge horse and asks to carry it up. The jaded clerk says, "Oh, is this for you?" I said, "Nope. This is what she saw weeks ago and wanted to get her little sister for Christmas." It was neat because the lady's entire demeanor changed and you could tell that is not was she was used to hearing. It is also sweet because the oldest had this thought in her head for weeks about getting her this horse. I love this time of year!!!!

What has happened to Big Bunny?

One day our youngest came out and informed us that Big Bunny stole her blankets at night and could no longer sleep in her bed. That was at least a week ago and ever since then Big Bunny has been in exile! Seriously! We think she must have had a bad dream about him. The poor huge animal has been stuffed under her bed, squeezed into a small chair and studiously ignored for a solid week now. What has happened? Will the adventures with Big Bunny continue or is he destined to be the next Velveteen Rabbit?

Christmas List

The girls and I were driving around today and talking about what they each want to get Daddy for Christmas. The youngest is adamant that she wants to make Daddy shirt that says, "Daddy loves (her name)". Also, she wants to find a real bird nest for him to keep. The oldest wants to get him a scarf. They have changed their minds a lot up till now, so we will see what actually happens. The oldest one cracked me up today though! First, she saw a little snowflake. Very little. Just one. She squealed, "Mommy! Look! A snowflake came skipping past my head!" Then she said that she wanted to get Daddy a shirt for his birthday that says, "I love my Armor Wife". I privately asked me hubby if he'd wear that! We both got a good laugh over her. She is so cute!

Nice day

I woke up not feeling the greatest. My husband and I stayed up LATE last night watching the Michael Crichton movie "The Andromida Strain" (not at all sure of the spelling). It was really good. But I woke up tired and my sore throat transitioned into a yucky cough. We made it to church though, where the girls refused to go into their class. Sigh. They sat extremely quietly beside us in our church. The youngest was looking at all the people drinking coffee. She looked up at me with a very stressed expression and said, "We don't like coffee. Do we not have to drink it to stay in here?" Wouldn't that be great? Required coffee drinking to be a part of the service? LOL! Afterwards, I did our shopping for the week and we got coffee drinks. At home, my husband came up with the brilliant idea to pull the van and motorcycle outside and let the girls play in the garage since it was FREEZING out. What a great idea!!!! They played out in the garage for almost 4 hours! It was great! Our oldest spent almost the entire time practicing for basketball! It wore them out and really improved their behavior. We spent a lazy day at home. I made a new recipe and finished all my scrapbooking. Nothing too exciting. Tomorrow is back to normal again.

Do you know the answer?

As we were eating dinner tonight, our 4 year old entertainer asks us, "What is in the middle of your head?" They were surprised to hear it was your brain. But then decided that was not what they meant. When they learned that it was not real pretty and mostly blood and bones, the oldest got all shy and said, "Well, I hope no one ever sees inside there then." Then the youngest proceeded to entertain us by crossing her eyes and making silly faces! She can actually move each eye by itself while making fishy faces. We got it on tape tonight!!! Can't wait till her first date!!! LOL!
My hubby and I had a wonderful date today. We did a little Christmas shopping and then ate a quick lunch before picking up two very happy kids! Then we had to take them to their Upwards evaluations. The oldest will do basketball and the youngest cheerleading. It will be fun! The oldest has inherited my non-talent for basketball and was so cute at being so awful! The coach was laughing and she just smiled. We got her a real basketball so she can rack up some practice around here.
It was SO cold and rainy here today. After we got home, we spent the day playing computer games, scrapbooking and eating leftovers. Nice day overall!

What are you giving to baby Jesus?

Our doctor that the girls are seeing once a week right now, is over 40 miles one way. By the end of the day, I log 90 miles just getting to and from. It is not really a whole lot if fun, but fun things DO happen on the way! Last week was the leaf parade. Today it was a neat conversation. We give the girls an allowance. They don't get much, but the first 10% goes into a bank for Jesus, the second 10% goes into a bank for savings and the rest is theirs. However, we do not let them spend it freely. They get to take it to garage sales and once a year or so we let them buy something for themselves. But each December they get to give a gift for Baby Jesus. We tell them about difference charities etc and they get to choose where to take their Jesus bank. The first year they chose the animal shelter and last year a pregnancy crisis center. So today I was using our drive to discuss that very topic. Before I could offer any ideas the oldest informed me that she wanted to give her money to help people get food, medicine and warm clothes so they won't die (her words). I mentioned a few ideas to the youngest and she wants to give hers to a therapeutic horse ranch. One where they use horses in conjunction for therapy for kids. Anyone know of one in our area? That is a hitch because we have them take the money and they hand it over. I think the first year it was $3.60 because they got $1.oo a week. So, it's not because of the huge amount of money, but because we want this to impact them AND it is a great way to keep the real meaning of Christmas in our family. The youngest was funny though. She said, "Hmmm, I think I will keep my money and then give it to God. He can keep it for awhile and give it back to me and then I can give it to a little girl who needs it and if she has some left, she can send it back to me and I can send to another boy or girl." I thought that was SO cute!!

Stumbley

Today was mostly a rough day. My oldest spilled three huge drinks. Lucky for me, one was at McDonald's so someone else cleaned that one up! I had a sore throat, it was rainy and cold and my hubby was back at work today. Then my big break was supposed to be free coffee at McDonald's with my friend. That is where the final drink spill was and I ended up only having about 30 minutes there because we had to go back to base to pick up my husband. The day was saved from disaster by my oldest being very cute! We were working on her bible verse for Awana's tonight. It was from James chapter 2. Verse 10 I believe. It says, "Whoever keeps the whole law, but stumbles in one point is guilty of all." Her version...." Whoever keeps the whole law, but gets stumbley in one point is guilty of all." Now, tell me, is that precious or what? As I was trying to explain it to her I was kinda fumbling. I was thinking, yeah, this really is making no sense. Evidently, she got the gist of it because she said, "Basically, if you've done one thing, you've done it all." Once driving in the van she says, "Mommy, do you know what my favorite thing is? YOU!" Yep, she is an amazing girl!!! AND she saved the day for me at least!

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY

Patriotic holidays mean so much more to me now that I am married to a soldier. Not just for the obvious sacrifices, but for all the daily ones. The long hours, frequent trainings and all the simple every day moments that are missed. My husband was fortunate enough to have four days off. We have learned how precious these every day moments are. We spent the weekend shopping and watching movies on the couch. WE watched "The Secret Garden" and "Heidi". We made homemade chocolate chip cookies, bread, veggie dip and some yummy chili! It was great, but makes tomorrow very bittersweet! We will all miss my husband while he is at work. The girls are looking forward to Awana's. As for me, I would like some hot coffee and warm weather that will allow the munchkins out to RUN that energy out!

Have you ever heard a flower sing?

Last night we started watching "The Secret Garden" with the girls. Tonight we finished it. All of us enjoyed it and with the cool weather rolling in, it was so nice to relax with the girls and some popcorn. At one point the youngest was admiring the background music. At first it was instrumental and then it switched and a lady was singing. She looks at us in wide-eyed wonder and said, "Who is singing? Is that the flowers?" Such a sweet girl!!!!
We had a great Monday together! We went shopping and came across some WONDERFUL deals!!!! It was tons of fun! Tomorrow we still get the day together but have school for the girls. Wednesday my hubby goes back to work. Sigh. Until then, we are going to enjoy the rest of the evening and look forward to tomorrow!

2 sizes too big

Last night on our date, my husband and I found a super cute pair of shoes for the girls. They were hidden on a shelf at a little flea market and cost $3.99. They were brand new. They were also 2 sizes too big, but looked like they ran small. We showed them to the girls and of course they wanted to wear them. We told them we'd take turns with them. So, the oldest gets dressed for church today and she always want to come show her daddy and see how he says she looks. He said he thought she looked beautiful but that maybe her shoes were too big. She looked at him and said, "But Daddy, they look SO good on me!" Oh my word. She is starting on it young....
The rest of our day was great! We ate lunch with my friend at my husband's FAVORITE southern cooking place.... Cracker Barrel. I don't know which he loved more, lunch with all females, the Christmas scents and decorations, the crowd or the yummy southern food. LOL! He hates southern style food! In fact, when we lived in TN, my parents and I had a fav. place to eat that served family style southern TRUE homemade food. My parents wanted to take him to a special place for his birthday and chose that for him. He appreciataed the sentiment at least. He was a real good sport about it though. I think he had a delayed reaction though, because tonight he rented a shoot 'em up playstation game and is calling it "work". Hmmmmm.

Glamour Girls

Today was a nice Saturday here for us. My sweet husband kept the girls so that wonder friend and I could go to an Arts and Crafts fair. It was SOOOO much fun! I loved shopping and laughing with a great friend! Then my husband and I had a date. We had a new sitter who was ok. She was not as great as our regular sitter. But we had a fun date anyways. Tried a new place for dinner and did a little shopping. Here are some photos of our youngest posing for me this morning. She was a riot! She acted like a super model or something and asked if I could take photos of her. Here is what we got.

MUD and horse feet

Our day started off great with a visit to MOPS and then grocery shopping. After we came home though, the girls got into trouble. They were playing with friends for about 45 minutes while I washed the van and waited for my husband to call. I warned them not to get in the dirt. Can you even guess what happened? Not just dirt, red clay. We have an entire drawer full of clothes dedicated to red clay and I am FINE with that! I recently even blogged about enjoying them playing in the dirt, but today, I did not want them to. I told their friends they had to go home and told the girls they were not allowed to play outside till tomorrow. Also, they had been playing in their dress shoes and if they are ruined, they are responsible for buying new shoes. I think they all came clean and I think the girls learned an important lesson about NOT listening to children....
Then after picking up my husband we went to dinner together. On the way home we were discussing horses. The youngest one asked, "How do they put their shoes on?" I told her with nails. She said, "Oh, so their feet stay on their legs?" We could not help laughing at her, but she remained unphased and said, "What is in their feet?" I said, "What do you think it looks like?" She says, "Yuck." That kid is something else! =)

Look! A parade!!!!

As we were driving the long drive up to the doctor today the girls and I witnessed a parade!!! A totally random, crazy parade in the median of a four lane highway!! It was amazing and beautiful!! I am sure you are pretty confused and I will admit that I was too... for a minute. The girls were laughing and screaming and shouting, "Parade!! Look at them skip!! Hey, there's the band! Here comes more friends to join them! WOOO! Look at 'em go! They are chasing our car!" If you have not guessed it was leaves that were on parade! It really and truly was beautiful, but also very funny! Both girls at the exact same moment thought it was a leaf parade!! I cannot explain how weird, random and pretty it was. Just trust me! You wish you had been there! =)

How'd they do that?

Today the youngest was exceptionally cute all day long! But tonight on the way home from Awana's they were both adorable! The oldest said, "Mommy, did you know that people wanted to kill Jesus? And we had to vote for a guy with the name B or J (think trial for Jesus)." The youngest said, "But that was not real, huh? People would not want to kill Jesus because he is so nice right?" I told her the story etc. She said, "Well how did those people get out of the Bible to do that?" Our oldest tried explaining, "They were real in this world, but then someone wrote about it." The youngest heaved a heartfelt sigh and said, "I think we should just quit talking about this."
Also, have I mentioned how much home-school rocks? We have been showing them skeletons and explaining various bones in the body. These photos show what the girls came up with! Plus today was photo day at preschool and some shots of the girls being cute.

Poor America

I cannot believe that Obama won last night. I try not to talk politics on here, but today has to be an exception. All I want to say is.... Ok, so America chose Obama because he is "capable of fixing everything wrong in America." Let's see it. I don't believe any one president is capable of making the changes that Obama is claiming he can make. But if he can, then let's get this show on the road. So, please post a comment and tell me what specifically do you want Obama to fix and how do you think he will fix it? I honestly do not know because we don't watch the news and we never even watched one speech for either candidate! (I know, aren't we AWFUL???) Anyhow, please comment and then we can revisit this post in 4 years and see if Obama has done what people seem to think he will do.
I just found this quote, "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep," Obama cautioned. Funny, that he says this after he wins. But hey, I never did watch a speech so what do I know? =)
Happier posts later!

Jealousy

Today I was hanging out with a friend and my husband calls to tell me this. "Hey babe! You will not BELIEVE what just pulled up in front of my Bradley!" (A bradley is a type of an armored vehicle). I like to refer to it as the transformer tank, but Bradley is the proper name. I said, "Ummmm, an ice cream truck?" He says, "YES!" WHAT??!?!?! I would LOVE for an ice cream truck to come down our street so the girls can have that magical experience. We have had trucks circle our neighborhood but not close enough. So here he is on a base in a class with NOTHING but guys. Guys in camouflage no less and he gets a truck? I was a tad jealous!
The girls and I had a great day! The youngest got to vote in her preschool class. Guess who she voted for? McCain. I asked her why and she said, "He had the most whitest hair." Makes sense to me! Then she said, "I would have voted for Reagan (read post best boy), but his picture was not on there." She is so cute!
The rest of the afternoon we played outside and then watched "Mary Poppins". Now we are waiting to see what the results are!

Feeling Happy!

I am loving life during BOLC III so far. I miss having my husband/best friend around 24-7, but there is comfort in settling into a routine. Plus, of all things, guess what they gave my husband? A schedule. That is this handy little thing that tells you what you might be doing at a given time. I am SO excited! It may seem silly to you, but it is huge to me! For the past 9 months, I have never been able to consistently plan my day, our meals etc. I now have a tentative SCHEDULE for the next 4 weeks. I feel so much better about things now. Some of it stinks because my husband has a lot of very late nights and a lot of busy weekends coming up, but at least I know that I don't need to hold dinner. Also, I also know what nights to make a special dinner for him etc. I am so happy about this!
Not much news from the home front. A new friend invited us over today and we had a good time. The rest of the day was busy running errands for my husband. Just a few more days and then we get a four day weekend!!!!!!

Beautiful weather

Man, today just rocked! My parents and sister came down for a visit. It was so fun to show them our house and the area where we lived. They got to come to base. I took them on their first ever trip to a PX and Clothing and Sales. It was cool! It reminded me of a few months ago when we began our military journey and I was THRILLED the first time I had to show an ID to get on base and shop at the PX! We had a great visit, it was just way too short.
Then we had this amazingly gorgeous weather! I think it hit 75 here!
PLUS, even though my husband had to work on a Saturday, he was home much earlier than expected and he loved what he was doing! It reminded us both of all the reasons why we love being a military family. I know that sometimes we gripe, but it is a great experience and daily we witness why God led us to this point and this place at this time.
For four hours the girls played outside with friends today. It was fun for all of us! They were muddy and tired. The best combination for kids, in my opinion. I am never afraid to let the girls get dirty (as long as they are wearing play clothes). I love seeing dirty, happy kids. I know they will not always be willing to get dirty, make mud pies or collect rocks in buckets, so I will enjoy this time of their lives and willing do mountains of laundry just to let them be kids! After their bath the youngest came and asked to go to bed because she was a little bit sleepy! Ya gotta love it!