Sunday Funday!!! Today started out pretty much like yesterday. Isaac and GJ got up just a few minutes before me. They came downstairs and started watching Entourage. I came down after stretching out in bed for a few minutes and again got on the treadmill. I have to say, I really have to talk myself into getting on that damn thing every damn morning and I hate every minute of it. Afterward, I feel really really good. If I don't do it, it makes me feel off all day long.
When I was done on the treadmill we just hung out for a little bit. I read the paper and clipped the coupons and had a poptart. Finally it was time to get ready because my Mom and Fred and Rachael came over this afternoon. GJ did most of the cleaning up about the house while I got ready. Everything looked pretty nice and when they came over we just hung out. Eventually we went outside and GJ picked some things up while the boys played with outside toys. Of course they were a freaking mess afterward and had to come in for a bath, but that's par for the course. When my family left we relaxed for about an hour and then got the grill fired up and had dinner. Or what I should say is Lysander GJ and I had dinner and Isaac refused to eat like normal. I don't know what is with him.
GJ thinks he's about to squeeze 8 hours of Trueblood into the next hour and a half. I think I might let him watch the first episode and then see if he wants to hit up Dairy Queen with the kids :) I'm sure that the blogged version of Grover's leave is going to be incredibly boring to read about, but so far I'm enjoying every boring second of it ;)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Day 2
Saturday morning was like a domestic dream. Grover and I woke up and Isaac was right behind us. I got on the treadmill and he took Isaac with him to go buy donuts. He went to Long's bakery because it's the only place I like donuts from and he arrived to a line around the block. So they went on a hunt for another bakery and were gone for almost an hour. It was kind of nice to be on the treadmill with out an audience since Lysander(who thinks he's 15) stayed asleep the entire time.
When they got back Lysander woke up and they had donuts and I got in the shower so we could go to the zoo. We normally only go to the zoo right when it opens and this trip reminded me why. It was pretty hot while we were there and I didn't bring anything for the boys to ride in, so we only stayed for an hour or so. We saw most of the animals though. When we went home Grover decided to mow the grass and then we called his parent's to see if we could go out there to go swimming, and they said of course since they hadn't seen Grover yet.
We drove out there and Grover and I fought for the control of the iPod hook up. We have pretty different tastes in music ;) The boys decided to play for a bit with their cousins, Emma and Hannah, before we got into the pool. Finally when I couldn't take it anymore I got them in to the pool. The water was a bit cold but refreshing. The boys only stayed in for a bit and then slowly one by one everyone got out of the pool and it was just G and I. It was the first time we had a few minutes to ourselves since he had been home. We just talked and swam around and laughed. My stomach muscles hurt from laughing so much. A few minutes later his mom said the boys were ready for dinner and we went in.
It was really nice to talk and relax and it was so beautiful outside. We had a great evening and ended up staying a lot later than I had planned on. When we got home we just went to bed. We were pretty tired. The day was really spontaneous, which is a real change for us to just do what we want whenever we want to. It was a nice feeling. Then again, ever since Thursday at about 1:30 pm has been a nice feeling! :)
When they got back Lysander woke up and they had donuts and I got in the shower so we could go to the zoo. We normally only go to the zoo right when it opens and this trip reminded me why. It was pretty hot while we were there and I didn't bring anything for the boys to ride in, so we only stayed for an hour or so. We saw most of the animals though. When we went home Grover decided to mow the grass and then we called his parent's to see if we could go out there to go swimming, and they said of course since they hadn't seen Grover yet.
We drove out there and Grover and I fought for the control of the iPod hook up. We have pretty different tastes in music ;) The boys decided to play for a bit with their cousins, Emma and Hannah, before we got into the pool. Finally when I couldn't take it anymore I got them in to the pool. The water was a bit cold but refreshing. The boys only stayed in for a bit and then slowly one by one everyone got out of the pool and it was just G and I. It was the first time we had a few minutes to ourselves since he had been home. We just talked and swam around and laughed. My stomach muscles hurt from laughing so much. A few minutes later his mom said the boys were ready for dinner and we went in.
It was really nice to talk and relax and it was so beautiful outside. We had a great evening and ended up staying a lot later than I had planned on. When we got home we just went to bed. We were pretty tired. The day was really spontaneous, which is a real change for us to just do what we want whenever we want to. It was a nice feeling. Then again, ever since Thursday at about 1:30 pm has been a nice feeling! :)
Friday, August 26, 2011
First full day of leave :)
Last night I left off with being on the verge of getting what I hoped would be the best night of sleep that I had had in six months. As it turns out I didn't hardly sleep at all. I have no idea why, other than I started sleeping on G's side of the bed when he left and last night obviously G slept on G's side of the bed. We switched at about 4:30 am and I slept okay after that. Creature of habit maybe?
This morning we got up and I pretty much immediately got on the treadmill. G and Isaac sat on the couch and watched me. My knee was killing me so I only did thirty minutes and I switched five run five walk throughout. Made me a little sad to have to look so bad the first time G saw me run on the treadmill ;) He didn't comment. Just thought I was doing good to get on it right away. I think tomorrow I might try to get up earlier so as to not have an audience!
We got ready and went to Lysander and Isaac's meet the teacher. Isaac was so happy to be meeting who Lysander's teachers were last year as his own. He was so excited to be there and he was flirting with Miss Cori's two year old granddaughter. When we were leaving I told Lysander to say goodbye to his old teachers so we can meet his new ones and he started crying. I think more so he misunderstood and thought we were leaving him. I held his hand as we walked to his classroom in the main buidling and he calmed down. However when we walked in to his new classroom the poor teacher couldn't get a word out of him, though she did make him smile with a silly finger monster. Anyway, we got all their stuff and now we know where we are going on Tuesday. I also know I am will be crying. Crying the first time because Isaac is going to walk away from me and not look back. Crying the second time because Lysander is going to cry like he's scared and that is the one of two cries he has that absolutely breaks my damn heart(the other is when he cries because he's hurt, they are definitely distinctive cries as compared to when he's mad).
The rest of the day was spent playing play doh with Isaac, Lysander played heroes for a little while but then decided to go up to his room, there was lots of wrestling going on between the three of them off and on the entire day. GJ asked me to make a list of things for him to do because apparently he no longer feels comfortable relaxing, so I made him a two page list of things he could do and he went and did the outside work I needed done. He was very productive and I think it relaxed him to be doing something normal around the house. My best friend and her boys came over right as he was wrapping things up and unfortunately Lysander was laying down in his room and Isaac was passed out so the kids didn't get to play but it was good to see them. We also had to plan our night out and I'm sure that will be a NC-17 blog post after all that goes down.
GJ made a few of the $300 worth of steak that I bought for dinner and it was delicious, but part of that could be because he cooked and I didn't. Food that someone else makes normally tastes a lot better to me ;) We watched a movie together and now he's decided to watch Predator. I've been trying to pay as little attention to the scary movie as I possibly can. I have no desire to dream of creepy aliens tonight. ;) Game of Thrones it is!
This morning we got up and I pretty much immediately got on the treadmill. G and Isaac sat on the couch and watched me. My knee was killing me so I only did thirty minutes and I switched five run five walk throughout. Made me a little sad to have to look so bad the first time G saw me run on the treadmill ;) He didn't comment. Just thought I was doing good to get on it right away. I think tomorrow I might try to get up earlier so as to not have an audience!
We got ready and went to Lysander and Isaac's meet the teacher. Isaac was so happy to be meeting who Lysander's teachers were last year as his own. He was so excited to be there and he was flirting with Miss Cori's two year old granddaughter. When we were leaving I told Lysander to say goodbye to his old teachers so we can meet his new ones and he started crying. I think more so he misunderstood and thought we were leaving him. I held his hand as we walked to his classroom in the main buidling and he calmed down. However when we walked in to his new classroom the poor teacher couldn't get a word out of him, though she did make him smile with a silly finger monster. Anyway, we got all their stuff and now we know where we are going on Tuesday. I also know I am will be crying. Crying the first time because Isaac is going to walk away from me and not look back. Crying the second time because Lysander is going to cry like he's scared and that is the one of two cries he has that absolutely breaks my damn heart(the other is when he cries because he's hurt, they are definitely distinctive cries as compared to when he's mad).
The rest of the day was spent playing play doh with Isaac, Lysander played heroes for a little while but then decided to go up to his room, there was lots of wrestling going on between the three of them off and on the entire day. GJ asked me to make a list of things for him to do because apparently he no longer feels comfortable relaxing, so I made him a two page list of things he could do and he went and did the outside work I needed done. He was very productive and I think it relaxed him to be doing something normal around the house. My best friend and her boys came over right as he was wrapping things up and unfortunately Lysander was laying down in his room and Isaac was passed out so the kids didn't get to play but it was good to see them. We also had to plan our night out and I'm sure that will be a NC-17 blog post after all that goes down.
GJ made a few of the $300 worth of steak that I bought for dinner and it was delicious, but part of that could be because he cooked and I didn't. Food that someone else makes normally tastes a lot better to me ;) We watched a movie together and now he's decided to watch Predator. I've been trying to pay as little attention to the scary movie as I possibly can. I have no desire to dream of creepy aliens tonight. ;) Game of Thrones it is!
Airport Pictures
"What are you doing here dada??"
"Hi!!"
Daddy and his boys :)
A fellow soldier stopped and offered to take a picture of us all. Lysander rebelled against being picked up by turning his head ;)
Finally stopped being timid around daddy
Thursday, August 25, 2011
R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I've been anticipating this for about a week now but for security reasons couldn't write about it, so we'll start from the beginning.
Grover all of a sudden said, "Hey, looks like my leave got approved, I'll be home next week." So of course I get that email and I'm like OVER THE MOON happy about it. You could have knocked me over with a feather I was so surprised. Thankfully, he was coming home right at the end of the busiest two weeks I've had since he's been gone so I didn't have to sit around and watch the minutes tick slowly by. As it was, it seemed to take forever for him to get here before he got here. Then today when he actually arrived I was like, well that was fast. :)
So I'm a little fuzzy on what is OPSEC appropriate here, so all I'll say is this morning, I got a call from him saying he'd be in Indy around 2 and what flight he was on. I was in a mad dash to finish cleaning the downstairs, and then get ready. Right after I got out of the shower I borrowed my laptop from Lysander for a minute(I say my laptop, but what I really mean is the pink laptop I THOUGHT I was buying for myself and actually as it turns out I bought it for my children), and checked the status of his flight. It was totally early. I practically took flight I was moving so fast to get us out of the house after I saw that. No way was I missing meeting him as soon as he got off that flight. What kind of military wife would I be if I just picked him up in baggage claim? We even parked in valet parking because I was in that big of a hurry. Thankfully we arrived right as the plane landed with even a few minutes to spare for the boys to go look at the "big planes mama!".
It was just as I suspected it would be when he arrived. No movie scene for us as GJ can not manage to summon up serious excitement for practically anything but the boys ;) I did give him a hug though and kissed him and was so happy and relieved to see him. Isaac went right up to him and was happy and gave him a hug and exclaimed "dada!" in absolute shock even though he was talking about going to get dada all morning long. Lysander smiled and hugged him but then was pretty much glued to my side for a good ten minutes before he pulled a judas and attatched himself to his daddy. The boys ran around like crazy while we were waiting at baggage claim. It never ceases to amaze me that when I think they are acting like hellions and must be annoying the hell out of everyone around them, their impeccable timing with a smile endears them to every person who crosses their paths. I'm sure it also helped that GJ was in his ACUs and so they understood that these kids must be extra energetic because they are so happy to have their father back. Another returning soldier saw me taking a picture of GJ and the boys and offered to take one of us as a family. Having a picture with me actually in it is a rare thing, so it was nice and it actually was a pretty good photo, minus Lysander literally turning his face completely away in rebellion to me holding him for the shot.
Just as GJ's baggage came out, Lysander totally sprinted away from me and I sprinted after him and he tripped and totally took me down with him. Apparently Isaac and Grover missed this altogether, but I'm pretty sure a few people had a good laugh. My knee however hurts like nobody's business.
We then went and got the truck and went home so GJ could shower and change cloths and have a tall glass of milk, then we met my mom at Wendy's and she bought us a late lunch which was very sweet of her. GJ was thrilled to have a hamburger and fries. When we came home the boys were wore out from all the excitement, so they layed down to watch Phineas and Ferb.
I'll skip what happened next. ;)
This evening we had pizza and went outside to inspect our garage that had been broken into and apparently a TON of GJ's tools had been stolen. Top priority tomorrow is going to be outside work on securing the back gate because it TOTALLY freaked me out that someone had been back there. GJ is really looking forward to doing some yard work too, and I'm really looking forward to letting him.
Right now the boys are in their beds going to sleep, and G is already passed out beside me. I am completely and totally blissed out right now to have my husband home and the boys in their rooms asleep. I think I may go ahead and have the first good night's rest I've had since March. God Bless and Good Night :)
Grover all of a sudden said, "Hey, looks like my leave got approved, I'll be home next week." So of course I get that email and I'm like OVER THE MOON happy about it. You could have knocked me over with a feather I was so surprised. Thankfully, he was coming home right at the end of the busiest two weeks I've had since he's been gone so I didn't have to sit around and watch the minutes tick slowly by. As it was, it seemed to take forever for him to get here before he got here. Then today when he actually arrived I was like, well that was fast. :)
So I'm a little fuzzy on what is OPSEC appropriate here, so all I'll say is this morning, I got a call from him saying he'd be in Indy around 2 and what flight he was on. I was in a mad dash to finish cleaning the downstairs, and then get ready. Right after I got out of the shower I borrowed my laptop from Lysander for a minute(I say my laptop, but what I really mean is the pink laptop I THOUGHT I was buying for myself and actually as it turns out I bought it for my children), and checked the status of his flight. It was totally early. I practically took flight I was moving so fast to get us out of the house after I saw that. No way was I missing meeting him as soon as he got off that flight. What kind of military wife would I be if I just picked him up in baggage claim? We even parked in valet parking because I was in that big of a hurry. Thankfully we arrived right as the plane landed with even a few minutes to spare for the boys to go look at the "big planes mama!".
It was just as I suspected it would be when he arrived. No movie scene for us as GJ can not manage to summon up serious excitement for practically anything but the boys ;) I did give him a hug though and kissed him and was so happy and relieved to see him. Isaac went right up to him and was happy and gave him a hug and exclaimed "dada!" in absolute shock even though he was talking about going to get dada all morning long. Lysander smiled and hugged him but then was pretty much glued to my side for a good ten minutes before he pulled a judas and attatched himself to his daddy. The boys ran around like crazy while we were waiting at baggage claim. It never ceases to amaze me that when I think they are acting like hellions and must be annoying the hell out of everyone around them, their impeccable timing with a smile endears them to every person who crosses their paths. I'm sure it also helped that GJ was in his ACUs and so they understood that these kids must be extra energetic because they are so happy to have their father back. Another returning soldier saw me taking a picture of GJ and the boys and offered to take one of us as a family. Having a picture with me actually in it is a rare thing, so it was nice and it actually was a pretty good photo, minus Lysander literally turning his face completely away in rebellion to me holding him for the shot.
Just as GJ's baggage came out, Lysander totally sprinted away from me and I sprinted after him and he tripped and totally took me down with him. Apparently Isaac and Grover missed this altogether, but I'm pretty sure a few people had a good laugh. My knee however hurts like nobody's business.
We then went and got the truck and went home so GJ could shower and change cloths and have a tall glass of milk, then we met my mom at Wendy's and she bought us a late lunch which was very sweet of her. GJ was thrilled to have a hamburger and fries. When we came home the boys were wore out from all the excitement, so they layed down to watch Phineas and Ferb.
I'll skip what happened next. ;)
This evening we had pizza and went outside to inspect our garage that had been broken into and apparently a TON of GJ's tools had been stolen. Top priority tomorrow is going to be outside work on securing the back gate because it TOTALLY freaked me out that someone had been back there. GJ is really looking forward to doing some yard work too, and I'm really looking forward to letting him.
Right now the boys are in their beds going to sleep, and G is already passed out beside me. I am completely and totally blissed out right now to have my husband home and the boys in their rooms asleep. I think I may go ahead and have the first good night's rest I've had since March. God Bless and Good Night :)
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Visit to the Grandparent's
This weekend we drove down to Providence, KY to see my Papaw and Mamaw. It's about a four hour drive from my house and of course after driving down to Florida I knew that would be nothing for the boys and I. We left early Saturday morning after loading up the truck. I swear, going anywhere, even if it's just for 36 hours like this trip, it's like moving with children. I do have to say that the last time we went to KY it was when Isaac was only about 9 or so months and that time there was A LOT more to pack! It gets easier as they get older for sure. It was a nice drive down there. The boys were perfect and time goes pretty fast with my mom in the car with me to chit chat on the way. In fact we were talking so much that we overshot the first turn we had to make by ten miles and ended up crossing into Illinois before we realized it!
We got to my grandparent's about lunch time and had a very nice lunch with the two of them. My Mamaw is a very good cook. The rest of the day we just sat around talking and one of my mother's cousins and her husband came to visit as well. It was nice to see family I don't see very often. The boys always amaze me how they are so adaptable and entertaining. Lysander spent most of the evening downstairs in the guest room watching a movie. I think he was tired from the trip. Isaac on the other hand practically put on a show for everyone. I'm not sure what time we went to bed but I was exhausted when we went to sleep. I believe the boys woke up a bit earlier than I did, and eventually they came down to get me we had breakfast. My grandfather made breakfast. It is nice to see that my grandparents have such a good and loving relationship. They still flirt with eachother. :) Even after 27 years!
The boys were full of energy this morning. Fairly good, but very energetic! We left around lunch time and I think Lysander was ready to go home. I'm not sure Isaac was ready to leave his great grandpa. He enjoyed him a lot. They were very good on the way home as well. Lysander fell asleep for the last hour or so and Isaac got tired of watching movies so we turned on my iPod and he entertained me and gigi with singing along to Muse, Rhianna, and Hendrix. When we are about ten minutes away from home Isaac fell asleep.
It was a nice relaxing evening from then on. I'm very glad that we had an eventful weekend. Things that make the time not feel as if it's dragging on and on are important to us this year. I try to make sure that the boys are always entertained but it is nice to have things that also entertain me as well.
We got to my grandparent's about lunch time and had a very nice lunch with the two of them. My Mamaw is a very good cook. The rest of the day we just sat around talking and one of my mother's cousins and her husband came to visit as well. It was nice to see family I don't see very often. The boys always amaze me how they are so adaptable and entertaining. Lysander spent most of the evening downstairs in the guest room watching a movie. I think he was tired from the trip. Isaac on the other hand practically put on a show for everyone. I'm not sure what time we went to bed but I was exhausted when we went to sleep. I believe the boys woke up a bit earlier than I did, and eventually they came down to get me we had breakfast. My grandfather made breakfast. It is nice to see that my grandparents have such a good and loving relationship. They still flirt with eachother. :) Even after 27 years!
The boys were full of energy this morning. Fairly good, but very energetic! We left around lunch time and I think Lysander was ready to go home. I'm not sure Isaac was ready to leave his great grandpa. He enjoyed him a lot. They were very good on the way home as well. Lysander fell asleep for the last hour or so and Isaac got tired of watching movies so we turned on my iPod and he entertained me and gigi with singing along to Muse, Rhianna, and Hendrix. When we are about ten minutes away from home Isaac fell asleep.
It was a nice relaxing evening from then on. I'm very glad that we had an eventful weekend. Things that make the time not feel as if it's dragging on and on are important to us this year. I try to make sure that the boys are always entertained but it is nice to have things that also entertain me as well.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Lysander's almost Four
Lysander's fourth birthday is coming up in the beginning of October and it's time to start planning, but before I dive into why his birthday party is going to give me an aneurism, I have to say, it become incredibly apparent to me that he is another year older all in one morning. Some of these things he's been doing for quite awhile but combined with other things it just brought it all to the forefront of my mind.
The other day he woke up before me, but he didn't come get me out of bed like he used to. He turned on his tv and started playing with toys in his room. Then we went downstairs to breakfast and he went to the bathroom on his own, whereas before he'd either go straight to the table or he'd have to be talked in to going potty by me. Then after he went to the bathroom he got the stool and washed his hands all on his own and then went to look for a hand towel himself to dry his hands off. Then he sat down at the table and I gave him breakfast. When he was done he got up and went to the kitchen sink where he pulled a chair over and washed off his hands and his arms and his mouth(he had waffles with syrup) then dried off and went to the living room and got the remote and turned on the tv and then went to go find toys to play with. I swear to you, had he been able to make his own waffles and pour his own milk, I would have been completely obsolete.
I have to admit that I enjoy him being able to do things for himself and it's great to not have to wait on him hand and foot, but it makes me a little sad too that he's getting so big so fast. :( :)
Since he's such a big boy and so independent I thought maybe he'd like to tell me what he wanted the theme for his birthday party to be. He said Avenger's. When he says Avenger's, he means, Avenger's: Earth's Mightiest Heroes that's on DisneyXD. So I know I'm going to need to order this stuff soon so I can get invites out, and I started looking the beginning of August. All I could find was Superhero Squad. That is an entirely different show from AEMH. One that he likes, and has a million of the little toys, but not what he said he wanted for his party. So I show him a picture of the SHS party theme and asked "Is this okay for your party?" His response, "No, I Avenger's" (for some reason he won't say want, and honestly, I don't particularly care because I think a child saying "I want" constantly is obnoxious!)
For two weeks I have been looking everywhere I can think of for Avenger's party supplies. I even went so far as to suggest Justice League(the previously more popular DC version of Avenger's, but thanks to Disney, most people now know all about Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, like everyone already knows who Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman are) to him, which he said was fine with him, and started trying to search for that, but to no avail.
I just have to know, WHY IN THE HELL is there a super popular Avenger's cartoon made for kids and NO FREAKING PARTY SUPPLIES PUT OUT FOR IT??? Disney or distributors or whoever has totally dropped the ball here and I am not happy. There are party supplies for some weird cartoon called Barkugon on every website I've been on and I've NEVER heard of that cartoon. It's like they are out to get me. My husband, the all brilliant comic book person, suggests that I get a mixture of the thor, captain america, iron man, and hulk party supplies. LIKE LYSANDER DOESN'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. I mean, Wasp, Hawk guy and Ant man will all be missing from that scenario. Plus from the mama point of view it looks like a jumbled mess and not a cohesive decorating plan.
In closing, I'd like to thank Disney for getting my kid hooked on an ultra cool cartoon that he LOVES and making it impossible for me to have an Avenger's: Earth's Mightiest Heroes birthday party for him. I'd love to say I'm going to boycott Disney or be mad at them forever, but let's face it. Disney is behind most things that my kids hold most dear in the world, so what I'm really going to do is shut my mouth and keep giving them thousands of dollars a year for their cloths and toys and silverware and dvds... but they will be missing out on the $100 I would have spent on birthday party supplies. I know if someone from Disney read this, they'd be really distraught. Really really distraught.
The other day he woke up before me, but he didn't come get me out of bed like he used to. He turned on his tv and started playing with toys in his room. Then we went downstairs to breakfast and he went to the bathroom on his own, whereas before he'd either go straight to the table or he'd have to be talked in to going potty by me. Then after he went to the bathroom he got the stool and washed his hands all on his own and then went to look for a hand towel himself to dry his hands off. Then he sat down at the table and I gave him breakfast. When he was done he got up and went to the kitchen sink where he pulled a chair over and washed off his hands and his arms and his mouth(he had waffles with syrup) then dried off and went to the living room and got the remote and turned on the tv and then went to go find toys to play with. I swear to you, had he been able to make his own waffles and pour his own milk, I would have been completely obsolete.
I have to admit that I enjoy him being able to do things for himself and it's great to not have to wait on him hand and foot, but it makes me a little sad too that he's getting so big so fast. :( :)
Since he's such a big boy and so independent I thought maybe he'd like to tell me what he wanted the theme for his birthday party to be. He said Avenger's. When he says Avenger's, he means, Avenger's: Earth's Mightiest Heroes that's on DisneyXD. So I know I'm going to need to order this stuff soon so I can get invites out, and I started looking the beginning of August. All I could find was Superhero Squad. That is an entirely different show from AEMH. One that he likes, and has a million of the little toys, but not what he said he wanted for his party. So I show him a picture of the SHS party theme and asked "Is this okay for your party?" His response, "No, I Avenger's" (for some reason he won't say want, and honestly, I don't particularly care because I think a child saying "I want" constantly is obnoxious!)
For two weeks I have been looking everywhere I can think of for Avenger's party supplies. I even went so far as to suggest Justice League(the previously more popular DC version of Avenger's, but thanks to Disney, most people now know all about Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, like everyone already knows who Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman are) to him, which he said was fine with him, and started trying to search for that, but to no avail.
I just have to know, WHY IN THE HELL is there a super popular Avenger's cartoon made for kids and NO FREAKING PARTY SUPPLIES PUT OUT FOR IT??? Disney or distributors or whoever has totally dropped the ball here and I am not happy. There are party supplies for some weird cartoon called Barkugon on every website I've been on and I've NEVER heard of that cartoon. It's like they are out to get me. My husband, the all brilliant comic book person, suggests that I get a mixture of the thor, captain america, iron man, and hulk party supplies. LIKE LYSANDER DOESN'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. I mean, Wasp, Hawk guy and Ant man will all be missing from that scenario. Plus from the mama point of view it looks like a jumbled mess and not a cohesive decorating plan.
In closing, I'd like to thank Disney for getting my kid hooked on an ultra cool cartoon that he LOVES and making it impossible for me to have an Avenger's: Earth's Mightiest Heroes birthday party for him. I'd love to say I'm going to boycott Disney or be mad at them forever, but let's face it. Disney is behind most things that my kids hold most dear in the world, so what I'm really going to do is shut my mouth and keep giving them thousands of dollars a year for their cloths and toys and silverware and dvds... but they will be missing out on the $100 I would have spent on birthday party supplies. I know if someone from Disney read this, they'd be really distraught. Really really distraught.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Saga of Baby Penguin
Before I start our story, I must give some background information on baby penguin. Baby came to our family on the 4th of July. My mom and brother and sister in law went with the boys and I to the zoo. On the way out, my brother and sister in law, who were in from out of town, wanted to go to the gift shop. Now, generally I avoid the gift shop on the way out. It had been a long time since I had bought the petites toys from the zoo though, so I went in with them and let them pick some things out. We got two stuffed dolphins(which the boys needed like I need a hole in the head) and then a five pack of plastic penguins. Four of the plastic penguins were big adult penguins, and one small baby penguin.
When we got home, Isaac immediately took to Baby Penguin, and soon he would not ever put it down. Probably because he had recently lost his other favorite toy (iron man, and mind you, we have five "iron man" figures, but there was a specific one he liked and when he lost him, he was devastated for days). Eventually I found Iron Man, and though Isaac was incredibly happy to see him, Baby was still always the one in his little hand.
And now we come to....
The Saga of Baby Penguin:
It was a sunny Saturday. Gigi had come over to watch the boys so I could get my hair done. While I was gone she went to straighten up the back porch, which was a jumbled mess of the petites' outside toys. Isaac followed her out, baby in hand. Later that day after I had gotten home and Gigi had gone, Isaac came up to me and asked... "Baby?" Now I've been asked this question too many times to count. I've come to the conclussion that Isaac likes to get creative where he "loses" baby and then is entertained my watching me hunt for him. I have found baby in windowsills and silverware drawers. I have found baby in the dvd cabinet and in the pantry. So when he asks me this question... "baby?" I immediately get a little annoyed and know I'm in for a pretty long hunt. But do I tell him to find it himself? No, I look and look until I find him because I'm a sucker.
So on Saturday when he asked I spent a good 30 minutes looking for him. No baby. Thankfully I distracted him by leaving for Gigi's house to go see the Smurfs movie(totally recommend it, it was smurf-tastic)
On Sunday I was asked again "Baby?" I searched and searched, looked high and low. No baby. Again, I distracted him and he was okay.
On Monday I was asked again "Baby?" At this point I'm remembering how bad it was when we lost Iron Man and I'm getting a little panicky. Amazing how one little plastic penguin can cause a grown woman so much anxiety.
No baby on Monday.
On Tuesday, we decided to go out and play in the backyard since there was FINALLY a break in the horrible heat wave we'd been having. I went out to put water in the pool and in the pirate ship and generally get toys out... as I walked to the Pirate Ship, low and behold, BABY PENGUIN!!! As I was cursing the time I had wasted looking inside, I walked over and gave it to Isaac who absolutely sang with joy! Baby was found and all was right in the world.
Skip ahead 30 minutes... I find baby in the middle of the yard in the grass. Seriously. So I take baby and set him beside the pool for safe keeping.
Skip ahead another 30 minutes or so... Isaac gets in the pool, spots baby, and grabs him. Unbeknownst to me he then takes him to the sandbox where he and his brother start dumping bucket after bucket of water into the sandbox.
Shortly there after we have lunch. I have all but forgotten about baby at this point... I tend to repress things that cause me anguish. The boys eat and then make a mess with bubbles, which actually turns out to be a hazard so we go inside. I get them washed up and upstairs to play for awhile and then eventually I go back outside to pick up the backyard. I'm just about finished(having had to spray down the back porch that was covered in a gallon of bubbles, and Isaac appears at the back door.
He then asks a question that strikes fear into my heart and makes my blood pressure sky rocket.
"BABY?????"
Thirty minutes. That's how long I searched the back yard for baby. Then I went and asked Isaac if he could help me. He bent down and looked under the table and chairs on the porch. He went over and inspected the pirate ship. He went into what used to be the dog run. He walked around the backyard, "look mama, flower!" but I would not be distracted. Finally he said, "Castle." With such finality he said it. Like he had just remembered that was where baby was. Here I will have to translate for you. When Isaac says "Castle" he means SANDBOX.
The same sandbox that has 300 lbs of sand in it along with the 20 buckets of water they had poured in it a few hours before hand. I was horrified. So I walk over the the sandbox, take the top off and start to search the box in a grid pattern. After a few minutes of this, I look up to the heaves and plead with God, "Please, if baby penguin is in here, let me find him without dumping all three hundred pounds of sand onto my grass."
Three seconds later, I found Baby Penguin.
Miracles do happen!
When we got home, Isaac immediately took to Baby Penguin, and soon he would not ever put it down. Probably because he had recently lost his other favorite toy (iron man, and mind you, we have five "iron man" figures, but there was a specific one he liked and when he lost him, he was devastated for days). Eventually I found Iron Man, and though Isaac was incredibly happy to see him, Baby was still always the one in his little hand.
And now we come to....
The Saga of Baby Penguin:
It was a sunny Saturday. Gigi had come over to watch the boys so I could get my hair done. While I was gone she went to straighten up the back porch, which was a jumbled mess of the petites' outside toys. Isaac followed her out, baby in hand. Later that day after I had gotten home and Gigi had gone, Isaac came up to me and asked... "Baby?" Now I've been asked this question too many times to count. I've come to the conclussion that Isaac likes to get creative where he "loses" baby and then is entertained my watching me hunt for him. I have found baby in windowsills and silverware drawers. I have found baby in the dvd cabinet and in the pantry. So when he asks me this question... "baby?" I immediately get a little annoyed and know I'm in for a pretty long hunt. But do I tell him to find it himself? No, I look and look until I find him because I'm a sucker.
So on Saturday when he asked I spent a good 30 minutes looking for him. No baby. Thankfully I distracted him by leaving for Gigi's house to go see the Smurfs movie(totally recommend it, it was smurf-tastic)
On Sunday I was asked again "Baby?" I searched and searched, looked high and low. No baby. Again, I distracted him and he was okay.
On Monday I was asked again "Baby?" At this point I'm remembering how bad it was when we lost Iron Man and I'm getting a little panicky. Amazing how one little plastic penguin can cause a grown woman so much anxiety.
No baby on Monday.
On Tuesday, we decided to go out and play in the backyard since there was FINALLY a break in the horrible heat wave we'd been having. I went out to put water in the pool and in the pirate ship and generally get toys out... as I walked to the Pirate Ship, low and behold, BABY PENGUIN!!! As I was cursing the time I had wasted looking inside, I walked over and gave it to Isaac who absolutely sang with joy! Baby was found and all was right in the world.
Skip ahead 30 minutes... I find baby in the middle of the yard in the grass. Seriously. So I take baby and set him beside the pool for safe keeping.
Skip ahead another 30 minutes or so... Isaac gets in the pool, spots baby, and grabs him. Unbeknownst to me he then takes him to the sandbox where he and his brother start dumping bucket after bucket of water into the sandbox.
Shortly there after we have lunch. I have all but forgotten about baby at this point... I tend to repress things that cause me anguish. The boys eat and then make a mess with bubbles, which actually turns out to be a hazard so we go inside. I get them washed up and upstairs to play for awhile and then eventually I go back outside to pick up the backyard. I'm just about finished(having had to spray down the back porch that was covered in a gallon of bubbles, and Isaac appears at the back door.
He then asks a question that strikes fear into my heart and makes my blood pressure sky rocket.
"BABY?????"
Thirty minutes. That's how long I searched the back yard for baby. Then I went and asked Isaac if he could help me. He bent down and looked under the table and chairs on the porch. He went over and inspected the pirate ship. He went into what used to be the dog run. He walked around the backyard, "look mama, flower!" but I would not be distracted. Finally he said, "Castle." With such finality he said it. Like he had just remembered that was where baby was. Here I will have to translate for you. When Isaac says "Castle" he means SANDBOX.
The same sandbox that has 300 lbs of sand in it along with the 20 buckets of water they had poured in it a few hours before hand. I was horrified. So I walk over the the sandbox, take the top off and start to search the box in a grid pattern. After a few minutes of this, I look up to the heaves and plead with God, "Please, if baby penguin is in here, let me find him without dumping all three hundred pounds of sand onto my grass."
Three seconds later, I found Baby Penguin.
Miracles do happen!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Strange train of thought
I am lying in bed. It's 11:55 pm and I have just now finally gotten Lysander to go to sleep. This after coming upstairs four hours ago in attempts to get the boys to go to bed early so that once school starts in three weeks they will be on track. I failed. When they get woken up at 8 am tomorrow regardless, I'm hoping it will make bed time easier tomorrow. Anyway, so I'm laying in bed, my mind an endless cycle of stupid thoughts going through it. Honestly, this never used to happen to me. I used to fall into bed and not have one single ounce of insomnia. Lately, maybe 3 out of 4 nights, I can't shut off my brain. It's always a jumble of random thoughts mixed in with the never ending list of things I have to do. One of the random things I was thinking tonight was how I told Lysander that if he got out of bed in the next fifteen minutes I was going to turn his tv off(he sleeps with it on, but before you judge me, this is how I got him to start sleeping in his own bed and not in mine, and the volume is one super low so only dogs can hear it). Of course he got out of bed and I turned the tv off. He cried and cried and acted like he was scared and then came in to my room and got one of G's hardback comic books and wanted to read it with me. He sat in my lap on my bed, looked through the comic book, naming super heros and when the book was over, I asked if he was ready for bed and he calmly got up and went into his room and all was better with him.
This thought led to me thinking about a time I was scared. Totally random, happened a few weeks ago and it honestly wasn't a big deal. But at the time I was frightened out of my mind and still, when I thought about it tonight, three weeks after the fact, my heart started racing and I was physically feeling scared. I wondered why this was. Why I was scared during something I shouldn't have been three weeks ago and why it still caused me fear tonight when I thought about it?
This lead to what makes me feel better when I'm scared. For the past almost six years my safety net has been Grover. Of course I have others that I can depend on and who can make me feel better, but if I'm scared or sad, the only person in the world that I really truly want to be with me is him. He wasn't there that night a few weeks ago. I think that's why I was scared in a situation I normally would have been perfectly calm about. Probably even cockily(is that a word?) calm about. I feel like when he's around, I can't be touched by any force or person or whatever because he's this sheild.
So next on the silly yet oddly horrifying trainway of thought is that the thought of feeling safe with Grover did not make me feel safe. It made me feel panicky. Like I would never have that safe feeling again. I think possibly it's human nature to adapt to any situation. It's hard, and sometimes it takes forever, but a well functioning person can adapt to anything, no matter how annoying or awful it is. So for me, it's like, even though in my mind I know Grover is coming home, I've adapted to the fact that he's not here and now it's normal for me. I can't remember if I've written about this before or if it's just a conversation I've had with someone, but truly, life with out him is starting to feel normal. In contrast to that, it's weird to feel like this is normal because I know in my mind it's absolutely not and won't be forever. Obviously this is a ridiculously complicated emotion, and I am probably not saying it right, but possibly some other army wife has felt this way at some point and you will know what I'm talking about. Please feel free to comment and clarify for those who are not military spouses since I am doing a horrible job.
Anyway, last stop on the crazy train is then it occured to me that I've felt like that before. Scared that I wouldn't feel comfortable in my life, or feel safe with someone, and that feeling totally happens after a break up. Especially when you are with someone for a long period of time and they become such a big part of your routine and when you break up, you're routine is totally fraked up(yes, that word is from Battlestar Gallactica, and yes, I am a total nerd, glad it's out there in the open now). There is no morning phone call to the person whom you are with and there is no planning for Saturday night with them, there are no text messages to send throughout the day, and when you are sad and upset or scared or even happy, they are still, for a time, the person you want to call to make you feel better or share the joy or sorrow with, but you can't because that tie has been severed.
In conclussion... deployments can feel a little like breaking up. This is where my train of thought stopped, and where I decided that I had to write to get this all out of my head so I could possibly lay down and go to sleep so I can get up at 6:55 am to be downstairs when my neice gets here and to get my butt on the treadmill. To clarify, Grover and I are not broken up, nor do I plan on or think that we will ever break up. We aren't having problems in any way shape or form. I don't think this deployment will hurt our marriage, I think it will strengthen it. I also think there will be a huge chunk of time after he gets home that we will be so happy to be with one another we probably will be bending over backwards to not fight or ruin the high that I imagine will linger for awhile. In the mean time, I'm pretty sure that all these random thoughts, however strange they may seem to some, might be pretty normal to someone who is seperated from their husband or wife for a signifigant period of time. If you've never been through that then I apologize for the horror you must have endured listening to this rambling blog post.
Next stop, dreamland... think I'll travel to Hogwarts tonight... because that's not weird or anything ;)
This thought led to me thinking about a time I was scared. Totally random, happened a few weeks ago and it honestly wasn't a big deal. But at the time I was frightened out of my mind and still, when I thought about it tonight, three weeks after the fact, my heart started racing and I was physically feeling scared. I wondered why this was. Why I was scared during something I shouldn't have been three weeks ago and why it still caused me fear tonight when I thought about it?
This lead to what makes me feel better when I'm scared. For the past almost six years my safety net has been Grover. Of course I have others that I can depend on and who can make me feel better, but if I'm scared or sad, the only person in the world that I really truly want to be with me is him. He wasn't there that night a few weeks ago. I think that's why I was scared in a situation I normally would have been perfectly calm about. Probably even cockily(is that a word?) calm about. I feel like when he's around, I can't be touched by any force or person or whatever because he's this sheild.
So next on the silly yet oddly horrifying trainway of thought is that the thought of feeling safe with Grover did not make me feel safe. It made me feel panicky. Like I would never have that safe feeling again. I think possibly it's human nature to adapt to any situation. It's hard, and sometimes it takes forever, but a well functioning person can adapt to anything, no matter how annoying or awful it is. So for me, it's like, even though in my mind I know Grover is coming home, I've adapted to the fact that he's not here and now it's normal for me. I can't remember if I've written about this before or if it's just a conversation I've had with someone, but truly, life with out him is starting to feel normal. In contrast to that, it's weird to feel like this is normal because I know in my mind it's absolutely not and won't be forever. Obviously this is a ridiculously complicated emotion, and I am probably not saying it right, but possibly some other army wife has felt this way at some point and you will know what I'm talking about. Please feel free to comment and clarify for those who are not military spouses since I am doing a horrible job.
Anyway, last stop on the crazy train is then it occured to me that I've felt like that before. Scared that I wouldn't feel comfortable in my life, or feel safe with someone, and that feeling totally happens after a break up. Especially when you are with someone for a long period of time and they become such a big part of your routine and when you break up, you're routine is totally fraked up(yes, that word is from Battlestar Gallactica, and yes, I am a total nerd, glad it's out there in the open now). There is no morning phone call to the person whom you are with and there is no planning for Saturday night with them, there are no text messages to send throughout the day, and when you are sad and upset or scared or even happy, they are still, for a time, the person you want to call to make you feel better or share the joy or sorrow with, but you can't because that tie has been severed.
In conclussion... deployments can feel a little like breaking up. This is where my train of thought stopped, and where I decided that I had to write to get this all out of my head so I could possibly lay down and go to sleep so I can get up at 6:55 am to be downstairs when my neice gets here and to get my butt on the treadmill. To clarify, Grover and I are not broken up, nor do I plan on or think that we will ever break up. We aren't having problems in any way shape or form. I don't think this deployment will hurt our marriage, I think it will strengthen it. I also think there will be a huge chunk of time after he gets home that we will be so happy to be with one another we probably will be bending over backwards to not fight or ruin the high that I imagine will linger for awhile. In the mean time, I'm pretty sure that all these random thoughts, however strange they may seem to some, might be pretty normal to someone who is seperated from their husband or wife for a signifigant period of time. If you've never been through that then I apologize for the horror you must have endured listening to this rambling blog post.
Next stop, dreamland... think I'll travel to Hogwarts tonight... because that's not weird or anything ;)
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