Living With The Keefers

So it goes

2012-02-01T20:11:00.003-06:00

Long gone are the days that I got to rock my babies to sleep. Wrapping their tiny hand around my finger. Swaddling them into a burrito and shushing them off into slumber. Feeding, rocking and bouncing, while staring at their tiny, sleeping faces. Rubbing my hand over their hair.

Now days it’s relaxing on the couch with Dora or Max & Ruby. Snacks in there too. They sometimes fight over who sits with me. Christian asks to lean against me; Sarah usually rests a hand on my arm or leg. I rub their hair. Brush teeth, go potty, give hugs and kisses and time to head to bed.

“How do I love you? Let me count the ways. I love you on your very best and very worst of days”….

This is how one of Bub’s favorite books starts. We used to read it every single night. That, along with Thomas, the Berenstain Bears, a few Disney Princess books with Sarah, and then end with a song of “Stay Awake” from Mary Poppins. Rituals; keeps things calm and routine, you know.

I get done singing and Sarah would ask “One more song” and hold up all five fingers. Christian likes the songs but requests a back scratch while singing them.

Sarah likes to have a lot of layers on top of her. Christian needs two pillows and his Wubbzy tie blanket.

Three penguins (yes, three of them), a baby doll, and a bear are the companions with Sarah for the night. Moose and Puppy with Christian.

They each have a blanket that I got in Hawaii at the BX. They are a long john-type material. I have not found them anywhere else. These will become the tattered and dirtied blankets they will drag around with them for years.

Sarah prefers to sleep on her side with her hands between her thighs. Christian will put an arm up under his head, lie on his belly, with one leg out to the side. The fact that he doesn’t fall asleep with his finger sticking in his nose is a miracle. I swear I never see it not in there.

I usually check on them before I go to bed. Tuck them back in, make sure they aren’t in some uncomfortable looking position, even sneak in kisses. And I rub their hair.

Sarah knows that Mommy or Grandma tucks her in. Christian often poses the question about Daddy at bedtime. I think he wonders if I will be doing it forever. I remind him Daddy lives in North Dakota and he talks of the drive up there, stating how long it took. “Forever”.

Two years ago this Sunday changed bedtime for Christian and Sarah. Not necessarily in a bad way, though. I get to sing five whole songs…sometimes more if I’m feeling up for a medley of nursery rhymes. I scratch backs, get all the kisses I want, and I’m even invited to sleep right next to them when they are feeling particularly cuddly. And I get to rub their hair.

How do I love you? Let me count the ways…

Year in Review, Part 2

2012-01-27T13:46:00.000-06:00

We did a lot in June. Took the kids to a movie. Last time they went to one in an actual theater was with Grandma....to see How to Train Your Dragon. That was a few years ago. Oops. They enjoyed themselves and Sarah got some Guitar Hero in.

We visited Kevan's friend Chad. We had hotdogs and burgers on the grill, s'mores, and they played until they were pooped.

We did a lot of things outside. Motorcycle rides (this time he just got to sit on Papa's bike after we had lunch at Qdoba).
Coffee on the porch with Kevan :-)
Hammock sessions at the Keefers.
Stops to the play equipment at Cleveland Elementary

Tripoli in the driveway.

Quick stop to the pool

Kevan was my date to Jill's weddingMy birthday was in June but we had a belated birthday with the Keefers

My cake was awesome
Got some riding in with the new bike. Even tried them without the training wheels.
Sarah finally got her bike back since Bub wasn't taking it.

We had some July 4th festivities at Kevan's brother in laws lake house in Madison.

His brother in laws kids (aka his niece and nephew) came to stay at our house for a week. They had fun with the kids.

And at this point I lost my Sony camera and took nothing but cell phone pictures. Or none at all. Quite sad! Then I found it but I lost the battery charger. More cell phone pictures....

August.
More use out of the bikes

Even became mechanics and 'worked' on them

Then Sarah decided to throw herself down the steep driveway of the Keefers...while on her bike. She got herself good. And put a crack in one of her front teeth! Diva Knievel for a reason, people.

And my college finally sent me my certificate....a year late. Thanks!

Sarah got bangs

Then brother proceeded to chop them off

As well as a chunk in the back..... sigh .....

So Sarah got her first real haircut :)

August 29th was Christian's first day of Head Start!!

He had a great first day ♥

We went back out for opening bow hunting season in September. Again...gorgeous.

Christian had a horrible experience at the dentist, that he thankfully doesn't remember since he got some spiked grape juice. He is under the complete assumption that he had fun. In fact, he screamed the whole time...

He also went to MN for a week with Matt, Nancy and Kerry.

In October we had a Bridal shower for Matt's cousin Kristen.

Kids painted their pumpkins

And Sarah turned 3!

We took a very lengthy road trip to Utah to pick up Kevan's kids in November. After we got them we went to AZ to see his dad and step mom again.

While in a Panda Express drive-thru Kevan asked me for the second time to marry him. He gave me a straw wrapper. I said yes.

Then November 27th he asked me for real.

Bub and Sarah had their Christmas program at daycare

We put Kevan back to work fixing the toilet and putting in a new kitchen sink

We had Christmas (will be in a new post at some point) and went to Flandreau with my parents to ring in the new year.

Goodbye, 2011!!!

I hope you all had a great year. I can never predict what is going to happen so I've given up on having major long-term plans. As long as my kids and myself are happy and healthy, I'm all about whatever comes our way. We have some exciting new developments in the coming months. Please stay tuned!!!

A few kiddo funnies

2012-01-24T21:46:00.003-06:00

Still working on Part 2. Finding pictures for the correct months takes forever!

At dinner one night Sarah and Christian were talking to each other. Something was said about school. Christian says "You have to be bigger to go to school" and Sarah looks down at her body saying "So I can't get smaller". That's right honey.

Papa took Sarah to get her hair trimmed. I was a tad worried how she would handle it. They came back with hair trimmed and suckers. I asked Papa if she fought about sitting in the chair. He says "Nope. I asked her if she was going to be a big girl and get her hair cut and she told me 'Yep, I want that sucker' ". Ok, sistah!

This morning while I was getting my lunch ready to bring to work Christian asks me if I have ranch. I asked him what he was talking about. He repeats "Ranch!". Then says "I have to ask the teachers for ranch". I asked him what he likes to put ranch on. He corrects me with "I don't put it on anything, I dip it". Oh...well alright then. Apparently, my little bird likes carrots and broccoli with his ranch dip. :-)

Year In Review, Finally?! Part 1

2012-01-19T19:41:00.035-06:00

As I've mentioned before in a post, the very end of December 2010, I moved into an apartment. So January truly did start with a new beginning, on my own, for real. Even figured I could threaten my mental well-being by starting another semester of school. Ahem....where was I?

Sarah started her year with being in a Big Girl bed.

Both kids were horribly sick. Non-stop. Christian had the worst of many ear infections between the two of them. And allergic reactions to antibiotics.

I fought hard for Bubba to get tubes and he got them in February

February brought Daddy!!!

March provided a road trip to The Cities with Anne for some much needed shopping and away-from-Sioux-Falls time.

A birthday boy who got to decorate his own cake

Then without warning I fell in love.

I will do an actual "All About Kevan" post sometime later to give him the official introduction to the blog. As well as a Q&A with the kids. :-)

In April the kids met Kevan

We got to work on teaching them about gun safety

And let Sarah know she can still be freakin' adorable and still know how to kick ass and shoot a gun

And since we finally had a direct link to a handyman....we put him to work

Sarah had an ER visit for burst ear drums. Yes, plural. Both of them.

....That prompted her surgery for tubes at the end of April

You can read about both of the kids' days at the hospital here if you want to.

May was very eventful! Started pretty low-key with a picnic with the kids.

Daddy came back to visit

Then this guy right here

Decided to crash this bike right here

On this gravel right here

And go into this ditch right here!!

He broke his wrist, got a mild concussion, and his 10-day streak of quitting smoking cold turkey was shot.....damn you rocks....

I felt sorry for him so I rightly couldn't get rid of him! I nursed him back to health and decided I better go meet his parents. Off to Arizona we go!

The kids saw us off

We went to the range to shoot my new gun and Kevan's bow.

This is my spread. :-) Not having shot a gun in a very long time, and going from a little bitty .22 handgun to a 270 rifle, I was pretty impressed with myself....BAM!

After Arizona we came back to South Dakota and decided to give some coyote hunting a try. We were itching to shoot stuff after aiming at paper targets for an entire afternoon. It was gorgeous. And I wanted to stay.

While no coyotes were found we did see many deer and then completely annihilated a pregnant rattlesnake. :-( In this picture it is still alive. It was coiling around its eggs and hissing at us. We felt horrible. We were not going to risk getting bitten to try and off it with a knife or a long stick so we left it there and checked on it later on our way down the road. It was dead next time we checked. RIP Mamma and little rat'ler babies.

We spent a very long day walking and glassing the hills before we headed home.

And speaking of long. This post?! Ya, I'm stopping. Here is your 2011 Wrap Up Post, Part 1!

Oh, sweet child....

2012-01-14T14:06:00.002-06:00

Not only does Sarah still poop in her undies but she comes to you and says in a quiet voice that she has something in her pants. Then proceeds to turn around and waggle the fanny to reinforce that there is an actually and object, akin to a torpedo, sticking into the bum of her little girl britches. Then she asks to be changed.

"Sarah! You know you get Hello Kitty stickers on your Potty Chart if you go poop in the toilet. Every ten gets you a trip to the Dollar Store for some toys!!"

I started out changing her right away. Then when I would get new undies on her she would ask for a sticker. What?! No!!

Protocol is to now let her sit in it. Which she hates. Then I would go change her after she cried about it and we would have yet another talk of where her poop should go. And she asks for a sticker.... Again I say “What?! No!!”

Needless to say, we have ONE whole sticker on her Potty Chart that started almost two weeks ago.

Hiatus, Schmiatus?

2012-01-06T20:56:00.004-06:00

It's like that awkward moment of meeting a friend from your past that you really have no interest in talking to. But you have to suffer through the 7 minutes and 36 seconds of excruciatingly painful conversation because you can't just drive off like you pulled up next to one another in traffic. No green lights to save you!!!!!

Okay, fine, not talking about you out there. This about me and blogging.

Where in the world do you start after not blogging for a while?! What do you talk about? My kids aren't at a cute baby stage anymore. They talk back, hit each other, Sarah's craps her pants, and Christian tells me I'm not his friend at least twice a day. I got divorced, don't really talk to my ex, got a new boyfriend that then proposed, said ex isn't a fan. Back in with the parents, till have the same job, broke as they come. Lots of changes, quite a bit still the same, definitely a bright future.

But anyways. Here's my family. Kevan, Christian, Mommy, Sarah <3 This group is what I live for.

I will leave the door open a crack! Come see us again.

Another year come and gone....

2012-01-04T07:36:00.002-06:00

I will have to share...soon...the year of 2011 in pictures like I did for all the other years. And then I will try to keep this bad boy up. Sound familiar? Yep...let's not hold our breath. But I really do intend to keep this little internet thingy up so that people that I love can share in the memories with me. It's time I get back into writing about my kids and the hilarious things that come out of their mouths, how it feels to be living at my parents house once again, and how madly in love I am with a man that irritates the hell out of me all the while humbling me to tears.

I have lots to be thankful for and I intend to share some of the best of it. Those that still might remember me here...Thanks! It means a lot that some of you have stuck around.

South Dakota may not be anywhere close to beautiful Hawaii but the adventure is just the same...Living With The Keefers!!

Weekend funs

2011-07-09T11:27:00.005-05:00

A few weekends ago the Keefer's took the Expedition (to stay up there so Matt can sell it) and the boy up to ND. Christian was going to spend two days with Daddy! I had told him earlier in the week what he was going to be doing and he would literally ask every 10 minutes when he was leaving for Daddy's house. We had to keep telling him 'X more sleeps' and he would be able to go. When he got down to one more sleep he was PUMPED. Beyond pumped. He couldn't stop smiling. He stayed home that day from daycare that day and helped Grandma Nancy with some things at her work and they left right after lunch.

They spend the weekend swimming, going to the fair, hanging out, and falling out of bed at 3 am! Pictures to follow. There are some cute ones!!

Fourth of July weekend was spent quite a few places. Friday I had to work so we all just hung out at the house that evening. Saturday was going to be pretty fun for the kiddos. Lunch, naps, and overnight stays for them with the Keefer's while Kevan and I went to a wedding of a friend from high school.

Jill and Bill had a great ceremony and reception. After dinner, a few drinks, and just two dances from me, we headed up to Madison so see Kevan's family and friends. We spent the night, got up early the next morning because I had to help out in the church nursery, picked up the kids at the Keefer's, brought Kevan's aunt Roxy with us to church, grabbed some stuff for the kids and then made our way right back to Madison. We spent all day up there, kids had a blast, grilled out, fished, boated/tubed, horseshoes, s'mores, slivers in feet, more fishing, more horseshoes... Had an absolutely great weekend. I could use another!!

Spent Sunday night up there with the kids, then came back to Sioux Falls Monday morning and spend the day with my parents. More grilling, more fun for the kids, NO slivers this time, and my parents taught Kevan and I how to play Pinochle. Another successful day. :-)

Since then its been work, daycare, more work, and relaxing at home. Kevan is at an all-day hunting class, we put in for tags and hoping to get picked so we can go sometime in November and get some deer. I have school this coming semester so I have to figure out when I can actually go do it. Time will tell.

Not many weeks left in the summer. We have lots of fun things planned. Stay tuned..

Ahh..

2011-06-28T19:41:00.002-05:00

My piglet and peanut are perched perfectly upon the couch. They pine for the pretty phonics on the projector. "P" they proclaim!

...Perfect...

Grommets and -ectomy's

2011-06-10T10:49:00.004-05:00

So this past year both kids got tubes put in their ears. They also got their adenoids taken out...tonsils left in. Christian back in February and then Sarah in April. It has been a night and day difference. They were literally sick from the week they started daycare in December to when they got the tubes put in. I am very thankful they have them. It's not a constant barrage of coughing and snot in my house anymore. But....they are currently sick right now. And I'm headed down that road as well. It seems the kind of colds they are getting now make me get a sore throat/cough. Bubba gets a cough and Sarah is more of the snotty/stuffy one.

Anywho - both did GREAT during their surgeries. I was not worried at all about them getting this procedure done. I welcomed it with open arms! I just wanted to share some pictures from their big days...

Bubba was first. He LOVED that bed when he was done. They let you hold your kiddo and cuddle as they wake up. But he wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. He wanted back in the bed to sleep. His face was so puffy when he was finally awake. He hated the IV (who wouldn't?) and we had to get him to eat, drink, and pee before we left. After what seemed like hours later he finally did all three. He didn't want a popsicle or crackers. But as soon as he heard that Grandma snuck him a donut from the waiting room to have later, he was all about it. So we gave it to him. The nurse said that if he can handle a donut after surgery he can go home. haha

Sarah had hers done at a different surgery center. It's brand spanking new. She got to go back to her room in a convertible car! How neat! WIth both kids I got to be there as they were put under. I could hold them and talk sweet nothings to them as they struggled with passing out. haha Some parents don't like to see that stuff, but I guess I have a different view. I want to be the last thing they are hearing and seeing as they go under. That's a comfort to me and I'm glad that places give that option.

My cutie pies are feeling much better since the tubes. They still get the sickies but it was seriously the best thing for them. Bring on the summer!

Score Board Says.....

2011-06-04T22:28:00.007-05:00

For the last few weeks Kevan and I have been telling Christian that we were going to take his bed away if he continued to jump on it. Sarah, being the punk that she is, and the one that instigates it most times, seemed to be getting him into more trouble than he ought to be in. We told him he would lose the bed if they jumped. So one night Sarah goes running down the hall saying "Let's jump on the bed!!" Christian goes "No, I want to keep my bed!"

Sarah: 0
Christian: 1

I went to the corner store really quick the other night and Kevan watched a movie with the kids to keep them busy. He calls me on my way back and says that they were jumping on the bed again so he took the top mattress off and put it in the hallway. They were in timeout when I got back. I told him that he had to sleep on the box spring for the night since he couldn't listen to us about the jumping.

Adults: 1
Christian: 0

Today I was cleaning the house. Kids were playing decent for most of the the morning while I vacuumed and did dishes. Then I hear them on the bed jumping. I go in and I take the mattress off and told them they knew better. Then what did they do?! Got right up on the box spring to jump on that!

Kids: 1
Mommy: 0

So, I did the logical thing and took the ENTIRE bed out. They wondered what the heck I was doing and just stared at me. I think they thought I was trying to be funny. In reality I was fuming mad. Fuming. Wasn't even 11am and he had nothing but a dresser left in his room. He napped on the hard floor.

Mommy: 1
Christian: 0

Tonight we went to the house of a buddy of Kevan's. Kids played in the backyard, ran around, played on the slide for hours. We had hotdogs, burgers, and s'mores. Finally got home about 10pm tonight and put them both in bed. Then Christian comes back out to mine and tells me he wants to talk. I ask about what and he says "God". We chat about what he is grateful for, how much fun he had, and what he got to do at Chads. It was pretty cute. Then I told him it was time to go back to sleep and I would tuck him into bed.

He looks at me and says "I don't have a bed, Mom..."

Mommy: 0
Christian: 1

Final score -
Adults: 2
Kids: 3

What happens when you get divorced, move, go back to school, work full time and have TWO kids?!

2011-06-03T23:04:00.010-05:00

You call that really freaking busy.

I do not know how in the world almost a year has crept past me. Could be my degenerative eyesight or my inability to quit torturing myself. Or the fact that I have let two little people run my life for the last year and everything I have put myself through is 150% for them and their future. Who put the pepper under my nose? I need a tissue.

Where did I leave off? Oh ya...1997. I was thirteen and salivating over George Clooney - and jealous of Julianna Margulies because she got to make out with him. What?! It's 2010....?

So - I went to FL, got a second job, moved out of my parents house, put kids in daycare while I barely survived one hell of a semester of school, kiddos got Daddy back from Afghanistan, each kiddo got tubes in their ears and adenoids out, got Christian through an entire school year of speech, dealt with both grandparents (on my Mom's side) dying a few months apart from each other, family drama, and then snagged myself a boyfriend and went to visit his family in Arizona this past Memorial weekend. You see why I haven't been around, people?!

~

I have an awesome break from school this summer and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. I have a great job where I work in Records and help out with Accounting. Super-duper fabulous people to work for and with. Again, I say - BLESSED!! I put in my 40 hours for the week, go home to my kids and boyfriend Kevan (pictured), hang out with family and the few friends left here in town and hope my summer lasts for as long as it possibly can!

I moved out of my parents house back at the end of December, right after I got back from FL. I have a nice apartment on the top floor with a neat-o view of central Sioux Falls. Check out this link if you wish to peek at the place: Apartment. It looks mostly like this still...just more junk and kids stuff now.

Matt is back from deployment and is up in North Dakota again. He gets to come down every month or two to see all of us. The kids love it and I wish he was able to come around more. I think this summer some time Matt's parents are going to take the kids up there for a long weekend of fun. I can't wait to hear all about it when they get back!

Christian finished up speech and passed with flying colors. His teacher, Miss Linda, just loved having him as a student and raved about how hard he worked all the time and how fun it was to have him in her room. He is SOOO smart! Both also started daycare the same time we moved into our apartment (December). Christian was quickly moved up a room since he was excelling faster than the other kiddos. I was told a few weeks ago that Sarah will now be moving up a room soon (into the first room Bubba was in before he moved) because she is also excelling. She loves her letters and numbers! They all fluff up my mommy ego with the way they talk about my kiddos. I love it <3 ...was this not a HUGE paragraph?!?!...

My camera died, then got lost, then got found, then was in the bottom of my purse for weeks, and now it is at my parents house. So I have very sporadic camera phone pictures. I'll have to do a test to see if I can get them to upload to here - from there. Grandma Nancy is really awesome at taking pictures when the kids are there and giving me a copy of them on a CD. She rocks.

I'm sure these gi-nor-mungo reads are no fun when I'm trying to pack a damn year into one post. Forgive me. I will try harder. And I stick by this not being some fancy blog, no ads that help me pay for daycare or my school loans, and no gadget giveaways. Unless I write a book and make a few mil and then can sit at home and blog as often as I want!

I'll do some cute kiddo updates this weekend. It's supposed to be nice so I hope Kevan and I can get them out and doing something fun. Stay tuned, eh?

Did I say I was back?!

2011-04-26T08:33:00.002-05:00

Whoops.. So I got busy again! And busy is an understatement. Sue me. Well, don't...

I will be doing an update (a REAL update) here soon. I have so much to cram into one post I might have to split it up. I miss blogging a little bit. I need to keep it up. I just lost my camera a few weeks ago so I have to get a new one. I've been taking phone pictures but of course they are never as good. But updates coming soon-ish!

The Queen Bee IS Alive!!

2010-09-25T09:57:00.009-05:00

I have risen from the blogging grave. Worry no more, folks.

So, per my last post, I was hoping that I would get a lot accomplished in August. Ask and I shall receive!! Here is a quick run-down of what has been going on.

1. I got a job!!! I work at Children's Care Hospital & School. I am a Records Manager and Credentialing Specialist. That's just a fancy way of saying that I deal with every record of every child at CCHS as well as keep the credentials of every Doctor we have. It's just part time (Mon, Wed, Fri) but the pay is great and is a foot in the door for better jobs down the road. It came at THE perfect time.

2. I started school and am elbow deep in homework each week. I literally just sit and type up doctor dictations every chance I get, turn it in, and move on to the next lesson. I'm trying to stay ahead of the game with the workload so that I'm completely done by the time I leave for Florida.

3. I'm going to FLORIDA!! My best friend Vicki moved to FL over Labor Day weekend. My other best friend, Joe, and I decided to buy some tickets to see her in December. Dates are picked, tickets are bought, money is being saved!! Vicki lives in Naples and we are going to take a few days to go to The Keys. Whooop!

4. Christian is going to speech therapy twice a week. He is excited to go and says "Going to school?" quite a few times a day. He is making complete sentences and putting the ending consonant on some of his words! This is a big step up from where he was a year ago. There are still a few things that absolutely nobody can understand but that will come as he is able to form more of those ending letters. I'm sure proud!!

5. With my job being part time, and my sister needing a little help in the money department, I have hired Aunt Jessy to come to the house MWF and most of the day on Thursday. She watches the kids while I'm at work and when I am doing schoolwork and errands. It's working out nicely so far. Eventually, though, they WILL be going to daycare. There are just a few things that need to happen before I'm able to do it.

6. Still looking for places to live but I am on a few wait lists for townhomes. I'm calling around next week to see where I am on the list and to find some more. I'm torn between saving for a few more months and just moving out. The latter is pulling ahead at the moment!!

7. I joined the Christian Education Committee at church. It's a once-a-month meeting but it's sure jam packed with stuff. We are trying to get a group together for the 'working crowd' and it's proving to be a challenge.

and

8. I'm contemplating a second job. What can I say? Single mom, two kids, living at home with the parents. Any money coming in is good in my book!!

Now for pictures since I bored you all for so long.

The day I found out I got the job at CCHS. I was at the park having a Mommy-Bubba day.

My Welcome to work! :-) My boss is awesome.

Ready for church.

Is she not frickin' cute?!

I let them have their own table at Subway (yes, the one in a Walmart) and they were excited about it. They are growing up fast!

Checking out Papa Kerry's tomatoes.

My birthday. Ice Cream Cake!!!!

Playing ball with Bubba.

Matt playing catch with Sarah.

Last family pic before deployment.

The last gathering for the Keefers before Matt left for deployment (minus Kent who took the picture).

Sarah was a big helper while we played bean bags.

Reading the Daily Word to each other. haha

Wrestling with Papa Kerry.

I know that update was SO amazing you could hardly contain yourselves. But there it is. I'm crazy busy, don't have time for a social life, and would love to time travel to June 2012 so that I could be done with school and out of my parents house. Such is life...

Hello, August. We have a lot of work to do.

2010-08-02T12:11:00.006-05:00

This month will hopefully be a very productive one. A lot of things need to happen - or at least a few things that I have on the list to accomplish.

A bit of an update on Matt and me first. We are officially divorced and he has now been deployed overseas. He is super busy over there and says he feels a bit of accomplishment doing the job he is.
This is the last picture of me and him together. I have more of all four of us that I need to get from Nancy.

First and foremost, this month I start back up with school. That in itself has been a bunch of craziness. I'm using 12 months of Matt's GI Bill (thank you!) and will be getting my Medical Transcription degree done and out of the way this Fall. Then in order for me to use the GI Bill for my Medical Assisting I have to graduate in December and then reapply in January! It's really a bunch of red tape from the government that I'm going around to get this all done. Either way...it will happen.

I'm still scouring SF for a job. I applied for three of them at a hospital here in town on Saturday and promptly got three rejection emails Monday morning. Nice... I know I will get one but I just don't want it to be at Target. I've done retail, and although I really think that I kick butt doing it, I really don't need to go through it again. So, friends, pray that I find a great job.

Kids are doing well. They will go to daycare soon. If I'm just going to school then they will go part time during the week so that I can get a few hours a day to myself to study. If I get a job they will obviously go full time. I'm honestly looking forward to it. They need the interaction with structured adults and other kids. And this mom needs a break!! :)

I'm also looking for a place to live. I obviously have to get a job and some income before that can happen but a lot of places are hard to get into around here. We'll see. Again, friends, prayers are needed that some things line up and I'm able to make a nice home for the kids to live in. They deserve it!!

Here are a few random pics.
The kids are enjoying the pool that papa Kent bought for them.

My sister!!!

Sarah being a goober.

Anne went to a baseball game with me and a group from church. We had a lot of fun.

The faces this kid makes are TOO funny.

Making cookies with Grandma Nancy.

Still a good summer so far even though there are a lot of things I've been having to get in order as far as the divorce goes. Kids are doing well, I love being around family and friends and I can't wait for school. My bucket list is still going and expanding!!

Here, there, and everywhere!

2010-07-16T12:25:00.009-05:00

Well, that is partly true. I haven't been everywhere. I wish, though!

Sarah got a yeast infection, they've both been covered in skeeter bites, scrapes and bruises from playing outside, and they've enjoyed playing on the play set at church. I've been searching and applying for jobs but nothing has worked out. :( Anne and I took the kids to the zoo. It was finally nice out!! My mom had a day off so she came along.

Recently Anne and I went out for a girls date. We got dressed up, took pictures, and then headed to Bracco for dinner. In the parking lot I got rear-ended by someone else's rear end. (I'll post pics at the end). Ugh..it was annoying but we made light of it and didn't want it to ruin our plans. We talked to the cops, exchanged info with the crazy lady driver and then went in to have dinner. After dinner we walked around at the Falls, went downtown, and listened to live music.

At the end of June, Matt was able to get into town for a few days. He saw the kids, him and I talked some, we (Anne also) took them to the pool. It was a good few days with him in town. He will be coming down again for one more day before he deploys. Please keep him in your prayers as he travels overseas, that he has a safe and enjoyable time there, and that his return is speedy!

And now for pictures:

And my sister, just cuz...

And the accident. Oh, my...some people.
Okay, so here is the truck I was driving. The empty spot behind it is the one I was in. I was crooked and going in reverse to adjust myself. I stop to let this van go by. Me AND Anne look to make sure she is passed us. I start to back out again. Well then all of a sudden WHAM!

And her back window ends up all over the back of my truck. She throws her van in reverse and backs up like a bat out of hell and hits me hard enough to just shatter her window. I don't even think I had backed up more than five inches from my parking spot before she hit me!

Here is a pic of the glass on the floor. I think it's funny because me and the husband of the driver are in the cop car, while the driver is picking up glass. LOL

The cops were nice about it all. I even got razzed a bit by the short one about my dad. :-)

Bucket List Addendum!

2010-06-26T11:32:00.000-05:00

16. Try a Neti Pot.
17. Publish a second poem.
18. Buy my own home.
19. True Love.
20. Go to a Twins game this year

Bucket List Additions

2010-06-14T01:13:00.000-05:00

11. See the Eiffel Tower
12. Completely run a mile, with NO stopping!
13. Give a hitchhiker a ride.
14. Learn to drive a stick shift.
15. Fly fish.

Shrimp and Linguini

2010-06-14T00:52:00.002-05:00

I made this a few nights ago for dinner. Make sure to heat up your sour cream and milk long enough...mine could have been a bit warmer. We served it with sliced french bread with mozzarella and cheddar cheese that we broiled.

Ingredients

3/4 pound Uncooked shell-on medium shrimp (about 20-30), peeled, deveined and tails removed

3/4 cup Coarsely chopped carrots

2 Large plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/4 cup Sliced green onions with tops

1/3 cup Grated fresh Parmesan cheese

8 ounces Uncooked linguine

1 tsp Olive oil

2 Garlic cloves, pressed

3/4 cup Reduced fat sour cream

1/2 cup Fat free evaporated milk

1/4 cup Snipped fresh basil leaves

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Coarsely ground black pepper
Preparation

1. Peel and devein shrimp; remove tails. Coarsely chop carrots. Dice tomatoes and slice green onions. Grate Parmesan cheese.

2) Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Return pasta to pot; cover and keep warm.

3) Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saute pan. Add shrimp, carrots and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat 3-4 minutes or jut until shrimp turns pink; remove from skillet and keep warm.

4) Gently heat sour cream and evaporated milk in same skillet over low heat, whisking. Do not boil. Stir in Parmesan cheese. add shrimp mixture, tomatoes, green onions, basil, salt and black pepper; mix gently. Pour shrimp and vegetable mixture over pasta; toss gently to coat. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Hello Summer.

2010-06-10T10:51:00.011-05:00

We honestly haven't done a whole lot lately. Playing outside, going to a few functions at church for the kids, went to help Grandma celebrate being a cancer survivor, and then hanging out at the house with the dogs and boxes of toys that never seem to stay picked up.

It's officially summer, kids are out of school, pools are opening, motorcycles cruising around and....garage sales!! I recently sat in my parents driveway trying to sell their crap. They made $50! I got burned and spent the next three days recovering from the massive amounts of fresh air and sun that I subjected myself to.

I have not thought too much about adding to my bucket list...but I do get to cross one off now!
~~1. Get a tattoo.~~
They are the middle names of the kids. It's a bit hard to tell but I got it on my ribcage on my right side. I love it. I want more!!

After I defaced my body, we poked a few holes in Sarah's.

We went to my cousin's HS graduation then stopped at Carol & Gary's house for a visit. I took the kids on for a ride on the golf cart that *I* used to drive around when I was little!

Christian pooped on the potty. Once. For real. Hasn't since...

Both kids also had some pretty nasty blows to the face. Christian fought with a sidewalk and it won. Sarah got the beat down from some kids shoe at the playground. Both walked away with battle wounds. Some more scathed than others...
Sarah has a black eye (right side of the picture). Sorry it's so blurry!

And this is what the boy did to himself while walking the dogs a few weeks ago. The only way I can describe it is a bicycle. He slammed on his brakes, braced his arms and caught himself, but then his back end just flipped RIGHT over and he landed on his face. First thought was 'How many teeth did he lose??' then as I got closer to him I just see his entire left side of his face was red...and then bleeding. A few days later the bruise on his forhead was all the way into his hairline. Poor kid.

Went to a huge park while celebrating with Grandma.

Had some fun making bubbles and going head first down slides some more at the church campout!

Listening to the campfire songs.

I took the kids outside this past week to try and get some cute pictures of them. FAIL! Christian wouldn't sit still and I finally just grabbed him and told him to smile. This is what I got

I screamed at Sarah to try and get her to turn towards me and this is what I managed to get. Cute...but the boy is running off in the background. So I'm having a friend work on this one.
And them together. Le sigh...

And this was the best family picture I was able to get. Thanks for taking the picture, Mom!!

Simple Man

2010-05-26T09:48:00.001-05:00

For you, Christian ♥

Happy Third Birthday, Bubba!!

2010-05-26T08:08:00.013-05:00

I'm only about a month late in getting this post up, but better late than never!!

Christian,

You are now a BIG boy.
You are Three years (plus a couple weeks) old.
You know how to pee in the potty.
You love to walk the dogs.
You love your sister even though you don't share very well with her.
You love your Papas.
You still eat like a bird.
You could play uninterrupted with your cars and trains for hours!
Your favorite snack is probably the air puffed popcorn.
You know all your ABC's and can count to twelve.
You get into a lot of trouble for being only three!
You finally drink milk.
You would rather have it be chocolate or strawberry.
You have the cutest smile.
You need to work on your #2's in the potty!
You're a little on the TOO friendly side...you say hi to almost anyone!
You love peanut buttered toast.
You ask us to cry so you have a 'reason' to give us hugs and kisses.
You give the greatest hugs.
Your laugh when we tickle you is contagious.

You are MY son! I love you with all my heart.

Now on to the fun part. Pictures!
Sarah helped out in the kitchen.

Then did all sorts of acrobatics in the living room over the benches.

A decent one of both of them before people started to arrive.

Some of the Easter loot that we had at the party.

Eating the grub.

Christian and Grandma Wava had some pretty intense conversation.

Mmm, this cake was good!

Four generations on my Mom's side.

Four generations on Matt's side.

Blowing out the candles.

Money from Grandma Petersen!!

Time to open all the presents.

Pankcake pans in the shape of animals ♥

They both got hats. :-)

Cute!

Then we went outside because Uncle Dave brought over something that my younger cousin Justin had when he was little. It's a basketball hoop!!!!! :-)

Happy Birthday Bubba!! ♥

Where have I been!?

2010-05-13T13:46:00.011-05:00

Time for a proper update from us, eh?

First up: I am adding "Play a game of paintball" to my Bucket List.

Next....
I have been scheduling LOTS of appointments for the kids and myself the last few weeks. I'm getting it all out of the way so this summer can be fun. Never mind the fact that I won't have Tricare after I get divorced. So I need to get all of MY stuff done ASAP!

The last Saturday in April all the ladies on my Mom's side of the family got together to celebrate birthdays. And four ladies being CANCER FREE!!!

And here is a GOOD picture of my sister and me! I don't even remember the last picture of us together!

Christian had a dentist appointment to get his extra tooth checked out. He was cleared for it being ok and not going to damage anything. He just needs to go back in a few years to get xrays to see if he also has an extra adult tooth...THAT might cause an issue.

He also had an appointment at the end of April with the school district. He had a speech evaluation done (just like what he did in Hawaii) but this time it has to be through the Sioux Falls schools since he would be actually going TO the school to get the therapy. I got a call this morning saying that he got into the program at the elementary school right down the street from the house. I have a meeting with them next week and I hope they tell me that he got into Head Start, too!! Fingers crossed on that one.

The night of April 30th, I went to the opening play of 'The Sound of Music' with my Mom, Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law. It was a good show and I'm glad we got to go together. I got there via car trunk.

This is Anne and myself at the play.

May 1st we all got together to celebrate Kerry's birthday. Christian was a ball of energy the whole time.

Then got shy when Kerry asked him to help blow out the candles.

May 7&8 I got to see two very dear friends of mine! Vicki, my best friend from college, and then Ashley, my best friend from high school! It was a fun weekend and I wish I could see them more often.

Christian got artistic on me. Rather on Sarah's head...

Next week there are some appointments with the school for Christian, appointments with the lawyer, and then hopefully my stuff regarding the GI Bill for school will be done. Makes my head spin!

The first weekend in June is the neighborhood rummage sale. I'm selling TONS of baby clothes from both kids so if you have anybody that needs some, come by! I'm also selling a ton of baby 'stuff'...toys, the swing, bumbo, nursing pillow, etc.

Here are just a few random's of the kids.

Pooped after playing.

Helping Kerry with the leaves.

Story time.

Chalk!!

Outside with Grandma

Christian on his new trike that he got for his birthday (a post I still have to do, by the way!!)

There you have it. I'll get Christian's birthday post up one of these days!!! I promise. Hold me to it, guys!

2010-05-09T11:35:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful ladies!! <3

Bucket List: Installment Two

2010-05-04T09:05:00.003-05:00

6. Go to Rome.
7. See a play in New York.
8. Meet a famous actor/actress and get their picture and autograph.
9. Go on a cruise.
10. Lose at least 10 more pounds.

Bucket List

2010-05-02T12:12:00.003-05:00

A question was posed: What would you do if you had NO limitations? I thought for a minute. The ideas continued to flow....

So, here is the first installment of my Bucket List! I have more than these few I'm posting but I will wait to add them. They are a bit more extravagant! :-)

1. Get a tattoo.
2. Bungee jump.
3. Skydive.
4. Hold a tarantula.

and

5. Eat REAL sushi.

That's it!

2010-04-29T13:21:00.001-05:00

I'm making a Bucket List!

Wowzers - 300th post!!!

2010-04-16T23:29:00.011-05:00

I won't be doing anything fancy in this post. I have no super fun giveaways. I will not be having a guest blogger. I will not put on a song and dance. My 300th post will only include updates, some pictures, and huge Thank You to friends and family that read this. Perhaps some day I will be popular enough to give away an iPad or notebook computer. But, alas, I am not any of those things that are required to do something so cool as that!

So...

What have we been up to the last few weeks? A LOT!!! I will try to share in pictures - mostly crappy cell phone ones....

I had a downer to the start of my February (which is when this all started with Matt). The end of the month my friend Vicki came into town and we went to the Sertoma Butterfly House. Kids LOVED it!

Once March rolled around I was on the up and up and feeling better about things. I even dyed my hair and got it cut. The darkest brown possible before BLACK. I love it. *Don't mind that the flash completely made me look like a ghost*

My Dad won tickets to the Bob & Tom All-Star Comedy Tour so I made him give me the tickets - then I took him as my date. :-)

I helped Anne paint the paneling in the basement at their house. My arm and neck hurt so bad after it all. I didn't even do a lot of the work!!!

The kids dyed eggs:

And painted pictures:

Sarah finally got enough hair to make a few pigtails! *ketchup not blood!!!*

For the first time - EVER - one of my kids fell asleep in a chair while eating!

Christian learned how to pedal a trike.

Anne and I went to the VFW to play Bingo!

And I won once for a grand total of $5.

Christian helped Papa Kerry dig a spot for tomatoes.

Sarah rocked a side ponytail, a skirt with leggings, and my purse.

the very beginning of April we went to Grand Forks to get the rest of my stuff and stayed in a hotel. Christian slept in bed with me for the first time ever. It was quite the experience. The boy does NOT lie still!

One the way back to SF we stopped to get out and let the kids run. We counted the teepee 'legs' and ran in the grass poking leaves with sticks.

Christian roughed it in the backyard.

Anne and I took the kids to the bike trail and had a lovely walk!

Ok, that about sums up the pictures for the last few months! I will do a separate post of Christian's 3rd Birthday later. :-)

As far as 'Matt and Me' update - I have filed for divorce. I will not be waiting until after he deploys (which might not even happen now anyways). I feel as though I am better off doing this sooner rather than later. For my own sanity, really. So I would hope that by July/August it will be finalized.

Phew! What a post. My laptop is tired and I'm going to turn in for the night!

But before I go... A Thank You - To the friends and family that read this.

We are truly blessed to have you in our lives. The kids and I have so much love showered on us by you. I have no doubt in my mind that God knows I will do great in SF. *I* know that I will do great here. There is a bigger plan for my family than what I thought it was originally. Daily I feel the love from everyone. You guys rock!

Where to begin...

2010-03-22T22:03:00.002-05:00

It has been a while since I last posted. A lot has changed! So, if you are ready, you better hike up a seat, maybe grab a glass of water, and if you so choose, perhaps a Kleenex. I realize that was a completely crazy run-on sentence. Who knows if it is correct!

So...

Regrettably, I am here to post that Matt and I are separating. Ya, I know. "WHAT!?!?!" That was my reaction as well. I wish I could go into detail and have a gab-fest but that is not the point of the blog. We are still married, just going very separate ways in the mean time. Matt deploys later this year for six months and we will finalize a divorce after he gets back. That's the plan as of today anyways!

The kids and I are now in Sioux Falls, living at my parents, I will be starting up school...again!...and will eventually, hopefully, get a job later this year. I also hope to be out of my parents house come 2011. Because who seriously wants to be back under their parents' roof after having been on their own, married, and birthed TWO babies almost eight years later?? Oh, you did? You don't count.

But what do you do? I'm making the best of it, am excited about the future, excited about being back in Sioux Falls, and I know that I have all the love and support from family and friends. My life is truly blessed.

I know this is pretty random and doesn't really explain much, but I had to let you all know. I couldn't go on posting anything without mentioning this first. My next post will be a big 300!!! I am trying to think of something fun. Maybe a birthday post for Christian. He will be three this Friday. :-) He is growing up!

There you have it folks. Out of left field. But the show must go on!!!

I guess some people...

2010-02-06T14:14:00.001-06:00

...are really this clueless.

Busy, Busy, Busy In Sioux Falls!!

2010-02-03T22:41:00.000-06:00

Almost since the day I got here I have been busy doing something. Minus the one day where it snowed all day and I decided that would be the day to do absolutely nothing and take a nap! So what have I been up to? Here is a quick rundown.

Thurs Jan 28 - Tried to get the kids to wear themselves out at the Escape Zone on base before we made our way to Sioux Falls from Grand Forks. Alone... Let's just say I am not looking forward to the trip back...alone. :( They slept for the hour it took to get to Fargo. The good thing was that we stopped in Watertown for food and gas. We met Grandma and Grandpa Claussen at IHOP! After we got into town we stopped by the Keefers to see them.

Fri Jan 29 - We decided that today would be the day to open the Christmas presents that were still under the tree! Sarah got an interactive book, a Blue's Clues DVD, and a set of Disney books. Christian got a Wubbzy DVD, Wubbzy blanket, and little Wubbzy figurines! He was loving it.

Sarah also sat in Christian's booster chair. This was the first time she sat in something other than a highchair.

Friday night I went to the movie "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" with Anne. Very cute movie.

Sat Jan 30 - Went to lunch at IHOP with Vicki. We had a great time and decided that we would go see a movie that night. After lunch I headed home for the kids to nap. I waited with mom and aunt for my dad, uncle and grandma to get home from looking at cars. We got a call to say they were on their way and to be in the driveway cheering! So we stood in the garage while Grandma pulled into the driveway with her brand new '09 Kia! No more 30+ year old Lincoln. The boat is parked for good!!

After we all admired the new car we went inside to have chili. We had some great fellowship with family and bedtime for the kids came so I could go see "The Lovely Bones" with Vicki.

Sun Jan 31 - Went to church where my mother was informed that I was pregnant. I am not!!

After church, the kids went down for naps and I went to see my friend Nicole from high school. They just had a baby beginning of January; six weeks early. He is the tiniest thing I have ever held. So cute!!!

That night we went to Grandma and Grandpa M's for a birthday dinner for Anne.

Mon Feb 1 - Snow Day. I napped when the kids did. Took the dogs for a walk. Watched some TV. Played lots of cars. Did the dump truck puzzle over and over again. Wash, rinse, repeat...minus more naps.

Tues Feb 2 - Anne and I went shopping!!!!!!!!!!! We loaded the kids and our first stop was Y's Buys. They have 25% off on Tuesdays. I got a J Crew coat for $14.99! A handful of dresses/shirts for Sarah, a sweatshirt and corduroys pants for Christian, three tops (plus the coat) for me, and a pair of shoes for each of the kids for a grand total of less than $34!!! I saved just over $12 with the 25% off. :-) Go, me!

After Y's Buys we stopped by Target. But it was almost as if the Heavens were telling me that I shouldn't go in! Why? Because my door handle came right off into my hand. No lie. Picture to prove it.

Target run was done then we went to Pizza Ranch for lunch...after Olive Garden was completely packed and we couldn't get a parking spot. We ate some good food and then played in the basketball court for a while. Then headed home for naps...one of which did not take one. Any guesses as to whom? After one child took a nap it was back to the Keefer's for supper. While there, Kerry fixed my door handle!! Hooray!!! I only had to endure opening my window all the way to reach the handle on the outside for a few hours out of my life. :-)

Today, Wed Feb 3 - Picked up Grandma Petersen (my mom's mom) and went to my mom's work for lunch. Kids behaved per usual and they ate pretty decent! Went back home for naps where BOTH of them took one! Leftovers for supper. Joe, a good friend from high school, came to visit and we were able to catch up a bit! Hopefully we will have more chances to see each other now that I'm able to get to SF more often.

Tomorrow Thurs Feb 4 - Nothing major planned. Going to get my hairs cut. Will go to see Annie in the afternoon and get Christian's hairs cut.

Fri Feb 5 - Going to see Grandpa at Good Sam and hopefully will see Jenny if she makes it to town.

Sat Feb 6 - Will make the trek back to Grand Forks. Matt will be done with school in St. Louis on Friday and will get home sometime this weekend. He is missed!

Now it's past my bedtime....night!

PS. I'll put pictures of the last week up soon. I'm too tired now.

Sarah's Surgery Went Well

2010-01-27T21:12:00.003-06:00

Sarah was an absolute trooper with her surgery on Tuesday!! I, however, was a nervous mess!

We got to the office very early in the morning. I was literally the fourth car or so there. I was in the waiting room by 6:30am and was called back shortly after. I sat with Sarah as they asked me questions about her health, about my health, etc. She got a bracelet, a dot above her right eye (to make sure they worked on the correct one), and a warm hospital blanket. She played peek-a-boo with some of the ladies there and they were all commenting on how cute she was. :)

When they were ready for her they came and took her from me. She was able to have her pink blanket and her bear with her on the gurney. I honestly could not look at her once they took her from me. I didn't want to see her face. I went directly to the bathroom...partly from not wanting to hear her cry and mostly because of wanting to vomit. HAHA! Though the procedure itself is minor, anesthesia is not. I prayed for everyone.

I went back to the waiting room, my mom called, then I called Matt. Literally no more than ten minutes had gone by and the nurse was coming out to get me. I sat in a little curtained off area and she was wheeled out to me on the gurney. She was coming out of her slumber and shaking around quite a bit on the bed. They unstrapped her and I was able to hold her as she woke up. She was pretty fussy, which is normal, and was not liking the groggy feeling. But she drank water right away and even had an attitude towards the nurse! She looked up and saw her and shook her hand and said 'no' to her! So she was coming out of that nicely. haha

I got my discharge paperwork, sat for a few minutes, then went back to the waiting room to get our things. She had a few graham crackers, more water, and we were off for home! I was home before the sun was even peeking over the horizon!! Quick and painless...

By 10am she was back to normal and running around with Christian. They both took great naps since I had them up at 5:45am and that night Sarah told ME 'nigh nigh'. By 7pm she was tuckered out and held up her blanket to tell me she wanted to go to sleep. Not to disagree, I scooped her up, let her have some milk, rocker her, gave her two kiss - one from Matt, one from me - and tucked her in.

Sarah's first surgery was a success - hopefully! The Doc said he would be very surprised if it didn't work. Little Sarah Bear now seems to have grown up by a few months in that one day.

In other news, I'm headed to Sioux Falls tomorrow!!!!! While Matt is in St. Louis I will be taking advantage of the chance to get down to see family and friends. Christian is excited and while reading his ABC book I told him he could show Grandma & Grandpa how well he was doing. He was not concerned about them...he said he wanted to show Annie. :)

See you all - TOMORROW!

Long weekend!

2010-01-25T11:20:00.007-06:00

I didn't blog about this but earlier this last week Christian was sick. I went to get him out of his room and when I opened the door I was met with a horrid stench. Thankfully, it was contained on all the blankets he has in there...including his beloved yellow ones. So I spent that morning washing sheets, blankets, pillows, and a child. He was clingy the rest of the day, didn't eat anything, drank a little water, and sat in my lap whenever I managed to take a seat myself!

The next day he seemed perfectly fine, as if the day before never happened...

This month we knew that Matt would be going to St. Louis for a short TDY. He needed to take some classes before he becomes certified at work. The sad thing is, most of what he will be learning will not be used here, especially once the planes leave. Matt's job will basically be the equivalent of watching paint dry. Long, boring, mind numbing.

Anywho, he wasn't supposed to leave for St. Louis until yesterday. But with the impending gloomy weather he got about 20 hours notice that he would be leaving Friday morning. Boo. We were supposed to have that weekend together, spending time with the kids before he left for two weeks. So much for that.

All four of us pile in the car Friday morning, go get a new Senior Airmen that was joining Matt to St. Louis, and headed to the airport.
Here is Sarah Bear on the way to the airport:

Little did I know that Murphy was a stowaway!!!

I will spare you with the details but let's just say that A LOT of puke came out of my little girl. All over herself in the carseat. Notice that in the above picture she is wearing a hoodie and her jacket. Guess where most of the puke had to sit? And not like I can take her out. We are moving, and I'm not going to take her out only to have to put her back in to get home! So she had to sit in it. Then she puked on the way home, after her bath, and before her nap all over the crib. All in a matter of a few hours from Matt leaving town.

The worst part of her puking? The look on her face when she got it all over her bear. No lie, she cried even harder when she saw it. She shoved it towards me and wanted me to fix it. I was able to clean it off best I could, change her clothes and the crib sheets, and managed to get her rocked to sleep. I let her sleep with the stinky bear since her blanket was done for and being washed. She slept a few hours, I was able to get some much needed peace since the boy also took a nap, and Matt called me to say his flight from here was delayed, they missed the connecting and would be staying four extra hours in Minneapolis.

Darn you, Murphy!!!!!

Both Matt and I were glad to get Friday over with. But not before both kids made their way to the bathroom to play in the, thankfully flushed!, toilet. Christian also had a toothbrush of his. Who knows how many times that went into the water and to his mouth. Blech! Alone time finally came at 8pm.

He spent his Saturday bored in the hotel. I spent it with the kids hoping for no more puking from either of them. Sunday was another boring day for Matt but the kids were feeling fine so I went to town with friends J and A, and their daughter B. We were some of the first few in the doors at Walmart as we had waited in the parking lot for about ten minutes before opening. As I went to get a cart I saw something that I had wanted to try but never had the children, or I should say right aged children, to do so! It was this:

They had so much fun in it. Sarah giggled and thought it was fun to sit next to Christian. He thought it was cool to be able to ride with a big seat belt on and be able to shove his face into Sarah's chest and make her laugh. Anyway, my purpose for going was so that I could buy the kids some more bibs and sippy cups. Then we headed to the toy section and I found some FUN play food sets, some number magnets from the $1 section, and some foam letters for in the bath. It was a fun trip and I'm glad I was able to get the kids out! Here are some pics of the neat-o food:

And here they are having fun tossing it all around. :)

And here is what today has brought:

Not a clue if the tree was slanted like this before but the wind that is going outside is crazy. The interstate is closed from here to Canada the entire state is in a 'no travel advised' warning. So much for Bible study and the play date that J and I had planned today for the kids!! Now, here I am stuck in the house.

~

Sarah's surgery is set for tomorrow morning BRIGHT AND EARLY! I have to be there by 6:30am. I will let the family know how it goes after she is done. Pray for the anesthesiologist! That is my biggest worry about the whole thing.

I'm off to watch a movie so I can drown out this wind!!! Hope you all are having a great Monday.

Murphy Has Arrived

2010-01-22T13:42:00.003-06:00

Any Military Wife that reads this will know who Murphy is. Murphy is horribly rude. Murphy shows no respect. Murphy comes at the worst possible time.

I will have a proper update later. I have pictures to add and some recipes to type up. This morning drained me a bit and I'm going to rest. I leave you with Murphy:

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong"

Sarah's updates

2010-01-20T13:12:00.004-06:00

So, I've been slacking and haven't posted much. I've been trying to keep busy and not spend a lot of time on the internet. Somewhat of a New Year's Resolution, if you will! Plus, we have had some minor stresses of every day life... So it goes.

Anyways.

Sarah has had many appointments in the last few weeks. A few days after Christmas she had her well baby visit that I talked briefly about here. She had her xrays done and we were scheduled to meet with an ophthalmologist about her clogged tear duct. The 13th is when we saw the eye doctor. Every nurse/assistant we walked past made a comment about how cute Sarah was. Makes Mommy proud. Not to have a good looking baby, but to actually have said baby.

"On with the update, Crystal!!!"

The eye doctor examined her eyes and turned on an animated puppy on the wall. She thought this guy was nuts! She had this expression of 'Are you serious!?' on her face. It was exactly like this picture:

I asked question, he explained the procedure, I said that I wanted to go through with it, and he put in a referral to Tricare for the surgery. The greatest risk is actually the anesthesia rather than the surgery. And that makes me nervous. Such a little Princess having to be knocked out to get her eye poked! But January 26th is the day of her surgery. Matt will be gone, a friend is watching Christian, and I'll take Sarah into town. I'm going to be a basket-case the entire 30 minutes it will probably take for them to get it done. It's literally in-and-out. Then she'll get eye drops for a week after.

During the appointment with her eye I was told Sarah needed a physical. Heart and lungs need to be in working condition before anesthesia. At that appointment she was a few ounces heavier than a few weeks prior. That'a girl! She needed her blood pressure taken and she was less than pleased with that. Okay, very less than pleased. It was hold your breath cries with that. But she got a clean bill of health and is cleared for surgery. All will go as planned unless she gets a cold.

Before I left the Ped's office I got her xray results. The interpretations of the srays were 'in the upper range of normal and no further images needed unless clinically indicated'. Hooray!! That means that we don't have to worry anymore. She is walking well as far as we can tell. She has a bit of a hobble but we won't put any emphasis on it unless it starts to impede her walking. And I think the hobble is a-DOR-able!!!

So - in the medical department, that's that!

As far as home, Sarah is all over the place. She is climbing on the couches and it makes me so nervous. She could just fall right off the arm if she isn't careful. She of course thinks it's hilarious when I come running! She LOVES when Matt comes in the door. I think she is a little smitten with him. She even squeals a happy 'Daddyyyyyyyy!' when I open her door in the morning!

She loves her blanket and she cuddles with a teddy bear every night. She likes to play with Christian and they chase each other all over the basement. What he does, she wants to do as well. She still loves food, though she is getting a bit picky with sandwiches. She would rather pick them apart and throw the layers than eat it. Her brother is teaching her how to spit, too. That's sure girly of her isn't it?! :)

There you have it folks. A little update with the little lady of the house. I'll give the Grandmas a call after Sarah's surgery. You won't have to wait for a blog update. :-) haha

I've been a busy little bee!!

2010-01-13T20:42:00.006-06:00

I am determined to make our bedroom NOT look like a college mess. Minus the tiny twin bed...we have the grungy, no-time-to-clean look down! So I have ordered new curtains, I'm going to make a console table, repaint a dresser and hang something on the walls. I think in the five years we have been married there was the occasional photo, not framed, on the wall.

So here is my first attempt at making our bedroom look like a grownup room. It's a headboard!

The supplies. Foam, batting, fabric, staple gun (my very own!!!), staples, not pictured is the board and the glue gun.

I won't bore you with the process pictures on here but you can see them over on my facebook album here.
Here is the close up! Pretty, eh?

Ta-da!!!Can't wait to put it up!

Year In Review: November

2010-01-11T20:45:00.005-06:00

November started with a trip, minus children, to check out the base. Matt had already left a week or so prior. We drove by our house, checked out the gym, checked out some places in town, and I fell in love.

We also met with a couple that lives on base and went to lunch with them. :)

We tried to get some decent pictures of the kids. This is the best one that I got on my camera!

Sarah played with her food.

And she finally got enough hair that I could stick a clip in it!

And here is a bad quality cell phone picture of me helping make lefse for Thanksgiving!

By the end of the month Sarah was finally starting to walk while holding our fingers. Before she would just fall down when she didn't have a couch, or something similar, to hold onto.

The kids and I left Sioux Falls the last Saturday in November and made our way to our new home!

Ravioli Bolognese

2010-01-08T13:43:00.002-06:00

1 pkg frozen Rosetto ravioli or tortellini (any filling)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 medium onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1/4 c chicken broth (or red wine)
1 can (4oz) mushrooms, drained
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano or thyme

Prepare pasta as directed

Meanwhile, for sauce, place oil in pan and heat. Add beef, brown and drain, then stir in garlic and onion. Cool until soft. Mix in remaining and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta. Serves 4-6

Ragu Chicken Parmesan

2010-01-07T21:28:00.003-06:00

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 jar Ragu Chunky Garden Style Sauce
1 cup shredded moz cheese (about 4 oz)
Your choice of pasta

Heat oven to 400*. Dip chicken in egg, then into bread crumbs. In 9x13 dish, arrange chicken and bake for 15 minutes. Then pour Ragu over chicken, top with cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes. Serve with your choice of hot pasta.

Serves 4.

Taco Soup

2010-01-07T21:25:00.000-06:00

1/2 - 3/4 lb beef
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg dry ranch dressing

Brown and drain beef. Put all ingredients in pan, heat to serving temp. May also heat a taco shell, cut into strips and serve in soup. Leftovers keep well.

Weight Watcher Apple Salad

2010-01-07T21:06:00.002-06:00

2 large apples (can use 3)
1 can crushed pineapple - do not drain juice
1 box instant fat free butterscotch pudding mix
1 c mini marshmallows (I add a few per serving so that they don't get mushy when they are waiting to get eaten)
1/2 c pecan pieces
1 8oz tub fat free cool whip

Peel*, core and dice apples. Mix all ingredients. Chill.

1 cup = 1 point

*I have actually never peeled the apples any of the times I have made this. I'm a bit lazy. haha

Egg Casserole

2010-01-07T21:01:00.002-06:00

2 lbs ground pork Jimmy Dean sausage
4 slices of cubed white bread
12 eggs
2 c milk
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard
2 c grated cheddar cheese

Brown sausage and drain. Beat eggs, milk, salt, and mustard. Grease 9x13 pan and put the cubed bread on bottom. Sprinkle with sausage and 3/4 of the cheese. Top with egg mixture and remaining cheese. Bake 45 minutes at 350* or until set.

Feeds 10-12.

Rotelle with Tomato, Garlic & Shrimp

2010-01-07T20:54:00.001-06:00

8 oz (1/2 pkg) Martha Gooch Garden Rotelle*
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1/4 c red wine (opt)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (opt)
1 lb raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 c parsley, chopped

Cook pasta as directed, drain. Meanwhile, in large skillet, over medium heat, saute garlic until tender. Add tomatoes, wine and red pepper flakes if desired. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer 10 minutes. Add shrimp and parsley, cook 5 more minutes until shrimp is opaque and pink. Serve over pasta.

Serves about 4.

* This is a Walmart pasta brand. I usually just get whatever multi-colored spiral shell is cheapest. :)

Year In Review: September

2010-01-07T19:29:00.008-06:00

Ollie finally started coming around to Christian. But he has to be sitting down on the couch for him to really get close.

Sarah found a love for messy foods.

Christian acquired a new laugh that had us all in stitches.

Here is the video so you can hear it! Click HERE.

Sarah started to look like a little girl!

Christian got a new toy that Grandpa Kent found at a garage sale. He is going to LOVE this come summer time!
Sarah got her top teeth.
And her first pedicure.
Then at the end of the month both kids helped me make a Welcome Home sign for Daddy. He was leaving Hawaii for good and making his way to South Dakota in the following days.!!!

Sweet Potato and Pecan Casserole

2010-01-07T13:42:00.003-06:00

2 cans (40oz EACH) sweet potatoes, drained
8 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt

Topping:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 c all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 c cold butter

In large bowl, mash sweet potatoes. Add egg, sugar, flour vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth. Transfer to greased 9x13 dish.

In small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and pecans. But in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over potato mixture.

Bake uncovered at 325* for 60-70 minutes or until thermometer reads 160*. refrigerate leftovers.

~This is YUM. Feeds about 10-12 people.

Broccoli Casserole

2010-01-07T13:27:00.003-06:00

2 pkgs frozen broccoli florets (16oz EACH)
1 can (10 3/4oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups (6oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 can (6oz) french fried onions, divided

Cook broccoli according to package. Drain well. In large saucepan, combine soup, sour cream, 1 c cheese and 1 1/4 c onions. Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until heated through. Stir in broccoli.

Pour into greased 2qt dish. Bake, uncovered, at 325* for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and onions on top. Bake 10-15 minutes longer until cheese is melted.

~This recipe calls for two bags. DO NOT SKIMP! When I made this I just had a ton of fresh broccoli. After it was cooked it was just NOT enough for all the other ingredients. More broccoli the better!!!

Caramel Rolls!!!!!

2010-01-07T13:17:00.001-06:00

These are fabulous and I could eat a whole pan...if it didn't leave me grabbing my stomach in pain afterward. haha

2 frozen bread loaves
1/2 c butter
1 c brown sugar
1 large vanilla pudding (NOT instant!)
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Thaw bread but do not rise.

Break loaves into pieces and put into a greased 9x13 pan. Melt above ingredients - beat until smooth. Pour over bread.

Raise two hours then bake at 375* for 30 minutes. When you remove from oven let it stand in the pan for a few minutes and then invert on a platter.

~Try not to use foil as the caramel will stick to the foil easily.
~You can also make this up about 10pm the night before and make in the morning. Just mix like normal, cover with cloth then plastic. Bake in the morning.

ENJOY!

Kiddo Update

2010-01-06T21:50:00.004-06:00

Suppose with all the food posts I should add some kids in there too. Since they are so cute I could just eat them up!

Christian is a stinker! He steals toys from Sarah even if she was playing with them first. He pushes her over even though he thinks it's fun and playful. He hits, throws, tackles, and would probably bite if he knew he could do it! haha But, boy, does he LOVE his sister. It's cute. He will wrestle with her and let her crawl all over him and then say 'Saaaaraaaaaahhhhhhhh!' It's pretty cute. Then he will give her hugs. Last week he even wanted to hold her!

She was not thrilled. haha

He is also saying 'ya!' for yes! :) It's finally not a 'no' for everything. My boy is growing up! He is quite lovey and wants to sit on me a lot. Has the best squeezes for hugs. Loves to come upstairs and wake us up in the morning. Do note that Mommy does NOT like this! But he's a stinker! Still picky with food, throws his water off the table, and doesn't like to listen when I tell him not to do something. But he has the cutest eyes, sweetest smile, and best high fives. :) Can you tell he's a punk but I like him????

Sarah Bear had her well baby visit last week. She's almost 25 lbs and her height, head circumference, and weight are all waaaay up there on the growth curve. She's a big'un. She got 5 shots in her legs and she hated it, of course. Then we got her an xray of her hips and hopefully the results will be back soon. Next Wednesday she goes in for an office visit about her eye. So we'll see what they say and if anything needs to be done about the duct.

Walking isn't much of a challenge for her anymore. She still gets off balance once in a while, especially if the brother comes behind her and shoves her over, and she circles all over the place. And she can go fast!! She grabbed my phone the other day and when she saw me coming she took off! So cute. :)

We had a great Christmas with Matt's parents and sister. The kid's got some nice gifts, as did Matt and myself. Now we have to figure out when we are going to get together with my parents!! Hopefully not too long from now.

~

It's cold here today! Negative by the dozens and winds about 70 mph the last I heard. EEEPPP!!! I won't be going outside unless I have to. Plus, we are all slightly sick. I've had a scratchy throat and today my nose started to get stuff. Kids have had slight fevers. Matt woke up this evening with a soar throat. He works all night, too, so he is hoping to get home a few hours early.

Anyway! All is good here. Looking forward to Friday. We FINALLY bought a new dining room table! I'll post pictures when we have it all set up. :)

Tuna Noodle Casserole

2010-01-06T21:10:00.003-06:00

I know what you are saying. 'Ew, gross. When has tuna noodle casserole ever been GOOD?!'

Well, this one is. This is the first recipe that we have both loved. :) And it's from Matt's Grandma M. Thanks, it was a hit!

6 oz. medium egg noodles (about 3.5 c)
1 7oz can tuna (I did two small 5oz cans since we like tuna)
1/2 c mayo
1 c sliced celery
1/3 c chopped onion
1/4 c diced green chilis
1/4 c chopped pimento
1 tsp salt
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 c milk
1 c shredded cheese
1/2 c slivered toasted almonds (opt)

Cook noodles in boiling salted water until tender, drain.
Combine noddles, drained tuna, mayo, veggies, and salt.
Blend soup and milk, heat through. Add cheese.
Add to noodle mixture and turn into 1 1/2 qt casserole.
Top with almonds. (I just did crushed saltines)
Bake at 425* for 20-25 minutes.
Makes about 6-8 servings.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

2010-01-06T21:00:00.005-06:00

Meatballs

1 pound beef or turkey
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/4 c milk
2 tblsp finely chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 Worcestershire sauce
1 egg

Mix all ingredients. Shape into 1 1/2 in balls. Cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Or cook at 400* until brown, about 20-25 minutes. Set aside.

1/2 c packed b. sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 can (13 1/4oz) pineapple chunks
1/3 c vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped

Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in skillet. Stir in pineapple with its juice, vinegar and soy sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally, reduce heat. Add meatballs. Cover, simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Stir in green pepper. Cover, simmer until slightly tender, 5 minutes.

I serve this with cooked rice.

This recipe is great! If you have more than 3 adults I would double the recipe for sure!

Meat Loaf

2010-01-06T20:56:00.004-06:00

2 eggs
2 lbs ground beef (I use turkey, it's a bit moister I think)
2 c bread crumbs (I usually just take a few bread slices and zap them in the blender a bit)
Med-Lg onion, chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 c milk
2 tbsp Worcestershire

Combine. Bake 1 hour at 350*.

Lasagna

2010-01-06T20:42:00.003-06:00

1 lbs ground beef
1 med onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves
1 can (16oz) stewed tomatoes
2 can (6oz) tomato paste
1 can (10 3/4oz) tomato puree
1 tbsp dried basil

3 c cottage cheese
1 1/2 c parm cheese
2 lg eggs, slightly beaten
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1 pkg lasagna noodles
1 lbs moz cheese slices

Cook noodles al dente while mixing other ingredients.

Cook beef, garlic and onions together. Drain grease. Stir in tomatoes, paste, puree, and basil. Simmer 30 minutes.

Combine cottage cheese and next five items.

Place half of the noodles in the bottom of your casserole dish. Spread 1/3 to half the cottage cheese mixture on top of noodles. Top with half of the cheese slices.
Spoon meat mixture over cheese.
Remaining noodles, then cottage cheese mix, and then cheese slices go on top.

Bake 40 minutes at 375*

~The layering can sometimes get complicated. Just remember to put noodles on the bottom!!

Again, this is a fabulous recipe to freeze in large quantities. :)

Chicken Enchiladas

2010-01-06T20:32:00.005-06:00

3 medium-large chicken breasts - boil with carrots, celery, garlic, onions (and whatever else you would like to add) for two hours. Cool and shred. *Save the stock for another recipe!

8oz shredded pepperjack cheese
small can diced green chilis
1/2 cup salsa

Mix above ingredients well.

Divide into 8-10 small shells or 6-7 large shells. Sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top.

Mix one can of cream of chicken soup with 1 pint of whipping cream. Pour over top of shells. Bake 30 minutes at 350* or until lightly browned.

Caesar Chicken Casserole

2010-01-06T20:27:00.005-06:00

Another great freeze ahead meal!

2lbs cooked chicken, cubed
1/2 c red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 c green onions, chopped
1/3 c light creamy Caesar dressing*
1/2 c chicken broth
1 1/2 c Moz cheese, grated
1-12oz pkg tubed pasta, slightly undercooked
1/4 c croutons

Top with crushed croutons. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until bubbly and brown.

~When freezing this recipe, omit the croutons until the day you thaw and bake.

*Editor's note: Next time I make this I will be adding more Caesar dressing. It was a bit dry for our liking**. Great taste though!!

**Another friend of mine made this. She added a bit more dressing to the recipe before baking and then a little bit to her bowl after she dished it up and said it was perfect.

Cheesy Potatos

2010-01-06T20:17:00.004-06:00

I'm sure there are many recipes like this out there. Probably the exact same one for all I know. But it is SOOOOOO good. I made some extra for Matt to take to work one night and the guy that he shared it with was in love and asked me to make more.

This is also a very easy recipe to freeze ahead of time!!!!!

1 pkg frozen hash brown cubes - roughly 32 oz
1/2 c chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
10 oz grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup melted butter (make sure it is melted!!!)
1 pint (16oz) sour cream.
crushed corn flakes

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Put in large casserole dish and sprinkle crushed corn flakes on top. Bake 45min-1hr at 350*.

~You can also add kielbasa sausage to your mix if you want some meat.

It has been brought to my attention..

2010-01-06T20:08:00.002-06:00

...that I need to post more recipes. I concur.

Your wish is my command!

Year In Review: August

2010-01-04T10:56:00.001-06:00

August was spent looking at fireflies, helping Grandpa Kerry fix the deck, and splashing in the pool.

Christian's imagination grew:

And so did Sarah's personality!

The trial of the month was another try at potty training.

T'was a no-go.

Year In Review: July

2010-01-03T22:13:00.007-06:00

July 1st we arrived back on our Home Turf of South Dakota. Sarah met Grandpa Kerry for the first time:

She also got her first baby doll from Great Grandma Wava - which is their first meeting as well!

For the Fourth of July we spent time at my Aunt and Uncle's house at the lake in MN. We had ALL the great grand kids on my Mom's side. Nine total. One boy. Christian. :)

He also liked the lake a lot better than the ocean. He even walked out so far that he fell over from a little wave!

Sarah's first time in the swing and Christian's first time walking dogs happened this month.

Christian also rode on Ollie. He was MY childhood toy!

July was a great month!

2010-01-01T11:38:00.001-06:00

We spent NYE/D opening presents for a belated Keefer Christmas. Pictures to come later! Now it's time to go table shopping for the dining room. Wish us luck!

2009-12-30T14:22:00.001-06:00

Got my id taken away at the gate today. Long time coming sice it expired in Sept! Now I'm waiting at the MPF for a new one. Better be a cute picture!

Year In Review: June

2009-12-28T20:17:00.008-06:00

June started with our 5th wedding anniversary! We took the kids to dinner with us at Ruby Tuesday. They did very well and we had quite a few comments on how cute they were. :)

Christian did LOTS of playing outside. We filled our feeders often for the birds and we even found one of their little nests on the ground.

Christian also found his love for the water hose. He played in it often. I even taught him how to drink from it after watching him try to do it himself.
His way:

My way:

Sarah was still cute as a button eating my camera strap:

We went to the Giant Insect Safari at the mall:

We stopped by the Bishop Museum to look at some of the history and 'fun facts' of Hawaii:

After some fun weekends spent in Hawaii I got an early birthday present. Matt got plane tickets for the kids and me to fly home to Sioux Falls while he went on another TDY to Korea (and finished up all the notsofun tasks of getting our duty station changed). It was a great surprise as I didn't think I would be getting to fly back until a few weeks later! The kids and I said our goodbyes to Hawaii, and to Daddy, and were off for SOUTH DAKOTA!!!

Year In Review: May

2009-12-28T18:53:00.008-06:00

May was another semi-busy month with everything going on with Sarah.

Christian did quite a bit of playing in the backyard with his friend Madison and talking with the stuffed animals.
Here he is setting them up and was talking to the puppy. It was the first time I think I saw him 'pretend play' with some of the stuffed animals.

Sarah sat in a high chair for the first time! She enjoyed it a lot. She got to read the drink menu while Mommy was able to eat with TWO hands!

A few days into May we had Sarah's 6-month well baby visit. She was found to have bilateral hip dysplasia. She had x-rays, was put in for a referral for an Orthopedic Pediatric Surgeon consult, and I was left to worry my head off. Her consult happened at the END of the month so it was a good three weeks of me being able to worry. :(

And of course a few days before the consult, where we were 100% certain she would be getting some sort of brace for her hips, she starts to sit up!!! It was bittersweet since we knew she wouldn't be able to move much after she got the brace.

And here she is with the brace:

She took to it surprisingly well after the first week. We got into a routine and it became part of her.

And Christian got his first real haircut with the clippers rather than me hacking at him with scissors in the tub. haha

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T18:48:00.001-06:00

From The Keefers!

Year In Review: April

2009-12-24T15:38:00.001-06:00

Some big things happened this month. Sarah moved out of our bedroom and into her own room. I struggled with putting her in another room but I knew it was time. I was losing a lot of sleep having her IN my room. Thankfully, it worked out great!

We searched for sea turtles:

Christian swung on a BIG playset. Normally he would go into those bucket swings but he was trying to get on the big kid one. So, who are we to say no? He had a blast even if he was only being swung a foot forward and back! :) (Sarah watched while I did most of the pushing and picture taking)

Sarah had her first solids. Applesauce, avocado, peaches and banana! Not all at once, though. They were spread apart over a week span. :)

Christian had his first official speech therapy session in April. Although there was a lot of preparation done in March, his first meeting with his therapist was this month. He did well and we learned a lot!

Matt's work put on an Easter event for all the kids. It was fun. Christian got to play with bubbles and pick up eggs and candy. He enjoyed running away from Matt more than anything else! This link here will take you to all the pictures from the day but here are a few for you here:

The end of the month closed with Sarah getting her first tooth, going for her first dip in the pool, and attempting to roll over! Big changes for the girl.

Year In Review: March

2009-12-23T11:36:00.001-06:00

March was a busy month for all of us!!

Christian helped Daddy pack for Korea:

We went to Oahu's very first Target. The kids and I went to the Grand Opening!

Flat Stanley joined us and he had a photo op with a security guy! (Throughout March/April/May I helped my cousin with his F.S. project. You can see more of the pictures Here!)

Grandma Nancy came to visit while Matt was gone. We went quite a few places with the kiddos:

Dole Plantation

Sea Life Park

McDonald's on Pearl Harbor so we could see the ships. Christian got his first McD's breakfast!

And to the Sea Breeze on Hickam overlooking the ocean:

We also did A LOT of cooking!

The fruits of our labor. I had 17 dishes prepared and frozen. :)

Nancy's visit came to and end and Matt would soon be returning from Korea. Two days prior to Christian's Second Birthday we were a family of four. He came home sick but we were glad to give him all the love in the world. He brought back a pretty cool hat!

On the 26th our Bubba turned TWO! He spent the entire day of his birthday with Daddy - like this:
On a mattress in the living room. Poor guys. haha

He was so sick. They barely moved. So instead of making him do cake and presents we waited until the day after. He felt better but sure didn't look better! He wasn't fond of the cake but he enjoyed ripping into his presents.

March was a great month. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Year In Review: January & February

2009-12-20T10:09:00.007-06:00

January

January started off with myself out of commission. I threw my back out on New Year's Eve. I was crippled with pain and had to find a chiropractor and quick! After a few weeks worth of adjustments, rehabilitation started, and I was on the mend. As I said in the post back in January: I would have rather broken a leg. I bet I could have moved more with a cast on my leg than a 'broken' back.

Anne was here the first week of January. Lifesaver! It was great to see her and she enjoyed spending time with the kids...so helpful as I had thrown out my back a few days after she arrived!

Like Father, Like Son:

I started my Project 365 and failed miserably. I think I made it just over a month and didn't even take a picture every day. Maybe this next year?? haha!

Christian loved on Sarah.

BOTH children were sick. Sarah wasn't even three months old and she was having some major congestion and her fever was quite high. Many doses of infant Tylenol, nose suctions, humidifier, and sleepless nights later, she was feeling better. Christian was taken to the ER by Matt one night as his fever just wasn't going down. They didn't know what he had and told us to let it pass. Easier said than done. He was sick as a dog. But they both recovered fine as they are still alive and will be celebrating Christmas with us. HA!

February

Christian started using plates and big boy sippy cups. Took him long enough! He was a big fan of his bottle and didn't want to use anything else because he was afraid of the liquids coming towards his face.
He also started potty training. I was going to see if I could get anything accomplished before he turned two. He hated it, wasn't ready, screamed bloody murder, refused to sit there. So we put the kibosh on that!

The boys got a new toy.

Christian had a love for water that did not involve the ocean.

Valentine's Day was spent at the pool with some friends. Christian LOVES the sprinklers.

And Sarah tried to show Christian who the real star of the Keefer's is.

Christmas Letter and Picture

2009-12-19T22:26:00.002-06:00

They have finally been COMPLETED!!! But now I'm running out of ink in both the printer and the Kodak printer dock that I have. So, I have to run and get more to finish up the rest.

Also, please, keep checking back for a "Year In Review: 2009". In the years past I have done it all in one post. I will be changing it up this year and do a month or two at a time. Sort of a 'keep you coming back for more' game. :)

May Jesus always be
your joy, your hope, your song.
And may this Christmas
and each day of the new year
be directed by His guiding hand of love!

The Bubba Pees!!!!

2009-12-16T13:00:00.001-06:00

The other day I started potty training (PT). I was so sick of his lack of normal...uh...poopage. I will spare the details. Let's just say that it would be days of tiny poops here and there that finally led to, after lots of pushing, a normal sized bowel movement (BM). So, with only four disposable diapers left in the house for him, I put him in the big boy undies that I had bought a few days ago.

In the first two days of PT he tried to make a BM in the undies but I quickly put him on the potty, much to his opposition. So, technically, he didn't actually go himself in the potty. It was half-forced since he was in the middle of going. haha

Either way, he got two stickers for putting his BM in the potty. After each time I would tell him that he gets one more star for going pee!!! Coaxing, and pleading, and sweet talk didn't make him want to pee.

But, day three of potty training (this time) and about six wet accidents later (I still used the diapers at naps and bedtime) he went pee on the potty!!!! I actually wasn't even in the room when he did it. I told him to sit on the potty and watch Wubbzy so I could go upstairs and put Sarah down for her nap. I come down to him still sitting there. As soon as he sees me he stands up and says, 'Pee!' I look, and sure enough, there it is! Mommy squealed with delight, high-fived, and told Son he would get his sticker.

Then as soon as he got the sticker he wanted to sit down and pee again! And again, and again, and again. He peed a total of six times in about a 15-minute span. Wow!!

Mommy and Daddy are PROUD.

Here are his past, and now present, potty pictures!

And beware, he IS naked in this picture! I think he was a bit embarrased that I was taking a picture of him after getting so excited about him peeing. haha This was after his second pee. :-)

Well now we are about a week into this and he seems to be doing well. He holds most of his pee in and doesn't seem to get everything out when he is on the potty but he is getting it! Go, Christian, Go!!!

The Princess Child Walks!

2009-12-12T10:26:00.006-06:00

When my Dad was here to drop off a trailer full of stuff Sarah took a few steps from him on the couch to a chair about a foot away. I missed it, of course! In the days following she would lift up a foot and put it back down an inch or so away from where it was. She was trying to figure it out. Never one to back down from a challenge, she persisted, and finally was able to take a few steps. She even stood up in the middle of the room a few times to take a step towards a toy or the couch!

I never seemed to be able to grab the camera fast enough to get it on video so one night I basically made her do it. haha Then the next day I made sure I had the camera while we were playing on the floor and I was able to coax her a bit. :-) Enjoy the videos!

You'll have to go to the website where the videos are uploaded. They are being cut off in the blog for some reason.
Video One

*Don't mind Christian in his skivvies in this one!! haha We are working on the potty training.
Video Two

And here is a special one for Auntie Annie!!
Video Three

Bacon Potato Soup

2009-12-08T23:20:00.003-06:00

8 slices of bacon cut into 1/2" pieces
1/4 c chopped onion
2 c chopped potato
1 c water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 c milk
1 c sour cream
American cheese as desired (I used cheddar)

I also doubled this recipe when I made it. :-) Since I doubled it I did not have enough cream of chicken soup or sour cream so I added a cup of chicken broth. Yum!

In a 3qt saucepan, cook bacon until brown**. Add onions, cooking until tender. Add potatoes, water (and the chicken broth I added to recipe), salt and pepper. Continue cooking until potatoes are tender. Reduce heat to low, stir in soup, milk and sour cream. Cook until heated through, adding cheese if you want. Ham instead of bacon also works well. If it is too thin you can add potato flakes to thicken.

**Next time I make this I will be saving the bacon until the end. I like mine crispy so I will be leaving it out to sprinkle on the top of my heaping bowl of potato goodness. :-) Matt liked the bacon IN the soup so I will most likely just make a batch, half it, and put the bacon in his and mine without.

Enjoy ladies and gents. It's a fabulous soup that I will be making again soon.

New Chapter

2009-12-08T15:51:00.006-06:00

Well we have spent a week in our new house. And it has gone great! Aside from some very long first days of unpacking and a little girl teething it was a wonderful week back together as a family. Poor Sarah....was working on two molars and a front tooth all at the same time. :( She was not having fun. Mommy was trying to unpack a million boxes ans she wanted me to just hold her. But she is good now.

We have their play area/basement all done. The kids' rooms are done and all we have to do is move the extra dresser from our bedroom to Christian's. This week I'll be putting away all my craft stuff and trying to get our master bedroom in order. A lot of the boxes were thrown in there and as a result unpacked in there. Just a lot of putting away, organizing, and throwing away of junk and we'll be done!

The other day the boys went outside to play in the snow. Christian had pretty much been begging to go play with the snowflakes. I said they could go out while I finished making dinner. And a quick shot of our inflatable nativity scene!

I took these next few pictures from inside our sliding glass door. They were off at the playground behind our house. So I had to zoom in close and hope they weren't very blurry.

And here is the soup!!! It was so stinkin' good. I will be making it A LOT more. It was Nancy's Bacon Potato Soup. But next time I think I will leave the bacon out and sprinkle it on top of each of my servings. I like my bacon super crispy (and it was before I put it in the soup) and when you put it into the soup they get a bit soggy. Matt didn't mind it that way but I have lots of quirks with food. haha Here is the finished product!

Christian has been asking about the puppies. And today when I put him down for a nap he asked about Mindy and Callie. I said they were at their house. He said, "Papa house?" I said yes and that they were going to take a nap, too, in hopes of getting him to go down for his easily. Then he said "Mindy Callie Papa house Annie Mama (Grandma Nancy)" - which translates to "Mindy and Callie are at Papa's house with Annie and Grandma". I said, "You are right! They are all going to take a nap. They are tired. Mommy and Daddy are going to take a nap, too." And as soon as I shut his door, Matt and I did take a nap. I feel like I got run over. I slept pretty hard. But it was much needed.

Christian also asked about somebody else today but it wasn't anybody from home. It was about the little boy we babysat yesterday. There is a gal from Matt's work that needed some help with childcare. We said we would do it (Matt was home, too). So the kids had a playmate for the day. They all did really well. His name is Josiah, Jo Jo for short, and he is a couple months younger than Christian I believe. Definitely NOT the same size. Josiah was just barely taller than SARAH!!! And she totally outweighed him by a few pounds. :-) That's our girl!

Matt works nights the next three nights so he took a nap with me today and will sleep for a few more hours this evening. He has to stay up as late as he can tonight and sleep tomorrow sometime. He hasn't done shift work since Ellsworth so it is throwing him for a bit of a loop. And they keep switching the schedule around so he gets prepared for a certain work schedule and he has to re-do it. Sort of frustrating but we are handling it. He is still in training for stuff and will hopefully get certified next month. Fingers crossed!!

Here is a picture from when Christian continued to get into Sarah's crib after I repeatedly told him, and spanked him a few times, that he couldn't. So I had to snap a picture and take a video like a good Mommy should! :-P

I'll post the video at our website later.

All for now. Tacos for supper tonight and movies for the adults after the kids go to bed. Matt has to stay up late and I've been recording movies on the DVR like crazy!

Have a good week everyone. <3

2009-12-02T12:50:00.001-06:00

Teething, coughing, and Matt's long hours at work make for slow unpacking. I'm passing time during naps by resizing a bagillion pictures for notoriouskeef.com!

2009-12-01T21:50:00.001-06:00

The house is almost completely unpacked! Just a garage full of crap left. Internet on Thursday! Yahoooo!

That Thing You Do

2009-11-23T22:27:00.003-06:00

Alternately called: The Crazy Things My Kids Seem To Do

Some days I feel like I need a tag team partner! Slap a hand and step out of the ring for a little bit. Today would be one of those days. I think the kiddos conspired to make today a long one for me. Nothing really went 'right'. Except for them sleeping until 8:30am. And now that I think about it my day could have been even longer had they gotten up at 7am like they usually do. Hallelujah today was a good day!

And about it not being 'right'. Sarah started the day with a snotty nose. She has been cranky the last few. This can only mean one thing: teeth!! I pray it isn't molars. Not yet! She was very clingy and cried when anything was taken from her. First it was a toy of Christian's. He snatched it away and the waterworks started. Then it was a pen that I took away for fear that she would somehow manage to fall into it and gouge out an eyeball. Then it was my phone. Then it was a toothbrush that she managed to gag herself on twice.

I was on the phone with Matt during one of her 'moments' and he asked if she was being a priss. I said, "A priss? Try princess! This girl is going to fight for what she wants!!" The little woman seriously doesn't back down that easy. I think she gets her stubbornness from her ~~mother~~ father.

And the boy... Oh, the boy. For not even being three he is quite agile and quick. He is very good at throwing, kicking, running, jumping, rolling, etc. Seems to have a knack for the athletics. Wouldn't have guessed that today!!! The boy fell off so many pieces of furniture. Twice off the large recliner. Few times off of the plastic box that holds wrapping paper. Then off the back of the couch! He has a nice one inch bruise on his cheek from his face hitting the window sill. He even tried to use his firetruck as a skateboard and completely wiped out on the kitchen floor.

As far as what the kiddos have been doing development wise:
Christian is still learning new words. He still can't say most of them correctly, as in not completing the whole word or saying it backwards, but he can usually get the point across. He knows the names of his favorite cartoons. He asks for Wubbzy first, then Diego, then Dora and Boots. He even talks along with them! :) I'm glad he likes them.

Sarah can now walk while holding onto our hands. She wants to do it on her tiptoes and go really fast so I'm trying to get her to slow down and concentrate. She also talks/babbles a lot, loves to look outside the window with the dogs and Christian, loves food, loves flipping through books to 'read', dances, blows kisses, says 'uh-oh' a million times a day, helps pick up toys, loves to play in the water, loves her brother, and is just an absolute joy to be around (except today....). ha!

Well, in non kid related news we have news! Matt picked up the keys and signed for our house today!!!!!!!! But the bad news is that it isn't the floor plan OR the house originally posted here. It is the next house down! hahahaha Oh, well. I was bummed at first but after seeing videos from Matt I'm super excited!

Here is a video of the kitchen/dining area as well as a quick glimpse of 'upstairs'. Makes for an interesting layout but we already know where our things are going. Will be exciting to take 'after' pictures. Yay!!

So that is all for now. Not sure how many times I'll get on and post this week since it's Thanksgiving and all. But once we get internet up at the new house I'll be back on to upload the millions of pictures I have. Ta ta!

Black Friday Awaits

2009-11-17T23:00:00.004-06:00

Dear Kohl's And Sears;

I will be seeing you at 4am. I pray my turkey induced slumber will not keep me from your glassy front doors.

Please be kind to me and my fellow shoppers. I promise not to cut in line, jab elbows, step on toes, spit in faces, pull ponytails, run people over, yell profanities, or go running widely down the aisle with my cart.

Oh, who am I kidding?! There will be no prisoners!!!!!!!

Almost Home!

2009-11-15T22:09:00.003-06:00

According to the housing office up in Grand Forks we should be able to get the keys to the house sometime next weekend or the following week. So, before the original December 11 date. Hooray! Matt is coming down to Sioux Falls for Thanksgiving and will be taking us all up to go HOME with him! Ahh...that sounds wonderful. Home.

I have absolutely loved being here at my parents house but I'm...done. I want my own bed. My own closets. My own bathroom. My own pillows. My own kitchen with my awesome new pans. My own washer and dryer so that I can do cloth diapers. My own furniture. Rooms for the kids with their stuff inside. Ahh...that sounds wonderful. Home.

Once we get up there and get settled I have sooooooooooo many pictures to get up for you all to see. I know that I post some here and there on the blog but I seriously have so much more. I also have to scrap book like a crazy lady. I have to finish both books of Christian's and start both of Sarah's. Oy.

I have to look in my camera at all the pictures to see what we have been doing the last month or so. haha! I take a few with my phone since that always seems to be handy. Here is one of me making lefse the other day with Nancy and Marilyn (Matt's Mom and Grandma).

And one each of the kiddos!

I'll be typing my little fingers off in a few weeks getting up posts and pictures. Here are a few of the highlights that will be coming...
1) Fall festival at church on Halloween night
2) The Joy of Box Sliding
3) Sarah and Matt's joint birthday party
and
4) Moving Day (of course!)

All for now. I'm headed to bed!

testing

2009-11-13T12:34:00.001-06:00

testing

--
~*Crystal Keefer*~

**okay so i can post from my email and from my phone to the blog!! Anybody know how I can post pictures from my phone?!?!?!

Note to self:

2009-11-09T14:18:00.003-06:00

Make many appointments for the children when you are finally living in Grand Forks!

We are going to be B.U.S.Y.! Just the kids alone have SIX appointments. Wowza.

Sarah needs:
#1 Regular checkup for growth, etc.
#2 Her hips need to get x-rayed and checked to make sure they are OK.
#3 Her tear duct is STILL clogged and needs to be taken care of.

Christian needs:
#1 Regular checkup come his third birthday.
#2 Speech therapy needs to start ASAP!
#3 He has an extra tooth that might need to be pulled. Have to take him to the dentist to find out for sure.

THEN, both Matt and I need appointments! We both need a yearly checkup, I need to get to the dentist to have a filling checked because of piece of it chipped off, and Matt also needs a dental check. Then the one he is dreading...he needs to get his hearing checked.

What?
I said he needs to get his hearing checked!

Say it with me folks:

THANK GOODNESS FOR TRICARE!!!!!

Welcome to North Dakota!

2009-11-09T10:34:00.005-06:00

I saw this sign for the first time this past weekend. I have once, very long ago, taken a very short drive into, and back out of, North Dakota when I was in college. A bunch of us went to someone's house in Lemmon, SD. Very small town with nothing to do. So we drove around a bit and one little road was my journey through North Dakota. Not very 'cool'.

But this last weekend I went up to North Dakota with intentions of seeing the base, meeting a few people, looking at our house, and figuring out if I liked the place. All events were a success!!!!

I took of from Sioux Falls Friday afternoon after I got the kids fed and into bed for naps. Grandpa Kent took over and I headed out. One straight drive North, and many constructions areas later, I made it to the base. Very small compared to Hickam, HI but it reminded me so much of Ellsworth, SD. I'm telling you, Grand Forks felt like night and day compared to the last three years we just lived. And I smile thinking about it. I kid you not, I was giddy on my drive up. I'm looking forward to living in a place that has lots of things to do in the summer. There are even camp grounds right on base!! There is also a horse stable (more on that later). The outdoor recreation center has so many boats to choose from for rent, along with camping gear and anything else you can think of to do in the Great Outdoors. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself!

So as soon as I get up there we headed across the street from the motel Matt is staying in to JR Rockers. It's the Air Force restaurant. We went to the one on Hickam quite often. Good food and they have darts and pool!! Anyways, we went there to grab something to eat since we were starving and to meet some of the people that worked there. Matt has been busy chatting up the place since he moved. He has even gone hunting with a few of them. After we ate we just hung out in the hotel. We were tired.

Saturday started with some breakfast in bed for Matt. He said he rarely had breakfast so I figured I'd make him some. He enjoyed that. Then we went to Texas Roadhouse and met up with someone I had talked to online at one of my military websites. It's just a forum that I go to where many military wives/fiances/girlfriends go and support each other. It's a great place where I met MANY people in Hawaii. North Dakota does not have a huge demographic on the site (no brainer there???) but I did manage to talk with a few people from Grand Forks a while back about housing. So we decided to meet up and have lunch with B&J. (Hello if you are reading!!!!) It was a great time with some good conversation. We had quite a few things in common. I have a feeling we won't be strangers. :-)

Plus, B has a horse on base at the stables! Matt was actually a little excited and he wants to ride it. B said yes. :) I think Christian would love it as well even though he has only been on the little horses. Bigger can be better! It was just a great lunch and I'm glad we met them.

After lunch we both passed out. We were so tired from the night before. The walls are super thin and we heard everything. Nice place to live, not a nice place to sleep. haha After our naps we got prettied up to go to the karaoke night at JR Rockers. I did not sing. I cannot sing. I will not sing. End.Of.Story. Most of the people that sang did country. Matt was not impressed. I thought it was funny. Matt was getting annoyed by the songs so he actually went through the book of songs to find one to sing. But it was mostly country.... haha! So he put in a request for some crazy rock song for the next time they do karaoke.

Sunday was a gloomy day out. We tried to sleep in only to be woken up by the kids in the next suite...again. I made some breakfast for us. Nothing on base is open before noon on Sundays so there wasn't much to do. We cuddled and watched some tv. With how the day was looking we decided I better take off early. Good thing I did since it started raining the second I drove off the base. Was a semi-long drive home with the rain but I made it in good time. Got back in time to see the kids and put them to bed myself. I missed them. Matt misses them. Was a good weekend though. I love the area and am so glad that we have already made a few friends!

Here are a few pictures I took. Edited to add-I have NO idea why they are so small!!!

The drive up there. Done MANY times in my college days:

Our house!

Us:

The sunset on the drive back to Sioux Falls. SO pretty :)

2009-11-03T22:17:00.001-06:00

testing

More waiting...

2009-10-30T13:04:00.002-05:00

So here is an update on the housing situation. The four bedroom that we were told we could get was not correct info. Whoever told that to Matt did not know what they were talking about. So, boo to that! We do still get a three bedroom but one won't be available until DECEMBER 11!!! So I'm STILL at my parents house with the kids while Matt is up in a hotel on base. The plan is for me to visit him next weekend to go have a mini tour of the base and to look at one of the churches we are interested in.

Other than that, nothing new with Grand Forks.

~~

In kid news....

Christian is very good at saying no. :( Boo to that as well! But he is still precious and funny. He was kind enough to inform me the other day that I did not have poop in my pants. Thanks, Son!!

Sarah's poor eye. She has been to the doc once for antibiotics because it can get so red. That cleared it right up but now it seems to get red quite often. We still have leftover drops for it that seem to keep the redness at bay but we really need to get it checked out. Clogged ducts usually clear up by a year but her doesn't seem to be changing at all. So, I'm pretty sure we will need to go in and get it taken care of by a procedural method of some kind. Not looking forward to that!!

I'm trying to get Sarah down to one nap a day so that it can be at the same time as Christian's. The last two days that I have tried it have gone well. Today went smoothly too.

Christian's appetite seems to be on a winning streak lately. He eats pretty normal and even asks for more fruits. He loves grapes, pineapple, watermelon and most of the time, blueberries. Yay! He still doesn't like crusts or being sticky.

~~

Okay, I think that is it for now. I'm going to sit in the recliner and relax for a minute before I clean up the kids' mess. Thanks for reading me today!

To North Dakota He Went!

2009-10-26T10:55:00.004-05:00

This past Sunday Matt took off for North Dakota. This week he will inprocess, find out what his job will entail, and HOPEFULLY be able to get us a house! Busy week for him.

The kids and I stayed behind even though we could have gone with him. But we had no clue how long it would take to get a house so we thought it easier to just stick around until we are called on by the Hubby. haha

The past few weeks seemed to fly by. We tried to do a lot and relax a lot. Matt got a lot of hunting gear. He shot a pheasant on his first day out and it happened to be a 'game' pheasant from Cabella's in Mitchell. It had a tag on it's leg so they brought it in and were told it was 1 of 100 birds that the store let go. It was a chance at $1 million dollars!!!! We didn't win.... And if we had I wouldn't put it on the blog for the world to see anyways! I would have cousins I didn't know about asking me for money. It was a cool first bird to shoot though! Here he is with it:

Sarah is standing up on everything! She sorta scoots along the couches but not much. She might be walking soon. Her birthday is also TOMORROW!!!! My baby girl will be ONE. The last year flew by.

Christian finally got a hair cut. It was getting so long! He looks good with it short. :) He is a stinker and tries to get away with stuff but he's still super cute. He's a Momma's Boy right now. Too much at bedtime though. Wants me to read anything and everything, kiss all the animals, get more animals, get water, change his pj's...on and on and on!

Christian is also obsessed with this cartoon:

This is Wubbzy. Sometimes it is the first thing out of his mouth when he leaves his room. He wants to sit on the couch and watch Wubbzy. It's certainly better then some stupid cartoon shows but he wants it ALL.THE.TIME. A plus to Wubbzy? I know what his 3rd Birthday party theme will be!

Not much with me. Trying to put our stuff together to figure out what needs to be taken from my parents house and Matt's parents house up to Grand Forks. It's A LOT is all I know. Going to need a U-Haul for sure. I'm also sick. I thought I had just lost my voice from having a lot of late movie nights with Matt but it turns out I'm actually sick! No voice, coughing, stuffy nose and head. But NO fever which is good. Keep that piggy flu away!

Not much else. I'll let you know about our housing situation as soon as I do! :)

2009-10-15T12:21:00.007-05:00

I have been pretty bad about blogging for you all and getting pictures up for you to see. So I'll put some here to show the last few weeks in review. Ready. Set. Go!

Sarah is now a little beaver with her two top teeth. They are in further than this picture and she is also working on a tooth to the right of the top ones. She is a much better teether than she was when the bottom two came in. :)

Sarah's first pedicure courtesy of Auntie Anne. I got my toes done before heading to St. Louis also.

We made a sign for Matt to see when we pulled up to the house on our way back from St. Louis. I wanted to have Christian put his hand print on it as well as Sarah's feet prints.

Christian wasn't going to put his hand in paint. He backed waaaaay up!

We convinced him to paint a little then Anne snuck in to hold him and we quickly got a yellow hand on the sheet.

Daddy back with his babies!

Sarah is now an avid reader of books! She sat on both Grandpas laps for a very long time just looking at pictures, talking to them, and flipping pages. Maybe she will be the bookworm of the two?! Here she is talking and pointing.

Sarah has also found out how to wrestle! She will crawl over to Christian when he is on the floor and tries to climb on top of him. Christian played along this day and put his legs around her to hold her in place.

It didn't help all that much because she got higher. :)

She also pulls herself up to stand sometimes. And of course I missed the first three times she did it! I finally saw it when she stood up at the couch next to Grandpa Kent. I caught a few pictures of her at the dishwasher trying to stand up a few days ago. She did it! Then of course when I went to get a video of it she just crawled around.

Christian is a lover of Wubbzy. I can't stand the show but he asks for it almost every morning. Blue's Clues was his favorite. I wish it still was because my ears don't bleed during that show.

This past Sunday we made it back to the Country Apple Orchard. But this time it was for pumpkins!!!!! But we were actually quite dissappointed in the selection they had for us to pick out there. Some really big orange ones but a lot were small and green. Who wants those?! Not us. So we just grabbed this one that Christian and Matt picked out then went back to the store to get the smaller orange ones already in a large bin.

Sarah all bundled up. She hardly moved. haha

Christian rode the horse (and train) again! This time Daddy got to help with it all. He smiled the whoooooole time. Loved it.

Then we tried to get a family picture. Not so great. It was almost 3pm. Way past naptime. He didn't want to sit. Didn't want us...only the Grandparents. Bawled the whole way to the car. He was a mess. But the rest of us look sorta cute! haha

We have done a few other things here and there but nothing blog-worthy. Matt is going pheasant hunting this weekend. We'll see what he comes back with. HA!

Next week we head up to Grand Forks. No new developments in the housing department.

Kids are napping, lunch is done, relaxation on the horizon. Bye all!

A family of FOUR again!

2009-10-08T21:20:00.002-05:00

Well, it's been almost a week since I left on the journey to retrieve my husband. haha We had a great little trip with just the two of us. Had a few snaphoos on Matt's end trying to get OUT of Hawaii but he made it. After getting delayed a day and me staying alone for a night in St. Louis we were finally reunited. :-) And I have to say, he looked darn good. He lost weight and was tan! Driving around that convertible the last few weeks gave him a farmers tan but boy did he wear it well.

After Matt got to the hotel he took a 2-hour nap and then we were off to get the car. It literally took only ten minutes. They had to jump it first to get it to the garage for us to drive off. Sitting there for so long must've killed the battery. But, I thought we were going to be there HOURS. Hooray for being able to go get some lunch afterward. We got the keys and started to drive off but didn't get far before we started having major issues with the car. The gears were sticking BAD after sitting there for almost a month and the rpm's would go up to 85 and we were literally only going 5mph. It was scary. Then the battery was too dead and we had to keep jumping it until we got to an Autozone to buy a new one. After we got both issues worked out we were good to go and brought the car back to the hotel to enjoy some quality time together. We stayed the night in St. Louis, left the next day for Omaha, and then headed back home to our babies Sunday morning.

At any rate, we are now back in Sioux Falls with the rest of the family and IT.IS.GREAT! It feels so good to be back together. We DO have to get used to each other again. Like having to share a bed. And not being able to listen to what I want in the car. And fighting over the remote.

BUT it's wonderful and I'm so happy. We will be leaving for Grand Forks in a few weeks and will hoepfully be getting a houes right away. We called the housing office and we are #2 on the list but for the 'older housing'. So we'll see what we can do when we get there to maybe get some newer stuff. We had one year of living in an absolutely horrible 'old' house and I never want to go through that again. Praying for good housing!!!!!

I'll have to stop being lazy and get the pictures from my camera onto the computer so that I can share some with you. I haven't taken many but I do have some cute ones. :)

Apple Orchard Fun

2009-09-30T11:22:00.005-05:00

Last week we made it to the Country Apple Orchard. Grandma Nancy, Auntie Annie, the kids and I made it out. It was really fun and Christian had a blast.

We walked around the store:

We watched a bunch of apples get peeled:

Christian rode a horse!!

He road a 'train':

Sarah was carried around:

We rode a tractor to the apple orchard:

We picked apples:

Christian wanted to pick ALL the apples:

And Sarah even got in on the action:

It was a great afternoon and we are going back next weekend to pick pumpkins!!

Check. Check. And Check.

2009-09-24T22:13:00.007-05:00

House packed up.
Check!
All in one day, I might add.

PT test for Matt to pass.
Check!
With Matt having the best run time of his military career, I might add.

Our vehicle making it's way to the processing center in St. Louis.
Check!
Getting there before WE do, I might add.

Things are getting done and we now have, roughly, 160 hours until Matt and I finally see each other in the flesh. It will be exactly four months of separation that we will be able to put behind us. He will soon be reunited with-
This boy:

This girl:

And this wife:

Like he has others??!! haha

He JUST text me, literally, and has ten minutes of outprocessing left. He can wash his hands of Hickam AFB and Oahu, Hawaii in T-minus 159 hours.

Not that I'm counting, I might add.

Matt Is A Geographical Bachelor

2009-09-19T14:19:00.002-05:00

Definition: A geographic bachelor is a member that meets all of
the following criteria:
• Permanent party personnel assigned to an installation
within CONUS or Hawaii,
• Is in receipt of BAH at the With Dependents rate,
• Has received PCS orders providing for the transfer

But not for long!!! *happy dance* In less than two weeks we will finally be reunited. Hallelujah. He misses us and we miss him. It has been a tough four months and we are ready to put them behind us!

But it hasn't all been bad. We got to spend time with family and Matt was able to have some fun by himself. He went and listened to MANY live bands on base that play at the Enlisted Club. There were quite a few he really enjoyed. After our car was shipped he rented a convertible mustang! I'm super jealous and his ears are burned. :)

On Monday the process of packing our house finally begins. The movers come to start, what I'm assuming, will be a two-day pack-out. Matt also has a room booked at the Hale Koa (the military hotel) in downtown Waikiki starting Monday night. He will stay there until he leaves for good.

He spent the last few days taking all of our electronics apart and taking the TV off the wall. He took back our DVR box and has been getting the bills in order. He also went through the house to see what he could throw away.

It is getting so close I can feel him holding my hand. ...I know, I know. I'm getting all mushy gushy. This has been the longest he hasn't seen the kids or me in.....forever.

Happy Dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's MOBILE!

2009-09-16T14:06:00.005-05:00

My hip-baby Sarah Bear is now mobile. The one thing that I was so worried about with her, she is finally able to do. With her hip issues I was sad that she would most likely be delayed with any type of crawling/walking. The last few weeks she has been working hard to try and get caught up!

A few weeks ago Sarah was in the living room playing on her tummy. I walk out and talk to my mother in the hallway and go back to Sarah. She was sitting up!!! I asked my mom if she sat Sarah up and the reply was No. Dang, I missed it. So over the next few days we started to watch her and, sure enough, she started to scoot one leg under, push her butt back, and sit up! That's my girl.

Then she started to do what we call 'The Worm'. She would get up on all fours and literally throw herself forward into the ground. Get up on all fours again, bringing her knees closer to her hands, and throwing herself forward...over and over. This is how she got around if she wanted to get something. Super cute.

Now the last few days she has been scooting her knees a bit more. It would seem like she was going to take off crawling for real but then she would do the worm. Every so often she got one little scoot in with her legs. Today, however, it seemed to click and she took off a few times after Ollie! I got a few videos of the worm and her crawling. So stay tuned and look for them.

I am so proud of her. Her hips don't seem to bother her at all so I'm praying that is a good sign. She still isn't able to bear her entire weight on her legs but she sure tries. But I don't blame her. She is a good twenty pounds! Lots of weight to hold up on those little legs. Not to mention, she rarely used them for a good two months while in the brace. (We have been bad lately about keeping it on her all the time, shhhh!!)

Here is my mom helping Sarah to stand:

Now I have to really watch out. She can get anywhere if she wants to. My little girl is growing up....

ETA: Vidoes!
The Worm:

The Crawl!

Wow, I'm even worse!

2009-09-06T21:13:00.005-05:00

I'm horrible at keeping this thing updated while I'm in Sioux Falls! Sorry!

It's just been so fun. So many things going on. The kiddos get to see their grandparents, and Auntie Annie, SO many times a week. It's just been great.

Matt is honestly going to be floored at how much each of them has grown up. Sarah is all over the place with rolling and trying to crawl, which looks like she is doing the worm. She has even been able to go from her tummy back to sitting a few times the past few days! She is getting to be a big girl. Twenty pounds - ooftah! She lets you know when she is ticked off or upset about something. Shakes her head, her arms, and grunts until you pay attention to her. She loves to shovel food in her mouth, too. Little oinker like to eat. We had goulash one night for supper and she literally ate three times more than Christian did. Well, maybe 1/3 of it ended up on her instead of in her.

Christian has been a goober but what else is new there. We have dabbled in potty training:

And he is finally getting along better with Ollie, the older, and grumpier, of the two dogs at my parents house:

He is using more words. Sometimes even getting those three-word sentences in. He asks for water all the time, especially in the car. He loves the moon. He says goodbye to it on nights that it is seen from the front of the house. He sees cigarette butts on the ground and calls them 'icky, gross' but still wants to pick them up. I think it is so he can throw them away? Ew, icky gross! haha

Other than just waiting, and waiting, and more waiting, for Matt to leave Hawaii to rejoin us, we haven't been doing much. Just enjoying how blessed we are with this quality grandparent time. Family is so important to us and we are thrilled that Christian and Sarah get to soak them up for a few more weeks before heading to Grand Forks.

All for now. I have some cute videos that I need to get uploaded for you all to see. I'll try that in another post!

Same Story, Different Day.

2009-08-28T12:43:00.003-05:00

I have been working on getting more pages up! Always behind on that thing. Just think of when I get to Grand Forks!!! I better start scheduling some time in during the week just for working on the website.

Anyways, go HERE and you can see the new pages.

Rules Of The Road - Lesson 54

2009-08-26T13:44:00.003-05:00

C'mon, people. It's common sense here. When you see me turning right out of a driveway of a business onto the street please don't honk and wave your hands, I'm assuming while sharing some expletives with your passenger, at me when you are the one trying to cross five lanes of traffic right in front of me.

Crossing traffic is essentially the same as making a left turn anywhere. You should be the last one to make the move since you do not have the right-of-way. That is, if you were not already going first. But this car was certainly not! They gunned their little four cylinder trying to beat me to their wanted street across five lanes of traffic when I literally had about ten feet from where I was in this parking lot driveway to the corner. I slammed on my brakes thinking they were definitely going to hit me. They slam on theirs while waving and honking.

Now, I'm not the world's greatest driver. I'm a woman. Ha! But if I had a dollar for every time I saw somebody do something stupid on the road I think I would be able to buy myself the new bedroom set I have been dreaming of.

Common sense folks! Get some. And next time don't honk at me when you lack the aforementioned.

******I stand corrected. My dad, a police officer here in town, told me that I would most likely be getting the ticket since I was on a privately owned property (a fast food place I was leaving for lunch) and the other car was on the city street. Well, boo to that!!!******

LOTS of Fair Pictures

2009-08-19T21:02:00.006-05:00

Last week the fair was here. Figured I had better take the kiddos to at least be able to say that I took them!

I didn't care too much about Christian going on the crazy rides. Just wanted him to go on the Ferris Wheel and to see the animals. Both were a hit! Christian loved the animals and had to let me know that each one had 'dicky wayer' a.k.a. 'icky water'. And, yes, most of the animals DID have icky water. :( He enjoyed the Ferris wheel quite a bit because when we were up at the top a plane was flying by and we seemed really close!

Anyway, here are some pictures of our few hours at the fair.

Some absolutely sorry looking chicken of some kind. haha I actually bent over with my head upside down to try and find this things eyes!

I tried to get Christian to touch the cow. But as soon as we got close enough it Mooed...LOUD! That was enough to make him not want to go near it. So we moved onto the dairy cows.

I was telling him that these cows make milk. He says 'No milk, wayer'. It's a struggle to get milk into the kid so I thought that was hilarious. I assured him that he didn't have to drink any but that those cows had absolutely no wayer and only made milk for him to drink.

Then we found the goats!!!!! Oh, they were so cute. Christian wanted to pet every single one. I think we were the first people there to greet them for the day.

There were even baby goats!! :) They were so precious.

And this goat was hungry. It tried to get Sarah's hat and nibble her fingers. She was absolutely stunned that it was trying to eat her and just sat there motionless. Thank goodness for Anne because he snapped a quick picture!

Then we saw pigs, mini horses, big hroses, cows, geese and some tiny little chickens (I think?).

This bucket had brand new babies in them.

This one had eggs that were hatching!! I even got a video of this little one. It was so cute and Christian didn't want to leave it.

Then we went to some of the buildings with stuff in them. The rides didn't open until noon and we got there about 10:30am. So we had some time to kill. There was a building with a model train set which I knew Christian would love. He said 'choo choo' as they all went around and thought it was just the neatest thing that they were all moving.

The Ferris Wheel that we almost didn't get to ride! When we bought tickets for the ride I spefically asked the guy in the booth if I had to buy tickets for adults AND children for the Ferris wheel or if it was just a pay for the kid but you have to ride with them deal. I hadn't been to a fair in years so I didn't know. So he said that buying just the tickets for the kids was what I needed to do. Good, thanks, I gave him $8 for eight little tickets. What a rip off! Anyway, we get in line, wait, finally start to 'board' our gondola. I give him the eight tickets and hop on with Sarah. Anne is behind me with Christian and he asks for her tickets. Uhhhhh..... I tell him what the ticket booth guy said and he said I needed eight more tickets for all four of us to ride. I started to get off but the 'boss man' running the controls told 'loader man' that it was fine and to let us all on. Yay! So instead of paying SIXTEEN DOLLARS for a two-minute Ferris wheel ride I only had to pay half that.
Sarah and Me

Anne and Christian

Overall FUN time at the fair. Can't believe the cost of the games/rides but I went for food and animals. :)

I love his imagination.

2009-08-17T21:58:00.003-05:00

Even if it is a messy one!

After I get Sarah down for a nap in the morning (she takes two still - one in the AM and one with Christian after lunch) I usually give Christian a snack so that he sits down for at least a few ~~nanoseconds~~ minutes of quiet time. Barring his 'tude for the day I might have some luck and he'll play quietly with his cars or watch Blue's Clues.

This morning he got graham crackers on the couch. I took the opportunity to quickly check my email. After a few minutes he is still quiet so I figured I'd better check on him. I peek around the corner and he is hunched on the couch driving his cars around. Awesome, that means a few more minutes of internet browsing time. A few minutes later is he still quiet. I look again and he is still playing with the cars. This time I notice his crackers haven't been touched....or so I thought!

I go over to the couch and see this:

(You can click on it to make it bigger). Look at all those crumbs!!! It was everywhere. The picture just doesn't give you the full extent of how many crumbs there were all over the couch, the floor, and IN his cars. Yes, I said in.

I noticed him trying to shove something into the side of his big car that has moving doors. My little boy, cute as could be, made two tiny graham cracker people! And put them into the seats of his car!!

So precious! I couldn't get mad at him for making a mess all over the couch. I had to tell him he was cute and that he had a great imagination to be able to think of putting two little pieces in there. LOVE HIM!

**Post in a bit, or maybe tomorrow, about the fair!**

Sharing a funny moment from today...

2009-08-15T21:11:00.002-05:00

You ever drive down the street, hear somebody honk their horn, then wonder if they are honking at you? Oh, you have? I'm glad we, as in my Mother and I, aren't the only ones that think that!

The story goes as follows:

We left the house this morning to go bring some ham to my grandma's (my mom's mom) house. She was tasked with getting Christian into his carseat while I did Sarah. She gets in the car and almost forgets to grab the ham out of the fridge in the garage. Off we go...

We get about half way to Grandma's and we hear a honk right next to us. We sorta look around wondering if somebody didn't see their light turn green for them to go. We look at each other wondering who honked and why. Our light turns green and we start down the street again. No more than five seconds later she says "Oh sh*t! My coffee cup is on the roof!!!" I laugh and she says "It's not funny. It's one of my good cups!" I laughed even harder.

Sure enough the honk was the truck next to us trying to get our attention. We look over and the lady in the passenger seat is frantically waving and pointing at the roof. We motion back that we understand and Mom slows down to try and save the cup from a possible Plummet of Death. Not that slowing down really mattered as we had already turned five times, one being the reversal out of the driveway, and gone over some horridly bad train tracks on 26th Street. That cup didn't want to die a gruesome death and held on for almost four miles!

We pulled over at the first street and as Mom was opening the door another car stopped to frantically tell us about the cup on the roof. Mom tells her that the cup traveled a long way so far on the roof. She grabs it to find that the almost half empty cup still has all the coffee left inside.

Great ride, coffee, great ride.

I totally need to post more...

2009-08-09T19:05:00.005-05:00

...but I haven't been. Simple enough reason, right? haha

It's been a wonderful month and we are currently working on getting through ANOTHER one! :-) I've been able to talk to Matt here and there during the last few weeks but he has been super busy trying to get things done on his end for our upcoming PCS. We have the date for our car to be shipped, for the house to be packed up and a tentative date for him to leave Hawaii! So things are rolling along nicely.

Currently, though, Matt is in the air flying to Korea. They have another exercise/mission/top secret (but not really) what-have-you. It's only for a few weeks but he is excited about it. They might even get to be dropped off and picked up by helicopters in a real-life, but fake, rescue mission! How fun! If nothing else, it will be another two weeks that will fly by for him and two weeks closer to being done there. No other news with Matt. He is bored to death without us.

Kiddo news:

Sarah is sitting up very nicely. She can even stand for short periods with our help. No crawling yet, though. Just a few attempts at getting on all fours. See!

That's REO in the picture with her. She likes the puppies. And they tolerate her WAY more than they do Christian. Not too fond of the tyke.

Sarah is also a food lover like her Mommy! She could eat sweet potatoes until the cows came home. We are working on getting her to like different textures but she would rather have purees. Just not a fan of chunks I guess.

She loves the water. We had the kids the wrong way around. Christian wasn't a fan of water until recently. Sarah loves to sit in it and splash.

Christian is LOVING it around these parts. We can tell that he is saying a lot more. Granted it still isn't all that clear but he is communicating more and I'm loving it. Matt will need help understanding him, though. But it shouldn't take long.
The other night Christian caught some fireflies with Grandpa Kerry. I had to contain my squeals because I usually hate it when he goes to touch bugs. He brought me a dead fly last week. BLECH! But he was fascinated with them when we told him they had lights!

We are just ho-humming along. Glad to be here but ready to get our move over and done with! I miss Matt and he misses us. Webcam just isn't the same. Is it September yet?!

Let's Make Some Noise - Sarah Style!

2009-07-29T21:35:00.003-05:00

PLEASE PRAY FOR STELLAN!

2009-07-27T14:34:00.002-05:00

It's gone from bad to worse. Stellan and his Mommy need our prayers. The MckFamily needs anything and everything for their little boy right now.