Finishing the renovation work.

Ew. Can't wait to move.

Tee Ball, Baseball, and the CRUSH

We are in the beginning of little league season! The oldest three are all playing, which makes for a busy schedule!

Doodle was not excited, he just wanted to stay home on Saturday and play skylanders giants. Bean thought it would be soooooo fun and sooooooo cute to wear a super ooper shooper baseball outfit but add ribbons to her hat to mAke her look perfect for her coach to put her in the game for the team because she would be perfect for the game with ribbons in her hair and gasp! She forgot red nail polish! Needless to say, her excitement is exhausting!!!

They both caught a grounder, which is good for their spirits. Doodle can hit! Bean cannot. She can't even make contact with the tee. She hops up to the tee, kicks one leg really high in excitement, then uses the bat for momentum to swing her body around in a circle while squealing, "wheeeeee!" But wouldn't you know it? The second time at bat...She whacked the ball!

Which takes me to oldest. Monkey is intense about the game. We can totally blame his daddy for that. He can hit well, he can field the ball fast, and he's becoming a good little pitcher!

So we have some neighbor girls who have become big fans of Monkey. So much that K, this cute 10 year old (gasp! Older woman!). Totally has a thing for him. It's SO weird watching a school girl crush from the mom perspective! She and a couple of girls hung out by the boys dugout, and she would ask for Alex every now and then. She offered to go buy him a treat at the concession, would ask him other questions... My sweet clueless boy had no clue what was going down! I wanted to go over there and shoo the girls away--their distracting my boy from the game!-- but then I realized, nope. He is totally with his head in the game.

Man.... Am I really at this stage? I'm a little league mom. It's kind of a sliders moment. I feel like I'm still in college sometimes, trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up, but now I'm ushering my own children through their formative years and singular moments.

Watching this school girl crush moment happen made me think back to my first crushes. I had a crush on this one boy in elementary school because he lived the band Rush and wanted to be a drummer. In Junior High I had a crush on a boy who wanted to be an actor. In high school.... Well, lets stop there.:)

So what's it going to be for my kids? Hopefully I can lock them away until
Their 21, but I'm curious to see how these formative moments unfold for my children.

Preschool at the beach

I've second guessed my decision many times to not enroll the twins in preschool. Obviously the decision boiled down to a financial cost....600$ a month at the ghetto play school.... Would have been $850 at a decent school. A month.

But since the money tree I planted has only yielded leaves and not Benjamin's, I have been "home schooling" preschool. It's days like today, when the weather is good and the moment right.... That I am grateful I can take my twins of mass destruction anywhere on a moments notice.

Things will be different come fall. They will be in kindergarten, music, athletics.... Uh.... pWhy am I blogging on the beach? Time to enjoy this fleeting moment.

Happy Easter!

Let Me Entertain You

The Doctor Will See You Now

She Dances With The Octopi

Frog Builder

Shirt sums up my boy..... Full of constant imagining of fantastical things mixed with popcorn and music.

Children's Museum of Virginia

Today we are at the children's museum to celebrate the first full day of our spring break. This place is so cool! Time to play....

Good Night!

Because any day is a good day for a carousel.

We have the most beautiful two-story Venetian carousel in our mall. I don't think people understand how gorgeous it is. Pipe organ, two stories with amazing details on the horses and canopy. The kids spin, and I look up at the paintings of Piazza San Marco and gondolas.

Library day!

Today is the twins library class. I loved watching the kids show off their homework and line up for class.

Come kindergarten when that yellow bus pulls up to our house to pick them up... There won't be tears!!! A confetti cannon send off with a marching bag will be an understatement for my excitement to finally have them in school!

The Grim Reality of home renovation.

Next time we buy a house it's going to be done. DONE. No "super charming 1984 fixer upper on the land of a former vast pig farm next to the water sanitation facility and bleeds heat and A/C like a hemophiliac and you will outgrow the day you move in. By the way, the price will be unholy as its less than two miles from the beach." What's the big draw to living so close to the ocean? Asks the mountain girl. Seriously. Same house would be waaaaaaaaay less expensive further inland. But it's by the beach! On a pig farm! Next to the poop plant! You'll fall in love with that low tide smell, just you wait!

We are still working on the house improvements with the intent to run! Not walk! To a better home for our family. I seriously dislike renovation work. It unearths a wide history of nastiness. And cockroaches. And spiders that try to truck off with your baby over their creepy fuzzy heads.

Here's the floor. And the work that needs to be done. A tiny portion of the list of things we still need to do!

Next time I'm moving into a Swedish minimalist apartment/loft. So sterile that a cockroach would die from shock at the sparse opportunities to hide in their nasty shameful existences.

Why I hate Facebook.

I have this love/hate relationship with Facebook.  Don't we all?  I've had to get off FB twice for OPSEC reasons, and I loved the hiatus.  I felt unbound.  Kind of says something.... perhaps I was spending way too much time on something that Betty White once called "a colossal waste of time."

Fast forward to now.  I understand why FB makes me so cranky.  I live in a perpetual state of unknowing.  When is the next deployment?  When are we moving? Is husband going to be home for my birthday/kids birthdays/any given holiday?  I feel sad for myself and my kids when I see others who live in a place with long, solid roots planted.  I want that for me, for my kids.  Hmmm... that sort of envy isn't good for anyone. 

Here's the thing:  FB connected me to many people that I have long since lost contact with.  I sobbed with joy when I found people I helped convert to Mormonism when I was a missionary in Spain over ten years ago.  I have reconnected with High School friends that I thought I'd never see again due to my hectic life.  But now.... So long, FB, and thanks for all the fish!

We are currently in a state of unknowing.  I'd like to personally thank congress for this upcoming furlough / sequester that my husband will be gifted.  A 20% pay cut living on the Beach?  Why, yes, please!  What a lovely surprise.  Husband has interviewed with a couple of organizations that WANT to hire him, but Congress says not right now!  While they golf at their 250,000$ a year country clubs, I'll be clipping coupons this year.  Thanks, sequester. 

What a ride!  No, but seriously.  One Pollyanna part of this kind of life is that I completely and totally find gratitude for the things we have, the children I have, the health we enjoy, and the gift of living. 

Time to go...

DC Trippin'

I love our nation's capital. Washington DC has a vibrancy that is singular! You know how people get all crazy when they see a celebrity, reality star, pop music star? Well that's me around political players. The thought of meeting the Secretary of State or a Supreme Court justice makes my heart palpitate. I dreamed of meeting Colin Powell for years, to talk to Madeline Albright or Ruth Ginsburg. So, when our little family drives the three hours to hop the blue line and enjoy the mall. The Smithsonian! I mean, really. This trip I actually got my family into the Hirshorn Gallery. I tried my best to convey how cool Piet Mondrian is, or the controversy of Ai Weiwei. Some day they'll get it. And they will appreciate it!

DC Weekend

We are in DC visiting Michael for the weekend.

Busy Bee

So, I can't resist. Here's our baby. Sickie has been up coughing with a gnarly head cold for the past three days. She looks so over everything in this photo.

Twins turn 5, twin parties!

This year we had the twins separate for friend birthday parties. Doodle took his boys to Home Depot for a building party (did you know they do kids parties for free?). Bean had a super girly tea party at home. Fun all around!

My oldest.

We've been struggling lately with my oldest boy. He is wicked smart, a nervous eater, and fidgety as a 9 year old boy can be. When Monkey grows up, he wants to be a fighter pilot, astronaut, and aeronautical engineer. And I honestly believe him! He's been talking about it since he was 2 1/2.

The past couple months have been mayhem. We started a renovation on our house that's still not finished, so all our stuff has been everywhere. In the middle of that we went on vacation. Husband is burned out and in the middle of interviewing with other jobs, which makes for a grumpy daddy at home.

We were called into the school to discuss Alex's slumping grades and behavior. He doesn't want to do the required work, and hasn't been listening to anyone lately.

Yesterday was a dark day for my baby. He ended up bringing home a written apology signed by his teacher due to poor behavior. Disrupting class, losing work.... I am so fed up with it at this point. I was goosing about in the kitchen after he gave me the note that it took me a few moments to realize he was standing by the table sobbing. Sobbing. I dropped my towel on the ground, wrapped my arms around him and and said what I know he needed to hear:"Everything's going to be okay."

Everything's going to be okay. Really? I don't know that for sure. My stress levels have been off the charts for the last year with all the ups and downs and not knowing where were going to be next Christmas. But I knew my son, my very tuned in to his surroundings son, needed to hear that everything's going to be okay.

I left a wet patch of my own tears on top of my boys fuzzy head. I held him for as long as he would let me, letting the kitchen sink water running mindlessly down the drain. But all that matters right now is having my children know that everything is going to be fine. Whether we are still here, moved to a foreign country or a new state. This transient life is starting to wear me down. I look and feel much older. Husband is actively looking for something else, as this job has been really hard on our family. But what can we say? What he does is important, yes. But for how long do we have to sacrifice our family's time and stability for our country?

I am not questioning our decision to be a part of the military. It is a noble calling for a family. But that moment in the kitchen, holding my heartbroken baby as he sobbed, made me want to move to a farm house far far away from everything so I can protect my babies as long as possible.

I want all my boys' dreams to come true. I want that for all my children. With each developing phase I am starting to see new batches of obstacles and challenges pop up that make every day life increasingly tricky.

Hence my reason for blogging again. I need to spend less time doing things that keep me and my kids from attaining our goals. For me, that means dropping Facebook for good, and Internet surfing less. It has been too easy to pick up my phone and dink around when I should have been changing Barbies with Beanie, or making paper airplanes with Monkey.

On that note, time to hop off the blog and take care of my babies. I'll keep tabs here on Monkeys progress. I have hope that the changes we made yesterday will help.

Cub Scouts and Paper Mâché

I'm the Bear Den leader for my sons Cub Scout pack. Currently we are preparing for the annual Blue and Gold banquet.... Of which I am chair(of course). So this year we are going with a Mexican fiesta theme, and the boys learned how to make piñatas and masks.

The day we did masks, I had less than half of the boys come. That means I had to make extra masks at home. Which I did. Messy process! When the balloons were dry enough I stacked them in a corner of my kitchen. Popping the balloons is super cool. They shrink slowly due to the flour paste all over.... Like a skin. So now I have 16 masks and one piñata to finish at our meeting tonight.

So you may be asking:"why in the world would you volunteer to be a den leader?" It was one week before they started, and my sons den leader had to back out. Fourteen boys with no leader. Scouting is important to me. It was a big part of my childhood and I had the chance to see it done wonderfully. I want the same thing for my sons! So I stepped up. Granted, this has been a hard year! Twins plus baby while trying to teach a group of rambunctious boys.... Ohhhhh boy. But we've had several moments with them that has made all the stress worth it.

Carol Channing, or Phyllis Diller?

This is Beans favorite Bearbie (homage to Bearenstein Bears). I think she looks awesome.

The pre-holiday jitters

Tomorrow is valentines day. Do you know what that means? Parents scrambling to make 72 valentines for their children's classmates, plus gifts for teachers. Don't forget the pink milk and heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, followed by the special lunch packed with a heart shaped note. Off to decorate the dining room with 23,750 hearts and prepare a themey dinner for the kids. Oh, crap. It's valentines day. Run back to Crap Mart to buy husband something... Card? Motor oil? And try to find a sitter far too late in the game.

So, that's what I call the pre-holiday jitters. Trying to make everything perfect for everyone, and in the process making yourself miserable and anyone within a ten foot radius of your crafting trajectory. Tomorrow, as per tradition, husband and I will go to our reservation... With Jon our tax guy. He even files them in pink files for the occasion. That's our thing. No Kay Jeweler moment, reservations at Les Halles followed by a romantic romp at the Marriott. We do our taxes and get burgers.

I personally am so tired of trying to turn every holiday or day named after a patron saint into a day worthy of pennant flags, centerpieces, and overly complicated food. Maybe this year is the year of take out and caterers for me. Seriously! Perhaps I could spend more time playing with my kids rather than trying to find the perfect smelling candle to enhance the holiday atmosphere(guilty).

Right now I am laying down with Busy while she nurses. Boob naps are the only naps she will take. Admittedly it's only when she needs a nap that I stop moving and schlepping around my six thousand to-do lists. Why do I always have a friggin project? Two hours ago I was that person making home crafted valentines for my sons classmates followed by taping up 50 red doily hearts all over the kitchen walls. I think I'm going to stop project-ing myself and go put together puzzles with the twins.

Playing Buggy

Today we had dental appointments. Then on the spur of the moment we decided to play buggy(that's Davies for "play hookey") and do the aquarium. Life's too short. They won't be this little for very long, nor will they want to hang out with me like this in years to come. So, today we are playing buggy and making the most of it! Time to go play shark puppets with the twins.

Check it... I'm Baaaaaack!

I'm going to pretend like you don't know anything about us. Or that you are like my husband, and everything I say to you goes in one ear and out the other (oh, snap!).  I am convinced I sound like Charlie Brown's muffled-trumpet teacher.  No one listens to me.  So Check it! I got a forum where things I write will STICK. STAY PUT. LIKE.... A RECORD. Sweet.

I've got a hardly-home husband and four of the craziest, energetic, ovely smart and rambunctious kids on the planet.  They suck the life out of me.  All five of em.  (See what I did there? Eh?) But I wicked crazy love them and don't want to forget a moment in this time of our lives.  I'm gonna do it. Use nicknames.  It's habit, OPSEC, and the right thing to do.  My husband has a name, I swear, but I always call him husband. No Joke.  He is the most exasperating, gregarious, brilliant, annoying, loving, athletic, ambitious, lazy, wild, boring, amazing man I have ever met in my life.  That's why I married him almost 12 years ago.  We've both had phases where we acted like jackasses.  But through an eternal perspective we keep on. Almost nine years ago I gave birth reluctantly to my boy, Monkey. He wants to be an aeronautical engineer when he grows up, and already carries a healthy obession for flight with him everywhere he goes.  Obsession is an understatement.  Next I willingly had a c-section for my twins, Doodle and Bean.  Let me tell you, hosptials and c-sections are the way to go.  I would not be here, nor my kids, if it weren't for modern medicine.  I would be that one character who dies in childbirth on Downton Abbey or any given Austen novel.  Yay drugs!  Then, excitedly, I had a c-section for my final baby, Busy.  She is as busy as they come.  Sleep is not an option for this baby-- there's too much to do!

Speaking of Busy, I just found her dancing, spinning, shaking, and spinning again in the living room.  So fun to watch.  It's those moments right there when I remember why I wanted to be June Cleaver: a full time mom and wife.  There are days... in fact I had two days this past week that made me question my very sanity, but I wouldn't want to do anything else.  This is where I want to be.  In the middle of the chaos at home.

SO.... I am sure I don't need to explain my title, unless you are completely daft.  My children, my life, the unsure nature of being married to the warrior class, those are my hurricanes.  Life ain't easy.  It certainly isn't simple.  Things get so complicated in a hurry with this line of business.  But I find happiness in the little things. More to come... I have to go separate the twins and change a diaper.