Got a Call from the Superintendent Today

I guess he didn't realize that we HOMESCHOOL. It cracked me up! It was one of those robo-calls informing the county school system parents that school would be closing today (Thursday) at 1 pm and re-opening at 10 am on Friday. Because it might snow. Might. The boys were thrilled--an official call stating that they did not have to do any school work after 1 pm! (As if I listen to the Superintendent anyway! We march to a different drummer, that's why we homeschool!)

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We did get some snow, but not until 6 pm, long after the early school dismissal. Some parts of the county roads will be icy in the morning, so the 10 am opening makes sense. This is the part of the country that freaks out when there's any hint of snow. I guess New Orleans and Houston really freaked out!

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We got 2 good inches here, the most since JT was 3. That's since 1999! So what did we do? We went out in the dark and played in it! the nature of snow in Alabama is that it will melt very soon, so we didn't want to take a chance and wait until morning. It might be all gone by then!

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These first two pictures aren't that good but they show the HUGE, ENORMOUS snowflakes we got and look at the shadows they cast!!

Camera set to the "night setting." So it's a bit blurry.

Look! The snowman's taller than Luci! Good, wet, sticky snow.

My angels making angels.

Resting in the "snow fort."

Did I mention that we played in the DARK?!

CoCoRaHS

CoCoRaHS is the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network, mentioned on this blog before. This map of rain and snow reports is from yesterday. Each dot is a reporting station, like us. We are one of the orange dots in NW Alabama, registering 3.70-5.54 inches of precipitation yesterday (we had 3.90 inches of rain! And today we might have SNOW!!!).

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Here's how to join CoCoRaHS--really good for adding to a homeschool day!

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In January, Idaho will be added to the network--Dad, I think you'd find this stuff interesting. Right up there with your nature studies with the bird feeder and squirrel feeder.

Crunching Numbers

12......Bryan's new shoe size
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7687.6......miles from home to Kabul (go NorthEast from here)
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12370.45......kilometers from home to Kabul (I'll stick with miles, it sounds closer)
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32.8......Luci's weight at 49 months
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3.90......inches of rain we got overnight
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5......more inches for JT to grow to be as tall as me
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0......nights in the past month that Luci slept all night
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6,000......number of Hot Wheel car track set parts on my living room floor right now
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7......number of times a dog stole our newspaper
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6.......number of times I complained to the newspaper carrier
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1......number of times I saw dog carrying said paper (and then called to apologize to said carrier)
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16......number of times I heard "It wasn't my fault" today
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1......great husband who loves his country
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7811 ft......altitude in Kabul
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616 ft......altitude at home
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3......kids who keep me plenty busy

Christmas Cards

I have John's Kabul address, if any of you would like to send him a Christmas card. It would be pretty neat for him to get letters from all around the world. If you'd like his address, please email me. Just click on the "View my complete profile" to the right--my email is listed in the profile under "contact." Please put BLOG in your subject line so I don't think you are spam!

Afghanistan Engineer District

Something new since John's first trip to Afghanistan...the Corps of Engineers' website now has the Afghanistan Engineer District on it. Lots of information there. Since I don't have a support group like many of the spouses whose soldiers and airmen are deployed, this is a very nice tool.

John was stationed there when it became an official district office of the CofE! Pretty neat. (John, I can't find the disc of Afghanistan pictures to post that pic of you with the cake--can you email me and tell me where it is, please?)

For the Dads--that's a good site to bookmark in your favorites list!

Standard Operating Procedure

My S-O-P when John's on these trips is, No News Is Good News. Because if something does go wrong, God forbid, they will find me and let me know. So, when John is traveling, I try to not worry too much. (I don't always succeed.) When John left US soil last night, we knew he'd probably be out of touch until he got to his duty station in Afghanistan. What a nice surprise when John called during our lunch today! He was in Kuwait, awaiting transport to Bagram.
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John has, in the past, been able to call nearly every day and send emails just as often. I know we've been fortunate; some soldiers don't have that ability because they are out in the field, or perhaps the communications set-up isn't complete for their unit.
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Another S-O-P is Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But for us it doesn't mean what you think it means! It means, "Don't ask John about the bad stuff because you really don't want to know."

What John's Doing Now

Well, ok, he's not really cleaning base laundromats. But this was funny, and the title got your attention!
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We got a phone call from John today as he was passing through Kuwait. They are flying to Bagram and will be there early Monday morning, their time.

Christmas Mini-Study

We have not gotten back into our Weaver studies yet. We'll dive back into that in January. During the holidays, it is nice to ease up and study Christmas, make holiday gifts and cookies, all that sort of thing. Today the kids and I worked on a little-bitty unit study on Christmas Symbols. It was a mixture of history and language arts, with some drawing thrown in. Here's the site I used for information: Christmas Symbols.

As usual, Luci spent her time un-doing things. She has taken everything off the lower shelf of her closet and it is a total wreck!

Tomorrow John flies out from Georgia, headed to Kuwait (commercial flight) and then Afghanistan (lovely military transport). Prayers for his safety are appreciated.

Phthbhpth!

Is that how you spell a raspberry?
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We went to church to help with the toy and coat giveaway, setting out tons and tons of toys for the expected 300+ families who will come on Saturday. Bryan, JT and even Luci worked hard, and were such *angels* the entire time. I thought we'd work for an hour, then come home for lunch. We stayed for 3 hours! Bryan and JT worked the entire time, and Luci was a helper and "toy-tester." Everyone was impressed with our kids. John--be proud, too! They were great!
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Then comes the lunch, which Mark paid for, from Chik-Fil-A. Yummy, and so nice because we didn't expect any kind of payment--but nothing from Chik-Fil-A is Feingold-diet safe. The potatoes have a form of corn syrup, and probably the buns, too. Then, I was so stupid! I took the kids to Arby's after working to get a Mint Chocolate Swirl shake. So stupid! That thing is loaded with fake colors and corn syrup.
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So now my little angel who must avoid corn syrup is a major devil! I craved that milkshake (gotta admit, it was really good--sorry, Feingold friends!) and now I'm paying for it.

Boot Camp

No, John's not at boot camp--he's at a mobilization station. The boot camp is for the boys today! We needed a bit more discipline with getting up times, doing chores and lessons. So they were woken up by a drill sergeant (me!) and had to get in line for chow after getting dressed and making their beds.
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Oh, you shoulda heard the complaining! Push-ups were given out, ten at a time, for those who talked back to the sergeant, or made not-so-nice comments to other troops. One certain red-head did 40 push-ups total before breakfast was over. The red-head complained that he was not happy. Sergeant told him that "Boot camp continues until Mama's happy."
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It was a success this morning. Schoolwork is done, and the house is tidier, and we are off to work at the church for our give-away day coming up on Saturday.
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Some of you have asked what John's job is with the military. He's an electrical engineer, with a specialty in lighting. Here's his Christmas uniform: John called this morning to report that he passed all of his training, and told me the secret to his success, and I quote him: "They have it set up so you can't fail this stuff." I guess when they get you that close to actually going, they don't want to send anyone home.
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Luci's all ready ready for John to come home. She has a pile of drawings (she calls it her email) "to show Daddy when he gets home tonight." John wants me to set up my computer to use the video-cam that's built into it. I don't really want to because that means I have to have my hair and make-up on all the time! But for Luci's sake, I guess we'll do it.

Qualifies as almost a Miracle

Luci had some suspicious spots on her teeth...at least the dentist thought so last July when Luci wouldn't cooperate and just screamed at the dentist...they could only look in when she was yelling. So today we had a consult visit at a dentist that specializes in children. Luci did fantastically! Once I got her out of the van, anyway. It was hilarious trying to drag her out of the van. She was horizontal, holding onto the seat belt in the back seat, and I was pulling on legs, trying to not pull off her pants. Looked like a cartoon.

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After signing her in, Luci calmed down. That was surprising, to say the least. And when she was called back, she didn't even hold my hand! She followed the woman into the lair...

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and climbed up on the x-ray chair (helps to call it a princess throne) and had her first ever teeth x-rays. The area for tooth inspection didn't look anything like a dentist's office. It is charming! When have you ever heard a dentist's office described as charming?! I wish I could go to this dentist. Luci climbed right up on the table, and watched cartoons from a tv hanging from the ceiling. I would want to watch HGTV.

She was very brave! I am so proud of Luci, and so pleased with Dr. Lentz. Luci acted so calm but you could see the tension if you knew where to look. Both hands had fingers crossed like this:

We have to go back. That quick look the first dentist had was correct. Luci has small cavities in the last tooth on the top and bottom, on both sides. 4 teeth, 4 cavities. So we go back in January in two visits, and now I am not dreading the appointments ahead of time.

Christmas Party, Homeschool Style

Today we went to Creekside for their homeschool Christmas party. It was a lot of fun, and a great thing to look forward to after the emotion of the past week. Here are JT, Luci and Bryan in their Christmas t-shirts. Yes, they look sweet in that picture. But here's how we usually see Luci:The younger group had an ornament exchange. Luci did not want to give hers up! She did participate, though, and had a great time. I'm proud of her; she was the youngest in the group and did so well!

The older kids and grown-ups played "Dirty Santa" with $3 gifts. JT and I both ended up stealing gifts from the same boy...I'm sure he wished we hadn't come today. I stole a John Deere coffee mug for JT, and JT stole a dvd for Bryan. Bryan stole a Santa ornament from a young lady (a cutie named Amber) who didn't want the Santa, and she said Bryan was "Awesome!"

That made his whole day.

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After the party, we stuck around for the clean-up. I heard quite a few nice things about Bryan and JT and the work they did.

JT did this all by himself! He loved showing off his muscles.

Here's Luci "helping." She's the one on the right, trying to figure out how to get up there. If she'd made it, she would have been in big trouble!
And here's what they do when they think no one's looking!

Advent

This year our Advent study will begin on Mondays instead of the Advent Sunday that churches traditionally use. Nap-time for Luci takes precedence on Sundays. We light candles in our Advent wreath, sing songs, and have a Bible study. Today the kids got a little kooky when Bryan started his song (they all get to choose one from our little carol booklets--bought way back in 1997! I do goofy things like writing dates in the books I buy). Bryan got up to lead his song and JT and Luci decided it looked like too much fun to miss.
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John called...today was "shot day." Small pox and anthrax were just two of the inoculations. Sometimes you just don't wanna know the details.

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A chaplain also gave lectures to the troops. It was stuff like how to make sure the folks at home know you love them, and how to react when the wife calls and says there's trouble in the back yard with the septic tank. It was reassuring to know that we (John and I) are doing what the experts say we should do for each other and for the children. It was funny, too, because during John's first deployment the call was not about the septic tank and the backyard. It was about the septic tank backing up into the basement! (Every once in a while John will still ask where something is that got destroyed in "the flood." Since he missed it, he never did catch on to just how awful and devastating that was!)

It's a Happy Day!

And we praise God for the Weather!That was the song in our house this morning. What a nice surprise!

Here's the rest of the verse:

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It's a Happy Day!

and we're living it for our Lord!

It's a Happy Day

and things are gonna get better...

Just a-livin' each day

in the Promise of God's Word!

D is for Deployment

Today was the day. We took John to the airport this morning. The man at the ticket counter gave the kids and me a pass to get in to the gate area so we could wait with John. That was really nice--I didn't know that was allowed.
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JT helped carry John's pack. It was about a third of JT's weight. Whew!The boys got along most of the day--getting rid of corn syrup has been such a big key! (JT just told me that when I took this picture, he was hitting Bryan! Yikes! They look friendly.)

Awwww.

Guess who?

Waiting and watching the Weather Channel.

After John boarded the plane, the kids and I went to Cracker Barrel. It's become a tradition. We all did well today. I'm sure we'll have our moments of upset, but today was good. Luci is our shot of hilarity all the time. I'm sure the people in the boarding area were very happy to see that the 4-year-old Energizer Bunny was not getting on the plane! Ask her, and she'll tell you her Daddy is going to "Affana-affanistan."

Wonderful Thanksgiving!

We spent the day in Jemison, where John's folks live. Cindy and Frankie invited us to spend the day with them. Cindy, Jeanne and Ona (Cindy's mom) cooked a fabulous feast. I brought some things for JT that were without corn syrup, and there was just too much for everyone to possibly eat in one week. John's brother David was also there. It was a fun day, and could nearly be counted as a field trip since the kids got some lessons in Civil War history and reenactments from Uncle Frankie, and we got to visit all the animals (chickens, goats, horses and llamas!).

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Some favorite photos:

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Gran-Je and Luci

John with his Dad
Bryan, JT and Luci showing some love

They really did get along all day!

They are just showing off for the camera.

John, David and Luci



The Whole Day

Boys! Mom wants to take your temperature!

That's what Luci said after I measured her. She knew I wanted to measure something. We measure the kids on important dates: Birthdates, Luci coming home, John's deployments. The boys both have grown a whole foot since John's last trip to Afghanistan! Wow! And Luci is exactly the same height that JT was at the same age. Neat.

Merry Christmas!

We had a Little Christmas today for John. The boys really wanted to do this for him...or was it for the presents? Let's hope they had Daddy in mind.
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Luci can read our names now, so she delivered presents.You know John picked these pellet guns out. Luci got this ladybug habitat. Fitting, since we have a lot of ladybugs this year. We put a bit of banana, a drop or two of water and a celery leaf inside and the ladybug has been very happy today. Not really what the mother of a Princess wants to see. Maybe she'll grow up to be Princess Leia instead of Cinderella. That pink shopping cart is Luci's favorite gift.Now it's New Year's Eve! We do a puzzle every year and try to complete it before the New Year is rung in. We made it with time to spare this year!

A Wonderful Weekend

This has been one busy but wonderful weekend. Our friends Barry and Diane watched the kids for us while we Christmas-shopped (and wrapped and hid) gifts for the kids. That's Rachel with Luci, above. Rachel pretty much babysat Luci all by herself, according to Diane. Thanks, Rachel! And thank thanks to our good friends B&D.

John and I went out to eat at this wonderful little Italian place here in town before hitting the stores. It was so nice to be a grown-up in a grown-up kind of place, and not wipe up spills or sticky hands. John and I had nearly an hour at our meal, then the fun began. We went to several stores, and found most of what was on our list. It was a quick 3 hours of shopping. It almost counted for exercise, since we were nearly jogging through some of the stores. John was sweet and held out his arm for me to hold, but I suspect that he was just trying to make me keep up with him. It took another hour to drive home, unload the car and then get out to B&D's house. I wrapped and hid presents while John picked up kids. They had no clue that we'd gotten anything. (hee hee hee--evil laugh!)

The best part of shopping (well, the second-best part, since the best part was just spending time together) was that this year the kids have gifts that Daddy chose just for them. The other two Christmases when John was on military trips, everything was picked out by me and had Daddy's name on them. This time, the gifts really are from Daddy.

At church, a special prayer was said for us as John's trip begins. Our good friend Kelly led this, and I was glad that he didn't say anything that made me cry. He can make you laugh and cry all at once.

Heath and Shanna and their girls joined us for worship and lunch. We had a long lunch and a good visit. It was such a good day today! (I'm sorry I didn't think to bring my camera to lunch. The girls were so cute playing together, and Sara was a hoot--she has a great belly-laugh!)

Bryan and JT have gotten along wonderfully all weekend. Such a good weekend!

Cain and Abel are at it again...

Anyone with two boys can relate...well, most of you, anyway. My kids are not perfect. Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

Lion and Matey (rhymes with Bryan and JT) were arguing over something--doesn't matter what because it probably was nothing!

Lion comes and tells me that Matey had hit him and told him "you suck." (Sorry if that offends you; I don't like it but I don't think it's the worst word in the world.) Matey admitted to the sins, and part of his discipline was to write an apology to Lion, "and it better sound like you mean it." The apology made me laugh.

Here it is:

Dear Bryan,
I'm sorry I hit you and you do not suck.
J.T.