Blue Wednesday

It's the middle of the week and you would think that it's Monday again:(  Today has been a day that just doesn't seem to want to get going.  Everyone is tired and trying to get school started. There's just no motivation.  The morning is gray from the rain clouds over head, and the I have at this time is to go back to bed and lay under my warm blankets and listen to the rain gently come down on the roof.  Yesterday evening we had a storm blow through with lightening and thunder, but that only last about 20 minutes before it turned back into just rain.  I was so happy to hear the thunder and it was pretty exciting for those few minutes but unfortunately for  Sheldon he had to drive the kids to youth night through it.  I was able to sit and review some of DJ's science books so that he would be ready for his test  today which ironically had a section on lightening safety, but now I'm thinking I will wait until tomorrow to have him take it.

I have not been able to sleep well this past week.   I have had nightmares about leaving my daughter here in the states while the rest of us go gallivanting off to Europe for the next couple years.  Jori has decided she wants to stay in Utah for the summer instead of going to Kathy's house, and will be staying with a friend of hers who lives in Alpine. The girls father has agreed to let Jori stay there rent free so she can save up her   money while working this summer for school.  I am grateful for this family who has graciously accepted Jori into their home, but I can't help feel that we somehow are abandoning her:(  Of coarse this is not true, it's just how things are right now with living in the military and moving to our next assignment but this is a delicate time in a younger persons life and having your parents close by is important.  She should be able to come home, work for the summer and save up her money, enjoy the time with family and rejuvenate herself then be able to head back to college to tackle another year of school. With us having the move this summer, it makes it difficult for her to be able to do that. But with me and the boys not planning to leave here until August now it would be possible for her to come here for most of the summer, but I don't know if she would able to get a Job that would pay her enough for next year.  The other thing is that we will not be seeing her until some time next year:( I know that we have joked about getting her out of the house for college, but I wonder if she might feel a bit abandoned by not really having a permanent home to stay if she needed it? Sheldon talks about how she's adult now and needs to learn to take care of herself, and I do agree with that, but how many times were we able to come home if we needed to when things weren't working out well for us?  With the way the economy is right now things are very unsteady.  I know that she has plenty of places she could go to if she needed to, it's just hard that to get her home will be twice as hard and super expensive flying her to Europe unlike being able to drive a state or two away to get her.  She knows that she can come anywhere we are if she really needed to, and that is good. 

Well, I still need to jump in the shower and go to the store for some things.  The dog is out of food and we need milk and bread.  The boys are being great about reviewing their work and since I don't hear any thunder over head now would be a great time to jump in.

The last 3 days this week we took the boys down to the DC Mall area.  The weather has been beautiful and with only a couple more days before Christian heads back to Cali, we wanted some pictures with the boys.  We haven't gone too hog wild at sightseeing since the first few days that Christian got here it rained. We were able to take care of our passport pictures and paperwork and had them done at the Ben Franklin branch on Pennsylvania Ave just down from the White House.  After that we ventured up the Post Office Clock Tower, and got a neat view of the downtown area. We were really high up and it was fun to look around and point out all the places we could recognize.  It was nice that they had point's of interest pictures up there too to look at so we could use a a reference;)  The boys then headed underground to ride the subway so Christian could say he did, then they headed to the monuments. Unfortunately Christian's camera needed to be charged so he wasn't able to get any pictures of the monuments.  So the next day we headed back down with 3 camera's in tow so there would be photographic evidence of the days trip.  I dropped the boys off at the Lincoln memorial and headed off to find a place to park around the Air and Space Museum where we intended to finish off the afternoon, and it took me forever to get down Constitution Ave.  By the time I was able to park the van the boys had walked from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Air and Space Museum.  The traffic was horrendous and it took me 1 1/2 hours to go about 2 miles.  Anyway, we went inside the museum and started the tour.  After looking at the exhibits the men in the family decided to do a simulator ride to fly fighters so while they did that I spent the time talking with people from Italy and Germany.  When they finally came out Sheldon and Christian were not feeling too well because Malachi and DJ decided they liked flying upside down most of the time.  Too funny;)  It took awhile with traffic to get home, but we decided to stay  home for the evening to relax.  Today is the Earth Day celebration, so we have no desires to go down to the mall today and fight the crowds.  When Christian comes out this summer we will hit the other places that we didn't see this time around.

Easter Sunday

As I sit here writing, my 3 boys are sneaking around the house with nerf guns shooting each other.  It has been a long time since all three of them have had this kind of fun together.  Earlier today before we went to a BBQ at a new member's house, all the men in the house were trying out their Easter gift.  We got them the Nintendo Wii Nerf game. They had to make sure it was ok before we left.  They tried the game out ion the game system and the neat thing is that the guns also can convert to regular nerf guns and can shoot darts too.  So now they have found all the guns we have collected the past couple years in the house and with the new bag of darts we bought, well, let's just say the darts are flying by my head as I type;)  

Joe Revas a new member of the Capital Ward had invited about half the ward over for an Easter BBQ.  We had BBQ ribs and chicken, fried chicken, fried fish, sweet potatoes, potato salad, macaroni salad, hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, corn, cabbage and ham.  Talk about a feast!  He bought and cooked everything and we all just showed up.  Finally last night we asked him if there was something we could do to help for today and he said we could get some drinks and hotdog buns.  It was nice not to have to make a big meal for once.  We stayed long enough to help fold all the chairs and tables before we left.  Once we started heading out his family all showed up to eat. It was fun to meet them.

Today at church we put together a double quartet and sang the song Gethsemane. Then for young women's Sheldon and I were asked to portray Mary Magdalen, and Thomas the apostle for the lesson.  Right before we were to speak our parts I was asked to read the account of Christ's crucifixion on the cross.  Well I could hardly get through that reading before I was to portray Mary visiting the tomb on the morning of the resurrection.  I'm such a big cry baby.  Needless to say I was able to get through the part then Sheldon and I sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives".  We sang the first verse then the last 3 verses with the young women.  It was very nice way to end the day at church and I hope they felt the spirit that was present in the room as I did.  Teaching youth to recognize the spirit is so crucial in this present day.  There's so much out there that is negative and vile, and we only get few moments now days to counter act those that.  

He's Here!

Yesterday my oldest boy finally got to Washington DC!  He flew in around 7:15 am after coming on a red eye flight from San Francisco.  His plane was only delayed about an hour, so it was nice to not have to lave for the airport until around 6:15 am. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get much rest the night before due to anxiousness and phone calls all night from other's.  You see, we had flown Sheldon's niece to San Francisco the same evening so she could drive the truck back to Utah so Jori could have the truck for the summer, and her flight was suppose to arrive at 8:15 that evening.  We thought we would help Kathy out by not having her have to drive to the airport more than once that week.  Since Christian was to check in around 8:30 that evening we thought how perfect it would be when we found that one flight into SF.  Even though it was a little more money, we would have given Kathy gas money to get Karli anyway, so it was about the same so no worries right?  Well, Karli's flight ended up being delayed 4 hours!!!!!!!  Talk about how horrible.  We felt so bad for Kathy having to stay and wait all that time.  I guess her father drove down with her that night so they wouldn't have to pay for parking so he just parked someplace and read a book while waiting for Kathy to call.  So now I feel twice as bad because her poor father had to sit there and wait too:(  When Karli finally was able to get to SF, she had accidentally locked her cell phone and didn't know how to call out to find Kathy.  So Lori called me for Katy's number, then called Kathy to let her know where Karli was waiting.  I guess once Kathy found here, the poor girl was so happy to be found.  I'm sure she was tired and the delays made for a very tired girl.  Kathy called the next morning to let us know that Karli slept in then headed off to Utah.  So now we need to call and see if she drove straight through and how tings went.  I figure that so far nothing bad must have happened since we haven't gotten any phone calls.  Now I need to find out how Jori is going to be able to get up to SLC to get the truck.  

Once we were done with getting Christian, we headed home.  I was impressed at how little traffic there was on the road.  I don't know if it's because we were going in the opposite way of the flow of workers, or since Friday was a "kind of" holiday being that it was Good Friday and all, we were able to get home without too much trouble.  I bought the boys breakfast at Burger King, then it was time for home.  The boys were excited about Christian finally being here so they showed him around the house and then got to work playing video games.  I decided after awhile that I was in need of a nap due to the lack of sleep the night before, so I tried to get a nap in.  What was I thinking?  I might have gotten an hours sleep before the phone started.  This time it was Shel.  He wanted me to pick him up at Anacostia instead of waiting for the pentagon bus.  So I groggily got up and waited at the train station for him.  Once home we decided to take Christian to Golden Corral for lunch since he hasn't eaten there for almost 4 years.  He was so excited!  We'll have to go once night for dinner before he leaves so he can get some steak.

Then in the evening we went out to eat with the Henderson's from the end of the block and their kids came and ate pizza and watched movies at our house.  It was a fun night for us, and I think that kids had fun too.  Some of the boys that live in the neighborhood went on vacation for spring break so we are hoping Christian will be able to meet some of the older kids in the area.  Tasha, the Henderson's daughter is Christian's age so she can get him aquatinted with everyone.  Well, off to the commissary for some food.  Everyone is complaining of not having anything to eat.

Yesterday was my baby's 10th birthday!  He woke up with a smile and kept it the whole day.  A few weeks ago we asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he thought for awhile then asked, "can I have breakfast in bed?" Well, thinking that was a bold move on his part and no one else in the family has ever asked for that request we told him sure.  So Sunday night I asked him what he wanted and he asked for "pancakes, sausage and bacon!"  That morning when I took his breakfast to him he was determined to eat his food in bed!!!!!!!  Once he realized it wasn't as easy as he thought, he asked for a TV tray and he sat on his bed as he ate.  We ended up not doing much for school, since we knew daddy was coming home early to take him to get his ID picture, so he took a shower, got dressed in some nice clothes then he watched a little TV. 

Once daddy showed up we headed out for our afternoon of shopping at Toys-R-Us.  He had been eyeing some night vision goggles that he could wear at night so he wouldn't need a night light in his room anymore and we figured we could find them there.  Once inside the "mecca" for kids he quickly changed his tune. He looked up and down all the isles and decided that there was more for him to choose from than he thought.  He did have a budget, but he wanted to get the most bang for is buck;)  He ended up eyeing some Star  Wars legos, and with the sale they were having was able to come out of the store with 4 boxes, a Limited Edition Separatist Spider Droid, an Imperial Dropship, an Assasin Droids Battle Pack and a Rebel Scout Speeder. I think my boy is a "Dark Side" follower?   The ships also come with the little guys to fight, so he has hours of enjoyment ahead of him.  Since the Lego's were on sale he was also able to buy a video game so he got the Lego's Batman for XBox 360. I'm seeing a theme here?  He is a Lego's man!

After leaving the store we headed to Outback for his "B" day dinner.  The boy loves his ribs and has decided right now that Outback's are his favorite.  He also got his free Birthday Sundae which he gladly shared with all of us and we gladly ate;)  All in all I think he had a great birthday!  Oh, and daddy enjoyed it too because he got the job of putting all the pieces together;)

Today we took the boys to the Cherry Blossom Festival down by the Tidal Basin in the DC Mall area.  We were able to find a place to park about a mile away in the marina and East Potomac Park area.  While looking for a place to park we saw a miniature golf area and the two boys talked about wanting to go back and visit when Christian comes out to visit next week.  I hope some of the trees will still be in bloom then.

We were also able to see the Jefferson Memorial, and they had some entertainment for those visiting.  It was a group of Indian girls performing traditional Indian dances. 

As you can see in the picture's above the trees look just beautiful and the walking path is lined with them.  Like the tree behind us some of them have branches that touch the water.  It's like walking into a flower tunnel.  

Where's the Ark?

Since April has gotten here, it's been, rain, rain and more rain!  It's been a long time since I've seen rain like this.  Usually in California we get the rain's like this in January, but since we left before that, we never got the opportunity to enjoy the those downpours. I don't mind the rain too much, but I hope that it will be dry tomorrow because we have plans to get some things done in the garage and get some boxes out this next week for the big trash pick up.  I want to be able to go in there during the weeks now to go through my boxes and get things organized before we leave there.

Yesterday Christian called to let us know that his throat wasn't getting any better and now his ear was starting to hurt more.  He went in because he had a swollen tonsil and the took a strep test.  They gave him some 800 milligrams of Morton and sent him on his way.  Well, he said he came home ad found blood on his bedding which means he had some discharge the night before from his ears.  So I called Joe Erbe, our old friend and neighbor in Cali and asked him what he thought.  Since Christian seems to be having more pain then when he went in he thought it would be good for him to go back in and get checked again. Since we moved here, Christian has been moved to our tricare area on the east coast, so they won't let him get a Dr's appointment there on the base, but they will let him see the doctor's there at the ER.  So Sheldon is going to have to transfer his paperwork back to the western side.  It is such a problem.  I thing we will have the same problem with Jori now too.   He called about 2 am to let me know that they found that his ear was starting to get infected, and gave him ear drops and some stronger beds for night time.  I'm wondering though if I will need to press this even further. Joe said he would try and go in tomorrow and see if he could pull up his test records and see what they say.  It might end up he might have to do something from his end?  I just don't know.  I hate when I'm not there.  I hope whatever is going on won't affect his flight out here too.  Hopefully this will resolve itself quickly.

We are also waiting for our registration tags to show up for the truck.  I guess the DMV in California is too slow to understand that when I sent the change of address to them that the "mailing address" that if put on there was real?  Anyway, supposedly they sent it to our address here, and we still haven't' received it.  We need to get those tags so that Kathy can take the truck to the firestone place on base to get the front ends balanced.  Talk about stressed!  I'm really going to be upset if they mess things up for us.  We have one of Sheldon's niece's flying out from Utah to drive the truck back to Utah for Jori.  Since she is planning on staying there for the summer she will need the truck to get to work.  Hopefully this will help her in finding a decent job to be able to stay there for the summer and put some money away for housing next year.  Anyway, she is flying out next Thursday, the same day that Christian is flying here.  Kathy will pick her up at the airport, send Christian on his way the Karli will sleep at her house and drive back.  It will give her a couple days to so that before they go on their family vacation.  So these things need to be done, and the DMV is really playing games with me right now.  GRRRR.................

DJ is writing away on his book report.  He hates writing so this is a major chore for him, and Malachi is doing his science experiments with blue dye in the sink and really enjoying it:0  Next week DJ will be done with his next test and Malachi should be finishing up for the next week of test's.  With Christian coming we won't be having school as usual, but since Sheldon will only be at class until noon, I think I will have the boys do some work in the early morning then we'll be off the rest of the day to go and explore.  If I make up lunches we can take it with us and see a lot of DC.  I just hope the rain goes away for that week!  

April Shower's

Well, spring is here with all the rain.  So I'm figuring that the saying April shower's bring May flowers holds true to this part of the country?  I know some of the trees have started blooming, but the flowers I haven't seen too much yet.

I was hoping that the days would be nice and sunny so I can take the boys down to the Jefferson Memorial to look at the Cherry blossom's.  The trees are in full bloom and just beautiful right now.  I accidentally found my way by that area on Tuesday when I went visiting teaching on of my sister and was glad I got to see the area.  The day I drove by there were a lot of people out in paddle boas in the little basin there, so I would love to get the boys out there to enjoy.  I also hope that everything will be there when Christian comes so we can take him there too.

I got a phone call from a woman who's family just moved to the Netherlands in January.  Her husband is the KC 10 pilot that flies out of Breda.  Anyway, she heard about us from Andy, the guy Sheldon will be replacing, and was asked by Andy if she would act as our shadow sponsor.  Since Andy is our "real" sponsor but he doesn't have kids there the age of ours, he thought they would be more helpful in helping us prepare for the move.  Well, I have to say, she definitely was and is going to be helpful. She has children around the same age as ours and her kids will be going to that same school as ours.  With all the things that they have had to deal with and have learned from I think we can make this move over to the Netherlands with very little problems. We had started thinking about sending Sheldon over first to take care of his in processing and me and the kids coming over a few months later after  he got things settled and found a place to live.  Now, I think we'll let him get over and take care of in processing in Germany, then go to the Netherlands to get his SS card then we will come in August just before school starts. By then we will have what we need to get started looking for a house  to live in.  I know Shel won't won't want to pick a house before I get there, but it takes about 4 weeks for the paperwork for his SS number from the Netherlands to go through and we need that before we can even start to look for a house.  Once it's ready we will get there then we can have the fun of looking for the house and moving in.  She told of of a great place we can stay in while we are waiting and they will let us take our pets there with us.  That is huge, because I was trying to figure out how we would do that while we were at Ramstien AFB with Sheldon's in-processing.  Another thing we found is that the DOD will pay for the kids to have a taxi to pick them up for school, so I won't have to drive as much once we get settled.  I really  wanted to not put too much mileage on the van, so that will be helpful. This will make it easy to find a nice place to live so we don't have to live right in the city and if they will pay for the taxi, then that opens up a huge possibility of where we can live. So, thank goodness for Amy, and this move  won't be the huge nightmare I thought it was turning out to be.  Amy was great, and we talked for hours, so now I am a little more excited about this then before.

Well, I need to get working with the boys on their school work and shower.  I have a commissary run to do today.  We are in dire need of food in the house and I have put it off long enough.