Interview

Jun 14, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

Ok, so I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time. Jessica, a friend I met at church out here in Tacoma, sent this to me (her blog is the wrong week link at the bottom). I figured while I sat here and listened to Lara fight going to bed that I would just get this done.

1. Being a military wife is nothing if not an adventure. What is one of your most favorite adventures thus far? Living at Fort Irwin, California. We arrived at Fort Irwin 2 days after we were married. Not only was it in the middle of no where, but it was the furthest I had ever moved away from family. We arrived at night time, so it just seemed like a really long drive. It wasn’t until the next day when we had to go back into Barstow to find a place to live that I saw where my new, and wonderful, husband had brought me. All I could think about when he said he was being sent to California was the beautiful ocean, beaches, palm trees. I KNEW we were moving to the desert, but I NEVER in a million years realized just how far from civilization we would be. We spent almost 4 years there and we loved it! It was a close knit community, really great for just waking up and going walking/hiking with the dogs, the dogs could go off leash just steps from the back door…and it was amazingly beautiful. The desert definitely had its own kind of beauty. Fort Irwin taught me how to be thankful for your once a week trip to Target which was an hour and a half away, or for that once every few weeks nice dining out experience.

2. You are a Mom to two of the cutest kids I have ever seen. What is something about motherhood that you never knew/thought about until you had kids of your own and really shocked you? How hard potty training would be. I worked with 3 year-olds for about 2 years while in college at Oklahoma Christian. I saw how some moms really struggled with why their child would not potty train. It’s not until I’ve had my own time with potty training that I realize how difficult it is. It’s just hard to realize WHY your child can pee in the potty and not have accidents but will poop his pants every single time. You think you know all of the tricks: bribing, toys, candy, stickers…but you really don’t. Every child is his/her own person!

I also thought that people that had kids really close together should just “KNOW BETTER” and be smart about it. It wasn’t until when Ethan had just turned 6 months old and I found out I was pregnant with Lara that I realized that sometimes God is the one that KNOWS BETTER and it’s HIS plan for children to be close. Sometimes he knows what’s better for your family than you yourself do. I definitely learned to TRUST GOD during that experience and wouldn’t trade my kids being less than 14 months apart for ANYTHING in the world.

3. What is your favorite type of cookie? Do you have a recipe you would like to share?? Ohhhh…I love cookies. I normally just make the good ol’ Toll House classic chocolate chip cookies. Nothing fancy.

4. Tell us a funny story from when you were in high school or college? College…oh, how I love my friends from college! One night, we all got it in our heads that we needed to go to Walmart. There were probably 6-7 of us. But, instead of taking multiple cars, we decided we could all fit in Bethany’s little Dodge sports car. So, we piled in, sat on each other’s laps and even had one laying across us and headed up to Walmart. Thank goodness it was only a short drive from OC to Walmart. But, we did have fun. I believe we were also in our jammies already, and were going to buy hair dye so we could have fun trying new colors (this was a regular thing courtesy of our resident hair dressers KR and Em).

5. What is your favorite verse in the Bible and why? I know it’s so over used, but I love this verse: Philipians 4:13- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It’s something I have turned to over and over and over. You might often hear me repeating this verse while battling the commissary with two hungry children grabbing things off the shelf! HAHA But seriously, I know that no matter what comes my way, whether it be having a baby during a deployment while your oldest is only 13 months old with no family close by, or surviving deployment #3 with two crazy kids, that I can do it as long as I put my trust in Him!

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Our Beach Vacation

Jun 11, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

I accomplished another goal on my list. I took the kids with 4 other moms and 6 other kids to Pacific Beach, WA. The Navy has a resort and we had a blast. I have so much to tell everyone about!! It was such a blast and a nice getaway.

Here are few pictures to tease you with. If you are on Facebook, more photos will be coming on soon:

This was just minutes after we arrived. Our houses weren’t ready (we had a 4 bedroom and a 5 bedroom), so we took the kids to the beach. The sand was so warm. It was really nice. We dug the toys out, put their jackets on, and let them go! Their faces were priceless. They were so excited to see the waves and play in the sand. Notice: this is Sunday, the day we arrived. The last day we went to the beach, Wed, we went to the same beach. No dunes on Sunday, HUGE dunes on Wed due to high winds.

only in the Pac NW do you let your kids go in the cold ocean when it’s 60 degrees outside! You’ll see more “Outstanding Mom Award” photos soon (feel the sarcasm?).

Lara with her sanddollar.

Ethan was very excited about the crab claw.

I think we were the only people on the beach that morning getting into the water. I take that back…the moms got in part of the way…the kids were going in waist deep!

Ethan thought he was a dog while at Ocean Shores.

Lara sat with me most of Tuesday at Ocean Shores. It was very cold and windy that day, but the little puddle the kids played in was pretty warm.

We bought kites while in Ocean Shores on Tuesday and flew them that day back at our houses. Ethan’s flew onto a roof (but a resort worker got it down for him later), and Lara’s survived. All others were destroyed. Ethan picked out Transformers and Lara picked out Sesame Street.

Lara’s kite scared her. I think b/c the winds were super fast that day and it really did tug on the kite pretty hard.

All of us on Wednesday. Yes, we still like each other!

This was Wed p.m. We had NOT planned on letting the kids get into the water. Just going to take them to build sandcastles and play in the dunes. Probably our warmest day, but windiest! The kids all stripped down to their undies (no one brought swim suits) and played. Lara was the only one NOT in the water, other than the baby of the group, who is 20 mos old.

All the kids in their undies going towards the water.

Feeding the seagulls on the beach. The kids loved this. We took all of our leftover bread from the week and let the kids have fun.

Notice the dunes that formed in just a few days.

We had so much fun and are planning on going back in August.

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Police/Fire Station Tour

Jun 7, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

Our town has a brand new combined services building for both the police department and fire department. We are a small town, so it’s neat to see them growing and expanding. The fire station tour was amazing. Our fire-fighters were great with the kids and really let them play and have a good ol’ time!

Driving the engine.

Playing in the back of the engine.

A few highlights from the trip to the firestation:

Lara was checking out the ambulance. This ambulance has not been used in awhile, but sure enough, Lara found the sharps container and stuck her hand right in. So, after we got it out, we had to do a good check for any little pricks of any kind. THEN..yes, another incident with Lara. They were showing us around the firestation. So, the fireman was really bragging about how nice all the facilities were. He goes, “Look…even the bathroom is really nice!” So, the kids go running in, and sure enough, Lara goes straight to the urinal and picks stuff up! GAG! Luckily, he told us they had just been cleaned that morning, and seeing that he cleaned them and he was the only male there that day, they hadn’t been used. So, we scrubbed her up really well and drove on. Only my child!

I have a ton more photos, but it’s not letting me post them. I’ll try to post more later.

We’re off to the beach tomorrow morning after church! I’m sure I will have a ton of photos when I get back

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Future Stars of Dance??

Jun 7, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

This was at the PX. We went with Michelle and her kiddos after we had some dinner in the food court. While we were getting ready to check out, Ethan and Leah heard music and decided it was a perfect spot to dance. So cute!

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First Days of Summer

Jun 7, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

Playing out in the front yard on the first really warm day we had. This was the same day we went to the zoo.

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Kiddos and their Budgie Buddies at the zoo

May 29, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

We went to the zoo today with our MOMS Club and had fun. It was a madhouse there today. So many people. But, we still enjoyed the day. Here are photos from one of their new attractions:

What we would call Parakeets are also known as budgies in Australia (I think). We bought seed sticks for $1 and then you just had to be very patient to get a bird to land on your stick. Since it was so busy, the birds weren’t terribly hungry. But, the one that Lara and Ethan got to feed was brave and munched on several of the kids’ seed sticks. Ethan did great until he reached out to try and pet the bird and he flew away. One of the keepers said that bird is one of the bravest ones they have and they have about 130 birds.

In the car headed to the zoo. We got stopped by a train (which almost NEVER happens on the tracks close to us).

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Photo Post

May 29, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

Here are some photos:

Ethan getting his teeth cleaned. Such a big boy!

Spring Roll Night…what would a deployment be without great friends!?

Michelle’s California rolls she made. Yum!

My spring rolls

I definitely like making spring rolls at home better than eating them out. Taste much better. Although, I found that I don’t like them as leftovers.

Other than that, for Memorial Day weekend we were busy with friends and it was great. We had a potluck all weekend long. So nice to not have to spend a weekend by yourself when other people have their husbands home. Makes all the difference.

We still have not eaten out. Granted, we’ve gone to the store a two times and the kids have picked out a kids cuisine (busy grocery shopping and didn’t have time to make lunch), or a lunchable (were headed to the park and I was out of PB and J), but I’ve been told that doesn’t count as eating out, so that makes me happy. Tomorrow marks 2 weeks of no eating out.

We’re heading to the zoo in a short while with friends. Yesterday we went to a park with friends that just moved out here from Irwin and my arms are a nice bright red color. So, looks like I will be wearing a long-sleeved shirt to protect my arms today. Not fun with this gorgeous weather. But, any sunlight on my arms hurts. I love that I made sure my kids had sunscreen on, but I’m too busy being the Mom to remember to take care of myself. Lesson learned! At least my face didn’t get burned (I always wear sunscreen everyday on my face).

Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying this gorgeous weather! More photos to come. They have a new exhibit at the zoo to feed the parakeets, so I know we will do that today.

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Dentist Visit Update

May 22, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

Well, I have two cavity free kids..yeah! Ethan hopped up in the chair like a pro. They painted his teeth with some stuff to see if we missed any spots while brushing, and, we hadn’t missed any. Then he got flossed and cleaned and then some flouride. They’re hoping next time to get x-rays on the back of the teeth to check for cavities between the teeth.

Lara did great while Ethan was getting his teeth cleaned. She loved getting a new toothbrush. But, she screamed while her teeth got cleaned. Now that she has her full set of baby teeth, it’s been determined that she will need braces. She has her mommy’s mouth. Too many teeth and not enough room. Her teeth are already overcrowded. Amazing how they can see that when she’s only 2. She said that as her permanent teeth come in, eventhough they are straight now, she’s so crowded that they will not stay that way. But hey, we’ve got 1 out of 2 that needs braces. Not too shabby. And at least this has nothing to do with the fact she had a binky. She just doesn’t have enough room.

Other than that, we have not eaten out since Saturday morning. I hate doing the dishes, but I don’t feel so guilty about what I’m feeding my kids. I’m aiming now for 2 weeks w/o eating out. I’ve already got r meals planne until next Sunday. Granted, we haven’t eaten at home all the time. We’ve had some potlucks, and tonight, the kids are eating at the hourly care center. But, it’s not fast food! Our meals probably still aren’t 100% where I would like them to be, but they’ve actually only had chicken fries/nuggets once. They have had corn dogs a few times, but they really like those. I just make sure they have some veggies and fruits to go along with it.

At least the potlucks help break up the hum-drum of eating at home for 3 meals a day. I knew I could do this, it just takes planning. Like I said, I finally feel like I’m coming out of my funk and finding my groove. It’s only taken 3 months!

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Has it really been that long??

May 21, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

I didn’t realize I hadn’t blogged since Mother’s Day.

I have good reason, tho! I promise. Life has been just a tiny bit crazy. Once again, Charlie, the most wonderful dog in the world, has proven that he does not enjoy deployments. If you remember, the last deployment, I spent a BUNCH of money trying to figure out what was wrong with him, only to realize that yes, he still has food allergies, but he also has bad separation anxiety.

This time…what did he do? He ate an entire rotisserie chicken. At least I got the meat off it before hand. But, I wasn’t thinking, and after I stripped the chicken clean, I just put the bones back into the container and left it on the stove. Monday was trash day after all, and it needed to be thrown away. Why, oh why, would I have put it away? Because the silly dog ate all the bones! I mean, all of them. Minus the drumsticks which I had put in the fridge with the other chicken. So, I called the vet, then dropped the kids off at a friends, then took Charlie in. 2 x-rays, 3 medications, and a whole bunch of money later, we came home. I had to COOK his meals of steamed rice and, yes, you guessed it, CHICKEN! He’s just now on regular dog food today. Crazy dog!

We also went to Elmo, LIVE on Tuesday the 12th:

The kids loved it. My camera freaked out about halfway through. So, didn’t get many good photos. The lens started to act up. But, we had fun. This is how I viewed the majority of the show:

Lara stood on my lap, and I held onto Ethan with the other arm trying to keep him from falling through the chairs. We had good seats, but I’d probably try to get us closer like we were last year. This show was about Elmo’s green thumb. So cute! Good music. We bought the soundtrack. My favorite were the beatles singing about trash. The past two years, these programs are very well put together. The hardest part is getting out of there without spending a fortune. Luckily, I convinced the kids that popcorn and a drink was a treat and they did NOT need any more toys.

Here are some more photos of our lives lately:

Miss Attitude

This boy wears his cowboy hat EVERYWHERE!

We went to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese’s. The kids wanted nothing to do with Chuck E. Lara actually tried to get as far away as possible from him as he walked by. She wouldn’t even sit at the table with the kids for pizza because he might come back out. Funny how she loved Elmo, and even wanted to go and shake hands and give hugs with the characters, but other things, she hates. Ethan was pretty unsure himself. A giant mouse…I can see how it might be scary.

Lara combing her hair with the comb she picked out with her tickets.

I will say it was a fun birthday party. I think us parents had the most fun. We had so many tokens, so we were on mission to earn tickets for the kids. We walked out with about 400. So, Ethan and Lara had fun picking things out. I played skee-ball and won the 100 tickets for getting a score over 47,000. Fun times!

That’s our life lately. We go to the dentist today for the kids. Praying for no cavities. We brush twice a day, but I know cavities still happen.

Other than that, we’ve had gorgeous weather lately. We’ve planted more strawberries, 3 tomato plants, and been busy trying to prune the yard and get the weeds out. Fun times! But, it’s enjoyable to me to get to do it. I already have blooms on my strawberry plants from last year, so I’m hoping to get some good fruit this year. They’ve really grown and spread, so here’s hoping! I bought netting to put over them this year to keep the birds and critters out.

I’ll post more photos soon (if Lara cooperates, I’ll get photos at the dentist today).

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Happy Mother’s Day!

May 11, 2009 Author: Mommato2 | Filed under: Uncategorized

I had a pretty good Mother’s Day. Of course, what can a 2 and 3 yr old really do when they’re on their own? They can’t drive, they don’t have any money, and their ability to really create something without me knowing is almost nothing.

But, the teachers in their Bible class helped them create some special gifts:

They made cards and their hand prints were cross-stitched and framed. So sweet! I’ve already got them on the mantle.

Here are some other photos since I haven’t had many photos lately:

Ethan putting hats on Charlie.

JDRF Walk. The kids walked ALMOST the entire way. They probably walked a good 2.5 miles!! I was so proud of them. Lara kept telling me that she was walking for Ty-Ty. So sweet.