School Update

Things are moving right along here at Full Sail Academy!

We did some school work immediately after returning from a trip to New Jersey just to try to get back in to the groove quickly. This week is supposed to be our week back to normal (whatever that is) but our Monday started off slow. Daddy's alarm clock mysteriously turned itself off at 5am so we all got up late! 

The big boys were very in to Legos so instead of interrupting that, Deacon and I cleaned up his room and played with cars. 

For the start of the new year, the plan is jus to continue on our current track. Turner is plugging along with Miquon (math) so instead of moving over to Singapore math like I intended, I'm going to let him stay with Miquon. I think by using that and reinforcing with fun games it's making more of an impact for a child with zero interest in math. 

Eli is fascinated with letters and sounds so I'm taking the opportunity to really dive in to this with him. He's a creative soul, so art and creating are a huge part of his day right now. 

That's all for now! This week is all about keeping it easy since I'm trying to balance the new job with this homeschool thing! 

Christmas 2012

Another Christmas come and gone. I'm so thankful for a video camera, a DSLR and my smartphone. Between the three, I can capture every image, word and memory my heart desires. While I love just being in the moment and not taking pictures or recording video clips, having those digital bits to cherish later makes me happy! 

Grain free, artificial dye free gingerbread boys!

Christmas Eve, we were invited to a friend's for an open house. We have known the Brandt family for quite a few years now and are just now getting around to the same duty station for the first time since we met! It's so nice to have friends that are more like family because generosity like that always makes us feel at home, no matter where we are. 

Toby the Elf made his second annual appearance. 

After playing and eating with the Brandts, we headed home to read the Pajama Elf in new jams and scurry off to bed. We were a bit later than planned, so it was nice that The Night Before Christmas was read aloud at the open house. 

Reading The Pajama Elf. 

After the kids went to bed, Santa's elves got right to work pulling gifts from the woodwork. 

Thankfully, Turner and Eli were so excited Christmas morning that after running in to our room to tell us of the Jolly Man's arrival

Christmas morning 2012.

Deacon was obviously preoccupied! 

New bike!

Play-doh makes him happy. 

Cool Lego boards my dad made from this tutorial. 

Deacon and his car mat back pack that I made from this idea. 

Our first video game system that hasn't even been opened yet! The kids
don't even realize what it is at this point.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! 

The Wall

I've hit the wall. The last 162 days have gone really well. I really don't feel like I've said to myself "deployment really freaking sucks" (ok, maybe when Eli was saying John was dead was a little hard) but today it happened. 

I hit the wall. 

I'm exhausted, done, and over this one. As a parent, you're expected to take a certain number of tantrums, "I don't like this" and those days when your children doubt themselves. I can't take any more of them. 

I have two races coming up before he comes home and I'm really, seriously, thinking about just quitting. Quitting it all and just doing the necessary until my birthday. 

I'm that tired. 

Coping Mechanisms

Eli has been talking about his Grandpa for about six months now. He used to say things like "My Grandpa lives in New York City and is a police officer who helps people." (Side note, John's dad is deceased and was and New Jersey police officer...weird, but true. We rarely bring him up but Eli is sure of his Grandpa). 

In the last week he's been talking about his Grand"fadder" non-stop. He won't talk about his dad. Not even to say he misses daddy and he's excited to do this or that upon seeing him again. Nothing. It's all about his Grandpa. Every single memory. 

There is a tear in his eye (your right). He was crying before I asked him to smile. 

At first I was keeping it to myself. What man wants to hear his child won't talk about him? I know not my husband: that's a hard pill to swallow! Today, though, I blurted it out in a Face Time session (skype for iPhone). It sucks dealing with that by yourself so I told John. I immediately felt bad because I know I'd just die inside if I knew something like that. 

It's just Eli's way of coping. He just doesn't understand time or space. All he knows is that his dad is gone: for how long doesn't matter. Here or GONE is all he gets and this is how he's dealing. 

Last time he was confused, too. He used to ask any man if the person was his dad. He'd try to rough house with any male figure and didn't seem to realize the depth of John's return. 

In addition to the non-stop talk about his Grandpa, Eli recently started refusing naps. Not only is his world up-side down, but he's transitioning form a toddler to a preschooler. He is just all out of sorts! Poor kid. 

If that wasn't enough, I found Turner whimpering under my blanket tonight. He was crying his eyes out. I tried to console him but all he could squeak out, swimming in an XL "daddy shirt" was that when he closed his eyes all he could see was his dad. He then told me it made him so sad he could hardly stand it. I tried to get him to think of other things -like what we would do as a family when daddy gets home- but all he could do was cry. 

I practically rocked my five year old to sleep. 

Strawberry Fields

I started this post from my phone and "drafted" it but found that I had published it before writing or adding pictures! 

This past Saturday, I took the kids Cullipher Farms organic strawberry field to pick berries. Cullipher is the farm I chose for our CSA this year and I was so happy to meet the Cullipher family and the sweetest old farmer, ever! 

The boys had a great time in the field!

First berries of the season!

We picked enough berries to eat until we were happy and then made strawberry salad, ice cream and "soup" the next morning! 

Museums and Infestations

On Saturday I took the boys to the Virginia Air and Space Museum. The kids really enjoyed this particular museum because of the hands-on exhibits. 

I love their faces. Eli was annoyed we stopped, Deacon was says "air-pane!" and Turner has
his typical cheese face on! 

In the cockpit of a jet.

A flight simulator. 

Baggage claim! The kids put the "luggage" on the belt and it learned how
baggage goes through the beltway at an airport. 

Just buckling up for a flight. 

Inspecting wind! I think he was surprised at the force!

Of course, Eli had to try! 

Building an airplane. 

Baby brother is never far behind! 

More flight simulators!

It was a fun museum and it's easy to get around with the kids. We didn't stay too incredibly long because, apparently, it was a good day to skip naps. They were all a bit tired and ready to go home and play with their new rockets. 

When we returned home and I opened the pantry to decide on dinner, I noticed quiet a few moths. We've been having a problem with a few of them but never anything I thought twice about. For some reason, they finally started to bother me (or they really did multiply in a few hours!). Since we've never had moths before -let alone near our food- I did an internet search for how to get rid of them and learned that you have to go through ALL of your food to find where they are laying eggs. Aside from the moths, themselves, I've never even noticed larva until I went digging. I started at the top of the pantry and worked my way down finally finding the source for the little infestation. A container of arborio rice was housing the little laying ground. I can't imagine how they got in to a screw top jar, but they did! It was gross! 

After finding the source and throwing away almost any open container of grain (flours, rices, etc), I cleaned the pantry from top to bottom with water and white vinegar. I have been hunting moths all day long: a lovely use of time that I don't care to spend on moths! 

It Never Gets Easier

When John and I first met, he deployed for Operation Enduring Freedom just two months later. I was giddy college girl, holding tight to this idea of a Naval Officer wanting to be with me when he returned. I can't believe it was all those years ago and he was just a little division officer, squeaky clean and new to the Navy. His leaving didn't bother me at all! I was more concerned wether or not we were going to be in a mutually exclusive relationship when he got back rather than how lonely I was. 

From there we've travelled the world. He's left for more days than I can count, more weekends, more birthdays and more anniversaries have been spent apart than together. Years of our 8 year marriage have consisted of him at sea, just doing the job he was meant to do. It never bothered me. 

Until we had kids. 

The late nights, the duty days, weekends missed, phone calls, going in early, staying on a ship until late at night and missing milestones all add up. 

Seeing my babies cry over missing their daddy hurts more than anything in the world. 

They revere this man: idolize him. 

Missing time with them has to suck about as much as being left behind. I guess I can say, in that respect, I'm the lucky one here: I am with my babies during this separation. It's hard, dirty, exhausting, and rewarding work, but I'm the one around to pick up their hearts and try to lift their spirits. I'd rather be on that end of the stick. 

It never gets easier, this lifestyle of ours. The married single parenting, the playing second fiddle, the moving, the waiting, the watching my children flourish when their dad isn't around. I've head that less than 1% of Americans have served our country, but they've done so to protect the other 99%. 

Pre-Deployment "Vacation"

I use quotations because bringing three small children anywhere isn't really a vacation for the parents involved. 

This past weekend we brought the kids to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg for an overnight stay. They were thrilled at the idea but execution of the stay was a little chaotic! I booked the "Kid Camp" room because it had bunk beds and a TV in the room. I thought they could fall asleep to a movie while John and I enjoyed a movie while relaxing in bed. I have NO idea what I was thinking! 

Deacon had a totally different plan and refused to go to sleep. Eli was completely freaked out by the darkness of the Kid Camp and Turner wasn't going to play the game if Eli didn't! 

They were all, however, tired. I was up all night with Deacon because he is the absolute worst co-sleeper I've ever created! I found John on the couch, if that says much. 

Checking in to the hotel. 

It looked like it was going to be a good night...

Crappy night of sleep or not, everyone had a great time. The kids just loved the water and being able to do some of the slides on their own. 

Everyone had fun, even if we were a little rough around the edges!

A worth it "vacation" if you only have two kids or if all of your children are older...or if you could have another helper around for man-to-man defense. We will give it another shot before we leave, especially now that we've experienced a trip. 

Enjoying Time

The last time John left for a deployment (January of 2010), we were not able to spend a lot of time with him before hand. He was constantly working incredibly long hours (let's say 4 or 5am until 9 or 10 at night NOT including duty days), and the ship got a week of stand down time (called POM). We took the kids to Disney for 3 or 4 days and that was our quality time. 

I can't believe how little Turner was during the 2010 deployment!

This time, his schedule hasn't been nearly as grueling! POM was a week long and he had to go in every day, any way, but at least he was able to delegate the work instead of doing it all himself. 

Tomorrow we will take the kids on a weekend trip to Great Wolf Lodge (hotel with an indoor water park) and then soak in the last week together. 

Playing in an early spring rain.

I say "soak in" like he'll be gone for a year: it's really not that bad of a deployment. John leaves for 6 months but, apparently, the communication is much better than anything we've experienced before. I'm looking forward to that! 

A new world map just came in the mail and I even decided to get Turner a beginning geography book so he can enjoy reading the map and talking about where daddy is. He was every excited to look at the map but he started to get upset just thinking about John being gone. Poor little guy! 

The kids love hearing John read "Night of the Moon Jellies" because he uses an New England
(setting of the story) accent. It seems my southern version of New England
isn't good enough! 

Two things:

1. Apparently, google images in the Netherlands put up a picture from my blog. Blogger has a new interface and it shows all sorts of stats when you log in. My "audience" and blog hits spiked. Intrigued, I had to look. It's me...and my boob...nursing Deacon. I thought of taking it down, but, it'd probably still remain up on their images, right?. I don't know wether to be weirded out or not...

2. School is going well these days! The kids are pretty eager to learn and it's really not all that tough to do. The preparation for the week is the toughest job...well, that and keeping Deacon busy.

School!

The boys started school! I blogged about it here.

A Quick Trip: Washington D.C.

I started this post on 8/15...it's now the 30th! Yikes!  

Here are pictures from our super quick trip to Washington, D.C. We'll definitely be going 

again!