Houston

As of right now we have been in the Houston airport for the last seven hours and still have another three hours to go. Why, you ask? Because we were lucky enough to book a flight that had mechanical problems instead of no mechanical problems. It took off from Savannah an hour and a half later than scheduled, thus making us miss our connecting flight in Houston. So, instead of getting to California at 11:21am WST we are now going to get to California at 11:15pm, WST standard time. To put it in perspective, we have been up since 3am EST. We will probably walk through the door of Chris and Jill's house around midnight WST.

Do the math.

However, as hard as this has been, it hasn't been absolutely horrible. Due to Jarum's active duty military status, we did not have to pay for any checked luggage, thereby saving us a tidy sum of money for the whole trip. We have also been able to spend most of the time at a newly remodeled USO. I don't know what we would've done without the USO, that is for sure! The people who have been working here (for the both shifts we have been here) have been absolutely wonderful! They have been so kind, and so helpful with the kids. We almost even had a Bertar, I mean Guitar, Hero tournament! Jarum and I were also even able to get some staggared power naps. THANK YOU, USO!

I also have to give huge kudos to the kids. They have been wonderful, given the circumstances. They have been well-behaved and almost completely whine-free. Although, as of this writing, we have been going for quite some time without naps, so they are starting to lose it just a little bit. But it could be worse. I'm not complaining. THANK YOU FOR BEING AWESOME, KIDS!

Seriously, though, I can't wait to lie down and go to bed tonight. Really. I just want to sleep. That is all.

I just hope the airline doesn't lose our luggage. :p

(Jarum thinks I just jinxed us.)

Thanksgiving Poem

I like Thanksgiving a lot,

I like to see the turkey fresh out of the pot.

Carrots and lettuce and pie, oh my!

When I'm stuffed with food,

I feel like I would die.

I'm thankful for clothes,

And my long garden hose.

But when it is cold,

I cannot feel my toes!

We're in November and next is December,

I don't want to name the rest.

I still like Halloween and Christmas,

But I think Thanksgiving's the best!

Jacob Boyer - 4th Grade

Jacob the Writer

Our Jacob has become quite the writer over the years. I didn't really know it until he started bringing home his writing assignments from school. They often make me laugh, and I have started saving them in his school folder. Here is his latest piece:

(no corrections have been made and all of the spelling and punctuation are typed as written by Jacob)

One day when I came to school there was a big, lumpy sack on the teacher's desk. When the teacher left, the sack started to move. Then it burst open and thick, green blobs shot out. I was covered in it.

Then I saw a brown thing climb out. It was a big turantula! We all screamed and ran out the door. When the teacher came back she said, "Where did the class go?" Then she saw the spider.

"AAAH!" she screamed and ran out the door. Me, Aidan, and Cameron P. are best friends. We didn't know what to do. Then we saw the spider come out of the room. It saw us and ran at us. "Come on," I shouted, "Let's get out of here!" We ran as fast as we could to the doors. We saw the teacher's car speeding away. We hid inside a bush right before the spider came out.

"I've got it," I whispered.

"What?" asked Cameron a little louder then we wanted. The spider looked our way and started walking slowly to us.

"Are there any cliffs around here?" I asked.

"Yeah, there's one down the street," said Aiden.

"Why?" Cameron asked.

"You'll see," I said.

"1, 2, 3 RUN!" I yelled. We ran to the cliff.

"Turn around when you get to the edge," I said. We did. When the spider tried, it fell off. We were safe. When the spider hit the ground it started squealing.

"Aww, cannot get your ship out," I said. We laughed.

Isn't it great? I love it! (says a proud Mom!)

Weather

I'm just curious: what's the weather like for everyone? We've been experiencing warmer temperatures for the last week, but tomorrow the high will barely break 60F. And it has been raining.

So. Whatca feelin'?

I could have sworn I'd already posted today, but I suppose I was wrong. Things are going much better, today. No one is puking and the coughing is significantly less frequent. Everyone seems to be in a much better mood. Everyone, that is, except for me. I have a sore throat. :p. Here's hoping that it's just a sympathy sore throat!

Dying

We are now on our third straight week of at least one of the children being sick. Josh has had a cough for the last three weeks, took him into the Dr.'s last Wednesday and was told it was the croup. Decided to take him in again today due to no improvement and found out that it is, in fact, pneumonia. Yeah. Good times. He's on his way to recovery (THANK YOU, ANTIBIOTICS!) and we are all happy.

This afternoon Jacob complained of a headache and promptly threw up. He has since been asleep (as of this writing) since 3:30pm EST. *sigh*

California, here we come!

I am TIRED!!!

'nuff said.

A Few Things...

I forgot to post the pumpkins. Thank goodness for pseudo-potato head decorations! WHEEEEE!

Also, the little green monster/goblin pumpkin is Kaylee's and award-winning for "scariest pumpkin." Congratulations, Kaylee!

And this is for my mother. And everyone else who has been whining about not seeing the dog in a while. This is the best shot we had of her, as she kept trying to give loves to the camera. :)

Whew!

I almost completely forgot to post today! I was going to post pics of our pumpkins, or perhaps a pic of my dog, but the following will have to do:

I LOVE THE FALL!

The End.

Hinesville Ward Relief Society Super Saturday 2009

This Blog Entry is for those in the Hinesville Ward Relief Society wishing to sign up for Super Saturday on November 14, 2009

Remember, these are all being provided free of charge, so please select only three and either sign up at the church, or in the form sent out to all Relief Society Sisters via email.

Journal Jar

Do you ever give your journal a blank look and think "I have no idea what to write today!"? Then fret no longer. This Journal Jar is full of ideas designed to aid you in your record keeping. Rest assured that your posterity will love reading about how you became engaged, how you spent your holidays when you were a child, or where you were during key events of past decades!

Felt Gingerbread Man

No, you don't have to run after this one! A few buttons, some stitching, a bit of stuffing and voila! A simple decoration or gift!

Felt Mitten

This very simple project brings the added touch of a Country Christmas to your home. Use it as an ornament, or stuff it with candy and give it as a gift!

Pompom Snowman

This cutie-patootie is made from yarn, colored pipe cleaners, and fluff balls. He's a cheerful addition to anyone's Winter decor!

"Ity Virtues" Embroidery

This simple embroidery project allows you to display your commitment to living a virtuous life. Based on the talk given by Bishop Burton in the October 2009 General Conference. Custom colors available. Choose one from six different flowers, each representing a specific virtue.

(frame NOT included)

Saving Words For Posterity

For those of you out there who have children this will be old hat to you. For those of you who don't, this might be slightly amusing. Or the complete opposite. I leave that up to you.

My kids have all gone through phases of mispronouncing various words or just saying words that are way beyond their age level. Tonight, for your reading pleasure, here are a few of my favorites:

Periodontology (taught to each kid as soon as they could talk)

Hurnicane

Funder (Thunder)

Pasketti (Spaghetti)

Pinano (Piano)

Actually

Serbannah (Savannah)

Downtown Dis-A-ny

According to my research...

Be-caved (Decayed)

Josh: Silence! I Keel You!

And here are two conversations that I had with my sweet two year old Josh, just this evening

(At the Hospital)

Josh: What is this area for?

Me: For people getting medicine.

Josh: What is this area for?

Me: The cafeteria.

Josh: What is this area for?

(You get the idea)

Me: Joshy, how old are you?

Josh: (pause) I'mmmmmmmmmmmm BIG!

And to end this evening's blog post, I give you some classic Matthew:

Me: Matt, why aren't you in bed?

Matt: I wanted to show Aunt Megan my Bertar.

Me and Megan: *blank stares*

Megan: What?

Matt: My Bertar. You know, for "Bertar Hero". *proceeds to sing "I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night"*

(For video of the above CLICK HERE)

Classic.

Paradigm Shift

I walked in the door about 30 minutes ago, after having been at a meeting, to find utter chaos. The kids were still awake, the house was a mess, and my husband was asleep in the bed (which was understandable, seeing as he had a MONSTER headache). Anyway, on any other day this would have perturbed me to no end (did you see that, Melissa?? I used "perturbed"!). However, I was not at all upset. I don't know why, seeing as this would usually set me off in a rant about how nobody cares about our house but me, and why am I the only one to clean, yada yada yada. I just calmly asked the older kids to get the younger kids ready, and voila! Kids in bed in ten minutes.

I think the biggest thing is is that I don't really care about the house being messy. I usually hate having the living room messy at bed time, especially. I like to wake up to a clean house. Tonight? Meh. I now decree that I am going to take this opportunity to put on my jammies, curl up on the couch, and catch up on some TV shows I've missed, all whilst eating a tiny cup of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

The mess will still be there in the morning for me. Waiting. I think it just wants me to feel as though I'm needed and have purpose to my life. Yeah, my messes tend to be thoughtful like that.

*sigh*

Today was definitely a Monday kind of day. I suppose that is appropriate, seeing as it was a Monday, but it was a Monday kind of Monday. All I know is that I worked hard all day to get things done, and it seems as though I have nothing to show for it. Ever had that happen to you? Yeah, I know. It's kinda depressing.

Maybe I should only post in the mornings when I have the pep and energ.... WAIT A MINUTE! WHEN DID I BECOME A MORNING PERSON!?

Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeen

And here is Halloween!

This is a picture of Josh right after I finished putting on his face paint. I knew I had to take it then or else I would not get a good pic of him. :D

Three of four. Josh was being cranky and refused to pose.

Jacob as Commander Cody (I think. He's a Clone Trooper)

Kaylee the Kitty

Harry Potter!

Josh finally consented to pose once at the Church's Trunk or Treat, but as you can see, most of his nose and mouth makeup are gone.

Vampire Dad and Harry Potter. If you look closely, you can see Jarum's teeth. He made those himself. Yeah, it's cool being a dentist!

The truck, although Jake is sitting in front of a lot of it. Jarum gave out toothbrushes along with the candy. And, if you look closely in the back, you'll see a sign I found that day that read "Dracula's Dental Care - Free Checkups" TEEHEE I just had to get it!

The jars. I love these jars. I can't wait for Halloween next year, solely to get the jars out again. ;)

I, of course, was a party pooper and just wore my witch hat from last year. Good times.

Oh, and good luck to all of my peeps who are participating in NaNoWriMo! Crank out those novels! I think the name "Naomi" or "Nomes" is awesome for a strong, female character. Just sayin'.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

We discovered a Pumpking (or Punkin) Patch not too far away from where we live, so we decided to take the kids and go have some fun! There were rides, games, a playground and bounce house, not to mention a hay ride to the actual Patch. I think we'll be going again next year. We had a blast!