January 2011 It List

Owen: Just Dance Kids, tools, riding his bike, matching the logo on his shirt to his activity, yogurt, monster trucks and bossing the girls in the neighborhood.

Lucy: Headbands, school, living out the "I Have a Dream" speech in her room by giving every doll/toy a chance to play in the Barbie Mansion, otter pops, sneaking on some makeup every chance she gets and Just Dance.

Jenny: My momma for giving me her old Iphone, Girls' Weekends, finally getting to watch Blazer games on tv, the Lose It app and did I mention Girls' Weekends?

Kevin: Using the phrase "cool your jets" at every opportunity, getting free Lasik surgery with days off to recover and grilling in January.

Lola: Chew toys, her friend Opha the bulldog puppy and crying like a newborn when she sees Opha but can't play with her.

All: Wearing our Team Tatum shirts. We love that girl!

December It List 2010

Owen: Adam West as Batman, playing Batman, putting oil on his chest to look like a real luchador, silly bands, snacks, asking for snacks, counting down to Christmas and saying only the first letter of words. Examples: "Mom, I'm the F-word.....Firsty!" or "You are being an S-word....Stinker" or "Is it time for the L-word? You know, lunch." This is really awesome in public.

Lucy: Christmas movies, turning 7, painting nails, 'whipping her hair back and forth', singing karaoke, practicing her guitar with Kevin, going to Oregon and American Girls (real and generic versions).

Jenny: Getting ready to go to Oregon, b&w Christmas movies, Tuesday night Zumba, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (don't judge), crossword apps, soup, putting up my decorations (especially all the ornaments we were given by our Abilene friends) and staying at home.

Kevin: Getting some time off work (rough month), Florida State's improved football season, playing the guitar with Lucy, playing Legos with Owen, Cut the Rope and going to Oregon.

Here is our favorite SNL sketch of the season:

October It List

O: going to school, Franklin, running "100 fast", punching balloons, Nacho Libre masks and talking about animals that may become 'distinct'.

L: running through checklists ("check"), wearing sunglasses to look cool, writing and illustrating her own book, doing tricks on her bike and spending every possible moment with her friends in the hood.

J: iced coffee, Friday Night Lights, word puzzles, Sister Wives, avocados, cooler weather and Quizzy's Word Challenge on Webkinz.

K: surviving Twentynine Palms for two weeks, a so far good season by Florida St., Angry Birds and getting ready for his brother to get here for a visit.

L: avocados, not using her harness for walking and not responding to the command "come".

5 Brainbusters by Owen

1) A beach party is a party that's at the beach.

2) Birthday money is money that you get for your Birthday.

3) If you give me $1, I will also get $4.

4) I could run faster than everything if I didn't have shots today. Now I can only run faster than bikes.

5) Helicopters are electric.

September It List

Owen: Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire, money, Popeye, boogie boards (owning, not riding), starting school this week, saluting, Pictureka!, Rice Krispie Treats, belts, sharing every ounce of his knowledge with his mom while driving in the car and skateboards.

Lucy: Bieber Fever, reading, doing chores, having a boyfriend (although she's not sure if he knows that she's his girlfriend), hot lunch, Pictureka!, sleepovers, riding the bus, accessorizing, riding a bike with no training wheels and dreaming of having her own ipod touch.

Jenny: Dreaming of having my own ipod touch, laying on my couch watching tv (keeping it real), Fall magazines, having friends visit, golfing with Owen, walking my neighborhood with Lola and chinese food.

Kevin: Football season, getting ready for an operation that I could tell you about but then I'd have to kill you*, surfing, playing with his new iphone, mastering the grill, playing soccer with Owen and Bieber Fever. ;)**

Lola: Barking at scarecrows, making friends at the dog park, duck breast jerky treats and sleeping.

* Joking- sort of
**As always, written by Jenny

The Sounds I Heard While Walking Lola Last Night

80's rock and tools in an open garage
Other dogs barking
Kids crying because they don't want to go to bed
Kids laughing because they are getting tickled by their dad
A mom yelling at their kids to go pick up their bikes and scooters (that might have been me)
Bunnies jumping out of some shrubs
Lola snorting
Garage doors closing
Coyotes yipping and howling not to far away
Skateboards
College Football
Lola panting
Water filling up a bathtub
Horses neighing from the stables
More coyotes
A mom chasing her kid on the playground
A church small group laughing
Giggles
Someone asking for ice cream
My kids yelling "it's Lola!" like we'd been gone for weeks

I love my neighborhood. I love that it's safe enough for everyone to leave their windows open. I love that I immediately shut all mine when I got home. :)

Full Circle

Four and a half months ago Kevin was there to help send off a group of Marines to Afghanistan. At the end of July he had to be there while someone told a wife of one of those Marines that her husband had died. I remember that I saw it on the news in Oregon and Kevin was at her house. Strange feeling. The rest of the group came home very early Thursday morning. Every story of troops coming home is emotional. I can't even watch those videos of the returning parents surprising their kids at school. I know for Kevin it was a little different because they were people he's been working with, talking to and praying for. It was hard to keep my tears in check while he was telling me of the ceremonial part of the morning. Then he added that the widow was there. She's only 23. Today, as I drove across base, I kept picturing her with his sweatshirt on, standing there with a group of friends that were all welcoming their Marines home. Hers was the only one not there. Breaks my heart. At the same time, I'm so happy I could cry for all those families that are back together again.
It's funny though, as I was tearing up in the car, I passed by some Marines dancing to get customers for their car wash fundraiser. I looked up and saw a sky with five giant helicopters that looked like a scene from an action movie. I pulled onto my street and saw that the landscapers were mowing today and my thoughts went immediately back to whether or not I pulled the soccer goal from the back yard and if I cleaned up all of Lola's poop. Life goes on. I just hope we don't forget about the people out there who have sacrificed to make that possible for the rest of us.

What a strange, fun, sad and exciting world I live in.

ZUMBA!!!

I realize my excitement could fizzle at any moment, but I love the Zumba class at the gym! My first class made me feel like I had finally come close to fulfilling my dream of becoming a Fly Girl.


Unfortunately, class number two was a smaller crowd so I was able to see myself in the mirror. I actually resembled Baby's sister in Dirty Dancing while the instructor resembled J.Lo.

I was looking up Zumba videos to put on here and this one kept cracking me up. I guess that the key would be to work on my facial expressions.

A Little Northern Exposure

This August included a trip to Oregon. My parents flew down and rode up with the kids, Lola and me. I'm thankful for that because it is a long drive. We hit the ground running with a visit from Priscilla and kids, combined with a visit to the Myrtle Creek Summer Festival. A few hours after she left, Uncle Brandon and Roscoe the WonderDog came down and we basically spent the weekend watching the dogs play. We had great family time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. I finally got to see a live music show at the Douglas Co. Fair. I didn't know many Miranda Lambert songs before the concert but I was a fan about three songs in. We rounded out the visit with a free trip to Wild Life Safari (thank you Aunt Nancy) and a wedding. My sister-in-law flew to Oregon to visit some college friends so she rode back down to Oceanside with me and we spent the rest of the week playing in the pool, the ocean and L.A. I am still recovering, needless to say.

August It List (2010)

Owen: Nacho Libre, cleats, adding numbers (we call him Rain Man Jr.), Jawas, soccer, running and 'double shots'(when anything comes in twos).

Lucy: American Girl catalogs, losing teeth, naming all the girls on the street she's going to walk with to the bus stop, jumping in and swimming across the pool and mouthwash.

Jenny: Committing to read the entire Bible, the gym (more of a theory right now), podcasts, visiting Oregon, Summer shows (The Closer, Covert Affairs, The Glades) and figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.

Kevin: Upcoming football season, switching providers to get the most amount of channels to watch football games, reading about football teams, bookmarking websites about football....you get the idea.


*Written by Jenny

Butterfly Effect

I just read this book. I had to take a few days after I finished it to decide wether or not I liked it (and to stop crying). There was one line in the there that made it worth all my tears. She's describes a conversation between a mother and her 17 year old daughter about the Butterfly Effect*. As her daughter is explaining this phenomenon, the mother is admiring the woman her daughter is becoming but also thinking about the little girl she's been.
And here is the quote I can't stop thinking about:

"We flapped our wings in our kitchens, and a wind blew through their futures."

I don't know if the quote makes sense on its own but I think about it multiple times a day. I honestly have to credit it this week for making me a better parent. It makes me want to do more because I know that what I do now has such a great impact on who my children will become. In the end I just want my kids to be good at loving people. So, we'll work on loving each other today.


*(physics) In a chaotic system, the ability of miniscule changes in initial conditions (such as the flap of a butterfly's wings) to have far-reaching, large-scale effects on the development of the system (such as the course of weather a continent away).

June It List

O-Running super fast, soccer in the back yard, "check" clothes (nike), Subway, jumping in the pool, going fishing and being the King of Barbie.

L-Doing tricks on her scooter, singing with the karaoke channel, swimming, her bride and groom paper dolls, dreaming about doing tricks like gymnastics or something, reading and doing math.

J-Laying out by the pool, taking lessons on base (starting with golf, then horseback riding, then sailing), the harbors, watching Bones reruns (obsession?) and dreaming of feeding Lola to the neighborhood coyote.....joking....sort of.

K-His job, grilling, playing soccer with the kids, bodyboarding and singing this song with Lucy. :)

3 Things

I went in to tell Lucy goodnight. She said she wanted to have a talk. I could see that it could easily be an hour of her thinking up stuff so I said that she could ask me one question. She said, "Actually I have three questions...here it goes...One: Where do lizards live?" I answer. "Okay question number two...how do the babies get in the momma's bellies?" I answer-ish. "Okay, mom, last one...will you give me a math quiz?" So, I gave her a math quiz. All of those things were in her head when she started the conversation. I've found that fascinating.

Also, she is missing two front teeth. She could not look or sound any cuter.

At the Movies.

Last night I had my first experience at the base theater. It's a multifunctional building used for both entertainment and training sessions. I can't complain about the lack of seat cushions because the movie was FREE (on Sundays). I can't complain about the popcorn machine being broken because it gave me the chance to finally eat nachos at a theater. I can't complain about the moms that brought their small children to a PG-13 movie because I figured their husbands were probably deployed and I could suck it up for a change. And finally, I can't complain about the quality of the picture (did I mention it was free?) because before each showing, everyone stands and they play The Star Spangled Banner. This puts a few things into perspective. Can you imagine watching these little 2 and 3 year olds standing for the anthem, assuming their dads are in Afghanastan? Add that to the fact that my friend I was with has a husband over there. I was pretty close to train wreck material. The movie played on and it was an odd transition from patriotism to romantic-comedy. This seems like something I would try to avoid but I actually have the opposite feeling. I felt more honored than anything else to be in that theater, with those people. I'll be back.

Reality.

I just posted about how great it is to live here. It is. But there is a certain reality that we are adjusting to. Kevin LOVES his job. He's never been so excited about going to work or getting up in the 5 o'clock hour. But there are days like today when all the reality starts to sink in a little. He's leading a short devotional this morning for a group deploying soon. The devotional is voluntary (as is all spiritual matters) but the last couple have had around a 75% turnout. This also means that we read headlines different now. This morning there was a Taliban attack that killed 5 troops. We have to care about that now. We can no longer ignore the headlines and push our uncomfortableness to the side. I'm ashamed that I've been doing that for so long now. We are not here because we love being in a war. We are here because we want to love the troops. These people are going through some of the most serious of things and I feel honored to be here and be a part of caring for them. There are some amazing sacrifices made each day, not only by the troops, but also their families. So, all of that to say, please keep Kevin in your prayers so he'll have the perfect words to say to these Marines as they face some of their most difficult challenges.

Settled In.

Minus a few decorative items, we are pretty much settled in. I love my house. It's an older house but it was completely remodeled a couple of years ago. I'm excited to have a garage again and two bathrooms. I feel spoiled most of the time. We live on a cul-de-sac and so there's not much traffic. That is also because there are only half of the houses on this street occupied. There's been a lot of switching around the neighborhoods because they are building so many new houses here. Our street used to be occupied by the officers that moved to the newer homes in the neighborhood. There are a lot of status issues tied into all of this. I'm just happy to be here. :)

In some ways our neighborhood feels like we went back in time. Kids are able to go house to house and playground to playground without any supervision. My kids just stay in the cul-de-sac. This is life-changing for me though. I could not imagine my kids growing up the way I did. I spent all day outside playing with neighbors or just riding my bike around. Now they are able to be outside most of the time while I get to stay inside and do whatever I need to do. Does this mean I'll take up watching Days of Our Lives again? I have a feeling that it's just a matter of time. The funny thing about my peace of mind is that I have it even with the threat of rattlesnakes (that have been seen on our street) and what sounds like bombs going off at some part of the base throughout the day. This leads me to question if it's a feeling of peace or just desperation to have my kids out of the house. Something to ponder....

For anyone that has been to any of my houses, you would know that housekeeping is not one of my gifts. I don't know if it's the love of the house or because I've been stuck at the house most of the time, but I am a cleaning fool. I will probably have to have some sort of therapy for my vacuuming addiction. That is easily explained though by me getting a Dyson for Mother's Day. Still, it's a little creepy for me.

The picture above is our office area of the kitchen/dining room. This is where I sit when I am typing all of these words of wisdom. Maybe I'll have some other house pictures soon.

Freedom

This will not be nearly as profound as what the title might lead you to believe. Last night we bought a second car. That means that today is my first day (in five years) of vehicle freedom. Sure, I've had the occasional day here and there but it usually came with me having to get everyone up at the crack of dawn to drive Kevin to work. Today I can do what I want and when I want to do it. It doesn't have to depend on when I have to pick him up or cost me an extra $20 each time.*

Another way that this counts as vehicle freedom is that we own two cars with no car payments. I never really thought that was possible and somehow we pulled it off. It's a good feeling and we'll give Dave Ramsey some props for that one.

Now, we'll see how long it takes for Kevin to get the Tinkerbell decal off the back window. I wish I could be there this morning when he pulls in to the parking lot with all the Marines heading into the gym.






*Most of that money went to Chik-Fil-A so it was totally worth it.

Lola

You know how they give high school students the fake babies so they can learn what having a baby is 'really' like? I'm going to start a program like that for people that think they want puppies. Good grief. I've had puppies before but not since having kids. I'm cleaning up after 3 babies now. All the sudden nobody knows where to pee. Seriously. Except Kevin and me, of course. She's very lucky that she's ridiculously adorable. It takes about 30 seconds after she has an accident that I'm baby-talking her. I'm a little odd that way. I'm sure the neighbors behind me think I am straight crazy. They are also a little crazy (with power-another story) so I'm letting it go. So, we are loving our new baby and glad that we aren't responsible for replacing the carpets.

One of the reasons we wanted to get a dog is because Lucy has had an extreme fear of dogs. She would start shaking and just about make herself sick when we would go to someone's house that had a dog. It was crazy. But it was a true fear. She decided that all she wanted was a pug and after some research it ended up being the best choice for us. We got a great deal on her and it's been well worth it. Lucy has been going to the neighbor's house and letting their shepherd/lab mix lick her and be in the room with her. I never thought that would happen. Ever. So, even though I'm doing a lot of extra work right now, it's all worth it.

April It List

Owen: Pirates, jumping in the ocean, speaking Nacho Libre-style Spanish, his new sandbox, pugs and Pocky.

Lucy: New friends, talking about getting a pug, playing that Owen is a pug, riding her bike and accessorizing.

Jenny: Camp Pendleton Yard Sales (like Craigslist), meeting new friends and catching up with old ones, having to shop (sigh) and my sweet little dvr friend.

Kevin: Phineas and Ferb, his new job, chasing mice (amirite?), encouraging his wife spend money and getting to watch ESPN.

This was the costume result of letting the kids watch Nacho Libre. It's not quite up to the shirtless representation their dear friends committed to but impressive none the less.