Christmas

Christmas started off at about 6 am. The kids gathered at the top of the stairs ready to tear down the wrapping paper that prevented them from getting a sneak peak. The kids each opened a gift and played with it while Erin, Mario, and I made donuts for breakfast (Eric's pick). Then after cleaning up, we opened another gift each and played with that. We stretched out the gift opening until about 11:30. Then it was time for our yummy Christmas dinner: ham, twice baked potatoes, and yummy Erin rolls.

This was our first year without Santa. Instead, we gave the kids money to buy more expensive gifts for each other. It was a success and the kids want to repeat it next year. They were very excited to give each other their gifts.

Opening up first gifts

Erin's new scarf made by Grandma

Erin's gift to Eric-Prince Caspian and Wii Super Mario Bros

Zach's gift to Erin...gift certificate to riding stable

Eric's gift to Nathan...Agent's Command Center

Nathan's gift to Zach...Didj game system

Zach riding new bike at 6:30 am...cold and dark

Nathan's new bike

Erin has turned into Eric...always reading!

Final gift...Wii Sports Resort

Adopt-A-Bairman

Last week, Mario went to a deployment briefing. I was supposed to go but wasn't feeling up to it. They briefed him on some of the special programs that they have for families of the deployed member. Some of these benefits include free oil changes, free dinners, and special events. One of these special events was called Adopt-A-Bairman. Our whole family was invited to go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum yesterday so the kids could build a special bear. Each bear came with a chip in it so the deploying member of the family can record a special message to each of his kids that they can listen to while he is gone.

We got to the event a little late because we had the piano recital first. But the timing was great because our family was the only one left to build our bears. So the base Public Affairs office took tons of pictures of our family and asked to interview Mario for the base news. I got a little teary eyed when Mario had to record his messages to the kids. He asked each of the kids what they wanted him to say. Most said simply "I love you." But Eric wanted Mario to say a phrase that Mario frequently says..."Stand by."

I know we are one of the lucky families. We will get to communicate with Mario almost daily. My heart goes out to those families whose husband/father is deployed to remote parts of Afghanistan or Iraq and have very little contact.

Piano Recital

The big kids had their piano recital this morning. We enjoy these recitals because we see that we are getting our money's worth out of all these lessons. Erin has been asking for a baby grand piano just like her teacher's. I keep telling her to get a full ride scholarship to college and then we can talk about it. It doesn't make much sense for us to get one while Mario's in the military since we move so often. In fact, I have counted 6 piano teachers in 5 years. Wow! It is amazing to see all their different teaching styles. I think the kids' favorite is still Mr. Garcia from Monterey. But for the price he charged, he better be good. Their teacher now, Julie Izatt is very good too (and much cheaper even though she thinks she is expensive, almost half of Mr. Garcia.)

Sick of Being Sick

I have had this horrible cold for a week and a half now. Just when I think I am getting better, I get worse. Our ward Christmas party was last night and just before it started, I had to go lay down. Eric was very sweet and offered to stay home with me and make me dinner. He made some yummy burgers and fries. He even agreed to watch Super Nanny and Dateline with me. I know Eric doesn't like me to blog about him, but I had his permission on this one (I noticed he didn't complain about the Kirby blog either.)

Kirby

Eric loves all Kirby Heyborne's silly LDS movies. So when Kirby came to the LDS bookstore in Tucson, Eric insisted on being taken out of school early to go get his autograph. I felt a little guilty about pulling him out of school. The office staff, I think, just assumed I was taking him out to lunch and bringing him right back like always. But I wrote down on the sign out sheet lunch and personal under reasons for signing him out. I didn't really want to explain in case they gave me a hard time. We had a quick lunch at Subway, shopped at Toys R Us for a few minutes and then headed to the bookstore to wait in line. Over an hour later, Kirby still hadn't showed up and I had to leave to get the younger kids from school. Fortunately he pulled up as we were leaving and a woman standing in line ran out to bring Eric a pen. She convinced Eric to go over to the car and ask for his autograph. It made Eric's day. It made my day having a few hours to spend with Eric alone. He is such a great kid.

Overcoming My Fears

Mario and I were supposed to go to the range yesterday, but I wasn't feeling well. I asked if we could go today instead but he couldn't because he had training all day at work. I decided that I would go anyway. If you remember the first/last time I went to the range, I locked myself in the truck and didn't want to get out, I was so scared of all the gunfire I could hear in the distance.

I decided that I needed to overcome my fears (like I always tell my kids) and just do it. I called the range to make sure they would assist me if I needed any help loading my gun and setting up my target. All the employees are so nice and helpful. I guess they want to see me succeed and be a responsible gun owner. I felt confident that I made a good choice in picking out my gun when the first guy (a customer) made a comment about what I nice revolver I had. One employee helped me get all set up and made sure I knew what I was doing. I have to say, that extra money spent on a laser was really worth it. I put all the bullets except for 1 through the man on the target's chest (I hit him once in the face. Oops.)

The whole time I was shooting, I was thinking..."These people are crazy letting an inexperienced person like me shoot." They put a lot of trust in me that I was not going to make any fatal errors. It kind of reminds me of how when you have your first baby and they let you take him/her home from the hospital and you have no idea what you are doing. How could they trust me with this new baby? Today I was thinking, how could they trust me with this weapon? Not only do you have to trust yourself to be careful, but everyone else around you too.

Stake Conference

Today is Stake Conference. Apparently we weren't clear about which conference it was when we told the kids about it yesterday. The three younger kids each walked into our room this morning excited about not having to get dressed today. They thought we would be lounging around in pajamas all day to watch General Conference on our television. Imagine their disappointment when we told them it was Stake Conference and yes they would all need showers. I think Erin took it the hardest.

Early Christmas Present

Mario has been begging me to get a revolver that is easy for me to handle. I told him that I wanted to pick it out. So after researching guns this morning, we went to a gun show (just a coincidence that one was in town this weekend). I picked out the gun I wanted, but insisted on having laser grips. So we found a shop in town that sells exactly what I was looking for. I don't think Mario will let me pick out any more guns, it cost him a lot more than what he expected (he used his TDY money to fund the purchase.) But I love my new gun and the kids are jealous of the cool laser. Now maybe I can actually hit my target or at least scare the person who breaks into my house. I think I would be nervous having a laser pointed at me.

Instead of meeting for lunch dates at Subway or Jason's Deli, Mario and I will be meeting at the range for the next few weeks so I can be proficient before his deployment. I think I am turning into my sister. I never understood why she liked target practice. I am not sure I will like it as much as her, but it will be nice to learn to defend myself and my family if I ever need to. Mario is wanting me to take the concealed weapon course. Could you imagine me becoming a gun toting mom?

Running

I ran four straight miles on my treadmill today. That was the first time since I injured my knee in May or June. And my knee feels great. I don't run too fast, only about a 11 minute mile, but hopefully that will improve also as the muscles around my knee get stronger. I am so excited!

Gift to Return Already

Nathan got a really cool remote control helicopter for his birthday. He doesn't like to share it much because it is a bit fragile. But it is the favorite toy in the house right now, especially with the high living room ceiling (even Mario loves it.) So, I was really excited about a r/c stunt plane that I bought Zach for Christmas. But Zachary hit Nathan yesterday and then refused to take a punishment. So I told him that if he didn't comply I would return one of his Christmas gifts. The kids never take me seriously and probably for good reason. I am a big pushover especially to the twins. But once I said it, I had to follow through. So I finally got Zach to time out and I opened his gift in front of him and told him it was going back to Toys R Us. Of course that really humbled him and he begged for me to give him another chance. He has some money in the bank so he is begging me to take him to the store to buy his own. But I don't feel like that would be teaching him a lesson. Erin is asking to buy it from me too, but then Zach would get to play with it and it still wouldn't teach him a lesson. So I think the only thing to do is return it (or give it to Mario to play with when the kids are all asleep.) Zachary is one stubborn kid (reminds me of my brother Charlie....fortunately he turned out well.) I have been keeping the plane under the tree as a reminder to the kids not to get in any more trouble. I sure hope I don't have to return anything else.

Soon to be Teen

Eric has been showing signs that he is reaching those teens years. The most recent one, text messaging. For a while Eric was paying the $5 a month charge to have 250 text messages. But he quickly gave that up since he wasn't using it. Now a few months later I checked his usage and he had almost 100 text messages. At 20 cents each, that really starts to add up. Fortunately I called Verizon and they were able to backdate his text message plan and now he only owes me $5 instead of close to $20.

Mario thinks I need to lighten up, but he is the one that was opposed to text messaging in the beginning. I admit, I don't like Eric text messaging. Isn't it enough that we give him a phone? It is hard to let him grow up and be a normal teenager. I don't like what I see from most normal teens. I guess I am going to have to loosen up a bit. 250 text messages probably won't be enough either. He will probably have to upgrade to unlimited before I know it. But I don't think kids should be so attached to their phones. Why can't they just call each other? Why do they sit in firesides and text each other? That tells me they aren't getting anything out of it. I wonder how many are texting during Sacrament meeting. I don't know if I am going to survive the teen years. I want my kids to be well liked and not be nerds, but at what expense?

Lost Keys

Yesterday, when I went to check our mail, I realized that I had lost my mailbox and house keys. I was a little panicked because if I lost it at the mailbox then whoever found it would know what house the keys belonged to because our address is on our mailbox. Mario was coming home late that night but I knew that the last thing he would want to do is change out locks when he came home. So I went to Ace Hardware and bought a new deadbolt and installed it almost all by myself. I got stuck on how to put the back plate on so the neighbor helped me finish. I was pretty proud of myself. We had been wanting to change the locks on the house anyway so this gave us a big excuse to do it right away.

I think I watch too many Dateline murder mysteries because I was imagining someone coming in and killing me and the kids before Mario got home. Then he would come home and discover us but then be accused of the crime because there was no forced entry. No one knew I was missing my house keys. I thought about calling my mom and telling her but instead of freaking her out I decided to just change out the locks. Am I the most paranoid person on the earth?

Today Mario had to go to the post office and request them to change out our lock on the mailbox. Fortunately his key didn't work to open it and so they will replace the lock for free.

Spelling Bee

Today, Nathan went up against the other kindergarten spelling bee champs from the 5 other classrooms. I was really nervous for him but he didn't seem phased by the whole thing. I was trying to prep him for losing. I even had Erin talk to him about how she didn't win her school's spelling bee last year. Of course I was hoping for him to win, but I was afraid he would be crushed if he lost. Fortunately the words started pretty easy. His words were "no, go, and, see, today, like, blue, orange, and black." I may have forgotten a couple, but those are the ones I remember. I knew that he wouldn't get blue and orange but fortunately those words came up when he was just up against one other girl and she missed her words as well. So they kept going until one got their word right and the other missed. Nathan seemed very calm while I was completely nervous for him. I can't bite my nails anymore because of my braces, but if I could, I wouldn't have any left.

Nathan finally won with the word black. We will have to celebrate with chocolate cake (especially since Mario is coming home early.) We went to the store after the spelling bee and I told the boys they could get some candy to celebrate. Nathan finished off his candy and then traded his trophy to Zach for the rest of Zach's candy. I had to overrule that. But Nathan offered to share it with Zach.

It has been a good opportunity to have a little talk with Zach about how Heavenly Father has given us each different talents. I think he got the message when he started congratulating Nathan on his win. As a mom it was so nice to witness his kindness to his brother.

Nathan wants to wait until next week to surprise Mario with his trophy. Nathan will get his own surprise tomorrow morning when he wakes up and finds Mario home early. They get to surprise each other. I can't wait!

Finally some good news

Mario gets to fly home a week early from Norway. He told me he gets to fly home tomorrow night. He doesn't need the training that is offered next week.

Mario wanted to surprise me but decided not to because he was afraid I would get worried if I couldn't get a hold of him during all that flying time. He will get to surprise the kids at least.

Life is Good

So far we are having a good week. I made it through the twins birthday on Tuesday and Progressive Dinner last night. Tomorrow Nathan will compete in the school's spelling bee. I have been trying to prep him for that but he hasn't been too interested in practicing. I don't push him since he is only in kindergarten and he will have many opportunities to compete in the future.

We have implemented a few things to make time without dad a little easier on the family. We put karate on hold until at least next summer. That was the huge relief for me. I am a very scheduled person. I like to eat on time and go to bed on time. If I don't do those two things, I lose all patience. So eliminating karate is working out well. Since we gave up karate, the big kids now have time to take up guitar lessons (they are continuing with piano too). The teacher is very reasonable, only $15 an hour and she comes to my house so I just have to be home on Wednesdays between 4 and 5 pm.

The next thing I decided was to give the big kids opportunities to share in the cooking. Erin loves to cook so she would cook almost everyday if she could. My only issue with her cooking is that she likes to make things more tasty than healthy. She recently asked me if I like to modify recipes to make them taste better. I said no, I like to modify recipes to make them healthier. She likes to use spices that I never would think to use. Plus I have been buying a lot more butter since she started cooking. So with Mario being gone, I figured Eric, Erin, and I could each take 2 days a week to cook. Then we would order out or go out for the other dinner. I thought the kids would make simple meals, but Erin has already made turkey pot pie twice and tacos. Eric has plans to make lasagna tonight. I don't think I have even cooked once since Mario's been gone. So I may not even get my two turns this week. I was thinking we would have meals like grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade mac and cheese while Mario was gone, but apparently we will be eating better than ever with the kids cooking. I figure Eric's wife is going to thank me one day for all this cooking experience plus it will help him not starve on his mission.

The other thing I started was doing a 10 minute cleanup after dinner. It is amazing how quickly we can get the house cleaned up with 5 people helping. When the house is clean, pjs on, and teeth brushed, we sit down to read scriptures and watch one episode of a classic tv show. This treat at the end of the night helps the kids calm down and also helps me motivate them to do the 10 minute cleanup and get ready for bed.

Mario and I have been so blessed with such a wonderful marriage and family. Life is good.

Boring Blog

You know your blog is really boring when even your husband only skims them. Mario bought a mini computer with a camera before his trip so that we could Skype everyday. I feel bad for the kids, but with the 8 hour time difference, only I am home when Mario gets back to the hotel. So he and I get to chat for an hour or two in uninterrupted quietness before he goes to bed.

So today I asked Mario if he had read my blog about the boys' birthday yesterday. He hadn't and so he looked it up. He complained that it was too long. So then I started quizzing him on what I wrote. It was obvious he didn't read the whole thing.

So I apologize for writing a long, boring blog. But maybe 40+ years from now when I turn my blog into a book (since it is my journal) maybe he will appreciate my long entries. He complained when Eric and Erin were little that I took too many home videos. Now when he watches them he wishes we had more. So I know he will be thankful in the future.

BTW, I love Skype. It makes being apart so much easier and the best part is that it is free (except for the cost of the mini computer).

6th Birthday

Wow, I can't believe it has only been 6 years since I was lying in that hospital bed. I remember it was the most uncomfortable I have ever been. I wasn't allowed to move because the doctors had put a heart monitor on Zach.

Today started with the smoke detector beeping because of a low battery. So I was up at 4 in the morning researching how to take the thing apart to get the battery out. I figured I may as well stay up and do my exercise and then make the boys some biscuits for their birthday breakfast. While on my treadmill at 5:30, Erin came in the room and asked if she could make the breakfast to surprise the boys. Wow, it must be great to have a big sister like Erin! Plus it is great for me to have a daughter like Erin.

The boys got an early morning call from Norway (dad) to wish them a Happy Birthday. After breakfast, I thought the boys would beg to go to the store to spend their birthday money, but they didn't even ask and I didn't suggest it. We made fruit kabobs for them to bring to their class at school. The school doesn't allow junk food. I am not a fan of junk food, but I did think it would be easier and cheaper if I could just make cupcakes or brownies.

Zach had a hard morning. He thought that because it was his birthday, he was entitled to be a brat. When I threatened to send him to bed early, he told me that I couldn't send him to bed early because it is his birthday. Of course I didn't buy into his logic.

After school, we ordered pizza (which is a huge treat at our house) and watched the movie "Up." Instead of cake, the boys picked out ice cream treats at the store that I normally always say no to when they ask if we can buy them. The movie and pizza went well except I think the twins decided they like my pizza better than Papa Johns.

Zach found out that I was serious when I told him that I would send him to bed early. He started screaming and fighting with his siblings and I had to put him to bed. All the way up he insisted he shouldn't have to go to bed early because it was his birthday.

I went downstairs and read scriptures with the other 3 kids and then we began our annual tradition of counting down to Christmas. We wrap up 24 Christmas books and we open one each night leading up to Christmas. I felt bad that Zach missed out so I read scriptures with him in bed, but I wouldn't read him the Christmas story. Hopefully he will learn his lesson (or just go through life thinking I am the meanest mom ever.) Somehow he always seems to have forgiven me by the next morning (and I have forgiven him too...I am convinced this is why we go to bed at night...so we can like our children again.)

Time for Heat?

Erin has been begging for me to turn on the heat. She even offers me $5 to turn it on. I have resisted so far because we all have heater blankets to use while sleeping. But I became very tempted to turn it on when I looked at the temperature in my bedroom before jumping in the shower...61 degrees. I thought we were moving somewhere warm....burrrr! Fortunately the rest of the house is a little warmer than my room. The downstairs and kids' rooms are at 67 degrees. But it warms up during the day. I talked to Mario briefly this morning and he told me not to complain because it is freezing in Norway. But when I looked up the temperature, we only had 1 degree difference. I reminded him that he has a hotel with heat too.

Maybe I should stop being so darn cheap and turn on the heat. My house is one of the homes in the progressive dinner tomorrow night so maybe I will have to be a nice host and turn it on then.

Cry Baby

Today I was doing really well until Sunday School when the teacher asked if we would like to share a conference talk that has personally touched us. I recalled the night when Mario told me about his deployment. I had trouble sleeping that night. During that short time I did sleep, I had a dream that I needed to read Ann Dibbs' (President Monson's daughter) talk titled "Hold On." I knew in my sleep that her talk would bring me comfort. It also brought me even greater peace because that showed me that Heavenly Father was well aware of me and that he loved me and would help me through this.

I shared this with the class and before I knew it I was crying like a big baby. I finally regained my composure and went to Relief Society where the first person I saw said, "Hi, I heard your husband was leaving for awhile." I don't think this would normally make me cry, but because I had just been crying in Sunday School, it started my tears again.

I again regained my composure and was fine until my phone rang after church. It was a brother from the ward that I had never met before. He was calling to say to please call him if I needed anything at all. He has deployed twice and his wife received a lot of help while he was gone. Now he was looking for an opportunity to pay that back. I hung up the phone and thanked Heavenly Father for looking out for our family.

Zachary's shower

Zachary has been playing games on his new camera all day. Finally this evening I told him that he needed a shower. He refused and I told him that he couldn't play with his camera until he was done with his shower. He quickly ran upstairs and within a minute or two he was back downstairs with slightly wet hair. I asked him if he had taken a shower and although he wanted to lie, he told me no. I asked him if he just wet his hair and he admitted to wetting his hair but he was proud to say he wet his feet too.

I was glad he told the truth, but disappointed that he was trying to pull a fast one on me. I am going to have to keep my eye on that boy.

6th Birthday

Horse pinata(they chose a horse because Erin loves them so much)

Picture taken with Zach's camera

Another picture with Zach's camera

Zach's new camera

Nathan and Zachary were waiting for us to return from our shopping trip so they could open their birthday presents. For some reason we always let the kids open their gifts first thing in the morning. I got Zachary a new camera (to replace that piece of junk from the other day.) This one was a lot more money and it doesn't take good quality pictures, but at least it works (and plays cool games too.) I gave Nathan the remote control helicopter that I picked up for half price at Toys R Us. He was thrilled. Normally I get the twins identical gifts. It makes it much easier that way. But now they are starting to develop different likes/dislikes. Erin got Nathan a lego set and Zachary a Bakugan.

We spent the late morning playing and eating at Chuck E. Cheese. Then home to break the pinata and eat Mario's yummy ice cream cake.

It has been a good day, but we will all be sad to say goodbye to Mario tomorrow when he has to fly out to Norway for 2 weeks. Mario was told today that he will be the General's Aid in Afghanistan. He wasn't thrilled with the news, but he said I should be. Now he will have the General's security also. I was hoping he wouldn't ever have to leave the NATO compound. But at least he will be traveling by helicopter instead of jeeps. Mario will be extremely busy, but it is better he does this job when the family isn't with him and he can work 18 hour days if he has to. This job may change (as with everything else in the Air Force.) So we won't really know until he gets there. But that's what he has been assigned to do.

OK, I Lied

I said I was sleeping in for Black Friday and I really intended to. But then Eric found a great deal on a Lego set at Toys R Us that he really wanted to get for Nathan (he drew his name in our Christmas exchange.) So Eric and Erin begged me to take them to stand in line so we could be there when they open at midnight. I am not a night person (and neither are they) so I said no. But I am a morning person so I agreed to get up at 4 and take them. I ended up waking at 3 am so I shopped for some Black Friday deals online.

First stop, Old Navy. We stood in line for at least 30 minutes to buy 2 pairs of jeans and a t-shirt. I was thinking that this was definitely not worth getting up at 4. Next stop, Target...we left after standing in line for about 2 minutes. The line was wrapped around the entire store and it wasn't worth standing there for a $17 scooter. Then we decided to go to Toys R Us even though we knew the Lego set would be long gone. Since we got there 6 hours after it opened, the crowds were gone. We immediately checked the Lego aisle and walked away disappointed. But then I went to check scooter prices and while over in the bike/scooter aisle, Eric spotted the Lego set on a shelf by the scooters. Someone must have tried to hide it to come back for it later. Eric was so excited. The only problem being that Eric was buying the set for Nathan but he really wanted it for himself. I figured he will get to help Nathan put it together (it's over 1,000 pieces.) But who knows, Nathan is getting really good at Legos. We found the scooter for $20 and I happily paid the extra $3 and didn't have to stand in line at Target. We also found a remote control helicopter for half price.

Next stop, Walmart. We looked around and enjoyed watching the crowd pick up nice, big televisions. I was a little sad to see so many people picking up big ticket items knowing that most of them were probably going into debt to buy them (I am really big on sticking to a budget lately and paying cash for everything...thanks Dave Ramsey!) The crowds was much worse than Target and so we left. We finished off our trip at Michaels and Sports Authority.

I was so happy that we found what we wanted at Toys R Us. I was glad that I didn't regret my decision to get up early today. But now I probably have 2 big kids that are going to want to go out every Black Friday.

Quote of the Day

I really should keep a journal and write down the quote of the day in my house. Today that honor would go to Zachary.

Mario leaves on Saturday for 2 weeks to Norway. So we decided to celebrate the boys birthday on Friday before he leaves. They have been talking about Chuck E. Cheese so I said we could go there if they want. They asked Mario to make them ice cream cake for their birthday. So I told them we could have ice cream cake on Friday after Chuck E. Cheese and then I would make them homemade ice cream on December 1 for their real birthday. All the plans were set and I thought everyone was happy until Zach came into where I was running this morning (at 5:00 am-why in the world was he awake at that time?) and started asking when he could hand out birthday invitations to his friends. So as I ran, I tried to explain that we were having a family birthday party this year and that we had a friend birthday party last year. We can't have friend parties every year. Needless to say, he didn't take this news well. It reminded me of a previous blog from March 4th where I posted letters that Zach wrote in school last year about how I always say no. In fact one says, "Its my birthday my mom says I can't have friends over."

On to the quote...so in the car as we were driving home from picking up candy for the pinata and the ingredients to make ice cream cake, Zachary said that I didn't care about his birthday and "it seems like my birthday is just air." I have to admit, I did feel a little bad. But not bad enough to throw together a big party.

Black Friday

I have been looking forward to Black Friday for a couple weeks now. I have been checking out all the leaked ads online and planning my shopping trip.

I changed my mind today...

Zach has been begging for a digital camera for months. I suggested he wait till his birthday or Christmas, but that seemed so far away. Finally today I saw that starting at 3 pm Toys R Us would have one for ten dollars. I asked Zach if he would like to do some extra chores around the house to earn the few extra dollars he needed. Of course he did everything I asked him and earned the money. Then I checked out the reviews on the camera (my fault, I should have done this before telling Zachary about the camera). It got horrible reviews so I tried to talk Zach into saving up his money to buy one with better reviews. He couldn't wait. So we drove all the way across town for this $10 camera. I knew we were in trouble when it was hard to find a parking spot. The store was packed and nothing in the ad was left. Customers were lined up at noon to purchase things at 3 pm when they went on sale. I was so upset. I thought we were in a recession!

Anyway, we finally found a $15 camera and I told him I would throw in the extra $5 since we had already driven all this way. But I did try to tell him it was cheap and wouldn't last so he would be better to save his $10. Long story short, the camera didn't even last an hour before Zach was crying. Now I have to make the long trip back to return the piece of junk (Not a surprise at all...I even told the kids to be careful opening the package because it was probably going to be returned.)

While at Toys R Us, I decided no sale was worth the frustration I felt today (and it wasn't even Black Friday.) So goodbye Black Friday...I am sleeping in.

Mario's New Digs

We used to feel so sorry for the locals in Guam who lived in containers. We would scare Eric and tell him that is why it is important to go to college and get a good job. Mario's been to college, but now we have to explain to the kids why he has to live in a container. Fortunately for him, he will have heat, AC, and hopefully internet access. He will probably have a roommate or two (which means he'll only have half or a third of a container.)

Nathan

I was reading with Nathan this morning when he told me that he wants me to have more babies so he can be a big brother. Before I could say anything, he continued that he wants me to have a baby boy, no 2 baby boys. Then he started counting how many people would be in our family. He said 2 girls and 6 boys. Then he laughed his cute little laugh.

I told him that he is a big brother to Zachary. It may only be by 13 minutes, but Zach uses that 13 minutes to his advantage. Nathan may as well too.

Then after school, Nathan told me that he wishes I wasn't his mom because I am mean. I started to feel a little sad until he finished his thought..."I want a mom that will do my homework for me."

More Bad News

Just when I think it can't get any worse, I found out today that not only will Mario be gone for 6 months to Afghanistan, but he will have to go to Norway for 2 weeks in late November and then to Wyoming for 2 weeks in January. His report date to Afghanistan is Feb. 13. So he will probably have to leave a week ahead of that to get there in time. I think he has to spend a few days in a country (that I have never heard of) nearby until he can catch a flight into Afghanistan. Plus Mario wants to stay a couple weeks longer in Afghanistan so he will get a year's remote credit out of the trip.

Unfortunately Mario has to cancel his trip with Nathan to visit Abuela December 2. Nathan isn't going to take that news well. I feel so bad for him. Plus Mario will miss the twins birthday, but I guess that is only fair since he will miss mine, Eric, and Erin's next year.

I am excited (and jealous) that he gets to go to Norway. That sounds pretty awesome. Wyoming, we've already seen that state once driving through. Wyoming in January doesn't sound the least bit fun. Maybe that is true for Norway in December too.

Now I get to see what life is like for all my Navy, Army, and Marine friends. I have tremendous respect for the wives who handle their husbands being gone all the time. They will be my inspiration. I just have to tell myself, if they can do it, so can I. Saying it will be easy, but believing it will be the challenge. Thank goodness for 4 awesome kids to keep me company.

Kindergarten Spelling Bee

Nathan came home yesterday and told me he had won the spelling bee in class. I thought he was making up the story since I didn't think they would have a spelling bee in kindergarten. But Nathan's story was confirmed when I asked Zach about the spelling bee. He was all bent out of shape because he said his word was "said" and he spelled it "said" but his teacher told him it had a "y" in it. I think he must have misheard the word, maybe "says" instead of "said."

Anyway, I was proud of Nathan. He is an excellent speller. It is hard having twins because when you congratulate one, it makes the other feel like they aren't as good. We all have our different strengths. Right now, Zach is excelling at reading and Nathan at spelling. I wish they could just be happy for each other.

Nathan gets to move on to the next round in December for the spelling bee. Since this is the first I have heard of it, I am guessing that he will be going up against other kindergarten classes.

Found Money

Since Mario got home early from his trip to Dominican, Eric asked if they could go help with road cleanup early this morning. He is looking for service hours for Boy Scouts. Before leaving, the kids were discussing what would happen if Mario found $20 while cleaning up the trash. Mario said, I guess I could take the family out to lunch.

Two hours later, Mario came home with a crisp $50 bill. Now we get lunch and a few extra bucks for Christmas shopping. How cool is that?!

It is not the first time someone in our ward has found something while doing road clean up. My 68 year old neighbor, Sister Park, found an assault rifle once. There had been a robbery and the robbers were running from the police. They threw their gun out the window and then several hours later, Sister Park found what the police had been searching for. She says that she found the gun and just put it in a bag and continued picking up trash. Then the police pulled up a few minutes later and asked if she had found anything unusual.

Loose Tooth

Erin has had a loose tooth for at least 11 days now, but she won't pull it out. This morning I noticed that her teeth looked dirty even though she had already brushed them. I took her into the bathroom so I could clean them. Turns out she doesn't brush the teeth around the loose one in fear that she might accidentally bump it and then it might fall out. I am trying to figure out why she won't just pull the darn thing out. Maybe it has to do with getting braces. The ortho won't put braces on her until she has lost her baby teeth. She doesn't want braces and so she is trying to hang on to them as long as possible. (Unfortunately for her, I am sure they will all fall out before she is 18 and leaves home.)

A couple weeks ago she had a loose one that was bleeding but she refused to pull it out. In the church bathroom, when she wasn't expecting it, I flicked it and it fell right out. Is it any wonder my kids don't trust me?!

So my question is, do I force her to let me take this one out? I don't want the teeth around it to suffer. Or do I let her try to hold on to this baby tooth until she is out of the house and married and she won't have to get braces. Option #2 would be the cheapest for Mario and I. It is such a toss up. What should we do?

This whole incident reminds me of taking Erin to get shots several months ago. Maybe I already blogged about it, I am not sure. But I took her in and she refused to get a mandatory shot (not something like the flu shot). She was wearing a hoodie and so I had to wrestle with her (in front of the nurse) to get her hoodie off. She was kicking and screaming and not letting the nurse give her the shot. I wasn't strong enough to hold her down. Finally the nurse called for back up and another nurse came in to help me hold her down. I was so embarrassed for Erin. I wish Eric would have pulled out the cell phone to get video of the whole thing. I think he thought of it but was afraid I would yell at him if he did.

I told Erin that Mario will have to take her for all her upcoming shots. Erin has zero tolerance for pain. The drs will have to knock her out for childbirth. I already told her that I won't be there in the room.

Update: Erin came home wearing a strange shirt today. She said her shirt had blood all over it. She was playing a game at recess and a boy accidentally elbowed her in the mouth today knocking that loose tooth out. I should go pay that boy a couple bucks tomorrow. He saved me a lot of trouble.

Rubix Cube

Eric has been begging for a Rubix cube for the last month. I didn't even know that they were popular again. Well, the wait finally ended today. I was nervous when he started messing up the cube. I said, "That will be the last time you see it in that perfect state." He was pretty discouraged when he started trying to solve it. He thought it would be easier. I told him when I was a kid, I would change the stickers:) But now for 99 cents you can buy an ipod app that will solve it for you. So in 20 moves, his Rubix cube was back to being perfect. I wish they had those around when I was a kid. I am excited to see my kids enjoy the classic games. I saw this funny poll:

When someone gives you a rubix cube to solve, you reach for..

a. a stopwatch

b. a screwdriver

c. a garbage disposal

d. an emergency exit

Trial Run

This week is our trial run for Mario's deployment because he is in Dominican Republic for 5 days. I failed miserably on Monday. I got upset with Erin for eating dessert without eating her dinner. Then as I was cleaning up from dinner, Zachary started whining about working the DVD player upstairs. I lost my temper.

But I assessed the situation and determined how I could do better with the nighttime routine . That is when I usually get upset the most with the kids. I always tell them I am off duty at 6 pm. Well that works well with Mario home, but not so well when he is not. So I guess I am going to have to stay on duty until at least 8 pm when Erin goes to bed. Eric is pretty much a non-issue. He just does his thing and stays out of trouble.

Last night went much smoother. I made dinner and had the kids clean up. Then we called Mario and had scripture study and prayer with him on speaker phone. Then I read Nate and Zach a couple stories before putting them to bed in their favorite spots-Zach in my bed, Nate in Erin's bed. I took Eric to YM and Erin and I watched a sappy love story.

I am hoping tonight will go as smoothly even though we will get home a little late from karate.

Gratitude Lists

Zach gave our FHE lesson last night. He chose a story from the Friend magazine about showing gratitude. Then he had us make our own gratitude lists. Zach very much likes to be in charge. I can imagine him being a CEO one day. I asked him if he wants to be the boss where he works when he grows up. He asked me if the veterinarian is the boss at the clinic. I assured him that he would be the boss if he had his own clinic. He was very bossy about who read what last night and how much they read and what order we read in. I had to laugh. He likes power.

Anyway, here is Nathan's gratitude list. I think he worked the hardest on his. The other kids' papers were scribbled on or torn up so I couldn't scan them. And in case you are wondering, I did list the military as something I am grateful for. I am grateful that Mario has a good job and that we are blessed to live in this free country.

Deployment Part 3

Well, I may as well delete that last post about Mario's new calling as YM President. He will no longer be around to serve in that calling. He came home last night and sat me down to tell me he has been non-volunteered into a deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan working with NATO. He would leave in late February. I must admit, I cried pretty hard for about an hour. But after the initial shock I calmed down a bit and now I only cry occasionally when I think about it.

In the 11.5 years he has been in the military, he has never deployed. He hasn't avoided deployments but has never been in the position to deploy. We were in Guam when the terrorists attacks happened. He was in the process of getting his first Masters and so his commander didn't deploy him. In Hawaii, he taught ROTC so he was not deployable for those 3 years. In Illinois, a deployment came up to Cuba and he asked for it but was turned down because it wasn't for his unit. He was finally tasked with one to Africa but he was accepted into a Masters program in Monterey, so he couldn't go on that one either.

We knew that his turn was coming up and now it is here. I admit, I would rather him go to Latin America but I guess this is where the Lord wants him to go. He prayed about a deployment to Ecuador and didn't feel that it was the Lord's will to volunteer for it. After being told that he would get this Afghanistan deployment, Mario said he felt comfortable with this one. He assures me that he will live and work in a large protected compound. It is comforting to me that we can talk almost everyday and also email and Skype. That should make this so much easier.

I don't know how much sleep I will get between now and late August when he returns. I hope that I can have more faith that he will be safe and the kids and I will survive without him for 6 months. I am also comforted that we have been sealed in the Temple. Mario assures me that his work on this earth isn't done and he will be fine. I pray he is right.

New Calling

Last night we got a visit from the entire Bishopric. To make a long story short, Mario will be the new YM President in our ward. Now I get to practice a lot of patience and sacrifice. Two things I am not good at, but I will have to learn.

I am excited for Mario and I think he will do an great job. He knows first hand what a difference good YM leaders can do for a boy's future. I am so thankful for YM leaders and great Bishops that Mario had when he was a youth, because I know if it weren't for them, Mario would probably have never served a mission and we wouldn't be married now.

I have to laugh because Mario's current calling is Teacher's Quorum advisor. He recently saw some needs in Scouting and started aggressively attacking some issues. I told him that I thought he may be a little too assertive (the military officer in him was coming out) and may step on some toes of the leaders in YM. Well, I guess he doesn't have to worry about that anymore. I feel for his counselors when Mario shows up to meetings with his long "to do lists." There's work to be done and a lot of weight on Mario's shoulders.

Flu

Looks like the Perez household may be hit by the flu. Eric is down with a wheezing cough, headache, and very tired. Mario has been complaining that he is having a hard time recovering from Fast Sunday. Every once in a while I feel a little stomach ache. I am wondering if we are all getting sick....

I shouldn't have been quick to brag that our family has been so healthy (except Eric's migraines) since moving to Arizona.

Update....Turns out that Eric just had a cold and the rest of us stayed well. At least for now.

Halloween

We had a great day today. Mario dropped Eric off at the Stake Center at 6:30 this morning for a merit badge camp. He came home with two completed merit badges. While Eric was gone, Mario took the other 3 kids to the Kartchner Caverns while I grocery shopped and cleaned up the house. Then we had a relaxing afternoon waiting for the real fun---trick-or-treating to begin.

Being Consistent

I couldn't get Dave Ramsey's podcast downloaded to my MP3 player today, so I decided to listen to a Conference podcast instead while I ran/walked. I probably need that more than Ramsey anyway. I took comfort in Elder Bednar's talk where he described FHE in his home while his boys were young:

"As our sons were growing up, our family did what you have done and what you now do. We had regular family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Now, I am sure what I am about to describe has never occurred in your home, but it did in ours.

Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts such as “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “Mom, he’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bednar and I were exasperated because the righteous habits we worked so hard to foster did not seem to yield immediately the spiritual results we wanted and expected.

Today if you could ask our adult sons what they remember about family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening, I believe I know how they would answer. They likely would not identify a particular prayer or a specific instance of scripture study or an especially meaningful family home evening lesson as the defining moment in their spiritual development. What they would say they remember is that as a family we were consistent."

So, I know I have no control, but I can be consistent. Eric gave his first talk as a Youth speaker yesterday. I got an honorable mention when he talked about reading scriptures. Eric said, "My mom makes it a point to read every night." I looked up his talk to get the exact quote. He wrote the following in his talk, but must have changed his mind about saying it: "Once we were at the table, about to have cake, when my mom pulled out the scriptures and made us all wait to eat until we were finished reading."

I think I am on the right track. Hopefully my kids will look back and say we were consistent (and not just consistently yelling! :)) Honestly, Mario is way more consistent than I am. But I try really hard!

Control Freak

I came to a realization today. It only took me 35 years to figure out I am a control freak. Maybe that's why my twins cause me so much frustration. I cannot, no matter how hard I try, control them. Mario just laughed when I told him this today. Of course, he knew these things all along.

Chocolate Cake

Mario finally got word today that he will officially get IDE credit for his time at Naval Post Graduate School. Don't ask me what that really means, but apparently it is good because he is very excited about it. He says it will make it easier for him to get selected for Lieutenant Colonel. So we are celebrating with his favorite homemade chocolate cake. We had chocolate cake a lot in Monterey (when he finished up his thesis, when he finished all his classes, and when he graduated.)

He claims it is nothing he did to deserve this, just a blessing from Heavenly Father. I know that it was a blessing but I also know Mario worked hard to be worthy of that blessing. We are grateful to Heavenly Father for continually blessing our family.

Love this quote

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." Eleanor Roosevelt

Back to School

The kids are on a year round school schedule so they have been off for the past 3 weeks. I jokingly asked Mario last night if he felt like he needed to give them "back to school blessings" again. Not that blessings are a joke, just the break seemed like as long as a summer vacation. But we had a great 3 weeks and did a lot of fun stuff.

The first week was in San Diego which I already blogged about. We also did the following:

Erin and Zachary each broke their first boards in karate. The karate school was raising money for breast cancer and so they offered 30 minute private lessons. Nathan didn't want to do it and Eric was on a boy scout campout/hike. The instructors let the kids choose what they wanted to learn. Erin chose to learn to break board with a kick and Zachary chose to do it with his elbow. Zachary is so proud of his accomplishment that these are some of the things we here him say..."Whoever broke a board gets to use the bathroom first....I think my karate clothes need washed because when I broke the board, they probably got sweaty." Mario came up with a few of his own that we will probably hear in the near future..."Wow the weather is nice, it reminds me of that day I broke the board...Can we eat the same thing for dinner that we had the day I broke the board?"

Eric finished up his hiking merit badge with 2 -10 mile hikes (70 miles total for the merit badge). He had to forfeit his private karate lesson on Saturday to go on his campout and hike. We are so pleased that he made the right choice. I also talked Eric out of accepting his dad's $20-$25 for each completed merit badge. He should do it because he wants to and not for money. I convinced Mario he was only paying him because of his own fear that Eric wouldn't do otherwise. Give Eric a chance, he almost always makes the right choice.

Erin cut several inches off her hair and it looks adorable. Plus it is much easier to maintain. An added bonus is that she seems to be in a much better mood since cutting it. Mario and I both noticed that.

Nathan overcame his fears and went boogie boarding in San Diego. That was a huge accomplishment for him. He has been our only child with a fear of the water.

We saw two movies at the theater...Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Where the Wild Things Are.

Eric decided he no longer wants to be a doctor after I rented the movie "Gifted Hands." It was about a neurosurgeon who separates conjoined twins and saves both of them (He was the first to discover a way to do it.) It was a very graphic movie showing a lot of blood. Eric couldn't watch the surgery parts and decided maybe Law school would be a better option. Whatever he does, I am sure he will be successful.

I reread Dave Ramsey's book and decided to put ourselves on a tighter budget and start saving 15% towards retirement. We had only been saving 5-10% before. With Mario's pension and our retirement savings, hopefully we will be able to serve lots of missions. Plus I have been saving for a home when we retire. With all this saving, I capped our Christmas budget at $600 this year. I thought the kids might complain when I suggested we split up the $600 and give each person (including Mario and I) $20 to spend on each member of the family (Mario and I don't want anything, but the kids like to buy for us too, maybe I can decrease the amount that they spend on us.) At first there were some groans, but now instead of everyone trying to figure out what they are getting for Christmas, they are making lists of what to get everyone else. None of the kids believe in Santa anymore, so we don't have to worry about getting lots of Santa gifts. But Mario may end up spending slightly over our $600 budget to fund some stocking gifts. I think it would be kind of fun to see if we could really stick to our budget. With all the money we spend on karate and orthodontists, we need not overspend on Christmas. Our kids are definitely not lacking for anything.

Eric chastised me for wanting to watch the movie "The Proposal" with him when our Clear Play wouldn't edit it. It was PG-13 and so I thought I could use TV Guardian to edit out the language and it would be fine. He looked up the reviews and he saw all the sexual content in it and decided to watch a Little House instead. He constantly keeps our family on the right track. In fact, Mario and I were joking that his kids are going to come complain to us that their father won't let them do anything. Our only response would be, yep, he wouldn't let us either.

It was a fantastic 3 weeks, but I am excited to get some time to myself again. Eric and Erin occasionally ask to be homeschooled, but I keep telling them no. I am not dedicated enough, plus they both know more than me. I could never teach them. I guess I should start looking into online homeschools, but I am hoping they can hold off.

First Kiss

The neighbor came over to tell me that Zachary kissed her little sister, Anna, today. Fortunately it was just on her cheek. Zach denies everything. Eric told Zach no kissing a girl until he's 21. Zach asked why not because he could get married at 20. Eric and I explained to Zach that he doesn't get home from his mission until he's 21. That brought a lot of confusion to Zachary because he knew that he would leave on a mission at 19. He had no idea a mission was 2 years. I am not sure he is excited about the 2 years. He looked devastated.

Nathan's Advice

While Mario was up decorating the boys' room today he decided to fix their closet door. Zachary was doing a lot of talking while Mario and Nathan were working. Mario looked at Zachary to give him a "dirty" look and Nathan told Zach, "Less noise, more work."

Nathan was adapting a common phrase of Mario's that he says often at dinner, "Less talking, more eating."

Boarding School

Does anyone know of a good boarding school for two almost 6-year-old boys? Do they have a twin discount? I can tolerate my boys separated in public places, but not together. I took them to the local bank the other day to open an account. I don't know if they have ever been in a bank before since I do almost all online banking with banks in Texas and Utah. Apparently, they confused the bank with a park. Then I took them to the grocery store yesterday where they climbed under the display tables. Again, they must have confused the store with a zoo. Then today I took them to a baptism (which they are fully aware of how to behave in church.) They must think that because it is not Sunday, they don't have to behave in the chapel. After the baptism we went to the library. That was a mistake.

I have concluded that I have not done a good job with teaching these boys how to behave in public places. But to my defense, they are perfect children when they are separated. I don't know what happens to them when they are together. They forget how to act civilized. Erin is at the point that she doesn't even want twins anymore.

Is spanking legal? They both need a good swat!

Deployment Part 2

Well after much prayer, Mario has decided not to pursue the deployment to Ecuador in March. He kept telling me that he didn't feel it was the right time to go and that after praying the answer he got was that we need to trust in the Lord. As much as I wanted him to volunteer for a Latin America deployment, I also knew this morning that it wasn't the right time. I always worry that he will have to go to the desert, and who knows, maybe he will someday. But Mario's right, we just need to have faith and put our trust in the Lord and everything will work out. So looks like for now Mario will be sticking around. I am not ready to be a single parent anyway. Problem is, I am not sure I will ever be ready...but I also know that Heavenly Father will help make me strong when the time comes.

San Diego

Our family just returned from our vacation to San Diego late last night. We stayed in a cabin on the beach at Camp Pendleton for 4 nights. There are some great benefits to being military... like all the discounted military cabins we have stayed at in the past (Honolulu, Kauai, Big Island, and Lake of the Ozarks.) We invited some friends, the Trawick family, from Monterey to meet us there. We also invited my mom meet us in San Diego. We had adjoining cabins which was really convenient.

I had begun to dread this vacation because in the past our kids have complained about some of our vacations not being as fun as they had hoped. So I had planned to cancel all future vacations if they complained even once about this vacation. But they all had a great time. I think I had the most fun being back on the beach and boogie boarding. I can't believe that I lived in Hawaii 3 years and didn't try boogie boarding until right before we left. I don't think there are many activities that I enjoy more than boogie boarding. I tried surfing, but that was way too much work.

We left about 6:30 Monday morning. We stopped at least 4 times on the way to San Diego, the last stop was to an outlet mall on an Indian Reservation just outside of San Diego. We had a couple hours until my mom's flight arrived. Once we picked up my mom, we headed to our cabin. After checking in, I went to the commissary while Grandma, Mario, and the kids played at the beach. When I went to pay, I realized I had forgotten my wallet. I had to leave my cart and drive all the way back to the cabin to get my wallet. Fortunately they didn't put back all my groceries. I had just listened to a conference talk on Attitude, so although I was completely frustrated with the situation, I tried to have a good attitude. Then on Tuesday, Lisa and I drove all over the large Marine Base looking for wax for the surfboard that the kids never really used (again I had to remember the talk on attitude). After getting the wax, it was time to relax and boogie board.

On Wednesday, Eric was able to go to the San Diego Temple and do baptisms for a Samoan family and 6 of Mario's family members. It was a wonderful experience to be at the Temple with Eric for his first time. It made me anxious for the time he goes for his own endowments. But then of course that makes me sad because he will be leaving for his mission. After the Temple, we returned to the beach to do more boogie boarding. Thursday, Mario and I got up early to go to the Temple and to breakfast. Then we spent the day boogie boarding. My mom finally got up the courage to get into that approx. 65 degree water and try boogie boarding. I think she actually really enjoyed it. She was disappointed she had waited so long to try it. Now she is hoping that they will have some storms on the Gulf Coast of Florida so she can try it there where the water is much warmer (Florida's Gulf is very flat normally).

Friday was time to pack up and leave, but not without a little more boogie boarding. I was out at 8 am. Then Mario dropped my mom and I off at the Temple to do a session and some Sealings. He took the kids to the San Diego zoo because he and the three younger kids were free. After the zoo, Mario picked us up and we went to Old Town for some Mexican food and then had to take my mom to the airport and we had to drive all the way home. We wanted to stay until Saturday, but decided to go home late Friday night so we would be home in time for General Conference.

It was a great trip. We are again grateful for my mom coming out and helping with the kids while we went to the Temple and for cooking and cleaning and for taking the kids for long walks on the beach. She and Zachary went for several long walks, their longest was over 3 hours. Zachary really enjoyed his time with Grandma. If I had my way, we would be going back to San Diego several times a year. It was almost like being back in Hawaii. But Mario insists there are other things to see. I am not so sure.

I will have to post pictures when I get some from Lisa and my mom. I didn't bring my camera.

Deployment

Mario is putting in for a 6 month deployment to Ecuador in March. Who wants to come out for a visit while he is gone? We could go do something fun like a cruise, hike Grand Canyon, or lay out on the sandy beaches in San Diego.

Mario's only requirement is that I don't spend all the extra deployment money. We need it to buy a retirement home. Darn! :)

Mario's shrinking clothes

Well, it finally happened. Mario is starting to have to watch what he eats. He is trying to blame my washer and dryer for shrinking his clothes, but it might have more to do with Erin's good cooking. She makes her daddy cinnamon rolls, no bake cookies, chocolate chip cookies, biscuits, etc.

Not that I want Mario to gain weight or have to watch what he eats. But it is nice that he sees how the rest of us live. He said last night that "at least I've had a good run." He had 37+ years of eating whatever he wanted without thinking about gaining an ounce. Maybe it's going to be harder to talk him into another cruise if he knows he can't eat six times a day at the buffet.

BTW, I am not in implying that Mario is fat. He is 6'2", weighs under 180, and is totally ripped. I can't keep my hands off him.

Buzz

We love our dog, Buzz who has been part of our family almost as long as Erin. When we PCS'd to Guam, we had to give away our cat because of the high cost ($1400) of quarantine. We were all sad to say goodbye to Kramer. We tried to get the kids a fish in Guam, but a fish really isn't the same. So after a month or so, we visited the local animal shelter where we found Buzz. We were on our way to the mall and I asked Mario if we could just stop and "look" at the dogs. He knew better. But he let us stop anyway and after a couple hours of begging, he let us adopt Buzz (named after Buzz Lightyear). Buzz has been the best, but expensive dog. With moving all over, we have had to quarantine him in Hawaii (we weren't about to get rid of another pet due to quarantines) and we have had to pay for a couple overseas flights for him. He became a big part of our family.

I remember Erin falling asleep next to him when she was one. I remember taking Buzz out with us trick or treating and him being so excited that we almost had to take him home. Even now with him being almost 10 years old, he gets so excited about a walk. People often see how "puppy-like" he is when we are out walking and they think he is a puppy. We have to spell "walk" in our house or you will get him so excited he won't leave you alone until you take him. I remember the twins sitting in their little chairs on the floor eating their food and throwing Buzz half of it. We miss Buzz so much when we are on vacation and he is not with us to clean up any mess left on the floor from the kids eating. I remember lots of 3-5 mile runs with Buzz in Guam, Hawaii, and IL. Once when we were doing a 4 mile run, I felt so good when I got to the turn to go home, I decided to do it again. Buzz wasn't so happy about it, but he made it. I remember living in Guam and being so scared after the terrorist attacks because Mario was gone at night. But with Buzz, I knew everything was fine. As long as he wasn't barking, no one was inside or outside our home. He has always brought me a lot of peace when Mario is away.

Whenever we go on a trip, Buzz gets really sad. Whenever we pull the suitcases down from the closets, he will start whining. It is amazing because he knows when we get them out, even when we have the bedroom door closed. It breaks my heart. Mario likes to tease Buzz and say "Suitcases, we are getting our suitcases Buzz."

We are going to San Diego next week, so I got out the suitcase and started packing the twins clothes. Buzz was all the way downstairs and so there was no way he could see the suitcase, but he knew I was packing. When I came out of the twins room, he was standing on the staircase whining. He hardly ever goes on the stairs except when Zachary brings him up. I am trying to figure out how he knows about the suitcases. I didn't even unzip it today because it was already open.

We love Buzz and we don't know how much longer he will be part of the family. He has one bad knee and the vet said he will most likely injure the other side soon (most dogs do within 2-3 years of first injury.) I asked her if we would have to put him down once he isn't able to get up on his own anymore and she said, "oh, no." She said there are lots of medications she can give him that are similar to our Motrin. He will have to take pills everyday but he will not have any pain, so as long as he's happy and doing well, we can keep him. She estimated another 4 or 5 years at least. So that was really good news. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

We love you Buzz!

Lost Leaders

My mom has always tried to get me to shop at the local grocery stores for their lost leader products. But I never wanted to drag 4 children, especially a young set of twins, with me to the different grocery stores just to save a couple bucks. But now that my kids are all older and in school and with 2 big grocery stores within a mile of my house, I can now take advantage of these advertised prices. Today, I came home with 5 boxes of name brand cereal, tortillas, and two fresh pineapples for $10. I was one happy mom since I know with a husband and 4 hungry kids, we will go through at least a box of that cereal a day. I was in a bit of a hurry, but I will have to go back tomorrow and get lots more cereal and probably more pineapple too. Now I look forward to getting Safeway and Fry ads in my mailbox.

Proof we love Eric

If anyone needs proof that Eric is loved, here is the evidence. Yesterday, I looked for a good yeast-free recipe for Pizza. When I couldn't find one, I went to the store to see if I could find one that comes in a biscuit can. I finally found one without transfat and yeast. I excitedly went home and told Eric he could eat pizza with us last night. Then I made the rest of the family homemade dough. Then, I topped both pizzas with the expensive pepperoni that I bought from Whole Foods (no sodium nitrate). We got our movie ready and I pulled the pizzas out of the oven. Eric asked, "Mom, is that pepperoni on my pizza?" Eric can't have beef which was an ingredient in the pepperoni. So I went through all that effort to get him dough and then messed up by putting pepperoni on it. Mario rushed backed to the store to buy more dough and more cheese to make him a new pizza (while forfeiting his own warm pizza and movie.)

Then today, Mario promised to make cinnamon rolls with Erin. We have only made cinnamon rolls with yeast. Erin felt so bad that Eric wouldn't be able to eat them, she searched the internet for a yeast-free recipe. She has been doing that all week long looking for recipes for Eric. I often hear her say, "Poor Eric." She genuinely feels sorry for her brother.

We are anxious for this 4 weeks of no beef, chicken, and yeast to end. Hopefully those aren't the causes of his headaches. We are hoping it's trout causing the headaches, but not likely since he has never eaten trout before.

We all love you Eric. We feel your pain!

Nathan

Nathan has finally been bit by the reading bug. He was doing such a good job with his reading last school year, but since we moved in April, he has been less than enthusiastic about reading. It was to the point that if I could just get Nathan to read me a sentence, we were doing good. Even then, he would look for the shortest sentence. What was worse was that while Nathan was struggling with reading, Zachary was zooming way ahead and reading faster and better each day. Zachary became known as the better reader (I didn't label them that way, they labeled themselves.) That really made me sad for Nathan. I was really getting kind of worried about Nathan. When Zachary had to sound out a word, he only would sound it out once or twice and then after that, he remembered the word and he was able to read fast and fluently. Nathan on the other hand would sound out the same word each time he read it. I was starting to wonder if he had a learning disability. (I am probably a little paranoid since I work with kids that have learning disabilities.) Our family fasted and prayed for Nathan (we have more success getting Erin to fast if she feels like it is a worthy cause...fortunately she deemed Nathan a worthy cause.)

The past week has been terrific. Not only does he not fight me about reading a small sentence anymore, he started reading me several paragraphs. Now he is bringing me his books and asking me to listen to him read. I can tell that he has confidence now. That is all he lacked before. Mario sat and listened to Nathan read the other night and he later told me he was sad because he didn't know that Nathan had made so much progress. He felt like he had missed steps along the way. I assured Mario that he didn't miss anything. It was like a lightbulb turning on for Nathan and happened overnight. That is exactly what I prayed for.