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.