Past 2 weeks

I am feeling pretty guilty that it has been 2 weeks since my last post. That's good though because it means I have stayed busy and the time is flying by. Usually I don't want time to fly, but this summer has been different since I am anxious for August and Mario's return. Here's a summery of the past two weeks.

My mom flew in from Florida on the Fourth of July. We hardly ever go view the fireworks because I put my twins to bed too early and Eric doesn't like the loud noise. So we celebrated the Fourth on Monday with a pancake breakfast at church and then afternoon swimming and bbq with the Brother and Sister Park and her grandkids. They are always so nice to include us in their family activities.

It was so nice having Grandma here. I put a load of laundry into the washer and in the middle of the night an elf sneaks in and folds everything. The floors get cleaned and the dishes done. I had to keep reminding Grandma that the kids need to do their own chores. My mom brought a 1,000 piece horse puzzle for Erin. We haven't attempted a 1,000 piece puzzle before. But I soon became addicted to it and helped my mom and Erin complete it. Now I am ready for another puzzle but then I won't get anything done around the house, so I better wait.

On Wednesday, we all went up to Mesa where Eric and I did some Temple work. Then we went to a mall where Eric purchased his first pair of skinny jeans. I wish that fad would leave as quickly as possible. I hate them. I told Eric I wouldn't buy him skinny jeans but Mario thought I should since at least they are modest. So I relented a little. The pair he bought were not super skinny.

After the mall, we ate at Jason's Deli since our Tucson one closed. Then we went back to our new favorite Hilton hotel in Phoenix with the waterpark (the same one that we stayed at with Missy.) We enjoyed all going on the lazy river together and playing in the pools. Something I noticed about Eric on this trip was that he really likes doing things all together as a family. Several times I offered for him and Erin to go off on their own and he quickly replied that he would like us all to do it together. I have seen so many young men his age want to quickly ditch their family, but not Eric. He is very close to his siblings. It makes me very grateful for such a loving son.

We attempted miniature golf but the course ran along side the lazy river and the kids quickly found it amusing to hit (or throw) their golf balls into the river so they could jump in and get it. Fortunately their weren't any employees around to bust them.

The next morning we spent more time at the park and then we headed back to the Temple so I could do a session. It was so nice having my mom here to watch the kids while I went in. I love the peace I feel when I am in the Temple.

On Saturday, my dad flew in. He barely had time for hellos before Erin had him up in her room hanging her new saddle that she bought from Sister Park. My mom brought Erin her horse heads that she has had for over 40 years. So my dad hung those too and fixed her bed that was breaking.

Fortunately the next day was Sunday, so my dad had one day to rest while he was here. The rest of the days, we had him busy fixing bikes, counters, and everything else around the house that gets neglected when a man is gone for 5 months. Our big project was building solar ovens for each of us. The Parks had just built one and so we used theirs as a model. It was fun to do a project with my dad. We wouldn't make very good engineers because nothing we did was with precision, but they still came out as well (in our humble opinions) as the original (that was done by an engineer.)

For Erin's early birthday present, Mario and I got her and my mom a sunset horseback ride by the Catalina Mountains. Erin really enjoyed her time with Grandma. Only Grandma shares her great love of horses. I am a bit afraid of them after falling 6 years ago. So it was nice Erin had my mom to go with.

It was a great visit with my parents. The kids begged them to stay longer, but of course they had to get back to work. Zach is going to miss all the bike rides with Grandma and Eric will miss all the late night movies with Papa. We really appreciate them both coming and helping our summer go a little faster.

Back to school on Monday. I am so excited! Gotta love year round schooling especially when it is 110 degrees outside.

Circus

The circus was in town this week and since the twins have never been to a "real" circus and the big kids haven't been to one in 10 years, I decided that we should all go. Eric really had no interest in going but I brought him along anyway since the rest of us were going. It was a great show, but while we were there, I realized why Eric didn't want to go. He hates watching people do death defying stunts. He gets so nervous. Not to mention, he hates clowns. It seems to me that the stunts have gotten a lot harder since the last time I went. Instead of walking across a tightrope, now they walk up a tightrope. Instead of being in a cage with a tiger or 2, the trainer was in the cage with 9. Instead of doing backflips off a catapult, they do backflips with the highs stilts on. The show I was most nervous about was the motorcycles in the the big ball. There were 7 riders, including one female, that rode around in the big ball. I have seen this stunt before and I don't like it at all. It scares me to watch. One of the last stunts was a motorcycle riding across the tightrope right over our heads. I have seen it before so I knew the motorcycle would flip over the tightrope. I wish I had a camera to video of the kids' reaction when they thought that motorcycle was going to fall on top of us. They brought out a baby elephant that they named, Barack. Some of the crowd went wild, I didn't.

It was a fun day for the kids (even Eric) and I. We finished the day off with dinner and a game of Cities and Knights with the Acosta Family.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 16th anniversary. Unfortunately we are a world apart for the day. But I don't think it is the first time. I think Mario was TDY back to the mainland for at least one of our anniversaries when we lived in Hawaii.

I can't believe it has been 16 years. In many ways it feels like yesterday. But then I look around and see my 12 (almost 13) year-old son and realize that yes, it has been many years. I recall when I was a teenager, my dad and brother, Billy, thought I was difficult to get along with. I don't think they would have believed then that I would ever make it to 16 years of marriage. I was telling Mario that yesterday and he said that speaks volumes for him. He said that it shows he is a very patient man. I agree. He doesn't get mad at me for stupid things like backing into his truck or making two big holes in the house or wanting to go on lots of vacations or for all the other obnoxious things I do. In fact, he never seems to get annoyed with me.

I look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries with him (hopefully we'll be in the same location for most of them.) As for celebrating today, Zach and I are going to lunch. Why Zach? Not because he's my favorite but because I have taken the other 3 out to lunch the last couple weeks and it is his turn. Nothing special, just Quiznos because there is one in my neighborhood and kids eat free everyday and that's where I took the other kids. I am a cheap date! Speaking of cheap date, when Mario and I were dating, Whoopers at Burger King were 99 cents. We ate a lot of Whoopers. My kids would be surprised by that since we don't eat at hamburger joints very often now.

We were out shopping yesterday morning when the kids started getting hungry. Eric and Erin decided they wanted to take me to Subway since they didn't get me another gift. That was very thoughtful of them.

Exercise Bike Mishap

With all my knee problems, I can no longer run on my treadmill or even walk long distances. Mario suggested that I try an exercise bike. After researching new ones, I opted to buy a used one since you can buy a used one that is practically brand new. I have found that some people buy them with good intentions to ride it, but never do. I found one on Craigslist that was close to my neighborhood. Erin and I took Mario's truck and went to check out the bike listed for $100. I bought it and they loaded it into the truck. I pondered how to get it off the truck since Eric has a broken arm and Mario's deployed. I decided to back Mario's truck into the garage so I had less distance to carry it. Unfortunately as I was backing up, the handlebars didn't clear the house, and I had two handlebars stuck in the house. Erin said, oh no, the garage has 2 big holes. I thought she meant the garage door and I started to panic. That would be a very pricey repair requiring me to purchase a whole new garage door. I was scared to look back. But I was relieved when I did look back and just saw two holes in the stucco. That surely wouldn't cost as much as a new garage door.

I had to take half the exercise bike apart to get the handlebars out of the holes (so much for buying an already assembled bike.) The bike was very bent up and appeared to be in bad condition. I thought it would end up in Monday's trash pickup. We finally got the bike into the house and were able to bend everything back into place and put it back together. I gently broke the news to Mario (he was just relieved that his truck wasn't damaged.) He just blew it off as no big deal and told me to call the repairman. Fortunately, I found a guy that works very cheap and he said he could fix it for $50 Monday morning. So now my almost brand new $100 exercise bike is a pretty beat up $150 bike. I learned my lesson...next time, ask for help!

Master Manipulator

In the middle of the night, while I couldn't sleep, I thought up a plan to see if Mario was messing with me about the two week deployment extension. He was originally supposed to leave Afghanistan on August 14, but was told that everyone gets a 2 week extension. I started wondering if this was really true or if Mario was just wanting to surprise me and come home early.

So when I talked to Mario this morning, I told him that I found some cheap plane tickets to Florida in mid August and I was thinking about going to see my brother, Charlie, before he deploys. I knew that if Mario was coming home earlier than expected, he would have to tell me so I wouldn't buy the tickets.

It worked like a charm. He had to tell me that he has a chance of leaving Kabul August 14 instead of August 26. The military is extending everyone by 2 weeks, but Mario has a compelling reason to leave early. He needs to get back to prepare for the RIF board. So his bosses (so far) are agreeing to let him leave August 14. Mario didn't want to tell me in case it doesn't work out and then I will be disappointed all over again.

No respect for the Air Force

Strange Kids

My kids (well at least 3 of them) must have gotten their eating habits from Mario's side of the family. I guess Nate takes after me because he is a picky eater. But tonight Erin asked for turkey burgers. I didn't want to eat a bun so I made some mushrooms and onions to put on top of my burger. Eric, Erin, and Zach all asked me to make extra for them. I was shocked. I didn't eat those things until I was an adult. The three of them love refried beans (and many other types of beans) which I hate. In fact one meal that I dreaded as a kid (and still do), ham and bean soup, is one of their favorites.

A couple years ago I bought a book about sneaking vegetables into meals. Come to find out, my kids actually don't mind many of the things I was sneaking into their foods. They would prefer me just to be honest with them and serve it the way it is intended to be served.

I have noticed that Erin will eat almost anything that she makes even if it has some ingredients that she hasn't eaten before. Eric isn't too picky when it comes to food. He just eats what is served. If he likes it, he will have seconds, if not, he is done. Zach is the most impressive of all. I have been ordering baskets of fruit and vegetables from a co-op. I order the basket on Tuesday and it is available to pick up on Saturday. All the baskets are the same, so there is no choice in what we get. It has been so much fun to get our basket and try new foods. Most of the food is familiar to us, but some is new. We have tried eggplant, avocado, kale, fennel and several other new things. Zach will try everything that comes into our basket. Eric and Erin will try some things, but Nathan will try almost nothing new (unless there is a really yummy dessert waiting). I have to sneak things into his homemade popsicles that I make with my new Vita-mix. He doesn't like the shakes I make, but he likes the popsicles (that are just frozen shakes) most of the time. So now I don't care if he eats a popsicle for breakfast. In fact, I encourage it.