The Thunder Rolls

We've had some pretty nasty storms the last couple of days. Day before yesterday, I was pretty sure there was going to be a lightning strike either on our house or the trees behind it. That storm sat right on top of our area for at least 20 minutes. Truly, I had a hard time keeping calm and not getting the kids riled up. Goodness knows, they were riled up enough!

Grace recently saw some commercials and had some funny observations. She's seen the OxiClean/Mighty Putty guy on the Mighty Putty commercials. He's become the Mighty Putty man in our house. For some reason, Grace just really was drawn in by him. She started talking about Mighty Putty and how we needed to get it. She also thinks I need the Buxton Organizer, but that's another story! Anyway, she was highly dismayed yesterday when she saw the "Mighty Putty man" shilling for OxiClean. She said he needed to keep selling Mighty Putty because it was WAY better than OxiClean. That girl cracks me up!

Looks like next week, we'll have our first visitor to our house: my mom. Woohoo!

Bedtime Routine

This would be how the boys prepare for bed, after bath, when left to their own devices....

Precious Boy

You know, I don't know what it is about Davis. He can be THE orneriest little boy in the whole world, then turn right around and in the next moment, he can be the sweetest. He slept in today, until almost 7. He stumbled into the living room and told me he wanted cereal. Then he went and got a diaper for me to change him. Later on, we got on the subject of his cousins, Joe and Maggie. Davis said he wanted to go see them. When I told them they were in KS, Davis said he wanted to go see them. Then he asked what their mom's name was and when I said "Jen" he promptly took it to Davis-speak and called her "Jem." He's a sweetie, I tell you.

When I told Davis that his cousin, Max, was wearing big boy undies all the time, I asked Davis if he wanted to. You know what he said to that: NO! If I hadn't bought a bunch of diapers, I'd start doing what Lara, Max's mom, did. She just put Max in undies and wouldn't go back to diapers. Honestly, I do not have enough energy for that right now. Sometime....

Grace is all registered for her first year at Drayton Hall Elementary. We got her supply list yesterday. South Carolina has a tax-free this weekend, so we have a all-girl shopping trip planned for this weekend. Grace tried on some of her clothes for me last night. She has grown like a weed! Almost all of her size 6 stuff is too little! and we're getting rid of about 8 pairs of shoes.

Back to Life

Yep, it's back to reality around here. Jasen got up with the kids today and because they watched TV in the computer room, I was able to sleep in until 8!! Thanks honey!! Of course, I had to rush around to get stuff done before we headed to the gym, but I don't care. It was lovely!

After almost 5 days off from my trainer, had a fun (that's facetious) time with him this morning. Justin is not nice to this old lady with a big bottom, flabby abs and yucky thighs. Here's hoping I get in shape fast so I don't have to subject myself to his torture.

It's so great for me that the kids like going to the gym. I don't have to fight them to go. They really like going to be around the other kids and Miss Lillian and Miss Cathy. What a blessing for us all! Cathy and Lillian are two older ladies (Lillian is very old) who wanted something to do during retirement. Isn't that cool? I hope I am like that when I am their age!

Our church experience yesterday was quite pleasant. The praise and worship was great, we enjoyed the preaching, etc. There was only one problem. There were hardly any kids Grace's age and the average age of the congregation was at least 70. Now, we are not opposed to going to an older church; goodness knows some of our best friends in Lawton were our older friends. But we need something to keep that spark going for Grace. We're getting ready to make the rounds again and will visit this church one more time before deciding. But the lack of little kids Grace's age was disheartening.

Potty Breakthrough!

We had a bathroom breakthrough with Davis yesterday. Oh, what a joyous occasion!! I won't go into too much detail to spare everyone (especially Jasen) from any embarrassment. But let's just say that Jasen helped Davis go to the bathroom. Davis not only sat on his potty, but he used it for both purposes. YEA!! Oh, we all went nuts, to the point Davis was a little disturbed by it all. We are all very happy. Now, if only he'd do it all the time!

You know what's funny about that? Jasen was hoping I'd have Davis potty-trained before Jasen returned from this past deployment. What Davis needed to help him was his dad here to help him and show him how it's done. Funny how when I ask about the potty, Davis says no. When his dad asks him, Davis is all over it.

He's Home!

Yea! Jasen made it home and I am one happy girl. I missed him dreadfully this past week and I missed ALL of him. From the help with the kids, to the friend part, every bit of Jasen was welcomed home yesterday. I don't know who was happiest for his return: Grace, who wrote him a special note to welcome him home; Davis who COULD not quit smiling; or me, who was just so darn happy I nearly cried.

Did you ever think you'd read stuff like this from a deployment-seasoned Army family after a one week separation from their soldier?

Jasen got in around 7 and then we went for a later than usual dinner at our closest Mexican food restaurant. Senor Tequila's is not Abuelos, but they had decent chips, hot sauce and guacamole, which hit the spot. Jasen and I both agreed we could eat there again! Yea!

Not much else to report. I am getting my hair trimmed today, Jasen took the kids to the barber shop with him. When they went to get Davis' haircut last weekend, the barber made the kids balloon animals, so it's a favorite stop now!

Tomorrow, we're going to try another church, a good ole Southern Baptist church. We'll see how we like it. The first one we visited is still on our list; it's a non-denominational church, Crosstowne Christian. We'll definitely go back there before we make our final decision.

Tae Kwon Do Girl

Tonight was Grace's first Tae Kwon Do lesson. She has wanted to take it for quite some time. Her friend, Lena, did it in Kansas. The gym I joined has a children's class and I decided now was the time. Grace LOVED it! I got to watch some from the windows and saw her working hard and concentrating harder. It was so cute. I think we've found a new extra-curricular for awhile.

Davis spent the afternoon sitting on his Diego potty, holding his urine in, evidently. He sat there, underwear down (that's not a regular part of our wardrobe, I promise!) for the ENTIRE "Jungle Book" movie, ate a snack, had water, etc. and couldn't make a drop. That diaper was on him for two minutes and it was sopping. Great topic, huh? Sorry. It's my life. Anyway, I took a picture of that cute little boy sitting on his potty with undies down around his ankles. Too cute!

Playdate

We had our first playdate yesterday. The background: Clay Combs is one of the other ROTC guys at The Citadel. He is married to Heather, they are from TX, and are both Aggies. They have an almost four year old, Kayla, and 7 week old twins, Karson and Kennedy. I got Jasen to get Heather's info from Clay so that we could get together.

So yesterday, Heather and the girls came over to play. Grace and Davis enjoyed playing with Kayla. I got to help Heather with the babies! What fun! They are so sweet! I got my baby need fulfilled and the kids got to play with someone other than me. Score! Anyway, Heather and I are bound and determined to get some camraderie going with the wives of the Army cadre. I really enjoyed my time with her. Now I can say I have a friend here other than my male personal trainer!

Jasen has been living it up in TX. Dinners with friends and families. Two movies. He'll be home tomorrow.

Let's see, not much else going on. It's been really hot here and, newsflash, really humid! So we've been doing the whole run from the house to the car and back again thing!

EDT

That's Eastern Daylight Time for those of you in the CST. You have to figure that one out! Anyway, this whole Eastern time zone has me all messed up. You'd think after having lived across the ocean, quite a few time zones away, I would be okay with a one hour difference. But there are some things that are just not right. For instance, all the shows that I used to watch at 9 p.m. before I went to bed at 10 p.m. are now on at 10 p.m. Which really messes with my bedtime. Quite frankly, I don't want to go to bed at 11 p.m. when I know that Davis will be up at 6:15 a.m. Which, if we were in TX, OK, or KS, would be 5:15 and I would make him go back to bed!! Oh well, here's hoping I get used to it or my TiVO hooked up soon!

The kids are doing well. They really enjoy going to the gym on the weekdays. I am so glad that they get some time with kids and enjoy the ladies who work there. One of them, Miss Lillian, is at least 80, but she keeps those kids in line. Davis loves to go see her because she gives them cookies when it's time to leave!

Tomorrow, we're going to have a play date with one of the other families from The Citadel. They are from TX and went to A&M. They have three girls, a three year old, almost 4, and newborn twins. I figured we'd have them over to get some playtime for us all. Friends, I tell you, we need friends!

It's been really hot here the past few days. It's just stifling. When we came out of the gym yesterday, it was so still and suffocating. Today is supposed to be just as bad. I need to mow the yard (Jasen took care of the weedeating and edging before he left) but it's hard to find the right time. The mornings are too wet, the afternoons/evenings are dangerously hot. So I guess our weeds will just continue to grow. Wonder if I can make it last until Jasen gets home? :)

"Patience, Grasshopper"

A very wise friend told me this yesterday. Very, very wise.

As an Army family, you get used to moving. Every few years, you get rid of as much of your junk as you can, allow complete strangers to come, pack it all up, load it into a truck and/or crates and cart it off. Then, another set of complete strangers either drive or boat your stuff to the next destination. All of that is NO FUN, quite stressful, and not something you look forward to the next time.

You arrive at your new place with great hopes. Hopefully, you have a place to live as soon as you arrive. Hopefully, your soldier will like his new job. Hopefully, your stuff will all arrive in the correct pieces they left in. Etc., etc., etc.

What really stinks about moving is that they can't pack up your friends to go with you. Or your church.

I am not going to lie, letting Jasen leave this time was oddly hard. It's only 5 days, 5 days! and the kids and I are at a loss and quite depressed. You see, without Jasen, we have no one here. Literally, I've told more than one person lately that the only friend I have in Charleston would be my personal trainer, and, honestly, he's not very friendly. The things he does to me are quite hateful. Grace has NO friends. Davis has NO friends. It's just the three of us.

On the church subject, we visited one of the churches on our list today. Yikes. Not for us. They were the nicest people, so friendly and welcoming. But the first time their pastor said "Jesus!" and meant it as an expletive, our attitudes completely changed. Nevermind that he couldn't put a coherent thought together. So we won't be going back there. One off the list.

I promise the kids and I are fine. It's just different when you are a military family, living outside a military community. I'll quite my complaining now and start practicing that patience thing.

"Patience, grasshopper."

Life as usual

I guess it's been a little bit since I last blogged. In fact, I can't remember what I last said. I'll try to remember and update what's been going on here.

• Davis is "HUNG-EEEE" -- Davis is always hung-ee. I wish I had a nickel for every time he told me this during the day. I am doing my best to keep the snacks healthy. I offer him a lot of veggies, which he turns down, then offer him fruit, then tell him he'll get nothing else. By then, he usually agrees to some fruit. I want to know where he puts all this stuff he's eating, too. He's growing up, I guess.
• Grace is DRAMA! Really, the girl has at least one ridiculous emotional breakdown every day. It usually involves making herself cry and then having trouble catching her breath. It's ultra annoying. I usually just send her to her room. Oh, and she's started saying things like "You don't really love me." WHAT??? Where do girls her age come up with stuff like that? Jasen and I are frustrated, but pushing through. She usually gets sent to her room, then gets a nice little sit-down talk about how much we do love her, after the storm has passed. When did she become a teenager?
• Jasen is leaving! Can you believe he's going to Texas on Sunday? To Fort Worth! He had to take this one course before school starts and the one that had an open slot just happened to be there. I am ultra-jealous and can't believe that he's leaving his family here while he goes home! UGH! Oh, and he's mentioned good Mexican food too much, too.
• Sara is working out again. Yep, even joined a gym. Just hoping to drop some pounds, rearrange some inches, you know, usual woman things. It's going well. I am in a great water aerobics/Pilates class. It's me and women much older, but I tell you what, if you really work at it, it is a GREAT workout! And no ankle pain, either!

So that's where we are. Life is just going along.

Settling In

Like I said earlier, this house is becoming more and more like home. We've even grown attached to some of the critters. Yes, I used "attached" and "critters" in the same sentence. Not something I'd normally do! We have two green lizards out back, we usually find them hanging onto the side of the screened-in porch. One of them has a red throat-thingie (yes, very scientific, I know!) that he/she (not getting close enough to figure that one out!) blows out occasionally. Very cool.

We get a lot of sudden rain showers, living this close to the coast and with the HIGH humidity, so we have a lot of frogs, too. After it rains, they start croaking up a storm, enjoying the moisture. We've seen a green tree frog, just like on Diego, and regular ones, too. Oh, and one day, we opened up the hatch on Jasen's door to find a frog living between the door and the moulding! Can you imagine???

The other two critters we have in abundance are ants and spiders. Yuck! I am the official spider killer, although Jasen killed one just a couple of days after we moved in. When he came and told me the body was the size of his thumb, I told him that was a job for the man of the house. We are trying to teach Grace not to freak out, just to grab a shoe and hack at them, but she's still too frightened. And yes, I know spiders are good to eat flies, etc. but believe me, we have plenty of other ones to do the job!!

We have a tiny ant hill out in the back and two days after Grace stepped in a fire ant bed, she found the minuscule one out back, too. So the girl has a foot that has been covered in ant bites. Poor thing. And she freaks out then, too, running and screaming, instead of knocking the darn things off. Something else we are trying to teach her, too.

Oh, very exciting news: Jasen and I bought some bedroom furniture yesterday. Part of it will be delivered tomorrow, with the bed coming next week. Yea!

Tooth pics

Here are pictures from Grace's lost tooth!

Looking Like Home

Our house here on Evening Shade Drive is beginning to look more like ours. We've been busy the last few days, hanging stuff, decorating, putting out pictures, etc. The only room that has no decoration is our bedroom and that's because we are going to get new furniture and I don't want to hang anything until we do. But the rest of the house is really beginning to shape up. I used Jasen a lot while he was home; it's good to have a hubby that has OCD!!

Today is Jasen's first day at work at The Citadel. He was anxious about it, for more reasons than one. For one thing, this is the most "non-traditional" Army job he's ever had. A lot of feeling things out is going to happen these first few months. And it's always anxiety-producing to start a new job. I was so proud of him today as he put on his uniform. What a handsome man! :) I am glad he's mine!

We've been eating really well here in Charleston, too. No, not eating out, just eating healthier. This goes without saying, but the fruits and veggies here are outstanding, so we've been eating a lot of those. Awhile back, I started cutting out most of the yucky stuff from our diet, like all the things we couldn't pronounce! So we're eating healthier and feeling better. A good friend of mine really believes in local produce, not the Wal-mart stuff, so I've found a local grocery store that sells only local produce. It's the best I've ever had!

Oh, I still need to post some pictures, don't I? I'll get around to it, I promise!

Going to look at a preschool for Davis today. I hope we like it!

Lost Tooth!

Guess who lost her first tooth yesterday? Our girl, Grace! She was so brave. The tooth hadn't been that loose, but on Sunday, it was really starting to wiggle. My sisters and I were the kind of kids who let a tooth get so loose it was almost laying flat before we'd go through the drama of trying to pull it. So I assumed, wrongly, that Grace would do that, too.

Grace got up on Monday morning and said she wanted something soft to eat because her tooth was hurting. We gave her a banana, but after the first bite, her tooth started bleeding. That kind of freaked her out. I gave her a wet paper towel to hold on there but she kept crying. I held the paper towel for a few minutes and wiggled the tooth some more. It still didn't feel very loose. I asked Grace if she wanted me to just pull it and, to my surprise, she said "Yes." So I just pulled that little tooth forward as hard, yet gentle, as I could and out it came. No crying, no screaming, no gnashing of teeth. Just one tiny little tooth and one VERY excited girl.

The rest of the day Grace walked around sticking her tongue in the hole, looking at herself in the mirror, etc. I will post a picture later on, when I get them downloaded. The tooth fairy did make a stop last night and left Grace a whole dollar. Inflation has hit the tooth fairy hard since she used to just leave Jasen a quarter!

Today, our big girl and I will go to her school to see about getting her registered. I can't believe she'll be in first grade. Where did the time go???

New Home, Old Friends

We received our stuff last Wednesday. Things went really well, unloading and unpacking, and we were thrilled to have our goods! Nothing was broken and we got to work feverishly because we were having company two days later. We got things pretty well organized and put away, to where the house was quasi-presentable. I will say this, only the best of friends would see my house the way it looked on Friday!

Thank goodness the Pundts are some of our best friends, because they arrived late afternoon on Friday. What a great joy to have them in our home! It had been almost three years since we had laid eyes on each other. When their car pulled in the drive, Renee jumped out of the car and I ran to her. What a hug! Renee has been and continues to be a huge influence on me and such a great friend. I love her dearly.

Oh, and she brought her family! ha! Grace and Ariana were friends in Bamberg and they hit it off without missing a beat. I think it helps that Renee and I are resolved that they will know each other as lifelong friends. Those are rare in this way of life. Our girls played together the whole time the Pundts were here and I can't think of one disagreement they had. The parents were also pleased to know that we are dealing with some of the same issues with our girls: drama, drama and more drama. It was a relief to know that other good parents were going through the same things!

Davis and their son, Ethan, also were so sweet together. Ethan is about 10 months older than Davis but just as sweet and they played together so well. Davis just followed Ethan around and if Ethan came to tell someone something, Davis had to do the same. Oh, and Ethan helped me make a breakthrough with Davis: he helped me convince Davis to sit on the potty by being an example that it's fun! Now, Davis is sitting on the potty twice a day! Woohoo!

Larry and Jasen were able to walk around The Citadel campus and do some fireworks here at the house. Nothing like grown-up boys acting like little ones! Larry just returned from his first deployment to Afghanistan. The Pundts were supposed to go to Fort Knox upon Larry's return, but to our joy, they are staying at Fort Bragg, less than four hours away. yea for us!

We had a great time, made it to the beach, did nothing else special, but really, really enjoyed our time and reconnection. Such special friends who are so close. I can't tell you what that means to us!

HOT WATER!!

Yes, we now have hot water! I have never been so glad to see a gas turn-on man in all my life!! I am sure 'ole Steve from SCP&G was afraid I was going to hug and kiss him. Believe me, if my hair didn't stink because it's been so long since I washed it, I would have! He was very nice and went through the house checking all the appliances and backyard grill, which is hooked up to the house gas line. Pretty nifty.

We got some added good news today that our stuff is going to be delivered tomorrow (Wednesday) instead of Thursday. Woohoo!! Yes, I am thrilled. I'll get a bath and our stuff tomorrow. Life is good.

Last night, we were out back with the kids while they kicked around their bouncy balls. Two funny things happened. #1 When Grace went to kick her ball, she completely missed, fell on the ball on her back, then the ball rolled over her. I don't know how it happened, especially the part about it rolling over her, but it was hilarious. She tried to do it again, but it didn't happen. #2 Davis was running after his ball and I am not sure how it happened, but his feet were just stuck i the grass and he did a face plant. I mean, the boy just went nose first into the yard. He didn't cry or anything, so the other three Grahams had a good laugh at his expense.

It looks like our friends, the Pundts are going to come this weekend. Help with decorating is on the way. Yea for me!

Family Outings

We've had quite a few family outings the last few days. The favorite one was going to the movie. We went to see Wall-E and it was pretty good. Of course, I didn't see all of it; Davis lasted all but the last 20 minutes so I missed the end. But I enjoyed the rest of it and Grace and Jasen liked all of it.

What else have we done?? Well, we've gone to Wal-mart, made a couple of trips to Target, and eaten out way too much. I've been on a mad search for curtains for the living room. I found what I wanted at Target, only to discover the ones I like are on the way out. So I've been scouring every Target in the area to find them! I've got the three big windows in the living room covered, now I just need to figure out what I am going to do for the other windows in there.

Jasen had some good father/son time today with Davis. Davis helped Jasen put together the outdoor furniture we purchased. When they were out there, there was a bug on the ground. Jasen and I are in a debate about whether it's a centipede/millipede or a caterpillar. When Davis saw it, he pointed and said "Bug my friend." Ha! I think that was him trying to convince himself. Jasen said he could tell Davis was wanting to be a little man today. Sadly, when I am around, Davis the whiner comes out. How I wish Mrs. Graham was here to assure me that would go away!

Grace is really into her Littlest Pet Shop toys. She got a couple of gift cards for her birthday and that's what we let her get with them once we got to Charleston. She's really enjoying playing with them and trying to keep it all from her brother. Without our stuff here, they've been a little more annoying to each other than usual. It hasn't been fun for Jasen and me to be referees!

Tomorrow, our gas is supposed to be turned on. Praise God!! Sadly, the delivery of our stuff has been moved back from Wednesday to Thursday. Oh well. But we might have visitors this weekend anyway. The Pundts, Larry, Renee, Ariana, and Ethan, are supposed to come visit us. They've said they won't mind our boxes, but we'll see!

Beaches, Burns, and Breakfast

We made our first trip to the beach yesterday! We went down to Folly Beach, where the locals go. Both the kids said they had a really good time. You could tell Grace did. That girl would have lived in the water. She loved getting smacked by the waves! I told her it was her first trip to the beach, then realized that wasn't true. She went to the beach in Italy, but hated it! My how times have changed. Grace is a water baby, for sure.

Davis reacted to the water the way we figured he would: with fear. Before he could figure out what was going on, we walked down to the water. He was fine until it came rushing up to his toes, then that was it. He wanted no more. There were only two other times he went down to the water. Once was when Jasen was returning the snail he and Grace found, the other was when Jasen was holding and distracting him. Even then, the water only touched Jasen's toes. Hopefully, Davis will get better. He did enjoy digging in the dirt and made a small-ish sand castle with his dad.

Jasen and I had fun, too, but got ourselves sufficiently burned. We're so dumb. Jasen didn't put any sunscreen on, I put on only a little. So we have burned legs, backs, and arms. Oh well. Guess we'll be getting moles/freckles checked here very soon.

I think Jasen and the kids are now officially bored in the house with no stuff. They went to get me some Krispy Kremes this morning! We have a store only about 6 miles away. Woohoo!

We made it!

We made it to Charleston. The trip today was unbelievably beautiful. I am so glad we chose to drive through Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina instead of the other way, through Atlanta. We got to see the Great Smoky Mountains up close and personal and plan on going back to visit.

Our house has water and electricity. Sadly, though, our hot water heater works on gas, which is the one thing we don't have! I guess it's good that it's hot down here; we're going to have some pretty chilly showers! The house was really hot and still hasn't cooled down much. Hopefully, it will get cooler as the night wears on. Of course, we have no curtains, so it's going to get hot again tomorrow afternoon. Oh well!

The kids were thrilled to get here and are happy with our house. As I predicted, they loved running around with nothing in the house. Jasen and I were fried after the drive so we just let them act nuts. Grace loves her room. She even loved being up there in the 90+ degree temperature that it was when we arrived. Davis seems okay with the place, but he wants his train table. I told him it's on that big truck that will arrive next week!

We're off to the beach tomorrow.