The Artist

I received a text message from my neighbor, Kellie, today, saying, "Madison received third place in the Hispanic Heritage Art Contest at school." Seriously! My daughter did well in art?? Madison is a GREAT artist, something I never was (and even though Edward isn't here, I can venture to guess he wasn't the artistic student either), and I'm so proud of her for her sweet poster. Her class all had sombrero pictures to decorate, and she jazzed it up with glitter everywhere. Apparently, that was sparkly enough to land her third place in the contest. The kids were judged by Grades K and 1, Grades 2 and 3, and Grades 4 and 5. The winners were announced at lunch, and Kellie, happened to be the one they asked to take the pictures of the awards. So, that's how I was given the inside track on her winnings, and thanks to Kellie, I have some pictures of the big award :)

All the school winners

Madison with her prize artwork...the winners were given these nice tote bags full of goodies. Madison even shared some of her winnings with Luke. She was so excited about her award.

Way to go, sweet girl! Keep up the artistic ability. I think you are already eons beyond my abilities!

Alex-Proof (I hope)

Yes, that's right. I'm blogging about a trashcan. Alex has an obsession with the kitchen trashcan. He's thrown away a TON of things, some of which we haven't discovered in time. We had a flip top lid trashcan, and he could easily get into it. Well, after returning from North Carolina and getting the latest trash update from Edward, we decided enough was enough. So, armed with my coupon, off to Bed, Bath, and Beyond I went. With a large family, I knew it would be foolish to get a small can, so I got the motherload 13 gallon kitchen can. Of course, our small store didn't carry it, but they ordered it and shipped it to the house. It finally arrived today, so hopefully, we have come to the end of "Alex's Trash Era."

I had the kids try to open it, and they had trouble (with their hands), which is a good thing. Hopefully, Alex will be stopped. He doesn't know how to step on the pedal...yet.

It was more expensive than I wanted, BUT he's thrown away a hand mixer, popcorn air popper top, and countless cans of food, chips, and toys. Edward discovered Alex had thrown the hand mixer away one day while I was gone, and luckily, the trash hadn't come yet. He was able to rescue it, but sadly, the popcorn popper top is gone. I'm guessing Alex doesn't like green chilies...I found eight cans in the trash one day.

Edward Update (or lack thereof)

A couple of people have asked or emailed inquiring about Edward and how he's doing at his course. I don't know. This is definitely the case of "No News is Good News." He has no communication. They took his cell phone when he arrived, and they have no access to computers, or any other media. They weren't allowed to bring books or magazines (only a Bible). So, I haven't heard anything and hope not to until Oct. 23 when he comes home. I do know he arrived at Ft. Bragg safely last Friday, and that's about it. Thanks for thinking of him, praying for him, and the concern for him. If I do hear from him, it means he's either hurt or coming home, neither of which are good, so know that if you call, I'm scanning the caller id very closely to see if it's a government phone and glad to see that it's not!

I also wanted to say a big, "Thank You" to those of you who sent him notes of encouragement before he left. It meant a lot to him and to me. He felt very humbled and blessed.

A Little Too Much Help

With Edward gone, I guess the kids are trying to "help" more around the house. Tonight, Alex decided to help with the dishes. Thanks...I think.

Luke was a "big help" too today as he tried to get the milk out of the fridge for his drink. He knows he's not allowed to get beverages out of the fridge too. I was standing right there!!! In front of the milk was the gallon of iced tea I had just made, so he picked it up, or shall I say, tried to pick up the tea, and he spilled the gallon on the floor!!! Uggh! As you can see, I didn't get a picture of that.

My Firefighter

After our morning outing to the fire station, Luke spent the rest of the day "dressed as a fire fighter." He did pretty well improvising with his wardrobe. He did it all; I didn't give him any of these tips! I had to really laugh at the purple snow boots. They are Madison's for this winter (in Flagstaff). Luke has snow boots too, in the same closet, and they are black and red, so they actually look like fire fighter attire, but he opted for the purple boots. The backpack is his oxygen tank. He enjoyed looking at those at the fire station.

Welcome Home Clay (for now)

My brother, Clay, arrived home in Raleigh this morning for his two weeks of R & R before he heads back to Afghanistan. As you can see, Wes, was a little excited to see his dad. Clay's been gone since the beginning of the year. While at home, Clay gets to celebrate Wes's first birthday, and we wish we could be there. Have a great two weeks at home!

A Visit to the YPG Fire Station

Our MOPS group took a field trip to the fire station today. For me, that meant taking a walk to the end of our street to the fire station :) While we have all lived here awhile, it didn't dawn on us until recently to setup a field trip. The kids LOVED it, and it was a beautiful day to be outside. Temps were finally pleasant; you couldn't have asked for a nicer morning. I'm so glad we were all able to visit the fire station. Happy Fire Safety Week!

Luke and his friend, Cassidy, were the first kids there, and they ran right up to Sparky the Fire Dog.

The firemen gave out hats. They gave Luke a "Chief" hat. Alex got the same one too.

Alex DID NOT like Sparky.

He wasn't too sure of the firemen either.

Luke loved every minute.

All the boys

They let them play with the hose connections and levers.

Finally, Alex decided to get out of the stroller and explore.

Still not sure...

Best picture I could get of the boys.

Alex was more interested in the shrubs.

He did like sitting on the back of the truck.

Luke had to get back in the driver's seat for one last time. He had a wonderful time and is still talking about it. He won't take off his hat, and I'm thinking he might sleep with it tonight.

At the End of the Rainbow, You'll Find...

Our house. My neighbor, Kellie, took this picture today when a freak sand/wind/bits of precipitation storm blew through here (lasted less than five minutes). That's my house with a double rainbow over it. How cool is that? The clouds are definitely a rarity here; usually, it's pure blue, so that's definitely signs of a storm of sorts. Awesome double rainbow. God is Good.

Monkey

This kid is a climbing fool.

Dinner

My kids love to eat and are good eaters. Saturday, I let them pick dinner, knowing it would probably be okay. They picked meatballs, homemade mashed potatoes, peas, and rolls. I've already posted my kids love peas, and as you can see, I'm not lying. I used to dread cooking when Edward was gone (even though I love to cook), but as the kids are getting older and eating more and more, it's not so bad. They actually eat it, so we did have a nice dinner.

Clean plate (after two helpings of potatoes, peas, and milk)!

This kid LOVES mashed potatoes (but, who wouldn't??).

Another Exciting Adventure at the Commissary

Saturday, we had another exciting adventure at the Commissary. This time, I had all three kids, so we had to adjust with the cart.

Okay, so when we pulled up and were getting out of the car, another family (that I don't know) pulled in with two slightly older kids. I was still getting Alex out, and Madison and Luke both started to panic telling me we had to hurry to get the spaceship cart (remember, there's only one at our store). As we were walking in, the kids took off on a full run up the sidewalk to get inside. What was funny is that 1)we were ahead of the other family, and 2) their kids were too old to care. As you can see, we secured our cart.

A Trip to the East!

I spent the last week in North Carolina visiting family. I haven't been away from the kids in years. My last trip completely alone was seven years ago when I flew out to see my friend, Carin, in California. With Edward away for med school rotations then, traveling was so easy. The last time I was away from the kids was three years ago, so no one remembered me ever being gone! Fast forward to now, three kids to juggle and this trip. The purpose??? My sister had her first baby, and since she's been able to come and see me after each of the three kids, it was my turn to happily reciprocate.


While my sister lives in Charlotte, NC, home to a major airport, I chose to fly into Raleigh. Why? Southwest, which is becoming my favorite airline, still has two free bags per flight, and it has a nice direct flight from Phoenix to Raleigh. Plus, with Raleigh being in the center of the state, I can see many family members all on one trip. My parents drove up to Raleigh to see me, where we all stayed at my sister-in-law's house. There, we hung out, and I got to spend time with her and my nephew Wes. I even got to talk to my brother, who is on month nine of his Afghanistan deployment. I hadn't talked to him in MONTHS, so that was cool too. While in Raleigh, I got to see my wonderful friend, Jen, who happens to randomly live about five miles from my brother's house, small world :) We didn't get to do our usual outlet mall trip, but we did hit up a very nice kids' consignment sale in Raleigh and enjoy a kid-free lunch.

After my Raleigh visit, which included going to a real mall (don't have a mall in Yuma) and eating at The Cheesecake Factory, I drove my "interesting" rental car three hours to Charlotte to meet the newest princess in the family, Alaina. I "think" my sister was a "little" happy to see me, as she wasn't feeling well and well, looked totally exhausted. I took the book, The Help (which was excellent) on my trip and joked that it was my role at the house :) Seriously, I was so glad to help out with cooking and such. It was a nice break for me to not have kids under foot, tugging on my shirt, while cooking. Mer, Alaina, and I also got out some to do a little shopping, and I think that helped Mer feel human again :) It was a great trip, and I'm SO glad I was able to go.


The kids did really well with Edward, and it definitely helped to Skype every evening. Edward did tell me that Madison prayed every night I would come home. She really wanted to go and meet Alaina, but kindergarten keeps you from just taking off. The best comment came from Madison before I left:

Madison (to me): Well, if you are going away for a week, what are we going to eat?
Me: Daddy will be here, so he'll cook dinner.
Madison: OHHHH, are we going to have hotdogs every night? I don't want hotdogs.
Me: Madison, Daddy knows how to cook a lot of things (almost laughing at how funny the comment was), so not to worry. You're going to have tacos, goulash, and stuffed shells.

In his defense, Edward is a good cook. I wrote out the meal plan so that each day, which apparently helped, and the kids spent the weekend attending two birthday parties, which provided a great deal of entertainment.

I'm so thankful that everything worked out for this trip, and I really appreciate my neighbors who had to watch the kids at last minute emergency situations. Edward got called to the clinic at least once a day (even though he was on leave), and it was great of my friends to help with the kids. So, thanks everyone who made this trip possible!!!

And, thank you Southwest Airlines for your direct flights that were EARLY (yea!!) and extremely smooth. I also appreciate your two bags free so I could transport a ton of the kids' baby clothing to all the family in NC and return home with Christmas gifts for the kids from family in NC.

Finally, I know I am probably the only one who enjoyed the Tropical Storm that blew through while I was there, but it was WONDERFUL to see rain. We get a couple of inches of rain PER YEAR here, so the rain was awesome.

My nephew, Wes

Wes has just recently started walking and is doing really well!!

"I'll get you, Aunt Martha!"

Karen and I stopped at Toys R Us, where Wes picked up these Leap Frog fridge magnets (recommendations from his Arizona cousins).

On to Charlotte...here's Mer with Alaina

I must be a bore already...she's already tired of me!

This girl is ready to shop, and shop she did. Alaina was a trooper at Babies R Us (and our other stops). And, with that My Little Pony sticker, you would think my kids would have been there to put that on her. No, it's actually a reward for good behavior at the pediatrician's office.

I'd love to say that she did this the whole time I was there, but she wasn't feeling well and cried a lot. I'm happy to report that Meredith said Alaina is back to "Happy Baby" status now.

Another Doctor in the House?

Well, I couldn't pass up these super cute pj's for Alex. If they would have had them in Luke's size, I would have gotten them for him too. Very appropriate here, but I wish they would have said "D.O." on the back instead of "M.D." If you don't know, there are two different medical degrees, just as there are two different dentistry degrees. Edward is a D.O., Doctor of Osteopathy, and they can do the same things...even more! They also learn osteopathic medicine, which if they actually practice (Edward does), it's a form of chiropractic medicine of manipulating and moving muscles, etc. It's awesome :)

Edward got to see these a week ago before he left. He left this morning for three weeks at Ft. Bragg-no contact...no phone or Internet :(

Anyways, I had to "settle" for the M.D. shirt, but a doctor is still a doctor :)