**Winner!** In my rearview… and a giveaway!
August 31, 2009 | Filed Under Giveaway!, Life Stuff, Photos | 73 Comments
Congratulations, Claudia!
I must admit, I am glad that this last week is in my rearview now…
Last week was wicked busy. Today was busy. Tomorrow…. I don’t think I have any plans.
Hooray!
I think I’ll make Daniel some granola and possibly some cookies, now that the weather is blessedly cooler. Believe it or not, I’ll take New Mexico’s heat to New York’s humidity any day of the week. M-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e. Especially living in a top floor apartment.
I canned some peaches today, eleven jars, actually. And I cut up enough to fill 8 quart bags for the freezer. I’m thinking: smoothies, peach pies, and peach ice cream! I still have about a half of a bushel left to deal with. But not today.
Can you believe that tomorrow is September 1st?! Summer is over…. and it is the first time in my life that I am glad. Now, if it could just be January. ( I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth… or hand, I guess!)
Now, for the “no special reason, I just love you” giveaway….!
You can choose either one of these two prints of mine:
11×16 of “Even Roses Get Moody Sometimes”
or
12×18 of “Erased”
Just let me know which you would prefer in the comment section. The photo will be printed by a high quality printing company and shipped to you!
Giveaway will close midnight (eastern) Wednesday, September 2nd and the winner will be chosen by the random generator dude.
Happy Monday!
More tooth drama and a movie question….
August 29, 2009 | Filed Under Eliza Dove, Judah, Life Stuff, Photos | 49 Comments
So.
Judah got his front tooth knocked out tonight.
And not the dead one, mind you.
I was vacuuming the kitchen when I heard crying… I turned around and saw Judah crying with blood pouring out of his mouth and no front right tooth.
I think I am still in a state of shock. I had envisioned him possibly losing his front left tooth, the dead one; it would have been a planned event. I had been able to process the possibility.
But now, there’s no right front tooth. That baby was knocked clean out too. Root and all. I found it on the floor of our bedroom.
Apparently this happened during the game of “hide and go seek.”
Door met toy, toy met tooth, tooth met floor.
I totally cried like a baby.
Within ten minutes I was on the phone with a really great dentist and family friend who practices out of Syracuse, New York. Nothing we can do, he said. And the new tooth most likely come in until 7 1/2 or 8 years of age. That feels like an eternity!
I do have to say, Judah is one tough cookie! After I got to him, he cried for maybe ten seconds. Little dude then went on his merry little way as if nothing had happened. Amazing for what looked like a very painful tooth extraction!
So frustrated and sad about the state of Judah’s mouth…
Anyway, I have a question for you!
The other day I netflixed “Seven Brides For Seven Brothers” for my kids to watch. They all adore music so the musical movie was a huge hit!
What I want to know is… what would be your suggestion for other musicals that my kids could watch?
I have never been too into musicals but I thought that you might be!
And I must say, you all came out in full force with your music suggestions and ideas! My playlist is now FULL of your suggestions and songs that you call your own. So, I just know that you’ll be able to give me some awesome ideas for musicals!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Almost too busy…
August 27, 2009 | Filed Under Eliza Dove, Eve, In the blue bowl, Judah, Life in New York (the apple trees and dairy cow part... not the city!), Photos | 23 Comments
…to remember that I miss Daniel. But, not quite. He’s consistently right at the front of my mind. I never have to think about him… I just always am.
Having a deployed spouse puts you in this limbo-ish kind of state. I am here, in the flesh, but my heart and my mind are wherever Daniel is.
Well, these last few days have flown by and I have been busier than ever. That is a victory in and of itself. I didn’t actually think I could get busier! But I have.
Monday was hanging out with Molly (spending the day with her while she spent birthday money, eating hawaiian pizza, being attacked by bees, laughing our faces off, you know… hum drum) and then picking loads of blackberries.
Tuesday was all about the blueberries. And getting sunburned.
On my way home I decided to drive the roads that would take me past my childhood home. Sigh.
All I wanted to do was run up the stairs and flop myself down on my bed. I was overwhelmed with memories. I stared at this photo for the longest time tonight… it was like I had a slideshow running through my mind. I miss it.
Today my mom and I processed 15 dozen ears of corn; ten for her and five for me. Phew.
I got about thirty two bags of super sweet, amazing corn to freeze. It was a lot of work but I am so thankful to be able to do it. I will be especially so come February!
In the blue bowl this week, we have blackberries paired with some very bright and cheerful sunflowers.
And this little boy, just in case you were wondering, has all of his teeth still in his head!
I was at such a loss. I didn’t know what to do about his dead tooth. I was praying, Daniel was praying and then I noticed that his abscess was starting to recede. I kept careful watch and to my surprise, it has completely disappeared! I am keeping an eye on him but thank God! All I want is for all of his teeth to stay in his head until they naturally fall out. I can totally deal with him having a grey tooth.
I think I have about caught you up! Any questions?
Oh, by the way, you’re awesome. And you look great today!
Okay, really all caught up now.
I can’t lie…
August 26, 2009 | Filed Under Life Stuff | 14 Comments
I am feeling so uninspired. So much of what I do here on the blog revolves around my pictures. And since I have yet to buy a card reader for Bob’s camera, I can’t download any of the photos I have been taking the last couple of days.
Really… that is beyond irritating. Especially because I was in Walmart tonight. And I didn’t remember to buy one!
Sometimes I am such a bird brain!
We went blueberry picking today. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon. The kids did reasonably well (I have learned/am learning to lower my expectations.), we even got complimented on their good behavior. Score for the little, littler, and littlest Hubs!
Tomorrow brings some major sweet corn freezing. My mom and I both have teeny, tiny kitchens so we jumped at the offer to use a good friend’s big gorgeous kitchen. It feels so productive to be putting food away for the winter. I have never had the chance to do canning and freezing so I am loving all of this! (Blackberries yesterday, blueberries today, corn tomorrow, and peaches later this week!) Besides, it makes me happy to think that Daniel will be able to eat some of this delicious food someday.
It’s really true, everything I do has Daniel at it’s core. I love him.
“H” week is going really well! I am sporting some “h”ot pink nail polish as I write this. Whoo-hoo! We have done lots of “H” things so far this week and it’s been fun… but really, I am looking forward to “I” week because we are going to make ice cream. I can’t hardly contain my excitement! I love ice cream. But not as much as Daniel…. I am pretty sure he’d be happy to live off of ice cream. Especially right now. I guess his part of Iraq is hotter than ever.
Yuck.
Okay, I have got to go to bed RIGHT.NOW. I am stupid tired. I just didn’t want you to think I had dropped the posting every day for a month, ball. ‘Cause I haven’t.
See me?!
*waving!*
Here I am!
Saying “Good-bye” to my camera…
August 23, 2009 | Filed Under Andrea, Good-bye camera!, Photos | 27 Comments
Before you feel too bad for me (if you were so inclined), know that this was my choice. An easy and happy choice.
But, that doesn’t make me feel any less sad. Or take away the separation anxiety I am experiencing!
Here’s the story…
I have a friend named Bob. Bob has taken pictures for us in the past, actually, it was when Daniel had just gotten back from his last deployment. He’s a great photographer!
Bob is also a missionary. And he is leaving tomorrow for a year long missions trip to Asia.
Bob owns a Canon 20D but really wanted to be able to have a Canon 40D to take with him on his trip. As you know, missionaries aren’t generally rolling in the dough. I caught wind of this and thought… Hey! I have a Canon 40D!
I knew that I would be sad to not have my camera for a year. I love my camera; I refer to it as my fourth child, in fact. But, I knew that letting Bob take my camera with him was the right thing for me to do.
Because, after all, it really is only a camera. And it’s not really my fourth child. He is going to let me use his 20D. And I will still be able to take photos.
I am hoping to some day soon be able to afford the Canon 5D. So, I will have that to look forward to. And I know that my camera is going to bring happiness to Bob. That in turn makes me happy. And I will have my camera back next year. Let’s not forget that!
So, good-bye to my beloved camera. Or rather, as my Grandma Chips says, “No good-byes! Only see ya laters!”
See ya later, camera.
(I’m still going to cry…)
Here are the last pictures taken with my camera… Hilarious, right!!
The top picture was a tin of bobby pins that I bought yesterday. I didn’t even notice the picture on the front until last night. But when I did… I laughed and laughed. And then today I had my friend Amanda take a picture of me because…why not?! This set of photos will always make me smile.
What a great way to say “see ya later” to my camera!
Our day in very few words…
August 22, 2009 | Filed Under 26 week deployment and alphabet adventure!, Andrea, Eliza Dove, Eve, Judah, Photos | 11 Comments
I can hear that sigh of relief, you know!
I do tend to get wordy at times.
Good thing I married a talker. Not only are we a spectacular match, we rarely run out of things to talk about. Happy company, he is!
Anyway, our day was good.
See…
I have beautiful flowers gracing my table.
I found out how much my kids weigh without having to go to the doctor. We were inside a brewery, actually!
I have a sweet baby girl with an insatiable curiosity. Just like her mama.
There were extra opportunities for hugs and kisses.
I stepped in fresh horse refuse. Oh wait… that’s not good. It squished between my toes. Disgusting.
I found Maclaren’s next baby model for their stroller line. If only I could get Eliza’s hair under control. We might have a deal then.
Other good things…
We made a spontaneous visit to the Genesee Country Village – adding another “G” thing to our “G” week, my mom brought us dinner (Yay!), the kids played abnormally well together at bath time, my dad came over and played with the kids while I slipped away to buy… diapers (how exciting!) and the sunset tonight was phenomenal.
Do you know what’s best about this day though? It’s one day closer to being with Daniel again.
Summer Nights… (also: in which I abuse parenthesis)
August 21, 2009 | Filed Under Eliza Dove, It's What's For Dinner, Life in New York (the apple trees and dairy cow part... not the city!), Photos | 17 Comments
I had to get out of the house tonight. Do you know that feeling?
It was 7 o’clock in the evening… there had been late naps ( I fell asleep! I never do that!) I was hot and I was grumpy.
We tidied up the house, combed hair, loaded ourselves into the truck, blasted some music, and off we went.
Since we hadn’t eaten dinner yet I drove to Wegmans for some food. I also needed to pick up a few things for Daniel’s care package (yes, we got the V8 juice honey!) and to pick up a replacement laundry softener for the one I left in my cart on a previous visit (the cashier put it on the bottom. Out of sight, out of mind!). I am all about killing more than one bird, you know!
My children were angels I tell you, angels, in Wegmans. We did groceries first (yay for finding espresso powder!) and then got our dinner. We rode the elevator (favorite part of the night for the kids!) up to the cafe portion of the store and got ourselves situated. I always feel like we are the entertainment for the evening when we eat at Wegmans. Everyone watches us! I had one guy come up to me as he was leaving and say… “I had my doubts when I saw what you were planning on doing but here they are, all sitting and eating! It was like watching an orchestra…”
Hmmm… what a nice compliment! Can’t say as we have ever been called an orchestra before!
We ate our (amazing) salads (topped with chicken fingers, mind you), drank our Bolthouse “Purple Carrot” juice (Yum!!) and had giant raspberries for dessert. It was really, really nice.
On the way out to the truck afterward Eve went on and on about how nice summer nights in New York are. “They aren’t cold like in New Mexico,” she said. And she’s right. Because New Mexico is the desert, the nights do get chilly. There is usually about a 40 degree difference between the day and the night. It can be in the 100’s during the day and dip down into the 60’s at night! It sure makes for good summer time sleeping.
I drove home (slowly because there are massive amounts of suicidal deer here) with the windows down, music blasting; the kids chattered in the backseat, I stuck my arm out the open window… let the wind blow through my fingers and I smiled.
Yes, I surely do miss summertime in New Mexico… it’s stunningly beautiful. I miss spending evenings grilling on the back porch, taking quiet walks, gazing at the gorgeous sunsets, and drinking ice cold fruity drinks with my spectacular husband.
I will be very glad to have next summer all to ourselves, no deployment hanging over our heads, just being able to be a family… together.
But, I tell you what, tonight was just lovely. And I enjoyed it for all it was worth.
I’ll let Eliza show you how happy I felt inside…
Cold hose water on a hot, hot, hot day… happiness!
Yes, Eliza. It is legal to be this happy. No worries, baby!
Me and you…
August 20, 2009 | Filed Under Andrea, Daniel, Love songs, Lovers, Photos | 28 Comments
Sometimes songs express what I am feeling the best…
Right now I’m loving the old rock ballads. They seem to get me on just the right level.
Especially “Please Forgive Me” by Bryan Adams. His was the voice of my teenage years. Anyone else’s?
I use Rhapsody to listen to music on my computer (love it!) which makes listening to a wiiiiiide range of music easy as pie.
Tonight though, it’s Kenny Chesney’s “Me and You.”
(Suggestion: listen to the song but don’t watch the video… unless you are fully prepared to be overwhelmed by it’s cheesetasticness. Wowza.)
“The song” changes daily… What can I say? I love having choices! And there are so many good songs out there.
What is your song of the day… or the week… or your life? I really want to know! Plus, I need to add more music to my playlist…
As seen around my kitchen this evening…
August 19, 2009 | Filed Under Eliza Dove, In the blue bowl, Life Stuff, Photos | 14 Comments
Today felt eternal. Ever have that kind of day?
I am sure you do.
None of it was particularly bad… just long. And it didn’t include a nap time.
This evening it took me about an hour to work up the courage to put my groceries away. For some reason they were very intimidating!
Here are some photos from around my kitchen tonight:
Peaches in the blue bowl and flowers from my husband…
Attempting to hold the kids over ’til dinner. Cheese curls in the pink bowl…
My littlest helper/taste taster sitting on the counter while I made pizza dough…
Post helping, pizza dough on the face, starting to get pretty tired, but still showing some spunk, princess…
And the spunk is going, going…
Gone…
I was opening the (very convenient!) can of pizza sauce when I noticed the sunset shining through the window and onto my hands and counter. It’s the little things that make me smile…
Pizza and salad was made and consumed. Cherries and peaches for dessert. Three small very tired children read to, prayed for, blessed, kissed, and tucked into bed.
Sigh.
Tomorrow? A brand new day… hopefully one that includes a nap time.
2 Months…
August 17, 2009 | Filed Under Andrea, Daniel, Deployment, Military Life, New Mexico, Photos | 19 Comments
Today marks two months from the day I packed the kids and myself into Ruby the truck and drove away from the man I love.
I headed East with my back facing the beautiful New Mexico sky.
(straight out of the camera except for a simple crop)
Do you know how hard that was? Some of you really do.
I always believed it was harder to be left. I don’t know anymore. It tore my heart out to drive away from Daniel, knowing that there was going to be six months between the moment he last kissed my lips and the moment when I could reach my fingers out and touch his face again.
I still don’t know how a person can walk away from the one they deeply love. I don’t know how I did it… I guess it was simply putting one foot in front of the other. Trying not to let the feelings of sadness overwhelm me.
I don’t remember much from those first few hours.
I know I got to Lubbock to pick up my mom. I know that I made it to New York. I know I moved myself into a new house. I know I made it to one month. I know that I made it to two months.
Every day is a choice. A choice to get out of bed, be happy, to smile, to not cry.
It’s a choice to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Some days are much harder than others. I am praying that this month, the one that takes me from two to three, is a lighter load. I want to smile more and cry less.
For those of you that pray for me… thank you. Thank you, thank you.
I can physically feel them. Your prayers make all the difference.
“F” week
August 17, 2009 | Filed Under 26 week deployment and alphabet adventure!, Andrea, Eliza Dove, Eve, Judah, Photos | 10 Comments
This past week was “F” week for us. “E” was was kind of a wash because we went down to Bubba and Nana’s house and mama was “e”xhausted.
“F” week was kind of a wash too because I had a really tough week. Though I did make sure I got some beautiful “f”lowers…
But we are going to make up for all of that with “g”lorious, “g”reat “G” week!
We are looking forward to all that this week holds for us! “G” is such a fun letter – fun to write and fun to get creative with.
Yesterday, to round out our somewhat pathetic “F” week, we went to the airport to watch planes “f”ly. What a blast we had! My dad use to take us to this back, back road that butts up to the runway. It is loud and has a perfect view.
My kids thought it was “f”antastic!
We even had a visit from a policeman to make things a little more exciting! He was just making sure we were on the up and up, which, of course, we were.
Things were a little slow at the airport on a late Sunday evening but we had fun taking silly pictures while we were waiting…
Falling over…!
Just for informations sake, the planes are that way…
Thanks, Lize.
We saw a HUGE, loud “F”ed Ex plane land…
We watched Jet Blue take off…
And said good-bye with American Airlines…
We had so much fun that we lost track of time. But that was okay… it is summer, after all.
Here’s to “G”!
The reason why I didn’t blog on the 12th of August…
August 16, 2009 | Filed Under Insurance company woes, Judah, Life Stuff | 32 Comments
Do you remember when Judah had his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?
Boy oh boy, that was a bad day for my little man.
Well, Daniel and I took Judah to the dentist right away for his hurt front tooth. The tooth was determined to be injured beyond repair. Everything was fine unless an abscess showed up on Judah gum above his dead tooth.
On Wednesday, the 12th of August, I was talking with Judah really close to his face. I asked him “how are you doing, honey?” He smiled at me and I saw it… an abscess.
I was totally devastated. I knew that if he had an abscess, his tooth would have to be pulled; and at three years of age he would be front toothless for a good three more years, at least.
I couldn’t talk with Daniel about any of it because his phone (skype) was off. I called our dentist back in New Mexico to find out what my next step should be. Waited hours and hours for a phone call. I called a pediatric dentist here in New York and scheduled an appointment for the next morning.
What we found out the next day was highly unhelpful.
The dentist wanted to do a root canal on Judah’s baby tooth to try and save it. If the root canal didn’t take he said he would pull it and put in a fake tooth.
Waiting for his x-ray…
Trying to hold perfectly still… an oxymoron for a 3 year old?
The fake tooth part made me happy. The part about our insurance company (Tricare Concordia) not paying for any kind of anesthesia did not.
They aren’t even going pay for half of the bill.
So, the insurance company expects me to be okay with a root canal on a three year old, anesthesia -free or I foot more than half the bill.
Um, no.
We aren’t going back to that dentist either. When I asked if he would please just pull Judah’s tooth and replace it with the fake one (I’m trying to keep the trauma to a minimum and preserve Judah’s love of going to the dentist!), he said no. And that was final. Open-minded, hearing the parent, have a good reason for not just pulling the tooth…? Again, a no.
Money, money, money.
We are investigating our options now. Daniel is going to call the insurance company and figure out what the heck is going on. I am going to call a different dentist and get a second opinion.
I was devastated and worried and obsessively checking Judah’s gums… that is why I didn’t blog on the 12th of August.
Oh, and just so you know, I medicated myself with some Etsy shopping. I bought this and two other paintings from here and this and four different little painting to go along with it. For the kids…. or something like that.
She Drinks…
August 14, 2009 | Filed Under Eliza Dove, Judah, Life Stuff, Photos | 21 Comments
And by “she” I mean Eliza. And by “drink” I mean spritzer.
Knudsen’s Peach spritzer to be very specific (my favorite is the cherry cola or the Jamaican lemonade or the mandarin lime or, or, or) …..
There wasn’t a thing Miss Eliza Dove didn’t love about the peach spritzer…
I know you are wondering what’s up with her hair. I don’t know what to tell you other than she’s in a very bad hair place right now. That and there was some serious post-nap wildness going on.
She kept her cup of sparkles close to her heart or within quick reach the entire time…
I mean, it was snack time after all. And baby girl likes to either have two fistfuls of food or a drink in one hand and food in the other. It’s a security thing for her.
(I know you’re wondering so…. snack consisted of dried figs, macadamia nuts, carob covered almonds, peanuts, and Barbara’s cheese puffs)
Judah looks like he’s awake-ish but really… he was still sleeping. He tolerates drinking the sparkles – but he prefers to wait until they have “almost gone ‘way.”
Eve was staying down in Pennsylvania with Nana and Bubba but if she had been home there would have been absolutely no spritzer pictures for her. She hates the sparkles very much.
More for me, I say.
Oh, and this “she” does drink. Send wine.
(You guys are so sweet… I meant the “send wine” as a joke! But thank you!)
Featured!
August 13, 2009 | Filed Under Featured!, Military Life, Photos | 10 Comments
Today my blog is being featured at an online magazine site called Blognosh!
The post that is being used is called: Sunday Night Fun…
Reading over what I had written, seeing the photos that I had taken of our friends, remembering the fun we had… made me cry. This military life is not for the faint-hearted. Sometimes, like today, I really miss my every day normal life.
Thanks to Angella for submitting me!
Sorting.
August 11, 2009 | Filed Under Eliza Dove, Musings, Photos | 18 Comments
I am a thinker. I think and think and think. Sometimes I think things to death.
Yesterday as I was driving home from a (massive) grocery shopping trip, I was thinking. I was thinking about becoming a little bit older; not that late twenties is really very old, just a little bit older. I was thinking that it is interesting how I am starting to accept certain quirks and ways that I have about me. I’ve stopped beating myself up for acting in a specific way or trying to change something about my personality because it doesn’t fit in the perfect mold.
Take for example: I hate math. I am bad at math. My brain hates math. People who aren’t naturally good at math are sometimes looked on as not as smart. That has irritated me in the past but I am now accepting that I will never be a math whiz. And when Eve (who is a math whiz) needs help with her math homework, I will be sending her to her father for help. And that is okay!
Another thing, I am terribly afraid of thunderstorms. I know, I know, I should love them! They are spectacular! Loud! Fun! But, I hate them. When Daniel is home, I run to him and he holds me. Or, if we are in bed, I press my body into his and cover my ears. I have had to work very hard at not showing my fear of thunderstorms to my children. The approach I took worked well because they have absolutely no fear. In fact, they, as a general rule, ignore the storms. And if the storm is at night, they never wake up. They sleep right through, windows wide open or otherwise. When I was a child, I was instantly in my parents bed at the first clap of thunder, quaking with fear!
I am not a details person though I’ve pretended to be with no success. I am a total romantic. I have an all or nothing personality. I am wild about color. I have germ issues. I’m a walker not a runner. I hate raw tomatoes on anything other than a sandwich. I have a pillow but don’t sleep on it. All I have ever truly wanted is to be a wife and a mother (there are other goals too but none quite as important). I am not a t.v. watcher (but love movies!) or a bike rider; I dislike sleeping in a tent and I hate my uneven lips.
All of these things (there’s plenty more, believe me!) are what make Andrea, Andrea. I have been sorting through my feelings, through what really matters to me. Is it what people think of me? Or can I be okay with being Andrea – quirks, idiosyncrasies, labels, imperfections and all?
And you know, I think that I’ll just be okay with being Andrea. It’s a lot more work not to be.
Eliza did a little sorting of her own yesterday. Sorting beans, that is…
Uh, oh… she said, after a bean escaped her chubby little fingers.
Happiness for Eliza is sorting. And she’s okay with that…. ha!
