Jealous.
March 11, 2010 | Filed Under Daniel, Eliza Dove, Eve, Military Life, New Mexico | 4 Comments
Mornings with Daddy rarely happen. Unless it’s the weekend. Early morning is our time; I get up with Daniel at an ungodly hour to make his lunch and feed him a hot breakfast. We have a few quiet moments together before he heads to base with coffee in one hand, food in the other, and a kiss on his lips.
I’m jealous of this time we have together. I don’t share it with the kids even though I know they would love to see Daddy before he leaves for the day. Yesterday was an exception. Daniel was catching a ride into work with his boss who was running a bit late. So, everyone was up together while I made Daniel breakfast and got his lunch together.
It was special and I mostly enjoyed it. But it’s not going to become a regular event.
I’ve never been very good at sharing.
It’s Friday! Amazon Delivered!
February 27, 2010 | Filed Under Daniel, Eliza Dove, Eve, Judah, Love is..., Photos, Sewing | 17 Comments
I present to you….
My new sewing machine:
I’m excited. I think. More scared, to be truthful. I waited like five hours to open the box. It frightened me.
When I bought my first dslr camera, I opened the box and was able to start taking photos. Not good photos, but photos nontheless. With the sewing machine, I opened the box (it was a struggle, man. I think I broke out in a sweat trying to pry the freakin’ machine out of the box!), took the machine out and stared at it. And then I took a photo of it. Because that’s what I do. I think I heard it laugh at me, actually.
I’m not sure what my next step is. Perhaps buying some of the accessories I need? Reading the manual, for sure. Fabric?
Yikes. I’m intimidated. But excited too!
But I was (and the kids too!) more excited to see Daniel come walking through the door. Best part of the day (any day), hands down.
And he brought me flowers. Because he loves me.
Happy weekend to you!!
The Weekend.
February 22, 2010 | Filed Under Andrea, Daniel, Eve, It's What's For Dinner, Judah, New Mexico, Photos, Texas | 16 Comments
It was fun.
It was busy.
It was supremely tasty.
Friday night we ran lots of errands and then Daniel took our family to a local Mexican restaurant. So fun! We ate our dinner while listening to live music. Loved that.
The food was mouth-watering delicious and authentically New Mexican.
We had a wonderful time until Judah melted down in the parking lot. Such is life.
Saturday we headed out to the Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo. Amazing. Seriously breathtaking. It’s a wild sensation to be driving across the plains, surrounded by enormous fields and stinky cows, and then BOOM. A huge canyon. Red walls, massive rocks… a refreshing change of scenery.
The kids had a fantastic time “trailing.” Daniel and I realized that I don’t do so well with “off-trailing.” I’m not so adventurous, apparently. Along the trail we saw some interesting animal tracks; some that struck large amounts of fear into my heart. Like, the fresh ones that looked like them belonged to a large cat. I got the chills looking at those! Yikes! Good thing Judah brought his “trusty ‘ol gun,” as he fondly calls it.
Daniel explored a cave and took the kids up the side of a cliff. Fun times in the beautiful weather. Unfortunately, because the trail was so low, we lost the sun and warmth fast. Brrr! I couldn’t get back to the truck fast enough. Eliza and I were popsicles! Daniel and I took a second before leaving to take a couple of photos, proof that we were actually at the canyon with our kids. I live with a goof-ball. A mean goof-ball. These photos were right before he stuck his ice-cold hands onto my back!
Since we were so close to Amarillo, and Target (!), we headed into town. Hiking made us very hungry so we stopped at Blue Sky for some burgers. Daniel had heard it was great and indeed, it was! I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of grease.
And the Anaheim chili sticks… awesome!! Wowza. I wanted to lick the bottom of the basket. I refrained. It was touch and go, though.
Sunday, we recuperated.
An awesome weekend! I am so thankful that Daniel is home. Life is so much happier, goofier, tastier, and more adventurous.
P.S. Not so sure about the big photos. I’ve never really cared about them. But, with the (blasted, horrid, I am horrible at making them) blog boards, bigger was better. We’ll see about the bigger photos… I find it annoying to have to scroll down to look at the whole thing.
Eve’s Valentine’s Day Tea Party 2010
February 14, 2010 | Filed Under Andrea, Eliza Dove, Eve, New Mexico, Photos, Valentine's Day | 18 Comments
The Valentine’s Day tea party was a success.
The girls had a wonderful time from what I surmised.
Eve said it was all she had hoped for.
And I lived.
I deem that a success. Hooray!
I kept the party small and simple. I work better that way. I read a line on someone’s blog this last week and while I can’t remember the exact wording it went along the lines of: sometimes simple is not only good enough, it is the best. I took that to heart.
Five little girls and one big girl were invited. A two hour party. Simple. Good.
I bought little princess crowns at Hobby Lobby and heart shaped bracelets at Target. I set those out for the girls to help themselves to. They played for a bit in the beginning. Mozart wafted through the air while the girls decorated sugar cookies with either pink or white frosting and some sprinkles. Consumed. Chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting, chocolate covered strawberries. Fancy tea cups steaming with red berry tea. Consumed.
They played a bit more while I cleaned up the food.
Little girl imaginations crafted their pretty party favor boxes with glitter and glue and candy hearts, a few stickers and some ribbon.
Inside the boxes went homemade chocolate caramels.
That was that. Simple. A bit magical. And good.
I liked it. We’ll do it again next year.
Dare I?
January 22, 2010 | Filed Under Eliza Dove, Eve, Photos, Sewing | 34 Comments
I have this thing with my girls… I love, love, love to dress them alike. My girls wear the same clothes as much as possible, and thankfully, Target and Eve have cooperated very nicely with this plan. With Eve still being in a size 5T it’s easy peasy to find matching clothes. But, the girl is growing like a weed and soon matching clothes won’t be so simple to find.
Enter: Mama needs to learn how to sew.
What’s that sound, you ask? Oh, that’s just my mother laughing her head off.
But, I’m serious. My lack of knowing how to sew has been bothering me for a couple of years now. I feel like I am missing a needed skill, or something. The thing is, I’m not so good with fine details. Like, laying out a pattern or figuring out said pattern or threading a needle…
I mentioned a sewing machine purchase to Daniel the other day and he got a look in his eyes. It wasn’t one of those, “Sure, babe! What a great idea!” looks. It was more of the, “Oh dear, this could be bad. Very bad.” looks.
But, I am feeling very determined. I need to learn how to make curtains, and pillow cases, and clothes. And maybe some other fun stuff. I have ideas in my head and either I can’t find them in the stores or the price is too high and I’m too cheap.
Here is where I need your help (should you sew, of course): What brand of sewing machine should I look for.
And lessons… are they the way to go? Or should I start small and try to teach myself?
Any other advice (preferably sewing but I’ll take whatever!) is much appreciated!
Daniel and the kids re-unite video…
January 7, 2010 | Filed Under Andrea, Daniel, Deployment, Eliza Dove, Eve, Judah, Military Life, Perspective, Video | 44 Comments
I thought you all might like to share in our joy.
I video-ed on my mighty little Flip video camera when Daniel and the kids first saw each other at my parents house.
Just try not to cry.
Untitled from andrea hub on Vimeo.
This video is after a few minutes had passed and Eliza was in the process of warming up. Thank the Lord for Skype! Daniel and I directly attribute Eliza seeing him and talking to him via Skype to her recognizing and quickly being comfortable with him.
Eliza warms up from andrea hub on Vimeo.
The “reintegration” process has been absolutely seamless. The kids have fallen right back into rhythm with Daddy; the only issue I can see is that they have to learn to trust Daniel again. Trust that’s he’s here to stay… they tend to get a little frantic, asking for him when he leaves the room or to run out to the truck. Especially Eliza.
Right now I am laying on a couch on Columbus AFB in Mississippi watching the Texas/Alabama game with Daniel. We are well on our way back to New Mexico and it has been a wonderful trip thus far. I will write a detailed blog about our trip once it’s over but truly, it has been an amazing time as a family. I am thankful for every minute I sit next to Daniel in our truck. The kids have been complete angels and we have made some great memories.
This is the first time I have been on my computer since Sunday (I KNOW!) so to say blogging has had to take the back seat would be an understatement but this family time minus any distractions has been a blessing. But I am very much looking forward to getting back into a rhythm. I am so much happier and peaceful now… as my brother David said today, I am a “totally different girl!”
And I really am. Daniel does that to me. I’m so thankful for my magnificent husband!
Miss Eliza Dove turns two!
December 24, 2009 | Filed Under Birthday, Birthday Letters, Eliza Dove, Eve, Judah, Photos | 15 Comments
This is what happens when I say “smile!”
Apparently Daniel and I jumped the gun on the name “Eve.” But, how were we to know that down the road a few years we were going to have a daughter born on Christmas Eve. And how much would she have hated having her name cleverly be “Eve” because of her birth day.
Her “real” smile.
Regardless of names, Miss Eliza turned two on Christmas Eve. I can’t believe it has been two years.
Seriously, how has it been TWO YEARS? Someone call the police and report time thievery!
I can’t really explain to those of you who have not met Eliza just how much of a delight she is. Words don’t really do her justice. But as a start… she is a wonderfully chubby ball of fire rolled in sweetness.
I absolutely adore the daylights out of her.
Again with the “smile!”
All I can ask of my sweet, sweet girl is this:
Darlin’,
Stay a baby for me, won’t you? My baby. Whether you are a delightful two, sweet sixteen, a wonderful twenty-nine with three babies, seventy-five and old and grey… always, always be my baby.
Please never stop letting me hold you, or kiss your cheeks, or tell you that you are my reward.
You are the very best ending to the second very best thing I have ever done in my life.
You, Eliza Dove, make my heart sing.
What do I say to you all day, every day?
“Mama loves you.” Because I do. I really, really do.
Love,
the crazy red-head who kisses you an average of 87,634,297 times a day
Crossfit
December 21, 2009 | Filed Under Andrea, Crossfit, Eve | 8 Comments
Daniel has been doing Crossfit for the last three years or so. And I, amidst having babies, occasionally worked out with him. But I was always so stinkin’ sore the next day, like, I didn’t want to walk up the stairs… don’t touch me… don’t breathe wrong, kind of sore.
As a mother of three young and very needy children, I couldn’t be incapacitated like that.
I knew before moving up to New York that there is a Crossfit gym in a town near by to where I was going to be living. And I knew that I wanted to work out there while Daniel was deployed. I mean, I did lose fifty pounds of post-baby weight (my body absolutely hates me and does crazy things after I have my babies) while Daniel was deployed last time. I had to do something spectacular again, right?!
But I was scared.
As the sole care-taker for my kids I knew that I couldn’t be so sore that I wouldn’t be able to deal with my kids. But I really, really wanted to work out at the Crossfit gym. While on the website one day, I noticed that there were kickboxing classes being offered. I thought: Hey! I could do that. Kickboxing classes would be a good way to get my toes wet.
So I signed myself and my Dad up.
Guess what. The classes were kickboxing… with a side of Crossfit.
Oh, baby. Was I ever sore those first few times. The weekend I was most sore I had a couple of photoshoots, my birthday, and a wedding to second-shoot with Amanda.
Did I mention that my apartment has stairs leading up to it? Lots of stairs?
It has been six weeks now; I started out with a two time a week schedule, now I am working out at least three time a week though last week was four. I can see and count my abs. I can deadlift 135# which is not much in the Crossfit community but for me it is ten pounds more than my body weight, ten more pounds than I could deadlift the week before, and it feels good for this beginner. There is so much I can do that I never knew I could do before I started going to Crossfit.
Deadlift from andrea hub on Vimeo.
(In this video I was making fun of my 135# deadlift “PR” (personal record) but I am proud of myself for doing it. Also, you get to see first-hand that I am a dork.)
We women…. are strong. Did you know you are strong? Oh, you are. A whole lot stronger than you think you are.
I have discovered that I love Crossfit. It’s hard-core, brutal, exhausting and I never want to do anything else as a method of working out.
And while I started out with “looking good naked” as my goal, I have discovered that what I really want to do is get a five rep 52# shoulder press on my record instead of the 50# that I currently have. I want to do pull-ups without using any bands. I want to back squat more weight, do a heavier clean and jerk, on and on…. that looking better naked part has happened and keeps happening. Only now it’s just icing not the goal.
Eve has been watching me work out for these six weeks. She has seen Daniel doing Crossfit for half of her life… Saturday I took her with me to go do a work out. Her workout clothes had been picked out and tried on for three days; there was a countdown; I heard of not much else all week long.
She loved every minute.
Eve doing squats
Eve’s favorite exercise: Pull-ups. Her feet had just slipped through the harness but before that happened she was able to complete pull-ups nearly unassisted.
Can I just tell you, I really enjoyed working out with my daughter. Even though she is young, learning good fitness is a lesson you can’t begin too early. Eve’s countdown to our next work out is up and running!
( Eve and I post workout. She is holding the deck of cards that we used as the basis for our workout)
I have a feeling that we are going to be a Crossfit-ing family.
Bring it on!
Who knew math could be so funny!
December 15, 2009 | Filed Under Eve, Video | 15 Comments
Eve from andrea hub on Vimeo.
Eve lost her other front tooth last night. I am now officially giggling every time she talks to me.
“Yeth, Ma’am” she says. Love that.
School was such a blast today! Oh, the laughs we had as she and I went through language and reading.
I am so very glad that I have two more children to experience this lack of incisors fun with!
p.s. that wasn’t my kid screaming in the background.
p.p.s. why does Eve use such a random assortment of three fingers?
p.p.p.s. is there anything cuter than no front teeth?
p.p.p.p.s most days homeschooling is da bomb. (i know, that phrase was totally circa 1998. roll with it, please… I’m feeling kinda dorky tonight.)
Eve, the firstborn…
December 2, 2009 | Filed Under Eve, Photos | 22 Comments
My Eve… she’s amazing. Sweet, loving, very funny, smart, orderly. The list goes on. I really love her. I’ve called her my “sunshine girl” ever since she was a wee baby… because that’s what she is – sunshine.
I took her on a date this past Saturday night. We went to “The Nutcracker” at the beautiful theatre down in the city. We dressed up in fancy clothes and had a wonderful night out. I had splurged and purchased really, really good seats. What an amazing view we had! The tickets were worth every penny. Eve commented to me afterward (as we were running to the truck ’cause it was wicked cold out!) that she wished she could have every costume the ballerinas wore. I wish I could give them all to her… they were so lovely.
Math is her favorite subject to learn. She eats up those numbers… a very different mind from her mother! I am hoping that along with Daniel’s personality and taste in food and eye color that she also has his smarts. So far so good!
I am pretty sure she is going to have a large family… she is very much an administrator and enjoys having lots of little people around to direct. It seems all of this could come sooner rather than later as she has already had her first marriage proposal… my oh my! Daniel needs to hurry up and come back from Iraq so he can beat the boys off…
I am very much enjoying watching Eve develop into her own person. I love watching her become “Eve.” Meticulous, quiet, diligent, highly social, out-going, cautious, obedient…
I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that Eve has her own definite style in clothing and all things related to being a woman. She still doesn’t own a pair of sunglasses because we can’t find “her style.” She wears her clothes in a particular way, her earrings, her hair, she rolls her jeans, she must wear lip gloss ( I swear she’s straight out of Mississippi with her lipstick (gloss) manners.) her purse is attached to her side permanently. Oh, it’s quite the process for her to get out the door. But I love it and her.
If you are a mother, I would love to hear about your firstborn in the comments! Or, tell me about you, if you like me are a firstborn yourself. We sure are an interesting group!!
Emotions
November 10, 2009 | Filed Under Deployment, Eliza Dove, Eve, Judah, Photos | 29 Comments
These are my kids:
Attitude, Drama, and Toothless
I’m never bored.
Ever.
We expressed some emotions today:
Tired (Why yes I am, thanks for asking!)…
Mad (Some of us more than others)…
Silly (All of us)…
But, there’s lots of love…
Lots of love…
Too much, sometimes…
Mama sees the look of desperation in your eyes, baby. I’m comin’…
We love you and miss you, Daddy. We promise to save a bunch of kisses and hugs for you…
It’s a New York Fall…
November 1, 2009 | Filed Under Deployment, Eliza Dove, Eve, Fall, Life in New York (the apple trees and dairy cow part... not the city!), Photos | 32 Comments
Fall in New York is breath-taking…
I have been getting out and enjoying every bit of this season because I know I won’t have this opportunity again for maybe the rest of my life.
I took the kids grape picking at the vineyard this past Sunday evening.
It was, in one word, beautiful.
We enjoyed every minute of it. We had been a couple of weeks before that and it was lovely then, but for some reason the moodiness of the leafless vines…
…and the fallen grapes made it seem all the more beautiful.
The kids helped me pick, they taste-tested, they played tag up and down the rows (we were the only patrons), and they gave each other wagon rides.
Such a good time.
This past Thursday, my Mom and Dad invited us to go to a park with them for a picnic.
We are always up for picnics in parks with a fire and roasted hot dogs! Miss Eliza wore (Eve’s) pink beret the entire night.
She may be slightly in love with hats of any sort. Eliza wore that hat, or, “Haaa…” as she says, with great pride.
Even when she fell down (it’s tough “trailing” through the woods when you are little!) that hat stayed right on her head.
As Eve would tell you, fashion is where it’s at, even when one is “trailing.”
Eliza has taken that nugget of “truth” to heart!
We had a great time at the park; I can tell you exactly just how much fun by the amount of dirty laundry I had to wash!
I am thankful that I have had the energy and determination to get out while Daniel has been deployed. It hasn’t always been easy, in fact, sometimes it took more than I had to give. I have three small kids, after all! But, I refuse to have any regrets. I don’t want to look back on this time in my life and wish I had not held back. Sure, my heart waits for him but my life has moved forward. How discouraging it would be for Daniel to come home and see that I am still the same girl he left six months earlier!
Anyway, happy November first! Not only is it my birthday month,Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday!), and Judah’s birthday month… most importantly, I get to say: my husband is coming home NEXT MONTH!
Hooray!
We found a new place to play…
October 18, 2009 | Filed Under Andrea, Eliza Dove, Eve, Fall, Judah, Life in New York (the apple trees and dairy cow part... not the city!), Photos | 18 Comments
I love finding new places to take the kids on hikes…. they call it “trailing.” That term always makes me giggle a little.
With three (active) kids, one who is particularly prone to wander,
…walking on the sidewalk through town doesn’t work out so well. Besides…. snore…. boring.
The other day, while on the hunt for a road-side stand that sells spaghetti squash (still looking, by the way), my eyes found a new trail! One that I have driven by approximately 48,297 times over the course of my short-ish life of 28 almost 29 years.
Hooray! The kids loved it. And I loved it because the wanderer…
…could wander all she liked and I didn’t have to worry a bit. The trail was quiet, except for one very sneaky biker (Scared me twice! Who knew a bike could be so quiet on crunchy leaves!). We played and played.
And took pictures… I like this one in particular. Miss Eliza is giving her brother the look that sums it all up… “the sideways look.” You know, the look that says, “I’ve got your number.” And oh, she does. She’s a force to be reckoned with, that one.
It was a fantastic time. We couldn’t wait to go back!
So today, after the kids did the jumping, begging, clapping hands thing, I said, “twist my rubber arm… we can go again!” Immediately I was crowned “Mother Of The Year.” And I stayed “Mother Of The Year” until the next time I told them, “No.” to something they wanted. Fickle, fickle small children.
The girls were so staid; quietly walking down the trail hand in hand.
The boy? Like a bull let out of the pen!
Three year old boys are such a phenomenon. He makes me laugh, he makes me cry… Long-suffering sigh… All I’ve got to say is, “Thank you, Lord, for little boys and their birthdays.”
I would be at fault if I failed to mention that Miss Eliza Dove chose her red shoes today. And I commended her, you know. Because every day is a good day for red shoes, I say. Even “trailing” days.
We had a great time until we hit the wall. The “cold” wall. And then it was time to take our chilly selves home. We had nachos and pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting to eat, and “101 Dalmations” to watch. Nobody fussed, not even poor Eliza… though sometimes it’s really tough to be the little guy.
Happy Sunday! Here’s to a great new week….
My life right now looks like…
October 11, 2009 | Filed Under Andrea, Deployment, Eliza Dove, Eve, Judah, Life Stuff | 28 Comments
this…
I am so busy my head spins. I am pulled in every direction, so thinly that at times I am certain you can see right through me. Everybody needs a piece of me, right now.
I have lost myself along the way of this deployment. I’ve known this for awhile. But, I can’t care. It’s not about me right now. Life is about the kids, about keeping Daniel’s spirits up, about keeping life moving along.
There are moments, more often than I’d care to acknowledge, even in the vein of this honest post, that I feel I just can not go on. Not another moment. Not another breath. I can’t deal with anymore, anything. And then I do. I do and I do and I do.
Sometimes I cry. I gnash my teeth. I yell. I pout. I stomp my feet at God. I feel that all of this is very unfair.
And then I move on. Because I must.
I am doing pretty good right now. Usually at this point in the month, I would be very funktified and yet, I am not. Even amidst the craziness of life, the kids and I have been having a lot of fun; we are enjoying Fall and enjoying homeschooling. We have had a long string of really good days dotted with some terrific outings. And there are plenty more on the horizon. With five birthdays in the next two months and all of the holidays… none of us can wait!
But keep praying for me, will you? I sure do need it.
More than half way through now…
Fall in my pocket…
October 5, 2009 | Filed Under Eliza Dove, Eve, Fall, Judah, Life in New York (the apple trees and dairy cow part... not the city!), Photos | 21 Comments
Fall in my pocket
Miss Eliza deemed me her treasure carrier tonight on our walk. My pocket was full of acorn tops, leaves, and a pine cone. I drew the line at the sticks and the rocks…
Fall is unequivocally my favorite time of year. I love it. Love it.
Fall in my hand
Here at my house (probably like yours!) we are eating apple pie, pumpkin pie, drinking apple cider, eating homemade applesauce, burning apple cinnamon and french vanilla candles, plotting our dinner plan for Thanksgiving, smelling woodsmoke, wearing fleeces… the list goes on and on.
Fall is our favorite
This week my goal is to find free apples. I want to make more applesauce to can, and lots of it! My kids inhale the stuff. While I love going to an apple orchard to pick apples, the amount of apples I want would put me in the poorhouse. So, I am determined to scour the countryside for abandoned apple trees or non-abandoned apples trees with very generous owners! Wish me lots of apple finding luck…
Fall underneath me
Today I bought two pie pumpkins from a stand on the side of the road. One dollar each. I am planning on roasting them and then making pumpkin pie for our breakfast this week. The kids think that pumpkin pie for breakfast is the most natural thing in the world. And I love that!
Fall all around me
Some of my favorite fall things include: the smell of woodsmoke and leaves, having to wear a sweater but not a jacket, the sound of leaves crunching under my feet, my kid’s rosy red cheeks, cool rainy days, the colors of the trees, and the food, of course!
Fall above me
Tell me, what do you love about Fall?
One year ago today: I didn’t post… for shame!
Two years ago today: A Fall Delight
