Birthday Boys!

We celebrated two birthdays this month! Bryce turned 5 on the 17th, and Bryan turned 3 on the 24th. We're still amazed by how quickly the kids are growing up. Bryan says new words every day--a huge blessing since he didn't even try to speak for so long. Of course now he just tells everyone like it is. :)

For Bryce's birthday, we had homemade waffles and syrup for breakfast. Later, Barry took him go-carting and picked up Bryce's supper pick, pizza, of course. He wanted Thomas birthday cake, so I used the train cake pan to make an engine and two coaches. Bryce closely supervised the coloring of the icing. "Perfect!" he exclaimed when I finally got it right. He said he had a great birthday. We had fun, too, making the day special for him.

On Bryan's birthday, we visited the fire station a few blocks from our house. I'd called ahead to make arrangements and to let them know it was his birthday. Bryan's hero is Fireman Sam, so we thought a visit to some real firemen would be appropriate. After our visit, we went to McDonald's so the kids could run and slide, then back home for cake and presents. Bryan had a good day, and everyone enjoyed the fire staton trip.

Here are the boys' days in pictures. I'm also including a few non-birthday photos because, well, my kids are cute and do the funniest things. :)


Brady and Sam are buddies. Actually, Sam is friends with anyone who has food. Brady decided Sam needed to be fork-fed the rest of my tuna salad. And Sam loved the attention.





So the kids aren't allowed to eat strawberries anywhere in the house except the table, right? Well, Bryan, in his little defiant attitude, decided that wasn't OK. He stole the whole quart of strawberries out of the fridge and invited Brady to join him outside. I found them sitting under the tree eating "bawberries." We now have a chain lock on the top of the back door, and I'm trying to find a fridge lock that Bryan can't figure out. But at least he chose a healthy item to swipe, even if I didn't get my strawberry shortcake.




From Bryce's birthday:

Finally! The much-coveted collapsing Sodor suspension bridge! Bryce had been begging for this for over a year. He was so excited to finally have it!






Bryce had to set up his new destinations immediately. Toby's windmill (from Nana & Papaw) and the collapsing Sodor suspension bridge were first. He added the new oil depot and barrel loader later (from GranMary & Papa Rod). And his new trains, Ben & Bill and the fog cars, enjoyed the improved track design.





Even clothes are a great gift when they're Thomas-inspired! Thanks, GranMary & Papa Rod!





Bryce loved his Thomas cake!




From Bryan's birthday:


Brady followed the other kids into the cab, circus peanut in hand.





At first, Bryan didn't want to get in the truck or look at the helmets. But once he got in and tried on a helmet, we couldn't get him out. He played with the visor and situated the heavy headgear so it sat comfortably. It took us a good 10 minutes to get him out! He even tried to buckle himself in!





Bryan wanted to touch everything. The chief commented that if the equipment hadn't been bolted down, Bryan would've pulled it out. Amazing how he knew our kids so well. :) Later he told us that Bryan reminded him of his son, now grown and following in his dad's footsteps. He'd just joined the department. Bryan could choose a worse vocation. :)





"Look, Mama! A hose!" Bryan pulled and pulled but couldn't get the hose to budge. Eventually he gave up.





The chief on duty gave each of the kids a plastic fireman hat with their name on it.





All the kids loved the fire station. Sydney made the firemen open all the storage doors, and she pointed out what things were. "That's the jaws of life, just like Fireman Sam has! That's...." Bryce, though, was more of a critic. He looked at the engine and said, "Are you sure you shined this? It's not shiny enough." Poor firemen! One said, "Well, we shine the engine every morning. It's evening now." The other said, "Ah, a critic." Our Thomas knowledge is showing itself in new ways every day. Brady climbed in the truck (or tried to) and found everything fascinating. Of course anything with buttons and lights is cool to him. We were, for the record, invited to come back any time we wanted. Bryan said all night, "I don' wan' 'o go home. I wan' go 'ire 'tashun!" We think he would've moved in had he been invited.





Bryan loves his Fireman Sam doll! Thanks, Nana & Papaw! (They had a friend pick up the gifts in the UK.) He loves the book, Fireman Sam to the Rescue, too. In the book, Bella, the Italian restraunt owner, says, "Mama mia!" Bryan says that now, too, when he gets frustrated. I wish I could record it for you to hear.





Fireman Sam toys and Jay Jay buildings were Bryan's dream presents. GrandMary & Papa Rod ordered the Fireman Sam toys from the UK. He plays with them all day long. Every day. And no one else is allowed to play with Fireman Sam and his truck (named Jupiter)--they have to play with Nurse Flood and the ambulance. Tom and the helicopter and Penny, Fireman Sam's firefighter friend, are off limits, too. We'll be ordering more toys from that UK site for Christmas since Fireman Sam isn't the 'thing' in the US. He also liked getting the Big Hanger for Jay Jay's big plane friends. Jay Jay's control tower talks. Bryan kept turning the crank, saying, "Benda Boo!" I think Brenda Blue is his first crush. Hannah Montana is his second, but that's another post.




Bryan loved how his fire truck birthday cake looked. But he's not much of a cake eater--more of a cake admirer. The other kids ate some for him, though.

Ah, espresso!

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

I hate moving

What a lot for a military wife.

We've been at this duty station for 6 years next week. Six long years. Not bad. Just long. And we're now settling into our third house. Each house has been an upgrade, from two bedrooms, to three, and now to 4 (with a shade tree and rock wall fence!). I'm grateful for the housing, but moving can be quite messy.

Today we (and by 'we,' I mean 'I') cleared our old quarters. Although we paid for a cleaning team to come in and ready the house for military-standard inspection, we had many things to clean ourselves. Try doing that with 4 kids undoing everything you've just done. Quite a challenge. Add to that a staff duty assignment (24-hr duty), which means we lost 2 days of cleaning time. Then Barry flew out to Buffalo to spend time with his brother who is on R&R (2-week vacation from Iraq). What do you get? Frustration. Exhaustion. And a mental breakdown.

[In Barry's defense, our inspection was supposed to be last Friday. And he'd rescheduled the inspection because of the aforementioned mental breakdown. (Mine.) He wasn't planning to leave me alone to clear quarters.]

A friend of mine going through the same thing, Kari D., prayed for me last night. Not that I wasn't praying myself. I definitely related to Paul when in 2 Corinthians 12, he talks about pleading with God to remove a thorn from his life. Well, I knew this thorn couldn't be extracted. I'd have to go through it, like Paul did, whatever his affliction may have been. But I doubt it was clearing military housing.

The inspection terrified me. One of the cleaning points I knew I'd failed involved removing marks from the walls. Ten Mr. Clean Magic Erasers hadn't been able to dissolve the colored wax my art-loving children had imposed on them. I'd tried to cover up the crayon marks using other means, but the touch-up paint given to me by the leasing office was the wrong color. The walls looked like a graffiti job gone bad. I was so obsessed with making it right that I'd spent $20 on two different cans of paint--neither of which matched even though I'd taken paint samples from the walls and had the colors professionally mixed. (Side note: Coloring on the walls is now an offense of the highest order resulting in swift discipline and harsh consequences. Already I'm hearing cries of, "Where are my crayons?")

Had we done enough? What stupid blemish would we be charged for? Would the inspector be nice or mean? We've been through this before and failed miserably. That resulted in fees taken from Barry's pay.

When the kids and I arrived at the old house, a paint van was parked in the driveway. The paint contractor was entering the living room. "I've already started patching holes," he told me.

He hadn't stolen my Windex, so I didn't care.

I walked through the house to make sure we hadn't missed anything and noticed all my sweeping and mopping had been undone. In fact, you couldn't tell I'd done anything. But the contractor did pull the stove out, under which I found beloved Dale Jr. and Lightning McQueen cars.

The dirt pit (a.k.a. yard) wasn't up to standards. The dogs had run a ditch along the fence line essentially building a tiny mountain at the edge of the yard. My weedeater broke yesterday, so the weeds weren't completely cut, either. I decided I wouldn't touch it unless the inspector threatened to add charges to our $200 cleaning bill.

The inspector knocked on the door.

After I greeted her, I said, "I'm very frustrated."

"Really? Why?"

Then I relayed the fact that the painters had already been in the quarters and that the touch-up paint provided to me was beige--the walls are definitely eggshell/soft/antique white. Or maybe a soft yellow.

"Don't worry about the walls. And since the painters have already been in the quarters, I can't hold you responsible for anything. Just sign here."

Wow. I turned over the keys and met her back at the leasing office to complete our BAH recon (basic allowance for housing refund, basically).

So our prayers were answered. Kari had specifically prayed something would happen to make this task easy for me. And I'd prayed that God would calm my detail-obsessed mind and show me how to rest. I've been shown yet again that God's grace is sufficient. And that He can use disobedient paint contractors to ease the pain of military families attempting to clear quarters.

Our next projected move is in 2 years--to a different duty station. I think we'll let the Army hire movers to pack & drive our household goods. We'll definitely hire a cleaning team. And I'll finish the organization and storage systems I started constructing last summer. Regardless, it'll be a challenge.

Relocating is exciting. New homes can be wonderful upgrades.

But I'll never love moving.

From Amy's Bookshelf

OK, this is really Bryce & Bryan's bookshelf. I guess Bryan thought the view of the tv set from his top bunk unfavorable.



Believe it or not: Brady initiated this wrestling match.



Bryce finds it really, really hard to let Brady drive Bryan's Go, Diego, Go! bike all by himself.

Psalm 91

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91:1-2

Every so often my brother-in-law Bryan sends thoughts from Iraq. Today I received his latest, a flashback. He shared a humorous story from a fishing trip he and Barry took with their dad and "uncle" Jim. His mind wandered through past experiences to summon positive feelings and thoughts. And perhaps to live in a less sandy and less dangerous time and place for a whlie. Memories are powerful. This one provided comfort for a weary soldier.

I've heard the story before; I've witnessed the bantering between Rod & Jim firsthand. Barry and Bryan are no different when they feed off each other. Hysterical! But reading this familiar tale, I didn't laugh. Instead, I fought a huge lump in my throat.

Bryan's fine; Barry's fine. But so many soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen have given up luxuries like fishing trips and watching their kids grow up. And Barry and Bryan are among them.

Psalm 91 is the Soldier's Psalm. If you're not familiar with it, read it, pray it. Claim it for yourself, then pray it again for all the men and women who are voluntarily protecting you. Specifically, pray for Bryan and his soldiers as they serve in Iraq. Bryan's R&R is coming soon; pray that he and Mo will enjoy their time together with Maddy and baby Luke. And remember Barry as he makes crucial career decisions in the next few months and as he prepares himself and his soldiers for their upcoming year in Korea.

We do not live in fear, but sometimes life is overwhelming. Barry and Bryan (probably Papa Rod and Uncle Jim, too) will share many adventures with all the kids. And they will be blessed with funny memories to recall when circumstances are less than ideal. More importantly, though, they'll know their dad and uncle believed and trusted God's promises.

As always, thank you for your love and support.

***Our Bible study is collecting toiletries for wounded soldiers sent to our Army hospital. Most are without any of their personal belongings for 24-48 hours after arriving. They need toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, lotion, shaving cream, and razors. If you feel led to help provide some of these necessities, please email me. If you don't have my email address, leave a note under comments.

Miscellaneous

We've hit the high to mid-90s here. I'm quite thankful for my refrigerated air! We have to keep it at 70 to maintain comfort. The kids are enjoying their new pool, smartly situated on the front porch in the shade. A particular neighborhood cat is enjoying it, too. We caught him fleeing our porch one afternoon. Cat hair in the water proved he'd been there. Then yesterday, we saw the same cat down the street, little ears & eyes peeking out over the edge of someone else's pool. Since when do cats like water?

The only cute story I have to share involves Brady. Last night I made a late run to Wal-Mart, and Brady insisted he go with me. The city's baseball stadium is a block away from Wal-Mart. When we got out of the van, Brady, very clearly, said, "Ah! Look!" and pointed to the sky. Cohen Stadium sponsored an end-of-game fireworks show for the fans. He was fascinated by the colors and loud booms. As we walked into the store, he kept throwing himself backwards to see more fireworks. Maybe we'll attend the 4th of July show at Cohen this year--just for him.



"'Ahtch this, Mama! 'Ahtch this!"



"Ta-daaah!"



I can't take credit for this cake. I baked it, made the icing, and did the lettering. Barry did the cool part. I did find the Luke Skywalker toys, though. And thanks to Kari for the Star Wars name link; Oleba Joroc (aka Olen, my friend Rebecca's son) has a true Star Warsian cake.



This is Brady's dishwashing effort. Of course he's only interested in the icing.



Finger-lickin' good!

I've been tagged by Amy (W)!

So I guess that means I'm 'it' for now. :)

The Rules:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I have attended PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel--Bible study) for 4 years and am just now getting to know people and to volunteer my talents to support the ministry. Of course most of my new acquaintances are PCSing this summer (permanent change of station--aka MOVING--it's acceptable to add 'ing' to several Army terms, thus creating new words and breaking many grammar rules). So I have to start all over....

2. For 2 years, I was in FRG (Family Readiness Group) leadership. I quit because dealing with ignorant military spouses who had no desire to educate themselves frustrated me. Well, that, and Barry was traded to another unit. Now I'm in the middle of AFTB training (Army Family Team Building) so I can be a certified Army know-it-all. :) Seriously, though, eventually I'd love to volunteer as a mentor-teacher through ACS (Army Community Services)--helping spouses who care and want to learn more about surviving military life.

3. I started blogging to keep up with Kari and because Robin made a comment about her world not being complete without me. Just kidding--I don't hold that kind of power. But it's been great to reconnect with old friends. Somehow ELP doesn't seem so far away now.

4. My favorite coffee shop item is a spiced chai latte with whipped cream. And my drink snobbery has rubbed off on my children. Sydney no longer asks for Italian sodas--she prefers iced chai, and Bryce loves gourmet hot chocolate "that's not too hot." Any coffee served at my house is either Gevalia or Millstone (but only if all the Gevalia is gone), and my tea is gourmet, too (unless it's cold, then it's Tetley). Thanks, Angela & Laura, for opening my eyes to the glories of quality beverage.

5. The laundry hamper I took to college as a freshman almost 13 years ago died last week. I was sad and considered writing a poem about it. I still may.

6. Army acronyms are annoying. Soldiers use gazillions of them. But amazingly Army-speak is second-nature now. When Barry says, "I need a copy of my LES for my OIC before our FTX," I don't need a translation. Scary.

7. Jamie and I are writing 2 books! One's a devotional for military families to help them find God's provision during deployments, and the second is an accompanying Bible study. No one's surprised by this, but I'm sure they're hoping this means I'll want to talk less and write more.

8. In 2 years, we'll be moving! We joined the Army to see the world (and to have some financial stability) and have been at Ft Bliss ever since. But Texas must be our destiny...Ft Hood is just 13 hours east. Which, of course, means it's in TEXAS. I may have to give up my IN license plates & driver's license, concede, and become a registered Texan.

Since I have to tag now, here goes:

Bekah

Kari

Robin

Kim

Laura (who doesn't have a blog but can certainly leave hers in a comment!)

Mom :) (you can leave yours in a comment, too)

Catch-up

Thought I'd share some pictures from the last couple of months. We've been occupied with life, and blogging hasn't been a priority. The photos are in chronological order, starting with March 31 and ending with May 5. Jamie took some great pictures of the kids this weekend. Click on her link, then choose events. The user name is crossman07; password is 12299. In the meantime, enjoy these:




Brady prepares for his first haircut.




After, Daddy's still a friend--an important point to make.




This pretty much sums up the difference in Bryan's & Brady's personalities. Bryan ran to me and ignored Barry until after his relaxing bubble bath.




Bryan's daily goal is to get as much airtime as allowed by Mom. What did he play with before Barry's supersack arrived?




This is the cake Barry designed and I decorated for Taylor's 14th birthday.




Syd & Bryce loved looking for eggs, but they totally ignored Barry's 'hints.'




Not even the promise of Easter chocolate could cheer up this boy!




This occurs frequently. On this occasion, however, the clothes had to be discarded. Sorry, Daniel. Bryan wins.




Bryan performs one of his best primate imitations.




Yes, he really is asleep.

Wow!

What a difference a functioning logic board makes! I am happy to have my Mac back--and even more happy that Apple replaced our non-warrantied logic board for free. :)

These are a few photos from our night with the World-Famous Lipizzaner Stallions on Mar 13. You can check out video clips from their performance at at their website. I'll post pictures from Barry's Master Gunner graduation later. He graduated second in his class and proudly wears his Master Gunner belt buckle every day. Does this make him a real-live Texan? But I digress...here are the promised photos:

Role Play or "I Myama Ma"

What? You don't speak Bryanese? Don't fret--only one person in the entire world is fluent; 5 others are working together to translate.

"I Myama Ma" means, "I'm Fireman Sam." And Bryan's taking this role quite seriously. Fireman Sam is a British cartoon character. Our kids love the British tv shows--Kipper (pronounced "Kippa"), Bob the Builder (yes, we've viewed several original British episodes), Fireman Sam, Angelina Ballerina. Anyway, this is how I found Bryan this afternoon. He's really coming into a hilarity all his own.

Preparing....


and executing....



This is how Sydney dressed Brady earlier this week. She loved it, and I have to admit Brady makes a cute little dinosaur.

Coloring...


and roaring...

Playing Hard!

Like most kids, ours are incredibly energetic and passionate about everything they do. This week, Brady was so worn out from playing he found the closest 'big' person to hold him while he fell asleep. That person happened to be Sydney, who was more than happy to oblige.


The boys like to fight over the rocking horse Papa Shanks made Bryce a few years ago. Brady tries to climb up it, and if he can't but others are, he pushes it onto its side so no one can ride. Poor horse!


Ms Jeanne took us to the most awesome park in the city last week. The kids loved it! It may be our new away-from-home-but-not-really day trip destination. (The park is 30+ minutes away on the other side of the city/mountain.)


This was Bryan's 3rd or 4th time up this rope ladder. His first trip up, he crawled the whole way. Once he was able to walk up, he felt he'd conquered the contraption and found something else to challenge himself. In other words, this is typical Bryan. After such a tiring afternoon, he cuddled with Jeanne--who was so happy to get the love that she balanced him and 2 picnic baskets while walking to the van!


Don't know where Syd's going, but she's sure in a hurry to get there.


Brady loves slides!

President's Day, or Barry's Work Weekend at Home

Ah, 4-day weekends. Vacation for some, but not for us.

After a wonderful week-long fight with FedEx (which I won, thankyouverymuch), we were finally able to set up our new mattress. I love having a waveless, heated bed! The kids were just as excited as we were (OK, much more excited than we were) and insisted they help. Bryan & Bryce followed Barry around with a screwdriver, loosening everything Barry had just tightened on the base. Sydney commented on the lovely purple color of the new mattress and set herself up as team supervisor. And Brady, well, he decided he'd be a one-man filling crew. The problem now is that they all feel the bed is theirs. And why not, after they worked so hard to put it together?





The other weekend project was assembling and using Brady's new toddler bed. We had a toddler bed for Syd and hated it, so the other boys graduated from crib (or sleeping with us) to twin bed. We don't have room for another twin bed, though. Hence the need for something big yet small. Finding the matching NASCAR bedding sealed the deal. Brady's doing well sleeping in a new bed in a new room all by himself. He seems to be making the transition well--yea for me! I finally get to SLEEP more than 2 hours at a time!




I wanted to sing "He flies through the air with the greatest of ease, the daring young man on the flying trapeze." Bryan, however, thought, "I DUPERMAN!" was more appropriate. Notice the looks of awe on Barry's, Sydney's, and Bryce's faces!





The vastness of the sky is so amazing down here. We can actually see different fronts--cold, warm, low, high--moving in and doing their things miles away. The mountains make for an incredible background, too. Check out these clouds--not rain clouds--just colorful during the sunset:





And the view from the opposite direction:



** And for any of you who still care, Barry is putting the finishing touches on the boys' Jeff Gordon dresser. Hopefully I can post a pic of the final product within a week. **