So, the husband just left to go back to Korea yesterday. He had been gone for six and a half months and he'll be gone for another 11 before he comes home for good. It was nice to have him home, and we didn't want to give him up, but at least this time will be the last time he'll ever have to leave us. At this point I'm honestly just used to him not being here and doing things on my own, but I know the kids will miss him desperately.
We're headed into the holidays! Thanksgiving is next week and then the season of Advent begins! I need to check through our Jesse tree ornaments so that if we're missing any I can make them ahead of time, and I need to dig around the boxes in the garage and find out Advent wreath and candles. Last year was our first year to celebrate Advent and I definitely want it to be a family tradition. Advent wreaths and the Jesse tree are such an excellent way of daily keeping Christ the focus of the season.
Tonight we're headed to home church at the Snow's for some food, fellowship, and study. I love going over there. It's such a positive and encouraging environment. Not that my regular Sunday morning church, Frontline, is negative by any means, because it isn't. It's just that home church is a more intimate setting where you can interject your own observations or words from the Holy Spirit into the lesson in a way that would be total chaos in a Sunday morning service where there are significantly more people.
Time to start getting the young'uns ready to go!
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
mice.
Tuesday before last Doyle woke up crying about fifteen after five in the morning. In my half-asleep stupor I thought I heard scratching coming from inside one of the walls in my bedroom. It soon stopped and I figured it was probably my DVR box doing something and my sleepy imagination was playing tricks on me. Two night later I was woken up by the scratching sound, again, just past five a.m. This time I popped up wide awake and listened. I walked over to the wall just to make sure and yes, there was most definitely some thing inside the wall.
I proceeded to panic.
I immediately started packing up a suitcase throwing all the clean clothes I could find of mine and the kids inside. When the clock finally hit six a.m I called my mom who I knew would be sympathetic to my plight as she is also afraid of mice. I got the okay from her to come on over, so I woke up the kids, got them dressed as quickly as possible and high-tailed it to my mom's house on the north side of OKC.
Once a more reasonable hour rolled around we called an exterminator and he came out the next day. Right away he started off by saying that this isn't typically the time of year that mice enter houses, that the wall in question would be an unlikely hang out for mice, and that the house itself was sealed up pretty tight against pests, but I knew what I heard so as a last ditched effort he checked the attic and that's where he found them. He said there were dropping everywhere and that they had chewed tunnels all through the insulation. (Insert me shivering with the heeby-jeebies.) He put down multi-feed bait in the attic and in some bait stations around the house, charged me an arm and a leg and said he'd be back to check the bait in three months.
THREE MONTHS!? We spent one night in the house and after being up all night listened to the mice (which as it happens I had been hearing for months, I just didn't realize that was what the noises were) we headed back to my mom's place. My step-dad decided to be a little more proactive and put actual traps up in the attic to help take them out faster, but until I know they are gone, I refuse to go back. It was bad enough when giant spiders started moving in, but I could spray those bad boys with my giant black can o' spider death. But then I found the huge intact snake skin in the backyard, and now the mice.....Why do these things happen when my big strong husband is gone? I think it's that way for military wives everywhere.
What about you? Is there any creepy creature that would make you hit the road if you discovered them in your house?
I proceeded to panic.
I immediately started packing up a suitcase throwing all the clean clothes I could find of mine and the kids inside. When the clock finally hit six a.m I called my mom who I knew would be sympathetic to my plight as she is also afraid of mice. I got the okay from her to come on over, so I woke up the kids, got them dressed as quickly as possible and high-tailed it to my mom's house on the north side of OKC.
Once a more reasonable hour rolled around we called an exterminator and he came out the next day. Right away he started off by saying that this isn't typically the time of year that mice enter houses, that the wall in question would be an unlikely hang out for mice, and that the house itself was sealed up pretty tight against pests, but I knew what I heard so as a last ditched effort he checked the attic and that's where he found them. He said there were dropping everywhere and that they had chewed tunnels all through the insulation. (Insert me shivering with the heeby-jeebies.) He put down multi-feed bait in the attic and in some bait stations around the house, charged me an arm and a leg and said he'd be back to check the bait in three months.
THREE MONTHS!? We spent one night in the house and after being up all night listened to the mice (which as it happens I had been hearing for months, I just didn't realize that was what the noises were) we headed back to my mom's place. My step-dad decided to be a little more proactive and put actual traps up in the attic to help take them out faster, but until I know they are gone, I refuse to go back. It was bad enough when giant spiders started moving in, but I could spray those bad boys with my giant black can o' spider death. But then I found the huge intact snake skin in the backyard, and now the mice.....Why do these things happen when my big strong husband is gone? I think it's that way for military wives everywhere.
What about you? Is there any creepy creature that would make you hit the road if you discovered them in your house?
busy little bees
it crosses my mind nearly every day that I haven't been updating my blog, and yet I never make it over here to do it. So just now when I thought to myself, "Self, it's sure been a while since you blogged anything." I decided to act and blog.
It's been 8 weeks since my husband left for Korea and I've been doing my best to keep the kids and I busy and it seems to be working. We've taken multiple picnic trips to the zoo (note to self: get a zoo membership), spent lots of time at church and at my mom's house, gone to birthday parties, Cuppies and Joe, story times, and logged many an hour just playing outside in our own yard.
Last week we took a trip down to the Earlywine Aquatic Center. While it was a very nice pool, it was EXPENSIVE!! $5 a person for everyone, including my little ten month old equals $20 for me to take the kids to the pool. It was also very crowded. Though a little smalled, Mustang's city pool looks to be equally nice (from what I've seen peeking through the fence) and has the added bonus of being a heck of a lot closer to where we live as well as about half the cost (still $5 a person, but the don't start charging till age 4.) I keep meaning to hit up an OKC sprayground since they are free of charge, but just haven't made it out to one yet.
How do you like to spend your summers? Keeping busy or taking it easy?
It's been 8 weeks since my husband left for Korea and I've been doing my best to keep the kids and I busy and it seems to be working. We've taken multiple picnic trips to the zoo (note to self: get a zoo membership), spent lots of time at church and at my mom's house, gone to birthday parties, Cuppies and Joe, story times, and logged many an hour just playing outside in our own yard.
Last week we took a trip down to the Earlywine Aquatic Center. While it was a very nice pool, it was EXPENSIVE!! $5 a person for everyone, including my little ten month old equals $20 for me to take the kids to the pool. It was also very crowded. Though a little smalled, Mustang's city pool looks to be equally nice (from what I've seen peeking through the fence) and has the added bonus of being a heck of a lot closer to where we live as well as about half the cost (still $5 a person, but the don't start charging till age 4.) I keep meaning to hit up an OKC sprayground since they are free of charge, but just haven't made it out to one yet.
How do you like to spend your summers? Keeping busy or taking it easy?
we're busy little bees
tuesday marked one week that my husband has been in korea. he's not really loving it to say the least, but we aren't really loving him being gone either.
sunday we went to church at frontline. we got there just a tad late for the first service, but we all loved it so much we stayed for the second service as well. turns out that i already know someone who goes there and that always makes being in a new place a bit easier. not that it really needed to be made easier because everyone there was so welcoming and friendly. i really loved the message and the worship was great too. we're definitely going back this sunday.
tuesday the young'uns and i packed up a picnic and went to the oklahoma city zoo. man they have done (and are still doing) so much work to the zoo. i always enjoyed the zoo as a kid, but it is just really phenomenal now. i especially love the new Oklahoma Trails area and i can't wait till the new areas for the giraffes and elephants are done. my kids love the new playground of course. i wish i had remembered to take the camera. (i found an old digital camera in a cabinet the other day. it isn't anything great, but at least it's something.)
today the boys and i are meeting my friend Genia and her three boys for lunch at the Arts Festival downtown. i haven't been to the Arts Festival in years. i didn't even have kids yet the last time i went. i'm not even sure if i was with john or not the last time i went. i haven't seen Genia in several years either. ephraim, my second child, was probably doyle's age when i last saw her. she has been such a blessing to me over the years. i am so glad to be back in oklahoma city so we can hang out again.
sunday we went to church at frontline. we got there just a tad late for the first service, but we all loved it so much we stayed for the second service as well. turns out that i already know someone who goes there and that always makes being in a new place a bit easier. not that it really needed to be made easier because everyone there was so welcoming and friendly. i really loved the message and the worship was great too. we're definitely going back this sunday.
tuesday the young'uns and i packed up a picnic and went to the oklahoma city zoo. man they have done (and are still doing) so much work to the zoo. i always enjoyed the zoo as a kid, but it is just really phenomenal now. i especially love the new Oklahoma Trails area and i can't wait till the new areas for the giraffes and elephants are done. my kids love the new playground of course. i wish i had remembered to take the camera. (i found an old digital camera in a cabinet the other day. it isn't anything great, but at least it's something.)
today the boys and i are meeting my friend Genia and her three boys for lunch at the Arts Festival downtown. i haven't been to the Arts Festival in years. i didn't even have kids yet the last time i went. i'm not even sure if i was with john or not the last time i went. i haven't seen Genia in several years either. ephraim, my second child, was probably doyle's age when i last saw her. she has been such a blessing to me over the years. i am so glad to be back in oklahoma city so we can hang out again.
feeling blue
i am missing the husband today. he told me he would call when he got there and he should definitely be there by now, but i still haven't heard from him. no news is good news in the army, but it would still be nice to hear from him.
i took out the young'uns to go grocery shopping cause we NEEDED to go. let me just tell you if you didn't already know- grocery shopping with three rambuncious kids under the age of five (one of whom is potty training) is not an experience for those with weak nerves. we had a potty accident AND the baby bit me while on my back in the mei tai before we made it out the door with the food. we got the food in and put away and i promptly sent the older ones to play in their room while i mixed myself a rum and coke. now, i'm not a big drinker at all these days (years of pregnancy and breastfeeding induced sobriety will do that to a gal), but sometimes you need something to take the edge off. right now they are both in canon's room which is the smallest room in the house and they are having a conversation about Larry Boy, but it's AT THIS VOLUME RIGHT HERE.
you know, i just realized i haven't had anything to eat today. maybe that's why i'm taking everything a little harder than normal. off to devour something...
i took out the young'uns to go grocery shopping cause we NEEDED to go. let me just tell you if you didn't already know- grocery shopping with three rambuncious kids under the age of five (one of whom is potty training) is not an experience for those with weak nerves. we had a potty accident AND the baby bit me while on my back in the mei tai before we made it out the door with the food. we got the food in and put away and i promptly sent the older ones to play in their room while i mixed myself a rum and coke. now, i'm not a big drinker at all these days (years of pregnancy and breastfeeding induced sobriety will do that to a gal), but sometimes you need something to take the edge off. right now they are both in canon's room which is the smallest room in the house and they are having a conversation about Larry Boy, but it's AT THIS VOLUME RIGHT HERE.
you know, i just realized i haven't had anything to eat today. maybe that's why i'm taking everything a little harder than normal. off to devour something...
rambly catch-up post.
man alive! i have neglected you poor little blog. what can i say? i've been a faithful livejournal-er for... wow....over 6 years now. you didn't hear or see it, but i just sighed deeply. to think of where i was 6 years ago, it seems like a lifetime ago. i'm pretty glad i'm not that liquered-up, glittered-up dance-into-the-wee-hours idiot anymore....well, i do miss dancing, but when you've got three extrememly active, extremely loud children under the age of five you're lucky to be up past ten p.m.
so i am no longer a denizen of Lawton and it feels fan.tastic. "technically" i am living in oklahoma city, though if i crossed the street i would be in Mustang. who knows how long we will stay in this house. hubs is wanting to leave the army when his contract ends in nov of next year, and we've always wanted to live deeper into the city. in fact, when hubs and i first met he was living over near the paseo. i really have always felt that God was leading us towards homeschooling, and the schools in okc were really my only reservation in regaurds to moving there. however, hubs still has to find a civilian job to work post-army, and that will dictate quite a bit when it comes to where and when to move.
speaking of hubs and the army- he is leaving in just a few days to go to Korea for 12 months. i know i will miss him desperately, but every time i start to get to feeling blue i remind myself that God is the one who is my rock, the one who sustains me. hubs is just a bonus. the Lord gives, and the Lord takes. blessed be the name of the Lord.
with the combo of a move along with a husband a world away, i really need to find a hobby...well, i suppose i can revist knitting. i knitted quite a bit while he was in iraq, but then i was always knitting wool diaper covers, which i don't need anymore because we use pocket diapers now. i have been wanting to knit some things from Mason-Dixon Knitting for our home though. i'll have to look for that book. i've also been dying to buy a hula hoop. not one of those flimsy plastic toy ones that you find in target or wal-mart, but an adult hoop. they are bigger and heavier, and thus easier to keep up because they revolve more slowly. what i *really* need to find is a church. being that i used to live in Mustang, i could always go back to the church that i went to when i was growing up here, but honestly i don't want to go to a church that is safely in a suburb bubble. i want to go somewhere that is engaging in fighting for social justice. a church where people can be raw and real and open, not where you feel like you have to put on a mask that you are someone who has all your ducks in a row when you're really hurting on the inside.
i need friends.
hubs is taking the two older young'uns to an OKC Thunder game tonite, so it will be just me and baby Doyle tonite. he has been UBER cranky the last few days. i thought maybe it was just being overstimulated by Disney World (we just got home wednesday), but it hasn't seemed to have worn off. teething perhaps?
welp, i'm off to look around etsy for accessories...or perhaps ravelry for patterns...or puruse blogs....or something completely unproductive...
so i am no longer a denizen of Lawton and it feels fan.tastic. "technically" i am living in oklahoma city, though if i crossed the street i would be in Mustang. who knows how long we will stay in this house. hubs is wanting to leave the army when his contract ends in nov of next year, and we've always wanted to live deeper into the city. in fact, when hubs and i first met he was living over near the paseo. i really have always felt that God was leading us towards homeschooling, and the schools in okc were really my only reservation in regaurds to moving there. however, hubs still has to find a civilian job to work post-army, and that will dictate quite a bit when it comes to where and when to move.
speaking of hubs and the army- he is leaving in just a few days to go to Korea for 12 months. i know i will miss him desperately, but every time i start to get to feeling blue i remind myself that God is the one who is my rock, the one who sustains me. hubs is just a bonus. the Lord gives, and the Lord takes. blessed be the name of the Lord.
with the combo of a move along with a husband a world away, i really need to find a hobby...well, i suppose i can revist knitting. i knitted quite a bit while he was in iraq, but then i was always knitting wool diaper covers, which i don't need anymore because we use pocket diapers now. i have been wanting to knit some things from Mason-Dixon Knitting for our home though. i'll have to look for that book. i've also been dying to buy a hula hoop. not one of those flimsy plastic toy ones that you find in target or wal-mart, but an adult hoop. they are bigger and heavier, and thus easier to keep up because they revolve more slowly. what i *really* need to find is a church. being that i used to live in Mustang, i could always go back to the church that i went to when i was growing up here, but honestly i don't want to go to a church that is safely in a suburb bubble. i want to go somewhere that is engaging in fighting for social justice. a church where people can be raw and real and open, not where you feel like you have to put on a mask that you are someone who has all your ducks in a row when you're really hurting on the inside.
i need friends.
hubs is taking the two older young'uns to an OKC Thunder game tonite, so it will be just me and baby Doyle tonite. he has been UBER cranky the last few days. i thought maybe it was just being overstimulated by Disney World (we just got home wednesday), but it hasn't seemed to have worn off. teething perhaps?
welp, i'm off to look around etsy for accessories...or perhaps ravelry for patterns...or puruse blogs....or something completely unproductive...
count to 10...
So, ever since I was a child I can remember people saying things about counting to ten when you are stressed or about to lose your temper and I never really "got" it until I had children....at least two of them anyway as my oldest, Canon, was such a breeze of a baby that I often wondered what all the fuss was about when people would talk about how hard having a baby was. Now that I am a mother of three, all boys (God apparently believes in me more than I do!), I certainly understand the benefits of taking a moment to count to ten before reacting to people or things. I still raise my voice much more than I'd care to admit, but the counting definitely helps.
This past week my husband, John, has been "in the field" and it has been so trying. It's hardley the longest we've ever been apart- he spent July of 2006- October 2007 in Iraq- but, these days I'm used to having him around. It didn't help that this week has been the coldest week we've experienced so far, and that along with the mighty Oklahoma winds has made the task of going out with two small children and a baby more work than it's worth. This week has also been a little preview of what is to come next year when John goes to Korea for a year. The good thing about it being for such a long amount of time is three fold: 1.)I can move up to the Oklahoma City area, which is closer to family and there are much more things to do. 2.)We will have a little extra income that will enable us to be completely debt free by the time his enlistment is up in '10, and 3.)when it is such a long amount of time, you have time to get used to doing it on your own. Something I noticed when he was in Iraq was that the evening witching hour seemed to disappear. I no longer watched the clock like hawk waiting for someone to come home and save me at the end of the day, because there wasn't anyone coming home. You can't complain about no one else picking up the slack when it's just you. Of course, I'm never going to choose being away from my husband over being with him, and I will miss him terribly and I'm not looking forward to him being gone, but I refuse to mope and be all doom and gloom about it.
This past week my husband, John, has been "in the field" and it has been so trying. It's hardley the longest we've ever been apart- he spent July of 2006- October 2007 in Iraq- but, these days I'm used to having him around. It didn't help that this week has been the coldest week we've experienced so far, and that along with the mighty Oklahoma winds has made the task of going out with two small children and a baby more work than it's worth. This week has also been a little preview of what is to come next year when John goes to Korea for a year. The good thing about it being for such a long amount of time is three fold: 1.)I can move up to the Oklahoma City area, which is closer to family and there are much more things to do. 2.)We will have a little extra income that will enable us to be completely debt free by the time his enlistment is up in '10, and 3.)when it is such a long amount of time, you have time to get used to doing it on your own. Something I noticed when he was in Iraq was that the evening witching hour seemed to disappear. I no longer watched the clock like hawk waiting for someone to come home and save me at the end of the day, because there wasn't anyone coming home. You can't complain about no one else picking up the slack when it's just you. Of course, I'm never going to choose being away from my husband over being with him, and I will miss him terribly and I'm not looking forward to him being gone, but I refuse to mope and be all doom and gloom about it.
