suds

One quick story.

Everything in the house has been breaking down lately. It's the number one rule of deployment. When your military spouse leaves or is preparing to leave...everything started breaking. It's like some cosmic requirement to remind you just how handy that missing spouse can be some times.

Anyway...the story. J loaded the dishwasher this afternoon. It's his job. To keep the mess down, we use those little dishwasher packet things of pre-measured dish soap. (This change was implemented after I bleached out a cabinet door with spilled liquid dishwasher soap.)

About 10 minutes into the cycle, J called me to see the catastrophe...about 4 inches of suds that had dripped out of the washer.
Oh crud! Do not tell me that my not even a year old dishwasher is on the fritz.

I stopped the machine to take a peek inside. It smelled like mountain pine. Strongly of mountain pine.

Then it occurred to me that J had loaded the pan that I had squirted with concentrated sink soap (Palmolive I think) and left to soak. The excessive soap led to the suds overflow.

Whew.
Crisis averted.

and just because I have a steep learning curve, I put too much soap in the new front loading washer and had to rinse forever. The boys got a huge jolly over the bubble filled washer window.

When ZooDad called, they immediately ratted me out. Mom over soaped TWO appliances today.

Carrying a "big boy"

S has always been "older" than his age. He's always been in such a rush to be as big as his brothers. He'll be three soon and now he's rethinking that "big boy" thing a bit. Right before he turned two, he stopped taking an afternoon nap. He didn't want to sleep and our frequent therapy trips interfered with naps anyway.
He didn't want to be carried, or ride in a stroller. Instead, he chose to walk alongside his bigger brothers.
He was never one to cuddle. He didn't want to be held and hugged often. As my MIL put it, "He didn't stay a baby for long."

But today, he fell asleep in the van on the way to Best Buy. To keep him from blowing up in a full temper tantrum, I carried him on my hip into the store. The whole way across the parking lot, I cuddled him to try to keep him from waking up grumpy and he let me do it.

On the way out of the store, he asked to be carried again.

He hasn't asked to be carried in a long, long time. And at 38 pounds, he quite a load to carry too. Since he's out of practice, he's a cumbersome package also.

When we got home, he climbed into my lap and just sat still with with his hands in my hair. My little rough and tumble man is turning back into a cuddle boy. My little almost three year old is becoming my "baby" again.

I've been knitting too.

My pictures are up on the knitting blog. Over there on the side bar is a link.

Warning boring post

I'm too tired to write an entertaining post.

Call us obsessed. We've washed everything in the house. We really have. The new washer/dryer is soooooo cool. I'm still a bit skeptical since it uses so little water.

Yesterday, the boys had a regular school day and played outside until they were covered in sweat, dirt, pine mulch. Then it was time for A's last t-ball game. His team was short a few players so S ended up playing again.
That boy was born to play baseball.
As an end-of-season party, we went to a local pizza buffet. A got his trophy and medal and S got one of the extra medals for being a great back-up player.

I also ordered the bulk of the boys books for next year. Now, I just have to hunt down a few stragglers and then start planning.

How I entertained myself last evening

I can get through the days just fine since ZooDad is normally at work, but in the evening...well, time passes really slowly. So I have to find things to keep me busy. (You can't knit for hours every evening.)
So last night after the pizza binge, I mowed the front yard, edged the drive and walkway, and blew off all the concrete surfaces. Then I finished another knitted washcloth while the boys played slo-mo freeze tag.

After baths, all the boys went to bed and I folded the last big load of laundry.

Excitement at the Zoo

Oh yes. We are waiting with bated breaths. We are hyped up in anticipation.

Someone's birthday?
Nope, that was yesterday.
Maybe a big game coming up?
Nope, that was last night.
Are we taking a trip?
Nope, ZooDad won't have any time off for Independence Day weekend.

So what has our household all aquiver with joy?

We are waiting for the delivery of our new front loading washer and dryer.
Oh yes.
And I'm not the only one excited. The boys have already picked out the first clothes to be washed. They were chosen based on color and size for prime washer viewing opportunity.
That's right...my boys plan on sitting there and watching the clothes wash.

They are such weirdos.


Quotes from the 2 year old who is very soon to be three.

That dog is woofing at me.

This feet is dirty. That feet is dirty too. Both my feets is dirty.

Oh please don't make me ride home on the car roof. (This was yelled loudly in a home improvement store.)

What I have been doing since the last time I posted.

Let's see. Rather than straining my sleep deprived brain and writing this up in some pseudo-clever way, I'll just do a list.

1. A had strep throat. He didn't spread it to anyone else but he did have 2 days of lethargic 103 degree fever. When the little guy who normally runs around eating all day long...stops eating and just sits on the couch staring, you know he's feeling mighty bad. He's one day 4 of the "pink stuff" and is feeling much better.

2. ZooDad had a marathon session of house fixing activities. He replaced my leaking garbage disposal. Replaced 2 dimmer switches. Replaced a broken toilet handle. (Same toilet handle that broke before. Finished the new swingset/play fort. Hauled 13 cubic yards of pine mulch. Replaced 18 feet of privacy fence. and then packed up all his stuff and headed out.

3. We saw Cars. It was funny but a total remake of Doc Hollywood. We started watching Zathura but the boys were so disgusted by the characters' behavior (And we were disgusted with the father's disciplining) that we turned it off after the first 10 minutes. Ugh!

4. We got Speech and OT approved for both A and M through Tricare. They will cover everything needed and the school will provide 2 speech sessions each week for both. It is such a relief to not have to worry about that anymore.

5. My nephew has joined our homeschool. I'm not even shocked anymore about what he doesn't know. He's very gifted in math but the school has failed this child in everything else. He didn't know what a predicate was. He doesn't know what an adjective is. He didn't know what geography was.
Oh my.
He'll learn. And he excited about learning too.


Today is more learning. We're re-starting SOTW I and using Kingfisher and the Oxford book as a supplement for the older kids.

First night alone

Well, that's no where near true. ZooDad has always traveled for work, both as a soldier and as a civilian. He's normally gone about a quarter of the year, every year. So it's not like I haven't been on my own before.

It's not even the first time I've been a wife of a deployed soldier. ZooDad did a stint in Bosnia during the Clinton years. He also fought in the Persian Gulf war. Great Day! The man is now entering his third combat operation. I think he has done his duty and then some. (It would have been 4 combat deployments but the 3 planes sent to Haiti in September 1994 were turned around.)

This one feels different though. It feels longer already.

I'm fixing to rearrange my pantry this evening. (Yep..at 10:30 pm) I'm hoping to tire myself out enough to sleep each night. At least ZooDad will come home to a clean and well organized house.

More info tomorrow.

We're circling....

Just a little more than a week to go and ZooDad will be gone.
16 months....geesh. That's like forever in "kid time."

So we're just kind of in "standby" mode and trying to make every single moment count but also trying to get all the stuff done that needs to get done.
(Who's going to change the light in the stairwell in the next 16 months. Who's going to clean the back house gutter? That thing is tall. Who's going to move the big heavy stuff, or get the Christmas decorations down from the attic? These are all the things I'm trying not to think about.)

But I do have lots to tell you about...but not today.

The monster-big fish that I caught. (10 pounds and 26 inches...I even have pictures.)

Baby S playing his first t-ball game at the age of 2 and wowing the families on both sides of the field.

Adding a new boy to the zoo.

Said "New boy's" take on homeschooling thus far.

Oh, by the way, no other children got ill and I managed to escape all manner of illness. I think was due to my iron constitution and the fact that I forbid it from happening. (laugh)

He gets that from his Momma.

My children have distinctly different personalities.

Over the years that we have been raising these boys, coded and I have come up with our own nicknames based on their personalities. S, who will be 3 next month, is "the boy." And he is all boy. He's physically active, thick bodied, and determined to do what he wants. He's tiny little line backer and when he gets set on a task, he will not be swayed.

A is almost 5 and he is the cuddle boy. He's physically affectionate and always smiling. He's friendly and touchy and not interested in rough play. But he will hug everybody.

M...well he's the dictator or "the little judge" as my Daddy used to call him. He's serious and lays down the rules. It's his way or no way. If you won't accommodate his needs...well he just won't play. He loved strategy games, especially war games. The boys is set on World Domination.
When he was a toddler, he always kept one hand on his stomach. We called him Napoleon. We joke that when he grows up, he'll be a military strategist.

J, the oldest, is the diplomat. He's always smoothing over issues and getting everyone to work together. Sometimes he uses this power for evil by convincing his brothers to do stuff they wouldn't normally agree to. (He gets busted for that.) He's soft hearted though and really hates true conflict. But he never, ever holds a grudge. (I admire that in him. I don't have that gift.) He's also extremely creative, but that's a gift that most diplomats need.
He'll either be a lawyer or an elementary school teacher. He's is great with the little kids. Amazingly so.

Last night at the pool, ZooDad got to see how our oldest's skills are coming along. The boy's were playing in the wading pool. J had made a friend and then a pair of sisters joined in. The children found 2 dive sticks and dive ring and J created a game.

We watched this for a bit and when J came over for a drink, we asked him what they were doing.
"Oh," he replied,"I've made up a game where they have to carry the ring fro one end to the other to score a goal. They have to carry it on the stick though. But they can steal from each other. One team member blocks while the other carries the ring."

While he was explaining this to us, the four players waited patiently in the pool for him to return. When he fished his drink, he got back in the water and the teams lined up for J to do the ring toss that apparently starts the game. A couple other children had gathered to see if they could join in too. No one seemed to question J rules or even offer any other suggestions. It sure seemed like a cool game.

ZooDad looked over at me. "You know, he gets that from his Momma. He's got to run things doesn't he?"

Well, somebody has too.

croak

It's noisy here at the zoo.
And it's not the boys.

It's the frogs. We have tree frogs. Lots and lots of tree frogs.
Our house backs up to a "wetland park" also called swampy land with a creek. But it's really not a bad situation. Our elevation is such that we have no concerns of flooding and we have no back neighbors. Well, not human ones.

We do however, get much of the swamp wildlife. Thankfully, in the 7 years we have lived here, we have never spotted a venomous snake in our yard. I'm sure they have passed through, but we've never seen them. My left side neighbor, The Snake Hunter, has both spotted and sighted a couple of bad boys and I have witnessed and identified their sad little carcasses.

Recently, we unearthed a cache of box turtle eggs. We reburied them lightly and later got to see one of the hatchlings emerge. A couple of weeks ago, a red tailed hawk landed right in the middle of the boys' play area. (That was way cool!) A Carolina Wren has built a sweet little nest, complete with 4 chirping babies, in my garage...on my fertilizer shelf. Mamma bird flies in and out the back door, past the dogs, the various gear, and any boys who are digging through the upright freezer.
So you get the idea. If I could get the critters to pick up a broom, I'd be Snow White in the suburbs.

But today is June 1st, so that pretty much means it is frog season. And my house appears to be prime frog mating territory. All morning long I have listened to one particularly vocal fellow boasting of his frog manliness. He's is nothing if not determined.

I happen to like the frogs. Frogs are my very favorite animal. I love their little bug eyes and froggy smiles. Frogs and newts just ooze of cuteness in my book.

Let's just say that ZooDad does not share my frog enthusiasm. For him, frog season is like a return of the plagues. (If ZooDad had been Pharoah, Moses and the gang would have been quickly escorted out of Egypt after the 2nd plague. It would have been quick victory.)
He stepped out of the house this morning and then looked back with horror, "What is that sound? Is that a frog?"

Yes, honey. The frogs are back.

He whipped his head around looking for the vile noisemaker, "You better keep the doors shut. Don't let those things get in the house."

My brave soldier. Let's hope the enemy doesn't come bearing frogs.

I'm ready...I'm ready...I'm ready.

Whoops..not that ready. I submitted too soon.

Here's the cake I made for my step-great-niece. (How's that for a family relationship.) She wanted a Spongebob cake. I couldn't find the Wilton pan, so I just had to wing it.

Here's how it turned out.

I was pretty impressed with myself.
I free handed the whole thing with a bamboo skewer and a print out from Nickelodeon.

"A" has already requested a Gary cake for his birthday party in July. "S" wanted Spongebob or Squidward.
I'm going to push for Spongebob because I can't imagine how to make a squid.

People of the SouthEast

I hope I didn't disturb anyone with my hooting and stomping this morning.
We got a bit of good news.

First, I'm sorry that I've dropped off the blogging Earth. We've been busy with deployment preparations.
ZooDad was due to leave us on the 3rd and not return until October 2007. Today, we get word that he will have another 2 week class here at the post in town.

YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
He has to report on the 18th instead...unless we can get that week of leave approved. (cross your fingers, pray, and hope for us.)

We spent the weekend building.
Zoodad tore down and rebuilt the dog fence. (We had to move it to make way for the new play fort/swing that we are building.) The dogs' fence had to be done before we started repairs on the big fence between our's and the neighbor's yards.

I spent the time building what S called, "A little house just for me" that sits on top of a new play fort/swingset. Pictures will come later, once the whole structure is finished and the yard is tidied up. Some people have orderly sites with no trash, debris, with tools all neatened up and all that.
We aren't those people.
I also micro-managed ZooDad's fence building and pointed out branches that needed to be cut. (It was a very important job. ZooDad has a tendency to whittle full grown trees down to a single stick and leaf.)

Laundry is still behind but we have clean clothes. The house isn't quite what I wanted for clean but it will keep the health department away.
We're in the middle of summer reading programs and that's helping our weary brains a bit.
I'm even have my own twaddle reading to enjoy.
We just rejoined the pool that has a great children's area and wading pools.

And two more weeks of ZooDad.
I couldn't ask for more...except that week of leave. That would be the icing on my cupcake.

Total lack of motivation

Today is shot.

Totally shot.
I don't feel like doing anything. at. all.

school kids are out, so the boys are playing in the front yard. They'll have plenty of time for school once ZooDad is gone.

I really need to do housework, but I have no real desire too. The kitchen is trashed from yesterday's cake making. (Spongebob cake for my step-great-niece.) laundry is reaching Everest proportions. There are three boxes of school books in my dining room and more on the table. And my to-do list is getting scarily long.

So what am I doing? Absolutely nothing. I'm not even knitting ZooDad's boot socks.
I had to scrap up motivation to post this.

I think this must be time for my monthly crash. It happens. It just is happening at a bad time. I have way to much to do.

Run Forest!

Is this not the cutest thing!

Here's A running home. Notice...He's levitating.
Actually, he runs in a gazelle type fashion and tends to leap.

I was so amazed. A didn't cry, pout, or hide. He willingly lined up, batted, ran the bases, and chased just about every ball hit.
At only his second time at t-ball.

That's not the norm for A. He's usually slow to warm up to new things.

Not that I'm complaining. It was wonderful experience. It was nice to see him as just a plain old kid. He wasn't any less coordinated than the others out there.

On a funny note, the coach put him up front and the traditional "line up and high-five" the other team.

Well, A's team lined up behind him, but A didn't walk forward so neither did the team. Instead the other team walked past them all.
Hee, hee.
The other parent's laughed about it. But A did high-five everyone with great enthusiasm.



On a completely unrelated note:
I got two packages today. One a replacement USB cord for my Ipod. I can now update my ipod and add some new music.

Second was a Mario Mix Dance Dance Revolution and two dance pads for the boys. This is the second release of this game. I pre-ordered it a month ago to make sure I didn't miss getting it.
It's a big hit. Even ZooDad jumped on the mat to try it out. (In fact, we had to kick him off so the kids could play.)

It's like the DDR for PS2 except the music is dance beat classical music or traditional Mario tunes. (Right now the boys are dancing to a techno version of Pomp and Circumstance earlier it was Carmen. ) And it has the normal quest type game like a Mario game.
The boys are breaking a sweat even on the easy level.

The foot work has to be right on the beat. It let's you know if you are perfect, close, early or late.
Besides the exercise component, the timing and footwork mimic the interactive metronome therapy that M is doing.

I could sell tickets to watch little S play it. He studies the screen so intently and them stomps like a madman on random arrows.
Hysterical and totally worth the money.

Antici...........pation

Tonight A has his very first t-ball game. Well, actually it's t-ball school for 4 and 5 year olds and the "game" is only called that because it involves another team.

It's 1:08 and the game begins at 5pm.

A is already dressed.

First, thing this morning he came downstairs wearing his team hat. After breakfast, he put on his team shirt. I rounded up black sport shorts, black striped baseball socks and a pair of cleats to fit. (I keep a box of sports clothes and paraphenalia. With 4 boys, everything gets reused and passed down. I don't have cleats to fit M since J seems to have skipped that size, so he'll get new cleats this season. However I do have pants, shorts and socks in various sizes and colors to "shop" from.)

Once A spied the pile of sport clothes, he immediately got dressed.
So here it is 3 hours and 52 minutes before game time and the boy is set to go.
He even has his bat and glove beside the front door.

One more boy out on the grass and clay; chasing balls and running bases.
Three down and just one more to go.

Take me out to the ball game...

It's baseball season part two here in the zoo. 3 out of 4 boys are playing this season. J is in machine pitch II, J is in T-ball, and A is in t-ball school.

You want entertainment, watch a group of 4 and 5 year-olds playing t-ball. They leap over the bases, the entire outfield chases every long ball and then wrestles over them and they have no aim, which doesn't really matter since they can't catch.
It's crazy. They should charge for tickets but instead we get to watch the hilarity for free.

Not much really going on except baseball. Lots and lots and lots of baseball. Every darn day.

unfortunately this makes poor blog fodder. So until I get some motivation, y'all get to read about my baseball venting.
Lucky y'all.

Hey, you could be at the field with me every night.

What in the heck?

It looks like the Army exploded all over my house.

That can only mean one thing....
ZooDad is home.
Yep, he's home for 3 weeks. Well, he's not officially home. He just happens to be temporally assigned to our local base for the next three weeks.

Guess what he brought me for Mother's Day? Dirty laundry.
I don't mind though. I'll happily take his dirty laundry. I might even grow to miss it.

The boys gave me two new charms for my mega-charm bracelet. I got a frog with green inlay and a "We Heart our Mom" charm. Now, I just have to get them soldered on this week.

We'll, I'm off for our busy day. I won't be around much this week due to baseball season part two cranking up. Tonight 3 out of 4 boys have practice.
I totally did not think this baseball thing through at all. Way too much baseball. Way. Too. Much.

Like David Against the Mighty Goliath

Yep just when I was getting geared up to lob rocks at Tricare for months if needed, the hospital commander approved my request to keep our current civilian primary care managers instead of going to the Post hospital.
Yep, that right..we get "free" (only cost me my hubby's life) civilian healthcare.

I prevail!!!!!
HA!!! I laugh in your general direction.

Actually it's a shallow victory because I still have to have everything reapproved and reassessed but at least it's with my same old doctor and not some CPT whose going to PCS as soon as we get our appointment. I don't have to trek out to base for every episode of croup, or ear infection, or what-ever-odd-and-nasty bug my kids pick up.

So I faxed my ID card to my oh-so-wonderful (she really is) pediatrician. Then she called to remake the referrals I needed. J to the urologist. M and A for OT and Speech therapy. Oh, and also to the developmental pediatrician.
yep...developmental ped.
That "A" word came up again. Thankfully, it was the Asperger's "A" word and not Autism. What surprised me was that it was for both M and A. Non-verbal learning disorder was also mentioned.

Of course reading the descriptions of symptoms, I see a good bit of both of them there. They don't fit the mold in all areas, but they both are very verbal, have poor social skills, and have some serious motor-planning problems. The appointment is not until late October*** so it's way too soon for me to even think about.

All these labels. I know lots of people in the homeschooling community are anti-label and anti-assessment But for me, it's nice to know what the monster's name is. It takes away some of the fear and apprehension. I like to know my enemy.
"So that's what you are. How can I combat you? What size rock do I need in my tiny sling?"

Goliath comes in many forms.

*** ZooDad quite snarkily responded,"Expletive, are there any needs we need to anticipate for their 65th birthdays? We need to make those appointments now." He doesn't use a slingshot. He flings boulders.

I know it's wrong...

But I do actually laugh at my special needs child.

I can't help it. The boy is funny.
In the van today on the way to speech he was attempting to tell me about some superhero that he made up.

A has apraxia of speech and dysfluency. Dysfluency is a form of stuttering. But A doesn't repeat first sounds like c-c-c-c-c-car. Nope. He repeats whole words. Sometimes, entire phrases, as he tries to figure out how to form the next sound he wants to make.
It tends to get in the way conversationally but he is never embarrassed.

Today in the Van.

A: "Hey Momma. Hey, hey, hey Momma. I think, I think, I think..Hey Momma, I think....I think......"
(We are all waiting patiently to find out what he thinks.)
A: "What was I talking about?"
The van explodes with laughter.
Me: "I don't know buddy. What were you thinking about?"
A: '"I don't know. I'll just think about something else."

This was before the dreaded speech therapy at which he spent the whole hour on the floor refusing to do anything. I don't know what set him off. I'm sure school ST will have a letter for me on Monday. Well, scratch that. She'll probably have a discussion ready on Thursday when I go to discuss M's services for next year.
(sigh)

In her defense, she doesn't get to hear our fun in the van.

Zoo Academy of Art and Design

A couple of weeks ago, I bought J one of Mark Kistler's art instruction book: Draw Squad.
It has 30 self driven lessons for basic drawing instruction, each consisting of sub lessons and work sheets.

For the past few days, J has been conducting his own art school for younger brothers. Today's lesson was shading to form 3-D objects. J made a worksheet (instead of having me copy it) for each of his three brothers, complete with grading line and a place for them to write their name.

M apparently decided to skip this morning's lesson and J is a harsh grader. He gave M an 'F' and stated M couldn't attend any more lesson until he completed the unfinished work. The boy is one tought teacher.

A got an 'A+' on shading even though he did more shadowing than shading. J gave him points for trying and following instructions.

Here's J's latest cartoon.
He informed me that this drawing uses foreshortening, shading, surface, size, contour lines, overlapping, density, and shadows.
And since he's learning to draw, everyone else is too.

Right now there is a discussion on super heroes. We watched Sky High this weekend which only added more fuel to our obsession. A makes them up, M adds details and clarification and then J draws the comic books.