Annoyed!

Ok! I think I am very patriotic. I love our country. I know it isn't perfect, but we have freedom and so many oppertunities a lot of other countries don't. I didn't vote for President Obama but I support him 100 percent as our presidant. I know I won't agree with everything he says and does, but I think he is going to be a very good president. However, after puting my four kids to bed (especially with Gil being gone) and looking forward to watching one of the few shows that I really like to watch last night ( I have 3 I like to watch on Tuesdays), I was not happy about having Obama's speech to Congress on instead. I don't want to wind down by listening to politics. I want my shows. Does it have to be on EVERY channel. It was so annoying. It really annoyed me how those there kept standing up and clapping every 30 seconds (ok I know I am exagerating a little). I didn't watch all of it so I can't say it was a great speech or not, and if I had listened at aother time, I may have even enjoyed it, I just didn't want to last night. The Senator from Louisiana that spoke after really irritated me, too. It sure sounded like he did a lot of praising himself and his state. I didn't understand what he said had anything to do with what I heard President Obama talking about, but of course I didn't hear all that Obama said either. Anyways, I was glad when it was over and I got to watch at least one of my shows, NCIS.

Our Climber!

Shirley is climbing on everything he can possibly get on to. The dishwasher is his favorite so it is almost impossible for me to load the dishwasher if he is in the kitchen. Luckily, there haven't been any tumbles yet. He has also stated to walk a littlle. I love how excited he gets when he takes some steps or stands up on his own. He knows he gets praise when he does and he sure likes it. What a fun little guy!

Basketball!

Walter is really enjoying basketball. They have practices once a week now and games on Saurdays and a few on Wednesday evenings. They have had 5 games already and have 5 more. These pictures are taken at his first game. It is fun to watch them play. I am impressed at how well they all play (the other teams, too). The last two games Walters team have really improved and are doing really well at passing to each other and are better at rebounding. There are some kids who like to have control of the ball and son't pass very much. Walter is the opposite. He passes very quickely after being passed the ball. It is fun to watch him play and have fun.

Warrant Officer basic Course!

Gil left yesterday for Warrant Officer Basic Course. I am so very proud of him. He is such a great father and husband and works hard. I am truly grateful for all he does for us. He is up every mroning between 4:30 and 5:00 AM to go to PT (physical training). On top of that he works out on his own through out the day. He does something like 800 push-ups a day. He works hard and does what needs to be done. I know he will make a great leader. I am excited for him to get all the training he will be getting. He has had a lot of training while in the Army and has earned around 70 or 80 college credits. He loves to learn. I will miss him while he is gone for 5 weeks, but at least the rest of his training (about 4 months) will be here. I am very grateful for that. He has been home from being deployed for over two years now so I am used to having him around and so do the kids. In fact, the last time he was deployed we only had our fist two kids and now we have four. Of course, he had to leave on the one day we had a snow storm. The shuttle picking him up was late and took so long to drive in the weather that he missed his flight and had to wait 5 hours at the airport for another flight. He even called the shuttle the night before to ask if they were taking the forecasted storm into account when they picked him up in the morning at 4:45 AM. They said everything would be fine.

Snow Day!

We have lived here for two years and have had almost no snow. One time last winter we had some snow flurries but it didn't actually stick. Well, Monday night we had a snow storm. We woke up to snow on the ground and the temperature in the low 30's. It wasn't a lot of snow but it almost completely covered the ground. School was cancelled even. We came from Fort Drum in upstate New York before this and there it could snow a couple feet and school would not be cancelled (it might be delayed an hour or two for the snowplows). Still, I was excited to have Walter home from school and have a nice lazy day. I made sure to bundle up the kids in the morning to take them out in the snow because I knew that the snow would probably melt by afternoon. It took me longer to bundle up the kids than we spent outside. We would have spent longer outside if the snow was the kind you could make snowballs or a snowman, but it wasn't. I am glad the kids got to see and play in snow at least once this winter. Today the weaher was back up to atleast 60 degrees and lots of sunshine.

Jem's 5th Birthday!

We celebrated Jem's 5th Birthday last Saturday. We had a BBQ and invited the three kids in Jem's co-op preschool and their families. It was a lot of fun. Gil's mom sent a bunch of dinosaur decorations. I made a cake and put a dinosour on top. Jem still LOVES dinosaurs. We got him a Land Before Time movie, a dinosaur t-shirt, and a dinosaur backpack(he will get to use it when he starts kindergarten). I am still amzed at how big he is and that he is going to start kindergarten this fall. He is a great little boy and I love him so much. He can sure make us laugh. He is also a great big brother. He loves his brothers and sister.

Upper Endoscopy and Chuck E Cheese!

Last Friday Shirley had an Upper Endoscopy done at a hospital in Tucson. It was also Jem's 5th birthday that day. Gil got the day off, so we kept Walter out of school and all went up to Tucson. Gil dropped Shirley and me off at the hospital and took the other three kids to Chuck E. Cheese. They had a great time. Shirley's Endoscopy went well.Everyone involved was very nice and helpful. Shirley enjoyed all of the attention, atleast until the surgery. He wasn't happy when he woke up from the anesthesia. We did learn that he has acid reflux. I didn't even think about that because he never throws up. But now he is on Prevacid and his diaria has alsmost completely gone away(he has never had a solid bowel movement). He isn't having 5 or 6 bowel movements a day anymore, only one (one day he didn't even have one). I am hoping this helps him start sleeping better at night.