Where to start?

After just downloading 143 pictures from the days when Nana and Papa visited, I don't know where to begin so I will start at the beginning.  We picked them up from the airport Saturday before lunch time and drove back home for lunch and nap time.  

Horsey nana!

After naps we went to Metro beach park which is on the shore of Lake St. Clair to have a picnic and listen to some big bad music.  It was hot at our house but chilly near the water.  This is what they called the "Beach", not so much like a NC beach if you ask me!

Will of course got pretty wet and we tried to keep his shorts dry by taking them off but his undies made them wet anyway.
Up next... MY BIRTHDAY.  That event had to happen while my internet was down, but we had a great day and have some good pictures.

Finally back!

I am here, but yesterday I was barely here.  A bug of some sort has been going through our house and with Nana and Papa visiting I am afraid we gave it to them too.  I have lots of great pictures from their visit and will hopefully get them uploaded today while I am still recovering.  

Caroline is finally not having diarrhea today and last night I stopped throwing up and the Imodium helped this morning for me.  I am finally feeling hungry and will be enjoying some chicken noodle soup for lunch today.  The hardest part was not having Justin home to help take care of the kids while I was laid out on the sofa.  He finally made it home at 8 and I was so happy even though I was throwing up.  The kids were great and I love them even more for being so great while I felt so bad.

Another reason that I haven't posted in forever is the wireless internet that we were using got locked and we didn't have the password!  Not sure which of neighbors internet we were using but last weekend they locked it up.  Our modem wasn't working and earlier this week I spent several hours on the phone with AT&T trying to make it work. We got ours working 3 days ago but haven't had the chance to post a blog entry until now.

Hopefully I will be back on track soon!

pictures form the weekend

We had a great visit with grandaddy.  Here are some of the pictures.

Thanks for coming Bandaddy!

Twins?

No, I am not having twins but I have been asked several times since moving to Michigan.  Twice in one day too.  I don't think Caroline and Will look like twins but I know the day will come when they will look like twins.  Will might only be 7 pounds lighter than Caroline right now but he is much shorter so that is what would make me think that they aren't twins.  

I don't have pictures from Bandaddy's visit downloaded yet, but I will try and do that tomorrow.  We had a great weekend and the kids both cried when he left and they couldn't go with him.  One of the cute things Will told grandaddy was when we were sitting at the breakfast table and he randomly told grandaddy that he loved him 2 miles, muah!  precious!  Grandaddy was a puddle after that!

Will also told me at dinner tonight that he didn't want his green eyes anymore and started to claw at his face and crying.  Weird.  I think he wants to be like his sister and dad whom both have blue eyes.  No love for the brown eyed mom!  He finally agreed that he would keep his green eyes after much conviecning that God made him special with his green eyes and that no one could take them away. 

That wasn't the first crying spell over nothing today.  After getting dressed this morning I decided to wash their lovies (puppup, lamby, and the blankets).  They haven't been washed since all the moving and Will's diaper leaked on puppup last night so it really needed a bath.  They cried so hard and so much you would have thought I was burning all their lovies!  Holy moly there were tears.  Then before lunch on the way to the post office Caroline asked em when was Nana going to go up to Heaven.  I told her not for a long time probably not until she was like my age.  Tears again.  (Bawling)  I don't want my Nana to die!  Holy cow are you serious, where is all this coming from! (my loving response) She stopped crying when I convinced her Nana wasn't going to die for a long time.  (You got that Nana!!)

As for me today was awesome in regards to water fitness.   I subbed my first class this morning and it went really well.  They all really liked me and I got great feedback.  In fact it was so great that after I filled out my time card the pool manager gave me a $3 raise right away!!  Really does that even happen!  What way to start and big shoes to continue to fill!  I have my own class on  Wednesday night from 6-7 so hopefully that will go well.

 Bath time pictures from this weekend tomorrow! 

Tomato Basil Hummus

When dad got here he reminded me that I had forgot to add the recipe for the hummus I mentioned in the tomato post.  Of course he reminded me after he ate some and really liked it!  So here you go!

2 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or soaked if using dried

1 can (15 ounce) whole, peeled tomatoes

2 tablespoons of tahini

2 ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ½ tablespoon basil, chopped

Preparation:

In a blender or food processor, blend the chickpeas. Add tomatoes, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, basil, and salt until the ingredients form a creamy, paste-like consistency. Pour the mixture into a large serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

Now as some of you know I have a hard time following recipes exactly as written.  So of course I modified this one as well.  I used a can of stewed tomatoes, saved the drained liquid if case i needed it, used dried basil, and no tahini.  It worked great and is very delicious!

Aunt Beth got me thinking that I could make hummus ever since she brought some homemade hummus that a friend had given her when her clan stayed with us.  Thanks for the idea Aunt Beth!

Bandaddy is coming!!

At least that is what Will calls my dad.  He is flying in this morning and is going to spend the weekend with us.  The kids are really excited to have our first visitor to our new house.  I am sure they will be showing him every little detail and all their toys.

With all the yard and house space to play in the kids decided that the garage would make the best spot for chalk coloring one afternoon.  Will is sitting with his drawing and is so proud.

Caroline drew a crown with a smiley face.  This is her first drawing, I think, of a real recognizable item.  All the others are usually just scribbles.

See you in a little bit Bandaddy!!!

The story of the red tomato

The tomato tale began many many years ago when I was but a wee little girl.  I have been told this story many many times and usually it resurfaces every few years.  Apparently when I was 3 or 4 I didn't want to eat tomatoes so I told my parents I would try one when I was "plain ole five."  I even asked to try one when I turned 5.  I didn't like it and said I would try again when I was 10.  I have never liked plain raw tomatoes and I have been trying them every five years since.  My friends and family have always tried to get me to eat that awful thing but it has never worked!  I love things made with tomatoes like salsa, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and the new one, tomato basil hummus (recipe incl.).

So yesterday I go for allergy testing which is routine for me whenever we move to a different state.  What is interesting is that since the initial testing when I was a freshman in high school I have become allergic to more and more things.  It started out that I was just allergic to molds.  Now I get to add some grasses, trees, weeds, and the new things some foods.  This was the first state to test for food allergens.  turns out I am allergic to asparagus, celery, beef, strawberries, and TOMATOES!!  Now I will never have to eat another one again!  I have  great excuse not to.  The great thing is obviously if I am allergic to all those foods it isn't severe enough that it is life threatening.  I never made the connection that the indigestion I would have was my allergic reaction to the foods I was eating.

So I can start getting some relief next week when I resume my allergy shots.  Who knows what I will be allergic to when we move to the next state!

one more picture

Forgot to include the picture Caroline took before we left.

Army Birthday Ball

Friday night Justin and I went to the Army birthday ball.  While the birthday is until this weekend I guess there were some scheduling conflicts that had it a week early.  But the Army is 234 years old.  I got to go get my hair and makeup down which was a very nice treat.  I had to get someone to do my makeup since I don't have eyeliner or an eye lash curler.  It was kinda embarrassing waking around with my hair and makeup down with jeans on.  We had a great time and the company at our table was great and the food was delicious (4 courses).

Being silly for the camera.
This is the group and the spouses that Justin works with.  From L to R: Don't know her name but she is in charge of protocol, Justin, me, Casey, Jim (bodyguard/driver), Patti West, MG West, Ron (XO), Roger, Debbie (sec.), and the last 2 I don't know and they didn't sit at the table with us.
We had to stay until the general left and then we made it home around 12.  We were tired the rest of the weekend from staying up so late.  Are we old or what!!

Military rally

I am trying to put in a slide show so we will see if it works.  It has pictures of a Military rally we went to Saturday morning in a little town north of us called Romeo. You can click on the pictures to see them slower if you like.

The other rooms

Here are some more of our house pictures.  Our room, dressers on left wall of closets on right.  I am standing in the door way.

Kids room, beds on left.  They still share a room even though we have 4 bedrooms.  They still enjoy being together and I will let them stay together for a few more years.
Their beds with princesses on top and Lightening McQueen on the bottom.
The playroom/basement/laundry room/storage.  Behind the bar on the right is the laundry/storage room.  It is nice to have such a big playroom.

main floor rooms

I finally am getting around to posting some pictures of our new house.  Not many of our 184(just an estimate) pictures are hanging on the walls.  And the pictures that are hanging are on nails that were in the walls when we moved in.  Excuse the mess in the rooms since it has been a little over 2 weeks that we have been here and not everything is put in it final resting place.  Below is the den, the baskets are clean clothes that need folding.

Kitchen door leads to deck out back which I love.
more kitchen
dining room
living room, i am standing at the front door
bedrooms and basement later

What am I going to rub on my ear?

I think a 4 1/2 year old should be able to go to the bathroom in enough time to not get her panties wet.  Maybe I am wrong in this thinking but I had to put a stop to it.  She is running out of undies before I get laundry done and the girl has about 15 pairs of panties!  

So starting today there are going to be consequences.  If Caroline gets her panties wet during the day then she doesn't get to sleep with her beloved lamby.  Lamby is her most favorite possession in the world.  She has slept with it every night for about all her life.  I am hoping this has the impact that I want it to have.  So far so good.  I mentioned the new plan to her this afternoon after she got her panties damp for the 2nd time today.  She cried immediately.  So now I sit and wait and follow through.  It didn't take long unfortunately.  Right before dinner she went to go to the potty and wash her hands.  I hear her say, "I didn't really wet my pants mom."  OK so I had to check it out since she was looking awfully guilty.  All I told her was alright then no lamby and the tears started flowing.  She had wet them just slightly.  We had a discussion about how you have to go to the bathroom before you get wet not when you get wet.  SO we shall see. 

 But the big question from her was what am I going to rub on my ear?  She falls asleep rubbing lamby on her ear, so it was a reasonable question.  She also asked where lamby was going to sleep.

Hopefully this only takes this one time for her to figure out when to go to the bathroom.

Will has been doing great with going to the potty and loves to pull his pants down and water the trees!