Our first day...

Q came back yesterday and we started school today. I considered waiting until we were a little more used to each other, but decided that a bored child is a child in trouble so we got right into it. We're really laid back right now, as I'm not sure how much school Q can tolerate right now and I don't want to make him hate me just yet. This morning our schedule looked like this..

Wake up
Morning routine (dressing, cleaning room, making bed, brushing teeth)
Breakfast and clean up
Chores (I taught Q how to restock TP and wash the toliets)
I fed baby while Q played with A and L and taught them about coins
Q read to me for 15 min. A played at the table and L played on the floor so that they would not interrupt me with fighting.
Recess
Q did copywork and I did sorting and patters with A and L
Lunch
Q rode his bike while I worked with A on writing and L colored
Nap for L and A
Read aloud to Q
Flashcards for addition with Q
Q nap

And that is where we are right now! It hasn't been too bad. I'm using the motivated mommy's chore list and have marked which chores Q can do. Right now I'm training him how to do them, but eventually he will be able to do them on his on. Hopefully I will have a sign up so he will know exactly which chores to do on what day. I did realize that Ashton isn't ready to start writing. He draws letters on his own (he's figured out how to make most of them without any help), but he's not ready for lines and worksheets. I"m just going to let him color and play and develop his muscles for another few months.
I need to print up a schedule so the boys can have some idea of what's coming and Q won't feel like he's endlessly doing work. I just don't want to print it up until I know a little better what works.

It looks like we won't be moving until the end of November now. I was really hoping that we would be out of here at the end of September, but it would just be too hard and we'd have to make a rush decision about a house in Ohio. At least we'll get some nice weather before we're thrown into the freezing midwest.

Decluttering

So here I am, thinking I'm pretty good at de-junking my house and getting rid of things. I try hard not to keep around things I am not using and get rid of stuff on a regular basis. We decided to try and do the navy wide garage sale next weekend and I started to go through the house to get ready. My kids have about 2 million books and I decide to start with those. After going through the first bookshelf FULL of books I only have 7 in the bag. hmm...not good. Each book that I was about to put in the bag I'd somehow pull back out because "Thea will like this later", or "this would be good for a preschool homeschool lesson" or "I paid full price for this and we've barely used it". I'm having a hard time getting past this block. I also found out yesterday that I am the same way with the kids toys. We have SO many and with all the kids they each get out one thing to play with and the house is a mess! I need to simplify but can't bring myself to get rid of the toys. They play with most of them actually, but there are just so many...not to mention I keep buying them at garage sales. Such great, sturdy toys for so cheap...hard to pass up. I'm thinking about putting a limit on myself. Like, "you can only keep as many books as will fit in this small bookshelf." "No more than 3 puzzles per child" "No duplicates of toys"
Knowing that I can always get more books or toys for next to nothing at goodwill or garage sales should give me motivation, but it's still so hard!
OK, I've motivated myself a little...i'm off to try again.

Thea is 5 months today!

I can't believe that 5 months ago today I was in the hospital having my baby girl! She is getting so big. Right now she is trying to cut a tooth. She's drooly and will sometimes wake up mid-nap crying and chewing on her hand. Both of her brothers got teeth at 5 1/2 months so I figure it's right around the corner. We went to walmart today with the intention of getting some teething gel, but I completely forgot. I know I should be "natural" about the teething thing, but in the middle of the night we all just need to sleep!
I will post a picture of her tomorrow. Dan took the camera to work. I will also try and post her birth story. I haven't written it down yet and am afraid that I'm going to forget the details! I'll never forget the pain though...that's for sure!

Nana's bottoms

I am just loving my new Nana's bottoms all in one diapers. They are so easy...no pocket inserts, no pins, no covers. Goes on with velcro just like disposables. They also dry more quickly than any other all in one I've used, yet are just as (if not more) absorbant. At a price of $12 (which includes shipping) they are the cheapest I have ever found new. They are also really trim. I'd say they are almost as trim as her fuzzi bunz. Here's her website...

http://hyenacart.com/nanasbottoms/

This picture shows boy colors, but thea has lavender and hot pink so far. I've ordered 4 more that should be here any day.

bummer...

Well, my mom left yesterday and that is super depressing. It's even worse now that it's "independant time" for the kids and thea is deciding the fuss the entire time instead of allow me 20 minutes of quiet. We really miss grandma. I called her today and she wanted to talk to Ashton,but he said he was too sad to talk. I guess I will just have to keep myself busy decluttering and preparing for our upcoming move. We found a great house in Oxford, but I'm not sure if it will still be available in September. It's brand new and right in our price range. I have so much crap to get rid of, but the task is sort of daunting. The worst part is the frustration that comes along with not being able to do anything without having to stop every 5 minutes to change a diaper, get a cup, wipe a bottom, brake up a fight, go find out why someones screaming/what the crash was or change over laundry. Not to mention I can't really sort clutter by boxes because every time I turn around someone is pulling everything out of the box. What ends up happening is I just throw everything away and then get in trouble when daddy wants to know what happened to that broken flashlight that was in the drawer yesterday.
STOP FUSSING THEA....JUST GO TO SLEEP!!!
Ok, now that I've composed myself...

The weekend

Another weekend has ended. Dan has duty tomorrow...BLAH...and we are planning on trying to get to the beach in the morning. Yesterday we visited some with our new neighbors and went to the Waikiki aquarium. Today after church and nap mom watched the baby and Dan, the boys and I went to the movies. However, our movie was sold out so we went next door to the arcade. It was more like chuck e. cheese than an arcade and the kids had a blast. Right now we're watching The Sword in the Stone...my favorite childhood movie. It was a 50 cent goodwill find. I also got the Fox and the Hound and the old disney Robin Hood. I don't let the kids watch Disney's newer stuff so I was excited to find these...even if they are on VHS.

My baby is getting so big!

Thea and Landon had their well baby/well child check ups today. Landon weighs 30 1/2 pounds and was 36 inches tall. Thea weighed 15 lbs. 14 oz. and was 25 1/2 inches. I can't believe how big they're getting. The doctor seemed to think they looked great. I think so too :)

We went to the pool after lunch and I dressed Thea in her swimsuit and we put her little feet in the water. She didn't complain at all. Could she be a swimmer someday?? Maybe synchronized swimming...the costumes are more fun. She loves baths just like Landon did...and still does.

I also am including some pictures of the boys. I don't want them to be underrepresented! They are loving having grandma here. She takes them to the park, the pool and the mini golf park in the same day. They're going to be terribly bored when she leaves. I'm going to miss her, too! What a treat it is to sleep in a little and wake up to find your laundry done and kids dressed...am I in heaven??

A busy, fun weekend

It's Sunday night and I realize it's been quite a busy weekend. Friday night Dan and I went to his ship's Dining Out. It was a lot of fun. It's great to get dressed up and spend a night out with my husband! I also enjoyed meeting the people he works with and getting to spend time with the spouses. They are a really sweet group of women.
On Saturday we woke up and went to Waimea Falls. We took grandma with us this time and she really enjoyed it. She actually said it was the most beautiful place she'd seen on Oahu so far. The boys enjoyed it because it wasn't too hot and actually sprinkled a few times to cool us off. I got some great pictures of the blooming flowers.
Today we went to church...always refreshing to fellowship with other believers :) and had a nice lunch at home. After nap time we went walking up at the track and stopped by the park where the boys had a great time playing.

My "dining out" outfit

Dan has a semi-formal ship function this Friday and I have been stressing about what I'm going to wear. I tried on a couple of things that I have but they were either too dressy or too casual. This morning I packed the kids up and we went dress hunting. I found a dress!! What do you think? I also got shoes and a cute bag to match...as you can see from the pictures. Shhhh...don't tell anyone that I got the shoes, bag and dress all for under $15 at Goodwill. It's the closest store to my house, the cheapest place to shop and I even feel like I'm recycling.

I love these lyrics...

"So much to say and just a lifetime left to say it.
How quickly time passes.
If I had my way, I'd keep you safe within my arms
While the storm of life crashes.
I won't always be with you, my child, but words I can give.
When the winds of hope are dying down, these words will live.
Above all else, know God's the One who'll never leave you.
Look to Him above all else.
He is love you can depend upon, a heart set to care.
If in the darkest night you should be lost, He will be there.
He's the Everlasting Father,
In His hands you'll never fall.
He's the One who holds it all,
Above all else.
He's the Author of you laughter,
He's the Keeper of your tears,
He's the One who you must fear
Above all else.
He's the Giver of the kingdom
Bought for you right from the start,
And He'll ask you for your heart
Above all else.

So much to say
And not enough time left to say it.
Just love the Lord
Above all else."

Trying to organize

Always on my quest for organization, I found this website...

http://www.motivatedmoms.com/

I ordered the printable calender for $4 (half price since the year is 1/2 over) and am really excited to see how it works. I printed off this weeks list and was excited to see that it included little things like clipping the kids' nails, paying bills and planning for August birthdays. That's the stuff that I'm not so good at staying on top of. I'll have to let you know how it works out. It doesn't seem like I'll have to do all that much every day.

I guess that we've decided not to move yet. I'm really, really bummed because I liked the house we were going to rent in Mililani a lot. It was in a nice neighborhood with a park and rec center around the corner. We'll just move to a furnished place in September after Dan gets his orders. That way the navy will pack us and move us and it won't cost us like moving now would. Unfortunately, that means we're stuck here with the neighbor across the street, the bad school and the old house. I also just found out Eryn can't come out to help us out...I am REALLY bummed about that.

I did order 6 new fuzzi bunz today which is sort of exciting. I can't wait to get them. I'm building Thea's diaper stash so that I won't have to wash dipes so often. Hopefully I will only have to wash diapers 2 times a week.

July 4th pictures

We had a wonderful 4th! In the morning we went over to Schofield to their 4th of July fair and the boys had a great time going go a big blow up slide, smashing a car (Quintin), and riding ponies (ashton and Landon). Landon's look terrified as he came flying down that big slide. His eyes were huge! As soon as daddy picked him up he said, "do it again!" so it must have been fun. Quintin likes to brag that he just rammed that car, but he was really struggling to pick up the sledge hammer. We told him he did great.

After naptime our friends Karla and Mark came over for a BBQ. We grilled and chatted for a long time. It was nice to have people over, which we don't do very often. Mark is Dan's roommate on the ship and they get along really well. After our BBQ we went back to Schofield for the fireworks. While the adults weren't all that impressed, the kids just loved it...and that's the important thing.

Praise God for this wonderful free country!

Thea grows...

Miss Thea seems to have grown out of her 3-6 month clothes...can't believe at 4 months we're into 6-9 months. I shouldn't be suprised since A and L did the exact same thing!!!

A slow saturday

Dan is on duty today so we haven't done too much. We have sad sausage and scrambled eggs this morning which the boys loved. It's nice to make something that they will eat and enjoy! Anne and Nate were just waking up as we left for the post office. I had to mail off a pouch I sold on TBW. After the PO we went to Goodwill. My favorite store!! My purchase of the day was a gorilla halloween costume for $1.80. Last Halloween I had tried to get that exact costume off of Ebay but it was too expensive. It's only July, but I'll be glad to have it when October comes. I also got myself some Tommy capris and AE khaki jeans. Can't wait to try them on and see if they fit.

Visitors!

Our friends Anne and Nate are here visiting from Indiana. It's great to have guests around, especially ones that like kids. Ashton has taken quite a liking to Anne who took the time to sit down on the floor with him and play. Today we went to Waimea Falls and it was beautiful as always. The boys were kind of whiney, but hopefully it didn't bother Anne and Nate too much. This evening while Daddy cleaned up dinner and chatted with our guests I went into Ashton's room and played playmobile "guys" with him for awhile. It's been awhile since I sat down and played with him for an extended period of time. He enjoyed it so much and is so kind and open when I do that. I'm making a mental note to do it a lot more often. Maybe a good time would be when Landon first goes down for nap. Tonight we drove past the house we're thinking about renting to see how the neighborhood is at night. It was completely quiet. It just seems so nice over there!!! We have an appointment to sign the lease monday afternoon and now we just have to decide for sure if we really want to make this big move for just 4 months. I would jump on it if we had a year left, but it just seems like a lot of work for so little time. With these neighbor issues, I just don't see what other choice we have.

Landon's 2nd Birthday

Landon's Birthday was Saturday. It was lots of fun. He seems to get the short end of things so much being the middle child that I wanted to make it special for him. We got Q from his mom's for the week and brought him home on L's birthday. Everyone was so excited to see him. We played basketball with our new hoop outside and went out to lunch. During nap I set up happy feet decorations and plates (Landon's favorite movie) and we had a birthday dinner and cake. He was so cute opening the presents. He worked really hard to get all that paper ripped off to see what was inside. He got the Diego rescue center ($7 at a garage sale a couple months ago, brand new and sealed in the box!!), 2 of his favorite library books, Trucks by Byron Barton and My Truck is Stuck, puzzles and a truck book from grandma Crawford, money from Grandma Bond, a mega blocks fire truck from our friends paul and steph and a penguin stuffed animal we had picked up at the Sea Life park a couple of weekends earlier. He loved it all. We were impressed at how he could put the puzzles together on his own and could remember the words to the books he got. He's getting so big. I can't believe he's 2 already!!!