Island Academy

Sergeant Major Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:33:00 +0000

Just a reminder that I have consolidated my 2 Blogger blogs and moved them to Sergeant Major Mom. If you're still visiting this blog, then you won't see any new updates! So, please move on over and visit me at my new and improved site. :)

I'm moving!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:38:00 +0000

I've taken the plunge and moved to Wordpress. I have a brand new blog name and design - which I'm proud to say I designed myself. :) I imported my posts from Island Academy and my other blogger blog into one.

A lot of the site is still under construction, but I decided that I just wanted to move over right now rather than double posting until I get it all set up. Please bear with me while I get used to Wordpress.

When I imported my old posts, the pictures sizes were wrong. Many of the older posts have HUMONGOUS pictures. I need to go back through and resize them, but it is going to take me a little while.

So, without further ado, here is the link:

Yes, I'm going to be Sergeant Major Mom.
I got the idea, because Nick is going through this phase right now. When I tell him to do something, he replies "Yes, Sergeant Major!". What a good little trooper he is. :)

Well, I am off to bed. I hope to see you all on the new site!

Bad Wake Up Call

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:20:00 +0000

Guess what I woke up to this morning? A phone call from my bank, asking if I had made certain purchases. I hadn't.

Some computer geek got a hold of my debit card info and spent $2000 out of my checking account! Most of it was to a bunch of online tech and design stuff. There was also a charge to an online dating service. Apparently he (or she) is lonely.

It's working it's way through my bank's fraud department now, so hopefully the money will be back in there next week.

A few minutes after that phone call, I got a call about a house showing. Today. We hadn't had a showing in over a week, so the place was getting a bit messy.

Do you think we got ANY schoolwork done today? Of course not.

I spent a few hours cleaning the house and doing laundry and keeping the kids from making a mess.

And I still have a sore leg and am not supposed to lift over 25 lbs.

Ellie was stuck hauling the vacuum cleaner up and down the stairs and keeping track of Tori while I worked.

We rewarded the kids by taking them out to Chili's for dinner while the house was being shown.

Now I'm off to walk on the treadmill. (I have to get my one hour of walking in every day so that I don't get a blood clot).

I'm think that I'm going to veg out and watch some movies tonight.

I just wish we could move already!! I really don't enjoy the few months before a move.

Trying to Rest Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:45:00 +0000

Trying to get some rest when you have 5 very active kiddos can be hard.

I had a very painful (and ugly) varicose vein in my left leg. It showed up when I was pregnant with Kate. She seemed to be blocking off my circulation during the later months of my pregnancy. The vein only got worse as I had 3 more children after her.

I decided that it was time to do something about it, so I went and saw a vein specialist and had it fixed.

Yesterday, I had a laser treatment done on a portion of the problem area - that is where they stick a catheter up your vein and then turn the laser on it - essentially burning out the vein.

Then I had an ambulatory phlebectomy on the other part. The doctor made a lot of little holes in my leg and pulled the vein out. Ick. He asked if I wanted to see what he was pulling out, but I passed. I kind of wish I would have looked now. :)

I'm not really in very much pain. It's just uncomfortable. My leg is all wrapped up in an ace bandage and then I have compression hose on over that. I have to make sure that I walk, walk, walk so that I don't get a blood clot and I can't lift more than 30 pounds this week. Tori weighs more than that, so it's going to be a challenge. Luckily, I have Ellie around to help out with her.

Tonight I get to take the bandage off. I'm anxious to see what my leg looks like under there. It's going to be VERY bruised and I have 22 little holes with bandage strips on them. It isn't going to be pretty. Hopefully it will heal quickly though and then I'll feel better than ever!

Now if I can just take it easy this week and next. Of course I've been ferrying the kids around today and we're supposed to go bowling tonight. Looks like I'll be watching. :)

Happy Birthday Lexie!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:21:00 +0000

Could she really be 6 years old? Hard to believe. It's true though.

Lexie is the middle child. 2 older and 2 younger than her. I always wondered how that would feel. I was the oldest myself, so it's hard for me to imagine. I hope that she feels wrapped up in love on all sides. :)

We celebrated her birthday last weekend since I have an outpatient procedure this afternoon and didn't want to ruin her party.

She chose an ice cream cake - YUM!

Among other things, she got a little tooth fairy box. She is dangerously close to losing her first tooth. It's still hanging in there, but not much longer. She had been a bit scared about losing it, but now that she has a pretty place to put it, she thinks that it will be okay. :)

Her sister got her these. Aren't they the cutest little things?

Even though she already had her cake and presents, she is going to be crowned queen for the day and will be treated like royalty. :)

Ice Alaska, Trip 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:36:00 +0000

Yes, it's that time of year again!!

I am actually thankful that it's nice and cold out and we can enjoy the beautiful ice art this month. There are a few perks to living in the Sub-Arctic!!

We made our first trip to Ice Alaska, host of the World Ice Art Championships, today.

It was about negative 3 out, so we couldn't stay as long as we would have liked. We bought a season pass though and we plan on returning a few more times before they close on March 20th.

Tori was turning into a little kidsicle and was ready to warm up.
Everyone was a little chilly, but it didn't stop them from having fun!

Kate's favorite thing in the park is the giant bowl. They climb in and then can't get back out - without help! They just keep sliding to the middle. Dogpile!
There are slides for everyone - little and big. You can even take your sled down the big ones if you want to go even faster! Nick was quite the daredevil and was diving headfirst!

This is actually the top to one of the smaller slides that Ellie is standing on.
And we looked at some of the sculptures in the single block competition. There are many that have not been carved yet. By the end of the month, there will be so much to see!

And here are some pictures of my kidsicles right before we got into the nice warm truck.
Definitely more to come in the next few weeks!!!! I can't wait to see everything lit up at night!!

There is a first time for everything

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:46:00 +0000

Last night was the girls' first time ice skating.

I will be surprised if they can walk today. Kate will probably be one giant bruise. I know that Ellie has at least one blister.

Kids who go to school here spend recess ice skating quite often and are pretty good at it. Since we homeschool and I have a baby that can't go ice skating, we've never done it before.

I think they had a good time, but they were really ready to go inside for hot cocoa after an hour.

I suppose I should have gone with them, but I didn't have any skates. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).

I had a good time watching them and taking pictures. I asked them if they would like to go again and they answered with a resounding NO!

Night Owl or Early Riser??

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:22:00 +0000

Are you a night owl or an early riser?

By nature, I think I'm a night owl. I have a really hard time getting into bed at night. After a long (usually loud) day, I like to stay up and enjoy the peace and quiet of the sleeping house.

I multitask. I will maybe turn a movie on, do some blogging, edit some pictures, do some genealogy, catch up on bills, and tidy up the house.

I find myself staying up until at least one each night.

I stay up later and then I sleep in later. And then I don't get the kids up early enough. And then they don't go to sleep early enough the next night.

AHHHHHHHH!

The madness must stop. I need to make myself an early riser. Even if it hurts.

I had a humongous headache last night. We didn't go anywhere yesterday and Andy got home very late from work. Being cooped up all day long with very energetic kids took its toll on my sanity. I creeped into bed a bit after nine and actually fell asleep.

And here I am at 4:30 in the morning. Awake and refreshed. In a quiet house. When Andy gets up and leaves for work, I'm going to hop on the treadmill.

I've realized that I can have the quiet time in the morning instead of in the evening. And I can get the kiddos up EARLY so that they will fall asleep quickly at night. Then I can still have a couple of quiet hours in the evening before I head to bed.

Drawings from Roza

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:52:00 +0000

Roza always includes drawings with the letters she writes us. Here is her latest one. :)

Blackberry Bungalow

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:26:00 +0000

Ellie made a fake travel brochure for "Blackberry Bungalow". Sounds like a fun place to visit!

Project 365 - Day 51

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:14:00 +0000

I didn't go to the emergency room prepared with my camera. :) My iPhone had to do for my photo of the day. I was impressed with the crib at the hospital! It even had a cover, so that she couldn't climb out! Wish we had one of those at home!!

Project 365 - Day 50

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:13:00 +0000

She really didn't like taking her nebulizer treatments - even though they had the cutest little dinosaur mask.

I ♥ Faces: "Hands On" Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:45:00 +0000

The theme this week at I ♥ Faces is "Hands On". It's all about the hands.
I love chubby little toddler hands!!!
Check out more great photos at I ♥ Faces!!

Busy Weekend Got Busier

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:25:00 +0000

Poor Tori woke up on Friday with a very croupy cough. That was enough to worry me, but on top of that, she had a fever and was very lethargic. She kept spacing out and not responding to me. Since there weren't any same day appointments to be had, we headed to the emergency room.

I have to say that the kids behaved amazingly well. They have a huge new hospital on post and the tiniest little ER waiting room I've ever seen. And it's always crowded. I dread taking all of the kids in there, but I didn't have a choice. Luckily, Andy was able to pick them up after a little while.

Since she was having trouble breathing, they moved her to the front of the line and we were seen right away.

Long story short: she has bronchiolitis. She ended up being admitted overnight and went through tons of nebulizer treatments, shots, and steroids. She was discharged today and still has to take inhaler treatments for the next few days.

I'm hoping that she gets some good sleep tonight. I've come to realize that you really don't get any good sleep in hospitals. I think that someone must have come in every 30-60 minutes - temperature checks, nebulizer treatments, bringing food, the janitor taking the trash, the nurse checking on her, the doctor checking on her, etc. She's a good sleeper and is normally out for the entire night. Not getting all of her beauty sleep put her in a crummy mood today. I'm pretty exhausted too.

Andy has done a wonderful job of getting the other kids to their events this weekend and keeping the house clean. He's a great husband and dad. :) So glad that I don't have to worry about everyone starving when I leave - he's a much better cook than I am!

Project 365 - Day 49

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:37:00 +0000

Project 365 - Day 48

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:36:00 +0000

Project 365 - Day 47

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:33:00 +0000

What a goofball!!

What a Great Day!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:28:00 +0000

First of all, here is my *8* year old girl!!! She's so grown up!!

But still very silly. :)
We celebrated Kate's birthday last weekend, so I had been planning on doing school today(her actual birthday). At the last minute, I decided that we would just take the day off and enjoy ourselves a bit instead. It ended up being a pretty good day.

*I spent the early morning getting the house perfect. We finally had another showing. Our realtor called us the day he got back and had a showing booked. The couple of weeks he was gone we had nothing. Makes me think that the guy who was taking over for him wasn't being very proactive in selling our house. Anyway, as much as I hate all of the scrubbing and scouring, I love having the house back to being clean again. I had really let it go in the past couple of weeks. Yea for a clean house!! Here is my kitchen, with new appliances. :)

*Since we had to be out of the house during the showing and we had nowhere in particular to go, I decided to take the kids out to lunch. At a restaurant. One that didn't involve a drive-thru. Kate chose Chili's and I was pleasantly surprised that the kids behaved. We went to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert afterwards. Yum!

*When we got back, we just had to head outside. It got up to 40 degrees today!!! I actually went out on the deck in flip-flops and a T-shirt. It was wonderful. The older kids played in the yard, making snowballs and preparing for a huge snowball battle. Tori and I hung out on the deck , watching the birds.

*On a not so great note, I learned that Tori can climb out of her crib. She learned it too - let's hope that getting the wind knocked out of her scares her from doing it again!! It sure scared me!

*Here are a couple of pictures of Nick from today. He is looking so grown up lately!

Happy Birthday Kate!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Our little Kate is eight. I can hardly believe it!

She was my easiest labor and delivery out of all of the kids. She was a bit late, but when she came it was fast.

I was 10 cm when I showed up at the hospital and she was born in the exam room. The doctor actually didn't even have me push since she was coming out on her own. I coughed a few times (I'm not kidding!) and there she was - all 9 pounds of her.

Katie is such a special little kid. She is energetic, caring, smart, and always so funny. I love watching her grow and change.

We celebrated her birthday early so that we could do it on the weekend. We can never wait until later in the day, so we end up eating cake for breakfast and opening presents right afterward. It's kind of like Christmas morning. :) Are we the only family that does this?? It has become sort of a tradition.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:25:00 +0000

FOR TODAY: February16, 2010
Outside my window...the chickadees are happy that I filled the bird feeder. They have been visiting every day.

I am thinking...about what the future holds. Our upcoming move. Our cross-continent drive. Retirement from the Army in a few years. Lots on my mind. :)

I am thankful for...new stainless steel appliances :)

From the learning rooms...we're studying Renaissance artists this week. Fun!!!

From the kitchen...I'm making beef stew for dinner tonight.

I am wearing...PJ pants, a sweatshirt, and my new flip-flops

I am creating...nothing in particular at the moment.

I am going...nowhere today. We are actually staying home today and hopefully getting things done around the house.

I am reading...The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer

I am hoping...that our house sells soon. No showings for 2 weeks and I'm starting to get worried.

I am hearing...the sounds of my kids doing their math on the computer

Around the house...Since we haven't shown the house in 2 weeks, I've let things go a bit. I need to do some major cleaning again to get it ready in case we get a call.

One of my favorite things...sleeping in

A few plans for the rest of the week: World Thinking Day (Girl Scouts), Tae-Kwon Do testing for the kiddos, AWANA Bible Quiz. We have a busy weekend ahead of us...
Here is picture for thought I am sharing...(add your picture here)

To read more daybooks, visit: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Aspartame Allergy

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:59:00 +0000

I really miss chewing gum. Not that I chew it all of the time, but I like to put a piece in my mouth every once in a while to get fresh breath and keep myself from eating instead.

The problem is, I'm allergic to aspartame (Nutrasweet). I don't think that there is any gum out there that isn't sweetened with it. Maybe Hubba Bubba. I really don't want to be chewing on a wad of bubble gum like an 8 year old. :)

I first noticed that I was allergic to aspartame when I was a teenager. I was having chest pains and shortness of breath that I couldn't explain. The doctor I spoke to thought that I might have an allergy to Nutrasweet. It was summer and I was drinking a lot of diet sodas.

I cut it out of my diet and the pains went away.

Fast forward to this winter. I was eating Yoplait Light yogurt and drinking Crystal Light Peach Tea. I was also chewing sugarless gum.

Major chest pains. And pains throughout my veins. I felt awful. I don't know why it took me a month or two to remember that this was due to what I was eating. I was really starting to think that there was something seriously wrong with me. It freaked me out.

I started paying very close attention to the ingredients in what I was buying and found that aspartame is in so many things!! I am being very careful now and checking ingredients before I buy things.

And I'm feeling SOOOOOOOO much better!!!

Project 365 - Day 46

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:54:00 +0000

Kate's Birthday Cake. :)

Project 365 - Day 45

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:52:00 +0000

Snow Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:27:00 +0000

The weather has been comfortable (for winter) and the kids have been heading outside for fresh air.

Even Andy joined in the sledding fun. Just wish we had a bigger hill in our yard!

Heat Wave

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:38:00 +0000

What do you do when the temperature rises to a steamy 20 degrees in February?

You cook out of course.

Shrimp

And Steak.

Seems crazy, but it's true.