Tales of the Tornado Chaser

Deployment = over

2010-12-01T20:00:00.003-06:00

I forgot to mention this earlier but my hero is home! ♥

Save the Ta-Tas!

2010-09-16T14:59:00.001-05:00

Hey y'all!

I am participating in the Race for the Cure in Austin this year! The race is November 7th and I need your help reaching AND PASSING my fundraising goal!

PLEASE CLICK ME!

Donate a dollar. Donate ten dollars. Donate however much change you can dig out of your couch. A little or a lot, you can make a difference!

Just this week my friend got the "cancer free" stamp from her doctor. My cousin has also fought and won her breast cancer. I'm sure you know someone in your life who has been effected by breast cancer. You can let them know that you donated in honor of them!

Together we are going to beat out cancer!

Tuesday's Blueprint

2010-09-13T23:26:00.005-05:00

First unrelated:

I've been on an Allison Weiss kick the last day or so.

Back on topic

I have a plan. Wait first, back story. On Thursday we went to that popular hang out The Jumpy Place. As all kid places are filled with germs, we were bestowed with a cold. Ethan was the one that drew the short straw it seems. So he's been running a fever, snotty and coughing all weekend. And we holed up to keep the cooties to ourselves.

It is Monday night and he's still coughing but otherwise feeling okay. We all have cabin fever. We have not left the house since Thursday evening, not even to get the mail. We MUST get out of this house. So this is where that plan comes in.

I will get up and make my bed.

I will drink a bit glass of water.

I will shower and get dressed.

I will wash dishes then make carrot muffins.

While they are baking I will clean the downstairs, which really isn't much. Just a quick vacuum and wiping down counters. The kidlets will empty the dishwasher for me.

Then we will eat.

After breakfast, the kids will help me clean the upstairs so I can quick vacuum. Make beds.

The kids will get dressed and we will get out of this house. I have been wanting to try out geocaching for a while. So we will. There's one cache in the park near our house that we're going to check out first. Then the kids can goof off near the creek like they always want to. I'll take my ocarina and play songs under a tree.

After we get our fill of being out of the house and pick up our mail on the way back, we'll come home for lunch.

Then we'll have some quiet time, which will probably include a nap for Ethan since his sleep as been horribly screwy with this cold.

Since we have no taekwondo on Tuesdays now, we'll spend the afternoon reading our library books, learning more about the American flag, math problems for the older boys and probably a Leap Frog video for Ethan. Just to make me feel productive for a little while so I don't feel guilty about unschooling the rest of the week. (This is routine, one day of structure and six days of "let's love life and learn along the way." Works for us.)

Then I'm hoping to kick the kids outside until it gets dark. I am hoping that I will be motivated to do some yard work because the weeds have been loving the rain lately...

Then a normal bedtime for everyone. No more being up after midnight (It is 11:30am and Ethan is still awake because he crashed hard late this afternoon.) Hear that? NORMAL BED TIME! Sleep schedule back on track, dang it.

After the kids are in bed I'm going to write up a shopping list and plan for Wednesday that includes a coffee shop stop. Then I will take a bath, read my book then be in bed at 11pm. Do you need me to repeat it? NORMAL BED TIME!

I'm hoping for a phone call in there somewhere from my prince charming. ♥

That is my plan. Let's see if it works out.
Back off topic:

I recorded this today. :D

How to Be Alone

2010-09-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

I discovered this fabulous blog Superhero Journal today, through a link to this video.

2010-09-11T12:01:00.000-05:00

9 years ago, I was sitting in sophomore English when we watched the towers fall. That day the boy that would become my husband told me he was going to enlist into the Army when he was old enough, because he wanted to make a difference. Today he is serving his country in Iraq for the second time, because of what was started that day.

We will never forget what happened on September 11th, 2001, all the lives lost, including 411 rescue workers. And we will never forget the soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen who are protecting us, some giving their all. Freedom isn't free. ★

It happened.

2010-09-04T23:15:00.000-05:00

My kidlets have finally picked up a word, a word that I very rarely say and would rather it be completely wiped from the English language. A truly vile word.

"Boring".

(Didn't see that coming did ya? :P)

Tristin, the 4 year old, said "It's boring here." as we were pulling up to the house after grocery shopping. "SAY WHAT?!" He had no clue what it meant but he understood concept behind it, kind of. I think he was just repeating what he heard from someone else. He couldn't really give me an answer.

I talked to all three of them, right there in the driveway (well Ethan listened because he was strapped in with no means of escape). I explained to them what boring meant and asked him again if he thought our house was boring. "No." Okay then little ones, don't say that it is.

I'm not particularly upset that now they know the word where they previously (blissfully) didn't. We made it to 6 and 4 years old, with outside influences. That's a pretty good run. Learning is part of life, good, bad and ugly. They are open to a whole world, of kids and adults of various ages. Of course they are going to pick up things that we, as parents, would rather them not but it also gives us the opportunity to talk with them about such things.

Them saying they are bored is really the least of my problems in a life with offspring but it has started that slippery slope of all the worst things. Hopefully I have a few more years before I have to handle those things. For now I'm going to enjoy their naive innocence while it lasts.

Boring and all the variations of the word are not allowed to be said though. :P

Gimped - Not me this time

2010-09-02T22:36:00.003-05:00

Two boys wrestling.

One fell off the couch, onto the hard tile fireplace ledge.

Two boys went to a friend's house.

One boy went with me.

Three hours in the ER.

One dislocated elbow.

One splint and a follow up appointment number.

One busted up nose, complete with nose bleed.

This kid isn't even three yet. Chicks may dig scars but boy you're starting too early.

Change of Plans: Homecoming outfit

2010-08-25T23:08:00.004-05:00

Ya know I had this homecoming outfit picked out from 7 months ago. But there's been a change of plans.

Like HE'S COMING HOME EARLY! Whoa now.

This week I'm having a lot of fun with the rockabilly/pin up/50s style and thought it would be perfect to go get my soldier in fabulous vintage style! :D

I've been considering this dress, the only thing I'm iffy about is that it's a summer dress... for a fall homecoming. (I'm going to assume that the website will start cycling in fall fashions and I'm also going to check out some vintage clothing shops in Austin to see what they have. So dress is definitely not set in stone.)

Which is where this cardigan comes in. And of course hose with the back seam.

You can't have an awesome dress without awesome shoes now can you? :D I also have my earrings picked out. HA!

And as a little funny, I did very slightly consider getting this.

Can you just picture Mike's face?! BUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

(Now I just need the money to make it happen. HA!)

Highlights from C.U@Circus

2010-08-22T21:58:00.001-05:00

Sunday evenings I'm down at Zilker Park for C.U@Circus. Here's some things that made me smile today while I was there.

Saw a shirtless man hooping and dancing around with a tambourine around his neck. It made awesome music.
A girl about 8 or 9 asked about my hair (bright pink) and then says "I wish my mom would dye her hair hot pink"
Some photography students were there and took pictures of the boys and I. She'll email them to me soon.
Saw a hookah, although I doubt it was tobacco they were smoking with it. Still interesting to see.
It is legal for woman to be topless in Austin, saw one woman taking advantage. (Still would have rather not seen it though. Old druggie looking woman.)
Got a few comments about having cool hair, one man told me that the pink fit me well. :D
The boys got to try out a djembe drum.
Made new friends.
One man played for us after the boys showed interest in his guitar.
Came home with VERY dirty feet.

I love Sundays. I love Austin. I love hooping.

Ooooooooh, we're half way there!

2010-08-15T10:00:00.004-05:00

Ooooooh oooh living on a prayer! Ha!

Guess what!! :D

Today is 6 months! 6 months down, 6 months to go!

It's all downhill from here. :)

Deployment Dream

2010-08-10T17:21:00.005-05:00

I have been a military wife for five and a half years. We are six months into our second year long deployment. You would think it would have happened by now but nope. Last night it finally did: I dreamt that Mike died in combat.

Yeah it was awful, in a surreal way. It wasn't entirely realistic, like the fact that my brother in law was living close (which he doesn't) and I had a bit of magical powers (I etched a message for Mike into a type of memorial for him... with my mind) but still it felt so real. I remember how it felt when my heart broke.

Then some idiot woman was cracking jokes at me, while I was literally wailing curling up in a ball after the memorial stone thing. Really?! You think this is the best time for that?! I wish my dream self would have punched her in the face. Instead I told her to excuse me, I have to tell our children that Daddy isn't coming home. That shut her up.

I had to tell his parents, because for some reason the Army didn't notify them. That was a horrid experience in itself. Thankfully I woke up before I got to telling the kids. I really don't want to know what my subconscious would have done there.

I even thought about updating my facebook status to let everyone else know. Yeah it was freaky. I thought about all the arrangements that had to be made, the future ahead of me. It was all there. In dreadful technicolor detail.

I have wondered before how I would react to the news, to seeing the uniformed men at my door. I think I finally have my answer and I don't want it.

Let's hope tonight's dream is something much happier. I put my vote into homecoming.

2010-07-27T12:37:00.002-05:00

I'll update later.

Poi Play

2010-07-25T09:26:00.003-05:00

Pink Hair, pink shorts, pink poi. Good times. :D

Poi is a form of juggling where the balls are swung around the body. "Poi" the Maori word for "ball" on a cord and is both plural and singular. (I have one Poi, he has two Poi).

The Poi was used many years ago, by the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand to increase their flexibility and strength in their hands and arms as well as improving coordination. Wahine (female) dancers perform the Maori Poi, a dance performed with balls attached to flax strings, swung rhythmically. The Poi dance was originally used by the Maori women for keeping their hands flexible for weaving and by the men for strength and coordination required during battle.

(Learn more here.)

One week of poi-ing today. :D

Some days the busy bites back

2010-07-21T20:54:00.004-05:00

My friends have joked that I'm not home enough to say I'm a stay at home mom. It's not uncommon for me to be out of the house a good chunk of day, every day. I plan my weeks so my days are fairly full, plugging up holes of free time. I have enough of that going on at night.

If you are a military wife you know the first and foremost advice about getting through deployment: Stay busy. Those two words shape my life right now. I am Queen of Busy. My busyness helps with not being as lonely and keeps my mind off Mike being gone and all the worry that entails, especially when we are a few days into the no contact zone of his missions. (I have talked to him four or five times in the last month. They are keeping him busy too.)

I never forget he's gone, actually he's always right there in the back of my mind. Because it's so apparent that he is gone that I can't ever get away from it. Everything I do pretty much screams "Mike is not around". I don't really mind, I think about him all the time when he's home as well. But it is nice to pretend I'm not thinking about it for a while.

But days like today burn me out. Swimming with friends, potluck at my house immediately after (which I only agreed to host last night once an illness popped up in the original hostess's family), unplanned ER trip with Ethan (Nursemaids elbow. Again. He's fine, got a sling this time.), Tristin's taekwondo class.

We did have another pot luck tonight for a friend's birthday but after everything, I'm just shot. And I don't know how well the boys would handle a mostly adult party (I think they would have been the only kids.) in a park, with a small jazz concert going on after a day like today. So, I sent my regrets and stayed home.

It is now 8:45 and the kidlets are in bed. I am going to refill my huge cup of ice water, grab my book and spend 2 hours in the bathtub then go to bed myself. That is a very excellent plan.

PS: Wanna check out some caffeine fueled ocarina/hoop/poi videos? Look here! I had a coffee for the first time in a while yesterday and I was almost literally bouncing off the walls. Good times.

Caffeine Buzz

2010-07-20T12:23:00.001-05:00

I'm not a big coffee drinker but I do enjoy a soy latte now and then. Today I decided that it would be a perfect morning to take the kids out for muffins and enjoy some coffee in a friendly type manner. So I look to see what our dinky town has to offer. There's a Starbucks obliviously but I also found a place called The Lucky Cup Cafe. Cool beans. So we drive. Can't find it. Discover it's been closed. Bummer.

So I drank my big chain coffee while the kids had some berry coffee cake (which looked delicious but alas, not vegan.) Not completely happy but it felt good to just sit and relax a little. I can't wait for le husband to be home so we can all be together.

This weekend we're going to make the little bit of a drive to San Marcos to the Wake The Dead Coffee House. My friend who goes to college there says it's a great little place. I was hoping for something closer but it's still local business. We'll see. :)

Just a bit of a ramble

2010-07-17T10:23:00.002-05:00

I have finally hit that "Okay, I'm just so over it. Seriously." part of deployment. 5 months in isn't too bad, it only took me 3 months to hit this spot last deployment. Not really a coincidence that I had a baby 3 months into the last deployment, but that's besides the point here.

I've talked to Mike 3 times in the last 3 weeks. We went 11 days without talking, the longest so far this deployment. I'm sure the lack of communication has a big part to play in how I've been feeling this week. I even started crying when I saw a cute guy jogging down my street. Yeah, I'm on the verge of just cracking.

So I've been busy. Staying busy and losing track of time is the best I can do to get through this funk. I've been out of the house every day for the last few weeks, or really every day I can since Mike left in February. Those few days I decided to just stay home have been brutal, so now I avoid it.

Well except for this weekend. Because we're in full potty training mode with Ethan. He's been almost there twice. He regressed when Mike left then again during that stomach flu week we had. Now we're back on track and I'm determined to have him out of diapers by Monday. Operation Big Boy Pants (BBP) has been mostly successful.

But even this weekend I plan on getting out. There's a NightSpin thing in Round Rock this evening that I'm considering going to. LED poi and such. I think it will be fun to watch with the kids but I'm unsure if it's worth the drive or the disruption of their sleep schedule. We'll see.

Then of course I'll at up at Hot Mamas again this weekend with the local hooping group. That is just for my sanity. I figure even if we are only there an hour getting out there will be really refreshing. The kids will be coming with me this time so I'm unsure how it will work out.

Mostly, I've been reading this week. A friend of mine brought over the Sookie Stackhouse books so I've been burning through them. I'm on the 6th of the series now. And I'm still hooping. I put in an order, pretty much, to have a hoop made but Michelle has to order the tape and such so it will be a couple of weeks. I don't mind the wait to get what I want.

And I've had a perpetual headache for the last few days. Oy. I'm pretty sure it's stress related, since I hardly ever get headaches. I need a vacation but more than that I need my husband home from war. 7 months left.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Oh and here's a fun shot from last weekend. :) I'm, of course, the one with the pink hair and the tan shorts.

Hoopin'

2010-07-09T23:02:00.000-05:00

I seem to be collecting hobbies this deployment. I'm still rockin' the ocarina but now I'm also rockin' something else. The hula hoop.

I've been at it for 3 days now. Today I borrowed an adult sized hoop from my friend, she used to be a regular hooper and made this hoop herself. I'll use this until I can buy one of my own, hopefully on Sunday when I go meet with some Austin hoopers for a little jam session. A couple of the ladies there make them for sell. I'm excited to go out there and hoop as a group.

(Sorry it's bad quality. I have a 3G iPhone, the one NOT designed to take video.)

I'm having loads of fun. Plus it's exercise! You can't beat that. I now need to get mini ones for the kids. Because they are getting into it too...

Haha!

Only a year or so

2010-06-17T14:11:00.000-05:00

4 months, 2 days down. Too much left. Le sigh.

Little Geese

2010-06-06T14:26:00.000-05:00

The name ocarina, meaning "little goose" in Italian, comes from Giuseppe Donati from Budrio, a small town in Italy. He was a young brickmaker, and in 1853 he invented a 10-hole transverse ocarina, the modern day version of vessel flutes that date back to ancient China. John Taylor, an English mathematician, later invented the pendent style ocarina in the 1960s that can produce an entire octave using just four finger holes. Some are made with one or two additional thumb holes.

There's a tiny bit of history for ya. :) I am really passionate about ocarinas, not only do they sounds wonderful and I love playing with/listening to them, it's also keeping me occupied while Mike is away. When I'm not busy with life, the kids and normal adult stuff I'm hanging out with my ocarina, watching videos, learning new music and all that jazz.

I should be getting not one but TWO ocarinas in the mail this next week. One is my birthday present from Mike. The other is a silly little gift to myself. I'm very exctied. :D

And there's still many more that I wish to have. Yeah seriously. Ha! If only I had the money. It'll happen gradually. Once I get my sweet potato in the mail, I'll be set for a little while anyway. :D The next ones I buy will be for the kids.

I played at my MOMS Club banquet a couple weeks ago. Don't mind the headgear. The night had a ya-ya sisterhood theme (Ma-Ma Sisterhood! HA!) I loved that it matched my ocarina. :D

If you are one of my facebook friends you can look under the video tab on my profile to see some videos of me playing my little goose (and even one of me playing my flute). If not, I uploaded a couple songs onto my youtube channel with plans of putting more. Check it out!

I'm still kickin'

2010-05-18T13:08:00.000-05:00

I picked up a new obsession hobby. Ocarinas!

I had seen these marvelous instruments before but this last week I really saw them. I was looking through youtube for bass flutes, clicking on any interesting related video links. And stumbled to DocJazz4's channel.

Three days of scoring the world wide web for more information I decided to buy one of my own. I choose Songbird's Scarab Alto C, english pendent style (there are various kinds of ocarinas). I then waited impatiently for it to appear on my door step. Last Thursday it did. And it's beautiful.

I've been playing it off and on all day since then. I can't seem to go through a full hour without picking up and playing a little tune. All those years of playing flute made this an easy transition, especially with reading sheet music. I have a handful of easy tunes memorized and well as longer pieces like My Favorite Things (from the Sound of Music). I am still over the moon thrilled with it, not even counting the bonus that it's keeping my mind off this deployment.

I'm going to buy the boys their own soon, I know of a website that sells good quality plastic ones. Both Hunter and Tristin have shown an interest in playing. We're going to be our own ocarina band!

So that's what I've been up to lately, why I haven't been posting. I've been meaning to put up this very post for the last few days. But now it's here.

Do any of y'all play an instrument?

I'm a grown up "teen mom"

2010-05-04T13:47:00.003-05:00

I've made no secret of my teen mom status, it's just something that has come up less and less after "teen" was no longer tacked to the end of my age. After all it doesn't matter, because as Gwen puts it: By the time your child is a teen you will no longer be the teen mom that succeeded against all odds. You’ll just be another lame asshole parent like all the rest.

But for the sake of talking about it, I'll back it up a bit. Back in the day, I was a teen mom. I was freshly 17 when I got that positive pregnancy test. I hadn't even started my senior year of high school yet. I had a steady boyfriend I was already planning on marrying. My life was planned out then things just went in fast forward. I wore my wedding dress before my prom dress. I had a 2 month old baby the day I graduated.

We proceeded to have two more children, one when I was 19 and one at 21. Yeah I'm a walking teen pregnancy statistic. But I don't FEEL that way anymore. What age I was when I had our children just doesn't have any factor in my life. I am just the best mom I can be, a hip one at that. :D We will do whatever we can to make sure our boys live a good life, and develop strong characters. That is what is important.

Exactly one month from today I will turn 24. This is about the age people start getting married, or just enjoying that first couple of years as a couple. Babies start coming. And I am here, with a 6 year old. And a 4 year old. And a 2 year old. I am the youngest out of my set of 'mom friends". And I'm okay with that.

And I'm still looking forward to when Ethan is 18. Mike and I will be 39, young and cool enough to enjoy the empty nest! Haha!

And life returns to normal

2010-04-29T21:40:00.000-05:00

Illness gone.
Clean house trashed.
Pay... not exactly fixed but figured out enough that life will be okay.

I was thrown up on 12 times in 5 days. That was... fun. Stomach flu was making rounds again and we got lucky. Or not, depending on how you look at it. But still, kidlet is doing better. Just needs to catch up on sleep. I hope tomorrow he'll be 100% back to his usual PITA self.

I was planning on typing more but I'm exhausted. Back tomorrow. :)

Murphy came back

2010-04-24T10:58:00.000-05:00

Lots of crap going on. The two big things is they are screwing up Mike's pay (to the point where my credit card company called today) and now Ethan is throwing up again. Yeah.

I'll be back when things settle down.

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T08:39:00.001-05:00

What are you doing for the Earth today? Here's a lot of hints. :)

For Rent

2010-04-20T18:06:00.000-05:00

Cuddly toddler. Super sweet and scary smart, slightly destructive in the curious 2 year old fashion. He loves iPhones and will sit still in your lap if you let him play with it (his favorite apps are free). Other than that he never stops moving until he's asleep.

He loves hugs, kisses and using your body as a jungle gym. He gets along great with pets.

I would like him back next Monday but you can keep him until then!

I'm so burnt out.