Shades of Uncle Cody

Busted nose and fat lip from separate instances within a 12 hour period. His fearlessness reminds me of my brother. That absolutely terrifies me.

Yeah. I'd cry too.

How am I Supposed to react to this?

So here's the thing, I think I'm going to have a nervous breakdown.

Travis had a long talk with his boss today. For the last month they've been trying to talk him into going back to Guam. They've offered him more money, extra per diem and even housing assistance. So far he's had no problems turning them down because he hasn't felt that they've made an offer that would make it worth it.

Apparently now things have changed. The only way they can garauntee him a job is if he goes back to Guam in the next two weeks. Contracts are apparently pretty thin here in the states, so they can't promise him steady work if he stays.

I'm not sure what to think. It breaks my heart to have him gone for so long again. But at the same time, in this economy I'd rather have him working than not. I'm trying to figure out how to be a supportive spouse when all I really want to do is sit down and have a cry.

They said that after 4 months, they'd give him a week off to come home for a visit, and of course there's always the possibility that we could pack up and go to Guam for a period of time. If we didn't have a house and vehicles and a cat I'd really look at just packing up and traveling with him for good. But unfortunately we do have those considerations. I know I'm not the only person on earth who's ever had to deal with this. There are plenty of other people whose situations are similar. Some of them even worse (like military spouses.) But for some reason that just doesn't offer much comfort right now. I still just want to cry.

But I won't. I know myself too well. I'll mope for a day or two. The flood of tears I wish I could cry just won't come and then I'll suck it up and start figuring it out. That's what I do.

Grasping the Concept

Okay so he gets that the pins are supposed to all fall down. It's just the methods that need a little refining. (You may want to kill the sound on the slide show in order to watch.)

Cheap Entertainment

So every year at Christmas we make sure a stocking gets filled for Crookshanks. Usually just some treats and a few toys. This year, one of the toys happened to be a laser. Which has proved to provide hours of entertainment for both feline and human boys. I didn't even get the best parts of it on video, like munchkin chasing cat chasin laser in circles all while laughing maniacally. Still, you'll get the gist I think.

His least favorite gift

Gideon's least exciting moments on Christmas Day came when he opened the two presents containing new clothes and socks.

I, however, think those new clothes are quite dashing!

My Favorite Gift

It probably goes without saying, but it's on my heart tonight, so I figured I'd write it anyway.


My favorite gift this year wasn't found wrapped in festive paper under the Christmas Tree. It wasn't decorated in bows and ribbons. It isn't something that I can wear, but it does keep me warm. It won't make me smell good or feel pretty, but it does make me feel important sometimes. It wasn't something purchased at a store, although you could say we "special ordered" it. It doesn't play music or movies, although it provides endless entertainment.

As I'm sure you already know, my favorite gift is three foot tall and bursting with energy, never stops talking, spills juice almost daily, usually has a dirty face (no matter how often I clean it), is extremely talented at getting into mischief, gives sloppy wet kisses, has a crooked gap-toothed smile and holds my heart in his tiny little hand.

Being his mother is both the most terrifying thing in the world to me and the most thrilling. I don't think I've laid my head on my pillow a single time in the last 605 days without shedding a few tears over the love that I feel for him and the gratitude and awe I feel for the angel who made us a family. He makes me crazy sometimes (like tonight when it's after 11 & although he's desperately tired, he won't give up and go to sleep) but I just keep reminding myself that it's worth it for all the other moments of joy he brings. So for lack of a clever way to end this, the greatest gift of this year has been a year with him.

Christmas Highlights

I was busy taking the pictures, but I promise, I really was there for all the fun.

Okay Santa, whenever you're ready!

As for my lip sync contest entry, I realize this is an actual singing performance and not a lip sync, but it's funnier than any lip sync I could come up with. I just ran out of time. So here's my entry. Much thanks to my back up singers! (PS I have a cold, so I don't sound that great, but oh well!)

Oh The Torture!

I think it's a necessary rite of passage. You know like teething or toilet training. Every child I've ever met goes through a phase where they hate Santa. Gideon is no different. Still, we went to the Elks tonight hoping for at least a photo, but we didn't even really get that.

He and Braxton had fun playing around before the Big guy came. Oh speaking of which, they had a dance studio come in and do some numbers while we were waiting on the guest of honor, and lo and behold, one of the dancers was a dear friend I haven't seen since college! I wish we'd had more time to talk, but it was great running into her. It's a shame that we've lived in the same town all these years and never even knew it until recently. Anyway, I love you Sammi & can't wait to get together!

Don't ask me why this one turned out so blurry, I was clearly not the photographer. Gideon wouldn't get close at all, even with me there, he was kicking and screaming and trying to get away. Oh, he wanted the treat Santa gave him, he just didn't want anything to do with Santa.

Braxton even came back up to try and show Gideon that there was nothing to be afraid of, but alas, it just isn't going to happen this year.

Addiction & Obsession

So I realized I haven't posted one of my annoying rants on my latest addictions and obesessions recently. Anyway, skip over it if you're so inclined, for the rest of you, here's the update.

Addiction: In preparation for the half marathon I'm running in February (which is approaching so much faster than I'd like to admit) I've been pretty good at sticking to my training plan. I had hoped to find some races to enter between now and then just to get back into the groove again, but since I live in Idaho and since it's been bitterly cold, there's only one coming up between now and then. The Resolution Run 5K. Yep, it's a 5K at midnight on New Year's Eve. I know, I'm crazy for even thinking about it, but hey, once you get down to 0 degrees & below, it's all pretty much the same anyway. Just because it's dark probably won't make a difference. (And yes, thanks to the super cold weather we've been having the last couple of weeks I've been running in temperatures of like 3 degrees with winchills of -15. Stuff like that.) I've also amended my goals slightly, instead of running my first full marathon in December, as originally planned, I'm going to try and be ready by the St. George Marathon in October. It's an ambitious goal, but I think I can make it if I keep the same intensity I've had up to this point.

Obession: As for my two winter sports obsessions, just because I haven't mentioned them doesn't mean that I've lost interest.

First, Idaho High School Wrestling is still going on, despite the loss of my baby brother (I know, shocking, right?) I haven't been to any meets or tournaments yet. I was going to go to Rigby last night, but didn't make it. I have run into a few of Cody's former teammates and even a few wrestling parents and it's made me excited to go watch the team even without Cody there. So I'll be hitting some of the upcoming events. (Although I won't be traveling all over the place with them like I did last year.)

Second, 9 games into the basketball season and my Tar Heels have a record of 7-2. I'm not discouraged though. After seeing them play, and watching a host of other games, I firmly believe they are as talented as any team in the country. What has struck me most about this season is that there isn't just one standout team that everyone is talking about (like the Tar Heels of the last two years.) There are a lot of really good teams, but not one that has distinguished themselves from the pack yet. That means we've got a great season ahead of us to see how things shake out. But I digress. This season's 'Heels are extremely talented, but they lack experience and strong leadership. Those are qualities that will develop over time, of course. I'm reminded of the '06-'07 team which tore through the tournament until the Elite 8. They were five minutes away from a final four spot when they let Georgetown come back and tie the game. And then they had a nuclear meltdown in overtime. It was disappointing, but they seemed to learn from it, as the next year they did make it to the final four and last year of course, was the cherry on top with the championship. Really the only two games we've lost this season have been to excellent teams. First an underrated Syracuse squad that is finally starting to get some respect after dismantling Ohio State and UNC on successive nights. And then to a Kentucky team that's riding a wave of emotion and adrenaline with the coaching change that recently occurred. Not that Kentucky isn't talented. I just think that on another day, on a different court the outcome of that game would be different. And let's not forget that Kentucky has John Wall, a phenomal freshman who basically does everything for them. But in my experience of sizing up college players, I think he's one and done, so he won't even be around next year. Unlike the Tar Heels who will probably return all of the underclassmen from this year's squad for at least another season. Meaning that even if they don't make it to the final four this year, the future is bright. Bright baby blue, that is.

And finally, did anyone else see the World Cup Soccer Draw? It looks to be a pretty exciting world cup. That first game between England and the U.S. is going to be INTENSE! If you want some history on that particular rivalry check out the movie, "The Miracle Match" It's the story of the only time in history that the USA has ever beaten England in Soccer. My Dutch boys got an excellent draw. If they don't make it out of group play it will be an absolute tragedy. And the "group of death" includes Brazil, Portugal & the Ivory Coast and a North Korean team that pretty much everyone agrees doesn't stand a chance. Next summer is going to be great! "Laat de Leeuw niet in z'n hempie staan, HUP HOLLAND HUP!"

Redneck trailer skirting, hopefully it will help out.

...And this was her worst performance ever!

So here's the thing, I kind of hate my sister Skye. Don't get me wrong. I think she's beautiful, talented and smart and that's kind of why I hate her.

You see it's just not fair. Let's leave aside the fact that she's moving to Hawaii in 3 1/2 weeks (although that in itself is reason enough to for jealousy) I think Skye was born to keep me humble. As a teenager when I had aspirations of being a lawyer, a 4 year old Skye could actually outmaneuver me in an argument. It got worse when she started reading. She quickly became smarter than me, so now I couldn't even be the smart one in the family. (And since I'm not the artistic one, the funny one, the pretty one, the musical one, the athletic one or the creative one, I've never really figured out where that left me.) Then there's the fact that she has the perfect petite figure that I so envy! But the main reason is because Skye was born with "The voice." She has perfect pitch and a vocal gift that honestly cannot be taught or acquired. It's sickening. She did her first public performance at age 5 in front of 2000 people. And the crowds and performances have only gotten better since then.

So today Skye had a recital up at the college for her voice class. Naturally I went up to support her. I wasn't sure how it would be since she managed to get the flu this week. She couldn't even talk yesterday and today she her voice was in a register lower than my husband's. Add to that she had major sinus infections, and an ear infection so bad that she actually has blisters on her ear drums. So technically she can barely hear.

But regardless of all of that she still came out and sang better deathly ill than most of us do at our very best. I've been to many, many of Skye's performances over the years and it pains me to tell you that this is Skye at the worst I've ever seen. And the only thing I can complain about is that her voice lacked it's usual power and she played with her skirt too much. Other wise, it was a perfect performance. (Okay except for the piano. I don't think the pianist had practiced quite enough. But Skye's performance was great. Just Listen.)

Now do you get why I hate her just a little. (And don't even get me started on that amazingly gorgeous retro gown she wore! Seriously! It's just not fair!)

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...

What We're Thankful For

Time to spend together and family & friends to spend it with.

Lots of good food.

Most importantly though, the world's cutest, smartest, silliest, sweetest, funnest, goofiest, happiest, brightest most wonderful munchkin ever!

For My Mom

So mom was complaining that living in paradise just makes it too hard to get into the holiday spirit. Boo Hoo! Maybe these photos of our recent weather will help.

The After Picture

So a lot of people have been bugging me to post pictures since I've not really been quiet about my recent weight loss. The only problem is that I didn't really take an official "Before" picture, so it's kind of hard to find something to compare it with.

In the end, I came up with these, this was our trip to Bear World at the end of September, right before I started the diet. Neither of these is a good "Before" photo, but between the two of them you can sort of get the gist.

This was taken earlier today. It's not really an official "After" picture as I'm not wearing the most flattering clothes or standing in a flattering position. But still, I think you can see a little bit of a difference anyway. Over the course of 40 days I lost 23.6 lbs. I was maintaining pretty well before Travis came home last week, and since then, I've hardly stepped on the scale. But not to worry, I'm very determined not to gain it all back, so I'm working on getting back into my healthier habits now that we're starting to adjust to having him home. Anyway, so that's that.

Festival of Trees

Today we went to the Festival of Trees with Trav's parents.

But I guess I should back track. Yesterday we celebrated birthday. (Gideon was not interested in much of anything, I think he was tired.) And yes, that's the correct number of candles on Trav's cake.

The festival was fun and they had lots of really fun and beautiful trees.

This one was my absolute favorite. The pictures don't do it justice but it really was gorgeous and I LOVED the topper they used on it!

I mean, isn't that top just cool!

Munchkin did pretty well. I was afraid it would be like letting the bull loose in the china shop, but we had him on his leash and he really wasn't too bad. He honestly just wanted to run circles around everything.

I love pink and gold! I don't know why, but I just always have. It's always been my dream when I grow up to have a white Christmas tree that I decorate in pink & gold. Unfortunately, I think I'll wait a few years until the munchkin is a little bit more careful before I invest in something like that.

We tried to get a picture of munchkin with Santa Claus, but he screamed bloody murder and wouldn't go near him, even when I was holding him. So sorry, but no Santa picture.

He did, however really like the old time fiddlers. He sat and listened to them (and clapped and bobbed his head) for about 15 minutes. That's a long time for his attention to be held by anything. But he really seemed to enjoy it!

All in all a well spent afternoon. It's fun just getting to spend time together again.