Going Home

For all of our friends and family in the South. Jerome and Jadyn will be coming to Alabama to visit/hunt October 8 - 18. I dont know what I'm gonna do without my baby for 10 days, but I know she is gonna have a great time with her daddy, Nana, and Khun Ya. The boys are in school and can not come right now, so I'm gonna stay here with them. We will use our free tickets to come after Jerome leaves for Afganistan. Maybe during spring break or in the summer when we can make another trip to the beach! Wish I could come this time. We miss you all!

Games ON!

ROLL TIDE!!! Beat GA!

Hairbows

My friend Candance told me about this web site with really cute bows for little girls. Check it out. There was a gift registry, and I signed Jadyn up. Thought if family wanted to send her something for Christmas or her Birthday this would be easy. I like all the bows, but picked out a few for her registry. We also signed up for the bow of the month club. I got the small curlie bows that come two at a time, but there are several other ones too. They are so CUTE!

www.curlyqhairbows.com

Half Way

Today was the end of week three of Boot Camp! I have made it half way through. It has been challenging and fun at the same time. I don't know if I am any better at running yet. And Wednesday evening was the only time that I had to work out in the rain.

It was just a drizzle so it was not too bad. Jadyn seemed to enjoy it. She went with me Wednesday, because Jerome took the boys to The Archer's Den. She did her exercise, too. She says it so cute though. She did all the activities with me once and then Miss Jennifer the second time around. (Thanks Jen!) She was so cute! I wish I had a camera with me, I would have let Linda take pics of her.

Today when I got there she was asleep in the car. The weather was nice - actually kind of warm for fall, so I just rolled the window down and let her sleep. I did keep checking on her, but she must of woke up while we were stretching out at the end. When I got to the car she was smiling. She said, "Where is my towel? I'm gonna go exercise." She was MAD because I told her it was already over. I had to get her out and let her run around the cones. Then , she helped pick them all up.

Good News - No More Lice!!!!! We are done with it. Forever I hope! I have washed more stuff this week than I ever care to do at one time again!

I still haven't picked out a comforter set or curtains for my new bedroom. Haven't seen any that I really like for the price you have to pay for that stuff. Good News - Target opens October 12th, so maybe if I haven't gotten one by then I will find one there! I'll post pics when it is all done.

The BIG "L" Word

Wednesday I took down my old bed and moved the other furniture around. I shampooed the carpet and cleaned the room out for my BIG delivery. YEA! Since we didn't have a bed, Jerome slept on the couch and I slept with Justin. Thursday Morning Jerome and I sat around and waited for the delivery. I was so excited. When my bedroom furniture finally came it looked much larger than in the store. I think it is the huge ceilings in the big warehouse. While Jerome went to pick up the mattress from the other store the school called with the phone cal that NO parent ever wants to hear. Justin has head lice. GREAT!

I picked him up and started the awful task of washing EVERYTHING in the house. I then had to wash everyones hair. Jerome even washed his bald head, LOL. Next came the combing, and combing, and combing again. Everyone in Justin's and Jared's classes were tested and no one else had the mess. So, I am guessing that Jadyn picked it up at preschool. Although, I didn't hear of anyone reporting it there.

Jerome had to comb my hair out again last night. I cant see them on myself, so its hard to get them. But I think we have finally gotten rid of the "L". I don't even like to say the word now.

Jared got rid of his pretty easy. He figured out real quick that Jerome did not have any because he doesn't have any hair. So he asked dad to shave his too. Nice, school pictures are next week - I guess we will always remember this year, LOL.






I haven't had time to pick out a new comforter set, curtains and accessories yet. Been too busy washing clothes. The red sheet is because housing is taking their sweet time getting back to me about fixing my blinds. I will post better pics once I have the room fixed up. But, Hey Mom - My room is CLEAN!!!

Jerome found a bunch of pictures on our old computer. I thought I would make a slide show. You can really see how the kids have grown in just a few years since we have been in Alaska.

My New Bedroom!

I am so excited! Jerome and I have needed a new mattress for a while now. Our old one is lumpy and very uncomfortable. We both wanted a Tempurpedic mattress. Thanks to the Alaska PFD and the extra money we got from Sarah Palin - Thank you! We planned to go get our bed today. We knew we would spend around 2500 - 3000 for the kind we wanted, but Jerome suggested we go to the Mattress Ranch and check out the other brand that Ted Saddler says is similar. They were great and only cost 1200 - YEA!!!! We saved so much on the mattress that we went to look at a headboard to go with it. We have never had our own bedroom suite. Just pieced together pieces of furniture. And never a real bed. We went to Penny's Furniture store and then to Bailey's. We found a whole bedroom set at Bailey's for 1300!!!! Queen bed, dresser, mirror, nightstand, and chest of drawers! I am so happy! For less than we had prepared to spend on the mattress set, I now get a whole new Bedroom, YEA!

Bailey's is really cool, too. There is a giant chair when you walk in. They have a playroom for kids, free snacks, car strollers for toddlers, a waterfall with all kinds of stuffed Alaskan animals. It was a nice place. We even got to go out as a family for lunch. We went to Golden Coral. They have a SUPER buffet that has something for everyone.

Of course, we have to wait to have the stuff delivered to the house or (probably) Jerome has to get someone to help him get it. I have to move the old stuff out and I want to shampoo the carpet in there before we put it in. I will take pictures when it is all finished. But, I included the pictures from the store below. Hopefully I can make it look as nice in my own home. I'm not much of a decorator, but I want to make our room a nice place for us to relax and be together before Jerome has to go to Afghanistan.

One Week Down - Five to Go!

OK, so I made it through the first week! Yea Me! All I can say about today is, "I hate SUICIDES!" My legs are MUSH! But I feel great that I made it this far. Now I just have to work harder at eating better this weekend.

Had to take Justin to the doctor this morning. His cough is just not getting better. Turns out it's the croup and we had been treating it all wrong anyway. Pray he gets better this week. Can't be coughing like this all next week. It has to be disruptive for him an the class.

Migraines and Sore Muscles

Tuesday was not as bad as I thought it would be. I guess because Monday we just did the tests. My shoulders were sore from doing push ups, but other than that I was fine. Tuesday evening - not so much.

When I was a teenager I used to have bad Migraines. I would have what the doctors called mini seizures with them. Not that I fell out shaking or anything. First, I would get the white floaties in my eyes - kind of like blind spots. Then, my hands and tongue will go numb. I would also get expressive disphasia - that is where you know what you want to say and you know that you know information, but your brain doesn't make the connection with your mouth. I would not be able to communicate at all! Then my head would start hurting. Usually I would have to have Demoral or some other drug to knock me out. Since I have been married it has only happened one other time - right after Jared was born. That day when a lady at my mom's work asked me what my new babies name was you can imagine my horror when all I got out of my mouth was. "I don't know"! One time in 14 years is not bad. Till Tuesday evening that is.

Sitting in a PTA meeting I started seeing the white stuff. I thought at first that I needed to put my glasses on, but after a few minutes I knew better. Jerome was not home, so I started trying to explain to Justin what might happen and told him to call his dad right away if momma started acting too weird. I called and ordered a pizza for dinner. That was a fun conversation. I had already started to get the "brain fog". I called Jerome and then called and tried to leave a message for mom. Jerome has never been around me when I had an episode, so I wanted her to know what was going on in case he freaked out, LOL. I only got her answering machine. More brain fog. I wish she could play it back for me. Now I would probably laugh. I told the kids not to go outside till dad got home and went to lay down. Luckily my headache was not too bad and the crazies didn't get too out of control. I slept all night and felt better in the morning.

I was still pretty tired Wednesday morning, but thankfully all the kids had school. I took them in and came home to rest a little more. I was feeling better, just a little cloudy so I decided to go to boot camp and just not push myself too hard. We divided into two groups and worked on strength and then agility. My balance is not very good to begin with so you can imagine how hilarious I looked trying to do some of the balance exercises, LOL. I could not stand up right. We had to do jumping jacks at one point and after about five I had to stop. Not because I felt bad, but because I have this problem that some women with more than one child experience. I think I was wetting myself every time I jumped! For agility we had to do "football training". You know we had to do different maneuvers through the ladder laid out on the ground. I was afraid that I was gonna fall because the ground was kind of wet and slippery. But it was fun.

Needless to say, When I got home I was exhausted and the rest of my day was shot! My legs were mush. But, today I feel OK. My hips and upper thighs are kind of sore, but not too bad. I actually have some energy today, so maybe I can get this house cleaned up! I'm looking forward to Friday!

Not SO Bad First Day

The first day of boot camp was not too bad. Today we had to weigh in and test ourselves on several things. The weigh in was optional, but since my goal is to lose weight I figured I should do it. I'm gonna just come out with it - I can't believe I'm doing this! I weigh 175. I was not really shocked at this amount but disgusted non the less. I don't think I weighed that much when I was full term pregnant with Justin.

We had to warm up for about 5 minutes and then do some stretches. This was not too bad. After that we began getting timed on our physical skills. I felt like I was back in High School taking the physical Fitness Test that we used to have to do. Except that I wasn't very good at it in High School, and now I am really BAD, LOL! Actually I did better on some things than I thought I would do, and not so much on the run.

First, we had to do squats. I did 42 in one minute. I was surprised at how I did manage to keep a somewhat steady pace with these.
Next, we had to do push ups. I chose to do the modified version - Yes I am a sissy! I did 22 of them in one minute. Not very good, but better than I expected!
Then, we had to do sit ups. I am very ashamed to say that I only did 16 in a minute. Hey at least I have something to work for, right.
Last, we had to run, jog, or walk a mile. It was four laps around this track that was set up with cones. We ran on grass, not that it would have made a difference. I started off with a slow jog, then decided that I was not going to fool anyone. I can't jog this whole thing, LOL. I walked most of it, but did manage to jog part of each lap. My time was 14.25 minutes. Far cry from the 6 minute mile I ONCE ran in junior high!

All in all I had fun. It was a pretty good start to my ultra large goal! Wednesday is the next class. It is suppose to be more fun - whatever that means, hehe.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!! Just keep repeating this to myself over and over and over.

Boot Camp!!!

OK, So I LOVE to eat! Food is my weakness, any kind of food. But especially chocolate and sweets. I also love bread. The list goes on and on. I have been trying to lose about 30 pounds for some time time. By trying I mean by eating more food an not really exercising, LOL. So you can see why my plan is not working. Today I start the REAL PLAN!

The gym here on post is holding a Weight Loss Boot Camp! It starts at 11:45. We meet at least 3 times a week OUTSIDE and they are gonna work our butts off! It last for 6 weeks. Like I said it is outside - Rain or SNOW! For those of you not in Alaska, this could be a problem. We usually do get some snow in September and certainly by Halloween! So I am praying that it holds off for at least 6 weeks, yea right.

I have not done much exercise in a while, so I know I will be sore for at least a week, probably all six! Going to stock up on Tylenol and Aspercream this morning. I will keep you posted as the weeks go by. Keep me in your prayers!

Jesus Loves Me?

Jerome has been in the field for the last two weeks. (Nonmilitary people, this just means he was training and was away from home.) The other night Jadyn was laying in bed with me and I was trying to get her to GO TO SLEEP! She asked me to sing her a song, so I sang her Jesus Loves Me. Then she said I will sing with you mommy. So I sang the first part and she would repeat me. Except she would repeat it, "Jesus loves you this i know....yes, Jesus loves you." It was the cutest thing I had ever heard. But when we were done I said, "Jadyn, you know Jesus loves you too. He loves everyone and he watches over us all to keep us safe." She looked at me kind of funny and said, "Jesus loves me? Wow! That is awesome!" Then she wanted to sing again and this time she sang the words correctly.

4 Wheeling

Jerome and Jared went 4 wheeling today at Eklutna Lake. They had a good time together. Maybe next time we can all go.