My Life Song

Jaxson Hunter Jones

2011-04-23T10:07:00.001-08:00

Well, I knew I was close when I posted the last blog. But Boy I didn't realize I would go into the hospital the next morning! My water broke around 5am Sunday Morning. Since Jared and Jadyn both came very quickly, we got dressed and went on into the hospital even though I was not really contracting yet. They went ahead and admitted me and we all just knew that we would have a baby by noon. HAHAHA, Yeah Right.

I would have a few contractions here and there, some quite painful, but nothing really stuck around. I walked around the hospital countless times through out the next 12 hours - Nothing. We tried several other methods to start my labor, but nothing worked. At 6pm I was still just around 1 cm! NO WAY! I was already exhausted from walking and no progress had been made. That is when we decided to induce. I REALLY didn't want to use Pitocin, so we tried half of a pill...I can't remember the name. It started with a C, lol. Anyway, it worked! My labor started pretty quickly and by 1030 I was ready for an epidural - Another break in my Birth Plan, but you got to be flexible right?? Jared and Jadyn were natural births, but they all happened pretty quickly. This little guy was taking his sweet time!

I REALLY wasn't in THAT much pain. Well I was, but considering I knew how much farther I had to go and that my body was just done I don't regret the epidural decision. Once it kicked in I thought I would get some rest, well that didn't really happen either. Jaxson didn't like the stronger contractions and his heart rate kept dropping to the 60-70's. I felt like a contortionist! They had me up on hands and knees several times. This is VERY hard to do when you can't feel the bottom half of your body, BTW. LOL, But MAN was I happy that I couldn't feel it!

Keeping track of his HR was also hard with all the moving around I was doing, so they put an internal monitor on his head and called the doctor. The big C word was mentioned, but thankfully averted. Because by the time the doctor got to the hospital he was doing great and I was almost complete! Thank The LORD! After all that, the rest was a piece of CAKE.

Jaxson was born at 3:25 am April 18, 2011. He was 6 pounds 12 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long.

He is just the cutest thing!! He barely even cried when he wa born. He was just looking all around like who are you and how did I get here! The gave him to me right away and he was so relaxed. He even started sucking his thumb right away. Just too cute. He nursed and just hung out for a bit, then they took him to be weighed and cleaned up. That is when he started to CRY! LOL, still that is about the only time he cries. He doesn't like having his bottom wiped.

We came home Tuesday evening and he is doing GREAT! He is a bit jaundice, but yesterday his levels were back in the normal range and he didn't have to have any light therapy.
He has slept the last 2 nights in his own bed. He gets up every couple of hours, but goes right back to sleep after nursing.

We are all just in LOVE!

Poor Jerome was SICK as a DOG all weekend! He was with me in the hospital, but he slept most of the time on the couch. He woke up when it was time to push, lol. I felt so sorry for him. He is NEVER sick. I hate that it had to be this weekend, but I am so happy to have him home with me and not deployed! He has been a big help at home though taking care of the big kids and the house! I love you Jerome :O)

Jadyn is sick as well, and it was killing her that she can't love on Jellybean the way she wants to. We did get her a mask to wear so she could hold him in the hospital. Turns out she has either pneumonia or bronchitis! Antibiotics are helping and she is getting better quickly. Jerome went to the doc and he is recovering too. But me and Jared are starting to cough, so pray that it GOES AWAY!!!!! And that Baby doesn't get anything from all of us.

Sorry the pictures are blurry :( The NEW camera batteries that I took to the hospital didn't work and we had to use the itouch. I thought it took better quality, but they didn't transfer very clearly. New pictures with the GOOD camera coming soon!

Right after he was born. Not sure why my swollen hand is on his head.

All cleaned up and sleeping.

He was so curious. Just kept looking all around and watching us.

Jared is SO PROUD!

My FOUR kids! Wow, who knew 4.

Jadyn finally got a turn. She is in love, but didn't like that mask :(

Big Brother!!!!!

One of the few moments Jerome held baby at the hospital. He was worried about all his coughing.

Proud Pappa!

This picture makes him look so fat, but really he is a TINY little thing :O)

I'm not sure WHAT I was doing, lol. I look GOOFY!

This is his favorite position....mine too!

None of my other kiddos likes the paci, but Jax loves it! He also LOVES his fingers, but he keeps scratching his face.


First time in the car seat. Headed Home! He did NOT like it, until daddy picked it up and he started moving.

Remembering Our Angel

2011-04-16T09:47:00.009-08:00

2 years ago yesterday I went for a 20 week ultrasound and found out that our baby boy had already gone on to be with Jesus. Jerome was deployed and it was heartbreaking news to have to tell him over the phone when he called to see if we were having a boy or a girl. As awful as those next few days were, I could not have felt more love and support from my friends and family. I KNOW that God had His hand in the situation, and I knew then that something good must come out of this tragic day.

James Grady was born still early in the morning on April 16th, 2009.

So much HAS come out of our experience. My children are AMAZING! Even in their little understanding of the situation they were able to later take this experience and relate to a young boy who had just lost his father in Afghanistan. Jadyn may not have full understanding of the gospel, but she knows WHO Jesus is and she knows that he is REAL! I had to hold back the tears as she told her friend that his daddy was in heaven with Jesus and her baby brother.

I have had countless opportunities to share and witness with hurting moms about how God never leaves us. Through this experience I have become stronger in my faith and know that God wants us to share with others how he has blessed us in every situation.

I was not sure whether or not I even wanted to try and have another baby. Jerome never really talked about it either. I was just content with the 3 blessings that I had already been given. But I guess God had better plans for our family!

This past August when I found out that I was pregnant, WOW! What a surprise! I wasn't sure HOW Jerome was going to take the news... Don't get me wrong, He is a wonderful father and LOVES all of our children. But convincing him to have the 2nd and third was a bit hard, LOL. He wasn't sure that he wanted more children after Justin. I remember he said to me, "How can I love another child as much as I love Justin." I wondered the same thing too at the time. But God gives us more and more love for our children every day! He actually took the news very well and is just as excited as me, or maybe even more excited some days to see our newest little one.

All of my other pregnancies have been very easy. I never had morning sickness, heartburn, or any of the other typical pregnancy symptoms. I LOVED being pregnant. I still do, but BOY this BOY has given me fits! I have had just about every symptom written in a book about pregnancy with the exception of diabetes. I am border line Pre E. He is so LOW now, and has been for weeks, that I am in PAIN! I am just ready to have this baby NOW. I have tried everything to kick him out, but nothing works. I know that God will send him to us in His time and I must be patient.

So today, as I sit back and reflect over the last 2 years, I am just full of JOY and feel so BLESSED! Emotionally anyway... Physically, I am DONE! LOL

As I was complaining about my physical pain and hoping that the baby would come soon, this song came on the radio only to remind me that all the physical and emotional pain is just temporary. The is Joy in the waiting.

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning

Thanks to my wonderful friend Samantha for the Maternity Pictures :O) http://sakphotographyak.blogspot.com/

Here is the link to my story from 2009 if you are interested :
http://jonesfamilyal2ak.blogspot.com/2009/04/and-then-there-is-god.html

Ginger

2010 Polar Plunge for Special Olymmpics

2010-12-19T14:16:00.003-09:00

So My husband is a NUT! I love him anyway. Especially when his "nutty" behavior is to raise money for Special Olympics. He and several instructors from the NCOA decided to take the plunge into Goose Lake. The temperature outside yesterday was -3 That is NEGATIVE THREE!!!!!! It was painful just watching them do it! But it was fun. Afterward they all treated me to a lunch a Benihana for my Birthday ;o)

Sorry it's kind of Blurry and please excuse my hideous laugh!!
Somewhere there is a link to more official photos. When I find it I will post that too :o)

What a Birthday Present!

2010-12-14T15:16:00.003-09:00

Yesterday We had our 20 week Ultrasound. They have me as high Risk, but thankfully we have not found anything that REALLY should put me in that category. Mainly just because we lost James so late in the pregnancy and never found out the reasons why and I will be 36 on Saturday. Apparently, that is OLD HAHAHAHA! I saw the high risk doctor at the Native Hospital and they did a level 2 us. It took over an hour and we got some really good pictures. I will try and scan them tonight, but I have to figure out this new printer ;o) Everything is exactly as it should be and baby is very healthy weighing in at 13 ounces!
One picture was VERY OBVIOUS!!!!!

We are having a BOY!!!!!!

The US Tech didn't even have to tell us what THAT was, LOL. There was NO mistaking it! Jadyn was a bit disappointed at first. She really wanted a baby girl. But I think she is alright with a brother now. Especially since her daddy told her that SHE was his only princess ;o) Hey What about ME??? The boys were super excited!! Although by the time this baby is 11 Justin will be 22 and Jared will be 19!!! Holy COW that will make me really OLD by then!

Anyway we are just so happy that our little boy is healthy and I feel great! Now Hurry up Spring time so we can actually meet this little guy!

Trick Or Treat!

2010-11-04T14:05:00.002-08:00

Jared is not so happy....he had to learn a very hard lesson about not telling the truth. He couldn't go out trick or treating, but had to stay at the house and hand out candy. By the end of the night though he was happy. He liked getting to see all the costumes and his friends as they came by to get candy. His brother and sister were even nice enough to give him some of their candy so he got a bucket full too.

Jerome made the pumpkin. The kids were gonna help him,
but they didn't like the feel of the "guts"

SNOW!!!

2010-11-04T13:56:00.003-08:00

We also took Daddy and Phil up to Hatcher's Pass and while we were there it started to snow. Later that day it snowed down the mountain at the HOUSE! The kids were so excited.

Very Friendly Moose

2010-11-04T13:40:00.003-08:00

We went to the Wildlife Conservation Center while Daddy and Phil were here visiting recently. This moose was found in the woods after his mom was hit by a car a few years ago. They bottle fed him and I believed planned to release him when he was strong enough to fend for himself. Apparently he had other plans! He loves people and would not leave us alone. He kept coming right up to the fence to get the kids to pet him!! He tried following us when we walked away. Doen't guess they can release him NOW! But it sure was fun to get so close to a moose and not have to worry about him running us over. Although, that fence was not very strong.

Baby J

2010-10-20T09:27:00.006-08:00

Jerome and I went yesterday to Alaska Family Sonograms to get an NT Scan. It looks for markers of Down's and other genetic complications. I am not really concerned about this, but it was a nice US and we got tons of pictures! The little Jellybean was moving all over the place. But held still long enough for the lady to get some good measurements and pictures. Everything looks great! No problems detected so far! I had to give a little blood, and the rest of the test will be sent off to a lab. But the tech didn't think there was anything to worry about.
It was nice that Jerome got to go and see baby too! He didn't get to go to the US for Jadyn or James, so it was cool for him to be there with me. These are a few of the pictures we got yesterday. I also got some video, but I can't get it to play right on the mac computer.

Hand and foot I think or it might be two feet. She put arms on the picture, but that is not right, lol. It is obviously one foot in the middle.

The heart rate was good and strong!

Baby is just over 2 inches long now.

My Big Fat Positive

2010-10-16T12:49:00.004-08:00

This is why I couldn't ride the rides at the State Fair!!

Surprise! Baby #4 is due May 3, 2011

Jared took this photo. I look horrible and HUGE!!
I am almost 12 weeks and look like I am about 20!

I Found out on August 24th at 4 weeks. I actually thought I might be preggo a week earlier, but it was too early to pick up on a test. I couldn't sleep comfortably on my stomach and I was really tires. Not to mention my ladies were SORE!! LOL! I took the test Tuesday morning, and got a positive. I went to PWOC then went to get the true test at the hospital. While I was there I ran into one of Jerome's soldiers. He told J that he saw me at the hospital, so when he called to find out what was wrong I had to tell him!! I tried to wait till we got home, but He got it out of me!

This pregnancy has been nothing like any of the other ones so far. For one thing I have had MORNING SICKNESS or ALL DAY sickness most of the time. I haven't actually thrown up, but sometimes I wished that I would so that I would feel better! I am constantly tired all the time too. But I think that is all a GOOD sign that everything is OK. I am just ready for this stage to be over for sure! I do feel that it is on it's way out the door. Been feeling better this week.

Another thing that is different is that I am considered High Risk, not only because of James, but apparently I am OLD! My doctor said it's not me, but my eggs, LOL. Whatever! I don't mind though, because I have already had 3 Ultrasounds and I get to go off post on Tuesday for another one. It is the NT Screening. It looks for signed of Downs and other complications. I don't think that is a problem, but hey if I can get a cool US with a specialist, then why not!
I also will get to have a 3D one at 20 weeks instead of the regular one done then. So so far, everything is good and I feel good about this pregnancy! God is in control no matter what!
I'll post more pictures of US later this week!

State Fair

2010-10-16T11:58:00.005-08:00

So the kids started a new school. They love it! It is much bigger than Ursa Minor, but it is nice. I like both their teachers. Actually, it is 2 separate school buildings. Each one has it's own principal, but the PTA and stuff are one. Jared's school is called Swanson. It is Pk-2 grade. Justin's school is called Sherrod. It is 3-5 grade.
Justin has started playing basketball! They practice BEFORE school! I do not like that, LOL! Usually they ride the bus, but on those days I have to take him in then come back and put Jared on the bus.
Jared is gonna learn to wrestle next week. The high school is doing a beginning class that last for 6 days. I signed him up, but it is in the evening so we will see how well that one goes.

We recently had the Alaska State Fair! I love the Fair! It is so much fun and there are all kinds of Alaskan stuff to do. For example the Gigantic Cabbage and panning for Gold! The kids loved the rides! I didn't get to ride too many this year, but it was still fun!

The food is always a TREAT! The highlight of the food experience was the DONUT BURGER!!! Justin ate it, Not me! It was a regular burger with bacon and eggs, but the bun was a doughnut! YUCK! The kids loved it!

There was also a BMX show that was awesome! Those guys were doing all kids of tricks and we were right there. It was cool. I thought I took lots more pictures, but I couldn't find them. I think I might have gotten more video. I will have to make an imovie with it.

More Fun and Super Surprises to come!

2010-10-15T13:41:00.001-08:00

But for now I have to go do laundry, LOL. Promise to post more soon ;o)

One Friend Leaves and Family Comes to visit

2010-10-15T13:22:00.004-08:00

The day after Mike and Kelly left Mom came to visit! YEAH! I had not seen my mommy for a while, so it was so good to have her visit :O)

We tried to get a picture of all three of the kids on the slide, but it was too slippery! It was funny watching them, hehehe.

We went to the Matsu Glacier. You can actually walk out on it. It was quite a hike!
Alaskan Glacier Slide (not sure why this is blue and UL?)

Mom always likes going to the Anchorage Market. Just got to pan for gold. He did pretty good too! Momma won a door prize, too! It was a jar of $50 Lotion, but let me tell you that stuff stinks!

Her visit was not long, but it was FUN!

More of the Davidson Visit

2010-10-15T12:43:00.006-08:00

Lets see.... Next we went on a 4 wheeler ride to the Knik Glacier. Mike and Georgianna, our neighbors went too. We had to make several U Turns because the water was high and we couldn't cross the creek. But we finally made it. It was 20 miles round trip! I did crash into the back of Kelly, but everyone was OK, LOL. It was a fun day.

Elmendorf was having its Artic Thunder Air Show, so we went to see the Blue Angels!

CRAZY! Jared slept through the WHOLE SHOW!! How was that possible??

The last couple of days that they were here we went to Seward two days to go Halibut Fishing!! We also visited the Sea Life Center and the Exit Glacier while in Seward.

OK, So I know I'm a Slacker!!

2010-10-15T10:57:00.006-08:00

I have not updated this in a while and A LOT has gone on since July! So I will try and put the highlights of each month. ...hmmmm let's see,

July - Jerome's High school friend, Mike Davidson and his wife Kelly, came to visit for about 2 weeks. We did all kinds of fun stuff!

We went to Hatcher's Pass to Hike and Explore the abandoned Gold Mine. The kids wanted to pan for gold, but it was rainy and too cold. Plus, we didn't have any pans with us and the visitor center was closed. But I can't beieve Jadyn climbed all the way up the HUGE mountain side. Kelly and I were not doing so well, lol. We saw lots of animals, including MOOSE!

Is it a black bear?? No, it's just naked Jadyn in a black coat!

Then we went to The Wildlife Conservation Center and to the Alyeska Tram. Alyeska is a ski resort in the winter time.

After that Jerome and Mike decided to just head on down to the Russian for some fishing! We were almost there, so Kelly and I went too. Kids in tow! I was hoping they would just watch a movie in the car, but no luck! We couldn't get the dvd player to work. Then to make matters worse, the car kept locking itself and the alarm kept going off while we were sitting in it! Crazy day.
This post is getting too long, so I will continue in the next one!

WATER

2010-07-22T20:43:00.005-08:00

So It is no secret, I LOVE WATER!!!!! The new Brad Paisley song says it all. Well, except for the girls in bikinis part. I don't really go for that, LOL. But I love water! Especially water that is OUTSIDE!! We have indoor pools and even indoor waterparks here, but it is not the same!

I love Swimming in the OCEAN,
Playing in an Outdoor POOL,
Floating on the RIVER,
Riding Jet-skis,
Jumping in a Lake,
Sitting on the Beach just listening to the waves,
Fishing, Canoeing,
the list goes ON And ON!

Alaska is FULL of Water to view, and that is one reason why I love it here. I am torn between the beauty of it all and the warmth to enjoy it all in. The problem is that it is just not accessible year round, and the rivers and lakes are usually pretty darn COLD! Most rivers are made of water from GLACIER run off and require a wet suit if you want to jump in. Even then, you better not stay long! There are a few shallow lakes that you can swim in, and the kids are brave enough to try, but I like my air a bit warmer that 70 when I get out of the water, LOL! Maybe I am just a chicken, bock bock! I had so much fun fishing this past weekend. Not just because the fishing was GOOD! But, because the weather was great (well most of the time) and I LOVE being on the WATER!!!! When we lived in Augusta and had a boat, Jerome would ask me if I was ready to go home. I always told him when you are ready then we will go, because if it was up to me we could stay out all night :) I love hanging out on the pier at Khun Ya's and Papa Jacks. Waving to all the boaters that pass. I would love to have a house on the RIVER! That is probably my dream. Well, it was the beach, but I know Jerome won't go for that, LOL.
So, below I put together all the WATER pictures from this weekend.

View of the Turnagain Arm from car

Kenai River on the way down to Soldotna (taken from car)

The Cook Inlet off of Cannery Road

The views from the Kenai River at the bridge to the city of Kenai

People dipnetting from the edge of the river

Sunset at the Cannery (mouth of the Kenai River)
The sun never actually set, just circled around.

We have BEAUTIFUL Beaches here!!!!!

We have Sea Gulls; they are EVERYWHERE!!!!!

We have Sand Dunes and Sea Oats. It almost looks the same...

...till you see THIS, LOL!!!

...and this.

Instead of white sands we have muddy sand and silt with smooth rocks. The rocks can be very pretty too :)

Instead of walks along the beach, 4 wheeler rides and you MUST have a 4X4 or you will get STUCK!! BIG TIME!!

So you can see my problem. I SO love Alaskan waters and beaches!!!! Can't beat the fishing NO WHERE!!! God has truly blessed this place in abundant food supply. But, I miss 90 degrees and laying out by the pool, LOL. But, since my beach is being TRASHED by the BP OIL LEAK I guess I will stay with the beautiful beaches that I love in Alaska this year :) What makes it EVEN BETTER is that my whole family is home to enjoy it with me this summer. Jerome is not off somewhere on a deployment and we can be TOGETHER!!! I am so BLESSED :)

Dipnetting on the Kenai River and Camping

2010-07-22T18:59:00.005-08:00

Mrs. Rachel and me with our King Salmon Fillets.

My Fly Girl!

This was all the packaged fish. It was ours, Mrs. Rachel's, and the Browns.
All together it is about 90 meals!

Jerome and Mike took the kids out on the boat. The 4 kids caught 17 fish in about an HOUR!

Washing our fish so we can put the fillets in Food Saver bags.

Jadyn being silly at camp.

My King!! I pulled it in the boat while we were dipnetting. Jerome thought it was about 43 pounds!

Jerome and Jared cooking dinner over the fire on Friday night.

Justin was standing guard over the fish guts, lol. ...oh excuse me, He was counting them.

Just hanging out

Jadyn was not afraid of the fish. She was a big help when we were cleaning them, hehe.

Oh, you DO brush your teeth while camping! LOL

4th of July

2010-07-10T10:27:00.003-08:00

We had two moose visit us that evening. This was the one that got the closest to us.

Kids playing with sparklers

The view from the new house :)

New Car

2010-06-23T19:57:00.002-08:00

...well, new to me anyway. My van has seen way much better days. It needs a few repairs and the breaks were starting to squeak like a school bus, LOL. I went to day and traded it for a smaller car that gets way better gas mileage. Jerome is gonna use it to commute back and forth to work from the Valley. I will miss the old van. She was good till the end ;o)

Army Birthday Ball

2010-06-18T17:24:00.004-08:00

We are MOVING!!!

2010-06-18T16:49:00.006-08:00

No we are not leaving Alaska....YET. We went to a friends house out in Palmer Friday night and their next door neighbor had his house up for rent. Mike talked us into going to check it out, and what do you know? I fell in love!

We didn't have any plans to move off post. Jerome has wanted to live out in the Valley for a while, though. Living on post was great for us while he was deployed. It is so convenient and everything is within walking distance. However, Jerome is not in a deploy-able unit anymore, so that is not an issue. We have 2 1/2 years left here, so we thought we would try something different.

Plus, the rent is way less than our BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing). You do not get this when living on post. The only downside is that it is a 35-50 minute drive from Fort Richardson depending on the traffic and weather. But Jerome said that was not an issue for him, and he can also carpool if he wants.

Of course, we prayed about it over the weekend. Everything seems to be just right for us and the kids are super excited too! So Monday Jerome went to the housing office and we called the Realtor to get the lease started. By Wednesday I had the keys in my hand :)

We are going to start moving stuff up there tomorrow, and we have to be out of our house here on July 7th. So we will be celebrating Jerome's Birthday at the NEW HOUSE!!!!

Front door from the stairwell

Our New House

Washer and Dryer

2 Car Garage with shelves or storage all the way around and a utility sink

Formal Living room with Fireplace and built in Entertainment Center

Dinning Area with Built in China Cabinet

Master Bath Tub

Back Deck

Professional Gas Stove

I LOVE THIS!!! Refrigerator

Below- Family Room, Above- Entry into Kitchen from FR

There are 4 Bedrooms, (3 upstairs and another off the Living Room) 2 1/2 Baths, Living room, Dining Area, Family Room, Kitchen, 2 car garage, front porch, back deck...... AND it is right next to our really good friends with TEENAGERS, LOL You know for babysitting duty, Love it!

I will post more pictures as we get settled. Now back to Packing, hehe

NCOA Knik Glacier

2010-06-13T21:55:00.004-08:00

Jerome and some other instructors at the Academy took some of the guest instructors 4 wheeling out to the Knik Glacier. I am very jealous!!! I think we need to acquire a new 4 wheeler for ME, or at least rent one. I want to do this ride, too!

Sleepy Heads

2010-06-09T20:36:00.002-08:00

They must have been tired, because they both crashed after about 5 minutes of sitting down.

Saying Goodbye to Charlie Company

2010-06-08T18:50:00.005-08:00

I posted earlier that Jerome got a new job. It all happened really fast. He went in on a Monday and was offered the job and told that he would start on Friday!! So, that Thursday we had the change of responsibility ceremony at the company. Friday he started at the NCO Academy. We hardly had any time to say goodbye to the families that we were with for the past few years, and TWO deployments. It was a sad goodbye, but it was time for us to move on....even if we are staying in Alaska. Since we will be around, we can still get together with the friends that are staying. Unfortunately, some of my good friends are leaving :(

The soldiers in the company threw this goodbye picnic in honor of Jerome. It was really nice. A few of the families were missing. The pics are in random order.

Lisa, our FRG leader and her daughter Heather

Charlie Company Soldiers

Logan Walker - This is Elesha and Randal's little boy.
Jerome and I are honored to be his God Parents. :)

Justin

Jared by the creek

Adams manning the grill, YUMMY!!!

Elesha, Andrea, and Carie

Lisa's son Joshua after Jerome convinced him to eat "cat poo" (brownie).

It was hilarious!!!

Elesha's Daughter Lei Lani

Princess Jadyn

Carie's son Duke and his dog

Jerome saying goodbye to the soldiers

Jerome paid Randal to say some good things about him, LOL. Not really, he did a great job!

Back Yard S'mores

2010-06-08T18:33:00.003-08:00

One of the things we love about summertime in Alaska is sitting around an open fire whether it be at a campsite or in our own backyard. And what better was to enjoy a fire than with S'MORES!!!

Jared is our resident fire junkie!!

Jadyn was pouting because the smoke was in her eyes.

We have gotten pretty good, if I do say so myself at making them. There is a trick to getting the chocolate to melt just right!! And don't think that you have to JUST use Hershey's either. If you really want some SUGAR, or a heart attach (he he) try them with a Reese Cup. Someone mentioned the other day that they use Nutella Spread, so that will be what I try the next time we light the pit...can't wait! Unfortunately these are NOT Weight Watcher friendly, so I usually just limit myself to one :(

Who Knew

2010-06-08T18:25:00.004-08:00

If I told you that you could make yummy ice cream with just one simple ingredient, would you believe me?? It is true!! It is healthy and delicious, too!!

Take bananas and slice them into pieces. Freeze them over night. Put them in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!! I added a bit of honey to mine for some added flavor, but you could just eat it plain or add other toppings... nuts might be good.
Thanks to my friend Courtney for posting this awesome treat on FaceBook. It is definitely Weight Watcher friendly :)

Ok, So I will update you all now, LOL.

2010-06-07T09:18:00.006-08:00

I don't know why this is typing underlined, and I can't find the button to make it stop...... Anyway, Sorry I have not posted in a while. Here is an update on us.

The kids finished up school and we have just been hanging out at home. The snow has melted and the sun is UP!! We are looking at about19 hour days here now. The other day it got up to 83!!! The kids are having a blast, and have already been to the lake to swim!

Jerome got a new job here at Fort Richardson. He is now the Assistant Commandant for the NCO Academy. (First Sergeant over the school) He is getting adjusted to the new job...mostly having to work with civilians is a challenge, LOL. But he likes it. I love it because we know that he will be here till he retires in 2012, and it is a non deploy-able unit!!!

This is the kids being silly at the zoo the other day. I took some pictures of the bears with my phone, but they are x rated, LOL. Check them out on my Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/#!/gcjones1

FISH ON!!!!! Not really, we haven't caught anything yet. It is officially fishing season in Alaska! So we will be by the water on most days, LOL. Jerome comes home and usually goes fishing. Sometimes, we all go. Last night Jared went. The pickin's are a bit slim right now, the King Salmon haven't all made it up stream yet. Actually, several streams are restricted right now due to lack of fish??

Jadyn finally got her a big girl bike!! Her brothers were riding 2 wheelers by the time they were 4, but Jadyn didn't really have any interest in riding till now. But she has taken to it, and loves riding her Barbie Bike. It even has a place for her barbie to sit while she rides, LOL. The boys got new bikes too...That was an experience. All I can say is don't buy one from Walmart in Eagle River. All three of the ones we got there fell apart after about an hour of riding!! But all is good now. Jerome even got a new bike and has taken to riding for PT and back and forth to work. I plan to ride the Coastal Trail this summer. It's 11 miles!!

I will post more of our adventures soon!!

Thai Food

2010-04-22T14:03:00.005-08:00

I thought this was the funniest name for a bakeryThom Kha Gai
I ate almost the whole bowl, so much for portion control, but it was YUMMY

When you buy a coke at the market they pour it in a bag with ice.

dessert

Mango with sweet sticky rice
My Favorite

Food for the monks

lunch time at home

rothee Justin's fav dessert

sidewalk food

Ice cream on a green hot dog bun with stick rice in the bottom
The kids waited every day for the ice cream truck. It was a guy on a motorcycle with a cooler attached to the side, lol.

more desserts from the market

dinner at a restaurant one night

noodle soup

fruit stand

lunch at home

more fruit

more sidewalk food

5 pounds and Zumba

2010-04-22T09:22:00.002-08:00

Thailand was a blast! We had so much fun. It was so nice to just relax with family and not have to worry about ANYTHING! It was a much needed break after a LONG deployment. I tried to be good....I started going to the hotel gym in the morning with Jerome, but that didn't last very long. Who wants to get up at 6 am on VACATION?? That, and the fact that we ate all day long caused me to gain a little weight back! 5 pounds - But that is not too bad I guess for three weeks off. I did try and watch my portions, and eat more fruits and veggies. But, even that is hard in a country that eats all the time and with food stands lining every sidewalk! It was an awesome adventure. I will post food pics in the next post.

When we returned to AK, most of the snow was melted. Well, at least the front yard has grass anyway. So I guess I have to trade my ski poles in for some other activity. Anong and some other friends have been praising this new class at the gym. ZUMBA I gave it a try last night and LOVED it! However, I feel I have lost all of the rhythm and coordination of my youth, LOL. Maybe with practice I will regain some of my dance skills, but it might take lots of practice. Someone on Facebook mentioned that it might just be confidence that I lack.....This is possible, a BIG BUTT in a dance class does sort of take away from youthful confidence, LOL.

Anyway, I am ordering some dance sneakers on zappos.com, lol. Maybe that will help, or at least give me an excuse to buy new shoes, ;-)

I have not been to WW to weigh in yet. But I will go back on Wednesday. Maybe by then I will have taken off these 5 extra pounds and I can stay on track! Back to healthy eating and working my butt off! The ball is only 28 days away!

BTW, I am having my dressed made in Thailand!! I know it is gonna be blue and have a square neckline. Hopefully it will turn out beautiful. Anong, Jerome's mom, is gonna mail it to me when it s done. She stayed for an extra month so she could go to her class reunion. Hopefully I will be even smaller when it gets here, but I might need a good seamstress to take it up.

OK, that's enough for today. I HAVE to get busy around here. Jerome and I sent the kids back to school. He had another week off, so we have been LAZY!! Our days are still messed up, so we have been sleeping during the day and staying up all night. I haven't even unpacked, lol. Got to do SOMETHING today for sure!

Flowers and Fruit in Thailand

2010-04-20T20:00:00.003-08:00

More Thailand Pictures - More to come....

2010-04-18T16:14:00.002-08:00

Pictures from Thailand

2010-04-18T15:55:00.003-08:00

Deployment Gifts

2010-03-05T21:55:00.000-09:00

We Army Wives have a saying that Deployment gifts are Way Better than any other holiday. This year I have to agree!! Check out my new BLING and my new MAC!!! Plus there is another family picture that I forgot to add to the last post.

Welcome Home Jerome

2010-03-05T21:50:00.000-09:00

Here are a few pictures from Jerome's first day back HOME!!!! Not sure why the last ones are not clear?? They are from the same camera. We are so happy to have Daddy back where he belongs!

He is HOME!!!!!!

2010-02-28T19:07:00.002-09:00

Jerome made it in Saturday Morning! We are so excited!! I will post pictures soon. Playing on my new imac that he bought me today. I have the best husband in the whole world :o) He came home with a new diamond ring too!! Love you all. Thanks so much for all your prayers and support this year! You have all been a blessing to me.

11 Sticks of Butter!!

2010-02-25T06:13:00.002-09:00

WooHOO!! 2.8 pounds shed this week!! I didn't get to ski this week at all, and I just walked one day. I didn't track very well either, so I thought I had gained this week. I almost didn't go to a meeting, because I have LOTS to do before Jerome gets back this weekend. I am so glad that I did!

Now I have to go find the perfect outfit for meeting my hubby on Saturday!!!! We are so excited! This year is FINALLY over!!!!!!! I will post pics of reunion when he gets here.

1.8 GONE!!

2010-02-16T22:30:00.001-09:00

I lost approximately 7 sticks of butter this week!! It is slow progress, but it is steady! So proud of myself for sticking to it!

Being skinny feels way better than that chocolate taste!!

After School Ski Club

2010-02-12T13:25:00.003-09:00

I started going with the after school club on Mondays and Wednesdays. Justin was already a part of it, and since I am going Jared can come too. Justin is in a faster group, and since I have to stay with Jared, we are in the slower one. But he is getting pretty good :) He loved going all the way up to the Fort Richardson flagpole by the highway. It was pretty cool!

More Ski Pics ( Me & Jadyn )

2010-02-12T13:16:00.002-09:00

Jadyn did pretty good on Peyton's skis, even though they were WAY TOO BIG for her. We saw two moose on our adventure too. The pictures don't really show how close they were to us. They were only like 40 yards or so...maybe closer. There were a lot of people on the track when we first got there, and the moose didn't seem to care at all. They were just hanging out.

Jadyn didn't last too long, and I didn't have good enough of a workout to leave. So, I loaded her up in the Mei Tai wrap that she used when she was smaller and we made the loop. Of course, we took the shorter loop. Man she was heavy!! But she had fun!

Does Muscle REALLY Weigh More than Fat??

2010-02-08T21:44:00.003-09:00

So I was really looking forward to weighing in tonight. Why in the world would I ever look forward to THAT, you may ask?? Well, I did really well this week with tracking AND I went CX Skiing THREE times AND I drank plenty of water this week!!! PLUS, the awesome time I had at Kohl's earlier this week in my NEW SMALLER clothes made me really curious as to how much I lost this week!!

Well, It was NOT a good weigh in - I actually GAINED one pound!! WHAT!! I am still not discouraged. I have smaller clothes and I know it is working :) I am gonna just keep on skiing, keep on skiing, keep on skiing...

I am addicted now!! I went ahead and rented the skis that I borrowed at Dyea today for the rest of the season!! I went with Justin, and Jared tagged along too at the After School CX Club. The trails at Dyea were NOT groomed, which made it a little more difficult, but it was an awesome workout!!

Tomorrow After PWOC I am going to go back to the Elmendorf Golf Course. Jadyn is gonna borrow Peyton's little skis and see if she can do it too!! I might end up carrying her on my back! That will be an even harder workout for sure!! Can't wait to see how she does!

Happy Birthday Boys!!!

2010-02-06T17:20:00.003-09:00

Justin's Birthday is February 4Th and Jared's is the 11Th. For their Birthday this year we took some friends to McDonald's for dinner and cake and then we all went to an Alaska Aces Hockey Game. They had a blast, and even though it was a bit hectic with 9 kids and two adults, it was the easiest Bday ever!! Thanks to Monika for going with us. I don't think i could have managed them alone!!

Narnia

2010-02-06T16:07:00.007-09:00

Some places along the Golf Course CX trails look just like Narnia! It is so cool! Today I went again with Monika, and we also took Jared and his friend Ethan. Neither one of them had done it before, and the equipment was a little too big for them, but they did GREAT!! Jared got tired part way through and just did the shorter loop, but Ethan stuck it out with me. It was snowing most of the time, and sometimes pretty heavy, but the temperature was like 30 so we were BURNING UP!!!!!!! About halfway through the clothes started coming OFF!! By the time it was over we just had on our snow pants and tshirts, lol. No hat, gloves, or jackets...too hot! But it was Fun. I am addicted now! Gonna start going when Jadyn is in school on Monday mornings...maybe more

This one is my RED FACE, LOL. I get so red when I get hot. It happens a lot when I am home in AL, but not so much here in Alaska.

New Clothes :)

2010-02-06T15:55:00.003-09:00

So I had to go shopping yesterday for some new...hmmm undergarments. While I was trying them on I noticed that my jeans were looking a little too baggy. I had not really noticed too much till then, but I decided to go get a pair of 10's to see if they would fit. Well, really I was gonna just see how much more I needed to shed before they would fit. But, When I pulled them up I was doing the Happy dance!!! I know the lady in the next stall thought I was crazy, LOL. They fit perfect!! I am so excited!! I bought a bunch of size 10 shorts back at the end of summer to take to Thailand, but if I keep this up I might need even smaller ones. I am so excited!! Whoo Hoo!! I can't wait till Monday night to weigh in!!

This was my new outfit that I wore to the Aces Game with the Boys :)

Cross Country and Good Food

2010-02-03T19:57:00.003-09:00

Monika and I decided to try our hand at Cross Country Skiing today. The Elmendorf Golf Course has a FREE program. Every day from 10-2 adults can come get skis and use the trails on the golf course. I have never been before, and Monika has only used her daughter's skis once. She only did one lap around the baseball field. We were a bit nervous about getting lost or running up on a moose. But we ventured out anyway! It was a BLAST!! I have horrible balance as it is, just ask Jerome, lol. Monika did great, she didn't fall at all. I did pretty good. I lost my balance a few times and fell, but I was barely moving each time so no injures!! I can't wait to go back! It was so FUN! Plus it was worth SEVEN Activity Points, YEA!

This recipe was on the back of the Healthy Harvest Pasta bag. I was curious about how many points it would be, so I put it in the recipe builder link on the WW website. It was only 5 points, so I thought I would try it for dinner. YUMMY!!! And, since I could add extra veggies for zero points it was very filling too :)

A Good Day after A Bad Week

2010-02-01T21:28:00.003-09:00

Well, I am determined to attend weekly meeting. I need the motivation and the accountability that they provide. I was pretty sure that I had gained weight this week. I "fell off the wagon" one too many times, and I did not track as often as I should have. But I knew that if I went to a meeting I would come away with some motivation to keep me focused. So I planned to go knowing that I might be disappointed.

BUT, When I put on my black pants this morning I was pleasantly surprised!!! It had been a little over a week since I had worn them last, and I could definitely tell that they were LOOSER!!!! YEA!!! I had to keep pulling them up all day, HE HE! That makes going to weigh-in a little bit less scary! Even if I did gain...my clothes can tell the difference!!

I was even happier when I got to the scale and I had not gained anything!! I did not do too well mind you, but I still lost! (0.8 pounds) One of the ladies in the meeting compared pounds in human fat to pounds in butter. That made me feel even better!! I lost almost 4 whole sticks of butter this week!!! LOL

I bought the Weight Watchers crock pot cookbook too. So maybe I can have some yummy new recipes to try out on my kids :)

WATER

2010-02-01T09:27:00.002-09:00

So, I said I was gonna start drinking more water....but that never happened. So this week my goal is to DRINK WATER!!!! Most days the only thing I drink is my morning coffee and then tea or water with dinner. Got me a water bottle, and gonna force myself to make drinking it a habit, lol.

John 4:14
14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

FROGS???

2010-01-29T21:39:00.001-09:00

OK, a while back I blogged about how this deployment and all the crap that has gone on this year was much like the plagues of Egypt. God sent all this to happen because of sin (Egypt/world). Even though the plagues were meant for Pharaoh, the people of God had to suffer as well, just because they were still there. HOWEVER!! GOD NEVER TOOK HIS HAND FROM THEM. He was their rock, their comfort, their provider....the list goes on and on. HE DOES THAT FOR ME ALL THE TIME!! He will do it for YOU too!

This was a post from the military wives site, and it went right along with my now "theme" for this year...It fits right in to my 10 week weight loss challenge, or whatever bad habit you may be dealing with now too.

I am copying it here, but the link is also below...

One More Night with the Frogs

By Jocelyn Green

I’m not a betting sort of person, but if I were, I would put down money (plenty of it) on the fact that military families go through more “new beginnings” than just about any other group of people. Of course, maybe we don’t see it that way every time there is a PCS, deployment, or homecoming from deployment. Maybe we just see it as change. And change is hard.

Right now I’m reading a new book by Leeana Tankersley called Found Art: Discovering Beauty in Foreign Places (Zondervan). She wrote this memoir based on her first year of marriage to a Navy SEAL. They married in San Diego and eight days later forged a new beginning together in Saudi Arabia. Talk about change! I love how she describes it:

“Change is horribly uncomfortable. Like the wrong pair of jeans, change pinches and squeezes in the most inconvenient places. A lot of wriggling and writhing is involved. Maybe even some sucking in and prone posturing. Just when you think you’ve fit in, you realize you’re spilling over the top and sides in the worst way. Very, very little ease.” (Found Art, p. 19)

Strangely enough, even when the change will be good for us, it can still be hard. Remember the story about Moses calling down all sorts of awful plagues on Pharaoh in order to convince him to release the Jewish people from slavery? The second plague was frogs. Exodus 8 tells us that they came up out of the water and covered the land. Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to ask God to make them go away.

“Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.’ And he said, ‘Tomorrow.’” (Exodus 8:9,10)

Tomorrow? Really? If it were me, I’m pretty sure I would have said, “Right now!” Wouldn’t you?

The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly why Pharaoh wanted to keep the swarming, slimy frogs around that night. Did he think they were cute? The decision is shocking to me. But perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from the frogs and how they relate to the changes we need to make in our own lives.

How many times have you thought about a bad habit you’d like to break or a new discipline you’d like to develop in yourself, but decided to put it off? I know I’ve done this more often than I’d care to admit. For some reason, even if we know our habits (frogs) are bad for us, it’s easier to keep them around than to make a change. Maybe, just maybe, those little frogs start to seem like pets after a while. Could it be that after we’ve had our habits for some time, we don’t mind them anymore?

The new beginnings that happen to us, we can’t do much about. The new beginnings which happen within us, however—those are completely up to us.

If there’s something you need to change in your own life, don’t wait until next January rolls around to make a New Year’s resolution. Don’t spend one more night with the frogs, like Pharaoh did. Ask God to help you (claim Philippians 4:13!). Make that change and watch as a new beginning –a very positive one—emerges for you.

Jocelyn Green is the author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives (along with 14 contributing writers) and co-author of Battlefields & Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan. Visit her Web site and blog at www.faithdeployed.com.

http://www.wivesoffaith.org/one-more-night-with-the-frogs

Black and Blue

2010-01-29T13:22:00.002-09:00

Jared's eye after a couple of days. He has a pretty good shiner now, lol. Still making me crazy!! He nearly tripped over his own feet and fell down the stairs this morning. Thankfully, he caught himself....geez!

5% Goal :0)

2010-01-26T20:13:00.002-09:00

Was a bit nervous to weigh in tonight. I didn't track as well as I should have last week. I was just hoping not to have gained anything, but I actually lost 1.8 pounds!! As another blogger than I follow wrote, one pound a week equals 52 pounds in a year!! I will take that :o) I have met my 5% goal, so that is good. Now on to the 10% goal...that's 10% of starting weight. Happy eating, all.

Clumsy and Daredevil should NOT go together!!

2010-01-26T17:22:00.007-09:00

This is a picture of me and my brother, Chris, when we were little. Notice the big bruise on my forehead. That stayed there for most of my childhood! I am a clutz and I usually did land on my head!

Unfortunately, Jared is just as clumsy!! But, he is a boy and is a little bit of a Daredevil. That is not a good combination!! Saturday we went tubing and had a great time!!! No one was injured and we did not freeze to death, so we thought it was a good day. LOL!!! HAHAHA! No weekend is complete with out a trip to the ER in the Jones' Family...at least not this year.

We stopped at Burger King to get the kids some dinner since it was late. Elesha and I were in line to order and I heard Jared scream!! I looked over an he immediately had a huge goose egg on his head and it was continuing to get bigger. We didn't even order the food. We all loaded back in the car and went to the ER. Justin said Jared was swinging between two tables and he swung too far backwards and fell straight down on his face!

I am glad that Elesha was with me! She took all the other kids to McDonald's while we went to the hospital. McDonald's because it was closer, but mostly because the people at BK didn't even lift a finger to help us! One employee was sitting within arms reach of him when it happened, and she didn't even look up!!

The doc was afraid that he cracked his skull right above his right eye, so he ordered a CT to look at the bone and to check for swelling inside.... Everything looked good, so we thought. Jared was his usual self and all back to normal at this point.

Elesha came to get us and we stopped at the shoppette for milk on the way home. That is when the doctor called to tell us that the radiologist thinks she saw a tiny bit of blood on the scan, and he would like for us to come back to be monitored...probably overnight due to Jared's recent Neurological stuff.

The on call doctor did not feel comfortable having him at Elmendorf given his age and past history, so Jared got to ride in another Ambulance. This is his 5Th time to do so, and he is only SIX YEARS OLD!!!!! This time he was awake, and wanted to take pictures so he would remember it, lol.

Other than the nurses coming in every hour and us not getting much sleep, everything went well. Jared had no problems through the night. WE were released Sunday morning. The problem is that they are afraid of secondary head injury. That is when you bump your head again before the first injury can heal. If he hits his head a second time he could have severe bleeding. So they prescribed limited activity for TWO MONTHS!!!! Needless to say, I am a nervous wreck! Jared will not be still and he trips when he walks!!! I need bubble wrap!!!!

The next pictures are from the tubing trip that day. It was a beautiful and fun day. Glad we did it, cause the snow will be gone by the time Jared can play again, he he.

Two Weeks Down

2010-01-20T13:09:00.003-09:00

Well Monday was the 2ND full week of the healthier me! I weighed today and I had lost another 3 pounds! So far that makes 6.8 for the two week total! I can't believe how easy this is...it must get harder, lol. WW really does let you eat what you want and still lose weight. Both weeks, I went out to dinner with friends and still did not go beyond my points allotment. I just have to make better choices and plan ahead for snacks and meals, which is something I should have been doing anyway! You actually save money at the grocery store when you go with a list instead of just buying what looks good, lol.
I have treated myself with occasional snacks, but also bought some healthy options from weight watchers. I know I am a sweets person, and I could use all my points on chocolate alone, lol. So I got some ice cream, and some chocolate snack bars that are only 1 or 2 points each.
I tried to get out and move around more last week, but I didn't get to it every day. I did walk to the car service center instead of having someone take me to pick up the car. This week I plan to start walking the dog at least once a day! She will like it.,and it is like a mile if I go the block around our house and Dyea.

Verse for the week

1 Corinthians 6:19 -20
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

I know this chapter was mostly talking about sexual immorality, but this verse also refers to our body in general. Not that it is a sin to eat too much or not exercise....but can it be? If those things are put above your relationship with Christ and become addictions....maybe. Treat your body with respect and care. Taking care of yourself is one way to better be effective in your Christian ministry. It is hard to be a servant to others when you are not healthy yourself!

Sad Day

2010-01-12T14:06:00.003-09:00

Well, we did it, we won the National Championship. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited for Alabama and my team. But, the day was not all fun and games as we had planned it to be in my house. That morning I talked to Jerome and from his tone and his encrypted message I knew that we had lost a soldier, and that it was probably someone that I knew. Since Jerome doesn't usually tell me ANYTHING, I knew it was going to be bad! I waited around for what seemed like eternity! It was my friend Tiffany. Her wonderful and brave husband Jason Hickman lost his life Thursday in Afghanistan. Suddenly a ballgame just isn't that important!

Please be in prayer for Tiffany and her family. Jason was an awesome father, a wonderful husband, and a brave soldier. Tiffany told me that she knows he is with the father and that she will see him again one day! Hallelujah!

Jason died doing what he loved, serving his country! It is hard for people to understand that sometimes, but as Army wives we live that every day. It is an honor to live among such strong men and women each day! Jason is an American Hero! Thank you for your sacrifice Jason and Tiffany!

They have three beautiful little boys who are having a hard time, so please keep them in your prayers as well. They will never fully recover from such a devastating loss in their family, but God is faithful. And, He will keep them safe and bless their lives more than anyone can ever imagine!

WOW!

2010-01-12T13:47:00.003-09:00

This week was pretty easy! There are lots of filling foods that are healthy for you and only use a few points. Plus I found some awesome ZERO POINTS soups! I get 25 points a day, plus 35 extra, bonus points is what I call em, a week. I only went over on my points one day, and that was the day I went to Red Robin for dinner with some friends. I should have gotten the Asian salad, but I needed a BURGER! HAHAHA But I only used 8 bonus points all week. That even included the birthday party that I went to with the kids, and yes I had cake and ice cream! How cool is that!

I lost 3.8 pounds my first week! This week my plan is to exercise more. I didn't really get to do that this week, so that is my goal. I also need to increase my water intake. I know I am not getting enough water.

Overall, I think I really like Weight Watchers! I didn't think I would like having to keep track of what I eat, but it is really easy, and it is fun to find all kinds of new recipes and stuff that is healthy instead of junk! Justin even has me look up points for him, lol. "Hey mom how much is this bag of chips worth?"

My verse for the week:

Proverbs 31:27 (New International Version)

27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

I like to eat when I am bored...well, I like to eat all the time! So this verse just reminds me that there is always something to do besides eat! My house is always in disaster mode! The kids always need something, or could be motivated to do something with me. Someone call always be ministered too. There are preparations for Jerome's homecoming. God wants to spend time with me alone! ... Do not sit and eat and be idle. Get Up!! Move! Do something!! Obey God, and maybe this new lifestyle eating thing won't be so hard. Happy Healthy Eating and Move it!

It's a God Thing

2010-01-05T22:06:00.002-09:00

I LOVE my savior!!! Man, he knows just what I need when I need it!! I was about to go to bed, but checked my email one last time and this is what I found!! Go Jesus!! Seriously, thank you Jesus for being REAL and for always knowing what we need and when we need to hear it. My God LIVES and he is HERE with ME TODAY!

New Year’s Revolutions
By Naomi Cramer Overton, President, MOPS International

“Mama, what’s your new year’s revolution?”

“No, honey, it’s not revolution, it’s resolution.”

Acting no more enlightened than before, the child asks: “So what is it?”

Setting a New Year’s resolution can feel like a revolution: It takes an uprising of hope and a strategized campaign. It takes looking past enemy lines of our failures to see a hill worth taking.
We have to believe in something beyond ourselves to have a revolution, or a resolution:

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a NEW THING!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland. – Isaiah 43:18,19

As we come out of a long season where most of us have faced change, are you also spying signs of hope?

About half of MOPS moms didn’t make any New Year’s Resolutions last January, and the other half kept just “some.” Instead of aiming too high or so low that we aren’t disappointed, what about a year of believing there’s a “new thing” ahead with God?

Whatever your "New Years Resolution" may be, let God do a new thing in YOU!

POINTS

2010-01-05T21:44:00.003-09:00

I stayed within my points today!! I had a couple of samples at PWOC and a 1/2 BANANA!! That did eat up like 6.5 points, but I made this awesome ZERO POINT soup for dinner, so it was OK! The one thing that has got me in trouble, or I can see that it WILL get me into trouble are the tiny bites!! I am a snacker. Throughout the day today I had a handful of almonds here, a couple vanilla wafers there, some raspberries... these add up pretty quick when your not paying attention. I am gonna try and avoid these point THIEVES! In my defense I just went grocery shopping right before I committed to starting WW, so I DO have too much junk around the house. The next grocery shopping day will be carefully planned meals and snacks, so the temptation is not here!!

I had a couple of good thoughts that I wanted to share today, but I am too tired. Maybe I will share my revelations tomorrow, lol. Night all :)

10 Week Weight Loss Challenge!!!

2010-01-04T22:08:00.002-09:00

I obviously need to lose weight!! Not only so people will stop asking me if I am pregnant, but so I will look and feel better too! I need to be more active, and that is my challenge! I have said it before and tried....but only to give in and not lose anything! For example, I joined Weight Watchers online back in the spring. Other than tracking my points a few times, I really have not done anything else other than just pay the bill. (If Jerome is reading this now...please know that I had good intentions of going and using the online stuff, just way too much to do with kids and stuff. It is really hard during a deployment to add one other thing...) Something always came up that prevented me from going to meetings.

Well, tonight I went to my first meeting. It really doesn't seem that hard as long as I keep a track of what I eat. Wouldn't you know it! That is what the meeting tonight was about :) I tried it a few minutes ago and even wrote down all the stuff that I had eaten between meals, like a handful of nuts and Jadyn's leftover cheeseburger, lol. I get 25 points per day, then there are some extra ones that you can use for the whole week. Even without precounting my food and all the little "extras" that I had today my total was only 26.5!! That is not too bad, I don't think, anyway. I was expecting it to be off the charts.

So tomorrow and the rest of the week I am gonna make sure that I track my points better and PLAN AHEAD!! I should do much better with points that way.

OK, now for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!! My weight was pretty bad, but still about 10 pounds lighter than I thought it was...178!! I don't think I weighed that much at full term with either of the boys!!!!! My BMI is 31. It should be between 20-25. My weight range is between 117 to 146 pounds. So, i am setting my long term goal at 135. My first short term goal is to lose 5%, so 8 1/2 pounds.

I did learn something pretty cool today though. The garden veggie straws that I bought for the kids instead of potato chips are only 3 POINTS for a WHOLE BAG!! That would be the same as about 10-12 Doritos, and they taste yummy too!

So here goes!! I am also gonna do some type of exercise everyday!! Even if that is just on the Wii Fit. I will post back from time to time and let ya know how I am doing...If I don't, please ask me!!! I might need some motivation!! LOL

Tony Hawk was once in a full body cast!!

2010-01-04T09:57:00.002-09:00

I knew it would eventually happen...just not at 10 minutes till MIDNIGHT!! Justin was trying to skateboard in the basement, and wouldn't you know it....we had to go BACK to the emergency room!! I seriously could have the waiting room named in my honor this year ;) His skateboard has nice teethmarks in the side, and his teeth? Well, lets just say they have a nice mark too. He broke off a good chunk of tooth. I looked for it, but we could not find it anywhere. I was hoping to put it in milk so the dentist could reattach it. Well 4 stitches in the top of his lip and a mouthful of lidocaine later (That's how we learned that the tooth did go all the way through his mouth. The numbing meds just leaked through the hole.) we found the missing tooth! It was in several bits stuck inside his top lip!! YUCK! The doc had to stitch up the inside of his mouth too. There was a huge hole from where the teeth pieces had been. He should get the stitches out tomorrow and then on the 13Th we go back to the dentist to have a more permanent bonding put on his tooth. Thankfully it did not break too far up and none of the nerves or root was exposed!!
These are the pics I took with my blackberry while at the ER. One is of his tooth and the other is before he got stitches.

Ice, Ice Baby

2010-01-04T09:40:00.001-09:00

We had a few days around Christmas when the temps hung out just around freezing, sometimes rising just above freezing. This melting and refreezing action caused some pretty wicked icicles to form outside Justin's window! There were a few that had to be at least 5 feet long!!

Justin's Guitar Recital

2009-12-26T22:08:00.003-09:00

Video of Jadyn's project

2009-12-26T21:53:00.003-09:00

Christmas Day

2009-12-26T17:03:00.000-09:00

I slept on the couch. The cat keeps getting in the stuff under the tree and I didnt want him or the dogs to get in the candy in the stockings. But, mostly because my bed was covered in clothes and other stuff and I was too lazy to clean it off! I tried to lay down at 0130. The boys woke up at 0230 with tummy aches...Jared did feel warm, but I think Justin was just excited. Got them back in bed around 0300. @ 0415 Jadyn came down to steal my spot on the couch. At first she didnt see the toys, but then she spotted them and got up to have a look. With just a little bit of effort, I convinced her that we couldn't play yet and that we had to go to sleep. This is her at 0430.

At 0530 Justin peeked downstairs and wanted to know if it was time to get up yet....he had been awake all night just sitting in his room. At one point he did watch a movie. I told him to come on down. I figured if we got this over with I could go back to sleep soon. (Well, actually go to sleep for REAL!)

@ 0600 he wanted to get Jared up too. It took a little bit of convincing, but then Jared was downstairs by 0630.

Jadyn was the only smart one...she was still asleep on the couch!

Even through all this!

0730 it was Jadyn's turn!

Then @ 0800 we opened presents from all the grandparents.

0845 the cat found the table we used for food and discovered a new view of the fish...

...and then another!

0900 the table came down and we heard Daddy calling on Skype.

0930 - Dakota has had enough.

...so has Jadyn!

Me too! All this will have to wait! 1000 I'm going to BED!

We went to Elesha's for lunch around 1330. We had a good time over there with friends. I ate way too much :) I forgot to take the camera so there are no pictures from there. We got home around 1800 and we had hot chocolate and watched GForce.

By 2130 Jadyn was in her OWN BED ASLEEP!! Thanks to Santa for bringing her a tv so she doesn't have to sleep on the toy room floor any more, LOL. Actually, we turned the playroom into her room on Wednesday. She loves her new BIG room. Jared fell asleep watching tv with Jadyn too. How cute!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-26T16:09:00.000-09:00

This was Jadyn's hands after her Christmas paint project thatshe left allover my guest room walls! I am trying to get the video to load, but dont now where that link went. You can see it on my FB page.

I had Christmas Eve at my house. We had a house full again, and it was FUN! The adults played "dirty Santa" hehe, yes it was g rated. I had several people question my game when I posted the invitation. It was just the chinese exchange game, lol. The kids also exchanged gifts.

We always read the Christmas story before we go to bed. Justin read it this year in place of Daddy.

Some of the Christmas goodies that "Santa" left. This was about 1:30. I then TRIED to go to sleep!

Guitar

2009-12-26T15:35:00.000-09:00

Justin has been taking guitar lessons and had a parents night to show us all what they are learning. I took videos too, but I can't figure out where the link to post a video went??

SNOW!!!!!!!

2009-12-26T15:26:00.000-09:00

Of course, it didnt snow at all while Jerome was home! bt right after Thanksgiving we got several days of SNOW!!! One day we got 17 inches!

Needless to say the last picture is how I will be handling it from now on!

THANKSGIVING

2009-12-26T15:13:00.000-09:00

For Thanksgiving we were going to go to a friends house with some ladies from our FRG but, her kids got sick the day before. So, I ended up hosting it. I had agreed to sub that day so all the cleaning and grocey shopping was done after school! Boy, was I tired! Luckily I didnt have to make the turkey> Carie was going to take it to Ronica's, so instead she just brought it here and it was a pot luck, so I didnt have to cook too much. We had a packed house and it was a lot of fun. I thought that I took pictures, but I can't seem to find them.

We had a pretty tough year, but there is a lot to be Thankful for despite it all!

#1 is that My God IS, WAS, and, WILL ALWAYS BE! Just like the song says....no matter what life throws at us, HE is always there to hold us up! I have been HELD BY GOD pretty much this whole year.

#2 Great Friends, or shall I just call them angels?? God has put some pretty awesome women in my path this year. Some I have known for a while but have gotten much closer to over the deployment. All of my friends have been like little angels all year long. They were the arms of God! I just hope that in some way I was their angel too.

#3 My kids and my Wonderful Husband - Nothing can keep you humble like a three year old! haha, The kids have had a much harder time with this deployment. I don't know why...maybe because they are older, or it could be having to deal with losing their baby brother too. But, they have been my rock! There has been a lot of fighting and refereeing that I had to do, lol. But they keep me going all the time ;) Jerome has been so far away, but thanks to technology we have been able to stay connected. Skype is wonderful! I love you Jerome, and I am so thankful to have you as my husband. I am so excited to see what the coming years have in store for us.

I let my preggo Australian friend, Elesha, talk me into going shopping at 4AM the next day! I didn't buy much, but it was a lot of fun!

Nevermind...

2009-12-26T14:39:00.000-09:00

the pool is closed. Maybe Hillberg to go tubin in a little while :)

More to come...

2009-12-26T13:21:00.000-09:00

Right now the kids want to go to the gym to go swimming. I don't really want to go, but maybe they will all take a much needed NAP afterwards. Plus, I can use a little hot tub myself, hehe.

November

2009-12-26T13:19:00.000-09:00

We finally got some snow!!

Jerome came home for R&R

Jadyn was Daddy's little helper at the bow simulator at Arctic Oasis.

We went bowling with Daddy.

Jerome helped Jared's class dissect salmon, YUCK!

We put up the Christmas Tree.

Daddy watched, then we just played around!

We went to the waterpark.

We had Christmas and Thanksgiving all inthe same day!

We got a new couch, YEA!

Jerome left right before Thanksgivng to go to Alabama on his way back to Afghanistan. Hopefully he will be home sometime in February. We had a good time together. We can't wait for our family to be whole again :)

October

2009-12-26T12:46:00.000-09:00

I know I haven't posted in a LONG time! I hear ya! So the next post are gonna be a month at a time, hehe. October was pretty busy. Let's see -

We ALL had the SWINE FLU! That was a lot of fun...NOT!

But then we all got better and my friend, Erin Fannin, came to visit from Alabama. I don't think we had seen each other since my wedding in 1994! She came down Halloween weekend after an invitation on Facebook, lol. That is how we reconnected. Love FB!! The kids and I had a fun time showing her around town. Anchorage had not gotten any snow yet, but she got to see a little bit in Girdwood and at the ER Nature Center.

Precious got her cast off, but had to wear a bandage for a while. One of her pins had come loose and pushed through her skin...but even with all that she seemed to be much happier with a little bit of mobility!

We had an 80's themed program day at PWOC.

Jadyn and Jared passed out onthe couch was just too cute!

Jadyn got an Alaskan Kuspuk, too cute.

Jadyn was an AL cheerleader at the Halloween Town event, but it was too cold to go trick or treating in so she was her poodle again on Halloween. But, I don't know how much warmer she was BECAUSE, she didnt wear any SHOES!!!!! We were almost done when I realized she only had on socks! But, it didnt slow her down one bit, lol.

Jared was the white ninja from GI Joe, but opted for the warmer dinosaur on Halloween :)

Justin was Obee Wan Kinobe (sp?)

That was pretty much October...

Soccer Trophy and Glowing Trees

2009-09-24T10:41:00.002-08:00

Jared's Soccer season is over. Last night he had a party to celebrate and he got a trophy! Then the kids went out and played on the skate park.

These trees are near our house. They were so bright last night with the sun shining right on them!

Arctic Valley

2009-09-24T10:30:00.004-08:00

The snow is here! It is already at Arctic Valley, which means that it will be at Ft. Rich VERY SOON! I am thinking before October! I was not ready for summer to end, but after driving up there yesterday, I might be willing to change my mind. It was beautiful!! And Jadyn was pretty excited to see the snow on the ground. Fall in Alaska is awesome. I do miss the MULTI colored trees of the south, but we get the snow topped mountains as a backdrop, so it makes up for the lack of reds... Enjoy these beautiful pics. If you are a Ft Rich local, take the drive yourself! The pictures are pretty, but they do not compare to seeing it in person.

Sunday

2009-09-24T10:18:00.003-08:00

These are pictures I took Sunday on the way home and at the Bowling Alley. Nancy just dropped me off there, so I could be with the kids at Jacob's Birthday.

Just becasue it's a house, doesnt mean it's a home. LOL, this is the bathroom at the fairbanks airport. I just thought it was cute!

Mount McKinley from the airplane window.

Justin and Luke having fun with the balls.

Jadyn

Not sure what Jacob was doing...this is just too cute.

Jared feeling better!

Wake me up...continued!

2009-09-22T22:02:00.002-08:00

So, Jared got home from the hospital on Wednesday night about 8pm. Justin is still having trouble with his stomach cramps, and has come home from school early every day this week so far. Plus the Friday before last. Jared was So tired from being in the hospital that he stayed home from school Thursday. Justin was still complaining about his stomach, and since I couldn't get an appointment for him....back to the ER we went! Thankfully Jared went to hang out with Joycelynn so he didn't have to go and he could rest.

The doc that we saw in the ER told me that NOTHING was in his chart or noted on the XRay reading about his mysterious "Bezoar"!!!!!!! Nothing! That doc told me that it was probably just his nerves....his daughter doesn't like school so she always complains of a stomach ache. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! Then he tells me that Maalox will probably help it and sends me home. SERIOUSLY! I am NOT fond of the ER. If Maalox worked I WOULD NOT BE HERE!!!!!

I finally got a followup appointments for both boys today! Of course, as previously mentioned, Jared is wait and see. Justin had another Xray done, and you won't believe this! After ALL the high fiber, water, and benefiber that he has been eating, he is constipated! It did not get any better from last time. In fact all the fiber did was get stuck behind what was there all along! He was pooping everyday, sometimes twice. But, it was not enough to clear it out and make room for all the fiber he was eating. So, basically, it just made it worse!

The doc gave me some "cleansing" medicine. He told me to wait till the weekend and give him a dose every hour for 5 hours or until he gets "clean", LOL :) Then he has to continue to take one dose a day till his stomach starts moving regular again.

I am so glad that it was nothing too serious, but wouldn't it have been easier for them to just give us the RIGHT diagnosis and treatment plan from the start. Poor kid has been suffering for months! But when they "go" at least once or twice a day...

Thursday Night

So Monica calls me and says, you are still going on your trip in the morning, right? The trip is the PWOC Alaska Regional Conference in Fairbanks. I had planed to go, and my room and fee had already ben paid for by the chapel. Thanks Ch Walker!! So she and Joycelynn and Elesha talked me into going. The boys are both feeling well now. Especially Jared, who after being cooped up for two days was ready to skateboard and run!

The only problem was The carpool group was leaving at 6am Friday morning and there was NO WAY I could be ready by then. So I decided that if I could find a ticket for $150 or less then I would fly. One hour vs six hours...sounds better anyway after my week. Turns out one of the kids had enough air miles to get me there free!!! And I am so glad that I flew, because the van of carpoolers BROKE DOWN!!! But they were not letting Satan sway them! They witnessed to a motorcycle guy that stopped to help AND the tow truck driver!! I love it!

The weekend was AWESOME!! God was SO there! I was blessed MORE than I ever expected to be. I just needed a break, I got SO MUCH MORE. But, I will write about that later!

One problem! When I called Saturday to see how Monika was doing with the kids and if they were having fun at the fall festival in Palmer, Jared was not there. Apparently he caught the 24 hour stomach bug that was going around, and stayed with Joycelynn! I am SO SORRY! I hate that I was not there for him, but he was in good hands, and he didn't seem to mind being with her. Actually, after everything that I had been through (one thing after another, after another...) I think if I had been there for that I would have just LOST IT MYSELF!! Have one of my own Complicated Migraines!! LOL! My friends are so great! God has placed them in my life to watch over me everyday. Hopefully I am, or at least can be in the future, as much a blessing to them!

I definitely think all this mess is a GOD thing! He has taught me so much about HIS GRACE and that it IS sufficient for me! I just need to remember to TELL about what he is doing on a DAILY BASIS! My God is SO GOOD! He came to this earth to die for my sins, and because I have accepted that gift I have more JOY than EVER. Even when we are going through the plagues of Egypt! There is no God like Jehovah!!

So Satan, BRING IT ON!!!!!! I will not be shaken! Thank you Jesus!

Wake Me Up When September Ends!!

2009-09-22T17:29:00.005-08:00

Well, I thought August was a bad month. Apparently, it wasn't over yet! Tuesday (wow, what is it with Tuesdays, hehe) I went to PWOC in the morning, and it was so neat to see how God has also given the ladies in my class the desire to share HIS love! I can't wait to see what doors will open because of this study! Then, Jadyn and I went with Elesha and her kiddos to their first OB appointment. It was so cool! We got to see the ultrasound and hear the baby's heartbeat. I am so honored that she let me go and take pictures for her. It was cool!

On the way back from the hospital I got a call from the school. It was about 4pm, and Jared should have been at running club. Apparently, he was found sitting down crying and "is acting strange"?? When I get there he is completely disoriented, and will not follow any commands. (squeeze my finger, blink your eyes, look at me...) he would cry for a few minutes, then fall asleep and wake up all confused. He would not talk at all! I decided to take him to the ER. Roxanne offered to go with me, but I thought we would be OK alone. I dropped Jadyn off at Monika's. Well, actually I gave her to Justin who was already at our house and told them both to go to Monika's that I would take Jared to the ER. I put her out of the car and left, lol. Guess that was kind of scary for Justin... I was so worried that I didn't think about it at the time. He called later that night because he couldn't sleep. Poor guy was worried for his brother too.

Anyway, I then decided that I would not drive him to the ER myself, so I drove him to the fire station a block over, and they took him by ambulance. He was still acting strange and would not sit up in the car or wear his seat belt right. When we got to the hospital they did all kinds of test. He had the doctors all stumped. They didn't know what was going on with him. The only thing they could figure was that he had a seizure and was taking a long time to come out of it... 8 hours!

They initially told me that whatever it was did not seem life threatening. His heart and lungs were great, but don't tell a momma that when he didn't even know who I WAS! That is life threatening to ME! He would fall asleep and then wake up scared and disoriented every time. It took three men to hold him down to get an IV. Jared normally doesn't mind shots or blood withdrawal of any kind, so this was strange for him. (I know he is weird, lol)

Speaking of Jared's silly quirks, he had the doctors and nurses laughing for a while because when they tried to remove his clothes he had on SIX pairs of UNDERWEAR! :)

They ended up putting him to sleep to do a lumbar puncture to check for meningitis or another infection of some sort, even though he did not have a fever. Then they decided to transport him to Providence Hospital PICU for better monitoring, and to see the neurologist. He FINALLY started to come around when he woke up from the anesthesia. It was slow, but the doctor at providence asked him a question and he shook his head yes. I about cried!!! YEA My heart was SO relieved! In the next hour he started talking and slowly "woke up". He didn't remember ANYTHING, except bumping his head after school and going to running club. But the head bump was not the problem. It happened about 40 minutes before they found him crying.

He was extremely tired, but the next day was about 90 percent and was ready to play! Thankfully Providence Children's Hospital has lots of stuff to play with, lol. He even got to see a cool dog that comes and helps out sick kids. It was neat. While we were there he had to do several test, including an EEG. The cool "electric hair" pictures are below!

The neurologist diagnosed him with Complicated Migraines. I got them when I was a teenager and after having babies. Mine were triggered by hormones. They have no idea what caused Jared's or if they will ever happen again. We just have to wait and see. Thankfully, he didn't get the headache pain to go with the confusion and seizure like symptoms.

He had his follow up appointment today, and it went well. Unfortunately though we will not have any answers until it/if it happens again.

Jared Shortly after he "woke up"

Katie the Therapy Dog

Getting ready for the EEG

Electric Hair

Katie gave Jared a book

He had to sit really still for the test, that was HARD!

The bathroom was in the room under the sink. He thought it was cool!

Getting ready to go HOME!

Going Home!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Basement Project

2009-09-12T15:13:00.003-08:00

Our basement has been a DISASTER for some time now. It was intended to be a place for the kids to go and hang out when they couldn't be outside. But it had recently become the catch all for everything in the house! You could hardly WALK down there till last week! Me and daddy cleaned it all out! I got rid of a BUNCH of junk and made everything else fit in the storage room down there.

Then I got a "bug"! My neighbor, Lena, painted her basement and it looked SO nice! I just had to do mine, too. She said housing told her they wouldn't have to repaint it either. Usually, you have to paint back whatever you do in housing before you leave. But since I wouldn't have to do it again...We bought some PAINT!! I went with the Fred Meyer brand, so we just picked out some bright colors from their display. Then I let the kids paint their hand prints all over the wall. They had FUN! It looks 1000 times better than it did before =) Now I guess we are ready for winter!!

The black is chalkboard paint. Lena had some left, so she let me use it too. Jadyn LOVES it! She can "write" for hours!

Update

2009-09-12T14:54:00.003-08:00

Daddy

His eye infection got a little worse...the implant actually fell out! However, that made the pain subside a bit. He got into the doctor on Wednesday, and they just checked it out and said it looked good. The infection was clearing up. We made an appointment for him to see his doctor in B'ham Friday right after he gets home.

He left Thursday night. We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese after school, and then we took him to the airport. It was a good afternoon and ending to a good visit! The kids had fun...me and daddy did too! 4pm is the best time to go. We had the place almost to ourselves!

He called Friday from the doctor and it all looks good! The doctor thinks the implant can be reattached and he WILL be able to wear his prosthetic eye! I will post more when I know more.

Precious

She had surgery Tuesday evening and did very well! She came home Wednesday afternoon. It has been some LONG nights! Poor thing is in a bit of pain. I have not EVER heard some of the sounds coming out of her mouth, lol. She does OK during the day, but at night she whines all night long.

Today actually, she seems to be doing really well. She was up walking around a bit and is not complaining too much. She even lets me know when she needs to go outside to the bathroom! Awesome improvement =) She was just "going" on herself. I think she was just too high from the pain pills, hehe.

Yesterday she let me use the clippers and cut her hair...well, as best that I could do ever so carefully! Then I used this waterless shampoo to clean her up and sprayed her with dog deodorizer to make her smell good! Now she is pretty! Well, prettier than she was before the surgery.

Maybe tonight I will be able to sleep! Hopefully she will do better tonight.

The pics are kind of random. She wouldn't be still and Dakota is very protective. She keeps walking in the way!

One of Those Months

2009-09-07T16:20:00.006-08:00

Daddy came to Alaska on the night of my anniversary, Aug 6Th. We have had so much fun since he has been here. We have been to Whittier for a Glacier Cruise, Matanuska Glacier, Eagle River Nature Center, Downtown Anchorage, Farmer's Markets, Soccer Games, Football Games, School Physicals, School Open House, Ice Cream Social, PWOC, MOPS, FRG Meetings, Arctic Oasis, Skateboarding, and the State Fair! Then I got my new hair, which was not cheap!

On top of all that fun stuff we had some not so fun and unexpected expenses too. I had to get the Kitty Neutered (as required by the kitten rescue). I had him declawed as well, because of his extra toes. Jared did not do so well with his eye exam on the physical, so I had his eyes rechecked with the eye doctor. He didn't need glasses, but it turns out that I needed stronger ones. The brakes went out on the van. I have been driving the suburban, which uses lots more gas! Thankfully, though my friend Francine's husband was able to fix the van. I only had to buy the parts!! Yea, one good thing, LOL. We all had our regular dental cleaning exam. Jared had two fillings, and I had one. Cleanings are free, but not fillings! Plus, I have known for a while that I need to have a tooth crowned. It is cracked due to an old metal filling expanding. Oh and the microwave has stopped working!! I don't know what was wrong with it, but I need a new one.

Can things get any worse? Well, of course!

On Tuesday, daddy's eye (the bad one) started getting red. By Wednesday it was all swollen and leaking goo. We went to the ER, and they told him that he has pink eye! They gave him oral antibiotics and drops, plus some pain killers. But That night it was WORSE!! His whole eye was swollen SHUT! And his face was all puffy on that side of his head. We tried to get back in the doc that they requested he see all day, but no one called back. Finally we got them and the charts faxed over to the eye doctor. He got an appointment for Friday morning. By this time the swelling had gone down some, but this white stuff keeps coming through the muscle.

I had already agreed to substitute for Mr. Pieper at the school, so Monica took him to the doctor. Then he had to go back to Providence for a CT. The rushed it, and said they would call him back in a few hours. Yea Right! They still have not called him back! The white thing is the stone (orbital implant)that is there to hold the false eye in place. It now looks like it is about to pop out! It looks like the muscle is coming detached from the implant. Which means he won't be able to wear the prosthetic. The one he has is only a few months old, and the doc here thinks that it rubbed the muscles raw. That is what caused the infection. So we are just waiting for Tuesday morning when we can call the doc back to find out what to do next. He is in a bit of pain to say the least!

That's enough, right?? Don't think so!

Daddy said he could tolerate the pain pretty well and he had a patch to cover it, so we planned to go to the Fair on Saturday Morning. I was upstairs getting ready and heard Precious in the back yard yelping... When I looked out the window I could see that she was hurt. I don't know what happened, but I guess she fell down the stairs. On first inspection I knew something was wrong. I called the vet and rushed her over there. Turns out she has a broken leg. It is right above the elbow, and is in a place that can not be set with a cast. The vet thinks that she will need surgery for it to heal correctly. But of course, it is a Saturday and a Holiday weekend! So we have to wait till Tuesday to call the specialist that can do the surgery. The vet put it in a splint the best she could and sent her home with some pain meds. We are trying to keep her as comfortable as possible, but today it is not working!! Poor thing is just crying. She kept me up all last night.

Jerome and I both agree that if she needs the surgery, then she is gonna get it! But, I don't know how we are gonna pay for it! I went online to carecredit.com and was approved, but not for enough to cover it. I tried to call them, but of course it's the weekend, so I have to wait till Tuesday to talk to anyone about that too.

Tuesday is also the first day of the Bible Studies, and I am leading "The Way of the Master." Guess it's gonna be a LONG DAY! Make that WEEK!!!

Daddy leaves on Thursday Night. Please pray for his eye situation and for our Precious! She is like a member of our family. I got her while Jerome was in Haiti right after we got married. She has been there to play with and protect all three babies. I know she is old (15), and I have been mentally preparing myself for the day we have to say goodbye...But it will not be for a broken leg! Hopefully we can be seen right away on Tuesday and they will let us make payments or something!

Alaska State Fair

2009-09-06T22:59:00.009-08:00

It's Fair Time again! I promised the kids that we would go to the fair this year. They wanted to take Poppy to see the Giant Vegetables! We eventually made it yesterday, but only after a few serious problems!! I will post about that next. It was a nice evening! And a much needed break after a crazy month! The funniest thing happened while we were there. I guess because of LONG summer days, my kids haven't seen the moon in a while. It was pretty full and beautiful last night. I should have gotten a picture of it. But we were walking to the gate and Jared said, "Hey momma look at the sun, doesn't it look cool!" LOLOLOL I told him it was the moon, but he was not convinced! He even had Jadyn believing it was the sun!

Daddy wanted a candy apple. But it was sticky instead of hard. He had it suck all in his false teeth, hehe!

LeiLani, Jacob, and AnnaLynn wanted to get their face painted and Fair Hair. My kids wanted to see the veggies and animals, so we (thankfully) didn't do all that, hehe. But they did look cool!

Return of the Moose

2009-09-06T22:53:00.003-08:00

The Moose have not been out too much this summer. They usually go further up and into the woods in the summer time to get food and have babies. That is my guess, I really don't know where they go. But it is starting to turn into fall, so they are starting to come back around here. This one we saw on the way to the hospital the other day. I was not fast enough to get the huge bull that passed through the backyard yesterday.

Alask Wildlife Conservation Center

2009-09-06T22:29:00.004-08:00

We got together with My friend Elesha and her two kids to go to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center last week. We all had fun checking out all the animals. As an added bonus, the Beluga Whales were VERY active on the drive down. We pulled over several times to watch them. I didn't get any good pics of them, but I got some good ones of the kids "watching" them. I think really, they were having more fun playing on the rocks.

Pin Curlz

2009-09-06T22:26:00.002-08:00

Jadyn wanted me to curl her hair. I tried to do it with bobby pins like momma used to do mine. Unfortunately hers did exactly like mine used to do. HEHE, she loved them...for about two minutes! Then she wanted it WASHED OUT!!!!

Jared Sacked Out

2009-09-06T22:24:00.001-08:00

Jadyn put the Barbie there for Poppy to take a picture. It was a LONG day!

Skateboarding at Arctic Oasis

2009-09-06T21:08:00.006-08:00

The kids LOVE going to Arctic Oasis Skate Park. Well, actually they love going to ANY skate park =)

Thunderbirds Football

2009-09-06T20:04:00.004-08:00

Justin is playing Flag Football on Saturdays. He loves it! His favorite position is Center, and he is good at it! It is so fun to watch them play, plus I don't have to worry about him getting too hurt, lol. Actually, Pop Warner Football is just TOO expensive around here, and I'm not ready to go to practice EVERYDAY!!!!. We can wait till high school for that, hehe. They had an opening ceremony and everything. There are cheerleaders too! They are so cute! They actually cheer for both teams, we didn't get our own cheer squad. We have to share.

Still more to come...

2009-09-04T22:50:00.002-08:00

I am slowly getting caught up on all our adventures. Tomorrow we are going to the State Fair! Daddy is having a bit of eye trouble, so keep him in your prayers. Been to the ER twice, now we are waiting the results of a CT. He is ok, just not sure what is causing this infection in his bad eye. More post to come. Still have more to catch up with and adding more fun all the time! Have a great Labor Day weekend!!

Dakota the Skate Dog

2009-09-04T22:47:00.001-08:00

I came home from the school one afternoon to find Justin and Dakota trying out a new sport, lol.. She was pulling him on the skateboard! It was working till Dakota saw me and made a hard left, knocking Justin off the board, hehe.

Ship Creek, Downtown Anchorage, & Hank the Moose

2009-09-04T22:30:00.004-08:00

Cat Crack!

2009-09-04T22:23:00.003-08:00

We got this scratch post for the kitten a while back. This Particular afternoon Daddy bought some catnip and put in it and on the outside. I have NEVER seen a cat act like this! It is hilarious! You would think it was POT or something. He was "making love" to the board....hehehe

Crashed OUT after his Hit if Crack, LOL!

The New Me!

2009-09-03T22:05:00.004-08:00

I have been thinking about a change style all summer. I was thinking curls, but my hair probably wouldn't hold them. They would end up frizzy because of the color on my hair. So I just let the girl do whatever she wanted! I got brave, and it paid off!! She put highlights and low lights on my hair and cut it short. I love it!

This is the back. I usually don't wear it so "crazy", lol. I can tame it down and do it under, flip it out, leave it naturally wavy, or mess it up like this. Most of the time it is just a mixture of it all =) Whatever happens the best when I dry it, lol!

Then a few days later I went to the eye doctor. It seems that my vision has gotten WORSE!! I need to wear glasses all the time now. I would try contacts, but I do not believe I can put them in my own eye. I think I need to get used to the prescription first and maybe next year I can try contacts. Anyway, they had a buy one pair and get the second free sale. So I figured if I have to wear them all the time, then I can just count it as a necessary accessory and get two pairs!!! I am not big into name brand stuff, especially purses. But, this Coach pair was SO CUTE!! So now I have a neat Coach pair of glasses and a nice carrier to keep them in. It was still cheaper than the purses in the outlet this summer!, hehehe. That's the pink pair. They have a cute dragonfly on the side. And the other pair are for when I have to dress up or don't want to be so BOLD! It took a few days to get used to wearing them, but my eyes feel better already. I can really tell a difference.