Relief

I got to clean my bedroom while I watched a show. So now I feel like I got to relax and yet accomplish something, too. It really is quite a relief. I think that I'll vacuum tomorrow (well, today). I am also cleaning the kitchen a little at a time. Even though I don't feel like I have the time to really clean the kitchen, it is still getting done. Maybe I will actually have the whole apartment presentable by the time I have visitors. I'm not doing it for them. I am doing it for me. It really makes me feel so much better if things are in order when others are around.

I am very sad at how many of my friends are leaving. So many good women (and men) who I admire. I'll be very sad to see them go. This is one thing I really don't like about living in transient environments, military and school. However, I am also very happy for all those who get to move on with the next phase of their lives. Besides, we only have one more year!

Radom Ramblings

There is so much going through my head, and so much that I would like to write, that when I finally sit down to get it out, it is all in a jumble.

The first thing I realized this morning is that I am incredibly jealous that Leroy's friend, Jessica, gets to spend so much time with him, doing things that I wish I could do with him, while I get to stay at home day in and day out with the kids, just waiting for some small contact with him, having to be satisfied by two-minute phone calls and five-line emails. All that I can do is look forward to the little things that are keeping me busy: story-times, library activities, Mom's Club, cleaning, school, swim lessons, piano lessons, critters. Next week we get to see Leanne and her family on their way through, the next week Danica's comes for the rest of the summer, and the week after that we get to spend time with Anna and her family and Leroy gets home. Independence Day. The last bit is always the hardest, though, because no matter how hard I try not to think about how soon he will be home, it is impossible. And the more I think of it, the slower time goes and the more impatient I get with everything else. And yet I know that when Leroy finally does get home, it will still be a difficult adjustment and things will not just fall into place. The best thing to do is to try to be as happy as I possibly can right now.

There is one thing that I really need to do that I am dreading and have been putting off. Potty training. I have already tried several times, and Constance just does not seem interested. I've tried using stickers and treats and cute panties and cute pull-ups, and she just does not want to do it. But I don't want to have a three-year-old in diapers. If I could potty train a boy by three, I sure as heck can get Constance into panties. All of our activities throw a wrench into the works, though. Do I keep her in panties while we go around, or do I put her in pull-ups when we go to activities? It will all work out, I know, but I am sure not looking forward to it. I guess we need to go on a sticker run so that she can pick out the stickers that she wants, and then buckle down and really stick to it this time. Grrrrrrr!

I am really sad at all of Emily's progress that Leroy is missing. She is now crawling a bit, and she can sit herself up by herself. I have also noticed that she is already trying to pull herself up on the furniture. She hasn't been very successful yet, but she's trying. She just learned how to sit up, for goodness sake! She just wants to do what everyone else is doing. She is determined to be a big girl! Maybe she will potty train early . . . .

As for Danica, we have some news. Due to several different problems they have been having in St. George, Danica's family is moving with her grandparents (her mother's parents) to Roswell, New Mexico. Now we have to worry about her being abducted, too, I guess. They will be moving in July, while Danica is with us, and she'll join them shortly before school begins. This poor girl has been through so much! I thought we were supposed to be the unreliable ones, because we are military. We plan to take advantage of her being here, though, and going to Lagoon as often as possible with our cool season passports.

The weather is also a bit of a concern. Although I have been loving this wet, cool weather, I am a little worried that it will continue through next week when we start swim lessons. It's the middle of June! I was also hoping to take the kids swimming at least once before they start lessons to get them back in the groove. I was especially hoping to go to Lagoona Beach! Well, hopefully we'll have plenty of time to do that later in the summer. It can't stay cloudy all season . . . . Can it? We do live in the desert, after all!

There is so much more going through my head that I can't seem to make any progress on any subject. My mind keeps going around in circles, and around and around and around. I think that I am going to turn my music on full blast and clean clean clean. At least then I'll feel better about living in my house.

P.S.
Oh, I am very excited about my latest project. There is a spot in our kitchen where the fridge used to be. We moved it to make a spot for the dishwasher close to the sink, and so there was about a three foot gap between the top of the dishwasher and the bottom of the cupboards. I felt like it was wasted space. In the meantime, we had our microwave on the counter, and we only have about three feet of counter space, so the microwave took up more than half of the counter space. So I finally put a shelf up above the dishwasher, a very simple wood shelf on brackets, for the microwave. I am very happy with the results! Now we are using that dead space, and I can actually use my counter. Well, I will be able to after I declutter, anyway. Yeah for space-saving projects!

Pasta Primavera

Here is a good Pasta Primavera recipe that I enjoy making.

1 package linguine
2 chicken breasts, or 5-6 chicken tenders, cut in strips
2 large garlic cloves, pressed or chopped
3-4 Tbsp olive oil

various sliced vegetables, such as:
1 small onion
1 medium carrot
1 red or yellow pepper
1 medium zucchini
4 oz mushrooms

1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 thyme
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 Tbsp butter
2-4 Tbsp sour cream
1/4-1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Cook linguine and drain. (A good time to start the linguine so that the noodles don't get cold is after adding the veggies to the chicken and letting it cook while the veggies cook.)

Cook chicken in oil and garlic. Add veggies and spices. You may want to save some of the softer vegetables, like the mushrooms, for the last few minutes of cooking so that they don't get mushy. When the vegetables are cooked, add the butter and sour cream and melt them. Then add the parmesan cheese and melt it. Toss in the noodles and enjoy!

Other vegetables that you could use are broccolli, peas (frozen or snap), and squash.

Here Comes Summer!

Leroy has been a very busy fellow in Egypt. We finally got to talk for a few minutes today. He really enjoys the food, though his body is still adjusting to it, and he has had the best pizza he ever tasted. Last week he went to Cairo to see the pyramids and the mummies. A friend that he was traveling with nearly broke her leg when her camel slipped and fell on top of her. Pres. Obama will be visiting Egypt and apparently he is popular over there. Leroy has been having some trouble with the internet, so we still don’t have any more pictures. Hopefully more will be coming soon. Dante misses his dad so much! And every time Constance sees a bike rider, she thinks it’s her dad. Five more weeks to go! Hopefully we’ll get more pictures soon. He was able to call Danica on her birthday, and it really made her day.

I'm a little frustrated with 24 Hour Fitness right now. I am going to have to start paying for child care starting Monday. Anyway, I'm making a little more progress with my schoolwork, though I’ve been having problems printing the assignments out. I also went to a book club on Wednesday. We discussed Daughters of God by Elder Ballard. There were only two other women there, but it was fun. And we did it outside because it was SO NICE! I can use the fresh air, too.



Dante and I went to The Jungle Book this Friday at The Children's Theatre downtown. It was good for us to get out together. The garden is doing wonderfully. I picked my first few weeds this week. The peas are growing like weeds, the tomato plants are beautiful, I harvested our spinach for the first time today, and a bunch of the plants that I recently planted (pumpkin, sunflower, and some spices) are coming up. I am REALLY enjoying my garden. We harvested our first spinach, and it was so funny to see the kids eat the spinach. Constance would just grab a leaf, dip it in ranch, and nibble away. We also got our caterpillars last Saturday. They turned into chrysalids pretty much right away and they should emerge any day. Some of them started shaking while I transferred them to the butterfly garden. It rather startled me! We also got our tadpoles yesterday and got them all set up. Dante and Constance have really been enjoying the critters. We went to This Is the Place Heritage Park last Monday for Baby Animal Days, where the kids got to pet and hold baby animals and ride on horses and trains.



Danica is out of school already, and she is now nine years old. My how she has grown! She should be with us at the end of June.

Dante’s piano recital on the 18th went okay. He played great, but I was very exhausted dealing with the kids. I've been enjoying a bit of a break from practice and stuff. Dante also had his karate award ceremony on Wednesday, moving up to Yellow Belt, Second Class. He's really been giving me a hard time getting anything done, but we’re working on that. He really is a funny kid and the girls love him. We listened to some Bill Cosby today, and Dante loved it. Constance would laugh just because Dante was.

Constance is such a cute girl. When she isn't screaming or ignoring me, she really makes me smile. She loves playing with Dante, even wrestling, and he is such a good big brother most of te time. She loves the ants, and she is always telling me about their tunnels. She also spends most of her time outside playing with ants. Yikes! Still not potty-trained, though. I've been procrastinating, because I really really really don't want to do that!

Emily, though. Sheesh! She loves to move. She first started inch-worming. She would pull her knees up so that she would be on hands and knees, then lay down on her belly, kind of pushing herself forward with her arms, then pull her legs up again on her hands and knees. Wednesday she actually start scooting a bit, pulling herself forward with her arms. And today she took her first crawl steps. She didn’t go far, but she did it. She can get where she wants to go now, as long as it isn't too far away! She'll be crawling full time soon. She is just the most beautiful baby. She loves to squeal and grunt, and she is such a good eater. She gets frustrated if she sees us eating and she isn’t.

Egypt Arrival

(The following is an email from Leroy today.)

A few pictures. So far the trip has been very interesting. I am sending you a picture of a couple that we met in Abu-Simbel. They have been only married for 3 weeks and this is their honeymoon. The guy speaks ok English, which he learned from watching American movies. They drove with us back to Aswan and they treated us to dinner, very nice couple. I have a better picture of them that I can send later. They guy's name is Mohamad, and I forgot the girls name. They are from north Egypt, between Cairo and Alexandria.

Happy Mother's Day!

I thought today would be a perfect day to update our family news. I actually have time right now since the boys are making breakfast for a change. The awful spring semester is finally over. We have had a nice couple days with Leroy actually home. The kids have loved having father again. Unfortunately, Leroy leaves for Alexandria tomorrow for seven weeks. Dante has been studying Ancient Egypt in history, so he is excited to know where his dad is going. He’s also sad that he doesn’t get to go.

I was originally planning to do some traveling while Leroy was gone but have decided it would be better not to. Instead, we are keeping ourselves busy with school, classes, gardening, and with raising critters. We are all signed up for swimming lessons, including me and Emily. We (I) have been busy with our garden plot done the square-foot way. It looks promising! For school, Dante is learning about the animal kingdom, so we are doing some science projects with insects. We have already gotten an ant farm, which the kids are fascinated with. We will also be hatching praying mantises, raising butterflies from caterpillars, and watching tadpoles turn into frogs. Leroy returns on Independence Day and Danica will come shortly afterward for a fun summer of piano classes and Lagoon trips (hopefully). We shouldn’t have a problem keeping busy!

This last semester for Leroy was very difficult. He was usually gone from morning to night and always had projects and assignments to complete. He was also in charge of editing the Navy newsletter “Soundings” that goes out at the end of every school year. Leroy still hasn’t had a chance to internalize the fact that he will soon be on the other side of the world. Watch out Egypt! We recorded Leroy reading some books last night so that the kids can still be read to by their daddy, even when he is gone. The second half of the summer should be more relaxing even though he still has to take classes. Only one more year until he graduates—May 2010.

After a very successful—and very brief—run doing schoolwork, my classes have come to a standstill. Now that the garden is started and the house is clean (and I won’t have anyone to share my evenings with), hopefully I can return my attention to studying the Bible as literature. I have come to realize just how much I enjoy writing. I wish I had more time to write what I want to write! Hopefully I can focus on that more once I get my degree. There’s not much else exciting happening with me except the kids. I was having a difficult time coping with kids and housework and not having Leroy around, but I think I have a handle on things again. It should be easier when Leroy leaves, as odd as that sounds. It is easier for me to keep to a schedule when I don’t have to worry about his. Not that it is better than having my husband around, but I should be able to cope fine. I got a book this morning for Mother’s Day—Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Honestly. Yeah, I don’t know. If you ask me, it’s sacrilege.

Danica will be nine at the end of the month. My, how time flies! She was having a tough time at school, but seems to be doing much better since switching schools. With Leroy gone during the first half of the summer, Danica will be joining us for the second part. I hope to sign her up for swim lessons and also piano lessons. It should be fun!

Dante has picked up quite an attitude. He has reached that age where he is always right, unless one of his friends tells him otherwise. I am trying to remember that independence is good and that I need to learn to direct him without ordering him around. It’s difficult! However, Dante continues to amaze me with his school. He continues to do very well in reading and writing, and has begun history and science. We just planted some carnivorous plants and look forward to the fascinating job of raising them—the Venus Flytrap, some Sundews, and soon several Pitcher plants. I have also heard some good things about the elementary school in our district, so I signed Dante up for half-day kindergarten in the fall to supplement his homeschooling. I think he will enjoy it, and it will hopefully give me some more time to focus on my own schoolwork. I was rather shocked at what little they tested on for the placement test. “He did great! He knows his colors and his letters, both upper and lower case!” Well, duh. He can read! Dante has his piano recital in just over a week, at which he and I will play a duet. For the summer, Dante will be taking group lessons instead of private lessons to change up the routine a bit.

My little princess is definitely two. Constance can be so darn cute and yet so darn infuriating. She is asserting her independence, to my eternal frustration. However, she still makes me laugh. She likes to put her belt around her animals and take them for walks, and she took her balloon for walk this morning. Constance can count to ten now and she is interested in learning her colors and letters. She is also getting better at coloring, almost as good as Dante, I’d say. She is finally trying to stay within the lines. It’s really cute. I really think she would enjoy a dance or movement class and am trying to find one that will work for us. I am really excited for her swim lessons, especially since she missed out last year when we thought she broke her toe. Yeah for water!

Miss Emily is growing up way too fast! She will be six months old this month, and she’s only about 13 pounds. However, she is sitting up pretty well, she prefers being on her tummy, and she is now pushing herself up on her hands and knees a bit. She likes to shake her head, and she loves to jump. Emily also loves other babies. She is the sweetest, funniest girl, and she is so petite! She looks like Dante did when he was two months old. Before he got fat ;) I am thoroughly enjoying sleeping at night.

So despite some difficult times past, present, and future, we are doing pretty well and I think we will survive through the summer. I wish you all the best, and remember that we could always use your prayers!

Have a happy Mother's Day!

Sin in the Garden

Here is one of the questions for my Bible as Literature class. I thought I would post my response:

Some argue that it was unfair of God to place a tempting but forbidden tree in the Garden; others think it an ideal way for God to get sin into the world without getting His hands dirty. How do you appraise the no-win situation in which God placed Adam and Eve by His apparently conflicting commands?

God is good and cannot do evil. Therefore, He could not introduce evil into the world himself. However, if Adam and Eve did not taste of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they would have remained in Eden forever in a state of innocence, without understanding good or evil and without raising posterity. Without the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve could not progress.

The main purpose of souls coming to the earth and receiving bodies is to prove themselves faithful to God. Choice is an essential aspect of this testing period. By presenting evil to the world through the tree of knowledge, God gave Adam and Eve a choice between eternal perfection and progression. Thus He fulfilled the necessity of choice while providing the opportunity to bring evil in the world to test the souls of His children.

There must be opposition in all things. Without darkness, there can be no light. In order for there to be joy, one must also have felt sorrow. Without evil, goodness does not exist. God offered the tree as an option for progression, to provide His children with choice and opposition, and I believe that Adam and Eve understood the implications better than they are often given credit for.