Saturday, June 27, 2009

*loves*

My kiddos are really great, ya know? Nothing in particular, they just make me very proud. Oh sure, they have lots of squabbling moments with each other, but on the whole? Good boys.

Today, the memories that make my heart tug and swell:

- As soon as I woke up this morning, Jack was by my side, asking if I had to work. When I told him that yes, I was subbing for someone today, he looked very sad and said, "But Mom, you've been working so much now. I didn't even get to *see* you yesterday! (And it made me teary-eyed because it was true.)

- A.J. found a turkey feather at Catherine's party at Gifford Farm today, and he graciously gave it to her as a gift. He kept re-finding it after she would drop it (two-year-olds are easily distracted, especially at birthday parties), and then he would give it to her once again.

- Jack entertained a group of tiny boys by chasing them around a sign and playing Peek-A-Boo. It kept the tykes laughing, and it gave all of their mommas a few more minutes of chatting time. He did it on his own, and it was sweet of him to play with the "babies" like that.

- A.J. and I whispered secrets back and forth to one another behind our menus at dinner. Of the two of them, he's definitely got my sense of humor.

- The two of them have spent the last hour hatching farm animals from "growable" capsules (as Jack calls them). We keep checking on their progress, and in the meantime, the two of them are listening to a "Draco & the Malfoys" CD in A.J.'s room while playing with Pantominos together.

I'm so very lucky. :-)

Friday, June 26, 2009

I am so ridiculously tired. Totally going to bed right now, and not even planning on turning on the TV or reading a book or anything.

I'll be snoring in two minutes, I'm sure.

Also, [info]lesliepear? I'll be dreaming of how thoughtful you always are. :-)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Caught up.

I'm completely caught up on entering Coke codes right now. I actually have no more codes anywhere - not real caps, or emailed codes. Crazy!

I've not been caught up since receiving the package with hundreds of codes from [info]mostcurious several months ago. Then, right as I finished up entering those codes (which took six weeks to do, as I can only enter 40 codes/week), another box arrived from her - with TONS more!

But now I'm all caught up. I do need to take pictures of our cute little bears from her, though... ;-)

Monday, June 15, 2009

Wha??

This afternoon, the boys got out of summer school as scheduled. I was still at work, so I assumed that Philip was getting them (he was off today). He thought I was off earlier than I was, so he assumed that I was getting them and was mowing the yard.

Do you see the problem here?

I got home at 3:40pm, and a neighbor kid was waiting on my front step. I asked if he was waiting on the boys for something, and he said, "Yeah." So I walked in, called to the boys to tell them their friend was waiting, but didn't hear a response. I went to pee really quick, and then called out to them again. No response.

The doorbell rang then, and I answered. It was the friend, and he wondered, "How much LONGER?!" I told him that they must already be outside in the backyard with their dad because they weren't anywhere in the house. I walked through the house, to the back door, and yelled out to Philip in the yard, "Where are the boys?"

He cut off the mower. "I thought you were getting them?" I replied, "I thought you were getting them. ACK!" And right then, the home phone rang. It was the school secretary, and I quickly explained the conversation that had *just* happened, and told her I was rushing straight down.

So I pulled up, and out came my boys. I had glanced at all the phones, and the school never once called the house, mine or Philip's cell phones, or our work numbers. The boys had been waiting all that time outside the school, and no one ever called!

I couldn't believe that they had waited outside in the sun for 45 minutes before ever asking the secretary to make a phone call. They have all our numbers memorized, and it would've been easy. A.J. said that they almost started walking home (which they've done in the past, but only 3-4 times - crazy kids, they BEG to do it often and treat it like it's a privilege!), but then decided to just wait because they didn't have permission from this morning to do so. We felt so badly for them, but it was a complete accident. :-(

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Moving: Changing email.

Since we were given six months' notice, I want to be proactive in changing as many things over as seamlessly as possible. First on my list? Making sure all email is received, as it is the center of communication - between friends, between accounts, between bills, extracurricular activities, etc.

Must. Get. ALL. Emails.

Over a year ago, my ISP (Cox.net) began blocking content from LiveJournal as spam. To get around the problem, I created a Gmail account for LJ, and then set my Gmail to forward directly to my Cox.net address. Now, I've removed the forward, and I will spend the next few weeks adding all my email addresses to my Gmail address book at my leisure. I've also already switched addys for our banks and bills online.

So, to wrap up: if you have me in your email address book, you might as well switch my info to the new address. It should be good for the future, regardless of any other moves, I'd imagine.

sncleghorn at gmail dot com

Friday, June 12, 2009

A big change.

Last night, Philip received orders to Minot AFB in North Dakota. We'll have to be there by December 15th.

...

I really can't express my thoughts in words right now. I'm in a tailspin, to be sure. I mean, we've been here for seven years now, and it's unimaginable to leave. And I love my job. And I love the people. I love everything.

But I always knew this day would come.

Please, keep it quiet for now. We won't tell the boys for a few more months, so it needs to stay mum (hence the locked entry for now). Don't mention it over on FaceBook, either (I have coworkers there, and we're not telling just yet).

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Berry-Pickin'!

Oh, today! Today was a blast! I'm glad it turned out so wonderful and fun, as I had originally planned to take these four kiddos berry-picking on Sunday afternoon. I called up the farm, however, and I learned that Saturday night's mega-rainfall had flooded the fields, and they were closed. The farm is closed on Mondays, and I wasn't available yesterday either, so I was bummed that I would have to wait until Tuesday - today, but at least the weather looked promising (clear, a cool 68°, low wind)...

until this morning, when it began raining. AGAIN. And it was a heavy rainfall for quite some time. I was lamenting while I worked that berry-picking just wouldn't work out this year (strawberry season is over in just a couple more days, the farm had told me on Sunday), and I was bummed. :-/

But by the time I left work, I was really thinking that maybe we could swing it anyway. It hadn't rained in a few hours' time, and the skies looked okay. So I set the plan back in action, and Aimée sent over her kids. We all headed to the fields, and ALL the kids were excited: A.J. and Jack because they were so stoked to share the secrets of the farm with Drew and Natalie (who'd never been there before), and the other two because they were getting to do something entirely new! And *I* was so giddy that the plan was working out that I became distracted once we made it to the farm myself! I was pointing out this and that, and I completely forgot to park, driving right into the farm entrance and walkways - OOPS!

And then we all set to work! The boys had their Berry baskets, and I had pulled a Medium Fruit basket for Drew, as well as a Collector's Club Gathering basket for Natalie. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I picked baskets with the same volume (as we learned later on in the weighing process), and that was pretty nifty. :-)

Jack was the most dedicated about filling his basket with berries. I'd promised the kids they could have lots of time to play in the farmyard once we were done (there's a cool zipline, lots of hidey-holes, lots of climbing structures, swings, playhouses, and more), and by golly, he wanted to be sure he got to do so! He finished filling his basket with berries first, and then he helped Natalie finish hers. Once she was done, the two of them split into "teams," with Natalie helping A.J. finish up, and Jack helping Drew to finish his basket.

Along the way, I took pictures. I took a handful as they began picking, and then I put the cam away. I then helped pick berries (and I might be the reason why we ALL finished as timely as we did! *wink*). When the kids were almost done, I pulled the camera out for some last-minute shots, too. Natalie was an absolute ham, always wanting me to, "take a picture of me like this, Miss Nicole!" I was happy to oblige, and it was just SO MUCH FUN!

While picking, we had some great conversations. I explained the meaning of "crop dusting" (yes, we talked about tooting - hey, there WERE kids involved in this adventure, remember?), and Natalie spoke of her holiday Barbie® collection. A.J. and Drew would retreat to the back of the fields and talk about "boy stuff," and Natalie would say, "Oh, they're just being boys again, Miss Nicole. Aren't boys funny?" A.J. cupped a berry in both of his hands and shouted, "Hey, mom! Look, I'm making a mini-Twilight cover - see?!" And all the kids pretended that the red berry juice staining their fingers was blood, and they'd chase each other across rows. And, of course, we all spoke in "Berry Talk" (remember 'Strawberry Shortcake,' the cartoon? "Berry" instead of "very," etc.)

I loved it. :-)

When all baskets were filled, we walked back up to the weigh station, and we were all surprised to learn that, though the baskets were very different shapes, each contained three pounds' worth of berries. We had picked TWELVE POUNDS altogether! The kids couldn't wait for me to pay for them so that they could begin snacking! Everyone chose a soda, and we settled near the play area for some yummies.

And oh, the berries are good. Heavenly! Warm, fresh, bursting with juicy deliciousness. They are tiny strawberries, to be sure, but they pack a wonderful punch. Andrew and Natalie each ate close to 1/4th of their baskets before I made them stop, warning them that their mom would kill me if I let them completely ruin their dinner appetites!

The kids decided to play a game of Hide-and-Seek, and of course, no one wanted to be the first "It." I volunteered to get the game going, but I told them I wouldn't close my eyes - I wasn't done eating berries, so I turned my back to the play area, and I mumbled numbers to 30 with bites of strawberries in my mouth. Finally, I set off to search for them, and wow! They were well-hidden! I found Natalie first, then Jack, then Drew. At long last, we had to call for A.J. to show himself, as none of us had been able to find him - he was that good! The kids all continued playing for a while longer, and I just enjoyed the cloudy sunshine, the fresh air, and the yummy berries.

Perfect.

And I have pictures to share, and how! I wish you could all experience the fun we had, but these pictures are the best I can offer you. :-)

Our great berry-picking team
Our great berry-picking team.

The fruits of our labor - TWELVE pounds' worth!
The fruits of our labor.



Jack was quite the dedicated picker!
Jack was so very dedicated.

A.J. deep in the fields
A.J. was deep in the fields.

Andrew was picking in the foreground, and the other three decided to run out to "the Motherload!" Running!
Andrew was picking in the foreground, and then the other three all decided to run out to "the Motherload!" And off they went!

Natalie shows off her berry-juiced hands
Natalie shows off her berry-juiced hand.


Drew is hard at work.

A.J. wanted to make a mini-'Twilight' cover
A.J.'s mini-'Twilight' cover.

Natalie - SuperStar
Natalie - what a photo superstar!


Jack.

Drew and Natalie
Drew and Natalie.
(I took this picture especially for their dad, as he is currently deployed.)

The goofy crew
And the crazy, goofy crew poses at the signs as we leave the farm with our berries.

And if you want to see all of the pics, you can find them in a slideshow HERE. :-)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

*dances*

I took the boys and our next-door-neighbor kiddos strawberry-picking, and I'm currently working on the pics. I can't wait to post 'em - they're so freakin' FUN!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Gardening: it does a body good.

I've worked my frustrations out in the earth today, and I will sleep well tonight because of it.

Ahhhhh. :-)