Co-ed Frigid Soccer

Sick of the soccer stuff yet?

Yeah, me too. But here we go again.

Alex had practice this evening. Temperature of 50 degrees with gusting winds.

Fall, come back!

Wait. That would mean that fall had indeed been here, and I can assure you that is not true. Two days ago it was 90 degrees.

Fall, come quickly! Before winter takes over!

Derek and I braved the sidelines for a couple of cold minutes.

Then I realized that I was the only parent out there; all of the smart soccer moms were in their cars.

So Derek and I snuck back in the van.

Waiting in the car + camera =

and

Funny how I only got one shot of Alex.

Care to see it?

She's the one on the farthest post, distracting the other hard working children.

Guess she knew I was too far away to yell.

Little Stinker.

Eat at my house.

Or don't.

Because in addition to having few condiments, we also have less-than-ideally cleaned dishes.

Today while I was loading the dishwasher I noticed that the little soap dispenser door was still closed.
So I opened it and saw that all the soap was still in there.
That means all the dishes I unloaded yesterday were washed with just water.

And if that doesn't make you want to come for dinner and lick the plate clean, I don't know what will.

And now that I have to look through my utensil drawer to locate any crusty forks, I have no time for filling you in on the other exciting things going on in my life.

Well, that and there are no exciting things going on in my life.

So instead here a few photos of the kids...

Look at them, enjoying a cookie and a ride in a plastic tub.


Just like peas & carrots, these two. Always happy to play together.

At least, until the big one tries to squish the peas & carrots out of the little one.

On second thought, maybe they're more like oil & water.


Maybe I should stick to photographing them individually.



Soccer practice was a little better yesterday. Alex even willingly kicked the ball around.


And gave me goofy smiles.

Did I tell you that Josh has offered Alex a bribe an incentive for the next soccer game? He told her that she can have a dollar for each time she kicks the ball. She knows the value of the dollar as it relates to plastic toys from the dollar store that break after one day but that we can never throw away.

I'll keep you posted on how that works out next Saturday.

Do you think that paying our kid to play soccer will take us out of contention for the parents of the year award? And the dishwasher fiasco probably just killed my chances at homemaker of the year too. Dang, and I really thought I had a chance at that one.

What a day.

Soccer is a 4-letter word

I signed Alex up for soccer this season. I love seeing those tiny kids in their itty-bitty shin guards running like a herd after the ball. This is the first season she's been old enough to play, and the practices & games are about a 3 minute walk from our front door.

Perfect, right?

Well, not quite.

Observe the first obstacle:

That is Alex at her happiest. Wearing a dress and contemplating her accessories. I hate to label her at age 4 as someone who will never enjoy athletics, but unless there are sports that emphasize girly outfits and cute hairdo's over actual sweating, I'm thinking that she may not be cut out for them. She has a deep dislike for wearing shorts.

Cheerleading might be right up her alley.

Soccer, not so much.

Here she is looking less-than-thrilled to be at practice, despite being allowed to wear a skirt.

At least one of my munchkins was enjoying running around in the grass that day.

Things didn't improve at her first game yesterday. Alex came into contact with the ball ONE time during the entire game, and that was totally accidental.

She spent a lot of time pestering the goalie on her team

And when that got old, she moved on to playing inside the actual goal itself.

I think these next two pictures say it best...

Alex is playing defense* and the ball is coming toward her.

*term used loosely

And here, the ball has already been kicked past her, the mob is running toward it...


...and she hasn't moved a muscle. Didn't even turn her head.

Sigh. It's going to be a loooooooong soccer season.

Well, as long as a 4-game season can be.

Home

So we've been living here in Idaho for 2 years and 3 months now. When we first arrived, the landscape was foreign, the town was small, and I wasn't sure it would ever feel like home.

I think I was wrong.

I've become accustomed to the desert plains, the town truly is small, but it does feel like home.

We have a church home, a wonderful preschool for Alex, my getaway gym filled with friends, a hairdresser who knows just how I like my hair to be cut, our own house with horses in our backyard. It's home.

For now.

Don't get me wrong, I probably would never choose to stay here long term. Though the road to Boise doesn't seem quite as long as it used to, there is still a void here when it comes to shopping and entertainment.

But we're talking more and more about our next step and what lies down the road for our family, and I'm getting nervous flutters in my stomach.

I'm comfortable, and I don't like change.

The Air Force, however, doesn't ask my opinion and in Josh's career field moving every 2 years and 8 months is the norm.

Where will we be moving next? Will it be in the U.S. or overseas? Closer to our family in Michigan or farther away? Will there be good schools there? Or will I don a denim jumper and teach from home? Will we find a good doctor for Derek? When will we leave? Will we be able to sell our house? Should I stop buying new condiments now and just ration what we have left?

Anyone who can answer these questions, please chime in!

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Okay, we'll I'll just go back to normal life and pretend that next year at this time I wont be in a different house, state, timezone, or country.

Come visit, but don't expect any mayo on your sandwich. We have to be prepared to move, you know.

The last one you'll ever read

Josh indeed made it back home this weekend, which is always a good thing. :)

He even let me slip away all Sunday afternoon to shop with a friend!

To reward daddy for that nice gesture, our son woke up from his nap covered in vomit. Ew #1.


After Josh got him out of the bath, he sat Derek on the recliner in his towel while he went to grab some clean clothes for him. When he returned he found a little lake under the kid, and a lovely urine-soaked towel. Ew #2. At least it was a leather recliner.

I don't think I'm going to be able to go shopping again for a long time.


But Josh, if it makes you feel any better, this morning I also found some surprise vomit in the crib. And not just in the crib, but on the walls and the floor as well. Ew #'s 3, 4, & 5.

What is the deal with that kid, you ask?
Well, he has a very sensitive tummy. Turns out that antibiotic he's on for the ear infection is upsetting his system. Ew #'s 6 & 7 were in his diaper later this morning as well.

If I had to choose a word to describe the aroma in our home at various points today, "fresh" wouldn't be it.

Derek is quite unperturbed about the whole thing. He was immensely entertained by me moving his crib away from the wall and watching the proceedings.

"Derry frow up. Mama cean it. Haf hot dog now?"

Uh, I don't think so.

I'm thinking that if there are any of you out there who were wondering if they should continue checking in on my blog, I just made your decision a lot easier.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great life.

Disgusting in Mountain Home

Sweet & Sour

Sweet: Alex dressed and ready for gymnastics class


Sour: Her attitude this morning. She cried buckets of tears over how:
1) her brother was playing too rough with her
2) the way I did her hair was totally unacceptable, and
3) She was not hungry and I was making her tummy hurt by forcing her to eat those last 3 grapes.

Sweet: These pictures of Derek that I just took when I checked in on him napping

Sour: The smell emanating from his room, which was the reason I went in to check him in the first place. Who takes a poop and then falls asleep in it? So I was forced to make a decision in a classic mommy dilemma.
Do I just let him sleep, hope he doesn't wake up early because of the dirty diaper, and deal with the possible diaper rash after nap?

Or do I risk ruining naptime by waking him to change his pants?

I opted for the latter and managed to change him right in his crib. He only woke for a second to say "pooh-pooh" and then drifted back to sleep. Success!

Sweet: Daddy should be coming home tomorrow night!

Sour: The closet cleaning project I planned to accomplish in his absence is not exactly finished. And by that I mean that I spent a total of 14 minutes cleaning my closet in the last 11 days.

Maybe I should go work on that now...

Cordially,

Hungry for Chinese food in Idaho

Outta Here

Yesterday I said to myself, "I'm done with being on my own with a sick kid and... Alex...and that's it! I'm just going to get on a plane and get the heck out of here."

And so I did.

But this was no ordinary plane. This plane had a...

Penis?

Ok, not a penis. It had a boom on it.

This plane is a gas station.

Several of our squadron spouses had the privilege of riding on a KC 135 tanker as it refueled our hubby's in the air.
It was really cool!
Here are some pictures I took of the jets right off the wing of the tanker, and refueling off of the boom.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see Josh refuel as he is still in Vegas; these pictures are of our friend Jeremy (remember, from Yellowstone?). His wife had been on the tanker the day before, but it turns out that she had been given the wrong info and was taking pictures of someone who was not actually her husband. Just a minor technicality.

So you may have guessed that if I'm hopping on planes, the little guy is feeling better. Yes, he is! I had to cave and start the antibiotics because his fever just wasn't subsiding with the Motrin and he was the picture of misery. Doing much better now!

See, here he is helping Sissy & me make dinner tonight. Well, more like this afternoon. Alex was hungry ALL DAY today. She couldn't get enough. Either she's growing or she's got a worm.

We're fancy eaters when Josh isn't around. Pancakes, with a side of pancakes. And served on paper plates. We call it casual Thursday (or insert any other day of the week as applicable). Doesn't Derek look like a big boy? He's grown so much so fast that it takes me by surprise sometimes when I go to get him out of bed in the morning. I expect to see my little peanut, but instead I find this almost-boy.

Which reminds me of my poor planning in buying a huge stock of size 4 diapers right before this growth spurt. We had a little conversation and I told Derek that in this economy we can't afford to be wasteful. I'll be shoving his little man parts into those size 4's until we use them all up.

He gave me the stink eye.

Darn demanding kids. The first one wont stop talking all day about how hungry she is and the last one wants size-appropriate diapers. Where will these unreasonable demands take us?

To Guess Jeans and Esprit bags? (Did I just date myself?)

I'm putting my foot down now while they're young!

A Sad Sight

There is something about being a male with the last name Schore that makes said creatures especially pathetic when ill. One such person, who shall remain nameless Josh, has been known to moan out loud throughout the night when hit with an especially tough hangnail cold. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree because the little man is sick right now, and he is a sad sight indeed.



He's had a little cold for a week or so, but the last couple of days he's been much crankier. Then last night he developed a fever and the utter inability to stay asleep for more than 45 minutes in a row. I felt like I had a newborn again, and I renewed my decision to be done procreating.

But then I remembered the extra 500 calories a day you need to ingest when nursing, and I wasn't so sure.

Anyway, Derek already had an appointment scheduled with his GI doctor in Boise today, and while we were there she discovered a pretty bad infection in one ear. I felt bad for the little guy, but was relieved that it wasn't the flu. Me no like puke.

This poor kid is a mess. About 45 minutes before his next dose of Motrin is due, the fever starts creeping back up and the goosebumpy, teeth chattering, lip pouting sadness ensues. Oh, and I don't have any medicine to make him feel better!

Why, you ask?

I'll try to be concise as I tell you why...

Boise doctor: "I'll fax your prescription to the base pharmacy for you."
Me: "Great!"
Base Pharmacy: "We don't accept faxed prescriptions and we didn't receive anything."
Me: "Not Great!"
Derek: *wail* *fever* *sadness*
Pharmacy: "Can't help you."
Me: *begs peds clinic nurse to enter prescription*
1.5 hours later, leave base with Auralgan drops for pain relief
gets home, realize that while the label says Auralgan, box does not contain that. It contains earwax removal drops. Not helpful.
Me: "Oh, pharmacy? I have strong feelings of dislike for you. And I can't get back to the base today."
Pharmacy (on phone): "Uh, oops."
Me: *preparing for another long night*

Bottom line: Wasted 2 hours of my long day dragging sick baby around base hospital while accomplishing nothing. (In case you were wondering, I did get antibiotics for him, but his GI doctor wants to give him another 24 hours before starting them to see if the infection will clear up on it's own. His allergy history makes us more cautious using antibiotics with him.)

The silver lining:
Derek is now in the 75% for height and 50% for weight! Earlier this year his weight was below the 10th percentile-- good growing baby! I guess the liquid gold is worth it after all.
Of course that's easy for me to say, since I don't pay for it.

Well, I foresee another night of 4 hours of sleep in divided doses, so I'm off to hit the pillow early tonight. Wish us luck...

Nocturnally Challenged in Mountain Home

I Love a Good Deal

Hey folks, another public service announcement for you...
Restaurant.com is having a 90% off sale, that ends on the 13th. When you check out enter "ninety" in the discount code box to get the deal.
They are a website that sells gift certificates to restaurants in your area.
Here's an example:

Tonight I bought a $25.00 gift certificate to Johnny Carino's in Boise. I paid $1.oo for it. Before you go hog wild on their website, realize that there are stipulations that come with the certificates. The rules are different for each restaurant & certificate value.
For the one I bought, we have to spend a minimum of $48, and add an 18% gratuity to the pre-discounted value.
So let's say we go and spend $50 on dinner. Our total bill + gratuity will be $59. Using our gift certificate, we'll only pay $34.00 plus the dollar I spent on the website, and we'll enjoy splurging on appetizers & desserts guilt-free.
So if you're interested head on over there and then go on a date!

Hey Josh will you take me out? I'll buy! With our joint checking account to which I do not contribute actual money, however the value of my services at home is immeasurable. Right Honey?

Oh, and lest I forget what this blog is all about, here is a clip of the princess before stool today. Josh is away on a trip, and when he is far removed he claims to miss these creatures.

Do I really sound like that? I don't think I have a cold, but that sounded really stuffy and...manly. Hmmmm.

Signing off,

Aaron in Idaho

Really?

So I was perusing the online newspaper of our little town here, and clicked on the link for birth announcements. Mostly because I have an odd fascination with baby names and the alternative option was to start my closet cleaning project.
I had to share my findings with you, because I believe something is going terribly wrong in our country when it comes to naming children.
There were 14 birth announcements on the page. Half of the children had names that I would consider normal and were spelled in a way that might not scar the child for life. Half of those "normal" 7 names did however have hyphenated last names, which will at the very least leave the kid annoyed during standardized testing at school.
And that leaves us with the other 50% of the names listed.
Here they are:

Analiha Mya Louise
Kasun Ray
Alyxis Bailey
Meadoe-MiKall Mae
Kynlee Michelle
Tanis Citrine
AnaLis Kemmen

I'm sorry if I'm offending any of you out there, but seriously? What's with the "y" that everyone seems to feel is necessary to throw into names? I mean, poor Alyxis. No one will ever spell that right, and I'm assuming her parents pronounce it Alexis, but technically it's spelling would indicate a pronunciation of "Ah-lick-sis."
And don't even get me started on Meadoe-MiKall Mae. Ummm, what?
AnaLis will be reminding people for the rest of her life to capitalize the "L" and Tanis & Kasun will probably be hearing a lot of "huh?" in their days.
Analiha Mya Louise, in addition to her 3 first names, also has a hyphenated last name!
I guess I might be picking unfairly on Kynlee, as there are many nice names out there that have different spelling variations. But I do wonder how her parents settled on her specific spelling. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 15 different ways it may be spelled.
Kinly
Kinley
Kinleigh
Kinlie
Kinlee
Kenly
Kenley
Kenleigh
Kenlie
Kenlee
Kynly
Kynley
Kynleigh
Kynlie
Kynlee

And holy cow, you should see how this post just lit up when I hit spell check!

Public Service Announcement: Before you name your children, picture them as a 45 year old. If you don't think your adult son will mind having a gender-neutral name spelled in an effeminate manner, then go ahead and choose "Morgyn".
But if I were you I'd play it a safe, Morgyn might be getting swirlies all through school because of you.

Routine

Well I'm finally digging out from under the laundry piles, and we're getting back into a normal routine. Which is nice, since we've been busily out of routine with 2 weeks in Michigan, a weekend in Yellowstone, and school starting up.

Our days now are pleasantly filled until about 5 in the evening, when they become more unpleasantly filled with boisterous play, some whining, and plenty of drama.

And because you naturally must want to know about every detail of our very important lives, I will lay it all out for you. Here is a typical weekday in the Schore home...

8:45: Take Alex to preschool, have to drag Derek away from the playground.


9-10: Take abuse from aerobics/kickboxing instructor in order to free my mid-section from stubborn muffin top.

10-10:20: Lay around gym pretending to stretch. Enjoy kid-free moments. Think about how hungry my workout made me. Contemplate a mid-morning snack that will undo all the effort I just expended.

10:30: Head home to squeeze in some productive time. Intend to clean up, get lost online instead. Appreciate that Derek entertains himself nicely doing...well, whatever it is that boys do.






11:45: Leave to pick up Alex.

12:00: Feed children, play with children

1:30: Naptime & Quiet time-- yea! Set timer to force myself to do at least 20 minutes of cleaning. Think about showering. Instead sit in front of TV to eat lunch. Look up at the clock and realize kids will be up soon. Wonder how that happened.

4: Kids up, snack, wonder what I would do with my children if I live in a town that had more than a Walmart. Go outside if it is the 3 weeks out of the year that is not too hot or too cold to be outside.

5-7: Make dinner, feed children, try to keep them entertained, answer the same questions over and over. The answer is usually "no." Wonder if I'm losing brain cells. Clean up the same toys over and over.

7: Baths, try to keep more water inside the tub than out. Try to remember who's turn it is to sit in the front. Wonder why it is such a privilege to sit there.

7:30: Put children to bed

8: Josh comes home to an un-showered wife & a cold dinner. On good days, appreciate the sacrifices he makes for us. On other days, wonder what it's like to have 2 parents home in the evenings.

And you know what?

I wouldn't change it.

I love our simple days.

I love these crazy kids.

And I love their crazy daddy too.

ps- don't worry, sometime between 8 & bedtime I do sneak a shower in!

Field Trip

We got home yesterday from a last minute field trip to Yellowstone National Park. Our friends, Jeremy & Laura, had rented one of the trailers the base keeps there and invited us along.
Meet the Putman's:

They had mentioned that they were going to Yellowstone, and offhandedly said "You guys should come along."

They're hospitable like that because they're from the South. And technically they probably said "y'all" and not "you guys."

And it's a good thing southerners are full of hospitality because before they knew what had happened we were all sharing this little puppy as our home sweet home:



Yup, 4 adults and 4 kids ages 4 and under.

Bet it didn't take them long to regret that invitation! We did have a couple of tents as well, a campfire, and plenty of s'mores to keep everyone happy.

Traveling with kids is like dying a slow, painful death never easy, but we had a nice time and saw a lot of beautiful scenery and just plain cool stuff.

Like boiling emerald pools

This...stuff (sorry folks, the kids don't like to stop to read the signs)



And wildlife that has no respect for personal space.




I rolled up the window as soon as I took the picture. Not sure that the window would have stopped him had he decided to gore me though.

A few lessons learned from our trip:

1) Driving around bug-filled nature is not the time to run out of windshield wiper fluid.

2) When given the choice of viewing a national landmark or playing in dirt, dirt wins.

3) I take back any complaints I ever made about nursing babies with teeth.

And now I'm off to wage war with the piles and piles of laundry we managed to create with our little field trip.

Happy Labor Day!