Competitive

I'm a fairly competitive person. Oh, who am I kidding, I'm stinkin' competitive.

On the last day of school Sam brought home a flyer about a competition to see who could collect the most Box Tops and Campbell's Soup labels. Since I will have TWO kids in school next year it is going to be a struggle to get enough to even make us competitive...so I was hoping if you were reading this and had a little extra time that maybe you could cut out your labels and mail them to us. If you are interested in enabling my competitiveness...I mean....helping our school raise money...please drop me a line at lifeinoz@yahoo.com and I'll send you my address!!

Before and After

I am a firm believer in "a place for everything and everything in it's place". Unfortunately with four children, this is easier said then done. For those who have seen my house, you know I'm not the "best" housekeeper in the world. By organizing I'm hoping thing will be easier to clean/straighten and by knowing exactly where things are I'm hoping to save myself a lot of time.

Ever since we moved in, I have really wanted to get our pantry painted, cleaned and organized. A couple of weeks ago Greg painted it and last week I got everything organized and labeled. I am in love with my new pantry. It is fabulous!!

The inspiration for my pantry redo came from some random blog (I can't find now). That blogger got her inspiration from another blogger (ain't the internet grand!). The original blogger used longaberger baskets to organize her chaos, the blogger I found decided that was too pricey an option and opted for cheaper baskets/bins from Pottery Barn (who are these people, both options are expensive!). Being the cheap person I am I opted for plastic baskets from Target (which by the way, will be MUCH easier to clean!! We are dealing with food). At first I picked up 15 white plastic baskets at 2.99 a piece (that was going to cost me $47.09 including tax, which was a little jaw dropping for plastic baskets). Luckily in the next aisle I found the exact basket in a lovely sea foam green on CLEARANCE! Not my first choice of color but at $2.19 a piece that brought my total to a mere $34.49, much easier to swallow.

So for my big reveal...

BEFORE

AFTER:

One of our cereal containers is in the dishwasher, that open space is not usually there.

Each basket labeled for ease of finding things.

Canned goods organized by type of food and shelf labeled for ease in finding and putting away. Especially helpful for little boys and husbands.

I love these little octagon containers from The Container Store. They hold breakfast/granola bars perfectly as well as popcorn and other yummy snacks. That far left container is full of all the odds and ends bags of snack items. The boys love having a snack from the "conglomeration" container!

This is key to an organized kitchen! Laugh and make fun all you will...call me Monica Gellar, but spices in alphabetical order will make your life 1000x times easier, especially after you train the other people in your kitchen to put them away the right way every time!

The Last Day of School!!

School in Virginia doesn't get out until mid June. When we first got here I thought it was torturous, but it is really nice to not have your babies go back to school until the week after Labor Day. After Labor Day summer is really truly over, the pools closed and falls setting in. I'm starting to see the wisdom in their schedule. Friday the 13th was Sam's last day of school. Here are some pictures from the day:

The first day of first grade, for comparisons sake...you can see the worry on his face, poor guy.

The last day of first grade. A whole different boy. Look how much he's grown. His feet have grown an entire size and his head is now at the top of the knobs on our armoire. I keep telling him to quit growing. He's not listening.

One thing that we enjoy about our neighborhood is it's traditions. Many of the homeowners are original and have passed down their traditions to us young whippersnappers. One of those traditions (which I hear has been going on for 20+ years) is a shaving cream fight at the bus stop on the last day of school. The kids get off the bus and they are handed a can, or two of shaving cream, which they proceed to make a HUGE mess with. Afterwards everyone meets on one of the courts to be hosed down and then have an ice cream social. We had a ton of fun!

I love these pictures of Gabe. Click on them so you can see them big. While their is chaos around him he walked aroun thinking, "what in the world is going on here". Ethan and Sam embraced the craziness, Gabe wanted nothing to do with it!

A little offended that someone would get him!

The gangs all here!

Joel shared Gabe's sentiments. He wasn't sure about the shenanigans.

The Joelsters New Grill

My boys get their teeth in strange and often late ways. Sam got his bottom two teeth right on schedule and then had his top right tooth (solo) for months. At one point we were concerned he might not even have the left top tooth. Gabe's teeth were SO late I wasn't sure he would have even the tops of one for his first birthday (they did manage to break through days before his party). So imagine my surprise when Joel got his first tooth at about 9 months and is now working on number two.

Here are some pics of his new "grill". Isn't he a cutie!



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Old School Flinstone Vitamin Style...

I just made a list of six things I want to blog about. I really don't have time to blog the way I want right now so I'm just going to post this:



I saw it on another blog and thought it was pretty funny! I know you know someone who's like this, I can tell you now...it's not me, my kids wouldn't know organic if it hit them in the head (all though they did have organic mac-n-cheese today, it was the cheapest at Coscto, and frankly I think it tastes pretty gross) Enjoy!

P.S. My kiddos enjoy an old school Flinstone Vitamin every morning!!

Financial Peace University

Throughout our marriage Greg and I have toyed around with the idea of a budget.  We've instituted one several times but then life always seems to throw us a curve ball, a babies born, a deployment, a move (we've moved 7 times in 8 years), etc. and we fall off the wagon.  

In the last couple of months I had been very anxious about our money.  Greg suggested we sign up for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (FPU) at church.  I was hesitant at first, while I was anxious about our money, it was kind of nice to continue to live in denial about where we stood with our finances.  We've been to two FPU classes so far and they have been great.  We are learning SO much and as of June 15th, we will be back on a budget.  We think and hope this time we have included everything we possibly spend our money on in this budget.  It's horrible to set up a budget and then blow it time, time and time again because it was totally and completely unrealistic.  

Please pray for us as we enter this "journey".  I know there will be some growing pains and a lot of discipline issues but I know we can make it through.  Greg has promised to be my Financial Peace knight in shining armor, I feel certain that together and with Dave and the Lord's guidance we can "live now like no one else, so that later we can LIVE like no one else".

In an effort to be more thrifty I have delayed getting my hair cut and colored.  In the last few pictures I had seen of myself I was horrified by my roots and decided something simply must be done.  About a month ago I bought a box of Natural Instinct hair color that my sister recommended.  This weekend I finally worked up the nerve to give it try.  While I'm not unhappy with the results, I will say I feel as though there is some false advertising going on.  This is the color I was going for:

This is the color I got:  

Now does that look like toasted almond to you?

That's what the box claimed I was getting....I think not....oh well....It was a lot cheaper then going to the salon!  My hair REALLY pulls red, so next box I get (with a coupon, no less) is going to be a shade that will neutralize all the red in my hair.

Wish us luck on our Financial Peace journey!  

(I just noticed as I reread this post, that my hair kind of matches Joel's....maybe I am on the right track after all, HA!)

Pathetic I know...but show me some LOVE!

Okay, maybe my posts are just boring lately.  They have been rather infrequent, but seriously people, SHOW ME SOME LOVE!  If you have a second...or five....leave me a comment.  While I tell myself that I'm blogging purely for my family, it is nice to know that someone else is reading it!  

Come on...I know you are out there....even if you are just a "blog stalker", and don't know me from Adam, don't be ashamed.  I stalk random blogs too!  I'm resorting to pictures of heart puppy dogs, this is getting pathetically desperate!

I don't understand some people....

From Fox News today:

BALTIMORE —  Police say two small children were injured Monday after being struck by stray bullets from a nearby shooting while wading in a baby pool in West Baltimore, WBAL-TV reported.

Neighbors told WBAL-TV that the toddlers were playing in the wading pool outside an apartment at about 10 p.m. when they were hit.

The children, ages 2 and 3, were taken to Johns Hopkins Children's Center. The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, police said

One child was shot in the torso and the other in the leg, according to authorities. Police have made no arrests.

Witnesses told WBAL-TV that the shooting was up the street, away from where the children were playing, and that as many as 11 shots were fired.

This is horrible.  It is horrible that children would be hit by stray bullets ever...but my question is...why in the world were a 2 and 3 year old in a wading pool in front of an apartment at 10:00 pm?!!!  

Maybe I'm just grouchy today because Ethan has the pukies but shouldn't these babies have been in bed?!  Okay, I'm done...forgive my mini tirade.  

Ahh Summer

I meant to put these pictures of Lakeside on earlier.  It just screams summer.....swimming till you drop, fabulous ice chips at the concession stand, veggie bagels, family bingo, family olympics......

Sam is SEVEN!!

How can it be possible that Sam is seven?! I feel so old. I know I say it all the time, but my baby isn't a baby anymore. We were at Sam's old school the other day and a kindergarten class walked by, it was dramatic how different Sam looks from them. He is really looking and acting very mature. We are so proud of him. I recently filled out his paperwork for the Gifted and Talented program at his new school and I have absolutely no doubt that he will be accepted.

For the past year Sam has been dying to have an Army birthday. Memorial Day Weekend, in an effort to let him grow up a little, we decided to let him watch Indiana Jones and the Ark of the Covenant. His first true big boy PG movie. He LOVED it! Suddenly he was desperate to have an Indy birthday. Unfortunately, commercialism hasn't caught up with the trends yet so there was not an Indy birthday theme to be found anywhere. Sam decided he would be content with sticking with an Army birthday, at least until next year!

We took cupcakes to Sam's new class and his old class at Fort Belvoir, where he also presented his Flat Stanley project that Nina so graciously helped us work on. He also had a fabulous cake and party with the family. He got a lot of great presents and had a wonderful day. Celebrating birthdays wears me out, but I think we all had a great time!

Army cupcakes. Complete with Oreo dirt! A big hit in 1st Grade!!

"Indy Sam Jones" Hat from Granny and Grandpa-whip from Gigi And PaPa

Sam's new first grade class.

The finished "project"

Oreo Cakesters for Road Wheels.

Iced pretzel rod for the cannon.

Black licorice for treads.

Sam blowing out the candles!

Silly Ethan

"Happy Birthday" from his old school. They were so cute. They missed him so much and loved him to death while we were there...I love first graders, they are so sweet!

I miss Lakeside :0(

I grew up working at a wonderful pool. Lakeside Swim Club is an amazing facility. It truly makes me sad to think about my boys growing up and not going there. I love that place. Lakeside is like no other "pool" on the planet. Originally a rock quarry, Lakeside Swim Club sits on over 2.5 acres and is enclosed on two sides by 40 foot cliffs. Every year it takes 3.2 million gallons of water to fill the quarry. It is an amazing club that runs like clock work. I loved working there, the people there are like family to me. I have never been to another club that has a staff that works as hard and as professionally as those at Lakeside, anywho...enough trecking down memory lane. Lakeside isn't here in Northern VA, but we still had a great time going to the pool for the first time this summer. The boys, as always, had a blast!

Joel wasn't sure at first, but then decided he LOVED the water.

Ethan's eyes ALWAYS get so red from the chlorine. Poor guy it hurts me just to look at them!

Sam is such a goof ball. What a crazy grin. I think by the end of the summer that grin will be a lot bigger. His two bottom teeth are getting rather loose! Poor kid, I'm not sure he will be able to eat with 6 teeth gone!

The Gabers! Doesn't he look so cute in his Buzz Lightyear towel. I got it for $1.00 two summers ago and it has been a huge hit. I wish I could find more towels like this. I have some for the other boys that go over their heads but I love how this one also has arm holes and is open in the front.

Poor Pitiful Boy

Semper Fi

Greg always jokes that the Marines "do it the hard way".  Normally I agree with him as some of the things Marines do, do seem as if it is the hardest way possible, but yesterday I was so glad that his old adage was true.

We are about half way between Fort Belvoir and Quantico, really we are closer to Fort Belvoir and they do have a bigger commissary but that place is cut throat.  The retirees in there just about run you over and God forbid anyone ever smile in that place.  It is ridiculous.  Quantico is smaller, but still has a nice selection and people are genuinely kind.  I don't mind driving the extra five miles or so to have a pleasant experience.  

On Wednesday tornadoes touched down in the DC area.  As you know from previous posts, the kids and I are a little wary of twisters.  I knew the weather seemed to be getting ominous but I figured I would just wait for my trusty sirens to go off before I wrestled everyone up from their naps.  Little did I know, there are NO SIRENS in this area.  How ludicrous is that??!  I've never lived somewhere that didn't have tornado sirens.  I am actually that odd person who is very comforted when they test them once a week!  Anywho, when the trees in our yard started blowing upwards and it got eery outside I finally decided we should probably head downstairs.  The school of course decided to keep the kids at school and had them in the hallways in the assumed tornado position.  Poor Sam said his little teeth were chattering.  Poor guy, they were still chattering when he finally got off the bus.  All that to say, because of the terrible weather, power was out all over the area.  Up in Bowie, Nancy and Ryan were without power for over 24 hours, thank goodness for their generator!  

When I got to the commissary yesterday morning there was a sign that said "Limited Shopping due to power outage", let's just say I was a little frustrated, we never lost power at our house so it never crossed my mind that it might be out farther south.   I have been really trying to stretch out the time between shopping trips so we were down to nothing at our house.  We had eaten cereal for dinner for the past three days.  I decided to make the best of my trip and besides milk, meat, cheese, and frozen items I was able to get almost everything I needed.  I got NutriGrain bars for $1.70 a box, I think that's the cheapest I've seen them in awhile (I bought 10 boxes!!).

Thank goodness for Marines and doing it the hard way.  Fort Belvoir would have totally shut down and then not reopen until the power was back on (trust me I know, I've been there when the power goes out...people scream, it's an interesting phenomenon!).  I didn't get everything I needed but I came pretty close, plus they also kept there exchange open and I got these oh so cute reef sandals for just $18.99:

Love them!  Super comfy, with a lot of arch support.  I just might have to go get the ones in brown too!!

SEMPER FI!!

All the Kings Horses and All the Kings Men

Poor guy...

Hamming it up for the camera...

Couldn't put the Gabers back together again....

Poor Gabe.  We got home Friday afternoon and the big boys and I were hanging out on the front step.  Gabe was very innocently emptying a medal watering can of some mulch that had gotten in it.  Somehow he lost his balance and the rest his history.  I heard the sound beside me, I heard him cry and I swept him up in my arm and grabbed the first wash rag I could find.  Of course heads bleed a lot, and this was no exception.  From what I could see it looked like his little nose was dented in right at the bridge directly between his eyes.  I totally FREAKED.  I'm usually fairly calm in most situations but my legs went jiggly and I screamed for Ethan to go get Greg.  Greg calmly loaded us all in the car (by the time we got to the car he had stopped bleeding) and calmly drove us to the ER.  

X-Rays and super glue later, Gabe's face is looking much better.  I've a feeling he is going to have a pretty wicked scar there, but oh well, he's a boy, right?!  Now I just have to keep him from picking at it.  Yesterday morning when I got him out of bed I noticed he had picked off all the glue.  I'm just hoping it's been long enough that he's not going to continue to pull it open.  YUCK!!

Gotta love boys...I know I need to get used to this, but I'm not sure I'll ever get used to seeing my babies with blood on them....so bring on the jiggly knees!!

Arts and Crafts

In the midst of all the craziness, I have tried to still do a few fun things with my kids. "Few" is the key word there. Oh well, at least I am trying. One afternoon I decided to let Gabe and Ethan help me make homemade play dough. We had a great time and, no joke, they preceded to play with that play dough for FOUR straight hours afterward!! You wouldn't believe how much I got done in that time! These are the instructions we used (click here). It is a great recipe and the picture tutorial was very helpful. We decided to not dye the play dough, but the boys enjoyed it all the same.

Later on that week I also decided to try recycling our old crayons into new chunky big crayons. I had been seeing a lot of "recipes" on other blogs so I thought we would give it a try. I had hoped it would keep the boys busy for hours again, but really the only one who was decent at it unwrapping crayons was Gabe and so the other boys quickly lost interest. I should have taken pictures of what the "finished" crayons looked like but oops...I forgot. If you do decide to make these, a couple of suggestions:

1. Fill your cupcake tins with foil before filling them with crayons. There are some pesky wax stains in my cupcake tin that simply will not budge.

2. Fill the tins pretty full. It may have been because I made them too thin but after we popped our crayons out the quickly broke in half. No big deal, but a little bit annoying.

Since Sam started at his new school he has had two "crafty" projects. In this project he had to research and right a report about an animal (he chose a rattlesnake) and then make a diorama about it. His teacher was VERY insistent that this project be done by Sam. Of course I was a little nervous about this....but silly me, Sam did an awesome job.

(I know diorama is spelled wrong here, oh well)

Didn't he do a great job? Couple of things about this picture...first, gotta love the "dead in the eyes" first grade smile. I recognize it well, I had the same look! Second, if you enlarge this picture you can see the scratches on his chin and face. Daddy had a great idea...twirl yourself up in the tree swing, then when you "untwirl" try to get off the swing and run...the above scratches are what ensued when Sam tried this and then proceeded to run smack into the tree. Poor guy.