Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Quiet time for mommy...
I finally caught up on the cleaning. Although never ending, I felt I could sit for a moment. I positioned a chair in direct sunlight and curled up with Lori's cookbook. I'm not sure she meant for it to be read as a novel, but it is perfect for my attention span. Lucy was within hands reach...playing with Kevin's chess set. The girls think this is great, it has a ton of potential for creativity. Hope Dad doesn't mind... One moment she is there, the next moment...gone. "Hi Mommy, I am cleaning my arms with soap (and face, and shirt and pants...its not soap, its lotion). 2 days in a row Lucy has gotten into lotion. She is so quiet about her little escapades, and typical discipline doesn't seem to set in yet. It quickly became naptime for Lucy...
More unedited portraits
Eric and Rachel
The girls in age order: Lucy, Elena, Abby, Maya and Kayla
Kevin and Me
Sisters: Kayla, Maya, Abby
Youngman Portraits unedited
Mom with her kids
Me and my older brothers
Oldest and youngest cousins, Kayla and Lucy
The Kiss
Everyone!
Some unedited Youngman Family Portraits
Kevin, Emily, Elena, and Lucy
Eric and Rachel
Rachel, Emily, Tanya
Elena
Grandma, Great Grandma, and the girls
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Fun Pics
The Girls at Elena's school for Harvest Fest. They loved the train ride. The driver made mom nervous as he swerved through crowds of children!
This is the bright one!
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Bikes
We found a bike for Lucy at a garage sale, she got about 10 ft from the driveway, then it was discarded in the ditch for a smoother ride, the stroller. You have to give the girl some credit, we have a heck of a long driveway!
Elena's 1st Day of School
Yesterday we all went to school together for an hour of orientation. Elena had pictures, meet your teacher, etc. Kevin flew home from Georgia for this but had to go back last night. Today was Elena's first official day. Elena, Lucy and I waited for the bus out in the cold, brrr! When the bus came Elena was a bit hesitant but got up there on her own, and turned around for her picture to be taken with a great big smile on her face. The first picture I have is fuzzy and crooked. I am holding Lucy back who is screaming because she wants to go to school, too! The bus pulls away and Lucy runs a full block chasing it, frantic the whole way (rainboots and all!). I finally pick up the screaming ball, carry her back to the house, kicking and screaming the whole way. Well, I had to deal with the 2 yo tantrum, so I didn't cry until now, when I got a little teary thinking about it! I'm sure Elena is charming all of her peers and teachers as we speak!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
It's 7am, do you know where your children are?
I was sifting through pictures, trying to get the number down to a manageable amount. Then I came upon this:
I suppose there are many worse things Elena could be doing....for instance, "making eggs" like Ava did while her parents slept....
I suppose there are many worse things Elena could be doing....for instance, "making eggs" like Ava did while her parents slept....
Monday, July 21, 2008
Lucy's 2!
Here are some great pictures from Lucy's 2nd birthday! Her birthday was in March (oops - little late!)
Boat Cruise
One of the things we did for Kevin's last week here was take a Paddleboat ride on out of Stillwater. Elena said she wanted to go on a boat! We played a great game of charades!
Monday, July 07, 2008
The first 49 days...
Awww....the loveliness of Independence Day. The holiday has a whole new meaning for me this year. Independence from cooking, washing stinky boy clothes, cleaning the newspaper off the bathroom floor...all those other wifely duties. It's just me and the girls now. Give me a break, I'm trying to look at the positives. Of course I'll miss spending $180 at the grocery store and gaurding my dinner as Kevin finishes his own and eyeballs mine. I do miss my husband, I'm just in denial that he is really gone for the better part of the next 20 months.
It really didn't help that my alarm at 5am was a recording of some historical military song. Really, couldn't we have come up with a better departure day than the 4th of July? I should feel proud of my husband as he drives 1200 miles to report for duty in the heat and humidity of Georgia. I do, and my anger towards the US Army is slowly subsiding. I've gotten better about this whole deployment thing. I can now explain to someone that my husband is leaving for months without them getting uncomfortable as I start to get teary eyed. Kevin won't believe that for a second, as he still denies that I even got teary when he proposed.
My weekend comprised of "normal" shifts at wor. I then went home to my mother's and barely falling onto the couch before I was asleep. I make a great houseguest (sorry, Mom!) I don't think I have felt the true impact of this event, as I am so emotionally drained, there isn't much feeling left to be had. Maybe I have worked through the feelings enough that I am dealing with everything just fine. Even so, I'm still waiting for that moment when the whole ground beneath me will collapse. POOF!
I remember reading the beginning of a book entitled "While They are Away"(I read many beginnings of books, but rarely get to the end.) It was a compilation of stories from military wives during the war in Iraq. There was one woman who dealt with the situation by keeping as busy as possible, any down time was too painful for her. I remember thinking how awful for her child, who was also experiencing this horrible change with his father gone, and now she was gone all the time as well. Although I don't think I have gone over the top with activities, I have taken to more of a busy schedule than one in which I'll have a lot of time to dwell on how things could have been different. The girls are excited for their first day at daycare in a few weeks (I am too!) They will spend a couple days/week meeting new friends in our community.
So far the worst part of the deployment process was preparing for Kevin's departure. Trying to get a full summers worth of chores complete in just a few short weeks, but not wasting all of our precious time working on the house. We did manage to spend some much needed time with family and friends. In the past few weeks we did a short cabin/waterpark vacation, took a train ride, a paddleboat ride, went strawberry picking, and hosted a large party at our new house. I remember last summer when Kevin said, "We should really sit down and talk about all the things that I usually take care of that are going to be your responsibilty while I am gone." My reply was, "Why do we have to sit down, go ahead, let's talk about it." Kevin said, "Okay, well first there is the credit card bill that needs to be pd every month...the trash is on Tues...hmmmm....I think that's it..." So I am going to make a list of all the things I have found that he probably would have done, had he been home.
1. Turn the sprinkler off at midnight (when I was the one who forgot to turn it off in the first place, but I am afraid I might be eaten by a bear.)
2. Charge the camera (where is the cord for that and what does it look like?)
3. Deposit the checks.
To be continued...
It really didn't help that my alarm at 5am was a recording of some historical military song. Really, couldn't we have come up with a better departure day than the 4th of July? I should feel proud of my husband as he drives 1200 miles to report for duty in the heat and humidity of Georgia. I do, and my anger towards the US Army is slowly subsiding. I've gotten better about this whole deployment thing. I can now explain to someone that my husband is leaving for months without them getting uncomfortable as I start to get teary eyed. Kevin won't believe that for a second, as he still denies that I even got teary when he proposed.
My weekend comprised of "normal" shifts at wor. I then went home to my mother's and barely falling onto the couch before I was asleep. I make a great houseguest (sorry, Mom!) I don't think I have felt the true impact of this event, as I am so emotionally drained, there isn't much feeling left to be had. Maybe I have worked through the feelings enough that I am dealing with everything just fine. Even so, I'm still waiting for that moment when the whole ground beneath me will collapse. POOF!
I remember reading the beginning of a book entitled "While They are Away"(I read many beginnings of books, but rarely get to the end.) It was a compilation of stories from military wives during the war in Iraq. There was one woman who dealt with the situation by keeping as busy as possible, any down time was too painful for her. I remember thinking how awful for her child, who was also experiencing this horrible change with his father gone, and now she was gone all the time as well. Although I don't think I have gone over the top with activities, I have taken to more of a busy schedule than one in which I'll have a lot of time to dwell on how things could have been different. The girls are excited for their first day at daycare in a few weeks (I am too!) They will spend a couple days/week meeting new friends in our community.
So far the worst part of the deployment process was preparing for Kevin's departure. Trying to get a full summers worth of chores complete in just a few short weeks, but not wasting all of our precious time working on the house. We did manage to spend some much needed time with family and friends. In the past few weeks we did a short cabin/waterpark vacation, took a train ride, a paddleboat ride, went strawberry picking, and hosted a large party at our new house. I remember last summer when Kevin said, "We should really sit down and talk about all the things that I usually take care of that are going to be your responsibilty while I am gone." My reply was, "Why do we have to sit down, go ahead, let's talk about it." Kevin said, "Okay, well first there is the credit card bill that needs to be pd every month...the trash is on Tues...hmmmm....I think that's it..." So I am going to make a list of all the things I have found that he probably would have done, had he been home.
1. Turn the sprinkler off at midnight (when I was the one who forgot to turn it off in the first place, but I am afraid I might be eaten by a bear.)
2. Charge the camera (where is the cord for that and what does it look like?)
3. Deposit the checks.
To be continued...
Friday, February 08, 2008
Coyote Ugly
We've been having a fun day. At the crack of 4am, Lucy entered our room screaming louder than she's screamed in a long time! As I picked her up, it registered that she's wet. As I checked her, she wasn't wet around the waist, just the belly. After figuring out that she'd puked, Emily and I cleaned her up. After another 10-15 minutes, she threw-up again, this time I was quick enough to catch it (in my hand... lucky me J) After a few repetitions of this, we went through shirts, then several small towels and pillowcases. She finally settled down around 7am, and has since only thrown-up a couple times in the convening hours. After Lucy fell asleep, I took Elena downstairs to play. While on the couch, I looked out the window and what did I see:
a coyote.
a coyote.
Here is another pic of a coyote.
Here is a third pic of a coyote. Notice my children's swing set
framing the picture. I took this shot this morning, from the house!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Ski III
Here are some videos (YEAH TO POSTING VIDEOS!)
Not sure if this qualifies as downhill or cross county, but she's doing her best to hit the Slalom caps, and finishes with a "First Position."
Not sure if this qualifies as downhill or cross county, but she's doing her best to hit the Slalom caps, and finishes with a "First Position."
Elena's Review and lessons learned
Why is it that our ski's are about our height, but kids skis are 18 inches long?
Anyhew, We had a GREAT time, and can't wait to go again!
Anyhew, We had a GREAT time, and can't wait to go again!
Ski II
Here we're at the top of Buck hill. It was about 20
degrees and sunny. Perfect for skiing.
Elena fell twice. This first time was because I skied right behind Kris (while she was going backwards) and tripped her which dominoed to Elena. The second time I couldn't get a picture because I was laughing too hard. Emily did the splits, caught Elena's ski, and brought her down too! I almost fell over laughing so hard before helping them up. Emily was hurting for about 3 days.
Kris taught me how to ski backwards... Very helpfull for getting a 5 year comfortable.
She like using our poles to get her skis off.
degrees and sunny. Perfect for skiing.
Elena fell twice. This first time was because I skied right behind Kris (while she was going backwards) and tripped her which dominoed to Elena. The second time I couldn't get a picture because I was laughing too hard. Emily did the splits, caught Elena's ski, and brought her down too! I almost fell over laughing so hard before helping them up. Emily was hurting for about 3 days.
Kris taught me how to ski backwards... Very helpfull for getting a 5 year comfortable.
She like using our poles to get her skis off.
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