Saturday smiles

Reasons to smile today:

1. We got the house! The owner called last night to tell us we were the best applicants for the house; we meet Monday night to hammer out a rental agreement.
2. Noah's first baseball practice went very well. His coach (Coach Marcus) seems like he will be great with the kids.... low key, no pressure, focusing on learning the game and not just winning it.
3. Came home to a neat house. Emily did a lot of picking up and tidying while Noah and I were gone. This mean we all had time for recreation this afternoon. The kids played with friends while I
4. Watched a really good movie that a neighbor dropped off while Noah and I were at practice. It was called The Magic of Ordinary Days; it featured Keri Russell and Skeet Ulrich. This was a movie the whole family can watch, although younger kids probably won't find it terribly interesting. Very nice review here. It's based on a novel, so readers may want to check it out as well.

What made you smile today?

Don't look at the time of this post

Too late... I bet you looked. Yeah, I'm up early. Having a puking kid does that to ya sometimes. Nothing like cleaning the remains of Benihana's chicken fried rice to really wake someone up. I'm not sure if Joel is sick, or if it is from sinus drainage. Whatever the case, since the kids were camping out in the family room last night, I had to remove the denim cover from the chaise cushion where he was sleeping and throw it in the wash, along with his quilt. That was after cleaning the floor and using the WetJet. Noah and Halle slept through it all. Joel is tucked away in my bed.

We had a good day yesterday. Big news is that we loved the rental house and are going to apply to rent it. Brian said the owner talked to him like it was a done deal and the application is a formality, so we'll see. If it does work, we probably won't move until May and will do a slow move over, since our lease isn't up here until the end of May. Should make it easy to get things put away. The house is so close to Brian's work.... maybe 10-15 minutes, as opposed to the 30-minute minimum here. That will cut back on our gas bill a lot, as Brian drives an SUV to work.

After we looked at the house, we drove over to Bodega Bay. The weather started getting a bit nasty once we were there, but it didn't stop us from getting a look at some sea lions who were mooching fish scraps from the wholesale fish market along the dock. The kids want to go back when the rainy season is over.

After that, we headed over to Walnut Creek and did a little browsing and shopping at Barnes and Noble. I picked up 2 more Francine Rivers novels and am looking forward to reading them this weekend. Benihana was next on our stop. This was the best Japanese meal we've had since we got to California; the Benihana in Concord is much better than the Benihana Grill in Sacramento, where we ate for Emily and Noah's birthdays.

Brian is moonlighting in Sacramento this weekend, so it's just me and the kids again. As long as Joel isn't really sick, the kids and I are planning to see She's the Man some time today, after everyone's work is done. Then Noah has his first baseball practice tomorrow. Wish us luck.

Just the bullets

Yeah, it's been a few days again. Here's a recap of life since the last post in bullets:

• Brian stayed home from church Sunday with a queasy stomach. He was mostly recovered by that evening, but said he was hit with extreme fatigue Monday afternoon.
• I spent Monday and Tuesday being sick (no nausea, just an intestinal thing). Didn't keep me from getting school done with the kids, though. It was one of those things that didn't knock me down until late afternoon, when I started spiking a fever. Where's a good old-fashioned sick day when you need one?
• Joel was worried about me Monday night and drew me a picture on his MagnaDoodle. He was a bit tearful and wanted me to feel better soon. (I guess this gives you some idea of how often I get sick.)
• In spite of it all, I even ran errands on Tuesday (returning movies, going to post office, etc.)
• Managed to get school done with the kids yesterday AND squeeze in a trip to the commissary, not realizing until I was halfway there that it was payday (typically a horrible time to set foot on base). Amazingly enough, I got a good parking space and was able to walk straight to a cashier without waiting in line to check out.

Today's bullets:

• Today is Brian's birthday. For the next 3 months, we're the same age. Then I get to be the older woman again.
• We will be looking at a potential rental house at noon today.
• Dinner to celebrate his birthday at Benihana tonight.

Another Saturday night

It's been a crazy week. Since my last post, we spent a couple of days getting Emily's school application taken care of. She had to write an essay as part of the application and I had a few pages to fill out as well. We managed to get her application turned in Friday morning. Now we wait to hear back from them as to when they want to do the family interview.

We took the kids to see The Shaggy Dog up in Vacaville this afternoon. It was a cute movie. The kids sure enjoyed it. Afterwards, we looked at a house for rent up there. It was only 4 bedrooms, which wouldn't have been too bad... the rooms were big enough for the boys to share. But the yard wasn't great... had a huge hill that would have been heck to mow, plus the grass was so sparse that I am afraid we would have nothing but mud back there during the rainy season; not a good thing when you have a dog.

I've spent my free time this weekend reading "The Mark of the Lion" series by Francine Rivers. WOW. Really good reading. I think I will have to just work my way through everything she has written. She has a way of making the past come alive.

Looking forward to worship in the morning. Afterwards, we're invited to lunch with one of our shepherds. The kids are excited because he has a new puppy they enjoy playing with.

Something new ahead

Today we took Emily up to Vacaville to tour a Christian school there. If all goes well, she'll start her freshman year there this fall. She seemed to like the place and has been talking about being involved in choir and "maybe" drama there. We liked the size of the place and have heard lots of good things about it. It will be a change for us, after having homeschooled for so long. But I think in the long run, it will be good for everyone in the family.

So the hunt for a house closer to the base continues.

Taking it on the road

The family and I just got back a little while ago from being up in Sacramento at the Cordova Church of Christ. The folks there are hosting a Spiritual Training Seminar this weekend, and a few of us from Eastside are participating. Rick and Jarrod are both leading class sessions tomorrow, and Rick is also leading the worship. We've assembled an 8-person praise team consisting of 2 sopranos and 1 alto (me) from Eastside, and 2 basses, 2 tenors, and 1 alto from Cordova. It was neat getting together with people we'd never met before and joining our voices in praise. It was even neater afterwards, when the sound techs played back a recording of the evening worship so we could hear it all blended together.

We'll be driving back up in the morning for the rest of the seminar. The praise team will be singing to start the day and to close it out. I'm really looking forward to it.

Life's a puzzle

I mean that literally. We're going through a puzzle phase in our home right now. I picked up a cute Mary Engelbreit puzzle Saturday when Halle and I were out shopping. We didn't start work on it until yesterday, but managed to get the border done and several inside details. (Still a long way to go to finish it, though.) This got the kids interested in working some of their puzzles and longing for some new ones. So today after school and a Family Fun Center clubhouse play session, we stopped in at Target to pick out some new puzzles. Noah and Halle both opted for 100-pc puzzles. Halle's had slightly larger pieces than Noah's and was a Hello Kitty picture. Noah chose a Batman Begins theme. Joel got a 24-pc. Harry Potter jigsaw. Everyone finished their puzzles tonight (except me, of course). I stayed out of their way as much as possible, only helping if they got really stumped. Thankfully, Joel is enjoying taking his apart and redoing it. The other two want to glue theirs together and hang them in their rooms. Guess that is one more thing to add to the todo list.

Rainy days and Mondays

We're on our second day of rain... our back yard is turning into a lake. During a brief lull in the rain this afternoon, the kids went out and stomped around in the large puddle that makes up half of our patio (when I say large, I mean large.... a good 15-20 feet long!). We didn't let the rain get us down, though. To celebrate Brian's homecoming, we had a good homecooked meal and then went to see Eight Below. Oh. My. Word. I wasn't expecting to like this movie as much as I did. It was really good. Word of warning for the emotionally sensitive: bring as much Kleenex as you can comfortably carry. Concession stand napkins will do in a pinch, but then you have to watch out for splinters. Just consider yourself warned. You will be drawn into this movie and it will be hard to forget. Even on the ride home, I was still wiping my eyes.

The movie is rated a very mild PG. I had to check out my newest online source for family entertainment research, Family Media Guide, to figure out just why it got a PG rating. (I think this is going to be one I stick with... it's better than ScreenIt.) The language was mild... 4 h*lls, 1 d*mn, and 2 uses of God (not in combination with another word). I think the main reason for the rating was for some of the intense moments, when the lives of humans and/or dogs was at stake.

One last comment about the movie: the scenery is breathtaking. I'm not much into cold and snow, but after seeing this movie, I wonder if we shouldn't do an Alaska trip sometime.

It's Friday, so it must be movie night

Yeah, I know. We watch an awful lot of movies. Not much else to do around here. I'd prefer hanging out at my best friend's house.... making dinner or ordering pizza, playing some games. But there's that little matter of 1600+ miles separating us. So the kids and I go to the movies.

I took the 3 youngest to see Doogal this afternoon. Cute movie. Not as "pure" as Curious George, but still a solid G rating. The kids got a kick out of the references to other movies. Our drive home was full of much discussion of characters and favorite parts, unlike the trip home after Curious George. Jon Stewart made a great villain and I loved William H. Macy's Brian the snail. I wonder if the character was written for him.... it was classic Bill Macy.

I've talked to my Brian (who has actually been writing at his blog while gone) a few times today. Poor guy. Today was a short day for the conference so his boss/partner dragged him to Laguna Beach for the afternoon/evening. He had to walk along the beach and browse shops and art galleries in the town. And worst of all... they were eating dinner in a restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He's going to need a vacation when he gets back. (Oh Donna.... I forgot the symbols for sarcasm. Oh well.) I sure hope he can stand 2 more days of being down there. (And Brian, if you read this... I'm not mad. Much. *G*)

Happy Humpday

I'm a single woman again this week. Brian left this morning for an educators' conference in Newport Beach (sucks to be him, doesn't it?). He won't be back till Monday. So that leaves me 5 days to keep the house clean, everyone in line, and maybe have some fun to boot. Tonight is church; we're having dinner at the building at 6, followed by some new discussion groups. Then I'll have praise team rehearsal at 7:30.

The kids are all healthy now. Joel was better by Sunday. He wound up sleeping all afternoon and evening Saturday, waking up for a bit and eating some toast, and then sleeping again the rest of the night. He felt fine the next day, but Emily felt queasy. She stayed home from church, but never got sick. She was feeling better by that afternoon. No one else got sick. :o)

I took Joel and Halle to see Curious George on Monday. It was cute. They said they liked it, but when I asked them to tell me what their favorite part was, neither had an answer. Guess that tells you how bland it was. Most movies, they have no problem coming up with their favorite part. I will say that it is one movie that shouldn't have anything to offend anyone in it. You know how most kids' movies today have plenty of dialogue or visual humor for the adults... none of that in this one. It is a true kids' movie. Anyhow, for me, the best part was the music. I'll have to check out the soundtrack and see who it was.

Oh joy... Halle and Joel are in the middle of a knock-down dragout. Oh, Noah intervened. More joy. Welcome to my world.