If she had the proper words to say,

~ posted just for takarakanashi, who assures me she never gets tired of my cookie posts

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These little BIG guys are so adorable it kills me! XD



These dragons tell a tale of woe, I'm afraid. You see, I made a host of these dragon friends as favors for Jack's end-of-season soccer pizza party tonight.

But we live in Minot, North Dakota, and we're currently getting dumped with 12-18" of snow in a crazy Spring blizzard. (And we were just one day away from having all the snow completely melted!) Kids were let out of school at noon, and by that time the party was already canceled.

But, of course, I'd made the cookies yesterday to give them time to fully dry. *sigh*

( Read more. )

A.J. and I went to town this afternoon, as well as running a few errands on base. I asked if he'd like to go with me as soon as he got home from school. Philip was still sleeping (again, he works nights, so he sleeps in the daytime), and Jack's school wasn't due out for another hour. I'm glad he went with me - I wasn't lonely, and we always have good chats in the car together. :-)

We received a big box from Land's End today. Last week, ginky shared an awesome code for free shipping, and I took advantage of their clearance sales to score a few items. I got Jack winter boots in the next size up for next year, a long-sleeved hoodie t-shirt, and swim shoes for this summer. A.J. scored an awesome track jacket in a smooth chocolate brown. He looks so grown-up when he tries on clothes!

Jack begins an indoor soccer league again in a few weeks, and Philip and I are making a tough decision to hold him back. The Youth Center coordinator called this morning, wanting to bump him up into the 10-12 leagues (he's 9 still), but I'm afraid it will be much like the summer league. At that time, Jack's team was made up mostly of 8-10 year-olds, but their opposing team (they played the same team for each game) was mostly 10-12 year-olds, and they were constantly trampled. I don't want that for him again right now, and I think it would be best to wait until next year when he actually *HAS* to be in that league. Plus, he'll be wearing glasses for the first time this season, and the older league played rough. I want to give him some time to get used to playing with glasses before he's hardcore defending in them.

*sigh*

Since we held him back in preschool, he's the oldest kid in his 3rd grade class, and most of his fellow classmates will be in the 7-9 league. I think it's really the best decision for him, but it still feels a bit like holding him back. :-/

Friday was a whirlwind of school, running errands, and then A.J.'s parade in town for marching band. I already posted about that, but I have so much to post from the rest of the weekend!

Saturday was crazy-busy cleaning day. We all cleaned together, each of us doing certain chores. We rewarded ourselves with a lovely, planned playdate that afternoon with friends and a very special snack: Banana Crunch Muffins, Peanut Butter Banana Bites, and Harry Potter's Butterbeer!

*geeks out*

Oh, it was all so, SO good. The kids were smacking their lips, and we were all on a sugar high - fantastic! The kids continued to play together for a few hours, and then A.J. received an impromptu birthday sleepover invitation for another friend. He left for that, while Philip and Jack went shooting with one of Philip's buddies from work. Jack came home with some shells and the things he'd blown up, and there were tales of the evening. I had made a yummy roast, and we had a cozy dinner with Philip's friend staying for supper.

On Sunday, we woke bright and early and drove down to Bismarck to visit the pumpkin patch. There's a couple small patches more local, but this one was rumored to be the largest around the west side of North Dakota. We were not disappointed! It was super-cheap to get in, and we all had a good time. Even after Jack "broke his butt," we kept on having fun. (That's a story in itself!) We played in the autumn spectacles, had lunch, played some more, had a snack of cookies and cocoa, then picked our pumpkins and headed home. That night, we had a warm beef stew waiting for us from Saturday night's delicious roast - yum!

Yesterday practically continued the weekend, I swear. With the exception of the boys heading to school, it still felt like it to me! Since we had already visited the pumpkin patch, I was in the mood to get full-on decorated for fall. Philip brought in all the bins from the storage room in the garage, and I busied myself putting up my fall pretties while waiting on the maintenance man to come fix my oven. It was such a treat to unpack everything - it had been two years since I last decorated for fall and Halloween (last year, we were moving, so we didn't decorate in that last month). I baked up a batch of cookies for a special order, and by 10:30am, I was STARVING. I think I inhaled my BLT for lunch while Philip played his new birthday video game. Heehee!

When the boys came home, they were amazed to see the transformation inside and outside the house. I had hung lights and put decorations in the yard - it was all complete. It was so fun to turn on my Halloween lights last night and feel really festive. Since it wasn't a "soccer night," I took the boys into town to a beautiful park and took some fall portraits of them. I'll work on them soon. :-)

Today, I finished up the pictures from that sweet, newborn baby boy I photographed last week. His mama was overjoyed with all of them, and I couldn't be happier! I burned a Raspberry-Vanilla three-wick candle on the table most of the day, and I watched Ginny (the cat) nearly try to light herself on fire when she tried to make sense of the dancing flame! I made fried chicken for dinner, and then after the boys went to bed, I settled in and watched the season premiere of GLEE. I saved this week's episode of Parenthood to watch while Philip is off these next two nights.

We're having dinner guests tomorrow night, and I think the day will be fairly busy, too. I need to head to the commissary, as well as prep something for dessert for them. My friend Valeen's husband is deploying to Guam for six months, and we wanted to have a farewell dinner with them before he leaves. Wednesday was the best bet since Jack has another soccer game on Thursday. He's in charge of snacks this week too, so I'll finish those up tomorrow as well.

I have literally TONS of pictures that need to be posted from this weekend. I'll never catch up!

I made Alfredo Chicken Primavera tonight, but I didn't take any pictures of it. This is an older recipe from my Recipe Basket™, and I've really only been documenting the newer stuff. As if it didn't have enough veggies already (carrots, red peppers, broccoli), I still served it up with green beans. I didn't, however, get my hind end in gear early enough to pull off the Fudge Berry Pie that was to be dessert. It will have to be some other day.

Oh my, but it feels busy around here lately. We got the call late last week of Jack's assignment to the orange team for spring soccer season, and it's been go-go-go ever since. The 'Orange Suns' had a Meet-and-Greet event with their coach on Sunday evening. We were already in town, buying more landscaping supplies, so we hung out for an extra 45 minutes instead of driving home to the base, and then all the way back out to town again.

Last night (Monday), we had a Jamboree to attend for the entire soccer association. We went extra-early, having been warned that there were 502 registered players this season. Wow, but it was crowded! It was well-organized, and the soccer club took a giant picture of all the players together in their team shirts. Then they ran skills and drills for the next couple hours. We had arrived at 4:50 to secure parking (the event didn't start until 6pm, but Jack's coach had all the players arriving at 5:45 to group together), so we'd not eaten dinner first. I brought water bottles for each of us, and I was so glad! To run many of the drills, parents were needed, and I was out there tossing and kicking soccer balls around for a few hours. A.J. stood close by and tinkered with my camera (I'll have to check out what he shot later on - maybe he got some great pics!).

Jack has practice on Monday nights for the next month, as well as games every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. His first game is two days from now, and the team hasn't practiced yet. In fact, they have TWO games before the first practice (Thursday and Saturday). I've never heard of such a thing, but he's excited about it nonetheless.

Also this Thursday, Jack chose Earth Day to have his birthday celebration at school. See, in Nebraska, the school year started after his birthday (August 9th). We were already here in North Dakota by his half-birthday (February 9th), but the teacher made the records at the beginning of the school year, and she didn't even think about it. During parent-teacher conferences last month, she told him to pick a day to celebrate and let her know. Now, in their old school, birthdays weren't a big deal - students weren't allowed to bring in treats or snacks at all. At their new school, there are no rules. As such, Jack is very excited for Thursday!

I wish I'd thought to take 'before' pictures of the yard, but alas. This house had been vacant for at least a couple years before we moved in, so the yard is completely bare. There's weeds, but that's about it. Philip and I built retaining walls for three, large raised flowerbeds using these pavers, and then we've been lining around our bushes/trees in the backyard with black edging, filling it with white rock. We also yanked up the ugly concrete things under the eave spouts, replacing them with discreet, bendable hoses. Now that we have the flowerbeds established, we can focus on the grass repair.

I've also been editing up a storm! At some point in the future, I'll have a "Marathon Posting Day," using so many of my pictures. Man, am I ever behind on that! However, it is so rewarding each night to clean up and file away more folders of pictures onto the harddrive. I swear, there's hardly anything on this computer since I upped to Windows 7, and it feels so nice.

I'm off to be a kitchen tornado for a few hours tonight. I'm prepping and freezing a few meals, hoping it will help with the soccer-induced chaos of the next month!

Two nights ago, I puttered around in the office, knocking out a couple of chick flicks while Philip was at work. I watched The Women and The Prince & Me 3: The Royal Honeymoon (I *know*. It went direct to DVD, I think, if that's any indication. Still, I'm a sucker for that movie series, and it was total fluff.)

The next night, Tuesday, the boys and I worked non-stop for HOURS on their valentine boxes for school. When they arrived off the bus, I took them straight to the BX to pick out supplies. From there, we rushed to Jack's soccer practice, and then back to the BX for the actual valentines (how did we forget those the first time? Honestly!) We came home, and got down to business. Between coats of paint, they wrote out all their valentines, then bagged them up with candy. We'd not been able to find treat bags of any sort, so they used sandwich baggies that they decorated with valentine stickers. Seriously, they went to bed sooooo late that night, and even then, the boxes were only 1/3 finished, but no more could be done until the paint dried more. Later, I felt more tired, and I headed to bed at the early time of 1am, taking with me my new book. Hang on - I haven't written about that here...

Marissa and I first saw the trailer for Dear John several months back, while at the midnight premiere of New Moon. We saw it before subsequent viewings too, and each time, we remarked on how good it looked. She read the book a while back. The weekend before last, we were talking about it again over the phone, and she asked me if I read the book. I told her I still hadn't, and she asked me if I'd like her to mail me her copy. "Sure!" I replied. The next afternoon, she called to let me know that the book would be here Saturday or Monday.

On Monday, I received a package from Amazon.com. I'd been expecting one myself for some things I'd ordered, so I didn't open it until much, much later in the evening. When I finally did, I was thinking, "I don't think this is a big enough mailer..." But it was! It was because it was my own brand-new copy of Dear John, and Marissa had ordered it and had Amazon send it straight to me! Such a sneaky gal, she was!

So... since I was felt more tired, I decided to curl up in bed and read just a chapter or two to "wet my whistle" for reading it the next day. Wrong-O! At 5:30am, I closed the book, having finished it in its entirety instead. It was a good read, and I've got some thoughts swirling on it. I think I'll probably put those down in my paper journal, though.

So I slept for a bit, then got the boys off to school, and then I went back to bed. I got up for the day around 12:45, intending to head to the commissary for our bi-weekly grocery shopping (Philip had gotten home after PT around 9am, crawling straight into bed). While I was in the bathroom, the doorbell rang. (I didn't hear it, as the bathroom heater runs too loudly.) Philip did, and he threw on clothes and answered the door. It was a neighbor woman that I'd not met when delivering treats to the block a few weeks back, as only her husband had answered the door (he'd told me they were all down with the flu, and after I handed him the baked goodies, I came home and scrubbed LAYERS of skin off my hands, just to be safe!). I had told her husband to have her come by sometime when she felt better to chat, and that's exactly what she was doing. Philip ran upstairs to let me know, and I hurriedly dressed in the bathroom and came down.

It was an awkward start, and she saw my house in a state of disarray. There were painted objects all across the table, wire bits littering around them, and the entire "craft bin" was open and picked through on the bench in the dining room (we'd used markers, pens, wire cutters, paper, paintbrushes, tape, staples, etc). In the living room, both of the fluffy blankets we use for cuddling on the couches to stay warm were still out, having not been folded and put in the end table at the close of the evening. I had dishes in the sink - oh, it was just awful! Despite that, she and her 14-month-old were very, very kind, and we chatted for about three hours in the living room - even a little past the time that the boys arrived home on the school bus! Her little one conked out for a nap on the couch for a few hours of that, just so sweet. I was SO glad she stopped by, too. I mean, you tell people to drop by anytime, but it seems like they hardly ever do, you know? Especially when you've not yet met them!

I love how great the response has been since the boys and I delivered all those goodies. I baked for four days straight (I called it my "delayed holiday baking," since it was in January), and then the boys and I spent an entire afternoon delivering big trays of goodies to every single inhabited house on our block (eleven total). It was very, very cold and windy, and we had to come back after every third house to grab more trays, but it was so fun. Included with each tray, I had written our names, address, and telephone numbers on a card, and I let each family know to call if they ever needed anything. Everyone was so welcoming, and we were invited into so many homes for a bit of chatting. The boys took off their shoes in each house and immediately disappeared with the kids of that family. I'd been nervous about it being a Saturday afternoon, but since it was so very cold, every single family was home - amazing! I also learned that our entire block is new, as the earliest family here only just moved in at the end of October. We're all newbies, so we ALL needed welcoming. :-)

Once the boys were settled from school, we dug straight back into our crafting. We finished more "steps" yesterday, as there wasn't so much painting to do. Still, it's not a crafting afternoon until I have to clean wet, red paint (A.J.) off my wooden dining room floors, right? We worked for hours, stopping only to head into town to try a new Chinese restaurant for dinner (we were missing fresh lettuce and tomato for the planned meal, and the commissary had already closed). The food was great, and we were all stuffed when we returned home, going back to work.

I took pictures of the finished boxes this morning, and then I drove the boys to school. We didn't want to risk anything being crushed on the bus, and now they're good for tomorrow's valentine parties. :-)

Meanwhile, I ended up not grocery-shopping yesterday, so I'm headed to the commissary in a little bit. Philip is testing today, and then he may have weapons firing later this afternoon. Jack's got another game tonight, and it's his day to bring refreshments. I'm going to be so ready to curl up for a movie tonight with Philip - I need to relax! We watched The Taking of Pelham 123 (the newer one) a few nights ago, but tonight, I'm feeling more like a rom-com. :-)

Jack's first game of this indoor soccer league is at 5pm tonight. As soon as the boys arrive home from school, though, we're taking them to the base hospital for the H1N1 vaccine. Last week when we went to the youth center, a gal was handing out fliers at the door, announcing that all students would need the vaccine by 1/29 to be allowed back inside the building.

So, we're cutting it close. ;-) Jack will be fine, but A.J. has a debilitating fear of needles and vaccines. When we got his last set of vaccines in the fall, he must've cried for twenty minutes straight. It was pretty horrible, and I'm not looking forward to a repeat performance. He's known of this afternoon's plans days in advance, and last night's dinner conversation was situated muchly around needles. I hope he pulls through okay, as he really, really, really likes the youth center.

I got a Christmas card last week from mostcurious! Thank you, chickie! I really want to get my own out, too. I've got all the supplies sitting here on my desk, but I've not written the newsletter yet. I know they won't arrive until February, but I figure that everyone will cut me some slack since we moved in December. Hee!

I emailed the Runza National office again, as Philip and I have still not received our W-2s. I had originally contacted them two weeks before they were due to come out with our new address, so we wouldn't have to wait on them to forward up here. I was assured then that ours would be mailed on the same day as everyone local. Instead, the locals received theirs in the mail on the 15th, and we've seen nothing yet. :-(

A.J.'s soccer game was this morning (they lost 11:1 - yikes!), and Jack has a bye this weekend. It is gorgeous outside, but looks are deceiving, as it is quite windy, and we were very cold at the game.

We've had lunch, and the boys are playing outside (though dressed a bit warmer than earlier!). I've had requests from a friend, so I've got some catching up to do online. While I'm doing that, I also hope to make some sense of my desk. It has gotten covered this week in kitty papers (a separate entry coming about that), and I can't find anything.

So. If you need me, I'm right here for the next several hours. Last night after supper, I put together the lasagna for dinner tonight, so all I have to do is turn on the slow-cooker in a bit. Should be a nice, relaxing, wind-free afternoon.

(aka. How Are We Ever Going to Manage All This?!)

Both of the boys are playing in the spring soccer season. For Jack, he's now played on two indoor leagues, plus two pee-wee outdoor leagues, but this is a big step up. For A.J., this will be his first time playing. In fact, he was the one that came home excitedly from school announcing the registration back in late January, so I'm really anxious and hopeful that he will enjoy this.

That said, these schedules are making me dizzy, and we're not even playing yet! A.J. will be playing on the Mustangs, and his coach called last night to announce that practices will be held on Tues/Thurs nights. We only *just* found out (about 20 minutes ago) that Jack will be playing on the Hawks, and his coach hasn't yet decided on practice nights. He's leaning toward Wednesday nights, however, and that is NOT good news. (Wednesday nights during Lent season?) It's the Bellevue Soccer League, but over half of Jack's games are played 15-20 minutes away in Plattsmouth - just furthering to make things difficult. *sigh*

So, for my own records and an attempt at sanity, here are the compiled schedules:

green = A.J.
orange = Jack

3/28/09 - 12:00pm - Bellevue 9N
3/29/09 - 10:30am - Plattsmouth 1
4/4/09 - 1:00pm - Bellevue 9S
4/4/09 - 2:00pm - Bellevue 9N
4/18/09 - 9:00am - Bellevue 9S
4/18/09 - *Bye*
4/19/09 - 12:00pm - Plattsmouth 1
4/19/09 - 5:00pm - Bellevue 9N
4/25/09 - 9:00am - Plattsmouth 1
4/25/09 - 12:00pm - Bellevue 7N
4/26/09 - 10:00am - Bellevue 9N
5/2/09 - 11:00am - Bellevue 9S
5/2/09 - 12:00pm - Plattsmouth 1 *** HOW?! Same team, one hour apart, different towns! ***
5/9/09 - 10:00am - Plattsmouth 12
5/9/09 - 12:00pm - Bellevue 9N *** problem! ***
5/9/09 - 12:30pm - Plattsmouth 1 *** problem! ***
5/17/09 - 12:00pm - Bellevue 9N

Eeeeeek! I just don't know how this is all going to work without splitting myself in two. On the weekends that Philip is off from the military, he's usually at Runza. On the weekends he's not, I can't be in two places at the same time! (Granted, there is only one time where games are actually overlapping, but there are times where the [one-hour] games are only [one-hour] different from each other, and are in towns 15 minutes apart.)

And practices aren't even on this list!

The new Panic CD is very Beatles-esque. I have plans to attend a concert next weekend in Lincoln. It's at the Pershing Center, and it is the "RockBand Live Tour," featuring Panic! At the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, Plain White T's, and The Cab. I'm stoked!

Today is Jack's last soccer game of the fall season. It is also the last time he will play in this league. Go Jade Green Dragons! It's still kinda bittersweet, though. We will be attending the picnic after his game this afternoon for all the teams. There is a trophy presentation, and I need to bring a dessert on behalf of our team.

Philip and I went on a date night to Scary Acres last night. I don't remember if I ever wrote about it last year (and I'm too lazy to check!), but it was a great time. In fact, though we went on a busier night (Saturday vs. Friday), the weather was so much more wonderful. Last year, we were FREEZING, and this year, the weather was just perfect in a t-shirt and jeans. Oh, and Philip even jumped in the last part of the last event - a guy with a chainsaw came running at him inside the 'House on the Hill,' and that tickled me greatly. He NEVER gets scared when stuff jumps out at him!

I took crappy cell phone pics, but who knows if they'll ever show up here. Also, Philip bought me a Sierra Mist® Cranberry Splash™ and a Snickers® (too warm for hot chocolate, really), and it was yummy. :-)

I still haven't decorated for Halloween. FAIL.

I'm really wanting to make popcorn balls. This need has been brewing for a couple weeks, but I'm gonna have to do it soon. I *need* a popcorn ball. Also, I bought a chocolate cookie haunted house kit for the boys and I to make together some afternoon. I've never made one of those house kits before, but it should be fun, right?

Jack's first outdoor soccer game was Sunday afternoon. I took a bunch of pictures, and I emailed two to the coach that evening - one of the entire team, and another with him in it as well. He's updated the website now, so if you go there, you can click over 'Team Roster' or any of the kids' names, and it will take you to my team picture. Pretty sweet!

Go Tigers!