Living in a van down by the river...

My family is now really living in a van down by the river...or more like living out of a van by the river. The packers have been at our house for the last two days. The truck comes tomorrow morning to take it all away and deliver it to storage for the next 6 months. I have been relatively "cool" the last few days...kind of unusual for me. Our packing crew is funny and capable (except for the one child molester who stays under my watchful eye...creepy man). They worked so quickly that they have been done by 1 and 2 pm yesterday and today. We have moved to the hotel for the next three nights before heading West.
I am full of mixed emotions. Glad to be leaving our house...sad to be leaving new friends and fun playground out back with kids always willing to play and get filthy in the dirt...happy to be going to family...sad to be saying goodbye to part of my little family...so happy when I drive down the road and see fall all around...sad to be leaving New England...happy to be moving closer to Sonic...sad to be moving my children again. This feeling of transition is the worst. I dislike staying in hotels and trying desperately to keep tabs on precious blankets and stuffed animals (they were each allowed to bring 2 along for our stint in UT.) not to mention clothing and shoes, hauling dirty laundry and keeping kids happy with nothing to do. I just want to skip the next two weeks and feel settled into the new norm. All in good time. I actually have been rather proud of myself in thus far being able to keep perspective and not panicking or being too stressed...yet. Clark is scrambling to finalize lots of plans and details before his departure.
So as it becomes increasingly late on the day two of pack-out, the thoughts are 'randomizing'.
The next 6 months are packed in our van, we can see the river from our hotel...all we need is some fast food containers on the floor, a shaggy rug, tacky seat covers and little custom curtains in the windows...where is Chris Farley when you need him?

These are a few of my favorite things...

How do I have the time to be writing a blog days before our movers come? Good question. Clark and I think we are ready...we're just waiting to remember something big, something that we have overlooked...but right now it feels as though we are on top of it. (We'll see.)
So I have come to terms with the fact that I like TV, so sue me. We did the no TV thing for a while. Clark and I enjoyed it after the withdrawal had subsided. We read, we sat and stared at each other. I don't really think that our relationship was any more enriched by the absence of TV from those couple of hours a night we spent staring at each other...though we did perfect our Cribbage game. So we take joy in our nights of mutual vegetation in front of the TV. We laugh together, we are geeky and we relax. Especially being pregnant, I hit that time of day when the kids are in bed, the house is picked up and I literally plop into the tacky blue recliner and grab the remote for some good old fashioned mindless decompression.
These are some (but not limited to) the shows that make me giggle.
First lets get the confession of my guilty pleasure out of the way. Who hasn't dreamed of Tyra saying these words to you: "Congratulations. You're still in the running to become America's Next Top Model". OK, probably lots of you haven't had that dream. I think I mostly just want to sit and have someone do my hair and makeup and make me look amazing...but my self esteem is too high to be on that show, and I don't have an eating disorder...and I've had three kids (being pregnant might be an issue as well.) I just want to meet Nigel Barker and tell him that he is a silver tongued devil and kind of cute in a repulsive sort of way. We really do try to limit our a-moral TV shows though we have been guilty also of popping in and seeing what Dr. Rey and his wife are fighting about on Dr. 90210...his suits are ridiculous and entertaining enough.
We love Thursday night TV and have a system where we watch Survivor while recording NBC...though I have to express extreme disgust at sell-out NBC's shameless promotion of Jerry Seinfeld's new movie--I wonder who their biggest money maker in history was?...it makes me not want to see the movie. Shameless.
Enough talk. These are some of my faves.
Dog the Bounty Hunter. They pray before a capture and give thanks while holding hands after. Gotta love 'em...and Beth's bazoongas are unbelievable. Oh, and last week we discovered that Dog likes to tell his wife what to wear (and she loves it.) He said, and I quote: "I don't like my women to dress trashy, just next to trashy." Classic. Love Dog, love Beth, love Leland and his braid.
Next. Love Scrubs, though its obnoxious to have the change the channel when they border raunchy. Our favorite from that show?...Ted the lawyer. Awwww.
30 Rock. Again, bizarre humor but it makes us laugh. Our favorite from that show?....Kenneth the page boy.
and speaking of 30 Rock, Tracy Morgan has his moments...we liked the one where he stopped taking his medication...or the one about his entourage. But our favorite Tracy Morgan moments happen to be from Saturday Night Live before it got ridiculously stupid and unfunny (we actually conceded that maybe we're just getting older and don't get the humor anymore...its a possibility.) Go watch Tracy Morgan as Brian Fellows, the animal enthusiast with a sixth grade education. "That bird is a liar!...that bird's trying to steal my credit card!"
The Office, 'nough said. Endless hours of entertainment, quick wit and dialog, pathetic people, scheming office politics and frozen cats.

And dear Charlie and Lola. We love them. We have all seasons. They just make us happy, and they are nice to each other. I hate all the cartoons out there where the kids whine and the siblings fight--that's not just life. Charlie and Lola we love you.


Maybe watching TV turns our brains to mush...but we'll be all entertained and mushy together.

**Disclaimer: I would rather my kids play outside than watch TV...they are not old enough to turn their brains to mush just yet. First the education, then we'll turn it to mush.

Chilhood Entourage

I am always fascinated and entertained by the entourages of children--all those toys that "are scared to be left behind"...I love the loads of friends that go in the car, to the store or get tucked into bed each night with the kids. I mean, I don't love taking all of those things everywhere but I love the novelty of being attached to stuffed animals (even though I have an uncomfortable dislike for stuffed animals...they get dirty.)
Anyway, what I want to know is, Who is in your child's entourage? The only thing funnier than a child's clan of things is the names that they have been given. Here are ours, please share yours.

Judy
Mow Mow
yellow blankie
big blue blankie
little blue blankie
Kaylee
Magica
Puppy
Katy
Chi Chi
Shamu (or "Mamu")
Bunny
Pup
Fuzzy
...just to name a few

And here are some pics from Columbus Day weekend. We met the Oscarsons in NYC for an afternoon in Central Park, visiting the carousel, the zoo and a parade. Spencer and Sho were having fun playing with their new, fancy camera. It was a fun day!
















(this pic is simply evidence of "the bump" that has taken up residence in my belly...and I imagine that Haley's face is one that will follow her into adolescence in response to most of what her parents do.)

The brood

Every year or so I like to make an entry in my journal-a description of each of the kids. I am anxious, as I have been since before they were born, to watch their personalities and character, to see how it evolves, what changes, and what stays the same. They fascinate, they frustrate, they amaze, they entertain, they annoy and they love. They are easy going and fairly well behaved. I don't prefer to, but am not afraid to take all three to the mall or the store with me. I like to have them around and I miss them when we are apart for school or a trip. I love when strangers comment on what a hand full just so I can say "we love it" or "they're good girls".

Haley maintains her place and status as eldest child. She is quick to follow the older neighborhood kids around but when we're at home, she is the natural leader. When she is not bugging them, she is coddling her younger sisters and loves to help "mother" Mia (way more than Mia would like). Several weeks ago I was having a morning sickness moment and throwing up in the sink downstairs. While the other girls stood by and watched, on her own Haley ran and got me a cup of water (which she has done several times) and then ran back to where I was and held my hair. How did she even know how to do that? Sometimes she is so thoughtful and compassionate that it makes me want to cry. She loves to be praised for her accomplishments and still loves to climb in our laps and cuddle. She has a missing tooth that was knocked out on her cousins head but is excited to have her first real loose tooth now. Haley has always had a lower raspy voice and I get asked all the time if she is sick. I love it. She is sweet and funny and smart. She loves that she can read chapter books and begs to take them everywhere with her. She bites her nails constantly so I never have to cut them. She likes to help and be the biggest sister.

Abby is just a silly girl. She is the most spontaneously entertaining out of all of them. She has had dimples since the day she was born and is such a goof. She has developed a disturbing taste for mixed Ranch dressing and ketchup--and requests it with nearly every meal. She leaves her bed a mess during the day but cannot lay down to go to sleep until all of her blankets are folded and in their place at the end of the bed, and her stuffed animals lined up biggest to smallest. When we check on her before we go to bed we usually have to cover her up with something and put her shirt back on (that is a recent habit, we're not sure why she takes it off because its usually chilly in their room.) She loves to make people laugh but doesn't do silly things necessarily for other people. She does does it to entertain herself but is completely tickled when other people find her funny. This girl does not sleep. She would go and go and go until the sun came up. She climbs into our bed 99% of the time and is so cuddly and cute it's hard to kick her out. She has smiling eyes like her Dad but difficult hair that she doesn't like to keep done up. She also hates shoes and especially socks. She is shy but friendly. She also loves to cuddle up in our laps. She is just likable.
Abby's voice is high and cute. We repeat what she says all time just because its so funny--hopefully we're not causing any kind of complex.

Mia is a lot like Abby but in her own unique way. She is silly and goofy and has dimples too. She's a bright girl and has started talking much earlier than the other girls so we have fun teaching her new things to say (ie cheese-burger and fo shizzle) When she talks she is very slow and articulate, pronouncing each syllable clearly and deliberately. She can keep up with her sisters and tries very hard to do everything that they do. She also knows that as the youngest of three she has to defend her territory and does so mercilessly. However, all you have to do is ask her 'please' in a sweet voice and she'll give you anything that she has. The girls love to baby her and she lets them, most of the time. She has the worst hair to do of anyone with cal licks and crazy swirls all over the place. She is also a self proclaimed vegetarian and refuses to eat nearly any and all meat placed in front of her. She used to be an angel sleeper but life in our current home has hindered her ability to be so easy going in that area (ie sleeping in the "dorm" room with her sisters...very distracting.)

It's hard to imagine how the addition of another little squeeze will change the dynamics of this family but we have learned and loved so far.

Airing grievances....and then something good.

My poor sister Abby gets all of those pointless phone calls--the ones where I just need to tell her something that was completely random or something that totally stunk. It's not a call I ever make fishing for sympathy or even advice, but somehow I know she'd appreciate most of what I have to gripe about because I say it then its over and we talk about something else. It's what I miss most about living near her and hanging out with her nearly 24 hours a day (OK, it's not really what I miss most but it has left a void in my life). It's those things that you just have to say out loud except that here I don't have anyone to say it out loud to. So I call Abby.
Sometimes I call her several times a day. I wonder if she is truly sick of me yet.

So here is what I called her about today.
1. Standing in line at Panera there was a woman in front of me. She looked young but was wearing scrubs implying that she worked perhaps in some kind of health office? Dentist office? Doctor's office? I really don't know. But she was gnawing mercilessly on her nails. Maybe it's because I have a 6 year old that has this habit and we have been trying endlessly for 2 years to break her of it. Not only to let her poor nails be but it means she has her fingers in her mouth, all the time. It was grossing my out so intensely that I almost, almost had to say something to her.
2. I went to see my doctor for a quick blood pressure read due to a headache I've had for 6 weeks. Tylenol doesn't help and there ends my options. My weird OB's professional opinion? Drink a half a cup of wine every night before bed. I said, I don't drink...and was thinking, uh and I'm pregnant. That was after I sat in the waiting room staring at a poster promoting the morning after pill--it said "sometimes the morning after can get messy" and had a picture of a spilled cup of coffee on a planner. Comparing accidentally getting pregnant to a spilled cup of coffee?...I can't even go there. grr.
3. I had McDonalds for dinner. 'nough said.
But my kids made me laugh today, lots of times and that made it better between all those weird things that happen day to day.

Now for a change of direction. A couple of months ago I started compiling my Blurb (an online company that publishes your blog into book format.) I had lots of glitches and it was excruciatingly frustrating...But, I finally figured out what the problem was and got it submitted. I got it in the mail today. 168 pages of journaling from the last 2 years. I am so pleased.


Once I figured out the hang up, it was so easy I made two more books one for me and one for Clark.

I just finished some other projects for the girls. I have been putting together projects for the upcoming deployment so I started with little laminated, spiral bound picture books for each person in the family. They are filled with pictures of the family and pictures of the girls with their Dad, specific for their own book. However, once I got through with three little ones I decided doing a blurb book for me and Clark would be much faster, and cheaper.

Which brings me to my next random jump of topics. We're moving in two and a half weeks. I can't tell you how excited I am to leave this particular dwelling. It has housed our comfy little family and surrounded us (rather closely) with most of our familiar things. However, with the absence of overhead lighting and small rooms it's like living in a cave. My eyes actually hurt by the time we go to bed. Clark is leaving to meet his boat, the USS Annapolis and take over as Navigator near the end of the year. Instead of the girls and I moving into a house and enduring our first New England winter through the throws of 2nd and 3rd trimesters I opted for Utah. My parents are graciously taking in the Scharman girls for the next several months until Clark returns. I will most likely stay in Utah until after the baby is born, as we have discovered our birthing options are narrowly more attractive there. I am feeling prepared for the move, but unprepared for our separation. It's good to miss someone but not that fun. There's no telling how it will affect the girls though we have read and prayed and prepared as much as we know how. The last time Clark deployed Haley was only 2 and Abby was a baby. They weren't really old enough to grasp the concept of time or absence. My heart already aches. I am so proud of him and couldn't feel more supportive of what he does. I admire him, I believe in it, I am invigorated and humbled by what efforts are made on our behalf.
Was this long enough? Are you still with me?
Later.

An apple a day

Homemade applesauce...
Apple Crisp...
Apple Pie...
Caramel Apples...
Apples Apples Apples...
We simply stuffed ourselves with apples...