Sack Lunches

Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight.. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read; perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation.

'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan.

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time..

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base. His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.'

She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq, it's almost like you are doing it for him..'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked.

She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. This is your thanks.

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seat-belt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.'

I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers. Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who looked 20 was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to depart. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

That's my girl

Yesterday, Tatum was playing with this little animal puzzle that Roxelle got for her birthday and she kept insisting that the hamster piece is called a "Lommster". I tried to tell her otherwise, but she would not hear it.
This morning after we dropped the girls off at school, she said she wanted to watch "Scooby, Scooby Doo" and that she can't find it. I knew it was in the car so I started handing her all the DVD's from the car. The first one I handed her was "Barbie in the Nutcracker" and when she looked at it she exclaimed "OOO! It's the 'Buttcracker' one, Mommy!" I asked "It's what?" "Buttcracker", she said like DUH MOM!
She is killing me with her mixed up words and phrases. I can remember doing that as a little kid. (ok, Jolene. I know I still do it. LOL!! "Beth hairs" ha ha ha!!) That's my girl!

Top Story

Katu Channel 2's
Anna Song
tweeted me on
Twitter
saying that someone sent her the link to
my blog after reading what happened at WinCo.

Anna and her camera guy came over on

Thursday morning and spent about

an hour talking to me and filming the kids

(Tatum and Roxelle).

Then they asked me if they could meet

me at my

dr appointment

that I made earlier that morning for Tatum.

She woke up with a red, bloodshot eye.
They came to Evergreen Pediatrics and filmed the

entire appointment and also spoke to

Dr. Fuchs

(the girls Ped. pronounced like fyou-ks) on camera.

It was CRAZY!

And also fun.

They aired tidbits on the 4 and 5 o'clock

news and then a full story at 6.

It was the top story on the 5 and 6 airings.

Must've been a slow day!!! LOL

Mask

Today I had to go grocery shopping.

I don't like going when Will's working because

I HATE taking kids with me.

I went to Wmart and Winco and because

Tatum and Roxelle both have

sneezy, goobery noses,

I was doing my part to keep them covered.

The masks help A LOT with

keeping their hands away from their mouth, too.

Believe me I wouldn't have gone

and taken them if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

But you gotta do what you gotta do.

So I am hurrying in Winco, because Roxelle has had enough. I am bagging as fast as I can and I say (kind of to myself)

"OO I hate to be the mom at the checkout with a screaming child. he he"

The woman across from me bagging in the lane facing me just kind of glared at me and I thought,
OH.Kay.

Then she says

"You know your kidding yourself

if you think that's gonna work. The

mask has to be sealed tight to prevent sickness.

So you might as well take it off and make 'him' happy".

I said (humbly) "Oh, well it does help a little."

She said "No it doesn't if it's not air tight."

I said (humbly again)

"Oh. Well, my

husband's a nurse and he insists I have them wear it".

She says, (GET THIS)

"Well maybe he should be the one at the grocery store instead of you."

THE NERVE!!!

Then the checkout lady called me over to ask a

question and gave me a sympathetic look.

When I went back to my business.

She was glaring again and so I said;

"Well, you know, they have icky noses and are sneezing, so I'm just trying to save everyone else from getting their germs. The masks will at least keep the snot from spraying everywhere."

She didn't respond. RUDE!

Several people at both stores made comments like "That's smart" and "Good for you" and "Thank you for sparing me the germs". One older lady in Wmart in one of those electric carts had on a mask, too. I told Tatum "look, Aunty has a mask, too". The lady was so nice telling Tatum how cool hers looked with Mickey Mouse on it. Their Peds office gives them out for free, so I snagged a couple when I was there last. Glad I did! The girls were both really good about leaving them on. Roxelle got over it toward the end and refused to leave it put, but for the most part she didn't even bother it. Tatum didn't take hers off at all.

baby steps

Roxelle just took her first steps about 20 minutes ago!!! We were sitting on the floor watching tv and Will says "Mommy! Mommy, LOOK!" I turn to see Roxelle take 1 and a 1/2 little steps toward me, giggling all the while. FINALLY!!! She's 12 months and 10 days, already!!

I am so proud of you, Honey!!

Check out these 2 letters that Will received from the hospital today. One is from the Director of Human Resources and the other is from the Head Hospital Administrator.

If you click on the letters individually, they will open up into larger view.

These letters are to inform Will that he is being named the hospital wide Employee of the Month for October!!! His manager said that they will give him a party at the hospital and present him with his award. She said to invite his family, friends and well anyone that cares to come and celebrate. He needs to pick a date that he wants the party on and I will let everyone know when he does.

His floor manager, DJ, told him that this is a pretty big deal and will probably only happen once, maybe twice in his career so plan big! He even gets to choose what food to have! I am so thrilled for him! He, of course, is being very modest about the whole thing. Congratulations, Honey! You deserve it!!

Always a day late and a dollar short...

I know I'm always a day late and a dollar short. I thought all day yesterday about 9/11. I will never forget.

The footage is very real. Don't watch if you can't stomach it.
If you can, then grab a tissue and we'll watch it together.

My memory of that day is not out of the ordinary. I was doing the same thing as everyone else when I got a phone call from my sister Paula telling me to turn on the tv and my world came to a screeching halt. Mariah was 18 months old and I was pregnant with Brinlee.

I was working part time for Caldera Systems as a receptionist and I was just getting ready to leave for work when the 2nd plane hit.

I remember watching the replay of the 1st plane and trying to play out in my mind what could have possibly happened, but when the 2nd plane hit, is was horrendously obvious what was happening.

I can still hear the eerie quiet-ness of the skies and streets that day. I remember the sense of hopelessness in the days after and then the slow building up of unity across the nation.

I am proud to be an American and I send my prayers and well-wishes to those that have made and still make my freedom possible.

I am forever indebted.

billy bob

Look MOM! I have teeth!!!

(You have to click on the picture to make

it bigger and get a better view)

Oh, Asia.

That girl gets me laughing and angry all in about a 30 second span!

This morning she just had me laughing, though. She came up to my room and discovered her money purse. I was getting ready and she was on my bed. She suddenly says:

A: "Ughh! I don't want $2 dollars!"
Me: "OOO! I'll have it then!"
A: "Nooo-wuh! I want more dollars!"
Me: "Well, then you'll have to go get a job to earn more dollars."
A: "What?! Why?"
Me: "Because money doesn't grow on trees like the fruit."
A: *Thinks for a minute* "What if I find a dollar, no, a LOT of dollars in the street and I just start picking them all up? Then I'll be RRrrrich!!" *laughs her funny little giggle*

p.s. I finalized everything for her to start Kindergarten. After all my effort, I still couldn't convince VANSD to let her into public school, so she is going to a private school (Kindercare Learning Center). Much to my relief, it's not going to be quite as expensive as I was told it would be. It's actually not that much more than putting her in preschool for another whole year. She is over the moon excited!!!

delayed reaction

I guess I spoke a little too soon. (BOOOO!) After about a week and a half of Tatum being on cow's milk, this morning she woke me with her trademark "dairy" hacking cough. She's been fine with everything else since last April at Easter time. I guess she wasn't ready for straight milk yet. I am still happy that she can have pretty much everything else. I'll just have to keep her on Almond Milk for drinking for a while, I guess.

FREEEE the "Dairy Free-k"

We've been battling an annoying dairy allergy with Tatum since she was about 9 months old. She has a serious respiratory reaction to any type of dairy ingestion and so we've been pretty careful about reading labels and letting caregivers (i.e. nursery and babysitters, etc.) know about it. Plus the older girls have been really good at knowing what she can and cannot have.

Each year at Easter, we make sure that the bunny knows that she can't have chocolate and she gets stocked with appropriate treats like Skittles and Starburst (and Oreo Cookies...they don't have milk. I know. Go figure!)

Anyway, this past Easter, Tatum kept hiding behind the couch and eating the other girls chocolates. She just couldn't resist. The poor kid LOVES chocolate. She would come into the kitchen with a thick ring of chocolate around her mouth and I thought for sure we were gonna be seeing the ER in a few days, but about a week later, I noticed that she hadn't had ANY reactions to it.

Over these last few months we started with letting her have hard cheeses. She loves Mozzarella sticks. A few weeks ago I let her eat a 1/2 of a gogurt. Nothing. Then we had an ice cream party at the their dentist's office and I let her have "dairy" ice cream (that post is on it's way with pics). Nothing, again. A few days ago, I started putting "dairy milk" on her cereal. Still, nothing.

HALLELUJaaaah...

......oh. wait. Roxelle was born with the same allergy. She got her first runny nose at about 9 days old. I couldn't eat dairy while nursing her and that was HARD! Hers manifests a little differently than Tatums. Her first symptoms are goopy eyes. Tatum would always start with the wheezing and hacking cough. Roxelle has only worked up to the cough once or twice after someone accidentally gave her something with dairy. I can only hope that she grows out of it as quickly as Tatum did!

and now here's.....the rest of the story

Today is Will's birthday so I thought it would be fun to take a cake to his work. While I was getting ready upstairs, this is what the girls were doing downstairs...

Don't they EVER learn?! SHEESH! I guess I
didn't scare Asia enough with horror stories
of chopping her own little fingers off with a knife.
I even put it up and she dragged a bar stool over
and got it anyway.

Going to see Will at work was fun! The girls were so surprised to see him at a hospital "where babies come from" ~Asia. The girls created quite a stir among the staff. Sadly, this is the first time we've been down to see him at work and he's been there a year this month!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

The Great Watermelon Massacre

Yesterday, Asia and Tatum were banished to their room until they cleaned the entire thing. They were in there from 9 am to 6:30 pm with only 1 break for lunch and 1 for dinner and the room was still not clean at bed time. I made them share a bed because I am tired of clearing a spot on the floor to drag the trundle out for Tatum to sleep on.
This morning after breakfast, around 9, I sent them back up there. At 11-ish, Asia came to report that the dress ups were all put away. I congratulated her and gave them a small snack and sent them to clean the rest.
At 1, they came down whining and I asked if it was clean. "Nooo." So I took them back up there to find that a Barbie doll and accessory explosion had occurred. Plus the Polly Pockets and all their teeny weeny pieces were still out along with other random toys and books. (It's been a long standing rule in our house since Mariah was very little that they are not allowed to mix and play with their toys. They can play Polly's, but have to put them away if they want to play Barbie's or dress-ups, etc. If they break that rule then those 2 or more sets of offending toys are banished for any given number of days).
I yelled a little (ok...a LOT) and told them to clean. it. up.!!!!
So Asia came down around 1:45 to report that the Polly's were all picked up. I told her I would cut her some watermelon, but she had to go put the bin in the closet first. So she hurried off to do it. Well I didn't hear her come back down and a little while later Mariah came into the living room and said "Asia made a mess of the watermelon".....

It was whole with only the very end cut off. And,
YES, that's the knife she was using. And, YES,
they ate what is missing. UUUGGHH!!!!!

Tatum's Pics

I took Tatum yesterday to get her pictures done for her 3rd birthday (Aug 24). She did pretty well considering we had to wait about 2 hours. It was a struggle at first, and I am NOT a fan of prop in pics, but after I relented to letting her hold that bear, she was all smiles and goofy expressions. I'd have preferred she not hold the bear in every pic on the first background, but she would not smile without it. Oh, well....
www.kiddiekandids.com always does a great job!

IN charge

After only 8 months of working with Providence Milwaukie Hospital (in April), Will was asked if he'd like to start training as a charge nurse. He excitedly agreed and absolutely loves doing it! He has been on his own for a couple months now and has received a couple emails from the head nurse at PMH praising his efforts. WAY TO GO, Honey! I am so happy for you!

1st cavities

The girls had their bi-annual dentist cleaning yesterday. They've all been twice a year since they were about 2, except Tatum who's been going since 15 months. Anyway, we've never had cavities until now. BOO! I thought it'd be Mariah, but it's actually Brinlee. She has 2 small cavities on 2 baby teeth. They still want to fix them even though they are on baby teeth. DANG! No FUN! I have to make her an appointment in the next couple months.

soooOOooory!

I am so sorry for the lack of posts....my drafts are getting a little out of control.

I have had quite a few people asking me lately why I don't post for a while and then all of a sudden they will look and there's a TON of posts up. It's because I always start a "draft" so that I won't forget things that I want to blog about in detail or write a blog and then tell myself that I'll come right back on to add pictures, but never come back to finish them until I have time and then I publish them all in one afternoon and they post on the date that I originally started the draft.

Did that even make sense? Idk, I'll try to get 'em all up....

Artem and Vitaliy

Our cute little neighbor boys are such hard workers. Artem is Mariah's age and Vitaliy is Brinlee's age. Frequently when we are out working in the yard or garden, Artem will show up and start pulling weeds without being asked. Vitaly will also join him on occasion. I usually make cookies or give them some kind of treat for the hard work they show. They love the cookies and I think they really just need someone to pay a little attention to them for a minute. Plus, it makes my job go a whole lot faster!

Fireworks

UGH! We got home MUCH later than expected (it's about 10:30), but the fireworks display was definately worth the wait. It was AMAZING!

Here's a few pics and then I have to go to bed before I can't open my eyes anymore.

Brinlee, Asia, Kirsten, Mariah, Haylee, Alexa, and Audrey

Tatum, Asia and Evan

Jackie (yellow shirt, glasses), Evan, Haylee
Audrey, Alexa, Mariah, Kirsten and Asia

They had a bunch of local businesses
and the city offices set up booths with
freebies. One booth gave out these popsicles
for free. It was stinkin' HOT out there and no
shade anywhere. Still a ton of fun and it didn't matter
once it got dark. :)

Las Vegas, NV

We are finally here!! It is so beautiful here! I forgot how much I love this place. Our drive last night was long and tedious, but we got to see some beautiful places that we might otherwise have never gotten to see, like Lake Tahoe. I got the sweetest pic of the lake, but my blackberry was connected to the laptop at the time and so it wouldn't save for some weird reason and then we passed it. BOO!

We had told the girls that we would try and stop for dinner around 6:30 and at about 6:20 we passed a sign that said the next bk was in 115 miles. o_O An hour later at 7:20 we passed through this tiny 1/4 mile strip of a town in CA called Mina and the only place to eat was a topless bar. Asia said she needed to go potty, so we stopped at the gas station/minute mart. We walked in the door and the gal behind the counter was talking to this guy that I thought looked homeless. She said "Oh sorry, we're closed." I was like "Oh, well can she just use your bathroom real quick?" She said "Sorry no, you could try Jake's (or whatever it was called)". I looked to where she was pointing and started to go there until I realized that it was the topless bar. UGH! I can't take a child in there. WTHk?! Why couldn't she just let us use hers?

FINALLY, around 8:30 we found a McDonald's (BARF) in Tonopah, NV. We were all starving.

As we got closer to Vegas, we could see the "glow". I forgot how much I miss that drive down I-15 into the city. It's breathtaking. When we came into view of the city lights just minutes before midnight, my heart skipped a beat.

We got here to Jackie's just before 1:00. HOLY GEEZ! She lives in a flippin' mansion!! Their house is so beautiful!

This morning at 7:30, I woke to the sound of 7 little girls all talking a mile a minute. Audrey (7), Kirsten (5), and Ava (3) plus my 4 were all in the living room giggling and chatting. It was so cute.....though I wish I were still sleeping.

We went to Paula's early this morning to say hi to everyone. They recently remodeled their house and it is absolutely AMAZING! I love love love her new banister. She also had her entire kitchen re-done. It's beautiful! They really did a great job with it.

We've just been hanging out and soaking up some much missed sun. Ewa Beach always reminded me a lot of Vegas and now Vegas is doing the same for Ewa. I am missing HI a lot.

Tonight we are going to the N. Las Vegas city fireworks display. The kids are so excited to see the fireworks!!

This morning we went with Jackie's girls to a neighbors
house for swimming lessons. The gal that teaches is in their
ward, so she didn't mind that my girls were playing in the water
during the lesson.
Tatum, Ava, Kirsten, Asia, Brinlee

Sacramento, CA; Beale AFB

We left Megan's a little while ago. We intended to leave earlier, but we were so tired from last night. We didn't arrive to her house until about 2 am. We crashed and slept till about 8.

It was so much fun to see Adam, Megan, and their girls, Adalyn and Ellie. I am so glad that we made it down here to visit them on base. This is a really interesting set up. Their base is out in the middle of the desert with nothing for about 45 minutes (I think) in any direction. They fed us lunch and then gave a little tour of their base, which is pretty big and then we hit the road.

We were hoping to get into to Vegas a little earlier in the evening, but it looks like a late night for us again.

This is their back yard.
Brinlee, Adalyn, Ellie, Mariah, Tatum and Asia
I'm not sure why this is the only picture I took. LOL
Probably just too exhausted to think.

High Rise Livin'

Several hours ago we

pit stopped in Sutherlin, OR and this is

what we saw at the back of the service station.

RV.

Up on blocks.

Carport.

Built in porch and awning.

HIGH RISE LIVIN'!!!!!

On the road

Well, we were supposed to leave tomorrow on our 15 day road trip, but Will got MDO'd and so we thought we'd get a head start. The bad news? I hadn't even started packing! I raced around all morning throwing things in and checking my lists. We got hung up at the Wal-Mart pharmacy on the way out of town. I had to have a couple of things filled before leaving. We were there for 2 hours! It was frustrating, but we finally got on the road around 2 pm.

We headed directly south on I-5 toward California to see Megan and Adam first. We just stopped in Medford for dinner. I thought we could save a little money by eating on the Oregon side and not have to pay sales tax. Well that back-fired because Medford has something called "city sales tax". The people of the city of Medford vote for it every year. BOOO! Oh well, it was only a couple bucks.

We are hoping to be at Megan's around midnight or 1. The girls are doing SO WELL! They've slept some and watched movies. They've switched seats a couple of times to keep it interesting and Roxelle is just chillin' in her carseat. Hope this keeps up!!

Mini Picnic

Even though Asia didn't finish out the school year at Mini School, we were invited to attend the end of the year picnic. (She didn't finish because they weren't out until the 24th and the other girls were done the 17th and I knew I'd be too lazy to get up in the morning just to take Asia to school AND we saved $120 bucks!)
Anyway, it was really cute. They had it at Hazel Dell park and the entire school was invited. There were a TON of people there and a TON of food! It was a potluck. DELISH!

Mariah, Asia, Brinlee, and Tatum

We were getting ready to go and I kept calling Brinlee from across the
playground to stop spinning and come on. When she didn't after a
couple of calls, I went over to find that she couldn't stop. LOL!
She was SO DIZZY when I finally stopped her.

Bloody Mess

Will and I were outside working and I came in to get something and discovered Tatum on the stairs screaming and there was a trail of blood all up and down!

The video is kinda long (over 2 mins), but the last 45-50 seconds when I start talking to Tatum is pretty funny and it explains what the heck happened!! Poor baby.... :(

baby daddy

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

We ended up spending the night in Woodburn because my mom had a surgery earlier in the week. Since she was supposed to stay down in bed we thought we'd bring her a little entertainment...US! LOL
Will had to work on Saturday, but thankfully had Sunday off. Woodburn 1st Ward gave a cool hand-out. The youth read a scripture with the word "sickle" and then they handed out these bottles of liquid soap with a hard plastic card shoved inside with quotes about "hands". Around the neck of the bottle was a tag that said for each "Pop" in the ward to go to the kitchen after the block of meetings and recieve his "sickle" and they handed out popsicles to all the dads. CUTE!
Will is a dedicated and hardworking husband and father. I feel very blessed to get to share eternity with him!

9 months old

Roxelle turned 9 months old yesterday. I only got one picture of her and it was on the scale at the Dr. office. She weighs 17 lbs 10 oz and is 27 1/2 inches long

Here are some shots I took of her today.

High Fashion

We have been struggling for years with our girls wiping their noses and their faces all over their shirt. It's been especially hard to break Asia of the habit and now she's got Tatum doing it. The new punishment for getting caught wiping ANYTHING on your shirt is having your shirt removed and a napkin (if it's food) or a tissue (if it's your nose) taped on as a replacement.

She had to eat dinner like this and she
was NOT happy. (Sorry the photo is so
grainy. It was taken on my blackberry)

Plant a tree....

We have started planting the trees that were so generously given to us!! Asia has proven to be the hardest most committed worker in the yard. It's shocking that it's her and actually quiet a pleasant surprise. She is always ready to "dig in" no matter what she's wearing...notice the shoes (white, glitterly, high heeled, church sandals). Mariah was in a helpful mood in that moment, too.

Mariah in Truman Idols/Talent Show

She tried out for spring drama club and made it again and she got a small speaking part this time too! She was so excited! Tonight was the performance and Will was off, so we all got to go. It was a cute show. They only 4 weeks to practice once a week. It had some bumps, but was a really fun idea!

These are the "judges"