settling in to our surroundings

Jeff worked only a half day today so we got to do some fun stuff like register Heather for school, check our mailbox (they're like the wooster mailboxes which cracks me up!!), and go to the BX and Comissary. The comissary was of course out of baking powder, karo syrup, and canned yams so we will not be having monster cookies or candied yams for new years...we will be having expensive ham and some yellow things that looked like potatoes which will be mashed!! We also went to one of Jeff's friends houses who lives off base and met a portugese, extended family. Prior to that we visited the Azorean version of a McDonald's play place which was attached to a burger/ice cream/donut shop (what?!). The kids befriended a little boy who taught us to say happy new year in Felish anu nova (?). We then went to one of Jeff's friends houses who had his portugese landlord/friends and family over for a "party". The family spoke no English save a couple of gentlemen so there was a lot of smiling going on in the room. There was a 2 year old who the kids were playing with at the end of the night and Heather seemed to think it was hilarious that she had no idea what he wasy saying and vice versa. I tried to pick up a few phrases and came home to consult my book...we're kind of still on east coast time with the kids going to bed around 10 and getting up around 9 or so.

merry christmas and a happy new place!

We had a great Christmas day (although Jeff was not with us) opening presents and enjoying family time with Sara's family. The kids were elated to see that Santa had left them a note and eaten the buckeyes they left for him. Charlie was possibly most excited about his new underwear (I will respect his privacy and not mention what kind!!) and Heather mentioned that the Barbies were not quite what she meant when she said Barbie but was happy to see that someone else got Polly Pockets which actually was what she meant. They enjoyed trying out theie new toys before we packed them up to leave the next morning.
Friday morning mom finished loading up the car and we settled in for a 9 hour trip to the naval base we were to fly out of. The kids were GREAT! Cameron slept virtually the whole trip and cried for less than 15 minutes in total. The next morning we got up and had a leisurely morning of hotel breakfast, cartoons, and swimming in the indoor pool. We headed over to check in our stuff--which was an adventure--then to Chucky Cheese to kill the afternoon. Mom and dad had an extended stay with us at the airport as our plane got delayed but we eventually got on and took off.
Well just before we took off from our nicely situated four seats the stewerdess informed me that the car seat had to be in the middle--ie between me and Heather or Charlie. I started to panic but got us situated and the older two sitting next to eacfh other took off in experienced flyer (which they are not) form. Eventually there was a moving about of seats and I sat in 3 of the 4 seats during the trip. We landed and there was Jeff waiting to meet us. The kids were elated and made it through. Travelling went well but was made MUCH easier by help from family and Jeff's sponsor who happened to be headed back home on the same flight we were.
More about the house and area later but Jeff did a great job unpacking and after less than 24 hours I can say there's nothing I don't like about it. Of course everyone would like bigger but everything is very nice, the rooms are situated well and we should be able to create space for all of us. The island is really pretty and VERY rural! Jeff took us out driving around and we saw a rainbow--I'm taking that as a "promise" that everything is going to work out during our time here.

christmas eve

It's Christmas Eve and Santa has been to the Azores already ;-) and is through with Ohio as well. The kids had a busy day finishing up a few projects and asking continually if they could open some presents (NO). We made it to church after a mishap of not having keys to the car we were supposed to drive but enjoyed a nice service and did not burn the Church down during the candle lighting part. Letters to santa have been written including a question about how Elfi is able to get to the North Pole and back every night to report to Santa and we gave Elfi hugs and told him we'd see him next year. Now the "merry christmases" of A Christmas Story are in the air so it's time to kick back and watch some of the marathon before we go through the flourish of unwrapping tomorrow. Charlie was especially funny this evening about ways that Santa could come in the house. The excitement and innocence of a 3 year old is so priceless!

santa rides a train??

We've been busy with Christmas this last week...Heather and Charlie each got a trip to the store to pick something out for each other. Both prepped the other with just what their little heart desired, "Barbies, pet shop, my little pony--not a boy thing..." They really enjoyed picking out a little something for each other and seemed to pay attention to what the other had requested and what they really thought they would like.
Last night we went to the reception of a family friend from Athens. The kids had a BLAST dancing and really tore up the dance floor. They had some moves I've never seen before. Charlie seemed to be attempting break dance moves and Heather enjoyed being lifted and spun around.
Today we took a ride on the "santa train". We got to ride a train for about an hour or so with a bunch of other families and santa strolled through the aisles. He made it to our car just in time and the kids LOVED seeing him. I don't think we'll get the traditional sit on santa's lap picture this year but the kids have had the chance to "visit" with Santa a few times. They were so excited. When he came back down the aisle singing "You better watch out..." Heather jumped from the window into Bryan's lap for an aisle seat view of santa. It was a fun trip and nice to enjoy the time with family. The kids had a lot of things that they said they were going to tell Jeff and drew pictures of the event to take to show him when we see him again. We rounded out the night decorating the christmas tree with the kids commenting on EVERY ornament and having a good time. We miss Jeff a lot in these holiday moments and can't wait to see him in less than a week.

let it snow

After being warm yesterday we woke up to 4 inches of snow with a steady fall all morning. The kids and I got out to do some sledding and attempts at snowman building. There were also a few angels and of course snowballs. it was nice to get out as it has been rainy or wet a lot of the time. the best news is that the snow should be around in the morning then by thursday the hi is supposed to be in the 50's. that's the way i like to do it!!

christmas and sleeping

We've gotten into the christmas spirit at the Mickelson household with buckeye making, christmas tree chopping and a band concert complete with St. Nick conducting a fun christmas march. We ended the day with a chinese dinner (not quite so christmas-y unless you think christmas story...fa ra ra ra ra...). Cameron is also sleeping a bit more on his own which has been nice. I've put him down in a big shirt of Jeff's that I've worn to try to trick him into thinking he's being held or near me. So far it's worked about 25% of the time but I'm not giving up yet. He's much more content to lie and look at things and laugh and goo which has been fun. We talk to Jeff on the phone at least once a day (except for yesterday) and he's settling into the Azores. He moved into our house but doesn't have any stuff yet. Hopefully it will come soon especially since the kids "big" presents from Santa are in the short shipment for Jeff to put up. All I want for christmas is ALL OUR STUFF!!!

finding things to do

we're finding things to do while my dad is sick and my mom works her short term job at home. The past few days we've been on trips to wal-mart, the library, the play place at the mall (where I was painfully aware of several other moms with friends and knew that many of mine might be at McDonald's for lunch or together earlier in the week like we regularly were), and the bank. The kids have LOVED all the errands (sarcasm?!). We have done some fun projects for the holidays and tried to do some wrapping paper today but were short on some necessary supplies. It is funny as we were running all the errands, a week or so ago I gave the kids each a piece of change to put in the salvation army jar at wal mart. The guy ringing the bell gave them each a turn and as we left I explained what the money was for. Now the kids feel that it is an obligation to put money in the jar and Charlie stands an extra few seconds waiting for the bell ringer to give him the bell (i think he may think he is buying a turn!!). Coming out of our third store today I was out of change but Heather dug into her pocket and happily handed Charlie a quarter and each offered a merry christmas to the bell ringer as they clinked their change into the can. It was a pretty sweet "christmas season" feeling moment. And then moments later there was the fight for who got in the car first...Tonight the kids had some holiday cheer as they made buckeyes with my mom and we watched frosty the snowman and frosty returns.

I had a philosophic moment (which is rare for me!!) in the car on teh way home when Charlie asked me to stop going over bumps because he was coloring outside the lines. It made me reflect for a moment (b/c that's all I get before someone is in need of something else) as we are making so many changes for us and the kids on the "bumps" that change the direction/plan in my life so far and how each one may not be in my perfect design or plan hopefully in the end I'll look back on a colorful picture and those spots outside the lines will look beautiful and not so out of place as they might have seemed at the time. Charlie however asked me again a few minutes later not to go over more bumps...

long week

The last week we spent at Jeff's mom's house enjoying time with grandma and friends. I got some real mother of three time which was some quantity and lots challengeing--especially since cameron does not want to sleep anywhere but being held. The kids enjoyed an early christmas and had time to try out new toys and clothes with grandma. We also enjoyed some fun in the snow and making a gingerbread train and sugar cookies. An evening with a college friend reassured me that when we see our MS friends again it will be just like old times...the trip home was torterous as cameron cried the whole way except for about 20 minutes (that's a 4 1/2hour not counting hourly stops trip)

so much to write...so little time

alone with three kids it's hard to get time to update everyone...here goes... We had a great t'giving dinner with the whole Mickelson clan including my grandma and her husband. The kids were SPOILED with attention over the weekend and hated saying goodbye to someone every day. Yesterday we took Jeff to the airport and the kids tearfully said goodbye for three weeks. Heather has been very sad--whenever she is tired or hungry it's "I miss daddy." which she started almost immediately upon getting into the car at the airport. Charlie also mournfully states his sadness that dad is not going to be here for a few weeks...We did an art museum in Columbus (OH) that my paretns had been to and had a nice kids activity area as well as the play place at polaris before dinner and then the hotel (with my parents). My parents left this morning and the single mom and three kids drove up to Jeff's mom's to visit until Monday or Tuesday.

The kids had a few funny quotes along the way...We saw santa at the mall and they were all in awe. When Charlie saw him he said, "I can not believe it it's the real santa claus!!" It was cute in an awestruck 3 year old way. They did give him high fives (even Cameron) and returned for Heather to give him a hug. The stammered out what they wanted for Christmas (Cars "stuff" and barbies--what?!) and excitedly picked a piece of candy from the box. In the toy store heather proclaimed, "i know, i know mom, Santa can't bring me everything that I want."

This morning as we were getting ready to leave the hotel I asked heather to put the stuff in the cooler while I did some clothes packing and her cartoon came back on she said, "it's OK mom. I can help. I don't need to watch cartoons all day!" WHAT---they are currently watching toy story 2 :-)

Finally Heather was my "helper" with Cameron in the back seat while Charlie was my helper in the middle seat. After Cameron (who had slept for an hour or so) cried lightly for about 3 minutes heather announced, "this is hard work."

We heard from Jeff today. WEather in the Azores: 65 sunny, no breeze...PERFECT!! He said that I would love it. He posted a few pictures of possible houses on Facebook for those of you who are his "friend". The outside views are from our two possible "backyards". Guess which one I prefer!? (MS friends I still REALLY miss you--even with the cool backyard!)

happy thanksgiving!!

While feeding Cameron I had a chance to get online and thought I would just say "Happy Thanksgiving!!" I'm happy to be at my parents home with my brother and sister and grandma and her husband to give thanks for everything!! Mostly this thanksgiving I'm thankful that we've gotten to see all of my family and most of Jeff's and the kids got to play with cousins and aunts and uncles. We miss Jeremy and Ashley but hope that a holiday soon we will share with them as well. Soon we will sit down to stuff our faces and try to get the kids to behave at the table!! I am also very thankful for all our friends who have helped us out in many ways as we make this transition and land in the Azores altogether again after Christmas.

five nights...five beds

When Jeff pointed out to me yesterday that we were headed to spend the night in the 5th different place in 5 days I couldn't beleive it! We went from a night in MS, TN, my mom's, his brother's and finally his mom's in 5 days!! I am so amazed that the kids aren't just falling apart and really have handled the chaos we are calling their life really well. It helped that they got to see grandparents, cousins, and a mouse called Chucky cheese along the way ;-). Of course even though we've left MS we're still relying on friends to do various things I forgot to do before we left, mail, bows...I just didn't want anyone to think we were really gone...It really feels like we're on vacation and when my friend who is getting our mail called today I almost said just to hang on to it until we get back. I saw things in stores that I was going to pick up to bring back to friends' kids...I'm not sure when it will sink in that we're not going back. I keep telling the kids to hang on to things so that we can have them when we get home--but I'm not even sure what I'm referring to as home. Such is the life of a military family I suppose.

mississippi to ohio

After a stressful last week in MS including an ER trip for Charlie, a Fifths disease diagnosis for Heather and a Sinus infection for Sara (why now?!) we set off in the car yesterday with my mom to drive to OH. To step back I did get to do a few fun things including a dinner out with friends, last lunches at McDonald's, and some last playdates for the kids. I don't know how we're going to get by without our MS friends--who were called on for pretty much everything including cleaning my microwave (ICK!!). The kids said good bye to their friends but didn't really get sad although they seemed to understand they wouldn't be at their house or playing with them anymore. I of course cried a lot--sometimes when I didn't expect it and not others when I thought I would saying good bye to a few of my closest friends. The week was filled with packing and moving piles from place to place. It was much more stressful then I thought it would be and took MUCH longer, pretty much down to the time we drove off to get everything done. I am happy that I got to do a few things with friends for the last time because I won't miss the things I packed in the wrong place but I would be really sad to not have had that last lunch, trip to wal-mart, or time with friends. A bright note to the leaving was the end of soccer which culminated in a game for the 3-5 year olds sooo cute and charlie stopped a goal!! and a few for Heather where she did pretty well and then the "banquet" of pizza and trophies. We left right after that so it was a good opportunity to say goodbye to a lot of people at one time. The kids were AMAZING in the car on the way to OH so I do have that to be thankful for :-)

spots and lots (of boxes!!)

We had a lot of excitement the last 2 days!! Yesterday jeff and I tried to finish up packing for teh packers to come (what a concept!!) With 3 shipments we had to catagorize things into multiple "groups" which was at times difficult with limited space. Hopefully we never have to do quite this kind of shipment again. My friend brought Charlie home around 3 and he had red splotches ll over his body--like a sunburn on his arms and legs and the chicken pox on his torso. It wasn't bothering him but Jeff took him to teh ER (for like 3.5 hrs) to make sure it was nothing. They said allergy but we have no idea to what and gave him some steroid treatmet to take for 5 days--yeah!! I guess he'll be a buff 3 year old now.

Today the packers came and whew!! Who knows what will be shipped to teh azores that we weren't planning on bt we'll find out when we get there. They are like a whirlwind of boxes, tape, and men (4) flying through the house. I'm just hoping nothing gets broken as I hear them bounce a "fragile" box off the door step...yikes! I guess there's nothing we can't live without but it would be nice to have a working computer and tv's and some dishes to eat off of...this weekend we re-sort for the Monday and Wednesday packing, Tuesday loading, and thursday off we go--whew. It's all going so fast. With a few going away "celebrations" and last days of school we'll be off in no time...

the water works that is Sara has sprung...

On a sad note we had to say goodbye to one of Heather's friends who we won't see again. They made us an awesome "going away" celebration complete with a tent set up in the middle of the "ocean", islands and fish surrounding it, Portugeese (sp?) music, and a pasta dish with shrimp (seafood) in it--did I mentino there was a pineapple in the middle of the table?! it was really nice--except for the part where we had to say good bye to Ariana--it's much harder for adults than kids and it was the start of much sadness and tearing--OK crying--for me. Up until then I had been OK but now the mention of "good-bye" or moving sends me to the brink (or past) of tears! :-( It's going to be a long week+ for me I think!! on another note Cameron went to the doctor today and he weighed in at 15 lbs. 6 oz. I knew he was growing fast but WHEW what a chunker!! He's smiling now--but not for the camera. Every time I get it out he just looks at me...I guess he spent too much time with his aunt Kelly while she was here (she actually frowned for the first 8 years of pictures!!)

captain hughes

Jeff's mom and brother arrived on Thursday night to celebrate his promotion yesterday to Captain. They had a nice "presentation" at the fire station with his commander finding only his age and undergrad choice of colleges to make fun of him with and lots of praise for Jeff and his accomplishments. The kids, myself, and his mom helped pin his rank on and put it on his shirt. We then had some cake and a little lunch at his office with some of his friends and co-workers. It was nice to see people recognize his hard work and dedication to the job. Charlie asked what we were doing that day and his grandma explained that Jeff would be a Captain instead of a LT and charlie's response was a great 3 year old quote--"but we can just call him dad."

patriotic days

After fun playing tennis and at the park on Sunday we put her on a plane yesterday. Charlie was funny when the plane took off he was waving to it saying, "bye kelly. see you in ohio. i hope bryan is there!" We saw the plane all the way into the air before we could go home ;-) Later that day we went to Tops in Blue, the air force singing/preformance group which was really fun. Heather and I love the music/dancing and Jeff, Charlie and Cameron seemed to enjoy it as well. It always ends with "proud to be an American" which gives me chills as they sing it so emotionally. It was a great preformance as usual. Then today of course the election and voting. Heather had elections at school and informed us who was running for president. I had to explain to Charlie what the president did...

fun and football

Today was a busy day--no wonder we're not getting any packing done or organizing anything! We headed over to a park on base to do a "monster march" which had us walking to a variety of places on base and doing some "obstacles" such as sliding down a jumpy slide, putting a golf ball, bowling, and some hoops. We walked with some friends (who also survived trick or treating with us) which made it more fun! After the walk they had a cookout. Since we were done by 11:30 we decided to all go to the Mississippi State football game. We were in luch and ran into a very nice gentleman who provided us with tickets and we enjoyed the perfect football weather and a close game. It wasn't very pretty at times but it was a lot of fun. Cameron slept through the whole walk and was awake through a good part of the game but happy. The other two did well through about the middle of the second quarter, moved on over to where Jeff's KY friends were and made it to the end of the game. Kelly was also well behaved and enjoyed the very fun day!

trick or treat

The kids had a really good time trick or treating last night! Heather had wanted to be a bat but decided when Charlie was going to be a firefighter and cameron a dalmation she wanted in on the "group" action. We suggested a fire truck and Jeff created an adorable fire truck complete with headlights, flashing tail lights and a red siren light in addition to hoses, ladders, and pictures of Heather and Charlie in the passenger seats and sitting on teh bumper of a real fire truck. It was sooo cute and she put it on and it was...waaaay to heavy. Jeff took out some of the batteries and left the "look". We started out with a group of 8 then added 4 more along the way then ended the night with 6. Along the way the cute little firetruck was dropping parts left and right, hoses, ladders and headlights were a casualty of quick walking and constant bumping against the other 8 active trick or treaters. Needless to say it was a good time, with to much candy, and a lot of entertaining comments from the kids.

long lost locks

So I did locks of love--as you can see--and she cut a LOT off the back. i donated 10 1/2 inches but probably she could have done 12 inches because she KEPT CUTTING! At any rate it's short. Another nice part of the story--aside from some child getting a wig is that a lady who was getting her hair done at the same time who had two sisters who had lost their hair to cancer offered to pay for my haircut. Thanks Ms. Jacks!!

halloween fun

Today we tried to have some fun with Cameron (poor helpless baby) and keep him warm with some costumes. He didn't like it too much. We also carved a few pumpkins which Heather liked scooping--charlie not so much and Cameron will not be modeling the latest pumpkin styles. In his defense it may have been a little chilly inside the pumpkin which had been outside. My sister came today for a few days and Heather apparently charged off the bus into her arms with a big hug. Much better reactino than I usually get off the bus...

Charlie is so smart...

Today he said, "mom, you're the best mom in the whole wide world!" I simply had to agree.

Saturday as we shopped for some Azores stuff Jeff commented that we would be in OH in 4 weeks. I was so overwhelemed I told him he was wrong and tried to count the weekends to show him but he was NOT wrong. I started thinking about how hard it is for me to make good friends and how much I count on my friends to help out in a pinch with the kids or if I need something--as well as how much I like having friends that I know count on me as well. Although I'l already far from so many friends and all of our family already it's still sad to be leaving the friends we have here. I think I haven't really had time to think about leaving friends because there is so much stuff to cull through and do before we leave. So I think I'll blog some more...


Cameron has been extra fussy the last two days. Well yesterday he slept almost all day and today he fussed a lot and barely nursed. He spit up buckets the first two feedings and then barely ate the rest of the day. I'm hoping he'll wake up better tomorrow. It's been chilly here so we've bundled up for soccer practice and games the last two days and made good use of small halloween costumes that Cameron will not be wearing this year...tis the season.

louisiana guest and mississippi accent

Jeff and our friend Josh (who co-officiated our wedding) drove back from New Orleans yesterday and Josh visited for about 20 hours before heading back. We got some time while the kids were sleeping/in school to play a few games and just talk. It made me miss our close friends who we are far away from sooo much!! Then this evening we got a calendar from one of my college friends that was BEAUTIFUL with pictures of the 5 of us who were best buddies and our families. It was a total Wooster day today!!

An example of Heather's accent which many will not get to experience...riding home in the car today she told me that Mr. "Heel" had come to the pick up line because kids were being loud. I laughed because a friend of mine had told me the day before that her son talked about Mr. "Heel" the principal--who is actually Mr. Hill. I did get Heather to say it correctly...she then went on to tell me that she saaay-ed (said) something about her fray-end (friend)...I think mostly she makes one syllable words into two which gives her words the drawl effect. We really have to get it on video...

soccer and smiles

Heather had her first soccer game of the season and it seemed to go really well. Heather had a good time running after the ball and kicked it a few times. Most of the kids got the idea and aside from a few kicking the ball the wrong way it was a pretty good "game". Charlie enjoyed running around the baseball field with his friend during the game and Cameron is not much of a soccer fan as he slept through it!

I thought Cameron gave me a smile yesterday amidst his crying. Unfortunately I'm not the kind of mom that knows exactly what is going on with the kids so I don't automatically assign their first word to a random sound at 9 months or proclaim them potty trained too early! I will say when he gets his smile in gear (if it isn't already) it is very cute and his dimples just make me laugh.

Tonight is my "single mom" night. Jeff took the car to get shipped off to the Azores and will be gone overnight. After soccer cameron continued to sleep which allowed me to get the other two showers, a snack, and a movie--treat to all of us!!--while I put away dishes and one load of laundry. Cameron slept right up until storytime where he nursed and fell back asleep. For the moment it's almost 9 pm and 3 kids are sleeping--what am I doing?!

five weeks and crying

Cameron discovered his lungs in the last week or so. He's been a lot crankier in the evenings and when he's not falling asleep easily. We started a pacifier and he's not sure about it--especially for me. He seems to have some stomach issues as he is puking a LOT once every other day but not anything at other times...i guess we'll figure it out. On a brighter note Jeff's mom was here for 5 days and the kids had a lot of fun with her. We didn't do anything really special but she got to go to soccer practices, the pumkin patch, and school among other things.

Charlie liked his first soccer on Thursday. He initially freaked out but once I helped him with the stations he was into it and did really well. He practiced dribbling, throw ins, kicking and stopping the ball. he was willing to share and take turns well. Heather and Jeff had practice as well but I missed out on most of it due to Charlie's practice.

We had a conference with Heather's teacher on Friday and of course she said wonderful things about Heather and showed us paper after paper of 100% except for the "spelling" which was a 66% (she takes after her mom) OK it's not that bad there were only 3 words and the one she missed she probably mis-heard the end of the word because the first two letters were right and the third was wrong but did make a word. She also said that Heather was often one of the first to get the treasure box every week (meaning she was one of the best behaved...) which I commented to Jeff--how many parents are one of the two she calls first every week? Jeff asked Heather later who was first to pick treasure box last week and she said that it was her...They are doing more than I realized in school and I'm not as unhappy as I was previously about what she was getting out of school.

I enjoyed a baby shower on Saturday--haven't seen a "diaper cake" in a long time so I decided to go that route--of course the hostess had made one that looked like a diaper castle (really a cake but a REALLY good one) and made mine look like a diaper shack. Oh well--they still take care of the same XXXX. Sunday we met up with some friends to carve pumpkins and make scarecrows which was really fun on a beautiful afternoon.

One good reason to get out of MS is the accent my daughter has picked up. It is just getting more and more southern every day and it's really driving me crazy! I try to show her how she sounds but she doesn't get it. Not ony is she "fixin" to do things she's fixin to do them in a southern slangy way. You have to hear it to understand...

one month old

i still have a few hours to make the one month blog. Since I gave a thorough update yesterday I'll post my "one month" pictures to tell the story. Of course Cameron didn't cooperate with pictures most of the day--he was alert and happy toward the evening to pose for some photo ops--the last doing the "sprinkler dance" similar to that of some college friends...

four weeks old--and a day

All day I was so excited to write a blog about Cameron being four weeks old...and then I realized it was Tuesday and I had already MISSED his four week "birthday" blog by a day-ugh! So maybe I can hit a "month" old birthday blog. The first four weeks and a day have been really good! Cameron is usually a happy baby--as long as he is being held or happily laying in his bassinet or the floor with his brother or sister "loving" him. He prefers to be held while he sleeps or sleeps in his carseat but at times will sleep in his pack-n-play (we don't have a crib since we're moving so soon) like a "normal" baby. It seems like we've had him for longer than 4 weeks because everyone is fairly settled into having a baby around. I don't get the hands on time with the kids playing outside but fortunately they seem happy playing games, reading books, or hanging out with Cameron as part of the picture.

Heather has started soccer with Jeff coaching. Tonight he asked if the practice looked as crazy as he thought but I think the kids are doing great and having fun. with 8 5-7 year olds it's hard to make things go smoothly but they all seem to have a good time and look like they're learning something as well. Heather also started reading lists and enjoys showing how easily she can read the words. We've been working at it periodically for a while but it finally clicked and she can sound out several different vowels between consonants pretty well and is patient with 3 letter words. Last night reading her books she was willing to try some words that I wasn't sure she knew and did really well. She is very pleased with herself. She also brings home books and gets quizzed on them at school and does very well on her "tests".

Charlie is mr. love with Cameron. He wants to be loving him all the time whether he's sleeping, eating, in his car seat, or even awake and looking at him. I'm pretty sure they will be best buddies once cameron can recognize people and smile and laugh. Charlie is loving his pre-school class and talks about his friends and what he did in class happily. He was saying the pledge the other day and ended with "liberty and joy for all". Of course when I went to get it on videotape he spouted justice very proudly--to my dismay!!

oh yeah--the pictures are from our trip to a second pumpkin patch with a "corn" sandbox, cotten gin that the kids could play in and hay maze.

it's the great pumpkin charlie hughes!!

Today we went out to a pumpkin patch to find the great pumpkin and take some seasonal pics! As you can see the kids picked out their halloween outfits and we dressed cameron for the occasion. It's not a huge field of pumpkins but is perfect for the kids to run through and look for the best ones. They enjoyed climbing on them, sitting on them, rolling them around and calling "dad I found a good one". We settled on two big ones and three smaller ones to bring home with us along with a hay bale and two tiny "ornamental" ones. Jeff and hte kids set up a nice little display in the yard and used the gourds that volunteered in our yard as well.

A few funny notes on the week that I missed out on sharing...heather had her first soccer practice with her dad as coach. Both did well and had a good time. Heather's team has 9 kids, 5 girls and 4 boys and if they actually kept score in the games I don't think it would be pretty after seeing that the team that practiced after them looks about a head taller on average! The kids all were very excited and eager to do what the coaches told them. I think they'll all have fun. Charlie starts on Thursday with his "soccer" program.

Heather had a few good comments that I will share...she asked me last week if I would get skinnier--I asked her if I needed to be skinnier and she said, "no but I remember before you had Cameron your belly wasn't so big." Today she pulled out, hey mom why is your bottom so big? I bit my tongue before telling her that someday hers would be big too and just said I didn't know--did it look big? Between those and a friends daughter asking me when I was pregnant why my legs were so fat (boy was her mom embarrassed!) I should have some good motivation to get back in shape--instead I think I'll go get some ice cream while Jeff reads the kids books and Cameron snoozes for a few minutes...Heather and Charlie were playing a game tonight and Heather said that she wasn't "fixin" to play that card. I'm sure that I have NEVER said "fixin" and none of my friends to either so I'm guessing this is a result of MS schools...

Finally a few Azores comments that were kind of sad. Charlie has asked if a few of his friends would be at his birthday party...when we would be coming back to MS to see Ariana and Mirabelle and Tyler and Delanie...and that we wouldn't be able to walk back to Ohio because we would have to swim and that he and cameron couldn't swim that far yet...

smiles and laughs

I was watching a full, well rested Cameron this morning just lay in my lap and be happy. He was smiling (not at anything yet) and then making funny faces. I laughed and a few seconds later he laughed (again not correlated) which was really funny. I don't remember seeing babies laugh out loud very much before and it was so sweet. Ironically I just read that babies smiling when they're little is not necessarily gas related as many people say..

haircuts

and I mean CUT! Look at Heather's hair--SHORT. I said just below the shoulders which apparently meant above. No more cute pigtails and braids like I'd grown to love but we won't have to argue as much about brushing and tangles either...It will grow back--but it will take a while ;-). Charlie's is a little longer than i would like bt I was afraid to tell her how short I really wanted it after how short heather's is now. This morning we went to a nearby park and played, picnicked, and went for a little nature walk. It was a beautiful day and while we did haircuts for the kids Jeff went golfing with some friends. Grandma comes back for about 30 hours tonight and the kids are very excited to show their new haircuts. Opinions?!

surviving saturday

We actually had a nice end of the week, I got the kids to school a few times on my own and Jeff took part of Wednesday and Thursday off to help out (really we more veged out) at home. The days go by fast and I'm not sure where the time goes but we're doing well and having fun with Cameron. Yesterday was a busy day. It's fire prevention week on base and the firestation opeened up with all their fire enguines that the kids could climb on, a few games for them to play--dress up in teh fire fighter gear, roll the hose at bowling pins, virtual fire put out...we stayed all morning with various friends, had lunch, then went to the site where the firemen practice putting out plane fires on a huge plane that the light up and put out. The heat was tremendous even though it seemed we were far away and the kids loved the fire trucks coming in with sirens blazing and the water shooting out. After that we had some friends come over to play until the fire parade. They played really well together and at 3 we headed out to watch the "parade". After 6 kids had popsicles we were joined by another and the kids ran around the yard until they heard the sirens. It was quite an impressive number of trucks as the columbus fire dept joined in also. The kids racked in candy and one of the firefighters that Jeff knows called out hello to Heather and Charlie by name from one of the fire trucks.

After that our friends played a little more then we headed off to Jumpin G's for a b-day party for someone in Heather's class. I thought it would be a good chance to meet some of teh parents but none were really social with anyone that they didn't know so I didn't really meet anyone (not that I need to since we're moving anyway) and Jeff and I just watched the kids run and run. Needless to say both kids fell asleep on the way home and by 8:30 I was also dozing in the chair...

on our own...kind of

well we were kind of on our own for a while and it went pretty well. Mom left yesterday so I had the boys while Heather was in school, then Jeff had a meeting in the evening so he was just home for a little longer than dinner. It went pretty well. Cameron slept a lot which helped me focus on the older two. They painted a project with Jeff while he was home,then finished and played baseball for a while. We managed to do baths, snack and stories and get in bed by 8:15 which was a good accomplishment ;-). Cameron slept well last night and I managed morning bus and school pretty well. I even got to get hot chocolate with a friend this morning and put away all my maternity clothes--oh the excitement of a stay-at-home mom ;-). Jeff's home for the afternoon and tomorrow and is taking the boys to his office to "visit" for an hour or so.

happy anniversary!

8 years ago today Jeff and I got married...then we had heather...then moved to MS...then charlie...then Jeff went to kuwait...then cameron...then the Azores--whew!! It's been a busy 8 years!! We went out to dinner last night which was Jeff's birthday also to celebrate b/c he has a class tonight and my mom left today for Galveston for a few days to help out my grandma. Things are pretty good at her house but mom still wanted to go and help out. So far the morning was good--of course I had Jeff and mom to get heather to the bus and help with the other two while I got her ready for school! Cameron is sleeping and charlie is playing a game with me (in a minute). The first two weeks with cameron (and help) have been great and I feel pretty much back to normal with an outside appendage (who actually sleeps in his bed or swing or car seat for periods of time) instead of an interior one. He's sleeping pretty well at night and so far I really can't complain.

almost two weeks old!!

Cameron will be two weeks old tomorrow and it's still hard to believe he's here. Tomorrow is Jeff's birthday--and Cameron's due date so I should be ready to go into labor...I neglected to mention his first week dr's apt last week. He was 8 lbs 2 oz when we left teh hospital and he was up to 8 lbs 12 oz (with clothes and a diaper) at the dr's. He also measured 20 inches (what he shrunk an inch?!) with the nurse explain that they measure differently than the do in teh hospital--Okay whatever!! We had a nice weekend with grandma still here. Yesterday we went to the park for lunch and then to Lowe's to do a build it workshop with the kids where they made firetrucks. Today we took it easy, just doing fun things together--heather and Jeff built a raft for school (something that would float, fly, or drive). After dinner we went to the park to take some family pictures to see if we could capture all of us nicely. It's hard to position a two week old but we did get some nice pics. I should be able to get some up on the blog soon.

week 1..bleated

With 3 kids now I guess I won't be as good at updating my blog...sorry to any "loyal" readers ;-). Maybe once our laptop is fixed I'll get a little better...Mom got here on Sunday so the kids have been enjoying the extra attention from grandma. Jeff is back to work and may take a few days off next week depending on his schedule. Cameron and I are still doing great. I'm less tired and he's doing a good job of sleeping for at least 1 three hour stretch each night and pretty much just eating and going back to sleep. He is quite alert for several hours during the day but seems to be getting in the habit of needing to eat to fall asleep (not good). Heather and Charlie still want to be with him all the time and touch, hug, and kiss. Heather said that we could have another baby because she liked Cameron so even a boy would be OK. Charlie said that he would like a new baby for his birthday and I said WAIT--let's see how this one goes ;-). Week 1 (with help) has gone pretty well!