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.