Spring Fever

 Really, Stacia? Shorts? Sweatshirt?  Believe it or not she INSISTED she was warm and I finally MADE her go back inside to get some pants and a real coat. The big piles of snow are melting, but Nolan and Stacia enjoyed a few tame slides down this "snow bump." I'm telling everyone to be careful, we are very close to travel dates and I dont' want anyone sick or hurt. ::grin::

We enjoyed a walk over to the pond this afternoon. Still frozen......

 Does anyone local know WHY there may have been groups, large groups, of chanting men and women out in the farm lands today? Really loud...we could hear them in the house....and they continued until about 7:30 p.m. Loudspeakers, chanting, loud speaking....

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset today....and we really wonder if spring may be here.....regardless of all those warning me that the snow will be on the ground until May......

Off to read a chapter of good ole' Nate Saint and then have a piece of Daddy Chocolate.  This has been a long day and I'm ready for bed.
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Glorious Tease?

Could this be true? Look at those temps 39*, 47*, 49*!!!!! Could it be that SPRING is really here???? Already? No more ice???? No need to attend "Slippery Weasel" to learn how to drive in the winter in Northern Japan? Really? What do you think?
Choosing Joy!
© 2010 D.R.G.
~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God ...

New computers.....

There you have it...a new laptop and *I* have to figure the thing out. ::snort:: I had planned to wait until Mike was home, but I only have 2 weeks to return it. We wanted two so that Mike can take one with him on his extended travels. Gotta have email and/or Skype!

I'm working on it.....and as you can see above....I discovered the snipping tool and the sticky notes from Windows 7.  One more way to feed my list obsession. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

A New Week

We had a good day of school.

We had piano lessons.

I worked on a bit of regional PWOC and more local PWOC stuff.

I talked with Nate via Skype and worked out the final details for his trip.

I talked with Mom and Dad via Skype.

Stacia had 3 small cavities filled. She USED to love the dentist. She's not 100% sure any longer. She was doing fairly well until they put something in her mouth that made her spit...not a good thing at the dentist. BUT they'd not told her to use the magic straw until after she spit. ::snort::

The dentist asked Stacia, "Are you the one with all the brothers and sisters?"

She said, "Yes, and my Daddy's gone too." ::grin::

We dropped Jared off early for Youth Group.

I was glad to get a call and be able to pick this up....

From 2010-02-22

It's much bigger but I had to crop out the name on the uniform. I didn't get a photo of her hugging the thing. We had the base media center mount it and they were much faster than predicted. I had planned to make it more life-like by cutting around the shoulders and head....but it may be sturdier if I leave it as a block.

Murphy's Law says that the minute I leave home Mike will Skype. ::snort:: OR that when I do make contact with him the mic or speakers won't work...but we had a nice IM.

Spur of the moment I invited Windy to drive to base with me so we could visit. That made the drive back in to pick up Jared much more of a social outing. THEN I realized that I could probably ARRANGE a bit of social interaction during youth group. Hmmm....I may not want to give this perk up when Mike returns.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Safe Wars and Roses

Renee told me she understands today...so we're either both psycho or I'm o.k. Sunday's are simply hard when your husband is a chaplain and away. Most the week you simply move on, get a routine...but on Sunday so many things remind you that your husband is not with you.....and while this is NOT the real thing yet...it feels like the real thing. I love our chaplains. We had a great service today....but knowing that we're gearing up for a longish separation, it was hard.

Mike always gives the girls and I "Deployment roses". I get 1/2 a dozen. I always dry them. He gives me the remaining 1/2 dozen when he returns. I didn't get roses this time...because again...he'll be home in a few weeks. I have realized that the roses are a nice touch in that first week of adjustment. I hadn't mentioned this to anyone.

Kyle came and called Jared away at the end of worship. I figured they needed him in the sound booth or something. It happens. At the end of the service, Jared walked up and gave me THESE.

From 2010-02-21

Arielle, Jared and Nolan had purchased them. They thought I may be lonely at chapel. Isn't that incredibly, amazingly, sweet?

 

At a chapel service we take prayer requests. Zander has been telling me each day how many days it will be before Uncle Nate arrives. The kids are SO excited to have time with him. I'm so very thankful he's coming and that Mike suggested he come visit. Zander raised his hand. I asked him what he was going to say - just sort of a good idea with Zander. He said, "Pray that Uncle Nate has a safe trip." I agreed. He left his hand up and was the last one that was called on. He must have spent the time thinking.

"Alexander? What would you like us to pray for?"

"Pray Dad has a safe war."

Choosing Joy!

©2010 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~

Living all of life before the face of God...

*Blogger in draft is making me daft! WHY is it rearranging paragraphs and centering things though it looks fine on the preview?

Routines

No photos to share as life has been too busy, crazy, boring, routine really.
~Thursday~
MOPS.  Renee, our speaker this month, did a great job of challenging us to teach our children to pray.

 BIBLE STUDY - we finished Esther. Good study.  LANGUAGE LESSONS - Akiko made my day when she reached out and gave me a HUG as we said goodbye. We won't have lessons in March due to my travels.  I promised to send her postcards...and she'd love me to get a photo of Korean Idols....like pop idols....

~Friday~
 SPOUSES BREAKFAST. I enjoy meeting monthly with this group of ladies. Both Renee and I will soon be without our husbands for a bit of time. We have made plans to drive to the Cherry Blossom festival in April.  It seems to have become a "habit" for me to go to the BX and find Polish Pottery after Annette feeds us our lovely breakfast. The very things I didn't buy at $20 a pop last month, were clearanced at $2.77 or $4.17....what a deal. I wouldn't have known of this if Connie hadn't mentioned it. I hope that they'll be bringing more pottery in...more plates. I need plates....

 DENTAL VISIT - Jared had his consult for getting his wisdom teeth pulled. What are they teaching doctors these days? "So, after seeing the clip on risks, is this what you want to have done?," and "Which anesetia would you think is better for your situation?" Um......I'm not the oral surgeon. ::snort::

FAMILY NIGHT - yep, our family size is shrinking but we persist in setting aside Friday night for US. Pizza and a movie this week.

~Saturday~
FRIENDS - Nolan, Jared and I met Erika, Twyla and boys at the Sushi-Go-Round for lunch. Both Twyla and I have husbands who are not here.  There was a paint ball tournament on base. Erika is a young lady who is INTO paint ball and so she took the boys to watch the tournament. THANKS! I ran home to pick up the other children. We had hoped to run errands, but ran out of time.

MOVIE - Erika dropped Nolan and Jared off at the movie theater. We all vegged in the theater...not often something comes to base that I think "may" be o.k. to go see. It is CERTAINLY cheaper ON BASE than off base to catch a movie.
That's about all for now..... OH, After 3 days I was able to hear Mike's voice. That's all I needed. The 20th is Jamin's birthday, 19 years old. We'll try to reach him some more, however, this is rodeo season in San Angelo and I'm sure he's busy. LOL

Choosing Joy!

©2010 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

I Live in a House Full of Clowns

Quips from Jared's Facebook:

Jared David was playing the piano, I'm learning something new and so it didn't sound that good...my little brother walked into the room and watched for a minute and then said, "Oh thank goodness, it's just Jared playing the piano, we thought a donkey was in the house."

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...