goodbyes

Although we got to spend plenty of time with family, we still had a few goodbyes. I think this one was the hardest for the kids...saying goodbye to Astro. Our new housing doesn't allow pets, and so my parents very graciously, said they would keep Astro. He has been enjoying his time chasing after birds and squirrels, and not worrying about being on a leash.

Both Harmony and Ethan were in tears as they bid Astro goodbye.

Reunited

...and it feels so good! Maybe for Harmony! Monday morning, Harmony and I headed out for a day of shopping and to pick Astro up from the airport. It was a long day and suffice it to say, nothing went perfectly! However, the two were finally reunited. It looked like Harmony was going to cry when she saw him again!

He is now here at my parent's home and is also trying to get acclamated to the weather. He loves having so much room to roam. Although he doesn't have any gecko's to chase, he has found plenty of squirrels and birds!

tongue bath

We were all entertained the other night with this scene. Both of them are pretty patient with each other!

The girl who cried sick

Not too long ago, I went in to wake Harmony up for school, and she complained about being too sick to go. A headache and a stomach ache. I told her if she was really sick, than she could stay home. BUT she knows the rule about staying home. She said it was fine. A little later, she was watching tv and building legos, and I said that's it, what is going on? I knew she wasn't sick. Well it turned out that she had not done her homework (after begging to be able to do it in her room). So she was scared of what would happen. We quickly got her homework done and I booted her out the door to school. No harm no foul right?

So yesterday, same thing. Not feeling well when I tell her to get her uniform on. This time though, I know that there isn't anything going on. Homework? Check. Fights with any friends? Nope. Feeling bad about election? (I will get to that post in a little bit) Nope. So I thought ok she really is sick. With Ben and I both having colds I knew it would just be a matter of time before it was passed around. Once again I reminded her of the rules of staying home.

And what are those rules you might ask? If you are too sick to go to school then you are too sick to play videogames/to go outside/to go to any friends houses etc. You lay in bed or on the couch ALL DAY LONG. Even once school gets out.

She laid around all day. But once those boys were home and they were busy playing video games, and running around playing, suddenly she felt a ton better. Imagine that!! Too bad for her though. Mom is tougher than that. But I can tell you one thing, she jumped right up today and got ready for school.

She is a pretty good faker! But darn if she isn't adorable! And Astro was happy to have someone to snuggle with all day!

blech

Ugh! I have a cold. I hate colds because it's like, you don't feel soooo awful that you can't get things done. But at the same time, you feel awful and just want to lay around. With the flu, you don't have a choice, lay down in bed and get better. Ugh, so today I am home from church with Harm ( feeling warm and has a sore throat) and Ivan who has a runny nose. Good times.

Ben and the kids decided to give Astro a bath yesterday. The fact that he was covered in mud helped make that decision easier. Unfortunatley, it was pretty humid and my camera kept fogging up. But here are some pictures. A little fuzzy...but cute.

I am going to attempt to get things done today, but if not I will just go lay in bed and call it good!

sucker

I was so frustrated with Astro this morning. Maybe some of you noticed. I was all prepared to hand him over to the next person who walked through our door. What I wasn't prepared for was Harmony. She started bawling. She wouldn't let go of Astro. She begged. She pleaded. She cried and cried. I took her upstairs so I could talk to her away from Astro, and she cried in my arms. "He is my best friend. He makes me happy. He makes me laugh. When I am sad he makes me feel better. I will clean up all his messes. If he chews up anything else,I will pay for it out of my allowance." I was prepared to give her every reason in the book to get rid of him, and than she pulled out the big guns..."Mom, when we bought him they asked you how long you were going to keep him and you said forever. Besides remember what they say on Lilo and Stitch? Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind." How can you argue with that? I mean honestly. I made her clean up all the throw up. I made her wash out his kennel of the diahrea he had in there. She did it willingly as long as she could just keep him. She saved him. He still has a home. But every time he looks at me, I get this feeling that he is thinking "sucker!"

My biggest mistake

So it turns out, that no matter how much of a dog person my daughter is, I am just not. The past few days, I have been dealing with a lot. This deployment as I may have mentioned, a couple hundred times, has not been easy. To add to this, I have a dog who I am just not ready to handle. Does that make sense? I am not at a place in my life where I can devote a whole bunch of time and attention to a dog. So I am giving him away. I know. I am a harsh, mean, horrible Mom. But a girl can only take so much before she pulls all her hair out. So if you are local and you are interested in a dog, let me know. He comes with a kennel, leash, bed, toys, food, and has all his shots. If you don't want one, but know someone who does, give them my number. Thanks.

This is not a joke. I am not just being funny. Seriously call me.

brain dump...

Life has been extremely crazy lately. And I have so many little things going on that I have been meaning to blog about...but just haven't. Ben was able to come home early on Friday, and we spent Saturday trying to get things done before he left. Then with church and getting him to the airport....whew. Made for a crazy weekend. So I just need to get stuff off of my brain. Here goes...

**Ben and I decided to upgrade our ipods a little while ago. The upgrade decision came after someone *cough, cough* washed her husbands shuffle. So we decided to get larger ones. The other shuffle was just sitting around, because we didn't want the kids to fight over who got it. Finally, we gave it to Harmony. She has been rocking out ever since. She takes it everywhere. To the store,to bed,to a sleepover, to the park, for walks with Astro etc. I am constantly telling her to turn it down and that no it's not going to church. She has been using the broom as her microphone and dancing around the house. Mommy's little rock star.

** I got an email the other day about my Bali trip. Because of rising costs of fuel, Continental is having to cancel flights from Guam to Bali, starting October 2nd. Our trip was supposed to be for the 16th. They were trying to reschedule, but I am not able to go on any of the dates. I had kind of arranged my schedule around that trip. I am totally bummed. It feels like I am just not supposed to get off this island!!

**Speaking of getting off the island, one year ago, we stepped onto Guam for the first time. We have one year down and one to go. Some friends of ours already have their orders. We won't find out ours for another 6-9 months I am sure, but the thought that we only have one year left is exciting. While there are things we have loved and enjoyed about Guam, I am ready to get back to the states. ( Hello Wal Mart, Target, Old Navy, Applebees, good grocery stores etc)

** I found out, a little too late, that I am not really an animal person. Astro is personally driving me nuts. He has chewed through a series of shoes, a cord to the wii controller and worse of all...the power cord to my laptop. $80 later it was replaced but ouch that stung! The kids however, are more in love than ever. Ethan takes him for a walk every single morning. He is such a responsible little kid. Harmony seeks Astro out, as soon as she makes it home.

** I was vacuming the other day, and a fuse blew upstairs. So only one outlet upstairs works. Of course it happened, when I couldn't call housing. So we have been living with out lamps, clocks, a tv upstairs, night lights. It is like we are in the dark ages. Once I have taken a shower I am going to call housing and have someone come out and fix it.

**When we went for Ivan's well child exam back in Feb., we were told that he might have some developmental delays. Things were going well and than it seemed to take a turn and get worse. I spoke to the Special Ed teacher at the school and he feels that Ivan's situation goes beyond speech. We go to a specialist on the 26th of this month to get him tested. They are looking for delays and possibly ADD, or ADHD or possibly even being on the autism spectrum. We are anxious to go but also nervous to find out.

**And last but not least, I am going to be watching my friend's kids this summer. Well really only for like a month of the summer. Her kids are really close to mine in age. I think it will help keep the kids entertained while Ben is gone. I know Harmony is looking forward to having a girl to play with. My only concern is that, I think Harmony may have a crush on her son. He is in her church class and they were also in the same class at school. She talks about him all the time and her little face turns red whenever you ask her about him. She also does a lot of giggling when he is around. Hmmm

WEll I think that is it. I know this is a long post but there is just so much going on.

to do list

I was making breakfast when I noticed Ethan's to do list on the counter. This is what is on the agenda for today....

*take Astro for a walk
*read my library books
*play with Astro
*play with Tristan
*go to the bathroom
*read my Secrets of Droon book
*eat lunch
*play at the park with my friends
*save the envirment
*play legos
*take Astro out to see his two friends

house rules

(they look cute though don't they?)
"Guys, I really don't want Astro on the couches. OK? So when he gets on, you need to tell him to get off."-Mom

new addition

Are we crazy? With our already insane lives, we go and decide to add another member to the family. We had decided that we would purchase a dog when we got home this summer. However, because of some issues ( passports being just one of those) we are not going home. So Harmony, immediatley caught on and said, " oh so we can get a dog earlier then." We told her we would LOOK. We had a budget that we were not going to go over and so I warned the kids, that we may end up coming home with nothing. I warned them if they threw a fit, they would come home with nothing.

Well we went into the pet store and the kids fell in love. His name is Astro. Because he was a shelter dog,they were not sure of his exact breed. The kids loved him though and he was way under our budget.

He was just neutered last night and so is exaughsted. The kids will not leave him alone to sleep though! Poor thing! He is going to get so much love from these kids. Anyway, here are some pictures of our newest addition. Welcome home Astro!