Living in a Male Dominated World!

Growing up I often thought about my poor dad, and how he would have probably enjoyed having a son, so that he could have some male-bonding time, but instead was trapped in a house with three females. Well, I am now living a parallel life to dear old dad, except that I am the only female in my household. Even the dog we recently got is a boy! It is quite interesting, being the only female. I haven't had to do things like play dolls, or put makeup on, but I now know more about trains and superheroes than I ever thought I would. Yesterday there was an incident at the Day household that really hit home the fact that I am going to be surrounded by a testosterone filled bubble for the next 15 or so years. Our Internet went out on Monday night, and when it was still not working on Tuesday, I called AT&T and they scheduled someone to come by yesterday morning. The technician calls at about 9:00am and says that he is on his way, and will check the outside box, but that he may need to come into the house. Okay, that is fine, as housing maintenance had already been by for their yearly inspection of the house, so we were all up and at'em. So, the technician does have to come in and he and Randy (who didn't have school yesterday) have some sort of techno geek conversation and the technician heads back outside. It was at this time that Randy shut himself in his man cave (the downstairs half bath) for a little light reading. Well, about 30 seconds after he goes in there, the technician comes back in the house and asks to speak to my husband. He follows me, as I go knock on the door and let Randy know that the guy needs to talk to him. So, the technician and I are standing outside the bathroom, looking at each other and waiting for Randy to finish his article, when we were approached by Carter. This is where the story becomes horrifying! Carter looks up at the technician and the following conversation begins:

Carter: What was that noise?

Dude: What noise?

Carter: It was Carter's heinie!

Dude: What...???

Carter (turning around and pointing at his rear end): It was Carter's heinie..see, see!

It was at this point that I wanted to die! The poor dude didn't know what to do, and we were all just standing around waiting for Randy to get off the throne! Luckily I was able to find something else to occupy Carter, but I am afraid that this is going to be a long 15 years. I wouldn't trade them in though, and I can relish in the fact (I hope) that no one will be wanting to borrow my shoes or make-up ever!

Bogie

Randy and I are both dog lovers and when we met and married, I had a chihuahua/dachshund mix named Rebel. All was good with Rebel, until Carter came along. Once there were two little ones in the house, poor Rebel did nothing but stand on the couch and bark and shake! Neither boy ever did anything to Rebel, but I think there was just too much going on in the household for him to relax. So, we found a new home for Rebel with a lucky fourteen year old who had recently lost her pet of ten years and was really looking for another "baby." This was the perfect job for Rebel, and I still keep in touch with the family and he is doing great. After the Rebel incident, we decided that we would not have anymore pets until the boys got older, and were able to appreciate having a pet around, and were also able to respect the fact that this was a living creature and they had to be gentle with it. I started getting "puppy fever," about four or five months ago and have been checking out petfinder.com since then. We knew that when we decided to get another dog, we had to have one that was good with kids, and also we decided we wanted one that was a little older and past that whole puppy stage. I have looked and looked, but just never found a dog that was calling out to be a member of our family. This is where my mom comes into the story. She and my dad lost their Pomeranian, Jingle, about four years ago. They went for a while without a dog, but decided about two years ago that it was time for another house pet. I started looking around while they were visiting us in Texas and found a Yorkie that looked promising. I took my mom and dad to meet "Jackie" and it was love at first sight. Jack is the greatest dog. He is gentle and jut loves to be loved, and is wonderful with my boys. So, when my mom was reading Sunday's paper (she is here in Kansas visiting us) she ran across an ad for a 1 1/2 year old Yorkie poo for sale. I contacted the owners and found out that Bogie was indeed, great with kids and an all around great dog, but that the family just didn't have the time to devote to Bogie that they felt he needed. They had four daughters, ages 7-14, that were very involved in many activities, and Bogie was just spending too much time crated up. Well, the Day family decided to lead up, Beverly Hillbillies style (except we did not strap my mom to the roof) and go meet Bogie. What a great dog he is. He is playful, yet gentle with the boys, and has a great disposition. He has been well trained, and other than a couple of chewing toy incidents, has been a perfect gentleman. We are so happy to have him in our family and are looking forward to many, many years with him!

Parenting is scary stuff!!

Two nights ago I wrote an entire blog with this same title, ranting about how scared I was that Cash was going to be starting kindergarten in the fall, and I just wasn't positive that I was going to like the elementary school in Louisiana, but for whatever reason, I could not get that blog to post. Well, yesterday my friend Keala posted something on Facebook about doing research on the elementary schools around Bliss (where they will be stationed next year) and how she was not very happy with her findings, so I decided to sit down and do some more research on the school that Cash was supposed to attend next year. What I found almost sent me into a panic attack! Apparently this school is all about discipline and not academics. They also do not have walls that seperate the classrooms, but 3/4 partitions and curtains! Both of these things disturbed me, but what finally sent me over the edge was the school policy called "lips and hips." It seems that kindergateners, when walking in line, must keep one hand on their lips and one on their hips so they don't talk or touch the walls. Oh HELL no!! I taught public school for 14 years, and I did not run my classroom like this, and I do not want my child to be treated like this. My husband may be in the Army, but my child is not. I want my precious, creative, smart boy to continue to love life and learning, and I just had such a bad feeling about this school. So, of course, I called my mom and talked it over with her. She was also appalled by some of the things I read to her, and so we decided that a private Christian school would be better for Cash. I think things were a lot easier before everyone in the nation decided they knew what was best for "my" kid. Before standardized testing and sucking the creative juices from the teachers and the students. I want my boys to love school, not be afraid of it. This parenting stuff is just so scary!!

I Am Missing The Mom Gene

......that makes me crafty!! I love my boys to death, but I HATE holidays around pre-school. Seriously, it is a bunch of four and five year olds ladies, you don't have to impress me, or them for that matter, with your ability to make cupcakes on sticks and Valentine's cards with your sweet child's face on them!!! Today, the boys had their little party at school. We got a list of names for Valentine's on Tueday, and me being me, forgot all about the list in the van until 6:00pm last night. I rushed to the PX before Bible study and bought two boxes of $2.96 Disney favorites Valentine's Day cards, and then proceeded to spend 1/2 an hour writing 38 names on them for class today. When we got to school this morning, I got the boys settled and then spent 15 minutes putting the cards in everyone's little bag. I was almost run over a couple of times, by moms with huge BOXES of Valentine's goodies that they were trying to stuff into the little mail bags that the kids had made. When I picked the kids up, and we got their bags home, I was amazed by the lengths some of the parents went to. Goody bags, with their child's picture and name on them....really??? Some of these things had to have cost the parents a fortune. There are 38 kids on the Tues/Thurs preschool class, and I am guess some of these parents spent about $5 a bag!! I am sorry, but I just can't see spending almost $200 on a Valentine "card" for a bunch of little kids. This is why I taught middle and high school, and not elementary....a.) I don't think I could put up with some of the elementary parents, and b.) I just don't have the crafty gene in me. My mother didn't have it, and I have never known my Nannie to be particularly crafty either. This is also why I loved my friends in Texas. I offered up my house to host playdates, and bought drinks and plates and they were in charge of all things crafty. It worked out perfectly... I need to find me some more friends like that, and pay them to put together crafts for my boys at holiday time!!!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

So.....we will be Louisianans once again come July! At first, I was very disappointed and I really would love to be closer to family, but God has never led this family astray and he must have a plan for us in Louisiana. We have already talked to housing, and while it will be duplex living again, the houses seem nice enough. I have checked out the elementary school, and I am very pleased with the fact that it is just K-2. It makes me feel good that Cash won't have to start school in a huge school with a lot of older kids. My sister is only five hours away, as are Krista and Charla, so I hope we have a lot of visitors while we are there! Another big plus, as I sit here and write this with a foot of snow outside my window, is the weather!! I am definitly a southern girl, and I have found that I LOVE year round warmth. So, while Fort Polk may not have been on our top 10 list, we are indeed blessed. I have the comfort of knowing that Randy will not have to deploy for 2-3 years and will be home to watch many of his boys milestone events. Plus, Louisiana holds a special place n my heart, as both boys were born there and a group of wonderful doctors and nurses did an excellent job making sure we did not lose Carter right after he was born. So my friends, "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez," AAEEEE!

The Waiting Game

When we moved to Fort Leavenworth in July of last year, we knew that it would probably only be for a year. Randy is here attending a 10 month school and he graduates in June, so the odds are that we will be moving on then. I enjoy the move, to be honest, but the waiting game to see where you go next is a bit unnerving! About the second week in January, Randy received a list of places/jobs that he had to choose from for his next assignment. He and I sat down together and went over the list. There are particular posts that we would really like to move to, and there are particluar jobs that Randy would enjoy, so we figured out which of those two meshed and made his top 10 list and sent it on to his branch manager. Of course, in a perfect world he would get his #1 choice and we would live happily ever after.....however, the Army isn't all about "happily ever after." While I was in Austin last weekend, visiting my sister and picking up Cash, Randy's branch manager gave him a call. It seems that Randy's name was chosen to become an instructor/evaluator at JRTC. Now, this is an honor and would be great for his career....but it is at Fort Polk!!! Now, for anyone that isn't Army and is reading this, Fort Polk is in Louisiana, and we loved living in Louisiana before, but this is arm pit Louisiana!!! The town of Leesville has NOTHING in it. The closest good shopping would be about 45 minutes away in Alexandria. The closest airport that Southwest flies into is HOUSTON!! Fort Polk was definitly not on our top 10 list. Shoot, I don't even think it would have made our top 20. However, I am trying to be a good Army wife and whatever happens, happens, but I am really hoping that the Signal Corps gods are smiling down on us and we at least get something in Randy's top 10. I know I have complained and complained about winter and wanting to be in a warmer climate, but not Fort Polk!!! I guess the saying is true, "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it!"

Walking In a Winter Wonderland...

I realize that my adventures in the world of winter in Kansas are going to get old, but people I am almost 40 years old and I have never experienced a winter like this! The snow started coming down at about 12:00 pm yesterday afternoon, and stopped sometime after I went to bed late last night. On Wednesday evenings, Randy and I attend a Bible study with some friends down the street from us. We always walk, because it is just as easy, being that they live about five duplexes down from us. In our infinite wisdom, even though there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground by the time we left the house, we decided to go ahead and walk last night. Randy put Carter on the sled and off we go. The trip down there was fairly uneventful, although I did step into a snow drift and sink down to my knee and it filled my boot with snow! Fast forward a couple of hours and we are heading back down the street. It is significantly colder at this point, and the snow is coming down fairly hard. Randy puts Carter onto the sled and off they go....or at least off Randy goes. Poor Carter had fallen over backwards as Randy took off and was laying in the Baumann's yard, and to put it mildly, he was not a happy camper. To make matters worse, Randy runs over to pick him up and kicks a huge thing of snow in Carter's face. By this time, Carter is really crying and I am worried about his face freezing! So, back on the sled goes Carter, and we are off. Randy decides to run ahead, and I am just trying to follow the sled track and not fall down in the snow and die. I look up, and oops, poor Carter is lying in the street, having fallen off the sled again! So Randy picks him up under one arm, the sled under the other and takes off running toward the house. It took us a while to get Carter calmed down, and I secretly think he was calling Randy a dirty, rotten bastard under his breath, but I cannot prove that. Needless to say, the next time it snows, we will be driving to Bible study!!