Category — miltary spouse

Instead of writing a lengthy post about all we’ve done and the great people who have shared their time, homes and meals with us, I’ll tell the story of the last couple of days in pictures.

Jen and I had a birthday lunch at one of my favorite places in Old Town Auburn

We were invited to spend the afternoon at this beautiful pool with one of my closest friends from high school and her daughter.

At my Aunt and Uncle’s house the kids felt right at home. Gabi found a story doll and told us all the story of Little Red Riding Hood

There were lots of animals for the kids to “love”

Lex chased chickens. It not everyday a Lil Beach-Goer gets to even SEE chickens, let alone catch them! The boys loved it!

Then there were the goats! They spent plenty of time feeding and riding them. These kiddos smelled like livestock by the end of the evening. They couldn’t have been happier!

The boys, heading off to the water slide at the Roseville Aquatic Center

Lex and Alex have been so cute playing together. We’ve found them quietly in the sandbox or making up games. They enjoyed the Aquatic Center together.

Gabi’s been surrounded by boys this whole trip. She’s done a great job of just going along with the boy’s games and getting along with everyone (ok, there have been a few instances of girlyness with her brothers. But mostly she’s done really well).

It’s been a great trip! Today I get to visit with one of my closest friends from school and to meet her children. It’s been so nice to visit with people I shared parts of my life with and to watch our children play together. Today we’ll visit another new pool and soak up some more sun while catching up on the lives of the people who I’ve been away from for so long. Living the life of the Military Family has really kept me away from so many people. Along the way I’ve gotten to meet so many wonderful people who I hope to keep close to, but it’s really good to go “home” for a little bit and to share it with my kids.

Doing the Dance of the Children~

I’ve felt so scattered over the last month.

This morning I was thinking about all the change that’s occurred in the last several weeks. First of all, Clay returned from a year-long deployment. That alone changed the dynamics in the house. I handed over bedtime duties and bill-paying duties. But then a week ago, one of my sisters moved down from Northern California and lives less than a mile away from us and just a day later, Kateri arrived for the summer. It’s great to have so many people who can help with the kids’ schedules and the driving duties and even the errands. BUT, I’m not used to having so many people to help with everything and the part of me that is normally in control of all scheduling, errand-running and kid-juggling feels out of control. Even though it was REALLY hard to get everything done before all these helpful hands arrived, I did it. And I did it because I micro-managed every detail of EVERYTHING. All these wonderfully, helpful adults do not need M.O.M. managing their schedules, so I often wonder what’s happening, with whom and when. This is hard for my very-in-control being.

It’s not just getting used to having everyone help with the kids’ schedules, it’s getting used to having so many adult family members around. I’ve lived away from my own family for a very, very long time. Being a military family, we spent years moving around with orders. We’ve been fortunate enough to be in So. Cal. for a long time now, but I haven’t had a family member live nearby in several years. Now, I have Clay home, my brother living here, one of my sisters living down the street and my adult daughter in town for the summer. Such big changes!

Don’t get me wrong-I’m not complaining, I’m just explaining what a huge change it is for me to go from controlling every detail of everything, to having so many people who are here to be helpful and loving with the kids and even household tasks.

Within the next month JJ will also be home for a couple of months and the whole dynamic will change again. Then the Fall will come and Kateri and JJ will head back to school and again, things will change. Hmmm…I guess I better just get used to the “norm” of the house being “change”.

For now, I’ll enjoy the fact that I can ask someone else to pick kids up from school, or get them to an appointment and I’ll just keep adding one more portion to the meals I cook.

Good stuff!

Doing the Dance of the Children and of Change~

The last few days have gotten away from me.

Now that Clay is back and my brother is here and there are more hands and drivers to get the kids where they need to be, I feel like I don’t have a good grasp on everything. When I’m the only one who has to make it all happen, I have it all mapped out and know exactly what has to happen for whom and when. But now it’s all a little cloudy because I don’t have to know all the details. It takes me awhile to adjust to not being the only one in control.

Secretly I’m a control freak- *shhhhhhh* -Imagine keeping it all together if I weren’t!

But I’m letting go of a few pieces of the puzzle and letting Clay and Ted take them over. Don’t worry, there’s still PLENTY for me to do. I just have to get it all clear in my head.

Whew! This ever-changing life…Doing the Dance of the Children~

Last Thursday was the big day. Clay’s flight was coming in at 10:50 pm. The kids spent the day making signs, asking “when are we going to the airport?” and getting excited to welcome their dad back. After the long day of getting everything ready, I loaded the kids into the van and headed to the airport. We unloaded, checked the monitor and headed to the gate. The kids held their signs and waited with big smiles…We checked the monitor again. It said the plane had landed…and the kids waited…again with the monitor checking…finally I texted Clay to confirm that the flight info I had was correct. After a few minutes I got a text back that said, “I’m here”. I told the kids, but still no passengers were coming out of the gate. Hmmm…I finally got a 2nd text, “outside”. GREAT! After all the sign-making and planning and getting 8 kids to the airport, his plane was early! I couldn’t believe it!

But, in he came and the kids were able to rush to him, just the same. Man! Plan all you want…

Everyone is happy to have Dad back. It was nice that JJ was home for a few days after Homecoming to be able to sit and visit. I know that Clay’s exhausted and hasn’t really adjusted to the time change OR the busyness of the household. But off we go, into the regular routine. I’m sure he’ll catch up.

Thanks to everyone for all the “Welcome Back” messages that have been sent.

Now…on with the Dance~

One year! I’ve gotta be honest-with the 2 visits and the overall busyness of our house and our schedule, it doesn’t AT ALL seem like a year has passed. But I knew that from the beginning. I knew that the way this house works, that everything would just keep rolling the same as always and that all of a sudden Clay would jump back into the routine.

The best part is that things really will keep rolling the same. Clay’s next set of orders are right here in San Diego. He gets to spend 3 years as a flight instructor at a training squadron at North Island. A beautiful set of orders!

So, today will be spent with the kids asking me a million times, “is it time to get Dad yet?” and by making Welcome Home signs, finishing up projects around the house and reminding that kids that 11pm is much, MUCH later.

Thank you for all the support by all the wonderful people who helped keep life rolling smoothly over this last year. I TRULY appreciate all the supportive comments and those that stepped in to help get kiddos to events and the chit chat over glasses of wine. THAT’S what I call community! Thank you!

Have a great day~

Thursday-we’re almost through another week. The weeks of 2010 are flying by! I can’t believe that we’re 1/2 through March, that St. Patty’s Day has come and gone and that we’re sprinting toward Easter! I feel like I haven’t even gotten my head around 2010 and it’s rushing past me. I’m hoping to get some time (summer, maybe?) to actually LIVE in 2010 instead of just trying to keep up with it. That’s not to say that good things haven’t been happening. It’s just that they come and go so quickly that I can’t really digest them. I’m not sure how to find more time in my day to grab onto and make the most of. I can’t get up any earlier than I already do and staying up later doesn’t make me productive. I can do mindless things, like laundry and dishes after 9pm, but nothing that makes me feel like I’m getting any more out of the day.

Suggestions? How does a mother who is raising the 7 kids who are at home full-time, during a year-long deployment, who works part-time outside of the home, gets up at 4am and worries endlessly about the needs and good of her 2 children who are away from home, find more time in each day?

Have a great day~

It was a very, very busy day. I won’t bother with the details.

But, it’s ended with me cuddling on the couch with the 3 youngest and the books that they each picked out and THAT is some VERY…good…stuff!

Good night~

A day of working in the house became a day that neither my kids or I will ever forget.

It’s not often that there’s an entire day to work around this house, uninterrupted by kids’ sports or play dates, errands or unplanned outings. But the other day, that’s exactly what I had. I started doing laundry, load after load and bustling around, cleaning out cabinets and organizing shelves. After a couple of hours, I noticed that my kitchen window was fogging up. I immediately thought that the dryer hose must have come undone. I gave a quick peek over the back of the dryer and discovered that I was right. I turned the dryer off, unplugged it and grabbed the broom. Heck, if I was going behind the dryer, we were gonna get it clean! First I swept in front of and under the washer and dryer, got a good sized pile of lint, sand and socks, pulled the dryer out and hopped behind it. I picked up the dryer hose and noticed a collection of lint inside of it. I turned it over to shake it out and sure enough, plenty of lint and MOUSE DROPPINGS came tumbling out! I’m pretty sure I yelled and then just started babbling nonsense. But among the terror-filled nonsense were the words, “I don’t want to do this! I don’t want to do this! This is NOT good! THIS IS NOT GOOD!!!!!” Mariah came running into the laundry room, looked at my terror-stricken face and then peeked over to see what I was yelling…and crying about. She got a smug look on her face and just said, “ohhhhhh”.

Suddenly I realized that I was standing in a corner, with mouse droppings and the open hole to the back of the dryer that could be where a mouse or mice were lurking. Jumping! Quickly! to the top of the washer! I continued crying and trying to think. I yelled for Mariah to bring me the vacuum. I knew that I had to clean up the lint and droppings and reattach the hose. FREAKING OUT! Crying! Trying to be logical and knowing that I had NO CHOICE but to continue the job. I sat on top of the dryer until Mariah brought me the vacuum. I hopped in front of the washer and dryer and decided that I’d start by cleaning up the pile of lint, sand and socks I’d swept up. I’d get my head around the droppings and lint afterward. I turned on the vacuum and through wracking, freaked-out sobs, used the hose to begin the clean up. after a few seconds something blocked the end of the hose. SOMETHING BLOCKED THE END OF THE HOSE!!!!! It took a second for my brain to register what my eyes were seeing. Well, if I was sobbing and incoherent before, you can only imagine what was being shouted when I realized that a dead mouse was stuck to the end of the vacuum hose. Mariah says it was something like, “s#*t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, repeatedly. I knew that if I turned off the vacuum I’d have to sweep the mouse up, so I yelled (lots of yelling during this!) for her to bring the trash can from the kitchen. I then held the hose over the trash can and turned it off, letting the mouse fall into the can. Tristan was immediately summoned to remove the bag of trash.

I couldn’t go any further at this point. I was so upset and knew that I had no choice but to go back and finish the job. But I needed a minute of private freaking out before going back. I went to my room and became disgusted with the thought that my clothes had mouse dust on them. I quickly stripped out of the tainted clothing and put on another set of work clothes, made two frantic phone calls, pulled myself together as best I could and went back to the laundry room.

God bless Mariah!!!! She had vacuumed up all the lint and droppings from the back of the dryer. THANK YOU!!!!! That is, until I realized that we’d been using the BAG-LESS Vacuum. I swear I’ll deal with that soon. Swear! *Shaking and making a very unattractive face*.

Ok, so…the floor was clean and the mouse was gone. Now to reattach the hose. I, once again, became very upset at the thought of climbing back there and facing the hole to the dryer. I finally just went next door and asked our neighbor for assistance. Being a girl has it’s advantages! There is DEFINITELY a time and place to play dumb and I chose THAT moment. Good ol’ Mr. Mike came right over and took care of the dryer hose. The instant that his boots were inside the front door, the kiddos started telling him the tale of Mommy’s freak out and the mouse I had found. Luckily, it didn’t phase him one bit. He just laughed and said, “Yup, those critters like it in there”.

After 2 glasses of wine and cleaning the laundry room floor with Lysol wipes, I was able to breathe normally again.

And that, my friends, is my Mouse Tale.

Then End~

After several days of heavy rain, the sun came out, shining brightly and begging me to take my kids out of the house for the weekend. It was too chilly to go to the beach, so I decided to take them to visit the Cabrillo National Monument and the tide pools in that area. Day 1 was cut short because one of  the other kids missed a ride they were supposed to get. So we arrived, walked up to the lighthouse, did a quick tour and then left to retrieve the stranded kiddo.

But on Day 2, we packed some food, put on our tennis shoes, grabbed the camera and headed back out. First stop-the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

I can not think of a more beautiful, final resting place! The boys really wanted to spend time walking all through the grounds, but we’re going to save that for another visit. This time we just took a peek and I explained why the cemetery was there.

Then it was onto the tide pools

The 5 youngest Lang kiddos, ready to explore.

After getting a little wet and enjoying the rocks, water and small sea life, we drove up to the lighthouse.

It was a beautiful day to be up there!

Yes, many household chores went undone this weekend and I couldn’t be happier about it!

Have a great day~

United Through Reading is a program that believes in uniting families through reading. They have a military program that is offered through the USO at selected USO sites. A service members can stop into the USO and pick a book for each of their children and then make a video of themselves reading the book or books.

Yesterday, we received 2 packages at our doorstep. They were each filled with books and Beanie Babies (not sure if the Beanie Babies are part of the program or just a fun addition). There were 9 books inside, one for each of the kids (Kateri and JJ, I will send yours along). They were accompanied by a DVD of Clay reading some of the books and talking to the kids. They loved it! The 4 youngest sat down and watched the video. They followed along with their books as Clay read. Maddi took her book, retreated to her room and came out an hour later, declaring that she’d finished it and proceeded to tell me the whole story.

When Clay first left on this deployment, he made a video of himself reading one book and the video and book were sent to us. But the DVD was very small and I couldn’t get any of our players to read it. This new one is regular sized and played right on my computer. Everyone was happy to get the replacement!

Lex with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (it was read SEVERAL times last night)

Gabi, Max and Tristan with their new books

Gathered around the computer to watch and listen to their stories

Clay reading Love You Forever to the kiddos

Happy faces

Thanks USO for making this program available. And thank you to the DFW International Airport Community which helped make our video possible and all the generous, everyday Americans who help to support this program and make it possible for so many!

Have a great day~

School is out, which means I’m off work. JJ got in from school on Friday and Clay arrived yesterday. Kateri spent 4 days going back and forth to the base in Ramstein, trying to get a mac flight home. After 4 days of being bumped because of her low priority, she’s given up on using that option. We are on hold to see what will actually happen with her traveling.

So now I am on “break”. Ha! The only thing breakish about it is that I don’t have to be dressed and out the door by 7:30. Instead, I’m getting up, showering, starting the coffee, the laundry, the dishes, the breakfast and then realizing that at 8 am I’m still not dressed and ready for the day. I am looking forward to catching up on the many, little tasks that have fallen behind since I am out of the house but the workload is greater and the expectations high when everyone is home. I didn’t work outside the house while Clay was still here or when Kateri and JJ were still living at home. My new schedule and the way I run things is new to them. When they’re home I feel a little pressure to make it all the way it “used to be”. So…more cooking, more cleaning and more organizing. It’s so good to have everyone together and the little kids are especially soaking up the attention from Clay and JJ. I will take lots of pictures and give them all many things to do together to keep them busy. But this time is going to move quickly and the break will be over and we will all go back to the way it’s been…JJ and Kateri away at school and Clay back to Iraq to finish his deployment. I must switch gears quickly.

Here’s to a beautiful Christmas week to all of you and to all that us moms do to make it all happen!

Have a great day~

This week has been full of all that makes the Holiday Season fly by. I’ve been to 2 gift exchanges, one for the school’s Ladies’ Club and one for my neighborhood, my preschoolers have had their Christmas program and today we’re on our way to the squadron’s Children’s Party. This is a party that they always look forward to. How could kids NOT be excited about Santa arriving by helicopter?! So this morning we are pulling out Christmas sweaters and the kids are discussing what Santa might be bringing them.

Tomorrow is St. Nicholas’ feast day, so tonight the kiddos will put their shoes out (I better remember to buy candy canes!) and tomorrow, after Liturgy, St. Nick will make a special appearance at the church. Every year we have a pot luck and celebration in honor of St. Nick. I like that the kids get to identify that Santa’s character was derived from a REAL man who lived and became a saint.

Now, the real challenge is to get this house decorated for the season. I’m running horribly behind this year!

But before I worry too much about the importance of the Christmas decor and after the Children’s party, we will be celebrating Mariah’s 16th birthday. Today is her special day! Whew! 16 years! So, it’s cake and sushi after the Children’s party. Busy, busy day! No wonder I’m behind.

Have a great day and don’t forget to put out your shoes~

I didn’t mean for this to happen. Every day I think of the funny moments that happen around here. I make a mental note of how certain things get done or that we are WELL into this year of deployment and how it’s all successfully happening in this house. I’ll shoot a quick Twitter update, or refresh my facebook status but then…I come home from work, get the kiddos settled with an after-school snack, give them a stern talkin’ to about their homework, drive whomever needs to get wherever they need to go, make dinner, serve it, give instructions for pj’s and bath time, make sure the teeth are brushed, line everyone up for the nighttime prayers (there’s plenty to be thankful for and to ask intervention on), lie the lil ones down, kiss their lil heads, glance at the LLLOOONNNGGG list of “must do’s”, pour a glass o’ vino, read emails, add a few things to the list and head to bed. WAIT!…what happened to sitting here and documenting how I’m Doing the Dance of the Children?! Heck, I even have someone assigning a daily song for me to do the Dance to. And yet, I find it challenging to write about each day. They are all so dang full!

I am floored that we are 2 days into December! My list grew by MANY entries when I realized all that must be done before Christmas and the arrival of the 3 missing members of this Lang Clan. I’m slightly overwhelmed!

So, the blogging has been makin it’s appearance on the ish. You know…Wednesday-ish. Next week-ish. Hopefully identifying this will change it.

Here’s to facing the fact that the Holiday Season is in full swing, that the year has blown past us and that life is WAY TOO full!

Good night~

I want to thank Sheri Ledoux of Knott’s Berry Farms PR department for her quick and thorough response to my disappointment. I have been assured that the promotional offer for the Armed Services will apply to the spouses of deployed service members who are holding a valid ID card.

Looks like the Lang Clan will be heading to Knotts on our annual trip after-all. Whoo Hoo!

Have a great day~

Now that October is over and I’m taking down the ghosts, skeletons and witches that the kids have made over the years, I realize that we didn’t make it to the pumpkin patch this year. Uh! It’s always a challenge to squeeze it in because of the busy afternoons and the jam-packed weekends, but somehow, we always manage. But this year I got too comfortable buying the awesomely-priced pumpkins at our local market. Once they were on the front porch, I let the urgency of getting to the pumpkin patch slip and here we are, looking back at October with no visit to Oma’s. I’m a little sad.

I’m even sadder when I look ahead, through this November and see that there will be no annual trip to Knott’s Berry Farm. Sad! We’ve been going to Knott’s, every November that we’ve been in California, since Arianna was small enough for me to carry her in the backpack. Knott’s has a Salute to the Armed Forces each November and the whole family looks forward to this trip. BUT, this year the park has changed it’s guidelines for entrance and the military member must be present for their families to take advantage of the offer. Excluding the dependents of deployed service members doesn’t make sense to me. It makes the sting of deployment even greater when the children who look forward to a tradition are not able to participate because Dad is gone. Ugh! Why don’t I just take them on my own, without the promotion, you ask. The wonderful offer that Knott’s puts out every November is for the active duty member and one guest to get in for free. They are then able to purchase up to 6 additional tickets for $15 each. Regular admission for adults is $44.99 and kid’s tickets are $23.99. Kid’s tickets are based on height. So, I have 4 “adults” among the 7 children that I currently have at home and 3 “kids”. I’ll let you all do the math to figure out the difference in the price. But you can see that it’s a great difference. Once you do all that math you’ll see why the Lang Clan never storms a theme park without an awesome promotion, especially around the holidays.

So, while I’m thankful that Knott’s puts on this really wonderful deal each year, I’m confused at their thinking. If a dependent is holding a copy of the Active Duty member’s orders and an ID card, I think it’s a shame that they will not be able to take advantage of this offer. And I’m really sad that for the first time in 10 years, we will not be going.

Have a great day~