Deployment

The Triple Deuce and the 213 National Guard Units were deployed today. They flew out of the Cedar and St. George airports. I was scheduled to work and considered getting someone to cover for me. I'm a sympathetic crier... and nothing is worse than someone crying who has no right to be.

I was glad not to be loading bags for these flights:



I had front row seats while the families where back in the parking area. These two little boys with their flags were so darling.

Here's our little plane off to the side of the operating area. It was a little tricky coordinating the departures but in the end it all worked out... and ultimately really didn't matter considering the grand scheme of things.

Each soldier walked to the plane one by one. They'd wave to their families in the distance, or walk together and talk to each other, or just look at the ground with an expression that made my heart ache. I wanted to yell out "THANK YOU" to each one but couldn't get the words passed my throat.

I felt like a real punk for taking this picture of the families. But I was so proud of our community. So many people showed up to support these men. The parents looked so proudworried. The wives had the "just come back" look as they held onto their kids. The girlfriends were the ones weeping and weeping.

Hey summer! Bring it on!

Carny lovers make mommy proud

The carnival came to town. I used to love the carnival. I would spend all my money going on rides nonstop for two days. I remember one year it was just down the street from our house and Jeff and I got hooked on the bowling game. It's the one where you have to roll it just right and get it to roll over a bump and stay in the lower groove without it rolling back or hitting a sensor on the far side. Jeff was so captivated by it. For him, it was a challenge to overcome the odds and successfully achieve the game. We spent so much time watching others play the game, practicing how we were going to do it, and then trying over and over. In the end Jeff's perseverance paid off and he got the technique down. I was excited thinking we would keep playing and win a big prize. But Jeff was done. Mission accomplished. He beat the game... that was his prize. 

 

Anyway, blast back to current date and it's the first time I've been to a carnival since...when? Does the pier at Santa Cruz count? So it's been a long time and the kids' first time ever! Nate is part of Search and Rescue and they sponsor the carnival so he convinced me to bring the boys over. As soon as we got there I was hit with nostalgia. Flashes of the night Lindsey hurt herself so badly getting off a ride but we couldn't stop laughing. Thinking how my only goal in high school was so get a carny uniform shirt. Remembering the time I insisted a guy I was dating go on rides with me. He didn't mention he gets morning sickness and until he was puking.

What was the point of this post? Oh yeah, the boys! Mason loved loved loved it. I was still barely on my feet from getting my appendix out but I couldn't resist going on the ferris wheel with Mason and Elli. Nate took Mason down the super slide and it was so funny I had to lean on the stroller to avoid collapsing. I keep zooming in on that picture and I still laugh my head off. It never gets old.

First Fathers & Sons

Here are the guys taking off for their first ever Fathers & Sons camp out. Sure, it ended up with Mason puking and with me in surgery (maybe it all had something to do with it being Friday the 13th AND it was a full moon?) but the point is, this is the beginning of a grand tradition.



May future camp outs be a little less dramatic...

Sympathy Pains

I am way WAY behind on writing. Life has been full. Full of fun. Full of family. Full of activities. But it's looking like I'll have some extra down time...

My dad had surgery this past week. It wasn't another big scary one, just a small scary follow up one. At work on Friday my stomach hurt a little and I joked to my co worker that I was having sympathy pains for my dad. By the time I was loading bags on the plane I knew something was really wrong. As soon as the plane was off so was I. I limped to my car and drove to Kristi's to pick up Eli. Jase and Mason were up the canyon on a Fathers and Sons campout. I couldn't get off the couch. Something made me laugh. Laughing made me cry. Finally, I decided to go home. Kristi had to put Eli in the car for me. Driving was only bad when I had to move my foot, and since I was driving the manual Ford, it was a lot.

The rest of the evening is a blur of really bad pain, calling Jason a lot even though I knew he didn't get reception, and various people advising what to do. I packed for the hospital and then decided not to go. Mom and Lisa offered a world of help but I decided I simply wanted to go to bed. Eli got up once that night. It was really hard to take care of him.

I spy my awesome dual side traction socks.

Saturday was quite the day. I woke up and the crazy pain gone but my right side felt like I had been kicked by a horse. Jason came home early from camp out with more good news. Mason had been sick and was throwing up. I felt better but realized better wasn't good enough. Jason took care of the kids and I went to the hospital. Lisa showed up to keep me company while they ran tests. Everything looked normal so when they said hurry and get into a gown the surgeon is ready to go I was really shocked. Lisa went to the kids, Jason came to me, and I went to surgery.

According to the surgeon my appendix was 2-4 hours from bursting.

Now I'm laid up, Mason is still sick, Eli won't sleep, and Jason is taking care of all of us. I still can't stand up straight but the pain is much different. The pain meds help the pain but make me sick and I have bad headaches so I'm not taking them anymore. Family help a ton. But I can't hold any of my boys and that is probably the hardest part.

Hogle Zoo

I wanted to go somewhere fun for Mason's birthday and enjoy our flight benefits. I asked him if he'd rather go to the beach or the zoo. It was a very hard choice for him to make. I posted tons of pictures on Mason's site but wanted to add my adult perspective here. It was a fun trip but so shocking to me to see how much harder it was so fly with two kids. Jason was a champ and took both kids, the monster stroller, and himself through security while I was working. My boss lets us work a flight and then fly out on it. Cool, but I think I'll find someone to work for me next time. It had been a long time since Mason had flown, basically the first time since he could remember. Eli did really good. Next time I'll bring the iPod touch for Mace. We sat in row 11, which is the back bench. It was nice to have that extra room.

We got an awesome deal on a car for just $13 including taxes for the day. We met up with Amy for breakfast and then went to the zoo. I wanted to make sure and go to the carosel to get some pictures of me and Mason (for a fun project I've had in mind for ages, I'll post when I get around to doing it).

Here's my favorite animal picture of the day:

 Eli was cute and just enjoyed being out and about. I think we all had fun but it was really crowded and after a couple hours we decided to call it a day. We caught the early flight home, which made me smile at how wonderfully lovely it is to be able to work for an airline.

So close and yet...

Anybody want a greenhouse?
Yeah, me too.

Jason's friend offered him his awesome little greenhouse. We were so excited. It was surprisingly devastating to not get it...in one piece, that is. I'm just glad I didn't have to witness it exploding into hundreds of pieces on the freeway. Also glad no major damage to other vehicles occurred. Still bummed...

one month of nature

I love the variety of spring. These pictures were taken around the yard in April. 

 Now enough variety, bring on the nice weather.

RyRy turns 8!

My nephew Ryan turned 8! Mason is close with almost all of his cousins, and he and Ryan have a special relationship. Perhaps it's all the hand-me-downs, perhaps it's the countless hours playing together. Perhaps it's because Mason really needs an older brother and Ryan wants a little brother. Along with celebrating his birthday, we also celebrated his decision to be baptized. My camera died missed some great photo opportunities (Kris? Hook me up?). Here's the cake I made Ry and here's Mason outside the church right before the baptism (in a very typical Mason pose).

Last year for candles

After counting, placing, and then lighting 29 candles I declared it will be a family tradition to get individual candles until you are 29. Once you are 30 you just get numbers or symbolic candles.

Also, we had some technical difficulties with Jason's snowmobile scene cake. Mason was being so helpful but it reached the point fixing it would require a few more cups of frosting. And since Jase doesn't care for much frosting, I just called it quits. There won't be any close ups of the cake this year. :)

Jason had to work up on the mountain so Mason and I had a fun day of decorating and practicing singing the Birthday song. Jason picked Meatball Casserole for his birthday feast. By the time Jase got home Mason couldn't wait to give him his present. We had a lovely dinner and opened presents. Jason is smiling in those pictures but this is what was really on his mind:

His present: the DuoGriller , on order

The festivities

The Starr boys with typical expressions

Jason and his MiniMe with matching smiles open a present.

Betty Bargainfinder strikes again

I love thrifting and yard-saling. It's getting to the point that I don't get much since I finally have my house all furnished and mostly decorated. Now that I work early Saturday morning I have been taking the long way home because I just.can't.resist.

Here are some things I'm just so happy about:

all the blocks for $1 (I spy Eli chilling out)

Eye sore? yeah but Ethan Allen headboard, free table, and antique cabinet from DI "make me HAPPY".

I scored this lawn mower from a yard sale. I excitedly called Jason since we've been trying to find a used one.
Me: Guess guess guess what I got?
Starr: What?
Me: A LAWNMOWER! For cheap!
Starr: Sweet. Does it work?
Me: Uh, yeah. They said it did.
Starr: You didn't start it up before you bought it?
Me: Uh, no.
Starr: But it works?
Me: Yeah... probably...
Starr: Is it propelled?
Me: Huh?
Starr: Does it look like it helps move itself foward?
Me: Uh, I'm looking at it and yeah... no... just wheels, no extra handle... so no.
Starr: Okay... What brand is it?
Me: I've never heard of the brand.
Starr: Okay. Um...
Me: It has a bag..
Starr: Okay bud. I'll look at it when I get home from work.

I realized it was a total impulse purchase but I was SO EXCITED when I saw it. I spent most of the rest of that day trying to get it to start, nearly ripping my arm out of its socket, cleaning it up, and eventually mowing the back yard. When Jason got home I tried to play it cool and aloofly mentioned I got it started as if it was no big deal. "Oh cool" was his response. I think he meant "how freaking awesome!"

sometimes...

Sometimes they look like me.

Life at a glance

I feel like life is really busy. At first I thought it was adding work to the schedule, but that hardly counts. There just seems to be a lot going on. Here's our week calendar. I use these to keep track of everything yet I still manage to forget some pretty important things. I constantly feel like I'm falling behind. One step forward, two steps back. The To-Do list gets longer, the laundry pile gets higher, all while I spend the extra little minutes blissfully enjoying my boys. There's a gazillion warm-fuzzy quotes about how life is supposed to be like that yet I still wish I could accomplish more. My mom managed to raise 9 happy kids, keep a tidy house, cook like a gourmet, and work. So...

Recently I read a line from a friend's blog that really struck me. Do something each day that cannot be undone. I love it. It can be so frustrating to finish mopping the floor only to have Mr. Right come in with muddy boots. It drives me nuts to go downstairs and find the toy box has exploded my absence. Housework is like shoveling in a blizzard. No matter how hard or fast you work the progress is rapidly covered up with fresh snow. THAT is why I love this saying. I'll forever have dishes to do, but if I can do something permanent today, and each day, then I can still go to bed feeling accomplished even if the condition of my house proves otherwise. So I can play with my kids and hold them close. Nothing can take that away. I can work on creating something, despite my crafty ineptitude, it will still mark the day as existing. I can snap pictures. And I can write.

I keep thinking that soon things will slow down. Maybe they will... like when I'm 80. 

best(s)

Jason is the best scout leader.
We have the best backyard for scouts.
We have the best scouts.

We've had a lot of fun this spring working on first aid, plant and animal ID, fire starting, fire building, going on a compass orienteering trip/Easter egg hunt, and going from store to store pleading for donations for the Scout Expo. If nothing else I hope that Scouts has taught these boys how to properly talk to store managers!

boys and their toys

Since we aren't leaving this summer (do I say that a lot? I just love saying it) we decided to put in a garden.

I'm sure Jason just *hated* every minute in the bobcat.

Here's the amazing drip system Jason created. Even if the whole garden is a failure, this was a huge success that I'm very proud of. Not that I can take any of the credit... still proud!

And no day of dirty work is complete without being serenaded by a didgeridoo.