my great garage sale find

My parents have one of these at their house and I love it, an antique school desk. Lately, I've been checking out all the garage sales looking for chairs or other random things that we might be able to use. But I usually end up just driving by and not even needing to get out. However, this morning after the soccer game, I drove by and found this!--for only ten dollars! I was so excited; I had to share!

three-year old politics

This morning over breakfast, Davis explained to me the situation in Iraq (after informing me he had to go to Iraq later today--which is upstairs, for pretend of course), these are his words:

They should know better that the battle is bad. But there's an angel coming to Iraq. But we have to fight against the battle, and then the bad guys, they stop laughing when we win the battle. But there will be one more Bad guy to battle after all the other bad guys are gone.

He said a little more, but I couldn't write fast enough to get it all down. Pretty provoking thoughts for a three-year-old. Or maybe that's just me.

Wednesdays are wonderful

Wednesdays are the days that I have planned to have the boys go to the childcare on post so that I can have a few hours to myself. Yesterday, I dropped them off, worked out, then came home. It was soooo weird! It seemed so quiet because no one was there but me. And it took a minute, but I made the realization that has never happened before, I've never been in our house by myself. When Kevin is here we use the "Divide and Conquer" method to the kids, if I went on an errand, we would each take a boy. And when Kevin would give me a break, I always went somewhere, he kept the kids at home. I didn't stay home too long, I ended up having lunch with a friend, then picking up the boys. There are definitely days that end with me feeling absolutely spent, emotionally and physically from a day of simply being a mother, but I wouldn't trade those boys for anything! I know with full confidence that they are a blessing for these days that we are enduring.

a new friend

Our neighbors have some friends visiting for the summer and they have a boy who is also three, just like Davis. They have played together everyday this week for at least two hours if not more. While it has made it very clear to me that I'm not at all ready for three kids, it's a very good thing for Davis. I am already entertained by one three year old, having two of them interacting is pretty funny too. Today his friend did something, and he says, "Man, I'm smart." Then Davis did something and he says, "We're both smart!!" Davis responded, "Uhh...YEAH!!" This is a picture of them sitting on our steps having some gatorade and good ol' three-year-old conversation.

Kevin made me...

I was telling Kevin a story about Davis and he demanded that I blog it, I didn't really want to, but he said I could put a disclaimer that he told me I had to because he thought it was so funny. So here it is:

On Sunday nights I attend a small group, so someone watches the boys while I'm there. Because of when this is, both the boys have to be put into their pj's. When I arrived home this particular night, after putting Davis to bed, the sitter told me what Davis had told her while putting on his pj's. She had just finished putting Ronin's pj's on when Davis says to her, "Look," at this point, she turns to look and he is holding his urethra wide open to explain to her, "it's a big vein that's red and there's a bone in it, that's what it's made of." She responded excellently by just nodding and then telling him he needed to put on his pj's. Thankfully, this sitter is a friend, so she told me the story while laughing, and I laughed too. Primarily because I've never told him this, and to my knowledge, neither has anyone else. It's so crazy what those little minds can think up!

three is a great thing to be

Davis will turn four in just a month and a half, and I cannot believe that it has been that long since he was born. His vocabulary continues to grow, and the things he says to me on a daily basis are pretty great. We were driving today and all of a sudden I hear a gasp from Davis and he erupts, "Mommy, there's a rain pile!!" He was talking about a puddle, but I think I might start calling it a rain pile too.

soccer is coming soon

This week starts the soccer season for Davis. This will be the first time he's ever played on a real team. He is super super excited!! Today we went to get all his gear. I had to do a close up of the shin-guards just so you could see how tiny they are! You can be sure that after this weekend there will be pictures of him in action!

toy trunk

The toy corner in our home seems like it has been growing...and growing. I've been looking at a trunk/chest from Target for at least two months now, and I finally took the plunge and purchased it. I've gotta say that I think it has decreased my stress level. One, I really like the trunk; two, when the toys are picked up, I can't see them bounding out of some basket! To get the full effect, I thought I would share some pictures (I went one step further and bought some tubs to put inside so that the toys could be organized).

a new name

Throughout the years, I have been called many things:
-the youngest Bice
-little Bice
-Krissy (only by my brothers, and only to irritate me)
-Kris (to a very select few)
-Doc Fitz's wife
-Mrs. Fitz
-Mommy
But a new one just entered the ranks this past weekend. There's a couple that lives by us who have really taken a liking to Davis, in fact, they call him "Hero." And that's because he is (maybe a story I'll tell later), and because they are confident he will be someone great when he grows up. As a mother, I've thought those things for quite some time, but when other people agree, it's great. So to these folks, Davis is never called by his name, he is always called: Hero. Well, the neighbors had some of their family over and we went by to say hi. I was introduced as:

Hero's mom

touchdown!!

Even though Football season is still four months away, little Ronin is ready! His new thing is to put his hands high in the air as if he is an official at an NCAA game while you say excitedly, "Touchdown!" And then he claps! .

it's a lonely world

This side of the deployment has its own challenges and difficulties. While many more people out there are beginning to recognize the efforts and energy it takes to "hold down the homefront," it is nearly impossible that they understand it (just as it is impossible that they can understand the life of a deployed soldier).

There are Frontline, CNN, ABC, and Fox specials that are supposed to give you an "inside look," but the chances that the American audience walks away thinking they can empathize with the military life are slim to none. It is a different world.

A world where it's okay to talk about intimate details of your life during intervals of reprimanding your children. A world where support can't always come from those you expect it to. A world where in ten minutes the gamut of conversation will run from mixed drinks to the aching feeling of sleeping alone.

There is nothing like this world, where emails and phone calls replace hugs and kisses.

my first morning off

Fort Carson's Child and Youth Services offers 16 hours of free childcare per month to spouses of deployed soldiers as well as a discounted rate for regular care. It's been four months since Kevin has been gone and I had yet to take advantage of this benefit.

Today I finally did it. I dropped them off, met a friend for coffee, had my taxes done, went downtown and looked in some shops that are not kid-friendly, ate lunch at a great sub shop (Grand Slam Subs downtown Colorado Springs for those of you that care to know), then picked up the kiddos.

It was amazing the things that I appreciated: looking at one thing in a store for however long I wanted to, eating without interruption (this was truly wonderful)-for the first time ever I felt like a fast eater, sitting wherever I wanted to, not picking up a high-chair while holding my 22 lb. 10 month old and moving it to a prime location while rallying Davis to the table, and discovering we'll be getting a pretty chunk of change back for our tax refund!

All this in four hours.

Dan in Real Life...

Somehow movies provide an escape from reality.

It's not that I forget the reality that I live in: my husband is deployed-it is only just shy of a year until he will be home for good, most days I act as a single parent-even though I'm not one, my children are boys (100%)-and sometimes Mommy just can't cut it when it comes to boxing.

It's strange how letting a movie absorb your present reality can make you lose track of it when the entertainment is over. I would be willing to bet that it was my heart dreaming, but when I tured off "Dan in Real Life" I actually had this feeling that I would go upstairs and he would already be asleep in bed, but it only lasted a moment. That's the nature of reality-it doesn't leave you dreaming for too long.

pictures with a three-year-old

Tonight, I got out my camera because it seemed like it had been a while since I'd taken some pictures of the boys. And that's when I realized that we have arrived at the phase where nearly every picture I take of Davis turns out like this one:





However, every now and then he'll smile for just long enough that I can snag one of these: