Campbell's Way

Hair today...

2011-12-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

Gone tomorrow....

We all knew The Hair needed to be tamed at some point, and yesterday was the day! He did very well during the quick buzz, and we think he looks pretty cute with his new haircut.

My plans to post a new picture every day in Advent kind of petered out, but I hope to keep posting every couple days, if not every day. The boys (and David) start their Christmas break tomorrow, and I get a little break from my teaching job :), so we're all excited about that.

Pizza party

2011-12-17T21:53:00.000-08:00

I am home alone with the 4 boys this weekend (I think this was my first time home alone with all 4!) while David and his mom went to pick up her car and other belongings in Ohio. In years past, I'm pretty sure I looked at a weekend alone with the kids as being more stressful and exhausting than fun and enjoyable. But this time I adjusted my attitude ahead of time and that really did make a difference. We had a great day. I like the fact that I am raising four children that I genuinely enjoy spending time with :). I know, it's supposed to be that way, but it's a neat feeling nonetheless!

Today I set out to have some enjoyable one-on-four time with the boys and also to get some chores done, and we succeeded on both counts! We: watched Saturday morning cartoons, ate french toast picnic-style, played 2 board games, tried to start a fire in the fireplace (we didn't succeed at keeping it lit, but we had fun and made lots of smoke trying), brought a box of emergency firewood into the garage, cleared a space in the garage for David's mom's things, organized the space where Mom and Dad will stay when they visit next week, vacuumed, cleaned dining room chairs, had popcorn and hot chocolate while watching Animusic, printed out interesting Lego instructions which the boys used to start new creations, filed their existing Lego instructions, conquered my Mount Paperwork, gave baths to 4 boys, made pizza, ate pizza in pajamas and sleeping bags while watching a movie, and attempted to allow the boys to have a "sleepover" with their sleeping bags on their bedroom floor. This last one was a flop since they were making a ruckus and keeping each other up way too late, but otherwise ot was a full and productive day, and I had lots of big boy help getting the chores done.

Great name for a local orthodontist

2011-12-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

I drove by his office and his name and profession made me smile. It reminded me a little of the Amigone Funeral Home in Buffalo :). I love quirky or funny profession/business names!

School days

2011-12-15T05:18:00.000-08:00

Quilts

2011-12-13T05:40:00.000-08:00

David has two aunts that sew gorgeous quilts and have given each of our boys a quilt when they were born. Thank you, Aunt Charlotte and Aunt Madeliene!

Most wonderful time of the year

2011-12-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

Two wheeler

2011-12-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

2011-12-08T09:51:00.001-08:00

Asleep amidst the chaos.

2011-12-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

After months of practicing on his balance bike (my frugal version = a regular bike with the pedals temporarily removed), Thomas mastered his 2-wheel bike yesterday in about 10 minutes! He was so excited!

Two-car garage

2011-12-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

Our dear friend Jackie passed along this cute reference: one tooth missing= 1 car garage and two teeth = 2-car garage :).

You gotta be tough if you're the 4th boy

2011-12-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

We were out of town for the weekend, so I missed a couple of posts, but here is a video to make up for it :).

http://youtu.be/3H0UmoQeh84

On the move

2011-12-02T15:55:00.001-08:00

Sleepy Bear

2011-12-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

2011-11-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

We spotted this lovely rainbow from our front door yesterday (and this picture doesn't really do it justice).
It was also Jack's first reconciliation day, and so the rainbow in the sky seemed especially fitting.
Jack did great, was the picture of composure, and is eager to go back again soon!

Brotherly love and pom-poms

2011-11-29T13:10:00.000-08:00

2011-11-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

New Year's Resolutions

2011-11-27T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm especially excited about Advent this year -- a new Church year, a new mass translation, and all the new adventures we have to look forward to in MD. At the same time, I miss our family and friends and I am trying to think of ways for us to stay connected on a day-to-day basis.

So, I've decided to make a new year's resolution that I hope will bridge the gap a bit. I plan to post a new picture each day in Advent. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to post much more than a caption for each picture, but I hope the pictures themselves will tell the story of our daily adventures.

With that, here is the first one:

"All I Want for Christmas" -- Jack just lost one of his top teeth and the other one isn't far behind. You can already see the permanent tooth coming in. Jack was very pretty brave when David extraced the loose tooth with a floss lasso (the tooth had started to turn a creepy shade of blue-gray, so we all agreed it had to go!).

Speed of life

2011-11-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

We all continue to do well here at the Campbell household. We've been healthy, the number of cardboard boxes in the house is slowly decreasing, and life is moving forward. We've registered at what seems to be a lovely parish here, and we are starting to meet people and put down roots. It is such a relief to know that we can get involved and become invested in this community beyond just 6 months!

There is definitely less free time now than there used to be (at least for me), but I can say that although I am busier and more tired than I would like, I am very happy. It seems like I literally have to move very quickly during the day to get things done in a timely manner, i.e. dashing between the fridge and pantry for speed cooking, hussle cleaning, running up and down the stairs for items, etc. but it works and by the grace of God I have the energy for it.

Davy is charming us all with his big smiles and adorable coos. His smiles are hard to capture on camera, but one of these days I'll get a good shot and post it. The boys love making him smile! I am so grateful for the gift of siblings (well, except for when they try and kill each other, but you get the idea).

The older boys entertain me with their boyness. A continuing mealtime debate here is who is the better superhero -- Spiderman or Superman? And what would happen if Superman and Darth Vader fought each other? The boys don't help cook, they excavate the flour and sugar with the measuring cups. They don't draw pictures of people and houses and flowers -- they draw tank fights and fighter jet battles. They don't play house -- they invent a land called Janada (Japan + Canada) that grows kryptonite and makes it into sandwiches in case Superman comes around (they are decidedly anti-Superman in Janada). It's all a little foreign to me, but I am greatly amused by the way their minds work!

Anyway, my time on the computer is up, but I hope to post more pictures of all the boys soon!

More photos

2011-11-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

I owe this blog a meaty update post, but it will have to wait until my brain cells have recovered from the move and the sleep deprivation a little bit :). In the mean time, here are some recent photos of the kids. Jack was Black Spiderman for Halloween, Thomas was a Scary Skeleton, and Peter was a Phoebe Giraffe. They had lots of fun wearing their costumes (Peter is actually wearing his right now!) and getting lots of candy. We're all doing well, but are still unpacking and trying to get a routine back in the midst of it all. Thankfully, we're all healthy and are enjoying our new home and neighborhood.

Photos

2011-10-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Apologies for taking so long to get these posted! We're all doing well, but I seem to start a project or task and then get distracted and it takes forever to get back around to it.

Baby David has arrived!

2011-10-05T15:38:00.001-07:00

Baby David arrived at 11:34AM this morning and weighed 8lb 8oz, and was 21.75 inches long. It was a quick and easy delivery, and both of us are doing very well. I could not have asked for a smoother or more peaceful delivery, and I feel great! Little David is very cute and strongly resembles his brothers. He wins the "hair of the month" according to the delivery nurses. It is quite the impresive mop. And he does have eyebrows :) (Peter had big hair, but was severely eyebrow deficient for a long time!).

If all continues to go well, I should get to go home from the hospital sometime on Friday. They do have free Wi-Fi here, so hopefully I can post a picture of him soon.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!

Practicing Patience

2011-10-04T05:48:00.000-07:00

Baby Davey (Or Davy? I'm not even sure how we're going to spell that!) seems to be very comfortable right where he is, despite numerous signs that labor is supposedly just around the corner. Today I'm 3 days late, which isn't too bad, but it feels like an eternity! I am trying hard to be in good spirits, but I'm getting a little discouraged and more than a little uncomfortable. My mom, David's mom, and David have all been very good about helping out with the kids, the house chores, encouraging me to take long walks, etc. but I feel like we're all waiting for this big event which could happen at any given moment. There's sort of a palpable tension in the air, and it's starting to wear on me.

The good news is that the end is in sight --- my doctor won't let me go overdue past Saturday, so I just have to endure the rest of this week, at worst.

Today is the feast day of St. Francis, who I chose as my confirmation saint. It would be a good day to go into labor, right? :). Or at least a good day to have an extra treat. As always, your prayers are appreciated and we'll update you when there's more news.

No turning back now

2011-09-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

David's mom arrives tonight and my mom arrives on Friday night to help out with baby stuff, kid stuff, moving stuff, and hopefully have time for some pleasant visiting on top of all that :).

I had to drive up to Columbia today with the boys to pick up the lease so we can sign it and make things official with our new home, and it hit me kind of hard all day today that this was going to be the "end of the Campbell status quo as we know it". Not that the past 2 years have been exactly "status quo" for us, because they've actually been pretty crazy with all the relocating and everything. But we started out 2 years ago in David's rotation program as a family of 5. We've traveled together and bonded together amidst our adventures and misadventures in Buffalo, Colorado Springs, and 2 Virginia locations as 2 adults and 3 kids. One major constant for the past 2 years has been our little nuclear family, and now we're about to totally change the dynamics of that constant. And now Help is on its way for the imminent baby delivery, which just makes it all the more real that everything is going to change.

We will be a family of 6, and we'll have a newborn in tow with all the feeding, changing, and sleeping demands that newborns come with. I'm not really worried about things being worse than they are now (although I know the first few months will be more difficult as we all adjust and are sleep-deprived). It's more like I'm already starting to miss the routines and normalcy that we've grown comfortable with. I can take the 3 boys out on big or little errands by myself (which I remember seemed SO daunting when Peter was tiny!), and I feel confident that they will behave well, and if they don't, I can handle it. I think right now I feel the most confident and calm in my mothering and teaching career than I ever have, and I'll miss that feeling! I know I'll get it back eventually, and of course our family will adapt just fine and it will be hardly any time at all before we feel like our family was never complete without baby David. But, still, it was an odd and slightly bittersweet feeling today that there is no turning back from this point.

That being said, I wonder when baby David will make his arrival! No feelings yet that things are getting close. It's a huge relief that we have family arriving in town that can wrangle the bigger boys while David and I go to the hospital. We had some friends from church offer to help out, but I know the boys will be much more comfortable if they can just be at home instead of being juggled between various people's houses. Plus, I worry a bit about making sure everyone is up to speed on Jack's nut allergy and someone doesn't accidentally forget about it. I felt terrible a couple of weeks ago when we got sandwiches from a sandwich shop, and the boys had little bags of potato chips, and I noticed *after* Jack had eaten a good handful of them that they were cooked in peanut oil! He was fine, no reactions (I've actually heard that peanut oil is usually refined to the point that peanut proteins are filtered out), but it bothered me that it escaped my radar when I'm supposed to be most on top of it!

We will keep you updated when anything interesting happens. In the meantime, we appreciate your prayers for healthy and safe delivery and a good adjustment for all of us.

Summer Rambo

2011-09-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

For me, the words "summer rambo" immediately brings to mind something like the image below:

How could they not? What else could a summer rambo possibly be?

As it turns out, the house that we'll be renting in MD is on a street called Summer Rambo. We found out a couple of days ago that they accepted our rental application and now we just need to sign the lease and we're al set! We're really excited because we think it will be a great house for us.

The street name, though, really puzzled us, because it just seems like "summer" and "rambo" don't have any business being thrown together like that. Granted, we have come across much worse street names in our travels (Purgatory Dr. and Deliverance Rd. in Colorado Springs, and even Maleady Drive in VA reminded me too much of "malady"). Still, it seemed like there must be an interesting story behind Summer Rambo.

We learned, actually, that it's a type of apple. Many of the streets in that area are named after apple varieties, and someone picked Summer Rambo for our street. Now, why in the world someone decided to call an apple Summer Rambo is beyond me, but there it is.

So, David has a great job, we have a house, and slowly but surely our to-do list is growing smaller and smaller. It's been quite a while since the stress in our lives has been on the decrease rather than the increase, and the change is very welcome. Next on the list is having this baby! I'm due exactly 2 weeks from today, and I'm starting to get a little restless. My body is kind of limping its way through these last weeks of pregnancy. I'm healthy, thank goodness, and the important stuff like blood pressure are normal, and I'm even keeping up OK with taking care of David, the boys, homeschooling, the house, etc. But everything seems harder with a big, cumbersome tummy in the way, and I'm just plain tired. :). Again, that's par for the course at 38 weeks, but it's humbling!

At doctor's appointment last week, my doctor seemed very confident that I'd be able to have a successful VBAC. He was much more reassuring than the previous lady doctor I saw, so it was a great visit. It was just what I needed to hear. Now I just hope that my body and the baby cooperate, if possible, so that I go into labor on my own before I go overdue. I really don't feel like I will last 2 more whole weeks (but that might just be wishful thinking!), but I also haven't had any indications that labor will be coming anytime soon. We'll just have to see. It's exciting that whatever kind of birth I end up with, we only have at most about 2 more weeks of waiting!!

This week is a busy one. David has his graduation from his rotation program on Wednesday night, and if I haven't had the baby by then, I get to go to the graduation dinner and celebrate with him. I'm excited -- it's been a long road! David's mom and my mom are also coming out to help this week, and I have another dr's appointment and a drive up to MD to finish up our lease paperwork. I hope the next update will be a "we're going to the hospital" or "we've had the baby" post!

Less than three weeks to go

2011-09-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

We've all been doing well this past week. David has been working very hard at his job -- lots of stress and long hours -- but he is hanging in there. The boys have done well with school this week and are getting more and more excited about Grandmom and Grammy coming out to visit within the next couple of weeks, and of course baby David arriving. There is a fair amount of surplus craziness around here that I'm sure comes from our upcoming move and the baby's arrival. It's a double-whammy of change for them, and we're all feeling the stress a little. I'm trying to be extra patient and understanding, since *I* have trouble not being anxious and grouchy and I'm an adult with lots more reasoning power and life experience. We're all excited, though, and looking forward to when the dust settles after October.
We took a trip up to Columbia on Friday and found a great home. We put in an application and we'll see in the next few days if they'll accept it. We have high hopes -- but we're not actually starting our lease until the end of October, so it's possible that they'll turn down our application in favor of renters that can actually move in this month. We'll see. It seems like there are homes that get put up for rent each week, so I'm confident we'll find something good even if this house falls through.

The boys are getting excited about Halloween and have picked out their costumes. Jack wants to be Black Spiderman, Thomas wants to be Darth Vader, and Peter wants to be a Phoebe Giraffe :). I'm excited because I'm actually going to try and make their costumes this year. Last year I ordered them last-minute from Wal-Mart because we had just moved and it was the easiest solution, and I think the year before that I had pieced some makeshift costumes together a few days before Halloween, but I didn't give myself enough time and my sewing machine was also broken -- so they didn't turn out too well. Not to mention that we were in Buffalo, and it was freezing cold and drizzly and no one was answering their doors when we went Trick-or-Treating! That was a pretty sad Halloween!

So, I decided it would be fun, economical, and a good waiting-for-baby distraction to work on the boys' costumes over the next few weeks. They're excited because they get to add in their input and help customize them. I found a bunch of clearance clothing items online last week and once they arrive we can add the fabric paint and embellishments and see how they turn out!

Other than that, I have a dr's appointment this Wednesday and hopefully we'll hear more about our rental house by then. I'll do my best to post an update!

One wait down, another to go

2011-09-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

We decided that relocating to Columbia, MD for David's work is the best decision for our family now, so the waiting and agonizing over which job would be best is finally over. It is a huge relief to have made a decision, but it was so difficult! When we left CA two years ago for this program, I had the expectation that we would be returning at the end to pick up our lives there where we left off, with maybe a raise and promotion for David. It wasn't really a possibility in my mjnd that we would not be returning.

It was heartbreaking for us to learn that the job climate and job future for David's line of work in CA and in many other areas is very shaky right now, and to return at this point would not be the wisest decision for job security.

However, David received many excellent job offers from the MD and VA area, and business is much better out here. He accepted a great position that is very stable and interesting, and will be good for his career. We drove up to the Columbia area and it is very nice and family-friendly. Our next step is to find a rental home there and plan our move.

With that behind us, we have one more big wait ahead -- I'm nearly 37 weeks pregnant so baby David could come at any time. His checkups have being going very well, and my ultrasound yesterday estimated that he is currently 7lb 8oz, which is a little big for his gestational age, but not terribly ginormous. We'll just have to see if my doctors will want to schedule me for a c-section of if they'll let me deliver on my own. I'm getting excited about meeting this little guy finally and recovering from whatever delivery I have so I can start feeling like myself again. Between my large tummy and my achy hips, I have developed quite the waddle! But I'm doing well, all things considered, and have been pretty busy putting together my hospital bag, cleaning house, and arranging emergency childcare if I go before my mom and David's mom arrive. It is hard for me to believe that whatever happens, I have just about 4 weeks left at most before baby David is here!!

And we wait

2011-08-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

All is well with the Campbell household. School started in full force on Tuesday, and it seems to be going pretty well. I'm tired, though! Wrangling lessons for 2 kids and managing a 3-year-old is a lot of work! Thomas is so excited to be in Kindergarten, and he is taking to his lessons very well. I'm realizing that he really did absorb a lot while sitting at the school table last year, because a lot of the early Kindergarten work is actually a review of things he already knows. Jack is also doing well, although he has more academic work than Thomas (as he's supposed to!) and sometimes the amount of it frustrates him when he'd rather be playing. I completely understand -- it's hard for me to be a cheerful and patient teacher when I'm tired and feel like my work load is too high, too :). But he is settling in well and I think it will just take a little time for everyone to get used to the new routine.

I'm so glad we'll have a good couple of months of routine schooling under our belt before the baby arrives. I know we'll have a chaotic few weeks while we're all adjusting to having a newborn around, but I think (I hope!) we'll hop back into regular life more quickly since it will be habit by then.

We continue to wait to hear about David's job offers. Our hope is that we hear something next week and can begin the process of making a decision, but it could push out further than that. It does appear that all of David's hard work in networking and cultivating excellent offers is just about done. Now, HR and the various sites have to do paperwork and things on their end, and then we'll hear something. So, that's a relief. I'm also glad for the distractions of home schooling and preparing for a new baby because it doesn't give me a whole lot of time to obsess over all the endless possibilities! I know once we make a decision about where we're going, we'll have a lot of preparations and trickle-down decisions to make, so I'm trying to enjoy this forced lull because the storm is coming :).

I don't think there are necessarily any "easy" scenarios. If we go back to San Diego, we'll have a cross-country road trip to plan with a newborn, plus a couple of weeks of limbo before our house will be available to live in. If we don't go back to San Diego, we have to decide if we can afford to keep the house in CA as a rental or if we'll be forced to short sell it (enter possible real estate lawyers, discussions with our mortgage company, etc). And, at same time, we'll have to find our own housing in whatever city we will be in. I know we'll make it all work out and we'll be just fine, but I think we're all really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. We figure by then, we'll be settled in nicely somewhere, all the uncertainties and decisions that we're facing now will have been dealt with, and we'll be out of the crazy first 6 weeks of newborn babyhood. We can just sit back and enjoy a our family, a good feast, and be thankful for David's great job and for making it through.

We'll update everyone when we have more news. We can't tell you how much your prayers mean to us. I'm about 6 weeks from my due date (how did that happen?!?) and without your prayers I'm sure I wouldn't be nearly as calm and at peace with everything as I am. Not to say that I don't have my moments (I do! Sometimes I want to hide and just be pregnant and have nothing else to think about right now!), but I really do feel the grace of God holding us up through this.

Just for fun, here is a picture of my pregnant-tummy buddy:

Vacation photos!

2011-08-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Adjusting expectations

2011-08-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

David learned yesterday that we may not actually hear about his various job offers on Aug 15th. His company will have some information on that date, but HR and his program will have some adjustments to do before they can present the offers to David, so it will likely take a bit longer for us to actually hear anything. How much longer? We don't know! I would think a few days or a week should be enough time, but we really don't know. So, we will continue to be as patient as we can, and we will update everyone when we know something, but it may be a little while yet.

In other news, I had an appointment yesterday that went a little sideways. The baby is doing great and and so am I, thankfully, but the dr and I had an interesting discussion about the delivery.

I've been expecting that I'll be able to try for a VBAC for this delivery, since my OBs have really encouraged it from the beginning, and everything went so well with Peter's, but yesterday my dr laid out the set of conditions that I have to meet in order to even be allowed to attempt a VBAC. Honestly, I'm really not sure I'll meet their criteria. The baby has to be estimated at under 8 lbs, and I have to go into labor on my own by my due date (they might let me go a couple of days overdue, but really would prefer not to). Peter was well over 8 lb and I think 9 days late, and I just don't think my body is designed to make small babies that arrive early!

They're having me get an ultrasound in about 5 weeks to estimate the baby's weight(even though these estimates are notoriously error-prone, even up to a pound or more), and the dr already commented yesterday that I seem to be measuring big. Ay! Her best advice was for me to follow the gestational diabetes diet (no refined sugars, super limited white starches like rice, pasta, bread, potatoes) to help ensure that the baby doesn't get too large. I think this is probably not a bad pregnancy diet anyway, so I'll follow it and add in some extra exercise also, but I really wouldn't be surprised if despite my best efforts, I fail one or more of their required conditions and am scheduled for a c-section. It was a little disappointing to hear all this now, when I'm nearly 8 months pregnant.

The most important thing, of course, is that we do whatever is safest for baby David and for me. This particular OB practice has such strict standards so they can err on the side of safety all around, and I can understand and respect that. Still, our month of October is going to be busy enough as it is and I would love to not have to add recovery from abdominal surgery to it all.

My other choice is to switch to a different doctor now who would not be quite so strict with the conditions (and there is such a dr out here who has great reviews) but his office and hospital are an hour away, on major highways when there is no traffic, and maybe 3 hours away in bad traffic (and let's face it, bad traffic is pretty much a given here). Compare that to my current doctors and hospital, which are 10-15 min away on surface streets, and I'm not sure how comfortable David or I would be with that switch.

Anyway, yesterday was definitely a day of our expectations being "adjusted", and I'm doing my best to hang on for the ride and try and see God's hand in it all. As always, we appreciate your prayers and we will keep you updated!

Baby steps to August 15th

2011-08-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

We're closing in on 2 weeks until we have more information about the places where David will be offered work. Two years of enjoying (and sometimes just plain enduring) this rotational program is coming to an end, and now we have big decisions and planning imminently ahead of us. These past few weeks (and and the two still to come) are probably one of the most difficult and unsettling waiting periods I've ever experienced. We've been fortunate so far to have good health in our family, so we've never had to wait for the results of serious medical tests, which I can only imagine is 1,000 times more nerve-wracking than waiting to hear about a job. Still, this is the most stress we've really ever experienced. We don't know what part of the country we'll be in, what size house or apartment we'll be able to afford if we don't return to CA, when we're moving out, etc. etc.

I know that whatever happens and wherever we end up, our little family will be together and we'll be fine. We'll get settled, find a local Catholic church, make friends, and make a happy home wherever we are. But we still have a maze of factors to negotiate -- geography, salary, job position, cost of living, our house in CA, etc. David has worked so hard in this program and he really has done well, and I know his job offers will reflect that, but we ask for your continued prayers as we try to discern the best path for our family!

In the mean time, we've been keeping busy and have been enjoying our summer. I've been finding it helpful just to focus on what chores and adventures we have lined up for each day, and to not even think about the "what ifs" and possible planning we have ahead of us. We had such a wonderful vacation at the beach last month. It was so great to spend time with Mom and Dad -- I only wish we could have teleported more of our family to come out and be there with us. We got to go on a boat ride in Maryland this past weekend, courtesy of one of David's co-workers, and that was a blast. The boys had the wind and sun in their faces and they loved speeding along the river. Today, I took the boys to an indoor bounce house. It was very hot and humid again today, and I felt like a change of pace from hanging around the house or visiting the pool. The boys had a blast! Jack said "Now we don't have to jump on the beds!". I do think they got all of the bounces out of their systems pretty well, and it was nicely air-conditioned, which was a bonus!

On August 16th (I'm giving the boys the Feast of the Assumption off!), we'll start in on our next school year. Thomas is so excited about starting his Kindergarten work! Jack is also excited about 2nd grade, and Peter says he's ready for pre-school :). It feels like our summer break was short (and it was, intentionally, so that we can take off some time when the baby is born in a couple of months), but I think it was just about right. It will be nice to get back into a more regular routine.

Other than that, we're all doing well. My pregnancy continues to go smoothly. Baby David is moving a lot, hiccuping a lot, and doing everything he's supposed to be doing. I'm a little over 31 weeks now!! It does seem like the weeks are going by more quickly now. I'm dealing with the heat and humidity OK (mostly just hiding from it inside or going to the pool), so if I can get through August and the first part of September, I think I'll have gotten through the worst of it.

We won't have any job updates until after the 15th, but I'll see if I can post some of our vacation pictures later this week!

Fireworks

2011-07-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun Fourth of July celebration here. We started the day with swimming and a lunch picnic at a nearby pool, then we came home and relaxed for a while. David BBQ'd some excellent steak for dinner, the boys chased fireflies, and then we had our own front-yard fireworks show with fireworks that David bought at a stand near his work. They had a BOGO special at the fireworks stand, and David came home with some excellent selections. It was especially exciting because it has been many years since we lived in a place where buying and setting off your own fireworks was legal. David bought poppers, sparklers, glow snakes, spinners, and lots of fountain and whistle type of fireworks, including a behemoth one that was called "Devil's Delight". The boys spent most of the time watching fireworks like this:

because they were afraid they were going to be too loud (and some of them were!) but they had a blast. Their favorites were probably the sparklers, a firework called Purple Rain, and the poppers.

In other news, I had my 7-month checkup today and everything continues to go well with this pregnancy. It's hard to believe that I come back in 4 weeks for my next checkup and I'll be nearly 32 weeks! I have no idea where the time is going! We've decided to name the baby David Jr., and the boys have decided that "Baby Davy" is a hilarious nickname :). This kid is going to get equal amounts of love and teasing from his brothers, I think.

We're enjoying our summer, but the heat, humidity and swarms of biting bugs take some getting used to. Next week we head to the beach for a week-long vacation and we're all looking forward to a break from the usual routine. After we return, things with David's job search will kick into even higher gear, with more interviews and finalizing of the offers that he'll get from various sites. It's exciting and a little nerve-wracking! Here are some more pictures from our Fourth of July fun:

Glasses and doughnuts

2011-06-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

So far, summer has been busy but good at our house. Jack got glasses and is able to see much better. He wears them all the time and has been really good about taking care of them. He looks like a little man when he wears them!

We've been spending a fair amount of time in the pool. Jack has swim lessons this week and next week in the morning, and then some days we also go in the afternoon so Thomas and Peter can play and practice swimming. It can be tough sometimes to wrangle all 3 of them in the water (Jack does fine in the shallow end, but Thomas can't touch bottom and isn't swimming yet, and Peter is a wildcard). But, the boys enjoy it so much and it's a great way to escape the heat and humidity. It's also great to not feel the full force of gravity on my pregnant tummy :).

Today is Peter's feast day so I wanted to do something a little special for him. I decided to make Pioneer Woman's doughnuts, and they were fantastic!! The boys are serious doughnut enthusiasts, but they're a rare treat for us. Anyway, these doughnuts are by far the best I've ever made from scratch -- very light and fluffy -- and they were pretty easy to make. We didn't do the glaze recipe, but I'll try that next time I make these, because I think it would be awesome. We tried powdered sugar, powdered sugar+cinnamon and regular sugar+cinnamon. I think the favorite here was the plain powdered sugar. The recipe did make a heap-o-doughnuts, though, so hopefully we can be disciplined enough to save them for breakfast tomorrow :).

And, I'm just throwing in one more picture of the boys enjoying a make-shift sandbox that I set up in the garage. It's hard to believe that when we left CA, the boys were 5, 3, and 1. Nearly 2 years have passed -- they're getting so big! We're so ready to be settled down somewhere -- not too much longer!

Tying up loose ends

2011-06-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

We're just a couple of days away from finishing off Jack's school work for 1st grade, and all of us are looking forward to summer break. It has been a great school year. There were some bumps along the way (stubborn teacher + stubborn kid don't always mix well) -- but Jack has done really well these past 2 quarters, attitude-wise and he has really learned a lot this year. I feel like we can continue to homeschool successfully if that ends up being the best decision for our family, depending on where we move after October and what schools are available. We're going to celebrate the end of the school year with a trip to Chuck E Cheese on Friday!

Today we had a full day of appointments -- a 3-year well check for Peter and an eye doctor appointment for Jack. Peter's appointment went great. He's right on track for everything. He proudly told the nurse-practictioner "I'm wearing underwear!", and then he went on to describe the colors of David's and my underwear (I guess he takes notes when looking at the laundry basket)! The nurse-practitioner thought it was hilarious :). Man, that kid has a sense of comedic timing. Peter is usually very reserved with strangers, so for him to decide to be chatty during the appointment at all was a surprise, but then for him to pick the subject of underwear was just too much. He's a firecracker, that one.

Jack's eye appointment went well, and he definitely needs glasses. They should arrive in about 10 days, and then he'll be wearing them pretty much all the time. Thankfully, his eyes are healthy -- he's just very near-sighted. The doctor told him that he'll be able to see much, much better once his glasses arrive, so I'm eager to see how much of a difference he notices. He picked out some stylish metallic-blue glasses with a little bit of camoflage detail on the sides. They look great on him! Now the trick will be to make sure he takes good care of them and they don't accidentally get broken or misplaced.

Other than that, we're all doing well. The baby (who still doesn't have a name yet, but we're working on it) is doing very well. He's active and it's nice to be able to feel kicks every day. Although, it does sometimes feel like a crazed squirrel is trapped inside me! I'm eager to meet this little guy, but at the same time I really want to enjoy the next 3 1/2 months and make the most out of them. The boys are all getting more and more independent (first time with no one in diapers in 7 years!), and I'm able to get enough sleep (not that I always do, but I certainly could get 8 or 9 hours a night if I really wanted to), and I want to savor these things before we have a newborn to care for again. Hopefully my body will cooperate and I won't get too tired/big/achy to go on some fun adventures with the boys this summer.

We continue to look forward to mid-August, which is when we should have a better idea about where we'll be living next. David has been working hard on cultivating good leads on potential offers. I'm oddly calm about the whole thing, which I'm grateful to God for. October will be one wild month, but there really isn't anything can do about it now except put one foot in front of the other and try to juggle everything as best I can.

Happy Birthday, Peter!

2011-06-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Peter turns 3 today! He had a great birthday breakfast with David yesterday at "Bobebbans" (Bob Evans). He managed to eat 4 chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, sausage, and juice! Today he enjoyed his birthday cake and ice cream before lunch (because David has to leave for business travel this afternoon). He requested an airplane cake and cookie dough ice cream, and he was pretty pleased with both. Then we had a birthday lunch, which was chicken strips, biscuits, fruit salad, and artichokes. Peter wasn't much help with deciding what I should make for his birthday lunch. Everytime I asked him what he wanted, he said "cake and ice cream". I explained that he could have cake and ice cream, but was there a regular lunch or dinner food that he wanted to go *with* his dessert? And his answer was... cake and ice cream :). So, I put some things together that I thought he would like. Not the artichokes -- those happened to be on sale and they looked good, so I figured why not?

Peter is a feisty, funny kid. He has a good sense of humor and really enjoys making his brothers and David and I laugh. He usually knows exactly what he wants and he'll go over (or through) obstacles to get it. I'm always impressed with how well he stands up to his big brothers and really holds his own.

One example of his stubbornness / self-assurance: We got him a stuffed giraffe recently during a trip to the National Zoo, and it has become one of his most treasured possessions. He decided to name the giraffe "Phoebe", and yet he insists on calling it a "he". So we've tried to ask him directly:

"Is Phoebe a girl or a boy?".
Peter's response: "He's a Phoebe giraffe".
"Well, if it's a "he" then it's a boy, right?"
"No, he's a Phoebe giraffe".
So we ask "Then, is it a girl Phoebe giraffe?"
"No."
"Is it a boy Phoebe giraffe?"
"No."
"Well, it has to be one or the other ... is it a boy or a girl?".
"He's a Phoebe".

And Peter will go around and around like this, as sure as anything that he knows exactly what he's talking about.

Happy 3rd birthday, little man!

Abounding with boys

2011-05-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Another win for the blue team at the Campbell home!

We learned that our newest baby is a boy at today's ultrasound, and we're all excited. I will admit that David and I did raise our eyebrows at each other: "FOUR boys! Oh my!", but in a happy way. I do wonder how much craziness and mischief 4 boys will get themselves into. I trust that God will give me the graces I'll need to wrangle them all.

We were glad to see that the baby's heart, brain, spine, etc. all look great. I don't think there are any big tests or procedures between now and October -- just the regular checkups and all that. All of our baby gear is in CA, so we have a few things to get, but I really want to keep a light load since we'll be moving so soon after the baby's born. I'm hoping I can get by with just some clothes, diapers, a car seat, and a stroller. We already have a pack 'n' play with the bassinet insert, so that will serve just fine as a crib for a while.

So, now we wait until October to meet our newest little man!

A big week

2011-05-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Somehow, the busyness level at the Campbell household has really gone up a notch lately, and we're all kind of racing to catch up. It's a good kind of busy -- lots of T-ball practices and games, potty training Peter, social/networking events with David's coo-workers, plus the usual homeschooling, family, and household stuff -- but it is a little tiring. We definitely aren't used to ferrying multiple kids to multiple sports events, although I know this is just the way it is and the way it's going to be for a while. We're really trying to keep the kids' schedules (and ours!) fairly simple. I really don't like the idea of overscheduling the kids so they have multiple sports and activities overlapping at the same time, but it's still crazy with just 2 kids on 2 different T-ball teams! I guess we'll just have to level up our parenting and organizing chops on this and get used to it.

Also weighing on our minds is our final move after October. It seems like David just found this rotation (and he did -- we've only been here for a little over a month), and already he's working hard on networking and making contacts so he can solicit some good offers from a few different sites within his company. Coming back to San Diego would be great, but we're realizing that it may not work out that way. It's a difficult adjustment, because I left our home in CA 1.5 years ago fully expecting to return at the end of the program. I figured David would put in time and hard work and would be rewarded with a promotion in San Diego, but it's a lot more complicated than that! I have to let go of my personal hopes and expectations and realize that we can decide to create a happy, comfortable home wherever we end up. It is a stressful process, though, and we would really appreciate prayers as David figures out where the best work opportunities are and as we figure out what the best decision will be for our family.

In other news, my pregnacy seems to be progressing well. This Wednesday we have the ultrasound to see how the baby is developing and to determine the gender, hopefully! We're excited, but I'll admit that I'm a little nervous about everything being OK with the baby. I have no concrete reason to be concerned, but this pregnancy has felt a little more difficult than my previous ones. I'm sure there are lots of factors -- it's my 7th pregnancy (!), 4th that I've carried this far, and I'm 7 years older than I was when I was pregnant with Jack, so my feelings are probably normal, but still, it will be a relief once the ultrasound is done. And we can start seriously talking about names, which will be fun!

It's also "checkup season" around here, so this Thursday Jack and Thomas have their annual checkups (and I'm pretty sure some vaccines will be in order), and then I need to schedule an eye exam for Jack (he's been having trouble reading at a distance, and we suspect he'll need glasses), and dental exams for everyone.

I'll update again after Wednesday!

Cakes!

2011-05-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Thomas's cake is on the left and Jack's is on the right. They were very specific about the placement of the plastic figures. Thomas said the bicycle rider had to be doing his trick right in front of the train as it went through the tunnel. Jack wanted the motorcycle to be stuck in the lava, and the tree to be knocked over by lava, and the animals on the right side of the cake running away from the lava. Both boys requested vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, which I was a little nervous about, but they turned out pretty tasty!

Action shot of train going through the tunnel.

I suspect that Jack mostly insisted on having animals on his cake so he could like the frosting off their feet.

Happy 7th birthday, Jack!

2011-05-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

The birthday celebrations continue at the Campbell home today! It's quite the festive season with so many birthdays and Mother's Day packed into just a couple of weeks.

Jacks started his 7th birthday with a special breakfast with David at Bob Evans. He enjoyed the meal and their shop talk about Star Wars Legos. He came home and we took a special field trip to DC today -- just me and the boys. Jack wanted to see the Natural History museum, and there was a special butterfly exhibit we've never seen before that he really wanted to see. So, I took my first solo trip to DC with the kids. It actually went very well! The boys were all well behaved and we got to see some neat exhibits at the museum. The butterfly exhibit was pretty cool -- we've never seen so many butterfly flying around us before -- and we were able to see some beautiful butterflies up close (some landed on us!). We saw a few other exhibits, although there were 2 that Jack really wanted to see that were closed today, unfortunately.

We headed home and the boys will enjoy their cake and ice cream for an afternoon treat since Jack has CCD class tonight. His requested birthday dinner is homemade pizza, fried shrimp, and salad with raw spinach, so we'll have that a little early so he can enjoy it before heading off to class.

Seven years old is typically called "the age of reason" by the Church, so I'm looking forward to the year ahead. Jack has a definite sense of reason already (although it doesn't always line up with reality!), so we'll see how/if that continues to develop this year. He is very bright, intense, and assertive -- which are excellent character traits that are a joy (but also keep us on our toes!). Jack is also very sweet, and many times a day will start out a sentence with "Mom!..." and lets a dramatic pause hang in the air (meanwhile I'm wondering/bracing myself for the last half of the sentence!) and then finishes it off with "I love you!". Jack also tells it like it is. One morning recently, the boys had woken up early and they were making so much noise that it literally sounded like a herd of elephants. David stumbled out of bed to discover Peter jumping on the bed and Jack and Thomas stomping around the room. Later on, I asked Jack and Thomas what they were doing while Peter was jumping on the bed, and if they had thought about asking him to stop. Jack quickly replied "No. We were too busy marching." I like that directness!

It's time to serve some afternoon cake and ice cream (I'll be a celebrity for a few minutes!), so I'll wrap up.

Happy 7th birthday, Jack!

Happy 5th birthday, Thomas!

2011-05-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to share Mother's Day with Thomas's 5th birthday today. We had a great day. David took him out for breakfast his by himself yesterday, since we knew would be too crazy because of Mother's Day, and Thomas really enjoyed that special treat. We had waffles, berries, and generous helpings of whipped cream for breakfast today. After Mass, David went out and picked up Subway sandwiches, which was my special request for Mother's Day. I can't have the deli meat, but I love their vegetarian sandwiches. David's also going to buy an electric ice shaver for me / the household. We had one back in Ramona, but it was one of the appliances that I decided to store rather than cart around the country. It's one of a few things that I wished I had brought with me! I know it will come in handy during the hot and humid VA summer, so I'm looking forward to it.

After lunch, both Jack and Thomas got to open their presents, which they really enjoyed. The biggest hits so far were probably the Lego sets, a stomp rocket (we also had one of these in Ramona, and it either broke or is in storage), and gift cards/money. I took Thomas and Peter to the park so they could really get some good air on it -- Jack opted to stay home and work on his Lego set. After that, I finished decorating their cakes (they both wanted volcano cakes, but two different types), and the boys played with their Legos some more.

Thomas requested roasted chicken drumsticks, biscuits, baby carrots, avocado slices, and raw spinach for dinner, so that's what we had. The boys ate really well, and then they had a generous helping of cake and ice cream.

It's hard for me to believe that Thomas is 5 years old! I know all parents say that about all their kids as they watch them grow so quickly, but somehow Thomas just seemed so "4". I don't really have a hard time picturing Jack as 7, but something happens when kids go from 4 to 5 -- they really do grow up a lot, and it's hard for me to picture Thomas growing out of some of his sweet, little kid ways -- his well-loved, ratty blanket corner, his very innocent and sweet demeanor, his unfailing love for singing Amazing Grace every single night ... I could go on. Thomas has already gotten so much bigger than when we started our crazy adventures with David's job (he was only 3!), and it's only going to go faster.

Happy birthday, Thomas!

Loving our new house

2011-04-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since we moved in, and we are really enjoying our new home. I love the hardwood floors (so much easier to keep clean than carpet!) and the skylights all over the place. This house is so much brighter and more cheerful than our other home. It seems positioned to catch the sunlight better, and I think that's doing wonders for everyone's moods. The backyard is small, but the boys have had lots of fun playing ball and running around. They seem to enjoy this backyard already more than the other one. I think it's going to be a great spring and summer here.

We have had a rough start, health-wise. Both David and I were sick with bad colds last weekend, and mine seemed to hang on and get even worse this week. Thomas and Peter seem to have caught a milder version of what we had, but hopefully they'll be better in the next couple of days. We're all pretty tired of being sick. Aside from about a week and a half, someone in the house has been sick since right around Lent began, 5 weeks ago. Fortunately, it hasn't been anything serious, but it has made us weary of the various sicknesses we've had, and much more appreciative of good health.

The boys are doing pretty well with the move, aside from a few attitude setbacks here and there. Also, although the movers were very efficient and helpful, I'm discovering that they made some interesting choices in deciding what things to combine in the same box -- and then they were very vague in the labeling department, so I have to really unpack every paper-wrapped item in every box to find out where things are. Normally, I would do this anyway, but this house comes with such a well-stocked kitchen that I won't need to take out most of the cooking pans, storage containers, etc. that I brought along the way. It's not a big deal, but it's something I haven't felt like dealing with just yet.

One thing I've been working hard on this last week, and over the last several weeks, is to really enjoy the time I spend with the boys. I do enjoy their company, their antics (well, not all of their antics), their jokes, etc., but sometimes I get so caught up in the things that need to get done -- make meals, make sure they get dressed, get teeth brushed, get school / preschool work done, not watch too many movies, etc. -- that I find the day is over and I haven't really enjoyed the kids, I've just survived the day, if that makes sense. I know a lot of this comes out of the first 3 months of this year, when I was sick and exhausted with early pregnancy and it was all I could do just to get those bare minimums done. So I've been making a conscious effort lately to enjoy the boys' quirks and to try to look at even their difficult times with a better sense of humor.

Last Thursday, on our crazy moving day, I had a great moment where I really had the presence of mind of enjoy Thomas being just what he should be -- a silly and totally non-self conscious 4-year old boy. The movers had delivered our belongings to the new house, and the boys were rummaging around in the boxes while I tried to put a few things away and get ready for dinner. The boys found their Halloween costumes and were so excited to put them on and run around pretending to be Iron Man and motorcycle drivers. I realized that I needed a few things from the grocery store, and Thomas begged me to let him keep his Iron Man costume on (mask and all). I hesitated for a second, and then thought "Well, why not?". So he went in full Iron Man costume with his brothers and me, up and down the aisles at Giant, much to the amusement of the people we walked by. He *loved* every second of it. "Mom, did they think Iron Man was going shopping here today?!?" he asked excitedly. It was such a great kid moment! I treasured it, because who knows -- by next year, he might be too self-conscious or just not quite silly enough to want to do this.

Juxtaposition

2011-04-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

Ramrod straight "For Rent" sign + crazily crooked mailbox

≠ curb appeal

But it does make us laugh a little every time we pull in to our driveway.

Annunciation Artwork

2011-04-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

I freely admit that I am not a naturally crafty or artsy person. When it comes to teaching Jack art for school, I'm often at a loss for new and interesting ideas. I also don't like projects that are super messy or expensive to set up, since many times I end up doing 3 art projects since Thomas and Peter want to get in on the action. Some of my easy, inexpensive, simple ideas have fallen flat on their faces ... like my "let's make new crayons by melting old crayon stubs" project that ended up looking like droppings from a crayonivore animal.

The other week, though, with the Annunication coming up, I really wanted to do a nice art project that had something to do with the feast day. I researched ideas well ahead of time (which helps!), and I found instructions online for making simple triptychs -- three-sided displays that can be decorated/painted. I used some cardboard we had lying around, cut out the triptych shapes, had the boys paint them gold, and then had them choose artwork that I've been saving from the Magnificat magazines we receive every month. The Magnificats always have gorgeous cover art, but I've never figured out what to do with it. I also made a space for a "stained glass" window -- which was colored tissue paper pieces that the boys sprinkled between sheets of clear contact paper. Anyway, I was pleased with the results and the boys were pretty happy, too. I also let them put white/sparkly glitter on top of it as a final touch, and they went a little crazy with that, but they loved it!

Jack's triptych

Peter's (note the liberal use of glitter on the left panel)

Thomas's

I like how the stained glass window effect looks when light shines in from behind.

Good news all around

2011-04-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

My doctor's appointment went great yesterday and it was such a relief to hear the baby's heartbeat galloping away. I'm so grateful to God for this new little life, and for how well things are going so far. I feel like I can take a big breath and enjoy this pregnancy a bit more. It also helps that I've come out of the green-gray haze of the first 3 months, so I actually feel more like myself again instead of a sick, tired blob.

The other good news is that we secured a great rental house! The lease paperwork finally came through the other night and we signed everything and we're all set now. Another big sigh of relief after a couple of weeks of frantic house searching. Also, the parade of prospective tenants seems to have slowed down a little bit. We did't have any lookers yesterday or today so far, and just one scheduled for tomorrow. It's been a nice break.

Next Thursday the 7th is moving day for us. I haven't really started doing any packing or organizing yet. After 3 moves in the past 18 months, all of them more complicated than this one, I'm not too worried about it. This week will be busy, but I think I might try and take it easy and enjoy this weekend and then dive in to the moving stuff on Monday.

I'll try and update again later this week.

Cherry Blossoms

2011-03-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

David was able to get a rare mid-week day off so we could see the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC. It was a lovely trip! Our only complaint was that it was cold (in the 40s with a chilly wind), but seeing as it was the warmest and driest day predicted this week (except for the weekend, which we really wanted to avoid since we know the crowds will be crazy), we went ahead and braved the cold.

The cherry blossoms were really beautiful. We went to the Tidal Basin area near the Jefferson Memorial, and the walkways all around were lined with cherry trees in bloom. There were a fair number of people out taking pictures, attempting chilly picnics, and enjoying the scenery. They were also setting up tents and tables and bike racks for the main part of the Cherry Blossom Festival which I think is happening later this week. The metro was pleasantly uncrowded, and we had a good trip. The boys' legs, especially Thomas and Peter (we forgot his stroller!) tuckered out pretty quickly, so it was an effort to keep them walking and cheerful. Thomas is a wanderer and dawdler on his best of days, but when his little legs get tired he really tends to trip on his own feet, not look where he's going, swerve into oncoming walkers/joggers, etc. Peter needed to be carried for a good bit of the way, although he actually did better than I expected. Walking on busy sidewalks next to cars whizzing by on even busier roads meant that David and I really had to work hard to herd the boys away from danger. We were all exhausted when we got home, but it was definitely a good adventure and we got some beautiful photos.

On the house front, I am officially tired of the parade of realtors and prospective tenants coming through our home since Monday. Fortunately, they all call ahead of time, but they just seem to pick inconvenient times. Yesterday a few came right during dinner, and today some are coming during Peter's naptime (although I did tell them his bedroom is off-limits during the tour, and they respected that). All the realtors and lookers have been very pleasant and even apologetic about interrupting our day, so that part has been OK, but honestly I just have a thing about strangers in my house. I'm always a little uneasy when new handymen or repairmen have to come fix something. I've never had a bad experience with one, but I just feel unsettled while they're here and so relieved when their work is done and the house is mine again. So, day after day of strangers wandering around my house has been a little wearing. Thankfully, we are moving out next Thursday or Friday at the latest, so I don't have to feel unsettled for too much longer.

Unfortunately, I really don't have any update about our next rental home. We are moving forward on the lease, so that's good, but we haven't actually signed anything (we've been waiting and waiting for the owners to get the documents together), so we don't actually have the house yet. We were supposed to sign the lease today, but it's nearly 3PM and I haven't received it or heard anything yet, so I'm guessing that probably won't happen. I'm a little nervous that the owners will suddenly backout and we'll be in a tight spot in terms of finding a whole different house and signing a lease before we have to leave our current home. On the upside, the worst case scenario is that we'll end up living in a hotel for a few days and put out stuff in storage (fortunately, not too much -- mostly toys and clothes, since we left our furniture back in CA). David's company would pay for our hotel, and maybe we could even score a place that serves free hot breakfast :). So, we certainly won't be homeless no matter what happens, but it sure would be nice if we get this home secured. I'll update when we know more!

Hopefully moving up in the world

2011-03-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

It's hard to put into words how busy the past few months have been and how fast they've flown by! Next week we are scheduled to move for David's final rotation in his program. Fortunately, he'll be working just about 20 minutes away from his current office, so it's not a big move. David and I did decide to change houses, though, because we haven't been all that happy with our current rental home. We rented it sight unseen in a last-minute housing scramble from Colorado, and when we arrived we realized that the home and the property managers had lots of quirks that we would rather avoid for the next 6 months. Part of me thinks we're a little picky -- the house is perfectly livable and we would be fine here. But, on the other hand, David works very hard and his company is paying our rental expenses, so if we're not really satisfied or if we feel like we would feel more "at home" somewhere else, then we really shouldn't have to settle for a place we don't like.

So, we took the plunge about 3 weeks ago and gave out notice to vacate our current home. We didn't have a new home lined up yet, but we were hopeful that we would be able to find something quickly. Well, it's been a lot harder than we thought. We did find a home that we loved, but they backpedaled a little bit because we need a short-term lease. After David's rotation ends in October, we might be headed to CA, CO, or who knows where. We were disappointed, because the new home is gorgeous, and just feels so much more comfortable than this one. Then, this morning they told us the short-term lease would be fine, so we're back on track (we hope!). We move on April 8th, so we really don't have much time left in case things go wrong again. We hope to have the lease finalized today or tomorrow, which will be a huge relief!

In the meantime, our current house has been put back on the rental market. They put the "For Rent" sign in our yard, and the lockbox on our door, and today the listing was posted online. Already we've had 4 calls from realtors who want to show the home! The first ones are supposed to come by this afternoon. It's a really weird feeling. I don't have any stake in what prospective tenants think about this home, so it's not like I have to keep it "show quality" as if we were selling it. But at the same time, I feel obligated to keep it somewhat neat and tidy. It just seems like the decent thing to do. Also, if the house looks better, maybe it will get rented faster, which will mean a quicker end to the parade of people wanting to look at it.

Also, I'm anticipating that the prospective tenants might want to ask what we thought of the home, the property managers, why we're moving, etc. I haven't really figured out how to answer these questions if I'm asked. If I'm totally honest, it might impact whether people decide to rent this home or not, because we really didn't have the best experience here. I don't want to come off as badmouthing the property. But of course I'm not going to lie and tell them we loved everything about this home! We'll see. Maybe I can balance some good points and low points that we found with this home and let people make up their own minds.

In addition to all the house stuff, we're scheduled to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC this week. I can't wait! We've all been sick for the past 2 weeks and mostly housebound, and we're so ready for spring and all the new beginnings and good weather that it brings.

In other news that I haven't posted about on this blog yet, I'm 13 weeks pregnant! Everything seems to be going well so far, and we got to see a healthy, active little peanut about 4 weeks ago on ultrasound. The next milestone will be my appointment this Friday where I should be able to hear the heartbeat on Doppler. I'm nervous but hopeful that this appointment will go well. It doesn't make much sense, but I have in my mind that if I can make it to this appointment and have everything go well, I can finally take a breath and relax about this pregnancy.

When I get a chance, I'll update about our home and my appointment on Friday and hopefully have some pictures of us at the Cherry Blossom Festival!

Snow Day!

2011-02-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't been keeping up with this blog as much as I'd like, but it seems there's never enough time! We had a good snow here last week, and the boys really enjoyed going out and playing it in for several days in a row. The snow is still here this week, but so far the boys aren't too interested in going out. That's OK -- I'm not the biggest fan of cold weather, either. We've been having fun with the Wii to help the boys burn off their energy when we're indoors, and it's such a relief to not have neighbors under us to worry about!

First good snow in VA

2010-12-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

We had a few inches of snowfall today, and the boys had lots of fun playing in it and helping me shovel the walkways. Actually, Jack and Thomas were serious helpers and we got our shoveling done in record time. It's a weird feeling to be on the other side of those years of always-hands-on parenting (i.e. having to be actively involved in all the clothing, toileting, feeding, etc. that happens), at least for Jack and Thomas. They can get their snow gear on (with a little help with stubborn zippers) and can follow directions about where/how to shovel snow, and actually do a good job. Even Peter is getting more independent, and it's a weird feeling to realize that we've never had a child as old as Peter (2.5 years now) without a newborn in the picture as well.

Anyway, the boys were pretending their shovels were snowplows and they really attacked the walkways. We're on a corner lot with a looong sidewalk that wraps around our property, so there was a fair amount to be done, even though (thankfully) we didn't get that much snowfall. Apparently schools were closing and had early dismissals all around here, which I'm sure the folks up in Buffalo would find a little ridiculous!

In other news, we're keeping busy with the daily tasks of schooling, home stuff, David's work, etc. These pictures are from a little while ago when we took our first trip to DC, but they're kind of cool:

Adventures in VA

2010-11-15T17:27:00.000-08:00

We've had a few great adventures in the VA and DC areas over the last couple of weeks. This past weekend, we went to Washington's Mount Vernon estate -- a huge mansion (especially by 1700s standards) and rolling lawns situated right on the Potomac river. It was beautiful, especially with all the fall leaves still in brilliant colors. We were joined by Victoria and Lance, some dear friends from college, and we had a lovely day. We saw Washington's tomb, his bedroom, and some trees that he planted that are still alive today.

This is the front of the Washington's mansion.

The big tree on the left was planted by George Washington himself!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

Great Falls Park

2010-10-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

Home tour

2010-10-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

I kept waiting to take a video walkthrough of the house until it looked cleaner or better, but I just went took the plunge and took a video anyway. So, please pardon any random kid socks, blankets, full laundry baskets, unmade beds, etc. that you might see :)!

Settling In

2010-10-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

We have one week under our belts here in VA. It's been a trying week, all the unpacking and organizing while keeping up on Jack's school work and maintaining some sense of normal routine. I keep meaning to take pictures of our home, but the moving truck came in mid-week and I couldn't bring myself to take pictures with brown boxes all over the place! I think most of the boxes in the house have been unpacked now, so I'll work on getting some pictures up soon.

I think we've turned the corner, though, and things should be getting easier from here on out. We went on our first field trip on Friday to the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. It's about 15 minutes from here, and the boys really enjoyed it. We've been there before -- on our May 2009 trip back East -- but it's a long time in a little kids' life. Peter kept marveling at all the airplanes and telling me he was going to ride in them. Jack and Thomas listened as I read the descriptions for the planes, and they really seemed to be absorbing it. It was time to go home for lunch before we had seen the entire museum, but it was great to know that we live so close that we could visit anytime we want. They have an IMAX theater there, and I think David and I will take the boys to an IMAX show about airplanes sometime -- I bet they'd love it!

We also got a library card on Friday, and the boys got to check out new books. Even Peter found a little book about diggers that he's been carrying all around.

Weather-wise, we had a few warm days when we first arrived, but then it started cooling down. The leaves are starting to change, and we're hoping to go to a park or take a nice drive to really see the leaves and take pictures before they fall off.

We ordered Halloween costumes for the boys, and they're very excited about them. Originally I was going to make my own, but I had trouble finding the materials I needed (I guess there was a run on white sweats!), so I gave in and bought some inexpensive costumes online. David has high standards for Halloween because he has great memories of the costumes his Mom made him as a kid, but even he agreed that it was acceptable to buy costumes considering our moving craziness :). So Jack and Peter will be motorcycle drivers and Thomas will be Iron Man.

So, life is starting to settle in a little and feel normal. David has next Friday off, and that may be when we take the kids to DC for the first time. We haven't decided what we'll see yet, but we'll be sure to take lots of pictures. I know eventually I'll manage the kids on the metro by myself, but for that first time I'm looking forward to having some extra hands!

Last day in Colorado

2010-10-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

We have a rental house secured in Herndon, VA, our belongings are on the moving truck, our cars are on the car carrier, we've completed our exit walk-through with our landlord here, and aside from some laundry and packing tonight, we're ready for Virginia. It feels really good to be at this point. It seems like the last several weeks have had so many ups and downs (and honestly, a little skewed toward the downs), and it's a relief to know where we're going and to be mostly ready to be there.

Maybe it's good, in a way, that the past few weeks have been challenging. I've been so busy organizing, packing, conducting lease business over phone and e-mail, etc. that I haven't really had time to be too sad about leaving CO. We really have had a wonderful stay here. Let's see -- some of the highlights:

- Camping (truthfully, cabining) up in the Rocky Mountains with family
- Fishing
- Summer T-ball
- Swim lessons
- Fossil hunting
- Thunderstorms and hail
- Pikes Peak
- Spending time with family and friends who came to visit us
- All the boys' birthdays
- Cave of the Winds
- Dinosaur Museum
- Beautiful parks
- BBQs with David's co-workers

We left the Winter of our Discontent in Buffalo and came here to a Golden Spring and Summer. I know we'll enjoy our time in VA, but I'm sure CO will always be a special place to us.

Please keep our travels tomorrow in your prayers! We will be sure to offer up any frustrations or stresses for the intentions of our family and friends. We'll update you soon after we arrive and get settled in.

Oh Where Oh Where Will The Campbells Be?

2010-10-01T14:23:00.001-07:00

Somewhere outside of the DC metro area, but we're still not sure exactly where. What a week we've had! We've had 3 possible rental homes in VA this week, and all 3 of them have fallen through. Two of them were the owners' decisions to pull the houses off the rental market, and one of them we backed out of because the owners were asking for insanely high security and earnest money deposits.

We have one more potential home, and we'll get all the final details for that on Monday morning. Hopefully everything works out! Our movers come on Tuesday, and I'd rather not have to tell them that our stuff will be shipped to "Reston or maybe Herndon or McLean, we don't really know yet".

In other news, Jack came down with strep throat yesterday!! I took him to Urgent Care today because I had a feeling it wasn't just a regular sore throat, and sure enough, it's strep. If it weren't so sad how much he's been sick in the last few weeks, it would be a little funny -- poor kiddo! The nurse-practictioner told us that strep is extremely contagious -- and there is a good chance the other boys will get it, and possibly David and I also. Doh! We really don't need that this week! I'm hopeful that somehow the rest of us will manage to dodge it, but at this point, no matter what happens, I'm just putting one foot in front of the other. I know praying for patience is a good way to have your patience tested and strengthened (whether you like it or not), and now I'm wondering if at some point I prayed for perseverance? :).

In any case, we're alive and baby-stepping our way to Virginia. I would love to have my own personal Mary Poppins right now who could snap her fingers and make all of our stuff fly off the shelves and into organized piles :), but I'm making OK progress. I don't think I'll have to put in any super late nights or anything to get everything organized by Tuesday. The boys and I are going to have pizza and a movie night tonight (or in Jack's case, maybe pudding and a movie), so we're all looking forward to that.

Time for this gypsy wagon to move on

2010-09-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

In less than 2 weeks, the movers will come and pack our belongings, we'll hop on a plane, and we'll head for our next 6-month home in Virginia. David told me we're living a bit like gypsies during our 2-year adventure, and I've realized how true it is! We roll into a new town, unpack our belongings, mingle around in the community for a little while, then pack up our wagon and move on to the next new town where we start all over again. It's funny -- I've always known growing up that we actually do have gypsy roots back on my dad's side. We've always talked about our gypsy roots as being the source of our love for adventures, travel, hopping in the car and just taking a drive. Now we get a chance to live like gypsies for 2 years, and although parts of it are very exciting, it's also ... unsettling. It's hard to become part of a community for 6 months and begin to really enjoy all the little intangibles that make it feel like home -- knowing the best streets to take, seeing the same friendly faces at Mass every week, making friends with the library lady that we see all the time, etc. Two weeks from now, we'll leave our community here and the hole will close up behind us and we'll plunk down in another community in another state, and we'll have to start finding all those little intangibles all over again.

This gypsy lady is looking forward to when the wagon stops for the last time!

That being said, I definitely feel like a veteran at moving this time around. Less than 2 weeks to go, and we don't know where we're living in Virginia yet (we have a couple of potential houses, but nothing definite yet), I haven't started sorting or organizing our belongings, I haven't done any cleaning, and I'm not really all that fazed by it. OK, I'll admit that I am a little bit tense :), but as David would put it, my Worry Box is only so big, and I just don't have room for everything in it right now!

I'm also excited about going to Virginia. It's a beautiful part of the country with tons of interesting museums, historic sites, monuments, etc. to see. We have good friends from college that live out that way, and we'll also be able to visit Bonnie, Jason, and Joyce. We can even take a trip up to Hopkins to see how the old alma mater is doing.

Now, hopefully we can all stay healthy these next 2 weeks -- we've had a terrible time with sickness here since going to California! Jack was sick, Thomas was sick, Peter was sick, David was sick, I got sick, Jack got really sick again (stomach bug that came and went for almost a week!), and I got sick again. I tried to figure out what good God might be able to do with our sickness, and I decided that slowing down, taking several sick days off from homeschooling, and not worrying too much about our move to VA was probably a good start. So, we're in a good place, soaking in the lovely Colorado fall (it's already started here! Cooler weather, leaves changing colors -- it's gorgeous!) and looking forward to our next adventure.

Big kid!

2010-09-16T13:29:00.001-07:00

Craft Fail

2010-08-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

I thought I remembered reading about a cool craft project that involved turning crayon stubs into "new" crayons, so the boys and I gave it a try recently. I didn't look up the instructions because I was confident that I had the basic idea down: gather up all the crayon stubs, put them in a bowl, microwave them a little bit at a time until they start to liquefy, stir them a little to get a neat marbled effect, pour into molds, and cool. I even decided to get fancy and sprinkle crayon shavings over the melty crayon mixture to get a rainbow effect.

Well, our crayon creations didn't turn out exactly how I had imagined they would:

Instead of beautiful, marbled crayons, we got crayonivore droppings!

Oh well! I guess our crapft (sorry, I had to, Mom!) became an art lesson after all -- red+green+yellow+orange+purple+blue really does make black!

Updated allergy test

2010-08-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

Jack had his second allergy skin test today. The first one was 3 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!), so his allergy doc suggested a retest just to see if he was still testing positive to nuts and such. He did indeed test strongly positive to peanuts, walnuts, and pecans again, but nothing else. I had him tested for fish (not shellfish, which we already know he can eat safely, but regular fish since he's gotten sick to his stomach several times after eating it, and I thought it there might be a connection), but he didn't react to fish at all.

So, he definitely still has to carry around the epi-pen and avoid peanuts, walnuts, and pecans, however his allergy doctor here was very confident that Jack should be able to eat other nuts, like cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, etc. with no problems at all (he was tested for those today, and they came up totally negative). Jack's doctor actually encouraged us to let him try those nuts, as long as the package doesn't say that it might also contain traces of the "forbidden" ones. Jack was excited about it and asked if we had any safe nuts at home that we could try right away, but David is in VA for business for a couple of days and I think I'd rather wait until he's home just in case Jack does have some sort of reaction!

So, we'll keep on doing what we've done since we found out Jack was allergic to nuts. Thankfully he's never had any kind of nut reaction since the very first one, so whatever we're doing seems to be working. If he can eat almonds and cashews safely, that would be an added bonus for snacking or desserts at home, but for all intents and purposes I would still tell people he's allergic to all nuts, just to avoid any confusion in case someone accidentally forgets and gives him the wrong kind.

Other than that, we're all doing well! Homeschooling is progressing well so far. Jack is more eager and a little less stubborn about it than last year, which makes it much more pleasant. :). Thomas is doing very well with pre-K stuff like reading lessons, math, and handwriting skills. Peter sits and colors for about 15 minutes, and then wanders off to cause some sort of mayhem or another, but is generally pretty manageable. I'm more tired at the end of the day, but I'm enjoying it much more than last year (so far)because I'm using the curriculum I picked, and I'm a bit more organized and relaxed at the same time, if that makes sense.

Fossil Quarry

2010-08-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today's adventure was a trip up to Florrisant, CO to visit a fossil quarry where you can dig your own fossils! On the way up, we planned to stop at the Donut Mill, which we have heard has phenomenal (and very large) donuts.

On the way to the Donut Mill, we ran into a motorcycle parade that was just starting. The roads were all blocked off while the motorcycles passed, so we parked and watched as motorcycles sped by for about 15 minutes straight -- I don't think I've ever seen so many in one place before! The boys enjoyed watching it at first, but they were pretty eager to get to the donut shop so they got a little impatient as the motorcycles kept coming, and coming, and coming.

Once the parade ended, we headed over the donut shop and were rewarded with some excellent donuts. The boys each ordered a chocolate-frosted donut with sprinkles, and David and I split a pretty large raspberry fritter. They were definitely heartier than the average donut, and very tasty. The donut shop did sell "Cinnamon rolls larger than your head" which were, indeed. that big. As much as I love cinnamon rolls, I think you'd need like 8 people to eat one of those!

After we had fueled up on sugar, we had a lovely drive up to Florrisant and found the fossil quarry. We paid an admission fee and then were given tools like chisels, hammers, brushes, etc. and were able to sort through huge piles of shale to find fossils. The boys had a great time -- all of their favorite things rolled into one: digging, hammering, playing with rocks, and fossils. We ended up finding quite a few nice leaf fossils that we brought home. We were hoping to find a bug fossil, but apparently those are a bit more rare (and larger animals, like fish or birds are super rare). It was a cool experience, and a bit addictive -- it was pretty exciting to crack open layers of shale to see what treasures might be inside.

"Just passing through"

2010-08-18T13:43:00.001-07:00

I think one of my biggest adjustments to our 2-year rotation program is that we're always in the state of "just passing through". Six months is really just enough time to start to get comfortable somewhere, and then it's time to pack up and move on. It's a little unnerving!

I definitely felt the awkwardness of our situation at the boys' first homeschool co-op meeting today. I had originally e-mailed the organizer of the co-op to make sure it was OK for us to participate, since we'll be missing about 4 or 5 of the meetings toward the end. (And this is a big deal, because each parent is expected to actively help during the co-op -- if they're not teaching a class then they need to be a teacher's aide). The organizer never got back to me, so I went ahead and registered the kids, and then e-mailed and left a phone message with the organizer lady again last week to doubly make sure it was OK for us to participate. She didn't get back to me again, so I showed up today and asked the another co-organizer lady, and she kind of sighed and basically said in a put-out way, "Well, it's too late now to ask you to not participate, since we're already all filled up and we've been turning people away. So, it has to be OK, I suppose". That wasn't exactly the type of welcome I expected to receive at a Catholic homeschooling group, but oh well. (I mean, it seems like it would be more charitable to welcome the crazy moving family who is trying to homeschool in a strange place than to make me feel guilty for taking someone else's potential spot).

Thankfully, the other moms there made up for it -- they were much nicer and more welcoming. They were so friendly that I got a little stab of sadness thinking about our "just passing through" status. Many of these moms would be make awesome mom-friends -- they're Catholic, homeschooling, and our personalities seemed to click. There's just not much time between now and October to really cultivate a good friendship, and for some reason I feel like a shadow-family, one foot here and one foot in our next location.

One very positive side effect of participating in the co-op, however, is that I've discovered how very well behaved my boys truly are. I was working in the preschool room for 2 hours (oh my -- that's exhausting!), and let me tell you -- I came out of there thanking God that my boys are as well-behaved as they are! I know sometimes they can be a handful at home, but there were some *very* crazy kids in that class -- mean, disruptive, and outright disobedient for *other, strange moms*, and that flabbergasted me. Peter was with me (I opted to keep him with me instead of putting him in the babysitting room), and he was 50 times better behaved than some of the 3 and 4 year old kids in there.

Tomorrow we start back on our regular homeschooling curriculum here -- math, reading, phonics, the works, so we'll see how that goes. This Saturday, we're planning to head out to the Florissant fossil quarry (and giant donut shop on the way up), and the boys are super excited about that.

Goodbye, summer

2010-08-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we start back into school again. It was on the short side, for a summer vacation, but I wanted to get a head start because we'll be taking some days off of school for our trip to CA, moving to our next location, etc. If we start a little early, we can take off some days here and there and still end reasonably early next June.

I'm excited about Jack's first grade material, and for Thomas's continued work on preschool reading and writing skills. But I'm also bracing myself a little for some of the "battles of the wills" that I'm sure Jack and I will face (although hopefully fewer than last year!). I'm trying to approach homeschooling from a different, and healthier perspective this time. My personality is very much achievement/goal-oriented, and I really, really like crossing things off my to-do list. I think last year I approached Jack's Kindergarten the same way, because it comes naturally to me. My thoughts are something like: "Knows how to read? Check! Has good handwriting? ...(hand hovers over paper, a little too eager to check off the box...) Uh, well, he hates handwriting and it's pretty wobbly still. I really can't check off that box, although I really want to. Well, better get back to the grindstone so we can check off that box!!". I'm trying hard to remember that the road to accomplishing some goal might be more important than checking off the box itself, and some things may need be left unchecked a little longer than others. It's difficult for me, but I've realized that it's another way that I need to die to myself and my set ways a little bit, and it's for the best.

I'll keep you posted on how homeschooling and the co-op are going. In the meantime, here are a couple of videos of the boys playing and being silly last week.

Swim lesson excitement

2010-08-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Today was the third day of our second round of swim lessons, and I wanted to share my excitement over their progress. I've been eager for the boys to learn how to swim -- not expertly, but well enough that they can go to a pool, have fun, and I don't have to be holding on to them (which is pretty much impossible with 3 at once!). In my mind, teaching them to swim is simply one of those parental must-dos, and with Jack at 6 years old, I don't want to wait too much longer for him to learn this life skill.

The boys learned some valuable skills, and became much more comfortable in the water, during their first swim lessons, but at the end they couldn't actually swim on their own. I had hoped to help them practice at our neighborhood pool, but we still haven't made it over there yet! So, they really needed another round of lessons to continue building their skills.

I was so thrilled today when Jack's swim teacher had him leaping off the side of the pool, into the water, all by himself! Jack, by nature, a cautious and wary little guy (with an occasional bout of "I can't!" pessimism thrown in), so to see him jump in deep enough to get his head soaked was pretty exciting. He's also pretty close to being able to swim on his own -- I'm thinking he'll be there by the end of lessons next week. And, best of all, he kept saying "Today was SO fun!" after the lessons, so he's really enjoying it.

Thomas is also doing very well, SO much less afraid of getting in the water, getting his ears and face wet, etc. than last time. And, I haven't had to go in the water and help encourage him (he's much more willing to listen to his teacher this time), so that has been awesome. He's more wary of the water than Jack is, but he's also 2 years younger and not as physically agile.

Two weeks from today, we're starting back on home schooling. I'm a little sad about the end of summer (it seemed so short!), and a little wary of battling wills with Jack when he doesn't feel like learning, but I think getting back into the routine of schooling will be a good thing.

Still, I'm trying to think of fun things we can do these next couple of weeks off -- I think we'll make a bunch of Kool-Aid playdough one day. I'd also like to take them on an interesting hike -- an easy one, but somewhere with interesting things to see. Maybe a picnic lunch or two at a park. I'll have to see what else I can come up with!

A couple days after we start school again, Jack has an appointment with an allergist out here to see how his allergies are doing. They'll retest him for the nut allergies. I'm not really expecting him to have outgrown them, but it has been about 3 years since his last allergy test, so it's possible, and it will be good to know either way.

Other than that, we're all staying healthy and enjoying the fun weather (thunderstorms just about every afternoon!). We're not sure where we're going next, but we'll be sure to keep everyone posted as soon as we do!

Pikes Peak Photos

2010-07-28T14:18:00.001-07:00

I think in the above picture you can just see the curvature of the horizon.

Pikes Peak

2010-07-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we made the drive up to Pikes Peak. David offered to drive, which was great, since it's pretty serious mountain driving (you know, hairpin turns, not all of which have guardrails near the loooong drop offs). He drove expertly, and it was quite an adventure winding our way up to the 14,000+ peak. When we got out of the car at the top, we could really feel the lack of oxygen -- we all felt a little lightheaded and tired from just existing up there. It was also cold -- like there was unmelted snow. So, we spend a little while up there, took pictures, and read the plaques that said that the song "America the Beautiful" was written by a lady who had just visited Pikes Peak and was so inspired by it. It's funny, because at certain times of the day, I've noticed that the mountains around here can have a purplish tint, and sure enough, she was talking about Colorado mountains when she wrote "purple mountains majesty"!

The boys have their last T-ball games this Saturday morning, and then Thomas's team has a little team party right after. I volutnteered to bring baseball cupcakes (the tops are just decorated like baseballs), so I think the kids will enjoy that. On Monday, Jack and Thomas are picking back up on swimming lessons -- 2 weeks of lessons, 4 days per week. It should be intense, but I hope they'll be more confident afterward.

The week after swim lessons, we're going to start homeschooling again. There's a Catholic homeschooling co-op here (parents sign up as teachers for various "extra" subjects, like neat science classes, language classes, etc.). It's a really neat idea! The co-op meets once a week from the middle of August until November (so we'll miss the last couple of weeks when we move). I'm not teaching anything (everyone pitches in, so I'm sure I'll be helping out in some other way) -- and it's a great opportunity to get Jack and Thomas together with other homeschooled kids. They even have a preschool session that Thomas can be in, and a nursery for littler kids.

Anyway, Blogger is having trouble uploading my Pikes Peak photos, so I'll post this text and will try and put up the photos later.

Garden of the Gods

2010-07-17T13:17:00.001-07:00

We went to this beautiful park maybe a little while ago, but with all the hubbub I never got around the posting the pictures. It was lovely! I hope we get back there to see more of the trails before our time in Colroado is up.

Speaking of which, I can't believe we have less than 3 months left here! I know we have lots more exciting adventures ahead of us in other parts of the country, but I'll miss Colorado. We have a few more must-sees before we leave town, though:

1. The Florissant Fossil beds and quarry (you can find your own real fossils and take them home!)

2. The Donut Mill (home of apparently exceptional and ginormous donuts)

3. The Colorado State Fair in late August (fair food!)

4. A visit to the Air Force Academy

5. More fishing

... and I'm sure there's a few more but I can't think of them at the moment!

Other than whittling away at our must-see list, we're enjoying the summer weather and more relaxed schedules. The boys have 2 more weeks of T-ball, and then I'm thinking about putting them in one more summer swim lesson at the YMCA. I thought I'd get more chances to swim with them at our community pool, but I'm not brave enough to take all 3 boys there by myself during the week, and our weekends have been busy lately. Once Jack and Thomas become more confident swimmers, I'll happily take all 3 to the pool, but the thought of trying to keep all 3 of them safe in the water at this point, when I only have 2 hands, is too nerve-wracking to consider!

Right now, David is at the movies seeing Toy Story 3 with Jack and Thomas. This is their first-ever movie theater movie! They were pretty excited as they were leaving the house -- I look forward to hearing all about it when they get back home. Peter is still napping, so the house is very quiet!

The beginning of the end

2010-07-07T14:33:00.001-07:00

of baby teeth!

Yes, David did use the pliers to remove the tooth, but it was more than ready to come out.

We've all been well lately, just busy. We have some great pictures from camping and from our trip to Pike's Peak that I'll post soon!

Helicopter Cake

2010-06-19T06:36:00.001-07:00

I made a helicopter cake for Peter's 2nd birthday, and I think it turned out pretty good! I tried to model it after the Dinoco helicopter in the Cars movie. David and the boys were impressed, although it does look a little like a muppet helicopter :).

Jack's T-Ball

2010-06-19T06:31:00.001-07:00

Jack's had 2 practices for his T-ball team now, and he loves it!

3- and 4-Year-Old T-Ball

2010-06-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

Has to be one of the cutest things on earth!!

Thomas had his first practice yesterday, and he was so excited about it all day long. He had a great time at practice, and his coach and teammates seem very nice. He can't wait until next Tuesday!

Jack's first practice is tomorrow, and he's looking forward to it, too.

And here is a great video of the kids trying to do jumping jacks:

Home schooling

2010-06-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

We're nearing the end of Jack's Kindergarten year, and I can hardly believe all the joys, frustrations, and growing we've had to do since we started home schooling.

The Joys

1. I love helping Jack learn. It was thrilling to work with him and teach him how to read -- just Jack, me, and a lesson book. We did it, and it was awesome to share in his excitement and know that I was an integral part of helping him learn a lifelong skill that is a gateway to so many other skills. And that same feeling goes for math, catechesis, science, anything. I love the "a ha" moments and being confident in my ability to explain things in a way that I know Jack will understand.

2. I love watching Thomas and Peter already becoming eager about learning in a more structured setting. Thomas is so eager to learn how to read, and he happily sits at the table (our dining room table = school table) and does reading lessons with me, coloring, worksheets, etc. Even Peter excitedly shouts "Schoo Time!" and rushes to the table to start diving into the box of markers and crayons.

3. I love being able to use everyday opportunities to teach values and information -- the grocery store, library, post office, etc. I can answer questions as the kids ask them and I can encourage their curiosity while providing answers that mesh with our faith and values.

4. I love being able to teach Jack fairly efficiently. I only have 3 kids to wrangle, not 25 or 30, so his lessons don't take as long as they normally would (except in cases of extreme stubborness, see #1 below). The extra time lets us go on adventures, field trips, etc. that we otherwise wouldn't be able to.

The Frustrations

1. It can be difficult to motivate Jack when he really doesn't feel like learning. Of course, cultivating the discipline to do important things even when we don't feel like it is a vital life lesson all by itself, and I know it will take time for Jack to get better at this discipline. But it's still frustrating when I know his lessons could be done in 1 hour tops, but his"I can't"s and "I won't"s make the lessons take way longer than they should. It takes a lot of energy and creativity on my part to manage these stubborn moments!

2. Like I said, Thomas and Peter enjoy doing school work, too -- but sometimes things get out of hand. Often I feel like the ringleader of a circus -- "Jack, please finish this pa .... PETER! No throwing markers and stop eating the ... What? Oh, OK, Thomas, hold on, I'll be there in just a second". I know school teachers have way more kids to wrangle, but there's something about the multiple age levels that really keeps me on my toes! Peter, especially, can be a tricky little whirlwind to manage!

3. Mom Guilt. You know, the internal dialogue in your heads that likes to question every decision "Am I playing with them enough? Am I playing with them too much? Should I be more strict? Was I just way too strict?" For me, Mom Guilt kind of faded sometime after having Thomas -- I felt like I got into a good groove and I was pretty comfortable with the way I did things. Mom Guilt came back with a vengeance when I started home schooling, and I've had a hard time shaking it. OK, overall I *know* my kids are good kids, and I feed them well, treat them well, etc. but there's that little niggling voice that asks things like "Should you have explained that a different way? Does he need more time on handwriting? Should he have more time to play? Is he using the right math book? " Since so much of his schooling is directly in my hands, I definitely feel more self-imposed pressure to question my decisions and try to get it right.

The Growing

I know Jack has had to do a lot of growing this past year -- adjusting to the differences of structured schooling, learning lots of new skills and information. Thomas and Peter have adapted to our daily school schedule and how they fit into it. And, maybe more than all of them, I have really had to grow a lot while home schooling Jack, and it hasn't been easy. I've had to relinquish more of my time and energy since adding on the role of teacher to wife, mother, cook, cleaner, financial record-keeper, etc. It hurts to give up more of myself and what I consider "my time", and it's hard to try and get everything done that I feel needs to be done. It's also hard and humbling to realize that many of the things I think are needs really aren't, and that I have to loosen up my death grip on trying to control everything. I've also had to grow some serious patience chops so I can manage Jack without losing my temper, and I've had to think of some creative ways to help our days run more smoothly. Home schooling has been a real stretch for me spiritually, emotionally, mentally -- in every way, but I think it's all been for the good.

We're home schooling right now because moving around the country every 6 months really doesn't allow for anything else. The choice was made for us. And I am grateful it was. The intensity of the joys have outweighed the frustrations, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to grow in my own selflessness and humility while teaching my boys. In the next few weeks, I'll be picking a program and materials for 1st grade (!). It's both exciting and a little overwhelming, but I have great hopes that next year my list of joys will be longer, my frustrations shorter, and that we'll all have continued growing in knowledge, wisdom, and goodness.

Thomas doing school work in Buffalo.

Peter's project for school.

Jack and Peter hard at work.

Cheyenne Moutain Zoo

2010-06-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

We had a great field trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo today.

First, I love that we got to go to Cheyenne Mountain. I'm enough of a geek to think "Cheyenne Mountain = Stargate", so I got a kick out of driving toward the mountain and feeling like it looking familiar from the TV show.

Second, the zoo is actually kind of built into the side of the mountain. It's beautiful -- surrounded by lots of spruce and pine and great views. Plus, walking arond the zoo is great exercise for little and big legs alike.

Third, the zoo was really great for getting up-close views of all kinds of animals. I think of myself as a zoo snob since we had the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park so close to us for so long -- it can't be any better than those, right? Well, I was pretty impressed. They had an excellent giraffe area where you could buy 3 crackers for $1 and feed them to the giraffes yourself. I'm pretty sure that you can do something like this in San Diego, but I've never done it before and I'm also pretty sure it would cost more like $10. The giraffes were very interactive and hungry for crackers, so they came very close to people and even let some people pet their muzzles (and the zookeepers didn't stop them!). The giraffes came so close, that Jack, Thomas, and Peter seemed a little concerned for their lives :). I ended up buying some crackers, but Peter was the only one who was brave enough to feed a giraffe. I really got a kick out of feeding them, though!

They also had a neat Rocky Mountain area with some of the animals native to this area -- including a moose, wild turkeys, and mountain lions. The had a viewing window that let you walk under a ledge where the mountain lions hung out, and there were 3 or 4 of them just on the other side of the plexiglass from us, and I could swear they were looking at the boys as if they were appetizers :). It was a little unnerving, but very neat.

Some of the other animals' enclosures were smaller or less fancy than the ones in San Diego, and some of the animals looked a little bored or restless, but it was overall a really great experience. I definitely plan to go back again!

Whoa

2010-06-02T15:50:00.001-07:00

Now that's a big bear!

Bad to the Bone

2010-06-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

He's got his tat*, his ATV, and he's ready to take on the world.

* Notice what the tatoo says? It was courtesy of our library's summer reading program. I do think it adds an extra badness to his appearance :)

Red Rock Canyon

2010-05-31T13:17:00.001-07:00

While David was "gone fishing" this morning, I took the boys to Red Rock Canyon -- it's a series of trails of varying difficulty in a beautiful canyon of red rocks :). We had a good walk, and now I have a better feel for the layout of the trails. There are lots of easy trails, but even the medium-difficulty trails really aren't bad (I accidentally led us on one of those for a little while and even Peter did fine). I'm looking forward to getting out there again!

Stroll Down Memory Lane - part 1

2010-05-29T18:41:00.001-07:00

When Babies Attack

Who can bake a rainbow?

2010-05-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

The Campbells can!

Joyce sent us a recipe for turning a regular white cake recipe into rainbow cupcakes, so we decided to try it out as a special treat for Pentecost. It was a hit! The boys helped to mix the colors and put the batter in the muffin tins, and they've *really* enjoyed them as treats this week.

Swim lessons

2010-05-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of swim lessons for Jack and Thomas. They started in the first week of May and had 2 lessons a week. I can't believe how fast the month has flown by!

I'm really proud of the boys for doing so well during swim lessons. Jack surprised me by being very eager and willing to learn how to swim from the get-go (usually he tends to the more cautious side). He listened very well to the swim teacher and really seemed to enjoy the lessons. Thomas was very nervous to begin with, but he rallied and ended up doing a great job listening to the teacher, getting his ears wet (he really hated this!), and trying new things. Thomas even began chatting to the swim teacher all the way through the lessons, which is a pretty good sign that he's comfortable :).

Jack and Thomas both seem to be much more comfortable in the water now, and it was a great start that we can build on over the summer. My goal by the end of the summer is for them to even more confident and able in the water.

I would probably continue them in the next set of swim lessons immediately, but T-Ball starts in a couple of weeks and I just can't do that many activities at one time. I'm sure there will be a time in our lives that the kids will be doing a few different activities at one time, but for now one at a time is enough :). T-Ball wraps up at the end of July, so I might put them in swim lessons again at the end of the summer.

First Fishing Trip

2010-05-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we took the boys to a kid-friendly fishing lake not too far from us. They had a great time! David caught the first fish, and then a little while later Jack caught an even bigger fish (he was so excited!). Thomas (with David's help) tried his best to snag one, but he didn't have any luck this time. Peter was mostly content to throw pebbles into the lake. It was a beautiful day, and the boys are eager for their next fishing trip.

Adventures with Grammy

2010-05-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

We had a couple of excellent field trips while Mom was out here visiting. We visited a nearby cave, and the boys did pretty well, considering how dim the cave was and how much they dislike dark places :). Thomas seemed amenable to coming back again for another visit, but Jack firmly said that his favorite part about the cave was the exit. I'm proud of them for being as brave as they were!

The looks on the boys' faces about sums up their feelings about the cave, but they were troopers!

We also visited a dinosaur museum, which was small but had some pretty cool dinosaur bone displays (T-Rex, giant sea dinosaurs, dinosaur eggs, etc.). The boys enjoyed looking at the exhibits, but their favorite part was probably picking out a souvenir from the gift shop and then going out to lunch at McDonald's afterward.

I'm so very grateful for the time we got to spend with Mom during her stay here!

That Mom

2010-05-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

If you happened to be in a certain Super Target in Colorado Springs this morning, I'm sure you would have recognized me as That Mom.

You know, That Mom with the wild-eyed 6-year-old who refuses to walk near the shopping cart or hold his mom's hand as their walking from the car to the store entrance. That Mom with 2 other little boys she's trying to wrangle while she deals with the wiley 6-year-old. That Mom who really, really just wants to get the grocery shopping done as quickly as possible, but who realizes that the 6-year-old needs some in-store disciplinary action. That Mom who has no idea where or how she's going to give a time-out inside of a grocery store, but she has to figure out some way because she's not going home (she needs groceries!) and she's not going to let the 6-year-old keep misbehaving. That Mom who spots the Starbucks inside the store and heads to an empty table to turn a chair around, facing the wall, so she can administer the time-out. That Mom whose 6-year-old *will not* sit in the chair and do a time-out. That Mom who must hold her 6-year-old in her lap in a bear hug so he has some semblance of a time out. That Mom whose 6-year-old hits her after his lap timeout is over. That Mom who decides to pull out the Big Guns and reward the other 2 kids with strawberry smoothies from Starbucks since they have been behaving very well. That Mom whose 6-year old now throws an even bigger tantrum because he lost out on his smoothie privilege for bad behavior. That Mom who is encouraged by an older Mom watching from the sidelines in Starbucks who has been there and done that (God bless her!).

That Mom who walks wearily, but calmly, out of the Starbucks, with 2 very happy kids sucking contentedly on their smoothies, and one very tear-stained and loud 6-year-old, and gets every last thing on her shopping list (and then some). That Mom who finishes her shopping trip, with a now relatively calm 6-year-old and 2 other whipped-cream faced kids, only to hear her almost 2-year old ask "Cookie?" as she loads the groceries into the van. That Mom who searches the cart and car and realizes that his Cookie blanket has been lost somewhere in the vast jungle that is Super Target, and she really does need to go back in and find it or there will be heck to pay later. That Mom who reloads the kids back into the shopping cart, heads back into the store, and retraces her steps in the store .... and finds the lost blanket in the meat department -- hooray!

I know all Moms have their That Mom moments. Today was one of my toughest, but I think after 6 years of parenting, I'm finally getting the hang of the calm-and-tough-but-loving routine. No matter how much I wanted to cry or run away or just give up and go home, I managed to keep a cool exterior and do what needed to be done, despite the very public venue (I don't think I made eye contact with anyone in that Starbucks, though!). I actually feel like I handled it in the best possible way and it worked -- after Jack's meltdown, he managed to pull himself together and behave for the rest of the trip. Thank God for the graces to get through my That Mom moment today, and for all the many, many times when it's not my turn to be That Mom :).

Where to begin?

2010-05-19T05:51:00.001-07:00

The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity -- I have lots of photos to share, but it's hard to know where to begin!

Jack and Thomas had excellent 6th and 4th birthdays. I made a cake that they really enjoyed, even though the theme was a bit of a stretch (I was trying to incorporate plastic animals on the cake, plus a vehicle theme, and the only thing I could come up with was that the vehicles were coming to the rescue of the animals, who were in a zoo that was on fire!). It was a little crazy, but the boys enjoyed it. David had the good idea of having the boys help put out the fire when they blew out their birthday candles :).

The boys received bicycles for their birthdays, and they've had lots of fun riding them. I can't believe how much bigger they look on their bikes!

Jack and Thomas have also been in swimming lessons for the past few weeks. Jack loves it, and is very good about listening to the swim instructor and trying new things. I'm very proud of him! Thomas has been slow to warm up to it, but I think he's finally comfortable with going in the water with the swim instructor. I'm usually on the side of the pool with Peter (the YMCA had free child care, but unfortunately they're closed down for a few hours right during our lessons), so I haven't been able to be in the water with the boys as an extra helper except for the week that Mom was out. I think that week of having me help in the water really made Thomas more comfortable in the water, and so far this week he's been fine in the water without me! We have 3 lessons left, and then I'm looking forward to getting the boys some practice in our neighborhood pool later this spring and summer.

Mom's visit last week was wonderful, and we had some great field trips that I'll post about later today or tomorrow.

The weather here is still fickle -- but it seems like it may slowly be warming up a little, which we're all grateful for. Hopefully this weekend David will be able to take Jack and Thomas on their first fishing trip, and maybe we'll be able to visit a park or trail also. In the first week of June, the boys start T-ball, and they can't wait for that.

So, we're busy, but doing well. I find myself so grateful for the boys, their good health, and all the good things in our lives these days. I still catch myself feeling sad about the baby we lost, especially when I see pregnant women, newborns, etc., but I feel so much more aware of what gifts my 3 boys are. I realize that my "perfect" plan for our family (4 kids, 2 years between each of them) is just in my head, and as much as I may be attached to my plans (you know I am!), that doesn't mean I'm actually in control of any of this! I just need to do the best with what is given to me. I would love for Peter to have a little brother or sister close in age, and I felt sad when I realized that the next baby may be closer to 3 years apart rather than 2. But then I look at Peter and how he interacts with his brothers, and he's just fine -- he doesn't need a younger sibling to be complete. I realized that we'll all love each other and be close whether we have a new baby in 3 years, 6 years, or not at all. It will be whatever it will be, and we'll be grateful for it!

A Big Thank You

2010-05-01T15:03:00.001-07:00

To David, for taking such good care of me and our family, for taking off time from work when it was difficult to do so, and for being so calm, strong, and loving while I've been recovering from this miscarriage.

To Kim for hopping on a plane and then driving 1.5 hours with baby Matthew yesterday so she could make meals, help wrangle and play with the boys, and generally do everything in her power to make sure I got enough rest (and I'm not very good at sitting still, so she had her work cut out for her!). It meant so much to have her here!! It was also so great to watch the boys so thoroughly enjoy the time they got to spend with their Aunt Wheetah and Matthew.

To Michael Sr., Michael Jr. (who I know both dearly missed Kim and Mamoo!) and all the Barbers for caring for little Michael and making it possible for Kim to come out and be with us.

To everyone who has been keeping us in your prayers. I am recovering very well, and am so grateful to be healthy and feeling as good as I do.

Baby update

2010-04-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

We learned today that our baby did indeed pass away a few weeks ago. I had a wonderful ultrasound technician this morning, and she was very thorough in checking the baby and scrutinizing everything for a possible heartbeat, movement, etc. I got to see everything on the screen, and it was good (but also difficult) for me to see what a beautiful, perfect but very, very still peanut this little one was. I remember the early ultrasounds with our 3 boys, and the joy of seeing and hearing their tiny heartbeats fluttering away on the screen, even when their bodies could not have been much bigger than jellybeans, and the silence and stillness of this baby today was so ... final. The technician was kind enough to offer to print a picture for me, which I gladly accepted. It's not much to look at -- just a bean, but it will be a beautiful reminder to me of this too-brief pregnancy.

Thank you so much for all your kind thoughts and prayers. I am grieving the loss of our little one, the loss of 9 months of pregnancy, feeling baby flutters and kicks, of getting to hold our baby for the first time, and all the years I had imagined we would have together as a family of 6 after that. But, despite that, I do feel at peace. I didn't get the miracle I was hoping for, but who is to say another miracle didn't take place? I didn't have an ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, late term loss, or any other number of things that would have been so much more devastating, and I am grateful for that. I'm also grateful for the brief but intense joy of the positive pregnancy test and those weeks that I was priviliged to carry another soul, spirit, and body within me. What a gift to be able to create a child with God and a loving and devoted husband, and to share the joy of this new life with 3 little boys who are always so eager to welcome a new child into the family. Also, what a gift that I have been able to carry 3 healthy babies to term, and they have thrived and grown so well -- I am so grateful for this miracle which we've experienced 3 times now.

Now we have 3 tiny saints in heaven, and as much as I wish they were here with us, I know they are praying for our family. Please, if you would also continue to pray for us, for my physical healing and for our emotional healing, it would mean so much to us!

April Showers

2010-04-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we weren't exactly expecting these type of showers when we woke up this morning!

It's funny that Buffalo's weather right now is 61 degrees and sunny, and here in Colorado Springs it's 33 degrees and snowing! We've heard that April snow isn't uncommon in CO, but it will be May in 8 days -- it just seems so late for snowfall!

The boys enjoyed another romp in the snow -- I had to dig out their snowsuits (which I had thought were done for the year), and we even made a snowman.

It's also a good distraction for me, trying not to think about the ultrasound next Tuesday (but failing miserably). I'm still doing well, feeling pregnant, and hanging in there. I've been thinking of random saints to ask for intercession -- St. Anthony (for help in finding the lost heartbeat), St. Rita (patron of hopeless causes), St. Gerard (patron of expectant mothers). The waiting

and not knowing for sure until Tuesday is tough, though! I'm offering up my anxiety for the intentions of our families and friends -- I know Christ can and will do wonderful things for others with our pain and sorrow, and that is comforting!

Praying for a miracle

2010-04-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

Things aren't looking too good for the newest baby Campbell. The dr did an ultrasound at my appointment today and the baby measured very small, and she couldn't find a heartbeat. I should be 9 weeks along, so we really should have seen a heartbeat, some movement, etc. She did note that there was a tiny chance that the machine wasn't getting a good reading, or the baby was in a funny position, so she scheduled me for a follow-up ultrasound ext Tuesday the 27th with an ultrasound technician and a better machine, so it's remotely possible that everything will look OK, but the doctor really didn't want to give me too much hope. Strangely enough, I still feel totally pregnant and have had no indications that anything is wrong (unlike my other miscarriages). I go back and forth between whether this gives me a little more hope, or whether it's torture to be still feeling sick from a pregnancy that is no longer viable. Darnit, I wish I could have a re-do of today!

Despite the normal confusion, sadness, and disappointment that I'm feeling right now, I'm actually doing pretty well emotionaly and spiritually. I feel at peace with whatever happens on Tuesday. I know Christ will give us the strength and grace to get through this -- He has before and He will again. I am going to be bold enough to pray for a miracle, but also for healing and strength for whatever is in store for us -- I would be so grateful if you join me in this prayer!

Sick and tired

2010-04-21T08:25:00.001-07:00

But very, very happy about it!

We're expecting another baby, and so far things are going very well. I've been a little nervous since we miscarried last summer, plus all the added stress of moving and having to scramble to find a new doctor in a new state, but thankfully everything seems healthy so far. I feel pregnant (queasy, tired, and "fat" :)) which is definitely more than I felt in the pregnancies that I miscarried. So, I'm taking it as a good sign. I don't have an official doctor-approved due date yet, but I believe I'm due the week of Thanksgiving. My in utero nickname for this little one until we find out the gender might just have to be "Turkey" :). Since we'll be leaving CO in early to mid October, I'll be delivering this little one in another state (very likely VA), so that should be interesting! I'm hopeful that I'll be able to find a good doctor and hospital that I can transfer my care to once we arrive.

I was able to find a new OB here, and I go to my first appointment with her tomorrow. It's too early to hear a heartbeat or anything, but I'll feel relieved to be under a doctor's care, and hopefully at the next appointment we'll be able to hear it. The boys are going to a childcare place that caters to parents who need someone to watch their kids while they run errands, have a dr's appointment, that kind of thing, so I think they'll have much more fun there than they would sitting with me in the dr's office. I plan to bring them with me for easy, quick appointments in the future so they can hear the baby's heartbeat and everything, but I know this first appointment will be extra long with paperwork and all that. I dislike leaving the boys with total strangers, but the stress of leaving them there for a couple of hours pales in comparison to trying to take them with me and keep them all well-behaved for that long! After my appointment is done, I'm going to take them out to lunch (McDonald's is their pick!), so that should be fun. I remember how going out to lunch with Mom was a treat when we were kids, so I look forward to creating the same memories with the boys.

Anyway, we'd appreciate any extra prayers for the health of this newest Campbell. Jack is excited because he's sure this one will be a girl (his name picks so far include Mary (which I thought was sweet!), Phoebe, Lily, and Zoe). We'll see -- I'm just hopeful for a healthy baby!

Entertainment Center

2010-04-20T18:15:00.001-07:00

House

2010-04-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the view of the Rockies from the back of our house.
And below is a quick tour of our house. We're really enjoying all the space!

Settling in

2010-04-14T13:36:00.001-07:00

We made it safe and sound to Colorado Springs! The last week is kind of a blur with all the cleaning, organizing, packing, and flying, but somehow we actually made it and we're in our new "home away from home" for the next 6 months.

We breathed a big sigh of relief when we got to our rental house. It has plenty of room, and the boys immediately started running and jumping and bouncing around the house. It's feels almost unnatural to let them do this, since I've been on "thump patrol" for the past 6 months in the apartment. It really is nice to let them be kids and not worry about it bothering anyone (except maybe David and I, but now we can ask them to play downstairs when they get too rowdy, and the noise is much more tolerable!).

The sun is much brighter and stronger here, which makes it feel similar to sunny San Diego. We are closer to home, and it really feels like it, so there is some comfort in that.

We signed the boys up for swimming lessons and summer T-ball at the YMCA, so things will start getting busier next month when the lessons begin. We went to our nearest public library and signed up for a library card, and we were floored by the size and modern-ness of the library. It's HUGE and it even has a coffee shop in the lobby!! I think we'll be spending lots of time there in the next 6 months.

We're still waiting for the rest of our belongings to arrive on the moving truck, but for now it's kind of nice living simply out of the stuff we could carry in our suitcases. There aren't mounds of toys for the boys to put away, or mountains of clothes to wash and fold (granted, I have been doing lots of tiny loads, but something about a ginormous laundry pile really gets to me!).

I think it's going to be a good 6 months, in many ways easier than the last 6 months, and I plan on making the most out of it!

Magic Eraser, I think I love you

2010-03-31T12:42:00.000-07:00

I was so excited the other day when I used a Magic Eraser to tackle some of the scratches and scuffs on our apartment's walls -- and they really, truly came right off! When we moved in, the apartment had freshly painted walls and new carpet, but 6 months worth of living has left its mark. I know I won't be able to get the walls and carpet to look perfect again, but I'm willing to put in a little effort to get them more presentable.

Fortunately, we've never had any of the kids take a crayon or marker to the walls, but they've used the walls as "roads" for their cars, airplanes, blocks, you-name-it, and the result has been some pretty scuffy looking walls. I've used the Magic Eraser before at our house in Ramona, but the wall paint had more texture, so the results weren't quite as impressive as they've been here.

Anyway, the Erasers disintegrate quickly, so I've already gone through 4 of them! I bought a couple more boxes of Target brand generic Erasers to tackle any remaining scuffs after the movers come on Monday, plus do the baseboards and whatever else needs to be shined up a little. For some reason, using the Erasers is kind of fun (little effort = big results), so I'm almost looking forward to it!

The Beginning of the Lasts

2010-03-28T17:14:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe, but we're just about 10 days away from moving to Colorado. A week from tomorrow, the movers come to take everything that won't be traveling on the plane with us. A week from Tuesday, the car movers come to take our cars. We're quickly heading into what I like to think of as the beginning of the "lasts" -- last trip to the library, last Mass, last grocery store trip, etc. in Buffalo. It's very exciting, but also a little overwhelming. I'm sort of determined to leave Buffalo with about the same amount of stuff as we arrived with (even a little less would be awesome!), so I'm trying to eliminate as much excess as I can. Granted, the movers are coming to do all the hard work, so it's not like *I* have to box the stuff up and physically load it and unload it myself -- so technically I could drag along as much stuff as I want and it wouldn't really be more or less work for me. However, I will be the one unpacking and re-homing everything in Colorado, and the thought of trying to find a spot for too many odds and ends is a little wearying!

It should be an interesting 10 days -- lots of orgazining, throwing stuff away, packing, cleaning, and trying to undo some of the marks that 3 little boys have left in our little apartment. Probably a fair amount of DVDs for the kids while I squeeze in cleaning and some eating out when our food supplies get low. Lots of excitement about our new adventure, but maybe also a little nervousness about leaving the comfort and familiarity of our home and routine in Buffalo for the past 6 months.

If you think of it, we'd appreciate your prayers this week and next! I'll be sure to offer up our moving work and stress for the intentions of our families and friends.

View from a different country

2010-03-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

We made the short trip up to Ontario, Canada this past Friday and it was a lovely day. It was sunny and fairly warm, and it was really neat to see Niagara Falls in a different season (our first time was just after Christmas) and from a different vantage point. The view from Canada is truly spectacular. We walked the boys' legs off on a lovely walkway along the Niagara River. We also saw lots and lots of Canadian geese, especially when we started eating our picnic lunch. They crowded around our table and honked loudly and hissed, but they scattered quickly (much to the boys' delight!) when David stood up, scolded them, and shooed them away. I'm glad he was with me -- I'm not sure they would have taken me as seriously :).

Swamp walk

2010-03-17T11:22:00.001-07:00

There is a neat walking platform above a swamp near us, so the boys and I took a swamp walk today to check it out.
They thought it was cool since we've never seen a swamp before. It just felt good to be out walking in the sunshine with the birds singing, although I did have reassure Thomas that there aren't any alligators in this swamp, and Jack declared that it was "stinky" the whole way through :). Peter loved saying Hi to the geese and ducks that we saw, and it was cute to watch him run-toddle along the wooden pathways (and thump to his heart's content!) without worrying about making too much noise on the floors.
We saw lots of Canadian geese, which still honk as loudly as other geese and gave us menacing glances, but for some reason they seem classier than regular geese. There were lots of other people out on the walking paths, and it seems like Buffalo is coming alive again after a long winter. I'm not sure if more wintry weather is in the forecast for our remaining 3 weeks here (3 weeks!!!) but it sure feels like spring is here to stay, and I am thankful for that. I'm also thankful that they boys have been better behaved since Monday's craziness, so my sanity is on the mend. This Friday, if the weather holds, we're planning to make our trip to Canada! We have our passports, and the kids just need their birth certificates, so I think we're set (although for some weird reason I have a mild fear that we'll have unexpected trouble getting back into the country!). I'm sure it will be a good adventure, and we'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Ordered today from Amazon

2010-03-15T11:26:00.001-07:00

I've been coming up empty on new ways to teach the kids respect and self control -- my usual methods just aren't working anymore and I'm getting frustrated. I've heard

good things about all 3 books, so hopefully they'll give me a fresh perspective and we can have a more respectful and peaceful household.

We've had a LOT of really poor behavior and attitudes (especially from a certain almost-6-year old!), so much so that I know I was "that" mom in the grocery store today -- trying desperately to control her 3 terribly behaving and crying kids while pushing a full cart toward checkout. I felt defeated, but I put on a brave face and got through the store as fast as I could. Jack spent the next several hours in his room (he chose to skip lunch), and Peter and Thomas were playing quietly in the playroom before nap time ... until I discovered that they had been scraping toys across the walls, leaving a mess of marks and scrapes all over the paint! Augh!

Anyway, the power struggles with the kids is really wearing me down lately. I consider myself an intelligent, capable, and confident parent, but I think it's time to call in some expert advice. I really hope I learn something useful from these books!

Puddle jumpers ...

2010-03-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Don't always have the luxury of dry bottoms.

Or clean hands.

Or unmuddied sweaters.

But they sure do love finding out where all the water goes when the snow melts.

And splashing and sloshing and squelching to their hearts' content.

One Man's Trash

2010-03-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

It hit 50 degrees today in Buffalo, and let me tell you, it felt absolutely wonderful. It hasn't been this warm since October maybe? The sky was gray and cloudy, so it felt a little depressing, but it felt so freeing to be outside in just a lightweight fleece jacket -- no heavy coat, no gloves, no hat. I took the boys to Island Park (it's a tiny park that is enclosed by a creek, so you have to walk over a bridge to get to it). They got to swing, go on the slides, and we found some uncovered grass to run around on. It was great! I'm amazed at how slowly the snow is melting -- after days of temperates well above freezing, there is still plenty of snow on the ground. Still, the boys have been able to play outside for 3 straight days, and it's been awesome.

I was talking with Joyce today and she mentioned that the temperature in Apple Valley today was pretty close to the one in Buffalo -- right around 50 degrees, except that it felt a little chilly to her. She mentioned the "one man's trash is another man's treasure" saying, and I realized how true that is! I remember many 40 and 50 degree days in San Diego that I felt it was too chilly to drag everyone outside to play. I much preferred waiting for temperatures in the 60+ degree range. In fact, until we moved to Buffalo, I don't think the boys even owned anything heavier than a sweater or light rain jacket. If it were cold enough for a heavier jacket, I didn't bother going outside. I think I can safely say that when we get back to California, I won't be taking the wonderful weather for granted!

So, the warmer weather and more sunshine is doing wonders for my sanity. Oddly enough, the boys' moods don't seem to be improved with the better weather -- there have been some crazy drama moments and whining over the most trivial of things. I'm starting to run out of ideas from my parenting bag of tricks, but I'm hoping that a change of scenery and a move into a larger house next month will reset their attitudes a little.

Baby steps to April 8th

2010-03-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite movies is "What About Bob". Well, I'd have to say the first 2/3 of the movie are awesome, and then it gets a little weird, but I really love so much about that first 2/3. Something about how much Bill Murray's character bothers Richard Dreyfuss's character is just hilarious, and it never fails to lift my mood. I also love the "baby steps" therapy, and I totally get that feeling when Bill Murray is staring at a clock intently, saying "Baby steps to 3 o'clock ... baby steps to 3 o'clock ... baby steps to 3 o'clock". I have so been there and done that, just replace "3 o'clock" with whenever David is getting home from work (or the kids' bedtime!).

Now I'm baby stepping to April 8th, our last day in Buffalo and our first day in Colorado. For so many reasons, I'm ready to go on to our next "home away from home". I have enjoyed so much about our time in Buffalo -- playing in the snow, sledding, experiencing Western NY sights and culture. But, I won't lie -- it has been a difficult 6 months! The biggest challenge has been adjusting to apartment living -- a smaller living space, trying to keep the kids from making too much noise for the neighbors. Also, apartment living made dealing with the cold weather more difficult. I think we would have had a lot less cabin fever crazies if we were living in a larger place and/or we didn't have downstairs neighbors so the boys could burn off a little more energy inside the house.

On April 8th, this all changes, and I think we'll all let out a big sigh of relief when we arrive at our rental home in Colorado Springs. We were very fortunate to be able to find one that fit within David's corporate budget, and it has plenty of space and even a yard!

We'll also be a LOT closer to our families in California, and we're already eagerly planning ways to have them come out and visit.

For now, the goal is to put one foot in front of the other and do our best to make the most of our remaining time here in Buffalo!

Mambo Italiano

2010-02-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

This is one of Peter's favorite songs to dance to (and dancing, for him, equals twirling around in a circle until he's dizzy, but with a serious look on his face -- it's cute!). Whenever he hears it playing, he runs out to our front room and dances away!

Snowman!

2010-02-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

We had a good bit of heavy, wet snow last night (maybe 4 inches?) and it was finally just the right consistency to make a snowman. I never really appreciated all the different types of snow that there could possibly be. I figured that if there was enough snow on the ground, you had all that you needed to make snowballs, snowmen, what have you. Not true! Nearly every time it snows here, we test it in our hands to see how well it sticks together. Aside from one other time this winter (actually, the first snow we had here), the snow has always been very powdery and dry. It barely sticks together enough for a small snowball, and you certainly can't create a snowman by rolling up a large ball of snow on the ground. I've been a little disappointed that we've had all this snow on the ground this winter, but we couldn't really do anything with it.

Finally, we hit the snow jackpot last night. The temperatures have been balmy (i.e. low 30s, and it really does feel nice outside compared to 15 degrees!), so there is a lot more "free" water in the snow, which makes it a lot stickier. It was SO cool to start off with a small ball of snow, roll it all around the ground, and watch it get bigger and bigger as it collected more snow. It also sounded really cool -- that wet scrunchy snow sound.

I think I was actually more excited than the boys about our snowman. They helped roll the big snowballs a little and they helped accessorize, but mainly they were interested in sneaking bites of snow off the ground.

Anyway, I'm pretty proud of our guy! I'd love to make a whole snow family to join him -- if I do, I'll be sure to post more pictures!

No, it's not your imagination - that snowman is winking at you :).

It was still snowing while we were outside, and I like how the snowflakes were captured "in action" in this photo.

This is a tree across the street from our apartment. It's one of the places that the snow plow pushes all the snow -- the height of the snow pile is impressive!

Here's another large snow pile near our house.

I took this photo a week or two ago because the snow was starting to creep up on this fire hydrant. I'll have to see how it looks now after the additional snow we've had. I have yet to see entire fire hydrants covered, with just the pole sticking out. I don't think we've had a really heavy snow winter here. Also, now I understand how big snow piles get, and if a hydrant happened to get covered by a snow pile, that pole would definitely come in handy!

"It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you...

2010-02-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

for the rest of your life."*

Well, maybe not exactly, but it's starting to feel that way a little! We are so very excited that we found out we'll be in Colorado Springs from April to October!! I know it will still be cold and possibly gray there when we arrive in April, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

This cold, gray weather is really doing a number on the boys' (and therefore my) sanity. I've been try to get them as much exercise as possible, but it just hasn't been enough to get all the crazies out. They've been playing inside on the couch cushions and playing pretend baseball (which they came up with and have been playing very nicely!), but apparently we're still making too much noise up here. Today we got another note from our neighbors asking us the keep the running and jumping down. Augh! I'm kind of throwing up my hands at the whole thing -- we were doing reasonably well with the bouncing (or so I thought). Of course there's Peter, whose favorite mode of transportation is bouncily jogging, but I refuse to try and teach a 20-month old to "just walk" all the time!

During this week, our local mall is holding its annual "beach at the mall" event. They turn an empty store into a beach play area for kids, including a bunch of moist sand and lots of sand toys, and it's free! I took the boys there today, and it was fun watching them play in the sand with the other kids. It was a nice thing for the mall to do -- I guess everyone, even seasoned Buffaloans, get a little stir crazy in the winter.

Last weekend, we took the boys to an indoor auto show, and that was fun. They got to wander around, look at cool cars, and even sit in some of them!

David and I finally got our documents together and turned in our passport applications, so with any luck we'll receive those in the next few weeks and we can make a trip to Canada before we leave here. I think that's the last big "to do" for us in Buffalo. Another good sledding trip would be great, too, if we get a little more snow.

*bonus points if you know which movie this is from :)

Do you see the Autobot symbol? The boys were excited to see the "real" Bumblebee.

Thomas had a special request to sit in the drivers' seat of this red convertible.

And Jack couldn't resist his turn, either.