Garin had his one-year checkup and shots today. Amazingly, the shots didn't faze him...not a sound, not a tear. Matt was always such a screamer! Garin is 30" and 22 lbs., so he's right at the 50% mark on height and lower on weight.

A friend stopped by tonight to drop off some Girl Scout cookies I ordered from her daughter. Her husband is on the same mission with Karl. She just happened to mention that they had to shut down an engine on the way to Spain yesterday. Funny....Karl didn't say a word about it to me. He's good about trying to keep me from worrying! He is in the Middle East for the night and will be heading west again tomorrow. We were able to talk for a while tonight on the web cam. He looked tired but handsome as always!

It's been a good day, and I'm getting sleepy already....g'night!

Strange Weekend

Karl's jet had trouble and ended up back here for repairs Friday after loading its cargo on the West Coast on Thursday. He was here from mid-afternoon Friday until about 10pm last night. They are now on the way to deliver their cargo, and he's hoping to be home Thursday or so, if all goes well. It was a nice surprise to see him, but we had to say goodbye again. That's getting hard for Garin because now he really misses Da-da....especially when Ma-ma doesn't let him have his way. He was crying for Da-da on Friday morning, and when Karl called and said he was in Dover and headed home shortly, I made the mistake of telling Garin, "Yay! Daddy's coming home!" Garin made a bee-line for the front door and started waving. Poor thing, he thought Daddy was about to walk in the door. Today has been okay...only one cry for Da-da. I suspect tomorrow will be another story.

We had a big snow today, and the neighbors were building very tall snowmen (7-9 feet tall, no kidding). Some of the kids made a huge snowball across the street. It was about 5' in diameter, and one of them would climb up on it and stand. The others would then start rolling the ball, and the one on top would try to stay on. They would take turns until they fell off. It looked like great fun!!!

I spent most of the day cleaning out closets and drawers. I guess spring cleaning hit me a little early, but I'm glad to get it done. I still need to do Matt's room and the attic.

Hope you've all had a great weekend and are looking forward to a wonderful week ahead!

203!!!!!!!

I bowled my first ever 200+ game today!!!!! Every frame was a strike or spare! I'll get five different award patches from USBC for that game and the series total. My first game was 133, and the second was 117, but the manager of the bowling alley gave me one tip at the end of game two that changed everything for game three. Hopefully I'll be able to do it again next week!!!

Karl's landed at his first stop, which is on an island off the coast, so the crew has gone out for a seafood meal. He will be taking off again tomorrow morning EST. He's tired, but his cold sounds better today (at least through the phone).

I forgot to mention earlier that Matt was exhausted last night after running 5.5 miles yesterday afternoon at track practice. He couldn't wait to fall into bed early!

I got another paper turned in this afternoon and did an assignment for my music class. Garin and I are just hanging out at home tonight. I think we're both looking forward to bedtime!

Midnight Express

Karl got his alert last night the moment the crew became eligible again after the required rest. We had just gotten to sleep good when his cell phone rang. He suspects that his mission has changed from the original plan, as the airport they were flying to wouldn't have been open when they arrived, based on the alert time. He will call when he gets wherever they're going and let me know what's up. A mission change usually also means a change in the expected return date. Of course, as we know, the expected return date is very soft anyway!

I hate when he leaves at night like that. I much prefer an alert anytime from early morning to late afternoon, but bedtime alerts stink. He had such a hard time saying goodbye to Garin yesterday morning that he just let him sleep last night. It keeps getting harder as Garin understands more, holds on to Karl tighter and waves bye-bye at him. It tugs at the old heart strings even more.

I have bowling this morning and plan to devote Garin's naptime to studying. Other than that, I don't have any big plans today, thankfully!

One down, seven to go

I had my first Greek test at noon today. Overall, it was not bad, but I was disappointed to discover that it was nothing like what the syllabus promised. According to the syllabus, the test are all multiple choice and matching, so we don't have to pull it all from our heads, but the test was made up of empty tables to be filled. "Name the three types of accents, give their symbols and how they're used," for example. And after all my hard work on the vocabulary, there was none on the test. Then there was one question that I never saw in the text, and I went over it several times while studying. I even went back to look for it after the test and still can't find it anywhere. Fortunately, it was just one question, so I think I still got an A.

Karl is home. His mission is delayed for repairs, so he's back in crew rest, which means he's home today. He worked a 14-hour day yesterday and didn't get much time to rest, so this is really a good thing in my opinion. We aren't sure yet just when they'll take off. They start bravo alert tonight, so they can be alerted anytime after that.

I had bowling this morning, and we bowl again tomorrow to make up our second snow day. It will be fun, but I'm hurting so much in my legs today that I'm a little worried about tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be better by morning.

Garin's sleeping. He played hard with the babysitters all morning and was wiped out when I picked him up at 1:00. I think I'll go take some Tylenol and put my feet up!

Old Friends

Yesterday we made what is hopefully our final trip to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I must say that I would highly recommend the hospital and its doctors to anyone who might be stationed here or at McGuire AFB. They are not only exceptionally capable but are also wonderful, kind people with hearts for children.

Garin had his surgical follow-up appointment and got the all-clear from his pediatric urologist. They want him to see a urologist again at age 13 to be instructed on how to perform a testicular self-exam because he will be at higher risk for cancer than the general population. They also suggest that he visit again at age 18 to discuss the fertility issues that can arise. Although either complication is unlikely, it will be good for him to know how to deal with them should they occur.

Karl has his handgun refresher course today and will be leaving on a mission tomorrow. He has been home for several weeks now due to the AFSO21 course he was coordinating, but now that it is over, he's back on the road. We've gotten spoiled and will certainly miss him while he's gone. He has a cold right now, and we're hoping he's feeling better before he leaves. Flying schedules can be grueling, especially for someone who is already feeling bad.

Isn't it nice to hear from someone you haven't talked to in years? Last August I saw the name of a friend from high school/college on classmates.com and sent him an email. I never heard anything and assumed it was no longer a good email address or something. Last night, Karl told me I had an email on his classmates.com account, so I came downstairs to see. I was so excited to get a response, and poor Karl had to listen to me go on and on about all these people he's never met while I sort through old pictures because for some reason I think he needs to see them all. He assured me that he enjoys listening to my stories and that he thinks it's cute that I'm so excited. I think he's just being nice, but I appreciate it. As much as I enjoy meeting new people and living in new places, I've never found it easy to forget the people who have been part of my life and often wonder how they are, what they're doing and if they're doing well.

We're supposed to reach 50 degrees today! It will be the first comfortable day we've seen in weeks. I doubt it will last long, but the groundhog did promise a quick end to winter this year.

Sunday Stuff

I thought maybe it was time for more photos of our little stinker on one of his favorite toys. It's hard to get good photos anymore because as soon as he sees the camera, he comes to me. I made the mistake of showing him his pictures on the screen one time, so now he just wants to see it. He is so close to walking. He often is standing and turns to look where he wants to go, and you can just see the wheels turning as he tries to decide whether to try it or not. We both hold our breath until he lowers himself to the floor. It isn't a matter of whether he can; it's a matter of when he decides to do it. His communication is improving all the time. "Hiiiiiiiii" (with the pitch rising then falling again) is a favorite right now, accompanied by a wave, of course. He is getting really good at understanding and following instructions. We did away with the tub chair at bathtime, and he is enjoying his baths much more. He is getting rounder and taller every day, it seems, and reaching things from higher places. It's always a challenge! His cheeks are getting extra chubby, and I just bet he's about to hit a big growth spurt.

Matt is doing great! He's on a fishing trip over the long weekend. School's going well this semester, and he and his father seem to be getting along reasonably well these days. He will be here for spring break in four weeks. We can't wait to see him!!!

I got the house cleaned and laundry done yesterday, so this afternoon has been more relaxed. Garin has just gone down for a late nap, Karl is almost done with this week's assignments for his class, and I'm going to work on school, too, until Garin wakes up.

Prayer Answered

Karl's senior reviewer, Col Cox, had the final say on whether or not his application package should be submitted for the Hawaii job and told Karl that he was concerned that Karl didn't have his Instructor Pilot rating on the C-5 yet. He feels he should get it before he moves on, and that makes good sense. It's complicated, but in order for Karl to maintain his flight status through the remainder of his career, he must have 96 months of flying in the first 10 years of his career. He is 16 months away from reaching that mark. If he took the aide-de-camp job, he would have approximately 12 months of flying to do afterward, which would mean jumping right back into Instructor Pilot training. As we all know, it can be hard to pick up where you left off after you've gotten rusty for three years. So Hawaii is out. Interestingly, I think Karl and I were both relieved. We want so much to go back to Scott AFB in the summer of 2008 and spend Matt's last two years of high school with him. Hawaii would be amazing later in his career when Matt is on his own already, and it was a great opportunity for Karl, career-wise. Scott AFB is a very real possibility for us next year, but we have no guarantees, so we chose to apply for Hawaii and let God make the decision. We are thankful that He answered quickly and surely, and we are praying for a move to Scott next summer!

Here's a creepy story for you! As some of you know, we discovered this week that Harvey is a mouser. He was playing with what I thought was one of his many toy mice until I looked closer and discovered it was real. So last night, I heard him playing downstairs, but I went back to sleep. I woke up again when Karl jumped out of bed and headed downstairs. He said Harvey was lying on our bed, jumping all around, and Karl thought Harvey had a toy mouse in the bed....see where this is going? He put his hand down (probably to toss it on the floor), and it landed on what he immediately knew was a real mouse tail. He grabbed it and took it downstairs to toss it out. It was already dead but, thankfully, not bleeding. Eeewwww! It has gotten so horribly cold out, and the animals from the surrounding marshes and fields are moving in. I am hearing a lot of similar stories from other base housing residents too, but I don't think they've had them in their bed!

I need to get to work on a paper, so I'm gonna run. Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm trying to remember what I haven't told you lately....

This weekend, Karl and I bowled in a Scotch Doubles bowling tournament, in which the girl and guy play as one person, alternating turns. So I rolled the first ball, and Karl rolled for the spare. Once I got a strike, he got the first ball on the next frame, and I rolled for the spare, etc. It was weird but lots of fun to play as a team. Some of the husbands were awfully competitive and irritable that their wives weren't great. That ticked me off. But we had a good time together even though we didn't win.

Sunday was church and then a relaxing afternoon together.....so nice. Matt had a great weekend at the Dare2Share conference. He heard Superchic[k] and StarField, among others. They even got a chance to go out and knock on some doors in the neighborhood around their church. He seemed excited about it. He kept pestering me to send Valentine's Day flowers to him at school....until I finally agreed. Should have done that in the first place! It was funny how quickly he retracted the request when he thought I might actually do it.

Today Karl's big training event started! He has people from all over the AF here to learn how to train new AFSO21 event leaders this week. It's the culmination of many weeks of hard work for him, and he's glad it's finally here. Garin and I went to the bowling alley this morning, so I could practice with Margaret, our league's best player. She's very nice, but not everyone is nice to her. I'm not sure why, except that she takes her bowling very seriously. I think maybe they don't realize that she competes with herself, not us. She is from Poland, and her English isn't great. Sometimes you have to look past the words people use and how they use them and see through to their intention and meaning. She really is a sweetheart. She coached me for over an hour today, and I got the best scores I've ever had.

I've been working on schoolwork this afternoon and have taken a break until Garin goes to bed tonight. Karl and I both need to write papers, so we'll engage in what child-rearing experts like to call parallel play.

It looks like our huge snowfall slated for the next couple of days has now changed to mostly rain. While I'd enjoy a pretty snowfall, I don't enjoy tromping and driving through it for days afterward. Plus, we're bowling on Wed. and Thurs. this week to make up for our snow day last week.

I'm having a whole lot of joint pain. Yesterday was horrible, but today is better. I'm hoping for a better week ahead!

Present, Past and Future

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I love this verse. It has encouraged me through so many hard times and has proven to be true over and over again. Sometimes I feel like people recite it as if it were a magic pill for someone who is hurting, as if it should instantly bring complete acceptance at the sound of it, as if it will somehow absolve them of any further responsibility to comfort, pray with or otherwise sully their own cheerful day. God's Word is a wonderful comfort and help, and it is a very important part of healing to see God's promises and claim them, but I think we all have to be careful not to toss a Bible verse at a problem and piously walk away. But this is nonetheless a verse full of promise and encouragement, and it has been on my mind for many days now.

I should be packing a bag now, so that it would be ready when labor began. But I'm not, and I have found myself mourning the loss of our two little ones as much as I did last summer and fall. I haven't said much about it on the blog because I feel like I should be past it. I thought I was through crying a long time ago, but it is fresh as we approach the due date. I think I may have reached a turning point, though, in the last couple of days. Thursday night, one of my close friends confided that she is two weeks late and thinks she may be pregnant. They have been trying for several months, and she has been getting discouraged as each month passes and it hasn't happened. I have so many friends, here at Dover and in Illinois whose pregnancies were timed very closely to ours. I have been happy for them, but I haven't been able to really rejoice with them the way I want to because it is still painful. It has been hard to be around them socially because that is, of course, a very important part of their lives, as it should be, but those conversations are so hard. But Thursday night, I threw my arms up and started cheering and almost cried tears of joy. It was several minutes before I thought anything of my own desire to have another baby. I was totally immersed in the joy of her news. I was so thrilled to realize that I was able to fully share her excitement that it made the rest of my evening. I was relieved.

Since then, I am beginning to dream of trying again. I had all but given up in recent days as I read the statistics that are against me. But today I kept thinking of Memaw Risinger, whose baby boy died shortly after birth. She was told that she could not have another child that would survive. But she did. She trusted God's plan and wisdom rather than man's, and he gave her the desire of her heart. And I remember my mom's dream of my daughter and her vivid description of the child. She has an impeccable track record with her grandchild dreams. Now I won't tell God what His plan is; I'll let Him decide that. But I need to keep an open mind and a positive outlook until He leads me elsewhere.

Hard as it seems, standing in dreams, where is the dreamer now? Wonder if I wanted to try, would I remember how? I don't know the way to go from here, but I know that I have made my choice. This is where I stand until He moves me on, and I will listen to His voice.

This is the faith, patience to wait, when there is nothing clear. Nothing to see, still we believe Jesus is very near. I cannot imagine what will come, but I've already made my choice. This is where I stand until He moves me on, and I will listen to His voice.

Could it be that He is only waiting there to see if I will learn to love the dreams that He has dreamed for me? Can't imagine what the future holds, but I've already made my choice. This is where I stand until He moves me on, and I will listen to His voice.

(Twila Paris, "I Will Listen")

Aloha!

Hiya! I hope it's warm where you are! We have been fighting to stay warm the last several days, but it looks like it may be a while before we see milder temperatures. It's beautifully sunny, and the skies are as blue as can be, but we are expecting a big snow storm early next week, they tell us. I enjoy a pretty snow, as long as it doesn't stick around too long.

It looks like we may actually have a chance of living somewhere warm....just a slight chance. Karl is under consideration for a job as an aide de camp to the Lt. General at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. I am certain that there are probably at least a couple hundred more people who are also candidates, but even just the idea of three years in Hawaii is worth daydreaming about! We did also get some other good news. If this job doesn't pan out, which it probably won't if you consider the odds, there is a very high likelihood that we will go back to Scott AFB, Illinois, in the summer of 2008. That would mean being with Matt for his junior and senior years in high school. Another dream-worthy possibility, for sure!!! But God knows the plans He has for us, so we shall just trust, wait and see.

A little sweetie is wanting to play, so I'll run for now. Have a great weekend!

TA-DAAAAA!!!!

Here's the birthday boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GARIN!!!

The birthday boy is taking a nap, and I thought I'd stop and share the day so far. We woke up to a few inches of snow this morning, and it has stuck around thanks to the cold temperatures, but it is an absolutely beautiful, sunny, blue-sky day. We sang happy birthday to Garin when he woke up, and Garin and I have devoted much of the day to playing in the living room floor. He is growing up so fast. Yesterday he figured out the play button on his CD player, so he's in control of his own tunes! He has also discovered the secret of the shape sorter toy, and is very proud to put all of the shapes through the correct holes. We do a lot of nodding, head-shaking, ta-daaaing and clapping these days. The piano gets quite a workout, and we have to wave bye-bye to Daddy everytime he leaves. His words now are Mama, Dada, no-no, bye-bye, done, and as of today, peep-eye. (For those who don't know, "peep-eye" is the southern version of peek-a-boo. I grew up thinking everyone played peep-eye, but after living in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, I've learned that this strictly a Southern thing.)

It's hard to believe that a year ago this moment, I was in labor. I couldn't wait to hold him and see his face. The last year has made me realize that he is much more of a miracle than I knew at the time. What a blessing this little boy is!

Party Pics III

More guests.....As you can see, Garin had lots of help opening presents! They all wanted to help, so I told them they could each help him open the present they brought. It was a very quick way to get the gifts unwrapped!

Party Pics II

Our guests and the rubber duckie cakes....

Party Pics

Garin had a wonderful birthday party last night! If I counted correctly, we had 25 folks (14 adults, 11 kids) here to help him celebrate his first year. For those who know our base friends and are interested, here's the rundown: the Bibbs, the Weigners, the Soules, the Waltons, Mel and her girls, Stacey and her girls, Carla and Tammy. And if the first birthday party isn't memorable enough on its own, we also managed to start a grease fire in the kitchen just as the party was starting. Thankfully, I was standing right there with Kim S, Kim W and Quinton, and we got it out before it did any damage. Needless to say, I stopped frying the Mexican egg rolls. It was just as well, since we had plenty of food left over anyway. I always tend to make too much, but I figure that's better than making our guests go hungry. Garin loved his cake, all the attention, and his many presents which I told people they didn't need to bring, but they did anyway. By the way, whoever brought that talking lawnmower needs to know that we will get our revenge when their child's birthday rolls around!

I woke up in the night thinking that it was awfully rude of me to be blogging about this party when I didn't invite some of our non-base Dover friends. I wanted to invite all of you, too, but base housing makes it difficult to get people on. We just couldn't figure out a way to meet everyone at the visitors' center and still be here to host the party. Something else to consider when deciding where to live.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Ducks in a row

Rubber ducky cake #3 is in the oven...the last one! It's probably overkill, but I'd hate not to have enough cake for our party guests. I'll decorate them tomorrow and finish the prep work for the food. Saturday will be dedicated to cleaning house and finishing the food before the guests arrive. We're really looking forward to this! I've had a few people over for lunch at times, but we've not had a real party since we moved to Dover.

Today was the OSC board meeting. The current president, honorary president and first VP are working hard to convince me to take on the position of president next year. My good friend, Kim Weigner, has agreed to be the first VP, which is one of the hardest jobs on the board. President is really simple by comparison, and definitely much easier than the craft show chairman. I'm considering it, but I really need to pray and think about it before I commit. Kim is very reliable and works hard, so I know that the welfare side of our board would be ship-shape. That's the biggest battle.

We had snow this morning, but it warmed up this afternoon enough to melt it. Karl, Garin and I all went to Wal Mart and picked up some things we've needed for a while. We enjoyed our afternoon together and got a lot done around the house. Well, Karl did. He was just a bundle of housekeeping energy today! He says it's because he doesn't have to do it the rest of the time, so it's easier when he does. I surely appreciated it; I was able to concentrate on getting food ready. We tag-teamed with Garin, which was great!

Hope you're all looking forward to a great weekend!

Very First Birthday Present Ever!!!

Garin's first birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa Risinger arrived yesterday via UPS - the Bounce & Spin Zebra we asked for !!! We had one of those days where the only time we were home, he was eating or sleeping, so we just got it opened and assembled today when Daddy came home for lunch. Garin definitely thinks it is very cool! The big brown box it came in is pretty awesome too! Here are some photos of him enjoying his gift.

(Oh, and added blessing today: Daddy passed his annual fitness test this morning!)

This and That

It's a busy week for us with Garin's party Saturday night. I'm headed to the grocery store this afternoon to stock up, and I have to run the board reports by the printer for the board meeting on Thursday.

Yesterday, I finally got my new bowling ball! I'm not sure the holes are just right yet. He drilled them and did some fine-tuning after I bowled a few frames, but I think the middle finger may still be tight. It seemed to be sticking a little, but I'm going to try again Wednesday. He can tweak it if need be.

Garin has new tooth number eight. It came in yesterday, finally. That should help his demeanor (and slobbering)!

Matt is just doing great these days. He's enjoying school (as much as a kid does) and has a hopping social life. He met friends at the coffee house Saturday. That seems to be a new ritual with Freeburg kids now that they finally have a place to gather. Friday night, he is going with the youth group to the Stellar Kart concert in St. Charles. Wish I could go!!! Next weekend is the big Dare to Share event in St. Louis for the youth, and I'm so glad he's going. I want him to discover the joy of being bold in Christ, and these are just the sort of things to point him in the right direction.

I got a grade on another paper finally. This time it was in my music class, but it was a 100 again! She said it was beautifully written and elegantly expressed! I hope I don't seem like I'm bragging, but I'm so excited, and it's still hard to believe.

Karl's had a rough week at work. He is too hard on himself, and when things don't go just right, he beats himself up. He is still learning his office job and needs guidance from time to time. I was up from 2:30-4:00 this morning, praying for him and for his boss because they were meeting this morning. He got some good, constructive criticism, given with compassion and concern and was relieved. Of course, he's a little stressed, but it helped him so much to know that his new boss seems to have his heart in the right place, so to speak. It will all work out just fine. I only wish he had the confidence to match his ability. He has taken Thursday through Tuesday off for party prep and family time. I think he really needs it, and I know I'm looking forward to it.

Cookie Monster

Here's a cute pic of our little stinker. I was working on the computer; he was sitting at my feet playing. The next thing I knew, I looked down and saw cookies everywhere. He had found the bag of cookies again, but this time he dumped them all out and was feasting! I should mention that I know his outfit doesn't match. We were homebound thanks to his cold and the snow, so we were dressed for comfort yesterday. Note the lovely hairdo. He often wakes from a nap with some of the wildest 'dos I've ever seen. Karl tells me that his hair does the same thing when it's longer than an inch.

We've had a great day! Garin is finally over his cold and is much more pleasant to be around, and we spent the day doing stuff around the house. We did a little shopping this evening at Tar-jaaaayyy and went to dinner at IHOP. Woo-hoo! All-you-can-eat pancakes this month! Garin ate more than I've ever seen him eat. We ordered Baby Cakes for him: scrambled egg beaters, a sausage link and five dollar pancakes. He attacked it as if he hadn't eaten in days and ate well over half of his meal. Considering how little he normally eats, I've decided that from now on, every meal will be pancakes, eggs and sausage. Okay, maybe not, but it was so funny to see him pig out. He flirted with all the ladies at the surrounding tables and scored us a buy one get one free coupon from the couple at the next booth.

I also did the last of the craft show nightmare and got the board reports done. The rest of the week will center around Garin's party preparations, and any spare time (haha) will be spent on homework.

It's WAY past my bedtime, but I've been waiting for my hubby to turn of the Saturday night anime cartoons. I give up. I'm going to bed!