A night full of Laughter and a beautiful Thanksgiving morning

We've been blessed enough to have the weather warm up a bit and the winds die down a tad, so gazillions of neighborhood kids have been out since what sounded like sunrise, to play and laugh and enjoy their day off of school. My kids -- they did that outdoor stuff a ton and are now THRILLED with the opportunity for free for all time on the Playstation! They worked hard to get chores done yesterday, and they found some great deals at GameStop. It's wonderful to find a game for only $4 that we can all sit and play together and laugh and have fun.

Last night we tried out a new bowling game. I was a tad skeptical, I've got to admit, that they would find it fun after getting to "bowl" on a WII this summer. Let me just say, OH was I wrong. (did ya hear that kids, MOM was WRONG! *gasp!) he he he. We enjoyed a LOT of fun, trading off bowlers (only up to 5 at a time so we split 4 and 3 per game). We all have discovered that Craigan's brain REALLY gets the purpose to using correct angles, speed, and spin for the ball. He whooped our bee-hinds in the first game .. 4 strikes if I do remember correctly. But THEN Dad figured out the trick to the strikes, and he earned a turkey before we all made him laugh so hard he missed the chance for a 4th strike IN A ROW. TO say the least, he killed in that game. We loved just laughing and enjoying a great night together, no stress, no fighting! (how the heck did THAT happen?? Yeah on YEAH for NO FIGHTING!!!! :o).

While "the others" were bowling, he had I started to have what we call "spider fights".  Your fingers are the "spider" and you basically wrestle, only we keep it funny, no real strength is allowed, only finger power.

 

Zacky makes ALL sorts of "hi-yahhh" noises and the sound effects of goin' down, and flying kicks and such. We did this on and off all night.  He loves to kung-foo fight. "Wooaaahhhh-yaaaaaHHH!"

As we were winding down the game time, Jason sat on the couch and started to Kung-Foo Panda fight with Zacky.  Oh MY GOSH was that hysterical!  We were laughin' our butts off and Zac kept taking little pause moments to catch his breath, and then he'd shake out his hands to 'prepare his weapons to attack'.  As in, shake out his hands to make either two fingers stab forward to attack, or shake again to get the whole hand flat to karate chop you.  THEN - he starts in with "And if Dad had hair....."  Jase and I laughed SO hard we missed the rest of what he was saying.  IF he had hair??  20 minutes before we were all saying how funny it is to see Dad with hair since we haven't cut it off in about 2 weeks now, and it seems to be growing in REALLY dark this time.  So, "If Dad had hair" then Zacky would wrap it around this things, and make him "kung foo fly" across the room, to land on top of this thing, to fight the bad guy....etc, etc, etc.  Zacky was crackin' himself up.  Trying to unwind to prepare for bedtime was looking hopeless as we ALL started cracking jokes and laughing more and more. 

FINALLY we tried to calm ourselves to prepare for a family prayer and start heading off to bed.  Jason said something, which most of the kids missed the point and looked at him confused for all of half a second before moving onto their own silliness.  Jason did the traditional Peanut (from Jeff Dunham's show) zip your hand over your head 'sszzzziiiiirrrmmmm'. 

THEN, they noticed it - the stray white piece of yarn on the floor from when I was crocheting earlier.  Jason tossed in on his head and stated "there, now I have hair." and we all giggled.  He then tossed it onto Craigan, how was sitting between me and Jason, and some jokes were cracked about it being a worm or something.  I laughed and said we might get reverend for prayers by midnight if we were lucky, and everyone tried desperately to stifle their laughter...just making us all giggle more.  I could HELP MYSELF - I just HAD to do it!  I grabbed the yarn and quickly set it in the edge of my nose just as they all started to lift their heads to catch a breath - and just the sight of it made 2 of the kids turn to their backs to laugh, and Jason about died.  :o)!  Hey, if we need to get the giggles out to eventually get ready for prayer, then dang it, I'M Gonna be funny TOO! he he he. 

We did manage to catch our breath, control the laughing, and get reverent so we could say a family prayer.  On the overall, we all got a good night sleep and woke up in very good moods this morning.  I'm going to soak in all the fun and giggles I can, for tomorrow - I work. bummer.

May you ALL have a truly WONDERFUL Thanksgiving Day.  Be thankful for your family, your friends, and your blessings.  I wish we could be with friends or extended family today, but even having the opportunity to have ALL of my family together here, and to have Jason home with us for the holiday - we KNOW what a blessing that is, and I'm just going to enjoy this beautiful day.

Lots of love to you ALL. :o)  Happy Thanksgiving.

Another quiet evening.

Well, guess I should have titled it 'Another quiet Night', since it's nearly midnight.  I've been thoroughly enjoying relaxing and crocheting and watching movies on the Hallmark channel.  Everyone went to bed tonight with smiles and only one "goodnight".  For Craigan and Zyzax to get to bed and actually stay there the first time, that's one of those mini-miracle moments a Mom just LOVES.

My week has been absolutely nutty, and even though I feel like I did a LOT, I sort of also feel like I barely did anything, other then drive here and there and all over again.  Jason's been having more trouble with his short term memory, so I am working hard to keep close track of changes to what's up with his doctor appointments and such.  Luckily, thanks to his new blackberry (I still can't believe we actually got one of those.) he just adds everything to his calendar, and no matter where he is (or will be before hand) he sets his reminder alarm to go off giving him 5-15 minutes to get ready and leave ontime.  Le'me Tell ya, that thing is Saving MY life not needing to keep on him or keep track. 

They've got Jason in with so many medical things now.  They're trying to sort out exactly what has happened to his brain from the impact of the IED's he was effected by.  (His convoy was hit more then once, and other details I'm not good at remembering because he tells me in the car driving here and there.  By the time we get home I'm as forgetful as he is. - great, there's no hope for the poor kids. lol)  Anyway, so apparently the brain injuries, to whatever degree they "officially" state it all to be, have effected Jason's balance, and he's now in physical therapy to work on retraining his brain and body to work together. 

I hate that he's struggling with all of this, and he is getting SO frustrated because with ALL he tries to do as he's told in hopes of getting better, he feels like they just keep discovering more and more and more that's been damaged.  It totally sucks to not be able, literally, to DO anything to MAKE this any better.  I can help ease the stress or strains, or even keep him focused so he doesn't loose his train of thought when talking about something.  Still the same, while my love and support helps him get thru, it doesn't make him better.  I can't take this away, and there's no time limit - which is a frustration for him I can't alleviate.  I'm really thankful we believe in Eternal Families, because I joke alot that it's easy to get thru him while he's nutty and forgetful, because this'll be the easy part  - just get ready for the eternal part where there are NO physical body ailments to get in the way.  I may not have the resources to steal the family away from life and take a long vacation to catch our breaths for a while, but we all still have our faith, our family, and our sense of humor.  Gotta keep that humor intact or you're a major sinking ship in this battle.

Stubborn as I am to actually go to a doctor or anyone for ME, thanks to the services available thru the Wounded Warriors, even I am now finally under medical care to help me cope with all the changes and stresses.  They've done the whatever somethin'or'other testing to see where I'm at mentally (so, do YOU ever feel like YOU leave your body? Do you sometimes think you are an animal?)  Luckily, there were more "normal" questions too... do you feel depressed? Do you love you mother/father? Do you enjoy Any of the hobbies you used to?  Do you sleep fitfully?  Okay, those questions I didn't giggle at.  Moving on... yesterday I got to meet with the medical doctor to find out about IF I needed any sorts of meds to help me cope, or could I continue my insanely stubborn streak of insisting that I can NOT be medicated at the same time my husband is.  My kids need me clear minded.  Well, then I realized I'm so exhausted many times from not being able to get my brain to turn off at night, that I didn't sleep well, so I wasn't even kinda sorta clear minded.  Maybe I needed to hear the doctor out.

Grumble, hufff, and fluff and stuff - guess no matter how hard I tried and tried to be strong for my family and no matter HOW determined I was to NOT let this get me. . . I realized that even though I know FULL well things like Okinawa with 5 kids and hardly a husband home with no family around, along with ALL Jason's going thru, DID break my spirits.  I've admitted that before.  But I was SO sure if I just stuck it out I KNEW I'd get thru okay on my own.  WHY?  If there's help out there, why in the world should I - yet again - struggle thru something without help?  That's just foolish, don't ya think?  After nearly an hour discussions about this medicine, and that, and the good and the bad to each, and the purpose to them, and what I should expect, I got a prescription for sleeping pills (though he knows I refuse to take them very often - for now anyway.) as well as a prescription for Zoloft.  I thought I was fine with the decision, till I had to take that first pill this morning.  Took me staring at it reminding myself of the potential for some more peaceful feelings to reside within me, not so much worry creeping in at all hours. 

So friends, hopefully I'll see some good results in 6-8 weeks, and cross your fingers and say a prayer I don't get any nasty side affects.  Say a prayer for Jason that he will begin to SEE and FEEL the positive results of ALL his different therapies and training for coping with stress, so that he can ENJOY more in life again.  And we attended the Marine Corps Ball last weekend, so If I haven't posted a picture by next week, someone remind me please. (Thinking for me AND Jason, AND all the kids 'cause they don't want to bother...whew that gets exhausting, and my memory takes a hike - why can't it just take a NAP?)

OH, a nap, doesn't that sound just lovely?  Now that I'm up past midnight I'm thinking bed is exactly what I need to enjoy the rest of this night.  Along with a BIG, LONG, Comfy sleep IN.  Ahh, yeah, that sounds relaxing.

A London Visitor?

So I have the tracker that shows where people stopped in from. Then I got a couple visits from someone that's shown up as logging in from London. It makes me wonder, Is this Jason's ex, or his kids logging on? One can only hope. The last year's worth of contact has practically vanished, and I hate that it has. SO, I suppose that's why I'd like folks to say "Hey there" once in a while. If Your New to visit, that's all good. But if you already know me, say something K? :o).

TO my London visitor, if you're family, please leave a comment, k?

Don't Ya just LOVE a good sleep in? :o)

Some people have moved often. Others find moving a very rare event in their lives. We not only are ones that can't stay put, we tend to move alot, and it's usually last minute. We found out about this move, and had a month to prepare ONLY because we needed to give our rental agency notice if we wanted our deposit back. (That house cost us plenty of money, getting our deposit back was a MUST.)
So, most every day for a month, I was sorting something, washing something, or running around like a crazy woman. No matter how late I went to bed, my internal clock kicked me up out of bed somewhere between 5:30 and 6am (thanks to being well trained to drive Randy to seminary.) This is not exactly enjoyable on Weekends where I didn't need to get up early. In the last 10 days? I guess it's been since we moved in, I've actually gotten to sleep in!! Rolling out of bed at 9am has been SO enjoyable. The trick was to actually sleep more than 3 hours without waking up to ensure Jason was sleeping okay, and the house was quiet.

Last night - I have NO idea what did it, but I actually slept GOOD. I only woke up only 3 times AND only woke up at 9am because a kid needed me. (Can ya feel the love?) I feel more rested and relaxed today then I have in so long I can't remember. Granted, my memory's been struggling lately - so it could've been a couple of months and I wouldn't remember if I didn't write it down - did I write it?

Anyway, Jason is still peacefully asleep, and I know it didn't take as long for his meds to get him to sleep last night as it has this week, so I'm very thankful the kids are all behaving and trying to let me enjoy an "argument free" Sunday.

SO next weekend, or on your next day off, I hope for each of you to enjoy yourselves a good old sleep in. I forgot how GOOD they felt. :o)

(New ward to go to at church today. We get to enjoy the afternoon time slot for a whole month & a half!)

All Moved In

Okay, so we FINALLY have email access after getting my computer packed up an unexpected 4 days early. We are completely out of our old house, finished the inspection and everything. We're unpacked enough here at the house on base to have full use of bedrooms, living room, the table to eat at, and the kitchen (though with some things YOUR guess is as good as ours where some of the stuff ended up at. Maybe still in the garage??) We at least know ALL items ended up at this house. We followed the movers from one house, to the scales, to this house.

Anyway, I see lots of people stopped by to see the blog. But there's not a single comment waiting to be moderated. What's up people? If you're gonna stop by, at least say HELLO would ya?!

Oh, and I'm not real sure what direction to take this lovely little blog o mine. I started with the intent of making a book -- like Andrea did. Boo hooo, I went to the blurb site to get started on one, only to find out they NO LONGER support blogger. Can I just CRY now. Anyway, so I may just us this to brag, or rant, or blather on and on. I dunno. But I'm still here to share, that's the point, right? :o).

SO, say Hello if you're stopping in. I'd like to know who's visiting. I've got more unpacking to do and have a couple more days of work this week. Kids'll start school back up soon - yeah, and Jason has a gazillion doctor appointments. Wish me luck, I think I'm gonna need it.