Bad Hair Week

"YUCK! Is this Ogre chicken?!?!" was the sweet comment that my son made last night after I made him dinner. Austin would eat spicy curry, crocodile, ostrich and all sorts of crazy foods in Africa. But since we've "americanized" his palate in the States again with good old mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, and nuggies...I cant' go out of the norm too often. Although I did make brussel sprouts this week and the kids LOVED them! 1 point for Mom.

Why was it a bad hair week? There was silence upstairs for far too long when I crept up there and saw Ashley smearing a thick white ointment on her head! Not knowing whether to laugh or cry (I was seconds away from getting the kids in the car to take Duane to the airport for an Egypt trip). So Ashley just looked at me and started laughing. Austin loved the comotion and started dancing around Ash, excited at the fact that mom might get upset with her for a change. Austin helped me out by scraping the cream off of her head with one of his plastic swords. It was a good time for all! Ashley wasn't the only one with a bad hair week. I tried cutting Austin's hair this week (to save $15 on a 4 year old's haircut) and no longer did I plug the clippers in, Austin grabbed them and they were they immediately up to the middle of Austin's head. Swoosh! There goes a chunk to the scalp! I just yelled NO!!! Again, I didn't know whether to be mad or laugh, so Austin broke the silence by laughing when he saw himself in the mirror, so I laughed hysterically too! So the cut is a bit shorter than I'd like it. But hey! It's summertime. I guess we'll have to wait on those Target photos for one more month.

Is that my son with a pull-up on over his pajamas? That's a concept that won't quite work!

Ash is starting to put more words into sentences including "I'm Mama's girl" (she has always said I'm dada's baby...so any attention towards mom I'm savoring) . She also loves to mimic anything Austin does. Good and bad. She also has to have whatever he's eating and play with the same toys he plays with. So poor Austin always has to share everything. Her favorite items are her binkis (at night must have 2 in her hands at all times). And she still adores dogs. So we bought her a remote control puppy and she just walks around and hugs it all the time.

Ashley got strep throat this week! First time and odd for a 19 month old. Poor thing.
Duane is in Sharm el Shiek Egypt (we all went snorkeling there in the Red Sea a couple of years ago with my brother Chris and I'm jealous he gets to go again!)
Can you belive this week starts August?!?
Much love,
Angie

Allowance Begins

We found out Jonathan's assignment this year (since he's not going to Afghanistan) will be.....to stay on Condoleezza's detail for one more year! We are thrilled he's back on the detail, as he would not have enjoyed a desk job in the Washington field office for a year. Yeah! So continue to look for him on TV with her. He just got back from Lisbon, Portugal (where he served his mission). He told me he wanted me to cook the pastries and meats that they cook over there. I told him I wanted the househelp that lots of people have over there....the debate quickly stopped.


How is eggnog made? What's on Mars? How are books made? Why? How? Why? How? Austin is constantly pondering things. He also is enjoying CTR 5 class at church as he's been doing great and getting all three stickers (sharing time, singing time and class). He loves his new teacher and shows us the correct way to pray and remembers scripture stories quite well. We also went to a new pediatric Gastroenterologist this week and are thrilled with the new doctor. In September Austin will be admitted for a 24 ph probe in his belly through his nose and will have another upper endoscopy performed. We are very thankful for the time and care this doctor has put into our little buddy. Austin has also enjoyed sending letters and phone calls with his cousin Ryan who's been visiting Chris and Jodi for the past month. It's cute to hear a 4 year old engaged in a phone conversation. We just started an allowance this week for Ausitn. He now loves to do chores. He gets $2/week with 10% going to tithing and 10% to missionary fund. He loves having "money". He puts it in a special bag that's hidden from Ashley. He also has a special lucky penny that he puts in his special agent wallet that holds his credentials as well (badge, id, etc. just like Daddy)!



Ashley is so CRAZY. She is a real dare-devil! She gets on the edge of the bed and you'd better be right there to catch her, because she's jumping! She also jumps off the bottom two stairs and wants to go higher like her brother. She handles playgrounds with no fear, which instills a lot of fear in me as I'm running around after her. I went to take the kids to see Ratatouille this past week and Ash was out of control. No matter how much food I brought, she wanted to get down and walk up the stairs in the theatre and if not, she shrieked like a teradactyl. I was in out and of that theatre over 12 times. Never again will we go to the movies until she's over 3 years old. Yikes. We've started time-outs for Ash. She likes to hit her brother (and mom). Daddy is okay in her book. But the time-outs are working well. She's so funny though-she has started sticking her tongue out and now she's dancing more than ever. She loves to mimic sounds/songs on the radio. And still loves to have her toenails painted, and gets into mommy's makeup bag. Bare Escentuals powder covered our bathroom rug last week along with a large spill of fingernail polish...the rug was dunzo.

I just signed up for the Baltimore Half-marathon on October 13th. Duane is going to run it too! It's fun training again.

Have a great week!
Angie

July 8-15

This week's highlights:
Austin:
1. Austin's in a pirate stage right now and at the end of a long sword battle, he gave me a kiss and said do you want to have a tongue fight? I put this in this journal because I know he'll laugh about this when he's 18...or maybe not.
2. He's asked many questions this week. How is plastic made? How do waves form? How does the grocery store get all their fruits and vegetables? What kinds of people/things don't go to heaven? How many teeth does a crocodile have? Sometimes I had to just pause and let him think about things.
Ashley:
1. She's saying, "I'm Dada's baby" all the time now. Her vocabulary grows by the day. She likes to say thank you and please and screams extremely loud still when Austin takes something from her that she wants.
2. Its really fun to see the difference between boys and girls. Ashley tries to sing along with the radio now and loves to dance and follow the moves when people dance on the preschool shows. Austin never danced with Barney. She also still loves trying on different people's shoes and tries to put her bows in her fine sparse hair.



The highlight for both the kids this week was when Duane brought home his police/govt car and the kids got to sit inside and Austin pressed the buttons and horns and Ash pretended she was driving!

Other highlights:
This week was also our friend Roman Delzcruz's first birthday!
We had a baby shower for Brooke
I had BUNKO
I made Entrees Made Easy (love it!)
We had a BBQ for Duane's work
Austin had a follow up appt with the Gastroenterologist and we found out some good info. We'll be doing more testing including a 24 ph probe (tube that goes down his nose and into his stomach for 24 hours to find out where and when his acid is going) and a swallowing/aspiration testing done in the next month or so. (Fun fun.)

Keep enjoying the summertime and the pool!
Love,
Angie

4th of July '07

Happy 4th! And Happy Birthday Mom! This year for the 4th, my brother Christian and his son Ryan and wife Jodi came to DC! The week started with a fun trip with Austins buddies Cameron and Tate to a trip to Burke Lake Park. The train wasn't working, but they picked up sticks, ran around, presented a skit on the stage, climbed railroad tracks, rode the carousel and played on the playground. What more could boys want?

We also spent some great time with the Delacruz family who is moving soon. We are so sad! Austin and Madeleine have gotten so close! We will miss you guys!
Then my brother came into town. Christian is definitely into fireworks, so the 4th started with firecrackers mid-afternoon. Austin and Ryan loved them! Chris ended the week with what I'm sure were illegal fireworks, and Chris hit the "cool Uncle" status.

We then had a 4th of July parade to gear up for the festivities that evening! We BBQ'ed at home, then braved the masses and went downtown for the fireworks display. They were unbelievable as usual.

We spent a half day at Great Country Farms in beautiful Bluemont, VA. It was so much for the kiddos-hay ride, petting zoo, feeding the animals, rope swings, tire slides/mountains. They even got to feed a baby pig some milk!

We ended the week with a trip downtown DC to tour all the great things the city has. White House, Capitol, the memorials, monuments, statues, etc.

We hope you had a great 4th of July!
Love,
Angie
ps-Thanks for all the thoughts on Duane not going to Afghanistan. We feel its best for our family right now.

S.E. Vacation 2007

No blog in awhile, as we were on an extended vacation from June 7-June 28th. What a wonderful time we had bouncing around the Southeast! First, we spent a week with Duane's family in Myrtle Beach, SC and had a great time! We then spent time with his wonderful parents downtown Charleston shopping in the the market, museums, beloved restaurants and having BBQ's (and don't forget Brusters ice cream!)

We then flew to Ft. Lauderdale FL to spend a week with the loco LaBarbera's! We spent time at the beach, shopping, imax theatre, joking/poking/fighting in fun with my brothers and deep sea fishing was definitely the highlight of the week where we each caught 2 kingfish and quite a few baracuda's. Everyone caught something and it was a great time. Each night we had family night where one family had to cook and another family had to do the entertainment for the evening. It was a wonderful time.

Then we spent just a few days in Orlando with just our kids and did Magic Kingdom at Disney World. We closed the park down including the fireworks at 10pm, and catching the ferry out at 11pm with the rest of the mobs and tired kids. Austin really got into it this year. He loved the Pirates ride, Snow White (because it was scary) and the kiddie roller coasters. What a great time-I don't know if he had more fun or if Duane and I did as we're eating funnel cakes and doubling up on the rides-wanting to go more than he did. And Ashely was a trooper. She enjoyed everything amid the 99 degree temperatures in Orlando, FL. What a great time!

We have a bit of good news! No, I'm not pregnant. But, Duane WILL NOT BE GOING TO AFGHANISTAN!!! It was a decision made only about a month ago, after Austin's last bronchoscopy. Since Austin will be undergoing more surgery's this year, Duane just didn't feel right about leaving us for a year with all the problems our little guy is having. So, State Dept Medical understood and his assignment has been broken. Family comes first.

We're not exactly sure what he'll be doing, but we do know we'll be in DC for one year. Then we bid again. We'll keep you posted!