This is My Forties

Tuesday was a great day. The weather was amazing. I got a great workout, ate delicious food, stayed away from the net, and played with my kids. I haven't played in a long time. Josh was busy getting his car PC installed so he had to sit out this playtime. We brought the big blocks outside and built a kitchen and then it just took off from there. We scoured the yard for bark and leaves and berries and other great "food" items and created some delicious dishes :) Brennan and Tristan insisted on crawling through the counters like they were tunnels (much to Noah's dismay since he was the chef). There was a decent amount of fighting. Finally Noah gave up and allowed a remodel. Noah built everyone a toilet. Tristan and Brennan found this marvelously entertaining, especially after Tristan had the idea to really pull his pants down before planting his hiney. They climbed the walls (like Spiderman). They tumbled. They teased each other. ...

We were outside today and Tristan had the marvelous idea to pretend the frisbee was a disk from "Tron". He and Noah had an epic battle. I was cracking up watching them spin and flip and fall over, especially Tristan!

Any parent who has been through toddlerhood knows that the most amazing/awful things can happen if they're left alone for any period of time. At all. Today was one of those days that reminded me that every toddler is an evil genius. Allow me to recount for you (and yes I took pictures this time). You all know Brennan, 2yrs old, talks a lot, gets into everything. Jamie's son Elias is 2 and a half, ridiculously cute, much quieter, gets into everything. Typical toddlers. When they are together it's love/hate. They incessantly fight over matchbox cars and everything else that can be held in a hand. We literally have a ginormous vat full of matchbox cars, but whatever 2 cars are in the other one's hands are the only cars worth playing with apparently. They snatch then pinch and slap and run and cry and tell and do it all over again. So, they're doing their normal hitting and teasing routine while Jamie and I are enjoying our morning coffee and "getting t...

The closest support site out here for American military is Rota Naval Station, a 7 hour drive. Certain things cannot be taken care of in Madrid and once in awhile we have to take the looooong trek out to the coast and make things happen. Getting on base is a hassle... doing anything on base is a hassle with all their outrageous regulations. We avoid going there at all cost. Unfortunately we had to go, and on Noah's birthday! Thankfully the trip was mostly paid for. We started off a little late, but we were just dandy. About halfway there our brand new tire blew. We had noticed a bulge in the rubber, but we didn't have time to send the faulty tire back to the states, wait for them to send a new tire to us, and then wait to be able to put it on. We took a risk. Bad idea. Whatever. We made it the rest of the way on a donut which Josh so fabulously changed in a mere 15 minutes. This was good because the traffic was ridonkulous on the highway and we almost died at ...

It's hard to believe that seven years have passed since I was taken to the hospital in San Antonio to deliver our first baby boy. It was a long and difficult labor... I was terrified. He came out and turned Daddy white with fear when he wasn't breathing the first 7 minutes of his new life on the outside. That labor and delivery was a piece of cake compared to life with baby Oah, toddler Noah-Boah, and now big kid Noah. He was our first. We made the most mistakes with him. We suffered a three year separation during his first years of life and because of the stress, I'm sure his infancy was less than perfect. But, look at him now! Noah is the sweetest boy to everyone. He reads people well and only wants to be loved. He's an amazing, patient, lovable big brother. He's extremely smart and not competitive (no idea how that happened given his parents). He's compassionate and hard-working. He's also stubborn and slightly OCD, but I think ...

After Ben and Jessica left I was feeling a little depressed. OK... a lot of depressed. I did all the right things to pull myself out of it, but nothing was working. Intellectually I knew I shouldn't be depressed. Everything is going really well here at home. Things are great with the kids and Josh. I just felt so incredibly alone. Jessica was around for my day-to-day and knew all my "secrets". Now there's an ocean and 6hrs time difference to account for, which limits our phone conversations to be sure. I miss her kids. I know them. I love them all. It was a huge adjustment that I never was able to prepare myself for so I went into shock. And it SUCKED. Having Ben here both aggravated and assuaged my feeling of loneliness because no matter how much time has passed we still connect on such a personal level, but I knew he eventually had to leave. I didn't realize how much I missed having him around until he was gone again. So, when the opportunity to ...