Learn Something New Every Day

I think we should always try to learn something new every day, don't you? Well today I learned several things...so if you haven't feel free to borrow one of mine!

1. "People should never eat anything off of knives or swords." Gracie
2. They can tighten the wheels on roller skates so that they turn slower. Good thing too. It's hard work trying to keep a 50-something pound almost 7 year old standing on wheels that turn fast! Jace did great once we slowed him down. (He went roller skating for the first time at a friend's birthday party today. He was the only little boy there, too...he knows how to work it, doesn't he!)
3. Hormonal changes during a woman's menstrual cycle can also effect her bowel movements. That's all I'll say about that...but if you're intrigued go ahead and google it!
4. Tyler's not big enough to sit on the bench and lean back against the table like everyone else...fell and smacked the back of his head. Ouch! That boy is never going to be able to shave his head.
5. As soon as you say "you can't use the water" everyone has to go pee "really bad."
6. "Eating and drinking are alike except with drinking you don't use your teeth and with eating you have to chew. But with both you swallow and then it goes through your body then makes potty." Gracie (Is it just me or does "goes though your body then makes potty" sound like a great bumper sticker or something?)
7. Navy Seals are between 17 and 35 years old. Jace shared this with me. He learned it in a book that he just read about Seals. He thought maybe Dada would want the information in case he wanted to try being a Seal for the next couple of years.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head...but there's still six minutes until bedtime. I'm sure they'll teach me something else between now and then!

Blog Party!

Found something new...and very cool! Let me tell you about it (the new and cool thing) and a little about myself.

I'll start with me...I'm a stay at home Navy wife and well-educated mama. My husband and I grew up a mile from one another and got married after I graduated from college. I have a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and now I'm a mom and wife. I have almost 10 years under my belt as a military spouse, almost 7 as a mom.

We have three children. Jace is our oldest. He'll be 7 next month. He just got a 40 chapter book from his school library to read over the weekend. When he dove into his back pack to get it to read on the way home and found he'd forgotten it -he cried. Thankfully we were able to stop by and pick it up after picking his sister up at her preschool. Jace's personality is a mixture of high energy rascal and eager learner, with a touch of little boy still visible from time to time.

Gracelyn (Gracie) is our precious middle child, two months shy of turning five. She's joyful, stylish and loves to be helpful! However, if the girl is tired...watch out! Talk about moody! (By the way, this picture doesn't display Gracie's normal style. She's wearing her cousin's shorts, who is almost two years younger, and a sweater we keep in the car that was bought off the clearance rack even though it's two sizes too big because she always complains about being cold! I love it though - she's still posing.)

The littlest monkey is Tyler. He's an agitator, like any little brother should be, and stubborn like his father. He's got the most terrific smile, complete with dimples. As an almost-Christmas baby he gets to celebrate his half-birthday over the summer when he'll be 2 1/2.

That's the crew. With my spare time I blog about our lives - mostly the kid's antics, my observations about random things, our health and fitness goals, and my newest venture as a homeschooling mom. I enjoy writing, being in the kitchen, watching reality TV and long walks on the beach. Actually they don't even have to be on a beach...walks anywhere are great!

So, now that you know about me (at least a little) feel free to read other posts if you're intrigued. If not, that's OK too. Either way, there's more to this post, remember? Something new and cool. Well, it's the blog party!

Susan and Janice at 5 Minutes For Mom are hosting this incredible party to help blogger and non-bloggers alike meet each other and maybe even win things in the process! See...I wouldn't let you down.

You can click here to go to their post about this year's blog party. There are over 900 links to other blogs where people have introduced themselves. You'll find humor, emotion, faith, joy, and more stories than you can handle. You'll also find a link to the prize list and the rules for entering the drawings. Here are some of the things I'd love to win:

95. 0r 11. $100 gift card to Restaurants.com, given by two different contributors.

39. $250 night away at any Hilton Garden Inn

112. $50 gift card to Amazon.com (or any of the other Amazon.com gift cards!)

24. "Dahlia" framed photo

75. $100 gift card to Summit Camping Gear

There are so many more...clothes, toys, gift cards, decorations, relaxation aids, books...go look and enter for yourself!

I'll let you go on now. Not because I'm out of things to say (I can blah, blah, blah for days) but because I want to go meet some other bloggers and take 5 minutes for me!

Amazon Gift Card

Who can't use $20 at Amazon.com? I mean...Scott could buy half a text book! More likely I'd use it for some cool homeschooling resource, but I could give it to Scott...

We'll debate it more if I actually win it! And how might I win it? By blogging about the give-away here and leaving a comment that I did so at The Homeschool Classroom. So, that's what I'm doing!

If you're interested in a $20 gift card at Amazon.com check out the link above. There are several ways to enter, and done of them are tough! So get to it!

Need I Say More?

The books we brought home from one trip to the library.

Impressive, isn't it?

A Little About Me

When I wrote my profile for this blog I paid attention to the order I put down Navy wife, mother, and then writer. I've made this conscious decision when describing myself in other places as well. I don't know if it's because I'm me (a deep thinker, decently in touch with my inner self) that I put the roles that have others depending on me first, or if it's because they depend on me and I put myself last. It's something to think about.

And thinker should probably be first on my list of labels.

But as it's written now, my roles as Navy wife and mother are among my most important. But they don't stand alone. If Annie isn't nurtured someplace in the mix than I'm not going to be able to be the wife and mother I strive to be. What's that saying about a tangled web? This tangle is based not on lies, though. But on truths, priorities, and love.

So, now that that's cleared up...what about Annie? What words describe me? Back in the day "unique" was frequently used. I used to dress in my Grandmother's hand-me-downs. I didn't wear them because they were all that was available to me, but because I liked the styles and colors. And I loved that they were hers. I had a favorite dress in college we fondly called "the oil spill dress." It wasn't one of Grandmas, but I loved it! It was fake velvet and colorful. I also wore my slippers to class and the grocery store. I frequently fashioned scarves into dickeys to be worn under sweaters. I certainly had my own fashion sense.

I've realized over the past few years that my creative style was just the beginning. I like things that are different. I like to take something and make something else from it. My medium used to be clothing, and might be again some day, but has also been paint on walls, pencil to paper, and currently fingers to keyboard!

When I was at 4H camp each summer we used to play an ice-breaking game where we had to introduce ourselves using an adjective that began with the same letter as our name. I always cleverly said, "Hello. I'm all of the above Annie." I think it still fits, don't you?

Unique. Creative. Clever. Mother. Wife. Colorful. Nurturer. Thoughtful. Me.

Not Me! Monday...Spring Break Edition

I'm not a consistent contributor to MckMama's Not Me! Monday series, but this week I've got a few things to deny.

Let's see...we went to Florida this past week to impose on....er, um, I mean visit with my college roommate, her family, and her brother's family. We had an incredible time! We really did...but I didn't give in when it came to souvenirs. I didn't get Tyler (who already has a ton of trucks) a whole new set of 5 Cars vehicles and a new rescue truck from SeaWorld. Gracie and Jace got some fun things too...don't fret!

Well, maybe fret a little. I did...er, um, I mean didn't lose two of my three children at SeaWorld. Technically Tyler didn't even know he was lost, so that doesn't count. Gracie knew...cried...wouldn't let go of my hand for a few minutes...but I brought everyone home at the end of the day.

While on vacation I didn't give in to poor diet and lack of sleep. I didn't stay up hours past my bedtime to chit chat almost every night. It wasn't worth every filling-showing yawn I had throughout the week, not to mention the cups of sugar and caffeine I drank, to visit with such great people. I wouldn't do it again next week if the option were there. Heck, I wouldn't do it again every other week for a whole year...well, I might actually not want to do that...we might run out of things to say!

Anyway...now that we're back home, I haven't put off doing laundry for two days. I'm not still trying to catch up on the dishes that I'd left undone before our trip. I didn't make a to-do list today just so I could feel accomplished at something!

Long live not regretting vacations...or life in general!

Now go visit MckMama's site and see what other people aren't up to...

Spring Break

Our vacation in pictures...

Gracie after the big wave:And after we scrounged and found a pair of Liam's shorts (he just turned 3!) and a sweater that Gracie leaves in the van for grocery shopping (she always gets cold). The really funny thing is that just a few hours earlier I was saying how there were certain things my daughter would never wear in my presence. Hmm... The McPhee Family

Jace on a climbing wall at the playground.

A pirate comedy show with sea lions, a walrus, and a cute and quick otter!

Liam and Tyler waiting for the Shamu show to start.

Tyler entertaining himself in the lunch line.

The Dinosaur Restaurant at Downtown Disney.

Digging at the archaeological site while waiting to eat lunch.

Sean and Jace...quick friends. (Sean just turned 8 last month. Jace will be 7 in two months.)

The dolphin show:
This has got to be one of my favorite pictures.

Even the boys were intrigued.

As you can plainly see...we had SO much fun. Tyler got to say "baby" quite often with Claire (1 year old) and Sarah (8 weeks) around. He also got pretty good at "juice," "boat," and "play." He's been saying play quite often lately, but this past week it's become even more intelligible.

Gracie loved being a helper for Claire and Liam. She's already made plans to live near Uncle Mike and Aunt Cathy when she's older. And Jace's favorite thing about our entire trip was the cotton candy he got to eat at the whale show!