Olaf

If you want to endear yourself to my children, all you need to do is mention Olaf or the movie Frozen. We have watched it about ten times (which is a lot if you think about it) and I still get a kick out of the magical snowman, Olaf, each time. His blissful ignorance is charming and Josh Gad is the perfect voice!

A Lazy Thursday Morning

Home

Erik flew in yesterday and the boys and I suited up to welcome him home at the squadron hangar, laughing at naptime in the face. It just feels so right when that guy comes through the door and into our home. It's just plain cozier when he's around. [Give me about three days and I'll be back in full force complaints about tripping over his boots by the door and the smell of man farts in the air.]

These work ups leave me with a sense of confidence and a sense of dread. When we hit the four week mark with this past detachment, I thought, "Okay, so deployment will be like that times nine. We made it through one month so we would already be (over) 10% done with deployment!" And then I'm like, "Oh shit, we'd only be 10% DONE WITH DEPLOYMENT." Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when the time comes. Until then, there's a whole bunch of snuggles going around this house.

Welcome home, Daddy! We missed you!

Waiting it out in the ready room.

Playing a game of tag on the flight line.

Exploring all the potential hazards in the hangar.

Anders working through the lack of nap.

Some of our pretty Cougar ladies waiting it out.

Here come the jets rolling in!

I love the standard open arm greetings.

Always a good blend of running hugs, but I find there is always a kiddie or two that needs a little prompting. Thankfully the youngest ones can't hold a grudge for too long :)

Waiting for our turn!

Wait for it, wait for it...

There he is!

Anders, you come, too!

There you go!

 To be fair, I eventually got a hug, too :o)

Hybrid: My Mom Dressed Me / Quotes

When we were coming back on the ferry the other day, an older gentleman was sitting next to us and we exchanged standard friendly stranger pleasantries during our journey. At one point he complimented me on my wonderful children and then threw me a little off by saying, "It looks like their grandma dressed them." Whether it was a compliment to fine duds or rather a nod to the amount of layers they were in, I'm still unsure.

I recently came across this photo of Landon from last Fall and I realized he does have a slightly geriatric undertone to his clothing on a good variety of days. Maybe he is a future mall walker of America, but I bet he'll be the cutest one out there.

Probably digging for a Werther's Original in his pocket.

50 Ways to Leave Your Diapers

"The problem is all inside your head, she said to me
the answer is easy if you take it logically.
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free
there must be 50 ways to leave your diapers."

Wait? That's not how the Simon and Garfunkel jam went? Yeah, so as some of my friends from Facebook know, I potty trained Landon last month. My status update was the following:

"Potty training my toddler is - without a doubt - one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. Aaaand we are only three hours in. I'd throw in the towel but I think I've used them all."

I lost my cool, more than I care to admit. In one instance, I believe my reaction was, "Landon, there is shit everywhere! You are covered in shit!" I then worked my delts to the max by suspending him as far as possible in front of my body while I carried him directly to the shower, do not pass Go. Twasn't my finest moment; I highly regret it, especially when Landon kept saying "shit, shit shit" for about 10 minutes post clean up. [Kind of like how he randomly mutters "Jesus Christ" under his breath once in a while - I never knew I said that often but I guess they are my choice words of exasperation these days?!? Seriously?]

But looking back on it, I realized two things: (1) it wasn't that bad at all. I'm so glad I stuck with it because Landon actually was quite the champ. (2) The worst part of it all was actually Anders who couldn't quite handle the shift in attention. We did the three day method where you hunker down and don't leave the house, basically staying within a 15 second radius of a toilet. I had lots of stickers, jelly beans and new toys on standby.

Lots and lots of LeapPad time. I tossed a couple new games his way whenever we'd reach a milestone.

After telling Landon he couldn't sit on the couch to watch TV while we are potty training, he made me laugh by taking up a post on the window sill behind the couch and peering over to watch his shows.

Playing some brain games on a tablet that Grandpa sent.

Books, books, and more books.

Anders offering moral support.

In the end, an immediate reward yielded the best results - my sticker chart of "a trip to the ice cream shoppe when you fill in all the spots!" was too broad and didn't sink in.

Proving that action figures can be used any time any place.

A friend comes over? More moral support.

One week in pull ups and then became Captain Underwear by week two! Accident free for three weeks! Yippeeeeee!

My Mom Dressed Me

So it shouldn't be news by now that my mom hasn't earned any points when it comes to getting me out of pajama pants on any day that ends with "y" - but she doesn't make it any easier by letting me out in a NEON GREEN set with a BRIGHT RED JACKET. 

"Merp."