Time Flies

Oh my gosh, has it really been two weeks since I last blogged?!? I just don't know where the time is going anymore . . . it's all passing way too quickly.

I know that I owe you all more than a brief checking in and a litany of excuses, but I really don't have enough time at the moment to give you more than a brief hello. . . Heather is on her way over to take me out for a birthday dinner and movie, so I only have a second. But I just wanted you all to know that we are all STILL ALIVE, doing well, and keeping busy (of course). My friend Jen, her hubby Justen, and their toddler Jaxson were all just here for a visit, so I will catch you up on that. We are getting ready for my Dad's arrival tomorrow, followed by Bev's arrival on December 8th. People are coming and going, and life is passing us by quickly . . . but it tends to do that, especially here in paradise.

I'll be back . . . I promise. Stay tuned . . .

Making Do

On Fridays, Charley generally has school but Zander does not, so this is the time that he and I have our alone time. This past Friday, I decided to take him to a playground that is right on the beach, where he could run around and I could read a page or two in my book. And as an added bonus, this park actually has port-a-potties, just in case, unlike most parks around here.

So, there we were, enjoying the nice breezy morning at the park, when Zander suddently announces that he has to go poop. No problem, right? Because there are bathrooms right over there. Whew, it's our lucky day. Except when we reach the bathrooms, one of them has a padlock on it, and the other one looks like perhaps a poop bomb had recently exploded inside the ENTIRE THING, along with an entire roll of toilet paper. Too gross.

What to do . . . what to do . . . ah yes, when I called my friend Tabitha just a little while ago she said she was home, come on over if we feel like it. So I gathered Zander up and took him to the car . . . except I start to smell something a little funny. Oh no. Much to my dismay, I realize that Zander wasn't quite able to hold everything, and he had produced a minor accident in his underwear. Unfortunately, I did NOT have anything to put them in, so they went right in the park garbage. Fortunately, I DID have baby wipes in the car, so I was able to clean Zander up good enough, and then looked around for somewhere for him to go potty, since it looked like he wasn't going to make it to Tabitha's. A glance around the area revealed that there were way too many people to let him just pop-a-squat, so I searched in the back of my car and found a canvas grocery bag that would have to do. Poor Zander, though, wasn't able to get comfortable enough hovering over the sack that I had strategically placed IN THE VAN to produce much of anything except a few drops of pee that slid right off the bag on to my van floor. Awesome. So it was definitely time to hit the road and pray. I whipped on his shorts (sans underwear), and we were off.

I floored it to Tabitha's, and made it in record time. I unbuckled Zander as quick as I could, ran him up to her door in my arms, and rang her door bell, all the while assuring him to "hold it just one more minute." We waited, and waited, and waited . . . and no Tabitha. I set Zander down, whipped out my cell phone, and hit speed dial.

Tabitha: "Hi. What are you up to?"

Danielle: "Sitting on your doorstep. Where are you?"

Tabitha: "Oh, Im at Long's Drugstore. I will be home in just a few minutes."

Danielle: "Uh oh . . . . "

She invited us to go hang out in her back yard, but what good was that going to do in my situation? I asked Zander if he still had to go poop, and apparently his situation had changed, because all of the sudden he no longer had to go. Whew, close call. So we accepted her invitation, and decided to wait in Tabitha's back yard until she got home.

We let ourselves in, and I got comfortable with my book in a lawn chair, while Zander entertained himself with all the kid toys in the yard. All was well until about ten minutes into our venture, when Zander once again announced that he had to go poop. Uh oh. Now what?

I looked around for something, ANYTHING, for him to go in or on . . . and all I could find was a plastic target bag that was holding some outdoor art supplies. I quickly emptied it, raced Zander over to the middle of the lawn, and pulled down his pants. But once again, he couldn't quite help himself, and his entire bottom and pants were covered with icky icky poo. Ah, the joys of motherhood. So I did what any good mother would do, and made him squat and poop in the middle of Tabitha's lawn on the Target bag. Thank goodness he wasn't so shy this time, and much to my delight, he took care of business. However, my joy was short lived when I realized that I had NOTHING to clean him up with. I could go back to the front of the house, to my car, where the wipes were hiding, but that would require a trip down the alley and around the block with a half-naked kid with a poopy butt. Not an option. If I could only find something to wipe him with in the yard . . . . nope, those palm tree leaves are way too big . . . and those flower bush leaves are way too small . . . . but there is a faucet . . . and there is a watering can . . . and yep, I think that will work!

So I watered my son's butt with a plant watering can. Yes, son, the water WILL be cold.

When Tabitha walked in the gate a few minutes later with my naked son running around her yard, I told her not to even ask. I just need to borrow some boy shorts. ;)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Okay, enough procrastinating, time to play catch-up. :)

This has definitely been a roller coaster week . . . the Coast Guard tragedy that I previously mentioned, coupled with Brian's immediate departure, and some tears, followed by some Halloween celebrations, some smiles, and some good times with friends. Once in awhile you just have to have one of those weeks I guess.

Before Brian left, we were wrapping up our second session of swimming lessons with Zander, and like his sister, he has turned into quite the little fish. He didn't quite make it to Level 2 yet, but he has a mean crawl stroke and can jump in the pool and swim to other side with almost no help. Now we just need to practice the back stroke . . .

Zander and Charley also had their Halloween parties and parades at school. Here is Zander with his two best pals, Kyle and Quinn.

And of course here is Aurora, a/k/a Sleeping Beauty, a/k/a Princess Charley. All was good until one of her princess shoes broke in half . . . then it was tragedy.

We also got to carve our pumpkins before Brian left. Charley was good at fishing out pumpkin guts, but Zander was not much of a fan (too "icky" he said). So he stuck to the easy jobs, while the rest of us got a little dirty.

And then it was time for Halloween . . . we started the day out with a neighborhood Halloween party, with old-school apple bobbing and mummy wrapping, followed by a long trip around the hood with a bunch of our friends. The kids definitely made a killing on the goodies (which I, of course, have helped them consume).


After a long summer of hot humid days, some clouds finally made an appearance and provided us with a few short showers this past week. We decided to celebrate with some good 'ol fashioned puddle jumping (because once in awhile you just need to jump in a few puddles).

When the rain clouds disappeared, we decided to meet up with a bunch of our friends, and hit the beach for a little fun in the sun. I feel so lucky to have such a great group of friends.

This week has perhaps been one of the slowest weeks I've experienced in a lot time . . . and we were not any less busy than usual (in fact, the week was pretty crazy), but I think it's because it's been an emotional one. We all miss Brian a lot around here, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that he will be home in the next day or two.

Tonight Charley is going to a sleep-over at Tabitha's house, and Zander and I are going to go spend the night at Andre's house so that she can get up early and go run a half marathon tomorrow, while I watch her kiddos. I think a weekend surrounded by good friends is just what I needed . . .

Reality Check

It's now November 3rd, and I know that I am three days past due on a good Halloween blog entry with some good Halloween pictures . . . but truth be told, I just don't have the energy for it right now.

Once in awhile, here in our lovely little Palm world, where we get to live in paradise and hang with two pretty cool kids and lots of great friends, things just don't go quite right . . . and this has been one of those weeks.

Last Thursday night, around 9:00 p.m., Brian got a call from work, informing him that a C-130 had collided with a Marine helicopter off the coast of California, and he needed to be ready to fly out in about an hour. After a few minutes of pure shock, he switched into work mode, and hastily packed a bag for an undetermined amount of time . . . and then he was gone.

As I'm sure most of you have heard, we lost seven Coasties that night, and the Marines also lost two men. One of the Coast Guard pilots was a roommate of Brian's at the Academy, and one of the crewmen was someone Brian had worked with in Sacramento and here in Barber's Point. A very very sad day . . .

So, on this end, it would be easy to be disappointed that Brian missed Zander's last swimming lesson, and Halloween celebrations, and all sorts of other stuff. But in reality, none of that matters, because we are sitting here counting our blessings that at some point in the near future, Brian will be home again.

Please say a prayer for all those men and women lost and their families and friends.