Ashley is back

From the beach to Tacoma to California to the beach and back to Tacoma. Ashley is back. We've had a great week with Ashley. The kids have spent some quality time with their auntie and I'm enjoying having her back too. Ashley lived with us for a year. It was a bit challenging because of the size of our house and the fact that I suffer from the "big sister syndrome". I guess that was a more difficult on Ashley than on me. However I what I realize since she is back (not living with us this time) is how much we missed her. She has a special bond with Alyssa and Owen. They adore her. I think Ashley is very proud of her niece and nephews and is a great aunt. I also realized it's nice to have family around. Not just for the sake of babysitting (which is nice), but also to have that connection to family. Ashley is 12 year younger than me and we really don't have much in common. But what I do know is that I love her dearly and only want the best for her. I love that she's back and hope that our relationship can grow. I love that my kids will grow up around their aunt.

Tagged

Tagged
I am going to play a game that my cousin started. Enjoy & pass it on :)
The Rules-
Post these rules @ the beginning of your blog.
Answer the questions about yourself.
At the end of the post, tag 5 people and post their name, then go to their blog and leave them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What was I doing 10 years ago?1998
Chad and I had been living in Tacoma for a few months. We'd moved from Kentucky (where we lived together for a short 3 months after we were married). Chad was in the Army, I was still trying to adjust to being an army wife. We were meeting people like Anna and Chuck Ahrens and spending a ton of time with my cousin and her husband Aaron. It was this year that we really became quite close to Andrea and Aaron. I realized that Andrea and I were much like sisters, we liked the same things. She was teaching and I was working in Child Care. Aaron and Chad hit it off and became instant friends.
We played lots of cards, went to lots of movies, ate out whenever we wanted. Bought things for us, like clothes, toys and home furnishings.
I started a new job, Chad was promoted in the Army. We camped and traveled to the beach a lot.
We started going to a church in Parkland, which we were both baptized at. We made connections with people who we still go to church with. We were still keeping in touch with high school friends and were able to visit those who had moved away (Toby and Jason).
We had lots of time to play!

Five Snacks I enjoy:
Diet Coke (I'm addicted)
Chai Tea (only from Starbucks)
Coconut cookies
Salad with 3 bean salad, cheddar cheese and sunflower seeds (I've been totally craving it)
Popcorn

5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Pay off my debt, my sister's debt
Give, Give and Give some more, to whoever I felt like giving to at that moment
Go on a long vacation with my husband
Come home and take a long vacation with our kids
Get lasik eye surgery


Five jobs that I have had (I listed all of them because I thought it would be fun):
Dishwasher- Tidewinds(age 11)
Maid-Edgewater (age 12)
Worked for an Optometrist
Waitress - Joan's Cafe (summers in Jr. High and High School)
Worked at a gift shop...the Gray Whale (my most favorite job ever)
Old Navy (only lasted 2 weeks, got sick of folding shirts)
Head Start Teacher-Longview WA
Child Care Center Licensor
Child Care Specialist GSA
Mom...that's hard work

Five of my habits (good or bad):
reading blogs
biting my finger nails
starting something and not finishing it
wearing my shoes in the house

5place I have lived:
Ocean Park, Long Beach, Seaview WA
Longview WA
Vancouver WA
Fort Knox, KY
Tacoma WA

What are your FAVORITE Jammies?I need new Jammies desperately, I'm not even gonna tell you what mine are.

5 Favorite Hobbies or Wanna-Be Hobbies
scrapbooking & taking pictures of my kids
reading blogs
Zumba
Hanging out with girl friends (this is a wanna-be hobbie)
Visiting the McCartys
Needlepoint
Knitting

Who Am I Tagging?Friendswith blogs that I consistently read.
1. Rob and Amy 2. Melissa Moss 3. Sara Sandefer 4. Toby (when she gets a blog) 5. Carrie Whitehouse 6. Laura Smidt

Oh Owen

Owen is keeping us VERY BUSY! Oh where did that sweet, mellow, obedient boy go? Ok, he's still sweet...but he's definitely a BOY!

What Owen's been up to in the past 24 hours....

1. He hit his sister with her ballet baton.

2. He cut open his lips while jumping on the bed with his sister, singing ring-around the poo-poo.

3. He broke my glasses in two pieces.

4. He had a fit while we were at Azteca and almost made mom and dad make a scene.

5. He crashed 4 times on our bike ride down the street. Happy to report, no blood this time and only a couple of tears.

6. His new thing and it's happen twice (not within the 24 hours thank goodness) is first he takes his pants off declaring "I want to be naked". Then off with his diaper. We look around to see he's no where in sight (you might know where this is going). We find him pooping in a corner and once he's picked up the poop. FUN TIMES AT THE FRIDDLE HOUSE.

7. He refuses to where a coat, but doesn't win that battle.

8. He was in time out 4 times today, had two spankings and a nap.

9. He managed to spill his Easter bubbles on the living room floor before blowing one bubble.

10. He runs full speed from the kitchen to the living room and head butts the couch.

Is this normal?

Kindergarten Days

Here's a peek at some of Alyssa friends at school. We were a little reluctant to start Alyssa in school this year as she is a young 5 year old. I kept saying "there is no way that I'm putting her into school so young...especially public school in Tacoma". NO WAY. However, as the school year grew closer we were talking a lot with our neighbor Laura who's daughter Amber (Alyssa's best friend) was in a private Lutheran School. Laura suggested that we look at the school, even at the pre-school. She said it was a great fit for Amber and thought that we'd be interested. I've never really thought much about private school and wasn't convinced that I wanted Alyssa to attend a private school. As Chad and I talked about it we thought that maybe we could start her in private Kindergarten and have her do public kindergarten next year. This school was much less expensive than child care and it had an academic component she wasn't getting at child care, so we said why not.

What has happened since September is that we have fallen in love with this little school. It's K-8 and there are approximately 80 children. We adore Mrs. Kurbis, Alyssa teacher. She is the kind of Christian mom you strive to be. She has a gentle and kind spirit, but also a firmness that the children and families respect. Mrs. Kurbis, as well as the entire staff love the lord. In fact that is the foundation of the school. The teach an academic curriculum but also a Christian based curriculum. We are delighted to have Alyssa at Faith Lutheran. I think it's a great fit for Alyssa. She is surprising us daily. She's learning to read (which she struggles with and gets quite frustrated at times), she's participating in group times and working cooperatively with others. We know we made the right choice for Alyssa and for our family.

The hunt

We generally do our Annual Easter Egg hunt at our house, however this year our friend Harriett called and invited us to come to her house for a hunt. We had a great time, the kids Ricki, Romelio, Isabel, Alyssa, Owen, Dylan, Henry and Stella were all there. We hid over 300 eggs. Owen found two, realized that they had candy in them and found a spot on the grass to enjoy his treats. Alyssa was in to the hunt, as were the older kids. It was a fun day to play and be with with our friends.

2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits a dollar, all for Alyssa stand up and holler

Holler! Ok can you believe it? Our shy little Alyssa participated in Cheerleading

during Spirit Week at her school. It was all her idea. When she got a flier in her backpack inviting her to come to cheer practice she jumped at the chance. They practiced on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a week. Then cheered with the team in a pep rally and again at two basketball games. We had the joy of watching her on Friday...she's a lot like me (very uncoordinated and needs to follow someone in front). But she did terrific. Then on Saturday Chad took her back to the basketball tournament while I took Owen to a birthday party. It's really exciting to see Alyssa coming into her own. We are really proud of her!

What the bunnies taught me

Our rabbit had bunnies the day I left for DC. It 's not a first for our rabbit (Junior, named before we knew she was a girl). Junior is a terrible mother. She has had a couple of litters of bunnies and killed them right after birth. We didn't know she was pregnant this time because we moved the male rabbit out of her cage right after the last litter was born. You know what they say about rabbits? Well it's true....silly us.

This time I didn't want the bunnies to die and told Chad, in my most bossy voice to take them out of the cage with their mother and "nurse" them.

Chad chuckled, like "yeah, right, I'm already caring for both our children, getting them off to child care, feeding them, bathing them and doing it all again the next day, all while you are in DC."

However, the next day when I called Chad reported that he had done some research on the Internet and found the type of milk necessary to feed bunnies. He'd called all over and found a pet store that sold it and went that night and purchased it. He told me that he was a little late getting Owen and Alyssa to the child care providers because he spent too much time in the morning "nursing 6 baby bunnies." He went on to tell me how interested Alyssa was in helping and how difficult it was to help Owen understand he needed to be gentle with the bunnies. Furthermore Chad called and asked Chad Eberhart to ask his dad (who is a vet) what else he could do to help these bunnies survive. So that night when I called Chad was at the grocery store picking up plain yogurt to supplement the bunnies feedings.

Chad is amazing, even after I did my own research on-line and found that there was a very slim chance the bunnies would make it, Chad kept a very positive attitude that "they will make it".

Today Chad emailed me the sweetest email, but had to inform me that the bunnies all died in the night. He wrote "everyone is mourning in the Friddle house."

The fact that we had bunnies for two days was really fun, even though I wasn't there. But what I found the most significant is that I have a wonderful, sensitive, attentive husband that cares enough about fragile bunnies and appeasing his wife and daughter enough to inconvenience his self enough to care for the bunnies and give them a chance they wouldn't have had otherwise.

Chad I love you!

By the way, we are done with bunnies and my grandparents have agreed to take the bunnies to their house in the country to care for them. Perhaps they will get a better female rabbit to mate with the male and be successful in the bunny business. For the Friddles, I think our next pet might be a hamster...Alyssa would love it.