Who Would Have Thought

Do you remember when you were in school and there was that ONE boy? You know, the one you had a crush on but you never thought he liked you because he was... well picking on you all the time?
I was shocked to find out that my precious, adorable, funny, and amazing son, was the preschool version of this boy.. except worse. Apparently, he had not just singled out one girl in the class, it was more like a few.
At first I was in a state of denial. Each day the teacher would tell me of a new incident that had occurred. I would think to myself, "My son would NEVER do something like that unless he were somehow provoked." After all, I know from experience how little girls are. ;)
The 2nd week had started and when I went to pick him up I was forced to face the ugly truth. This time Kemper reached over and poked another boy in the eye for no apparent reason. It was during story time so the teacher saw the entire incident unfold.
I realized that he was on the fast track to being a bully. I was clueless as to how I should handle the situation. We got home and the answer fell into my lap. We talked about what was going on and he was like, "Okay mommy... Can I play video games?!" There it was... I told him, "No." Then explained each time that he asked, that he couldn't play because of his actions at school. It was really hard because I've never been good at telling him "No" and then making myself stick to it the rest of the day... but I did it.
I am proud to say that he has made it the past 4 days without any incidents! Who would have thought that video games could be so useful!

Missing Him

So here I sit. Eyes filled with tears and my throat has a huge knot in it. I just got off the phone with James. I got a new webcam, so we talked on the phone while he got the treat of seeing us at the same time. It was the first time he got to see his baby walk. Just thinking about that makes my eyes fill up again.
15 months... I repeat that to myself often. It's hard not to be bitter. I have to remind myself that we knew this was a possibility when he enlisted but still the bitterness is there. I envy those wives who get to complain about their husbands. Who get to fight with them. Who slam down the phone in a tantrum and are able to call him back afterward. Who couldn't sleep last night because he was snoring. Who has to pick up his shoes from the living room floor. Who has to put down the toilet seat. All of the things that are taken for granted. All the things that I took for granted. Something as little as sitting next to him on the couch. I miss all the little things.
He loaded some new pictures of himself today. Seeing them makes me wonder what goes through his mind. What little things he misses. Plumbing? Comforting his boys when they cry? His comfy couch? The sound of the dog, snoring at night? A home cooked meal? A chance to be, "Alone?" Taking a long hot shower? The smell of his wife's perfume? Kissing his boys goodnight? I'm sure he misses all of these things. In a strange way it helps me get through each day, because no matter how hard I think I've got it, I'm reminded that he's got it even worse. With that in mind I know that a part of him depends on us to be his sense of normalcy. To remind him that he's not just some random soldier but that he's the most important soldier in OUR lives. That he has a life here waiting for him.

The Chair

Mason is now 19 months old. Over the course of the past week, he has discovered that he can climb into this chair. Which, by the way, has become his favorite thing to do. As nerve racking as this past week has been, our precious son has managed to make it even more so.... Oh yes, he has also learned that he can move this "magical" chair. Now this curious toddler can explore the entire house with no limitations. I'm sure you can imagine how exciting this milestone is for BOTH of us. Yesterday he was able to get onto the kitchen counter. I'm sure he feels this was an amazing victory, as for myself.. I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I keep praying that this "phase" will be a short one!

Getting Started

So here I am!!  I've finally made the leap and set up an actual blog!  Yay for me!  I think this could be fun, once I get into the groove.   I've spent the past hour or so playing around trying to get all of my personal settings how I want them and now I'm ready!  Of course, I don't really have anything to blog about, so I'm going to share a story that I had posted on my myspace blog.  It took place last summer, shortly after my husband deployed.  Hope you enjoy!

Creepy Crawlies 
Just another typical night in our house. Got the kids ready for bed, turning out the lights, and took the baby back to my bedroom... oh dang! I forgot to lock the garage door. I asked Kimberly if she could lock it and being the great child she is.. she goes to lock the door.  

Kimberly: "Mom... there's a big spider in the kitchen."
Mom: "Grab a shoe and kill it."
Kimberly: (pause)
Kimberly: walks into bedroom "Uh mom.. I'm a little scared."
Mom: "Are you kidding? It's a spider, smack it with the shoe!" walking towards the kitchen.

As I made my way through the house, I stopped by the front door and grabbed a flip flop. Now in the kitchen, I placed one foot on the linolium, and found myself standing toe to toe with the large spider Kimberly was talking about. There he stood calmly looking back at me.. I could see his eyes and did the only logical thing to do.. I jumped back and let out a rather loud scream! It was a damn TARANTULA!! 
I'm thinking to myself.. "Ok.. just leave it alone and it will go away.. No No No.. What if it crawls into bed with us.." Then reality sank in... James is in Iraq.. I have to be the one... "Why?!"
Fast forward a bit.. The spider has moved to the corner of the kitchen. I've made an emergency call to my dad, and now have a plan. Kimberly has Mason in the bedroom where it's "safe" and Kemper is convinced that he HAS to help.  
I place a chair in the center of the kitchen, grab a broom, a bottle of Windex, and climb onto the chair. Kemper, being my helper, is on the chair with me.  
Using the broom, I poke the spider to get him out of the corner.... it takes a few pokes.. and I'm pretty sure he's mad because he runs out of the corner and stops right in front of the chair... looks straight at me and raises his two front legs! Again, I do the logical thing and start screaming.. not just any scream but rollacoaster screams. Only stopping long enough to take a breath and start screaming again.  
There he stands, poised and ready for battle. Being the more intelligent of the two species and being armed.. Again I do the logical thing... still screaming, I throw my broom at the spider.. and miss. But that's ok.. because I have a back up plan... I'm going to turn the Windex to "Stream" and kill that son of a gun.... looking at my bottle of Windex I was surprised to find that there is no longer a "Stream" selection on the nozzle. So I resort to my only option....Mist. (Gulp)  
Still screaming, standing on a kitchen chair, Kemper screaming with me, spider ready to kick some ass, and I am misting the damn thing with Windex. Not only is it not working.. but he's moving closer to the chair.. I climb from the chair to the top of the counter.. still misting, as fast as I can mist and screaming!
The turantula retreated under the stove. So... again.. being the more intelligent species.. I make a perimeter around the stove... a perimeter of tape with the sticky side up. The theory is that if the turantula tries to come back out.. he will stick and I can deal with him in the morning.... thus getting a peaceful night of sleep. 
The next morning.. we found the tape was mangled.. but no turantula.  

Update: Mr. Turantula and I had our final battle in the garage.. about a week later. I am happy to report that I won.. this time using a flyswatter, my new weapon of choice.