Idaho and Montana

Starting on July 12th, Kyle took leave through July 29th (we still have over 60 days to use before he gets out of the Army). We decided that the main purpose of this leave was to begin our search for where we will relocate after the Army. We still have no idea when Kyle will be out, at one point it was by the end of August, and now they are saying it will probably not be until the end of the year or possibly even into January. To say the least, we have no idea when the Army will be letting him go, which makes planning a bit difficult. We will know for sure 30 days out, but nothing beyond that is guaranteed. I like plans, so this is hard for me. I find myself constantly worrying about our life after the Army.
Kyle feels that God is calling him to work with young people (teenagers) in a youth ministry setting. Not a youth minister, but his dream is to start a outdoor leadership camp that would take young people into the outdoors on adventures in which they would experience God's love, magnificent power, and His Spirit as they explore and learn about the outdoors. His cousin Jarid, is finishing up his Master's in Divinity and would love to start a church camp. We are praying and seeing if their dreams can mesh together, or exactly what God has in store for them. Initially upon getting out of the military Kyle would like to attend the National Outdoor Leadership School (which has courses all throughout the US and world) and get some formal training and certifications in things like mountaineering, and other outdoor skills.
I would either like to start working back in the public schools or begin my own preschool. Starting my own preschool would be awesome because it could allow me to be with my boys, yet do what I feel is my calling, teach. I also think it is important that I am home with the boys, so starting my own preschool really would be ideal.
So as you may have guessed, we have a lot of decisions to make and I am really working on trusting God. Some of the Bible verses that I try to remind myself of daily are: 
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Joshua 1:9
...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
 Romans 8:28
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Back to the trip...We have heard great things about Montana, it isn't Alaska (where Kyle would love to go), it is within a days drive to all our family, it's beautiful, has prime land for Kyle's dream, good veteran benefits, and Kyle likes their gun laws (no, I'm not joking, this is something he looks up and considers in all potential areas), so we decided we wanted to check it out for ourselves. Luckily for us, Kyle's dad lives on the way. So we spent Wednesday-Sunday with his dad and his family. We went up to Priest Lake for a night, but really just enjoyed being in the company of family. Kyle's dad may be leaving for a year here soon, and we wanted to be able to spend some time with him before he left. The kids, especially Gunnar love being at their house he just can't get enough of his uncles.

 After spending some time in Post Falls, we left Gunnar with his Grandpa, Nana, and uncles and took Ryker with us and headed to Montana. We started by going up to Glacier National Park. Monday evening we got together with my old youth pastor and his family and enjoyed a wonderful visit. We camped at a KOA campground (my kind of camping) and spent Tuesday in the park. We went on a hike to Avalanche lake and took a long drive around the park checking out many amazing things. God's design is perfect...awe inspiring.

 Kyle wanted to spend another day in the park, but I really was missing Gunnar, so Wednesday we decided to head down to Missoula. On the way we stopped at Flathead National Forest and fell in love with the area. We had lunch in Missoula then headed to Jerry Johnson's Hot Springs, which we thought were just outside Lolo. Turned out they were about an hour and half outside Lolo. We spent a good hour at the hot springs (with a naked old man), then made the trip back to Post Falls that evening getting in at about 10pm.

We spent Thursday just hanging out. It was nice. Perfect actually. Then on Friday we made the journey back to Fort Lewis. We met up with my parents and sister in Ellensburg, did a little power shopping in North Bend, and got home around 10pm. Saturday we went to my cousin David's wedding. It was so beautiful. Heather's (the bride) parents have a house right on Puget Sound and the wedding was there, it was breathtaking. The best part was our babysitter watched our kids for us during the wedding so we really got to enjoy it. Sunday we went to church, then had a little family get together at my Aunt's house. That evening my parents left around 9pm as Kyle was rebuilding their computer over the weekend, and simply just never had time to work on it.

Kyle really wanted to head to Crater Lake (another place we are considering living near) for his last few days of leave, the 25th-29th. I told him he could go alone, because riding in the car for another 6+ hours one way with the kids was not really fun, and I was tired. He considered going to Crater Lake or back to his dad's alone, but in the end decided to stay with us (good choice, I might add). We had a relaxing Monday, but then took off Tuesday for a two night camping trip to the Washington Rainforest at Lake Quinault. We had a great time, and hopefully within a day or so I will be writing up about that. So July has been super busy, and crazy. I feel like we are rarely home anymore. August is looking like it could be a bit crazy too. Thank goodness our kids handle it all pretty well, they do way better with all this running around then I do!

June in a nutshell.

Some highlights since my graduation (since I haven't been a great blogger since then)....
*I spent a week with my parents. I went to present my action research project to a group of teachers at Mesa Elementary School and then the boys' and I spent some time my my family in Pasco.

*We meet up with Jami Clevenger in Seattle. She was here for a conference and we were able to go see her one evening. It was so nice to be able to spend a little time with her. We made the best of the short visit and really enjoyed her company.

*We went down to Eugene, OR for the 4th of July weekend. We spent a long weekend there. We enjoyed floating down the river while the boys stayed with their Grandma Kathy, and we took them on their first camping trip. The first night was a bit rough, probably mostly due to poor planning, but we had fun despite being tired. (Our dogs also tried to kill each other on the trip which added to the excitement.

 *I am now Open Water Scuba Diving certified. I took a week long scuba class in the evenings and then on the weekend I went out to Puget Sound and did a couple of dives. I had some real problems with my ears adjusting to the pressure out in the open water, but despite it, I got to go down about 50 feet, see an octopus, lots of jelly fish, fish, crabs, sea cucumbers and many other fun things. Scuba is fun, I hope to do it more and become more comfortable with it all. I had a really hard time relaxing and felt a bit catastrophic but I think with a little more experience will really learn to love the sport.
*My mom, sister, and I threw a bridal shower for my cousin's bride David. We also took my dad, mom, and sister to a Mariner's game for my dad's birthday present.

On July 12th Kyle began to take some leave that end on the 29th. We spent the first part in Idaho and Montana, came back for a wedding, and tomorrow leave for a 2 day camping trip up in the Olympic National forest. I will do a separate update for fun trips.

Binki Free (kinda)

See these cute, binki free smiles???

Finally, we did it. One morning about 2 weeks ago we just decided to throw all the pacifiers in the house in the garbage (we also cut them up so we weren't tempted to dig them out). I was so worried we would have horrible and torturous days ahead of us, but in all honesty they both handled it like champs. The first nap was a little rough, but after that Gunnar usually would ask for it, we reminded him that he is "2" and they are now in the garbage and for babies. He was always pretty okay with this idea and would go to sleep without protest. Bed and nap time was pretty much the only time he never noticed even though he was using the pacfi almost all day long!
We went to visit Kyle's dad and family and I think it helped keep him busy and his mind off the the pacifier. We also took Ryker's away as well, but I cheat sometimes at night. He has never really used the pacifier much, but when we were camping this last week he started to use breastfeeding as a pacifier at night, and that didn't really work for me. We only have about a month left of breastfeeding, I am so ready to be done, so I am trying to make it as pleasant as possible...becoming a replacement pacifier is NOT pleasant.
So, I have a couple spares hidden, but Gunnar has no idea about them. I am hoping they will lose their appeal completely soon. Gunnar is getting a tooth in, so he really wants things in his mouth, so I think they would still be pretty appealing at this point.
This was long overdue, it was embarrassing when we would go out in public. In my defense we took it away at a year, then he went back to it at like 18 months a few months after Ryker was born and we began the process of moving back to the US. He was stealing it from Ryker and it wasn't worth the fight to me at the time...we had way to many other things to worry about during that time.
I have decided cold turkey is the way to go. We tried gradually taking it away and putting holes in the nipples of them and he could have cared less...cold turkey all the way.
So, my little boy is REALLY growing up. He is potty trained during the day (still working on not wetting at night, but that will come with time) and now he doesn't have a pacifier.

 I know that the picture above is super hard to see, but the first night we were in Post Falls, Gunnar apparently climbed in the crib with Ryker. He was holding Ryker's hand when I first got the camera, but Ryker moved his away before I could snap a picture. And, notice..they don't have pacifiers in their mouths for sleeping either!!!

Go Cougs

 Wow, it has been a month since a post. You would think after I graduated I would post more often. I kinda used blogging as a distraction from homework, but I will try and do better. I have a lot of catching up to do.
In the meantime, I will share a funny story about an adventure of a kid no longer in diapers.
Kyle has been awesome and has been watching the kids while I go grocery shopping lately. However, I am in a scuba class this week and gone from 6-10:30pm each night. Not putting my kids to bed for a week is almost killing me. I miss them terribly. So yesterday I decided to take Gunnar with me grocery shopping so I could spend some extra time with him. Napping Ryker stayed home with Kyle.
We got to the store and about 3 minutes into the trip Gunnar announced he had to go potty. So we went. He peed. Then we went back to shopping. About 5 minutes later he announced again he had to potty. So we went, he peed, a lot of pee. We ventured back into the store. All was going well, until I had my two last items to grab. Gunnar once again announced he had to go potty. Really kid? We were at the opposite end of the commissary, so I told him to wait and I attempted to quickly grab  my last items. Just as I set the last item in my cart to my horror, I felt something dripping on my feet, the floor, the groceries. Gunnar peed, A LOT! Where does this all come from? I decided there really wasn't much I could do, so I choose to pretend I didn't notice the pee dripping from our cart.(I know, GROSS, but as a Mom, your gross level has a major increase in tolerance.) I quickly made my way to the checkout line. I noticed an elderly man behind me walking quickly after me shouting "excuse me ma'am." I tried to pretend I didn't hear him, but I knew he was trying to get my attention. I assumed to confront me about the trail of pee I was leaving. But to my delight when I turned around all he said in a loud voice was "GO COUGS, I just love your WSU t-shirt." Whew...embarrassment only minimal.
Moral of the story: Don't let your kid drink two glasses of water before heading to the grocery store. It will surely end in a disaster.
Because I haven't posted in a while here are a few pictures of my boys from Summerfest a week or so ago.

Graduation

Well, it's officially unofficial....I have graduated. On June 4, I had the privilege of  celebrating my graduation with a Master of Arts in Education/Early Childhood Education. I don't actually finish until June 13th, but because I was only one credit away from graduation, I was able to walk and go through the hooding ceremony.
My parents and sister came into town to help us celebrate my accomplishment. My Aunt Perki, Uncle Peter, Aunt Charlotte, and Uncle Dave also attended the graduation ceremony, which thankfully was only about an hour and half long. My parents then invited some friends and more family over to our house on base for a graduation BBQ. The food was AWESOME!
Here are some pictures from my big day.

 My name in lights....

After the hooding ceremony, walking back to my seat.

 Me and my proud husband.

 My family. Gunnar kept taking my "hat" and Ryker trying to get his hands on my pretend diploma.

Me and my pretty cake.

Everyone enjoying the food.

I could use some prayers as I am a few days away from having to turn in my Action Research Project. It is almost 100 pages long. I am working on editing, and it is quite the task. I have everything else done for the class, so this is it! I am trying to find some motivation to get this final requirement done....

Memorial Day Weekend

Over memorial day weekend, Kyle was given a four-day weekend. So Thursday after work we headed down to Eugene. There were some interesting moments in our visit, but we had a great time visiting with friends and family.
JJ McCool recently returned home from a deployment to Afghanistan. We were excited to see him all in one piece and returned home safely. Kyle and him did a lot of hanging out that weekend.
Other highlights of the trip included:
-BBQ at the McCools
-Pizza and good times a Putters
-Church with the wonderful people at Springfield First Christian Church.
-Kyle, JJ, and Jarid (who drove 7 hours starting at 5am on Monday morning just to hang out with Kyle) had fun picking on a group of 9 guys in airsoft.
-Bethany McCool and I got in a little shopping, but really it was just great to hang out with someone my age, a girl, and one who is fairly like-minded with me.
-Park time with Megan and Grandma Kathy
-Dinner, child free (thanks to an Aunt Megan and Grandma Kathy) with JJ, Angela, Jarid, and Bethany.
We had a great time in Eugene. Awww, the joys of being close to family...

 Gunnar enjoying JJ's company.

 The boys chillin with their Grandma.

 My three boys up for the children's sermon (Kyle was kinda forced into it all).

 Beth and Nathan playing with Ryker.

 Gunnar loving the slide.

 On the stage coach.

 Little Ryker sitting on a rock.

Megan feeding Ryker while we were out at dinner. Ryker loved Will's soup.

BIG news.

So we have some big news to share. It's the kind of news you almost are afraid to share for fear it won't be real.
I will be honest. This was all Kyle's idea, and I really didn't want anything to do with it for a while more. BUT, I am loving the idea now, now that it is really happening.
I will start from the beginning. I asked Kyle one morning if I could take a nap. He agreed to take the kids on alone for a while so I could get a little more sleep. I was awoken by a lot of noise in the bathroom. I could then hear Kyle coaching Gunnar on the toilet. When I finally decided I had "napped" long enough Kyle informed me we were potty training. I always thought potty training was something you discussed for a while in the future, then as a husband and wife team you undertook the whole concept and went forth. I explained how it wasn't a good time for our second attempt at this. I was leaving for the weekend, it was a Wednesday, and that didn't really give Gunnar a lot of time to get it down before my parents arrived, and really I thought I needed until Monday to prepare myself for the whole ordeal. Kyle then responded with "it's never going to be a good time." Which is probably right, there would always be something (plus I got a break from it all for two days, score for me).
So, I decided to play along with the game. I told my parents they had permission to put a diaper on Gunnar anytime it got to be to much, but they stuck it out, even with many accidents.
I am finally venturing out there and going to say he is pretty well potty trained! I haven't had to clean up poop in his pants the last 5 days. He usually doesn't have wet accidents unless we are 1) in the car, or 2) he gets to busy playing and I forget to remind him. Usually however, he tells us he has to go without any prompting.
I will say we cheat a little bit. I put a diaper on him at night time. The last two mornings he has woken up dry and will go potty as soon as he wakes up. And occasionally I have left I diaper on for longer car rides, daycare, and shopping trips. He still tells me when he has to go and I take him potty if I have one available. But even in his diaper he gets sad when he pees and actually starts walking funny like his pants are wet, even though the diaper has absorbed it all. One day I will get brave and completely do away with them, but they are to convenient to throw on him with Ryker wearing the same size.
Here is a picture of the proud (and slightly dirty) kid giving a thumbs up:

So round two has been much more successful than round one and here is why I think:
1)He is older and more mature, he is the big T-W-O now!
2)He not only knows when he has to go potty, but he can VERBALIZE to us that he has to go. He either says "potty" or "poop," starts running to the bathroom, or takes his pants off. Those are the cues for us. "Poop" doesn't always mean he has to poop, it is just his universal term for saying "I need to go NOW." He gets his point across.
3)With the assistance of a stool he can get to the potty himself. He doesn't need our help. He gets to practice independence, yet we are there for support. He has given us a designated spot we are to "sit" in the bathroom while he goes potty.
4)We figured out the whole public restroom thing. We just stand him up on the edge of the toilet or the urinal and he goes pee. He can so sit balancing himself by holding our hands or the side of the toilet. However, we use an abundance of toilet seat covers and toilet paper to avoid as many germs as possible. Plus we banish his toilet/urinal touching shoes from inside the house until they have been properly disinfected.
5)We are patient. We weren't trying to potty train in 3 days, we aren't using someone else's method, we are doing what works for us. What is less stress for us and what makes us all happy.
--We didn't use candy, treats, stickers, or any other gimmicks to get him excited or interested. It's all about a simple high five and lots of praise. We never punish him for peeing his pants, but it makes us sad and after about the fist couple days we have him help clean up any messes.
So, I know that there won't always be accident free days ahead of us, but we just take them in stride. He is doing some awesome and we are super proud of him...now to get rid of the pacifier!!!
Here are some other random pictures:
Ryker is a cruising machine.

 I know this is hard to see, but I couldn't turn a light on a wake the boys up. This is how our dog Oma and Gunnar sleep at night.

 Gunnar holding a worm while him and Kyle were planting some flowers outside.

I love Elmo, so here is what him and his dad have to share about potty training.

Women's Retreat

So, its official, I REALLY do have the most awesome parents in the world. Thursday night they drove four hours to our house and got here around 11pm. Friday we all hung out most of the day together. Friday evening Kyle and my dad went to a banquet together that Kyle had tickets for from work and I left around 5pm to go on Women's Retreat at the beautiful Cascades Christian Camp grounds.
I had a lot of mixed feelings about going. While I know people at my church, I really didn't KNOW anyone. On top that, I am breastfeeding Ryker and any bottle attempts up until the point of me leaving were pretty unsuccessful. I also wasn't able to pump as much milk as I would have liked, and was worried their wouldn't be enough.
I was pretty close to backing out of going, but Kyle really encouraged me to go. So, through the tears, I left. I felt bad because my mom had the boys for a few hours alone the first evening as they guys were gone, I knew she was capable, but I still worried.
I got to Women's Retreat and immediately realized that was were God wanted me to be. The women at at my church are wonderful. Our theme for the weekend was Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." What a great message and one I definitely needed. No matter what the situation or how hard the circumstances, rejoice! I also really had it reinforced in my life that its okay for everything not to be perfect. Between school, my kids, my husband, and just life in general, I often forget to take time for myself because I am so worried about everyone else. Its okay to let some things go and take time to breathe and relax.
Friday night was a bit rough for me, not only was I worried about my children at home, but I was in a room with a month old baby. So, as a breastfeeding mother hearings another lady's child cry in the middle of the night (or anytime for that matter), didn't make for the most comfortable of sleeping.
But besides the soreness and what felt like the constant need to pump, I had a great time. The messages were great, I learned how to play Bunco, which I did pretty awesome at, I went horseback riding, and time went by so fast I felt that we were always eating!
Saturday night, I decided after small group time that I would go home for the night. The night was going to just be more games, and in the morning we just had breakfast before leaving to get back to church. So I left around 9:45pm and was home around 10:30 last night. I was so glad to be home. To my delight everyone was sound asleep. I went and tried to get Ryker to eat, but he just wanted to sleep, so I ended up pumping. I didn't wake up until 7am, when Gunnar was so excited to find me back in my bed. I finally had to go wake Ryker up to eat. I know I slept better in my own bed knowing that if my own child needed me I was there!
So not only did I go on Women's Retreat, but my kids more than survived without me (even with bottles and a little bit of formula in the bottles too), my carpets got cleaned (thanks to my awesome dad), and Ryker finally decided to sleep through the night (2 nights)! He probably figured they would just shove one of those nasty bottles in his face and decided sleeping was a better choice.
I am so thankful that I went on this retreat and so thankful for the wonderful church and ladies in my church that God has placed in my life. Our church family is exactly that, a family! They love us for who we are and accept us even with our imperfections!
(I didn't take any pictures, which is so unlike me!)