I am the wife of a CHP Cadet

This weekend has been a blur.

Friday was the big party to celebrate all the changes happening in our life and the lives of our friends the Hartley’s. We had a great turnout and I even got both Robin and Janet to go into the bounce house! (They’re not just for kids anymore, you know.) I cannot post the picture of Robin in the bounce house because it’s possible she will kill me, but I think I can get away with posting one of Janet. And if not… too late, Janet!

We truly appreciated all the people who came to wish Jay and Craig good luck in the Academy. Thank you, everyone, for your support. We are so blessed to have so many true blue friends.

Saturday went by way too fast. At one point I caught a glimpse of Jay playing and singing with the girls and I couldn’t stop staring. I wanted to burn the image into my retinas, and I think I was successful. What a wonderful dad he is.

Sunday my fantastic-one-of-a-kind-mother-in-law stayed with the kids while Jay and I made our way to Sacramento in the ‘Rolla (freshly washed after receiving some “goodbye wishes” from my now-former-coworkers). We made it in good time but, along with the Hartley's, thought we were too early for the orientation. So we wasted some time wandering around The Evil Empire known as Walmart and then headed over to the Academy for orientation.

This orientation was specifically for the incoming Cadets and their families. Let me tell ya… we should not have farted around in Walmart for so long. We weren’t late, but a CHP motto is “On time is late and early is on time.” So we (or at least Janet & I) felt a little conspicuous walking into a full gym and trying to find seats. But we did find some and were able to enjoy the orientation and the tour of the Academy grounds. The only thing I’ll say about it is this: DANG … those are some small rooms. 3 Cadets to a room as big as some people’s walk-in closets, and 4 rooms to a quad. The quad-mates share a bathroom (4 sinks, 2 showers, 2 toilets). Man… it’s going to be stinky in there.

After the orientation we checked into the hotel, grabbed some lunch, came back for a much needed nap, and then headed out to the Unofficial Cadet Dinner at the Hard Rock Café. It was great to meet other Cadets and their spouses, but I have to say that at that point I was DONE. Done with the speculation, done with the waiting. The dinner conversations were actually just stressing me out more… one cadet was told this, another cadet heard that, this cadet’s wife read something completely the opposite. All I wanted was to go back to the hotel and try to sleep…

Unfortunately that wasn’t going to be in the cards for a few more hours because one helpful thing we did learn at the dinner was that the Cadets were not supposed to wear their boots with their suits on Day 1, they were supposed to wear dress shoes. Crap. Jay did not bring dress shoes. So… after dinner, off to Walmart we went again, and this time they got some of my money. We bought Jay the first pair of black leather dress shoes that we thought could take a shine. ($19.88, baby… only at Walmart.) We also bought a smaller bag and when we got back to the hotel Jay repacked his bag, leaving some things in a second bag in the car. We’re hoping he’ll be allowed to go back and get his second back in the next few days, otherwise he’ll be wearing very stinky socks.

Neither one of us slept too well Sunday night (shocking, I know) but we didn’t oversleep, and that’s what’s important. I guess with the wake-up call, the alarm clock, two cell phone alarms and a 5:30 a.m. call from Craig we would have had a hard time oversleeping. Still, you don’t want to take any chances and end up like Jean-Paul Jean-Paul! (5 Shrutebucks to whoever can name that reference.)

And then, 6:30 came; I said goodbye to my studly looking hubby and sent him on his way to the CHP Academy. Both he and Craig looked confident and to tell the truth, I felt much better than I did the night before. It must have been all the prayers!

And now I’m sitting here, wondering if he will call and stuffing my face with the box of chocolates I forbad Jay to eat before he went in. He’s lucky I don’t like the nutty ones; I might actually save him one. Or if I’m desperate I’ll just lick off all the chocolate and throw out the nuts. I’m just saying… it might come to that. There’s no telling.

If you stuck with this long post… thank you! And if you have a few prayers to spare, we wouldn’t mind being the recipients!

Whose kids are those?

An example of the behaviors I will have to undo once I'm a stay-at-home mom again:

It's been over 2 1/2 years since Jay became the stay-at-home parent, and now he's about to embark on the career of his dreams. He has done a fantastic job raising our children, even if the girls now think that "tooting," picking your nose, and all forms of the word "bum" are roll-on-the-floor-hilarious.

We really are going to miss him terribly.

Thanks for a great 2 1/2 years, Dad.

Bea's Big Day!

Watch out world! Here comes Beatrice!

Finally. Bea is in preschool. It seems like the time between Natalie starting kindergarten and Bea starting preschool has crawled by. Everyday Natalie would come home from school and tell us about her day, and Bea would sit on the sidelines, sad and forlorn.

But no more!

Beatrice started Miss Samantha's class this week and she couldn't be happier. This class is special in that Bea is integrated with kids with learning disabilities. (Natalie was in this same program.) We like it because the kids play and learn together and there is no discrimination between the "typical" kids and the kids with disabilities. But what I'm really excited about is that Bea now has something of her OWN. She has her own class, her own teacher, and her own friends.

When she came home after the first day she was so proud to have her own school paperwork. (Nevermind that the paperwork was actually for the parents!) She insisted on keeping it in her special bin in her room, and I wasn't about to argue.

Neither Jay nor I know what life is like as a middle child because we are both the babies of our families, but I know it must be difficult for Bea. She wants to be "big" like Natalie but she also reverts back to acting like a baby in order to compete with Dexter. I really REALLY hope that being in preschool and making her own friends helps her find her place. She's so sweet and special... and we love her more than 1000 dinosaurs on top of 1000 mountaintops.

All About Dex

Our (not so) little guy!

Dex's favorite things:

Food. He would eat bacon if I let him, but he's not too fond of green beans. Anything crinkley. Bag of M&M's = entertainment!
Laughing at his sisters. They can get him going faster than anyone else. The Snuggly. He wants to see the world!

The stats:

6 months old next week (agh!)
20 lbs, but feels like 40

Thumb sucker - currently prefers the left one

Part lizard (evidence above)

He is growing up so fast, which is good, because he's going to be the man of the house when Daddy's in the Academy!

The world is changing...

Natalie's First Day of Kindergarten!

Well, the day arrived. Natalie started kindergarten and I don't think she could have been more excited. She was racing ahead of us as we went to drop her off, and when I asked her if she wanted me to walk her into her class or if she wanted to go by herself, she picked going by herself. And she didn't even look back.

Bea had a hard time, though. She cried a little and told us that she wanted to go to school with Natalie. I felt so bad for her. Jay & I tried to explain that she would be going to her very own preschool in a month, but that means nothing in toddler-time. So instead we took her to Hobbes for lunch and shared a blueberry coffee cake with her. It helped ease the pain.

Natalie told me that her favorite part of school today was "meeting a new friend." She didn't remember the friend's name, but that's OK. I'm just happy that she had a good time. I can't believe we have to do this all over again tomorrow! It will be much easier when we move to this side of town in two weeks.

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So our world is a little crazy right now with the sale of the house (keep your fingers crossed), the move, school starting, the Academy starting, and trying to figure out what I'm going to do about work. Luckily they are all good changes. (Well, we'll see what happens with work.) I am just taking a deep breath and diving right in!! Not much else to do I suppose!

WHOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jay received his invitation to the October 15th CHP Academy yesterday!!

Congratulations, babe!!! We are all so proud of you and we know you will succeed.

Now drop and give me 50!

The Camp-out

The campout was a huge success! Even mommy got in on the fun (although I slept inside, where it was warm!)

Pink tents, campfires and smores... what more could two little girls ask for??

All the latest happenings

How can it be August already? I can't believe it. Really, there must be something wrong with the calendar.

We have good news! Jay has been accepted into the CHP Academy. He'll probably be mad at me for posting this because he hasn't received his official letter, but they did tell him over the phone, so that counts. We are really excited! October 15th will be here before we know it. The best part of this news is that Jay's closest friend Craig will also be going in October, so they can support each other and Craig's wife, Janet, and I can commiserate.

As usual we have a lot of things going on. We are never content to lead a quiet life. We currently have our house on the market and are hoping and praying that it sells before Jay has to leave for the Academy. Our house is adorable, if I do say so myself, but it's not in the best location so that might make it a little more difficult to sell. We have an open house tomorrow which means as soon as the kids go to bed tonight, I will be cleaning. Friday night par-tay!

Last night Jay and the girls had a backyard campout. They had a blast roasting marshmallows and sleeping in their little tents. I will post pictures of it as soon as I upload them. Yes, I know I'm already at the computer so I could do it now, but I'm feeling lazy.

Ok... the girls are fighting and Dexter is crying so I guess that means I need to wrap this up. Until next time!