Concerns.

I told you all that once political season started I would blog more! On a quick side note, if any one is curious, we found a place to live. I will post about that later.

I am concerned about McCain's choice of a running mate. I haven't really poked around for much information, and what little information I have gotten have been from Internet news sites (like Yahoo news, I just haven't had the time to really sit down and read much). But, from what I understand, Palin is really not qualified to be the V.P.! I mean, for one, she is young and inexperienced. She is only 44 and has only been in a major public office for 2 years. That's nothing! That's hardly enough time to figure out what the heck is going on. Secondly, many of the sites I have read have simply been talking about what a good choice she is because of her pro-life stance. One site applauded her for keeping her baby even after she found out he had Downs Syndrome. That's awesome. I'm all for pro-life and not killing our children (especially for dumb reasons like Downs Syndrome), but lots of people have that stance. Heck, I'm pro-life and I would never abort a child, but that doesn't make me qualified to be our V.P. (and with McCain's age, possible President).

Of course, I still have to read a lot more and do a lot more research, but I feel like McCain kind of blew it here. I just wish that the Evangelical majority was more concerned with the bigger picture than simply the abortion debate. But, that is another discussion for another time.

I'm off to class (yes, Saturday class on a holiday weekend...grrrr...).

Teaching moments.

I love being a mom (yes, my two year old no longer calls me 'mommy', I'm officially 'mom'). It gives me the opportunity to teach my son about everything I can. I love finding the little teaching moments throughout the day and explaining things to Nathaniel. I love watching the look on his face when I point out something new to him.

Sure, he's two and he doesn't always "get" it, but I know that if I continue to use these teaching moments throughout his life he will remember that mom and daddy (yeah, Sam is still 'daddy', go figure) took the time to explain new concepts to him.

Last night Nathaniel turned on the t.v. and the Democratic National Convention was on (it was on half of our channels...). It was just starting and Stevie Wonder was performing. I left it on for a minute and I sat down with Nathaniel and pointed out that Stevie Wonder couldn't see, but even though he couldn't see he was still able to play the piano and perform in front of thousands of people. I used that moment to tell Nathaniel that no matter what comes up against him in life, he can't use that as an excuse to not do something (of course, I simplified it). Then later, we watched Barack Obama's speech (I figured I couldn't pass up a historical moment like that, poor Nathaniel, it was long). I pointed out that Barack Obama was running for President and that this was a big deal. I didn't explain why it was a big deal (how do you explain race to a two year old? He doesn't see the difference between people, and I'm going to keep it that way as long as possible) but it was cool for Nathaniel to point to the screen and say, "President!".

All of that to say, I love teaching my kid. I love that there are so many opportunities throughout the day to point out things to my kid. Teaching him how to cross the street; how to count and read; how to pray and how to treat others. I can only hope that I'm teaching him well.

On another brief note: Election season is upon us! Sam and I are still undecided about who to vote for so expect various blogs about candidates and where they stand. It's kind of our way of processing. I'm excited. I'm not usually political, but I love researching where the candidates stand on certain issues and figuring out if they actually have a plan or if they are all rhetoric (think universal health care. Sounds great, but how the heck are they going to implement it and not have everything all go to pot?). Stay tuned!

It's time for some Campaigning

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Let the hunting begin!

I forgot how much I loathe moving. Even though the sick, type A side of me loves getting reorganized and going through our crap, there is something about looking at apartments and packing up everything that makes me want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head. Yet, when I remove the covers there is usually a 2 year old staring at me demanding my attention. So, we drive on with life.

We looked at two places today. Unfortunately, the second place (which is roomier than the first place) is simply not going to work out for us. There is the whole "too expensive" reason, but then there is the whole "managers don't seem to know what is going on" reason and the random dead fish smell permeating throughout the property. I really loved the size though, and the air conditioning unit was in a perfect spot, but everything else just didn't sit well with me in the end. Plus, they wanted to charge 50 dollars a month extra for the cats on top of a deposit for them. Sam and I have agreed that unless they are going to come in and scoop my cat litter out and feed the cats, there is no point in paying extra. What would they use the money for anyways?

So, tomorrow we are going to look at two more places and then make our decision based off the ones we deem live-able. The first place we saw today was just a little small. The stairway itself was really narrow, and the second bedroom didn't look like it would fit a bed and a crib. Plus, the half bathroom downstairs was itty-bitty and right off of the dining room. Kind of gross!

School started, but it's nothing to really post about yet. I have to go do homework. Blech!

The inevitable is coming...

For the past 8 months there has been this rain cloud looming over our heads. This giant dark question mark of, "What is going to happen?" The people who own the apartment we rent have gotten into some financial difficulty and it looks like the bank will be foreclosing soon. So, Sam and I had a decision to make. Do we move or do we stick around and hope for the best?

Well, with Sam's upcoming deployment and the upcoming baby, and the fact that we won't be moving to a different state in June anymore, we have decided that it's time to look for a new place to live.

Ugh. I hate moving. We have moved nearly every year since we have been married. That is 5 different addresses! But, I don't want to be here by myself when the bank comes knocking on my door telling me I have 60 days to get out so it makes logical sense for Sam and I to move together in October. Especially since Sam isn't in school and will have the time to pack.

So, when Sam gets back we are going to start looking for places to live. Since we have time, this will be nice. I really want to live close to church still. Nearly everyone I know lives around here and it makes driving to people's places more convenient.

There are some pros about moving out of a place that is foreclosing.
1. We don't' have to worry about cleaning the place when we leave. As long as our landlords don't mind, we won't have to clean the carpet or dust or scour or anything, let the bank deal with it!
2. If there is anything we don't want, we can just leave it and let the bank deal with it.
3. We are guaranteed our deposit back (I think) since the bank doesn't have our deposit! Woot!

Of course, if the landlords want us to clean and stuff, we will. We really like them, they are great friends.

Sigh. Here we go again. We'll keep you updated with our moving progress.

Sea World photos and updates.

Well, I still haven't gotten my camp pictures back since someone still has my camera card. I'm hoping to get it back by this weekend. I just need to bug the person more :).

I can post our vacation pictures though and I have some great ones to share. One of my ultimate favorites is Nathaniel with a giant forkful of spaghetti being shoveled into his mouth. It is pretty cute.

Life has been okay since Sam left yesterday morning. Nathaniel has been pretty easy going. I actually had work and a doctor's appt. yesterday and today was beach day so we've been pretty busy. Tomorrow I am going to work for a few hours, but I have to take the kiddo with me. It's a bit easier and he will usually play pretty well while I get some stuff done. I just need to work on my teaching for Sunday and start proofing a Bible Study that we are handing out to the kids for the 40 Days of Community our church is starting next month.

I realized I haven't posted much about the pregnancy. I have started feeling the little one kick around a bit. Today I felt definite movement, which was exciting. I have had some more morning sickness and I think it's the cereal I've been eating. I am going to try one more morning of Kix to see if that's it, and if it is, Sam and Nathaniel will be finishing off that cereal. It's too bad that it was on sale for 2.50 a box... I am officially 16 weeks and have made the big ultra sound appointment for the end of September. Sam will get to be there (and so will Nathaniel) which will be exciting. It will be nice to share this moment with someone this time around. The technician and doctor didn't seem to be as excited as I was last time.

That's about it. Here is the slide show of our family vacation!

Returning to the land of blogger.

Well, I'm finally home from running around for over a week. Everything was great fun, but now I'm fighting off a cold and trying desperately to get better, especially since Sam is leaving (again) tomorrow for SRP (Soldier Readiness Process) for a few days and I want to be productive while he's gone.

Since someone has still not returned my camera memory card (grrrr....) I will have to wait to post pictures from camp, but I still want to give some highlights of my two trips.

Hume Lake:
Camp was amazing! Of course there were the normal stresses of being in charge of 26 kids and 3 leaders, but other than that, it was awesome. The main speaker really held the kids' attentions, which was great. Especially since the theme of camp was doctrine and I knew it would be difficult to get junior high students excited about doctrine (even I was yawning at the mention of the theme). He did a great job discussing God, sin, sanctification, etc. without using any big words and really challenged the students to live authentic lives.

My favorite night was Thursday night. It had been a long week for me. Some of our boys were being real jerks and some of my girls were just not getting the purpose for camp. I was tired of not sleeping well and had spent the majority of my free time dealing with drama of some kind or another (kids getting bullied, our kids bullying other kids, leader drama, etc.). However, on Thursday night John (the speaker) really challenged our students to live lives that were completely surrendered to Christ. He explained clearly what it meant to "deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him." He explained that becoming a Christian meant denying the things that you desire and doing the things that God desires. He then invited the students to commit to living for Christ. As students stood up to make that commitment he challenged them to do it because they really wanted to, not because it was something that their friends were doing. Imagine my delight (and tears, I am pregnant, after all) when some of the kids who had been acting out all week seriously stood up. Of 25 students (one had to go home early during the week because she was flying home to Japan) 14 stood up. One of those students (a girl who got to go last minute due to someone dropping out on Friday) decided that she wanted to become a Christian. It was a great night and it really made everything worth it.

I will update with pictures of camp and stories of fun free time activities later.

San Diego/Sea World
After a super long and hot bus trip back from Hume (the air conditioner sucked and it was over 90 degrees on our bus) I got home, Sam did a load of laundry, and we headed down to San Diego. On Sunday (our 6th wedding anniversary) we went to Sea World. It was a lot of fun to watch Nathaniel experience the dolphins and the whales and other animals. We sat up front for the Shamu show and Nathaniel did not enjoy being splashed. He cried so hard! But, then he was fine and was his happy little self again. We had a hotel near the park so during nap time we headed back to the hotel so that Nathaniel could nap (I napped too). I think the highlight of the day was watching the Beluga whales swimming. They were playing around and kept swimming right next to the glass window. While they were doing that one of the whales pooped, which answered the age old question from the book "Everyone Poops", "What does whale poop look like?"

Yesterday we drove around San Diego and went to the Gas Lamp district to walk around and eat lunch. We got coffee from the Ghiradelli store and Nathaniel got chocolate milk, which was so sweet that he then proceeded to bounce off the walls for about 20 minutes. We are great parents (I didn't drink coffee, I had the drinking chocolate. Yum!). We got home around 4 yesterday afternoon and I spent the rest of the evening on the couch because I felt terrible. I will post pictures from that trip later.

Overall, we are tired but rested at the same time. We got some great family time, which was much needed since we really haven't spent any time together this summer. An update on Sam's deployment: He is leaving November 17th for some training, he gets 4 days leave for Thanksgiving and then he's gone. I'm actually happy that he's leaving earlier because it means he'll miss less of our second child's life.

Sorry for the marathon update, it's 8am and my whole household is still sleeping! That is rare! Glad to be back on the net!

updates (which means randomness)

While normally "no news is good news" is how the mantra goes, in the Grummons' household it isn't necessarily the case. Things are okay, but it's just been a really stressful week. Sam goes on duty on Dec. 1st, but we don't know what that means exactly. Is that pre-deployment training? Is that "wheels up" on the way to Kosovo (or Bosnia, wherever it is "they" are sending him)? Who knows. All we know is that yesterday was the sad day where Sam walked all over campus withdrawing himself from classes, and dealing with idiots. But...I could write a whole post on the idiot workers at Biola so we'll save that for another day.

Other than the immanent deployment lurking over our heads, things have been okay. The empty apartment next door was infested with fleas and our landlord bombed the crap (can I say crap on my blog?) out of them, so they have decided to try to use our place as a refugee camp. Needless to say, we are not friendly to the little guys so beware if you are our neighbors. The fleas will soon be making their ways to you. Along with the ants we poisoned, I noticed that they were making their pilgrimage next door last night!

I've been super busy playing catch up at work while Sam gets to experience the joys of being a stay at home dad. He told me he was bored today (and had the laundry done and the bathroom cleaned to prove it!). I told him welcome to my world.

Camp is Sunday through Saturday. I am super excited and a little apprehensive. Let's just say that 6 days with 26 Jr. High students will be both amazing and difficult. Pray. Especially for the students. I tend to have less of a filter when I'm pregnant and have been known to make small children cry...eep!

I'll update again either right before I go or when we get back (which will be around the 19th because we're going to San Diego straight after camp). Cheers!