And the Christmas season is upon us

Well sometimes the holidays can be as stressful as finals week. Trying to get everything caught up that has been neglected while in school, plus trying to get presents bought, wrapped, sent and a tree and cookies-it actually on occasion makes me want to run screaming into the night. But then I would be without my winerator! So really though, my sad little Christmas tree has decided to list to one side terribly, and is in danger of listing so far it ends up on the floor. I have started packing for our Christmas trip to Omaha and that is a whole day event, deciding what everyone needs-I am going with the least is the best idea. Savannah turned one on Sunday, where did that time go? Her brothers each got her some small presents and we will celebrate in Omaha with my brother and his family and my Mom and Stepdad so she will have the party feel. I will update once we are home so until then have a Merry Christmas.

Finals are Over!!!

Well I made it out of the first semester of nursing school with 2 A's and 2 B's and thankful for that. My last final was so hard, Pharmacology caught a lot of us off guard and the study guide they gave to us really had nothing to do with what we were tested on so I thank my lucky stars for passing the class. So the stress level has decreased quite a bit around our house. Of course our house wouldn't be our house with a little stress though, Savannah has 4 more teeth coming in and her ears are bugging her, Jack has the croup, and Tristan is on antibiotics for a UTI. Fortunately, so far, the dogs haven't thrown up on anything, but there is still time. On that note, they ate poor Tristan's pine cone bird feeder that he made at cub scouts. We hung it up on our palm tree in the backyard, the dogs had to scale it to get to it, and there is really nothing left but the core of the pine cone. Don't put anything past one of our dogs to get to peanut butter. Poor Tristan was broken hearted when he found out that he had not fed some poor hungry bird but two 90 pound labs instead! Ahhhh, such is life at the Yerger house. I got the little ones pictures back from their school on Friday so am posting scans of those. I promise that the real ones look so much better, not sure why they aren't coming out so well but you get a great idea. I am using these as Savannah's One Year Pictures. Can you believe it's been basically a year since she was born? I can't. Where did the last year go, oh yeah I forgot a trans-Pacific move, a husband to Iraq, nursing school, kids in soccer and cub scouts, and here we are. Funny how quickly time flies.

Santa is almost here

And we went and sat on the big guys lap. Tristan asked me while we were in line, "Mom, is it going to be the real Santa?" And I told him that Santa can't be at every mall so he has helpers to collect all the information and relay it back to Santa so he should treat this person just like it's the real Santa no matter what. He peeked in the door to Santa's house and whispered to me, "Mom, it is the real Santa, I can tell!" He looked like the real Santa I have to admit, but I am sure a 7 year old would know better than me, so we'll go with his judgment on this one. Finals are upon me and I am proud to say that I am going into them with either 2 A's and 2 B's or 1 A and 3 B's, it's really close and I am not exactly sure, but am pretty happy at any rate. So now you all will know if I totatlly bomb the last test. I am sure everyone heard about the shooting in Omaha at the mall. My mom was in the mall-thankfully at the other end-when it happened. And my sister in law, with her two kids, was on the 3rd floor of Von Maur (the store where it happened) and left 20 minutes or so before the shooting occured. So God was watching out for our family and I just so thankful that everyone was okay. I have to go study and address about a 100 Christmas cards so that is all for now, enjoy the new pics.

Club Med and Thanksgiving

Club Med was awesome, but what's new. For those of you who have never gone to one, it is with my highest recommendation to try one out. They have them for people with kids and without so it doesn't matter to which group you belong. I personally like to go on holiday with my kids but not necessarily have to entertain them 100% of the time. This time however, I did have an alterior motive, a Pharmacology exam on Monday over 18 chapters, so I needed the extra me time. The food was good, although overseas I think has a better selection. The free flowing drinks for me and the bottomless smoothies for the kids were a huge hit. At the Sandpiper they have a circus school and both boys got to do the trapeze. It's an actual trapeze, way up in the air. After watching both boys do it, I decided I couldn't leave without at least an attempt at it. I have never been so scared. I couldn't get my legs to hook on but did complete a back flip to dismount. It took me 5 minutes to stop shaking. Tristan also RollerBladed, did archery, sailing, played tennis, soccer, swam and had a blast. Jack got horrible ulcers on his tongue and was not able to eat for 4 days, but still played tennis, golf, did the trapeze and swam. He was a little miserable though. Savannah had a blast playing and was in a beach babe show in a bikini which just makes me laugh to think about it. Tristan was in the kids hip hop show (the boy is white but they managed to teach him some moves anyway!) and the circus show the last night. They dressed them all up like monkeys and they were the opening act for the circus show, it was cute, they had a ball, and I have to say that the circus show was absolutely phenomenal. They were great. That's what I love about the place, it's full of people who love to have a good time and they truly care about hanging out with your kids. To all the ladies in the Peanuts room if you are reading this, thanks again, I couldn't have gotten as much done without feeling that Savannah was being well taken care of, you all do a fantastic job and it is really appreciated. To everyone else, enjoy the pictures and videos and hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we sure did. We are down to the last couple weeks of school so the push is on to finish strong. I am counting down the days until December 13th at 1000, then I am done for 3 1/2 weeks.

Jack's last soccer game and Mom's birthday

Well, it's been a crazy couple of weeks here at the Yerger house. First Cappie (Jaesen's Dad) came for a visit. The kids loved having him here as they each got a whole lot more attention, and he helped out with some odd jobs I had piling up around here. I think he had fun soaking all of them up as well. Then we tag teamed out and my Mom came in for my birthday and baked me a cake which was awesome. It was a whirlwind weekend with her here and again the kids had a blast with someone else here other than just Mom! Jack had his last soccer game, and he actually played in it and had fun. Go figure it took all season for him to enjoy the game. After the game we went to the park and put Savannah in the swing and she had a ball. Wish we had a nice park closer to our house. I will add another post soon about our Thanksgiving holiday and Club Med, so keep watching! School is keeping me busy, especially now as we are in the last push before finals and all. Can't wait for Christmas break. I forgot how crazy school is.

Is it really November?

And here it is almost halfway through November and I am still stuck on October. All is well here on the homefront. Savannah is pulling up on the coffee table and bear walking down the hall. Cappie (my father in law, John) is here to visit and the kids are soaking up as much attention as possible. Soccer is almost over, Tristan is done and this week Jack will be too. Thank goodness since he doesn't like to play in the games anyway! School is on the downhill slope for the semester and we are getting ready to bid for classes for next semester already. We are headed to Club Med in Port St. Lucie, Florida for Thanksgiving and Tristan's birthday and I can't wait for a little break. Other than that it's actually slightly on the boring side as far as news is concerned, Jaesen is well, back from another excursion out into the belly of the beast we know as Iraq. We are starting to see the flip side as we are eagerly anticipating the new year and his return to all of us. Other than that am posting two new pics from us, hope everyone is well, our love to all. Stacy

The Blues were in town

Well so I broke down and took the 3 kids to Jax Beach to the Blue Angels along with some other cool planes for the Sea and Sky Show. It is always a chore to pack up all three of them, especially when I know it's going to be packed. It was a beautiful day here, a high of 71 degrees. It was packed, but we were able to find a table for lunch, I paid to go in the VIP area, which was well worth it, and we found front row seats in the shade. The angels were watching over me. Plus I got to drink a beer and a half as we got drink tickets, and I let each of the boys have a Sprite, they thought it was Christmas! They liked most of the shows, but kept asking for the Blue Angels. Savannah was rocking out to the music over the loudspeakers, I think she is going to be our hard rock girl, she was jamming to AC/DC, Van Halen and others, the girl just loves to get her groove on. They also had this cool bounce house, obstacle course blow up thing called the Kiddie Hawk which the kids loved, because they related it right to Dad on the Kitty Hawk. We all got a bit sunburned though, I just wasn't thinking about sunscreen in November, I will have to remember that I am in Florida now. Savannah went for her ear appointment today. I got the lecture from the doctor that he doesn't like to put tubes in kids ears for the sake of putting tubes in ears and yada yada yada. He finally looked in her ears, put down the scope, stared at me and said, "She is going to have to have tubes put in her ears." Sometimes I would like to smack the doctor. Like, duh! So we are waiting on the scheduler to get back from holiday to find out the surgery dates availability. It seems a little odd that they have only one scheduler for the whole group there, I mean it is the hospital for the Navy in NE Florida, you would think they could find someone to fill in for a week, but it is the Navy after all, I guess we can't go that far in deluding ourselves. At any rate, I am about burned out on school and am trying to pump myself up for the last couple weeks here before finals. Christmas break can't come fast enough for me. The weather has turned cooler (finally) and soccer is almost over (thank God!) maybe we can get Jack to play in his final two games (but I won't hold my breath!)

Crazy Halloween Night

Well thank God that's over. I really need Jaesen here for Halloween, it is his favorite holiday and all. The kids wanted so badly to carve pumpkins and I said of course, but dear God, can you imagine trying to carve pumpkins with 3 kids all yelling at you, knives, and yucky pumpkin seeds? At any rate we succeeded in carving 3 pumpkins which promptly rotted in the Jacksonville heat. Boy was I glad we spent time on that activity! I was a bit worried about where we would actually go trick or treat, our subdivision is only about half completed so not too many homes, but I opted to stay here anyway. The kids had a ball and most of the houses gave out handfuls of candy so they got plenty. And our poor koala bear fell asleep sitting up in the wagon. By 7 we were back home gorging on candy and trying to max out our blood sugar levels. All in all a great time, but I will be glad to have Jaesen home next year to help with the chaos!

Halloween Spooktacular Night

The zoo here in town has this great halloween bash several of the nights before Halloween. They have characters there like Geoffrey the giraffe and the Jacksonville jaguar, candy stations and the whole place is lit up with pumpkins and cool lights. At some of the stations they give out various glow in the dark items, masks, blinking pins, it was all pretty cool. It started at 6:30 and so I thought leaving by 6:10 would be great, especially since we were forecast for thunderstorms and Georgia and Florida were still playing in a huge SEC matchup here in Jax. That wonderful theory ended as we saw the police lights in the distance and the large line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot! All in all it wasn't too bad and we were through the gates by 6:35. I felt like I was at DisneyWorld in July. Once we got through the front area where people were confused on where to go we were fine. The kids had a blast and they enlist lots of people (all dressed in great costumes), there were singers everywhere, free chocolate milk-who couldn't get enough of that?, bouncy houses and slides and my personal favorite-funnel cakes! We were even lucky enough to find Savannah's binky that she dropped in the bouncy house area-kudos to Tristan to looking around the chocolate milk stand. So we exited with 4 glow in the dark necklaces, 3 glowing bouncy balls, 2 flashing pumpkins, 7 stick masks, popcorn, candy, and a lot of smiles so I guess I would chalk it to being a success. Jaesen, they had loads of fog machines! Another thing that happened this past week was that Tristan earned his first badge and belt loop for cub scouts, he did a great job and we are on our way to earning more good stuff too. Today we had soccer-in the pouring rain. Tristan was first and they got soaked, well we all did, because I am the mom who has to be there watching and of course that means we are all there watching. Poor Jack was huddled under a blanket trying to eat a soggy sausage biscuit, Savannah was soaked because she kept ducking out from her cover in the stroller and I was trying to juggle her, the food, an umbrella and watch Tristan. I must have been fairly comical as the McDonald's bag tore from being so wet, my coffee cup was mostly full of water and the water was dripping off the umbrella down my backside. Tristan did score 3 goals so it was worth it. And so that brings to a close another week in the Yerger house, next week is Halloween, wish me luck!!!

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Well today was the day I had been promising the kids. We made it to the corn maze and pumpkin patch. I really had forgotten what it was like to take children to an open area where they can run. Without alternate adult supervision (i.e.-Jaesen!) I found myself to be in a constant race. I still haven't figured out what exactly I was racing but it involved children, tractors, mazes, cow trains, pumpkins and corn. I did get to sit down exactly twice, and once was even on a nice swing that they had in the middle of the farm. I could sort of keep one eye on Jack in the corn pool, and one eye on Tristan on the pedal cars and Savannah and I just sat and sat and sat, swinging in the shade. The other time involved a little cow train which I literally had to squeeze myself into and to get out, Tristan had to hold Savannah so I could unwedge myself from Bessie! Savannah loved the hay, she touched it, sat in it, tasted it, and examined it. She even picked out some pumpkins for herself. All in all it was a pretty good day but I was sure glad when we left. And just think next year Savannah will be running around too!

We have a crawler!

Well that girl is finally mobile. Everyday she is getting quicker on her hands and knees and has even sat and contemplated those stairs lately. Had to take Tristan to the ER the other night as he was bit by 4 fire ants and had a horrible allergic reaction to it. His ears almost swelled shut, his back was one giant hive, you couldn't even distinguish between them. Once he complained of his neck hurting we were off to the ER, didn't want to mess with that. He is fine though, on some steroids now. I finished up the last of my tests in the hard 2 1/2 weeks and so far have passed everything. We head to the hospital for our first clinical on Thursday, should be fun. I am really looking forward to it. Love to all of you. Stacy

Learning how to upload video

Okay so I hope this works, it's a cute video of Tristan making Savannah laugh.

My Little Koala Bear

Well I had to try Savannah's Halloween costume on and she looked so cute that I had to take a picture. I realized I may never get her all the way in it again as she can't stand the headpiece, but she makes a cute roly poly koala bear. The week is again flying by, in the next 12 days I have 4 tests, a quiz, two huge case studies to complete and a simulation of the big techniques before we head to clinicals (I.V. insertion and piggyback, foley catheter, different types of injections, nasogastric tubes, central line care and the list goes on and on). I can't wait until another two weeks from now. We had Savannah's 9 month well baby yesterday and she is still battling with ear infections, they actually now think that she has had the same infection for about 3 1/2 months now and it just isn't really going away. So we have been referred to ENT for further review and possible talks about ear tubes. The doctor looked at me though and said, "You do realize that your child is the size of an 18 month to 2 year old?" I wanted to say, really, no kidding, I never realized that she dwarfed kids her own age and could probably suffocate them if she accidentally sat on them! But she is tall for her age too so it's not just the buddha rolls on her. Although she does have a lot in common with the Great Buddha in Kamakura, maybe we will post a picture of that for comparison. It has been raining a lot down here in Florida and so we headed out to an indoor play area where they have the inflatable bounce houses and slides. It was a lot of fun for the kids and Savannah even got in on the action riding around in a Cozy Coupe Car. The only problem was she kept falling through the bottom. Fortunately, she is such a good sport about everything. Heard from Jaesen he is doing well and promising some pictures of his latest adventure, a week camping trip out in the bush. Or something along those lines. So keep tuned for the update. Well it's off to study time for me, take care, until next time.

Time for a new update I suppose

Well I couldn't let the Potas family get ahead of me by too much here so have to get another post in myself. The kids are all doing great. It was another soccer Saturday here. Tristan continued his goal scoring streak, big surprise. And Jack, well then there's Jack. I told him that he didn't have to play anymore, but he still had to go and cheer on his team. I also told him that if he wanted to play he needed to tell his coach and if he wanted to come off the field to calmly tell his coach he needed to leave. So he didn't play the whole first half, no big deal. Halfway through the second half he played as a little girl from his team got injured. He did great, laughed when he fell down, bonked heads with someone and got back up, almost scored a goal, he was so close. Then I think he got tired. He came over to me sort of crying (read faking) and I kissed his hand and said he needed to tell Coach Chuck he was hurt and needed to go out. He did and sat on his bench and finished cheering on his team to a crushing loss, something like 147-2. I have never wished a game to be over like I did this one. I just wanted to make it through a game without a meltdown, and we succeeded. I was so proud! During this I was also able to watch Tristan score two goals on the next field over and that was pretty awesome. This week went quickly, kind of like all of the others, school, soccer, cub scouts, studying, chores, life. We are now in high pitched fury to find Jack his Halloween costume as the rest of us have ours. We are going as Steve and Terri Irwin (the Croc Hunter), that will be Tristan and I and Savannah will be a koala bear. Jack wanted to be a crocodile/alligator and I can't believe that I cannot find a costume for him. So note to anyone out there if you see an alligator costume, size 4-6, let me know immediately!! Savannah is trying so hard to move, she does a great backwards crawl and pivots on her knee to anywhere in the house she wants to go. But forward just isn't happening for her, soon she will be tearing up the race track but as of now we are still semi-safe. Until next time, je mata ne.

Time Flies

Yes, time indeed does go fast not just when you are having fun, but also in school with 3 kids! I just had my second round of tests and boy am I glad that those are over. I have found out 2 of the 4 grades and got A's but it's my nursing concepts class that is giving me the most grief. The test was real hard and what's worse, I don't know if I could have studied any different to get a better grade. News around here: we had another round of soccer games. Tristan scored so many goals I lost count, he says it was 5. Jack scored 1 before he threw a fit and left the field. It seems that the coaches were blowing the whistle at him as he was trying to score another goal and they made him stop to bring the ball back and it hurt his feelings so he was done for the day. Ahhhhh, to be 4. Thanks but no thanks! Grandpa came for a visit and got his fill of reading books, playing games like Sorry and Trouble and catching up on his cartoons and kid movies with the kids. The boys were especially sad to see him go and they were very mopey yesterday. Savannah is still thinking about crawling, but since she can roll everywhere, why on earth would she want to crawl? Still the happiest baby on the planet, nothing can get her down. Her little 4 tooth grin is too cute and she keeps the rest of us laughing. Tristan is rolling along in Cub Scouts too and is a Tiger Cub and has already memorized all of his promises, mottos, oaths, and whatever extraneous information he can put his hands on. He is already pumped up to start the advancement process and we have only been involved for 2 weeks. Was able to talk to Jaesen today, he sounds good, pretty tired though, he's been putting in some long hours. He is drinking his Dunkin Donuts coffee though that Mom sent him and is loving life. It's all about the little things. And on that note, Jack who has had a really bad couple of weeks has had a wonderful two days, listening, being a bit nicer to his brother and not crying when I drop him off in the morning. It's all about the little things.

Super Soccer Saturday

Yes, I know most of you will say, no it's super football Saturday, but in the Yerger neck of the woods we are fully engrossed in soccer and today we had our first games. Tristan was up first at 1130. I had no idea that the boy was a genetically altered soccer superstar. Although it should be in his genes, you just never can tell. He scored between four and five goals and I stopped counting, plus by that time Jack's game had started on the next field over and I felt like a bobblehead trying to watch them both. Jack scored two goals and kept yelling, Mom you need to watch me! Unfortunately a parent on the sidelines of Jack's game had a seizure about 5 minutes into their game so they were delayed and cut short, which is really okay for 4 and 5 year olds anyway. It all went pretty well and everyone is racked out now, tired from their first day. I think Jack liked the ambulance the best and Tristan probably enjoyed the hamburger from the concession stand but all in all it was a success. Savannah has popped tooth #3 and is threatening to crawl, although her favorite mode of transportation (besides me) is rolling herself from one side of the house to the other. No one is safe and the dogs find themselves hiding in strategic locations, like under the table or outside. School is keeping me very busy, it feels like flight school again, but a bit harder with all the kids and my tag team partner so far away right now. We talk to him all the time via email and phone, it really is amazing the technology these days, I just don't know how people did it in the past. We already feel like there is a hole in our lives without Jaesen here and without the constant chatter with him it would be so much more difficult. Ah, but look at me getting philosophical, at least I can hog the whole king size bed, watch my shows and not have to hear him say, you're going to bed now, but it's only 9:30? Plus the kids are happy with grilled cheeses and oatmeal a lot more than he is :) Ba, I know you are reading this, I love you!!!! Other exciting news, our big watersnake is back in the pond, and my first two tests are on Monday. I have to go study now, enjoy all the new pictures, there are ones of Jaesen here too that he just sent me the other day.

Labor Day

Well I think my weekends are going to feel even busier than weekdays. We had to run Savannah to the doctor this Saturday because her eyes were still a bit goopy and turns out she had a chest cold, a head cold that moved to her eyes, a double ear infection and then her top two teeth decided that this was the time they should arrive. I don't know how that girl ever keeps a smile on her face. Jack had his own agenda which included throwing up in my bed at 130 am Saturday night or rather Sunday morning. So I cleaned my bed, the carpet, got him back to bed, but then cloroxed the two bathrooms and mopped the floors before I decided he wasn't going to get sick anymore so I should head to bed myself. Needless to say I have been taking a bunch of naps! We were able to talk with Jaesen at length the other day and he entertained the boys with all the stories of the wonderful desert creatures he has encountered so far. Other than that I can't wait to get back to school tomorrow, it might actually be more relaxing. Am showing off some pics of the kids on their Rody's, plastic horses that we bought in Japan, a picture of Jaesen that he sent over and Savannah's first try at feeding herself-it's a good thing that we have dogs that could pass for a high quality vacuum.

Jaesen phoned from Iraq

Well we have actually heard from him several times in short little calls to let us know that he is doing fine. The funniest thing he has told me is one day we were talking and he said he was drinking his 9th gallon of water. Now if you know Jaesen, you know that he doesn't drink water, coke, yes, coffee, gallons, sweet tea, definitely, but plain old ordinary water, never! He said that there were pallets and pallets around the base and the troops walk from pallet to pallet to get their gallon of water and walk off to the next pallet maybe a five minute walk and get another and they walk across base this way. Of course I guess you have to when it's 130 degrees and you are in full battle uniform. Their flight into Kuwait took them almost 24 hours I guess and they stopped in Bangor, Maine where the local USO members lined the halls as the Marines and Sailors unloaded from the plane for a couple hour pit stop. He said it was very moving to have all these folks out there to welcome them and then send them on their way. I am still waiting to hear that he is all the way safe and sound at his new home over there and will let everyone know when I do hear something. On a much lighter note: Savannah is trying so hard to crawl and doing a lot of rocking on her hands and one knee. Tristan is reading a lot of books now and loving school and Jack is creating wonderful stories for me about what he does at school during the day. School has started for me now too and there is a lot of reading, hopefully I can stay on top of it all and not go too insane here. Love to all!

First Days of School

Well the first day of school went okay for everyone. Although Jack did ask me why I was taking so long to pick him up. He seems to be having a good time, even though they make him take a nap everyday. Thank goodness for the rest of us!! Tristan is sitting at the same table as severaly kids from his Kindergarten class last year so he is having a good time. Poor Savannah is taking it the hardest being away from Mom for so long everyday. She cries everytime I pick her up. It makes it that much more fun to pick them all up though. On the up side, I have gotten more done in this week than I have in the past 2 months I think. We had our last talks with Jaesen while he was still stateside and are now awaiting word on his safe landing over in the land of heat and sand. The boys are taking it really hard and the misbehavior has been rather elevated the last week, but it is always this way during a deployment cycle, in another week all will have settled down into their routine of a Mom only run household. Please keep Jaesen in your thoughts and prayers and I will send updates as I receive them. Thanks!

Go Vikings!

Okay so maybe Savannah is too young to appreciate the Helga helmet, the official head gear of any true Minnesota fan, but someday she will be begging for me to pull it out for her! And until then I can look fondly at my pictures of her yanking it off her head in disgust. Ahhhhh summer is coming to a close and after the day we have had school can't come quick enough. We have loaded up on last minute activities though, we hit the beach with some friends, went to the base pool today which the kids had been begging to go to all summer long. It has a huge waterslide and although you have to take a swim test both boys passed with flying colors. Jack got a bit nervous at the top and had to walk down once but got up his nerve, and once he went down once we couldn't get him off the slide. It almost felt balmy here today at 91, but since we have had over 100 degree days almost constantly lately a drop of 5-10 degrees is bound to make a difference. Ja mata ne!

9th Anniversary

Well holy cow, who would have believed that Jaesen and I would hold out for 9 years without one of us killing the other? Just kidding, it's really hard to believe we have been together for 10 years. Where did the time all go? At any rate we haven't spent too many of these days together, but he still manages to send beautiful flowers from wherever he is. The kids and I are just going to hang out together a bit today and not do too much, just chilling out. Yesterday I decided to take all 3 of them to the Thomas the train saves the day on stage. Actually it turned out to be okay, especially since it was a day show so they could make some noise without disturbing others. And to be honest, they were some of the better behaved kids there. I must be doing something right! So thanks Ba for the flowers, I love you!

Well here it is Sunday night and I have nothing better to do than create a blog for our family. I am hoping this will keep people up to date with us a bit better. Jaesen was able to make it back for about a 36 hour visit this weekend. We had a great time, pretty much doing nothing, although we did manage to drink a bit!! We actually tried to celebrate our anniversary as it is the closest to our anniversary we have spent together in several years. We have 8 days until school starts for the munchkins and one week later it's my turn. Everyone take care.