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August 6, 2003
August 5, 2003
To say that I have been staying busy would be an understatement for sure. I have always considered myself able to handle stress well. That is, until now. Living my life two states away from my husband, working nearly full-time and taking care of all four of our children has started to take it’s toll on me. Welcome to the real world right? My only glimmer of hope is knowing that Mark will be here in a little less than three weeks. I’m so ready for a “normal” life again. I can feel the gray hairs growing in as I type. ;0)
Through all of the added stress, I must note that my parents have been wonderful to us. Growing up they would always think of fun, spur of the moment things for us to do. Which usually turned into treasured memories for us all. I can remember waking up one morning as a little girl and my mom telling me that we were going to see a mouse today. I looked at her funny and said “a mouse”? She answered “yeah, Mickey Mouse”! My brother and I danced around our rooms thrilled to no end and I’ll never forget how excited we were. At the time we lived in California, so we got to visit Disneyland fairly often. But this day seemed much more special because they let us skip school just to go have fun and make a family memory.
Since the kids and I have been here, my parents have come up with endless ideas on how to get out of the house and have fun. The first week we were here they took us to a place much like Chuck E. Cheese called Springfield’s Incredible Pizza Company. After eating from the buffet we took the kids into the game area which was one of the largest I’d ever seen. Not only did they have every game you could possibly think of, they had a mini go-cart track and bumper cars too. Then on the other side of this gigantic room was a huge jungle-gym area with slides and ball pits much like the ones you find at Chuck E. Cheese. I had forgotten to bring the double stroller that night so that we could push Matthew and Christian around. Instead we had to all take turns holding each of them. Matthew is harder to hold on to because he is so big and he doesn’t walk well. But we all had such a great time there and I promised the kids that we would go again sometime after daddy moved back.
Each week we find fun things to do to keep us all entertained and sane. One day we went to Bass Pro Shop and walked the entire place, just for fun. My kids had never been in there so they enjoyed looking at all of the big boats for sale and we even got to climb up inside of one and check it out. Then we walked down into an underground auditorium where you can view the big fish in the tanks. The kids really liked that and we let Christian and Matthew get out of the stroller and walk around awhile.
This past Thursday we decided to go and see an IMAX movie at the theater here in Branson. We decided on Legends and Legacies of the Ozarks. It was filmed here in the Ozarks and tells a story about the family history of a violin that was passed down through generations. It really touches on the importance of family and God and before I knew it I was bawling. Oh please! What a sap I am! Autumn and Gabriel really enjoyed it and they had never seen an IMAX before so it was a treat. After the show we walked out into the mall area to have some lunch. One of my mom’s friends came over to say hello. She is one of the managers there and asked us if we’d like tickets to go see Finding Nemo. I had already taken the kids to see it when it first came out, but my parents hadn’t seen it yet. So we grabbed our lunch and took it into the theater and ate in the dark. I have no idea what I had...but it sure was good. :0) My mom ended up walking Christian around until he fell sleep and I held Matthew on my lap and he fell asleep too. So, we all got to enjoy the movie with out distraction and it was just as good the second time around.
On Saturday and Sunday I work down at the hotel cleaning rooms. I like this time away because I get to work with some really great ladies. We always find the funniest things to talk about and end up laughing our butts off. I just know that we’ll end up waking up the guests one morning with our roars of laughter. We usually spend the early part of the morning loading our carts with clean sheets, pillow cases, towels, soaps etc. Then once the guests start checking out, we’re off to clean up their messes. I have been pretty lucky so far and haven’t had to clean up too much of a mess in the rooms. The guests who have young children always have little goodies left in the room for me. The first week I worked in housekeeping I cleaned a room where a little girl had left raisins, banana chips, fruit snacks and cereal EVERYWHERE. I found them under the bed, behind the desk, on the bathroom floor and a few in the sheets. It’s a good thing I had already had breakfast or I would have had a smorgasbord to choose from. Ha ha ha!
One night my parents decided to go on a date to escape the madness. ;0) While they were gone I went downstairs to start a load of laundry. In that short amount of time, Matthew squeezed his way into the kitchen (we have it blocked off with a chair on it’s side because none of my safety gates will fit there) he grabbed a banana from off of the counter and walked back into the living room. He proceeded to mash and chew on the “unpeeled” banana until it covered his clothes, the floor and the big TV pillow he was sitting on. I came back upstairs and immediately thought that he had pooped and then ripped off his diaper, which is something he does do once in awhile. But the thought of him actually eating it AND smearing it from here to China was another story. I made the most horrid face as I knelt down and began to sniff him and the floor. I was prepared for the god-awful smell of crap...when my nose was greeted with the sweet smell of banana. I looked up at him and said “Matthew!!!!” and he smiled his famous grin while still trying to watch his movie. Ughh! I had Autumn help me pick up all the big chunks of chewed up banana peel and then I vacuumed up what was left. Matthew got a bath of coarse and then I had the pleasure of explaining what had happened to my parents. It took me back to my younger years and made me feel like a kid again. I just knew I’d get grounded for sure. Ha ha ha!
On Monday we all decided to go to Mexican Villa (one of my favorite places to eat) and Fantastic Caverns. While we were sitting in the waiting area of the restaurant waiting for them to get our table ready, another group came in. Among the group was a girl no older than 13 wearing short shorts and a tank top. She plopped herself down into a chair and folded her legs up into the seat while she waited. No more than 3 minutes had passed by when all of a sudden the girl rips off one of the loudest farts I’d ever heard. It took every bit of strength within my body not to burst out in a roar of laughter. Her mom was standing right next to her and said “Brittany... my god, and you’re going to eat BEANS??” The poor girls face turned 4 shades of red and it was obvious that she had just accidentally “let one slip”. She sat there humiliated and there I sat ready to explode with laughter. I’m a sucker for people falling down and a good old fart. Pathetic I know!
After lunch it was time to head over the Fantastic Caverns. This is one of the many caves you can visit in Missouri but it’s the only one in the United States that you ride through. We had all been before but never with all four kids. Hummm...can you see where this is going? Autumn and Gabriel were wonderful and enjoyed the whole experience. Matthew did really good too actually and only hollered maybe once. But Christian, sweet darling little Christian could not stand that he had to sit still AND be quiet none-the-less. I mean how DARE we attempt to make a 14 month old listen to the tour guide and enjoy the vast wonders of the cave? Christian would not sit still even when I bribed him with a rice crispy treat and M & M’s. I did let him stand on the floor of the cart we were riding in so he wouldn’t scream. The poor lady next to me was holding her video camera and kept trying to record in between his screeches which echoed (of coarse!) through the entire cavern. She’ll have a splendid video to share with her family when she gets home. GRIN!
On to news about moving to Buffalo. We applied for an apartment and should be getting that within a week or so. It’s a three bedroom two bath apartment with washer/dryer hook up, dish washer, microwave, stove and fridge. The complex is only around 2 years old, which means it “should” be in fairly decent shape. At this point I’m really not all that picky about it though. I just want my own place to call home again. Mark only has 13 days left of work in Texas before he gets up here. Between he and I we are trying to get everything taken care of and I’m waiting on him to send me the medical records on the kids as well as their birth certificates. I’m hoping to get them registered for school next week and then start shopping like mad. With our van “out of order” I suppose I’ll need to look into sending them all on a school bus. I shudder at the thought of my darlings on the big bus. I remember all to well what went on on our bus as a kid. I can only hope and pray that our van is fixed really soon so they wont have to ride for long.
I will leave the web address for the web site I have up about the kids. It hasn’t been updated in a few months and since I’m not using my own computer I can’t add new pictures. I’ll get that all changed once we move and get settled in. So incase you don’t know what we look like, take a peek.
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/d/davisfamily/
I wish you all a wonderful week~
Jennifer
Missing her husband and the sanity he brings :0)
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