John, Laura, Kyle, Christopher (CJ) and Alyssa Mullen

Thursday, November 19

Thanksgiving Lunch at Eddins today. We know how much Dad wanted to be there, and we ate in his honor! (Of course, only the stuff we liked which for the most part wasn't the ACTUAL thanksgiving feast provided.)

In addition to food, Kyle entertained with a song with his class.


Beautiful smile, huh? He likes being on stage.

When it was the kindergartener's turn, CJ came with his class, dressed as an Indian, and escorted Grandpa to his seat. He also got to make an Indian drum which he proudly beat the rest of the day (even in the car on the way to and from karate....Mom's ears are still ringing).

However, CJ didn't care for the Thanskgiving feast and opted for a hot dog instead.

And after all, what is more Thanksgiving-like than a hotdog?

Alyssa made blessing mix and enjoyed her ham and cheese at preschool. A wonderful eating day!

We also went to karate and a Pack meeting. CJ passed his pretest so he can take the belt test on Saturday when Dad is here to see it. Kyle got to have Uncle Jonathan as his partner and got to practice taking him down. Fun!

At the pack meeting, Kyle's Den will be doing a skit on emergency preparedness---it should be very funny, and we will get to see firemen and their firetruck. I'll post pictures if I get any.

We miss you, Dad, and can't wait till Saturday when we get to see you!

Wednesday, November 18

CJ came home from school and worked on reading. He is getting really good at comprehension and figuring out new words. He already is on a 1.6 reading level!

Alyssa really likes the "earrings" that Grandma found for her. She has put a different pair on each day. Here are the purple hearts.

Kyle worked on a project for Boy Scouts tonight. He made us all dinner --- a pepperoni pizza. He rolled the dough, spread the sauce, added cheese and pepperoni's and then cooked it. What a delicious treat!

Tuesday, November 17

Another day closer to Daddy being home. We had an uneventful and thus wonderful day.

Alyssa had lots of fun at preschool. She used the potty twice during her preschool day, learned rules like "Don't touch other people's food", "Wash your hands after playing with playdo" and "Don't stand on chairs". Aunt Jennifer reports that she has charmed all the staff at the preschool and they all talk about how adorable she is. Little stink! (I have to admit though her Shake Your Booty dance is cute).

CJ is very excited about getting his orange belt but doesn't want to do the test if Daddy isn't home. He is very concerned about it. He wants his cheering section of course!

Kyle took both of his AR tests at school that he has been putting off and luckily remembered enough of the stories to only miss one question total. Yay!

Both boys did a great job of listening at karate and doing the moves. CJ is ready for his test --- we just have to go over the style of the month and word of the month....flexibility.

As I am typing this I am hearing the annoying chirp of a dying battery in a smoke detector. That means I will have to get out a ladder and climb up to the 9-10 ft ceiling of wherever it is and dismantle it as I don't think I have any 9 volt batteries. Yuck!

Okay....I went looking and we have weird smoke detectors...you don't take them off the ceiling...ooops...you just slide out the battery casing and replace the batteries. That would have been helpful knowledge to have as it would have been easier than fighting the thing on top of a ladder. sigh..... I ripped it off the ceiling and I am not sure if I can get it back up. sigh..... well at least it won't chirp at me all night...

when is John coming home..........will I make it.......sigh......

Monday, November 16

Tonight was the PTA reflection awards at Eddins. We went to the cafeteria and browsed the entries. Kyle got an honorable mention for his photo of Alyssa. CJ got a participation ribbon for his picture of Belle but he was very happy to get it because it was a rainbow ribbon!

Then, the boys picked up their photographs and ribbons, had cookies and we walked home. The whole process took 10 minutes but that was good because we got to talk to Dad! Yay!

Later on Sunday, November 15

It did rain quite a lot actually --- made the whole day drearier but we had fun playing pirates.

We also worked on our verses for Awana --- both boys are reviewing their books for the review patch, read books for school(Kyle is going to take another AR test tomorrow on a Magic Treehouse book and CJ is getting his first reading tag for Dr. Seuss books --- he read 10 of them), and worked on Boy Scouts. We worked on being safe in situations, religious questions and safety outside. He has done 33 of the elective choices since leaving Tiger Cubs --- which is three arrow points. Kyle is almost finished with the wolf badge too. Yay Kyle!

We had frozen meals Kid Cuisine for dinner. Alyssa said, "No more macaroni." when mom asked what we wanted to eat for dinner. The boys disagreed and had kid cuisine macaroni but Alyssa had a chicken nugget meal. Mom had frozen pizza.

We are still awake here at 9:00 but mom is not encouraging sleep just yet...in case Dad calls in the next thirty minutes or so. She'll yell at the boys after that. Alyssa has, of course, crashed. :-)

We love you Dad! We miss you!

Sunday, November 15

The Gift Sunday at Cottonwood Creek.

Kyle fervently opposed me taking pictures in church --- he didn't think we were allowed so I had to catch what I could (look at him scowling at me for taking the picture AT THE FRONT...MOM!) --- I took them with my iphone so they are not the best clarity but I have the moment documented anyway --despite protes.

It was a great service: they had step dancers, a man who did tai chi, ballroom dancers and some in African garb. They played music and did a movie/live action skit. The pastor started the service by saying "Good news....you can cheer...I am not preaching this week." We all clapped in good humor of course.

They started with 24 girls getting their hair cut to make wigs for children cancer patients. CJ illustrated it for you.

Before we left for church, we stopped at the donut place on Custer and picked out donuts --- sprinkle ones, ones shaped like angels and of course, Sunny D! That meant that all of us but mom, had donut remenants on our clothing and face. Giggle....I guess that's okay though.

Now, we are playing outside in the backyard with bubbles, chalk and on the fort. It is supposed to rain this afternoon so we are getting our energy out now.

Saturday, November 14

We had a wonderful Saturday. We started with a videocam phone call with Daddy at 7:30 in the morning. (after all you can't sleep your weekend away). We were very happy to get to talk to him especially since his new hotel didn't have internet. :-(

After talking to Daddy, we had breakfast and got dressed. We watched Mickey's Clubhouse and Imagination Movers. It was a beautiful day with a perfect, very unfall like temperature. While Mom pulled weeds in the flower bed, Kyle, CJ and Alyssa rode their bikes in the cul-de-sac. They went up and down in all the different riding toys. Then we moved to the backyard and played with bubbles and chalk and on the fort. We wanted to play with Chase and Chandler but unfortunately they have strep throat and are still contagious.

After lunch, we started to clean the house. Kyle and CJ say that they do not like laundry day. :-) I had them help me take the laundry out of the dryer and washer. We did seven loads. Either we are really clean people or really dirty ones!

Alyssa took her nap while the boys played Nintendo DS. Mom tried to nap as well...but it is hard to sleep when you have someone announcing their scores and who they unlocked every few minutes. Mom got the house dusted, vacuumed, sheets changed and everything washed. Yay! We like a clean house.

Tonight for dinner it was Mac and cheese --- Yes, you are sensing a trend. Oh, for when Dad gets home and there is variety!

Friday, November 13

Aunt Emmie came this morning and got everyone donuts. In anticipation of such a great wake up the boys were up and dressed at six o'clock in the morning. Mom even got to get up early. Of course for some silly reason she was slightly grouchy about the whole thing. Go figure.

The boys had early release today and got to play with Aunt Emmie after school. They played Wii and Alyssa played baby doll doctor. They had a lot of fun and really didn't want to go home when Mom came to get them.

Mom went to the grocery store and got food for the week. New Halloween Captain Crunch cereal that turns the milk green when you eat it. Should be interesting....hopefully it is a great thing and not a scary thing. Mom's hoping it doesn't backfire in the morning.

Tonight we relaxed and watched the new Tinkerbell movie. We all sat on the couch together and watched a "girl" movie that was surprisingly interesting to the boys who were anti-tinkerbell until it started. :-)

Tinkerbell has to make the autumn scepter in order to bring blue pixie dust to pixie hollow. In the process, she breaks the blue moonstone and goes in search of a new one.


It sustained Alyssa's interest for about half the movie. The other half she spent crawling under and over mom's legs.


There were some tense moments and the boys got nervous in parts. I had to tell them it would be okay. :-) Then, there were funny parts too. It was a short movie only 82 minutes so we were able to watch the whole thing. Now, we are off to bed.

We are getting ready for hopefully a relaxing weekend. Nothing on the schedule to do tomorrow except clean house and play. Mom is hoping that we sleep in! We even skipped baths tonight in preparation for our relaxing Saturday. We hope to talk to Daddy in the morning.

Wednesday, November 11

A patriotic princess on Veterans Day.

Tuesday, November 10

Another day closer to Daddy being home. Luckily, today was uneventful on our end. Alyssa had fun making a cornucopia in school and playing on the playground. CJ learned about floating and sinking in science. Kyle is pretty sure he learned something in school today but he was slow in recalling exactly what that was; however, he did do a great job on his math homework.

We went to karate after school and both Kyle and CJ did an excellent job. Today they learned how to take someone down when they are being choked from behind. Hopefully this lesson will stick. Need to practice it a whole bunch!

CJ is going to be able to test for his next belt on Saturday, November 21st. Yay! He will be an orange belt now. We are going to arrange it so that Daddy can see us get our belt.

Mom worked out at the gym and saw Mrs. Dophied and the Vice Principal of Vega while she was there. She finished her book The Lost Symbol while doing cardio. Yay! Except now she has to find a new book to read. This is usually not a problem. There is always another book!

Off to convince the boys to go to sleep as they are talking to each other quite loudly. We miss you Daddy!

Daddy's work city in the news:
Brazil Power Cut Leaves Millions In Darkness
Kirsty Donald, Sky News Online

Associated Press writers Marco Sibaja in Brasilia and Alan Clendenning in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Monday, November 9

CJ woke up this morning to find a note and a gold coin from the tooth fairy. Kyle helped him read the note. The tooth fairy is making a plane out of CJ's tooth for her son!

Eating pancakes and waffles for breakfast. Tomorrow Mom is getting pictures of Alyssa for the site....but today it is all boy!

Tonight we had a Den meeting for Kyle. He got to play carnival games and out of all the boys, he scored the most points on the four games. He got to pick out first prize which was a die cast plane (air force). He was very excited to win!

We also talked about strangers and dangerous situations and brainstormed what we would do. It is amazing how brave second grade boys are when they are just talking. They were throwing out drugs that they grabbed from drug dealers and dodging bullets from guns that strangers pulled. Wow! Of course, silly adults, we mentioned things that were slightly more realistic like running, hiding and telling trusted adults when faced with these situations.

We picked up our popcorn ---- six boxes worth and carried it to the car. Now comes delivery and collecting money....yay!

Sunday, November 8 --- Losing Teeth!

CJ lost his first tooth! He was not happy at first. He said that it hurt and the little speck of blood worried him. He was brushing his teeth and I was afraid he'd brush it out or swallow it in his sleep tonight so I pulled it....no root left... that thing was holding on by sheer will!



Kyle told CJ that if you put the tooth under your pillow, the tooth fairy will bring you a note and a 100 dollar coin. He meant 100 pennies....but that is what CJ heard and is happy to report and eager to accept. Hmmmmmm....that is one tall order for the tooth fairy!

We went to church today and next week is The Gift Sunday. Everyone is supposed to wear a tshirt from the church and a pair of jeans. I got one for me but they didn't have any kids sizes so I'll have them wear VBS tshirts next week with their jeans. We got three shoeboxes and filled them with toys for operation Christmas child to turn in next week. Alyssa and the boys picked out the items to go into the boxes. I think I may donate blood at the blood drive if they'll take mine. :-)

I rearranged the boys bedroom --- took out the desk and put in a dresser and then took out the drawer things in the closet. They should be able to get to and see all of their t shirts easier now and I think it looks better. Of course, maybe I just like change around my house so anything new looks better.

Tomorrow is trash day. I had the boys help me take out the garbage. They worked together to get the can to the curb.

It was very cute to have them help. We also cleaned the toy room, Alyssa's room and the boys' room. They wanted Mac N' Cheese again for dinner....you know, if they chose all our meals, we would live VERY cheaply and would probably loose weight --- mac n cheese and hot dogs every night. :-)

One full week Dad's been gone. Seems like forever. Counting down the days till you come home to us! We love you!

Saturday, November 7

Today was a day of low excitement. We spent the day vacuuming, dusting, cleaning and doing laundry.

Mom did three loads of laundry and three cycles to clean the washing machine. She cleaned the counters, sinks, toliets and tubs. Still have the shower to do but can do that a little later.

The entire downstairs is vacuumed and dusted, and the tiled areas are mopped. Yay!

We also went by SAMS and Walmart to get food and necessities for the week. Seems like we always run out of milk. :-)

The kids are playing in the backyard at the moment but they have already done their verses for the week, Kyle worked on Boy Scouts and all three played in the toyroom. We even got back out the Wii Fit.

Everytime Alyssa walks by the computer, she sees the webcam and asks about Daddy. I think she thinks he is trapped in there or something. "Poor Daddy" she says. "Where Daddy go? I want to talk to Daddy."

Tonight it is Halloween shaped mac and cheese and a piece of Halloween cake (all 75% off at Walmart since it is Nov. 7th). Mom is a bargain shopper!

We hope Daddy had a great day sight seeing in Brazil and finds a place to eat that takes American Express. Enjoy your time, my love!

Friday, November 6

The Carnival at Eddins!

Tonight was the carnival at Eddins. We had a blast! First, we ate pizza and drank cokes in the cafeteria --- reserving slushies for the trip home (blue for CJ and red for Kyle).

Then we went out back behind the school to jump in the jumphouses and run through the mazes. It was a lot of fun. We almost tried out the human hamster ball but at the last minute realized it was just too scary!

After jumping and bouncing and running, we headed inside to play games. There were different games in each classroom: basketball, whirlyball, golf, pumpkin roll, karoke, duck pond, fishing, ring toss, bowling, knocking over cans, sack races and tons of others. We did everything at least once.

Alyssa's big event of the night --- Stuffed Animal walk where she won a pink kitty.

CJ's big event of the night --- two rings on one post in the ring toss

Kyle's big event of the night --- hole in one in the center hole in golf (he was the only one who had been able to do it all night!)

Mom's big event of the night --- catching pictures of rapidly moving children and convincing those same children to choose toy prizes instead of candy!

Thursday night, November 5th

Caught our sweeties at night before...surprise surprise ....they fell asleep. They are saying Good Night to Daddy in their own ways.

Today was a hard one...seems harder without Dad here to help us deal with everything. Tomorrow has to be better though!

Kyle and CJ did a wonderful job in karate Dad, you would be proud. They are learning the new moves with style. They even grappled successfully.

Mom hasn't worked out all week --- just have felt too yucky to do any exercising. I'll go though, next week, gotta stay in shape for my sweetheart!

Wednesday, November 4

Whew.....we've had it all today --- excitement, friends, fun, awards, and injury.

Today was CJ's class field trip and Mom went in Daddy's place. They even had Dad's nametag all made out for him in the front office and had to print a new one for Mom. CJ was okay sitting next to Mom on the bus on the way to Greenville and the Kabee Tree Farm but on the way back to Eddins --- he wanted to sit with Chase.

We arrived at the tree farm 30 minutes after we were supposed to so we kind of had to rush through the field trip, but that ended up okay as it was attack of the bees --- a field trip nightmare. Everywhere we went there were bees hanging out that the adults had to swish away from the kids. Mom is not known for her extensive bravery and so she had to work to quell her courage and get rid of bees.

The farm had stations that the kids went through...a petting zoo, swings, hay jump, ring toss, maze, and a hay ride.

We also ate lunch at picnic tables. Everywhere we went we were surrounded by bees. Unfortunately three kids were stung --- and CJ was one of them.

He got stung on his pinkie finger and it was at the very end of the trip as we were using bathrooms to go home on the bus. Mom pulled out the stinger and poured cold water on the wound. We found a bandaid in the first aid kit and praised CJ for his bravery. Poor kid...he was having a blast till that point and wasn't scared of the bees at all. After...he was terrified.

I got the van's front brake problem fixed. I went to NTB and they bolted down the calipurs (?) for free. yay! Now the van is rattle free.

Tonight at club CJ finished his HangGlider book and got his crown. He was quite excited. Kyle finished Red Jewel 3 (and will probably finish his next week). They are doing so great! Alyssa learned how God created the birds and fish. :-) Still taking the whole year to get through creation, but she knows it...it is cute.

Going to bed now....as I am exhausted.

We love you Daddy! Get some rest too!

Tuesday, November 3

Seems like all the days are full ones. The van is still making a horrible horrible sound. We thought we fixed it by screwing in the bumper which was practically falling off. It was held on by two lone screws at the sides....the other eight or so had fallen off. Grandma put them back in but the sound is still rattling. I think maybe the brake isn't disengaging all the way on the wheel because it doesn't rattle when you press the brakes...only when it is free to go. It rattles more the faster you go, the faster the wheels spin.

Today Kyle and CJ went to school, and both boys are still with their leader badges doing well. CJ's class had a substitute teacher and while they were making pilgrim puppets, CJ managed to cut a swath out of his polo shirt. He did a great job of it too...not a minor small hole but a nice finger sized one. He doesn't do things half way. It may not be salvagable but Grandma is going to try.

Kyle got a new book to read --- Horrible Harry and the Gorb. He took the AR test over Flat Stanley and didn't remember all of the story since it had been so long, but he did get a 75% on it. He will just have to get the rest of them right and his score will go up like he did last grading period. I know he can do it. We will just read a little closer next time.

We went to karate after school. Kyle and CJ's class is doing safety week so they are in full gear (they don't like this part :-) They learned a new combination with a hook punch and an upper cut. It was great to watch them learning the new moves. I have pictures below.

Great picture of CJ looking at himself in the mirror.

After learning the new combination, the boys got to spar. Kyle was really challenged as he fought against a brown belt and a rather aggressive blue belt. He held his own even though it was hard. CJ got to spar against a girl and against Uncle Jonathan. He did a great job!

We got to talk to Daddy on webcam and then we took our baths and went to bed. Mom is staying up a little later to get her grading done since the six weeks ends on Thursday. Yuck!

We miss you Daddy! Kyle wanted you to know that he says Good night to you every night before he goes to bed (and he does...he yells it down the stairs).

Monday, November 2

Another busy day...of course, around us it is always a busy day.
Kyle was up at 6:00 this morning --- he ran into Mom's room and said, "Look my glow stick is still glowing." Of course, this was essential for Mom to know at that particular moment --- sleep can wait! After Mom convinced him to go back to sleep for at least a little while, she got up and got ready for work.

While Mom was at work, Kyle, CJ and Alyssa had fun (no school today!). They went to Grandma's house and played, worked on verses, went shopping at Wal-mart and played some more.

Art projects today: Kyle and CJ drew pictures for Daddy (see below) and Alyssa glued sequins onto a mask (with brothers' help of course). There ended up being more glue on the newspaper than the mask but it did turn out to Alyssa's satisfaction. Kyle's picture is an all cat band and CJ drew a monster with his butt sticking out of the car (?). I really can't explain that one...I'll leave it up to Dad to figure out the intricacies.

One game that Kyle and CJ played was mafia killers with light sabers, nerf guns and rubber band rifles. It was an intricate game that would have went better if Alyssa hadn't stolen the double blade light saber and run off with it. As a result there was a lot of yelling and chasing and giggling (on Alyssa's part). She is certainly feeling much better from yesterday.


Alyssa with her evil monster face and the stolen goods from her brothers.

They all ran outside as it was a beautiful sunny day, and there was playing in the couch cushions and playing with playdoh to round things out. Alyssa had to change clothes after playing outside (she tends to get water on everything, but I think she also likes the costume changes).

When Mom got off work, we made Scooby Doo macaroni and cheese, read books and relaxed until we could get Daddy on the web cam. We love you Daddy! We miss you!

Sunday, November 1st

What a day! We saw Daddy off this morning to Brazil (via Houston and Peru) and shed a few tears. Then we went to church and Mommy led the storytime for the K-2nd graders. After church, we went to McDonalds and stopped by to see Aunt Jennifer's and Uncle Rene's new (old) house.

Then Mom and Grandma went shopping at IKEA, the mall and Walmart. While Mom was gone the boys played a marathon round of Nintendo DS, and Alyssa took a nap. She woke up sick to her stomach and threw up all over Grandma's floor (and BOY! did she do a GREAT job too....covered nearly the entire hall!). Mom and Grandma came home to take care of her, and we played and watched Blue's Clues.

Kyle and CJ practiced their verses and played in the backyard. CJ also discovered while eating apples that....his bottom left tooth is getting loose!

Tonight we are looking forward to a visit from the Great Pumpkin who will take our carved pumpkins off to the Great Pumpkin patch to be with their families. He is always grateful that we let his baby pumpkins go, and leaves us a surprise on the porch!

Then we got ready for bed. Since there was no school tomorrow, Mom let Kyle and CJ play DS in bed for thirty minutes. Here they are deep in concentration.

Alyssa needed to go to sleep, but she decided to run around her room collecting things for her bed. You'll notice a bandaid on her face...purely decoration so don't worry. You just have to be fashionable when you sleep, you know? Mom removed the box of bandaids though so Alyssa couldn't "overdo" it.

And all went to bed...even Mom. However....
Mom managed to snap a picture after The Great Pumpkin came....she missed seeing the Great Pumpkin himself but wow! what neat treats. (Mom brought them inside so that they wouldn't get wet if it rained).

We miss you Dad!

John is off to Brazil

A little harder to track his flight....had to play around to find you baby. Most of the flight trackers just showed info! Sorry it is blurry but unlike the domestic ones --- I couldn't cut and paste. :-(
Here you are on your way to Peru....we miss you already.

Found another flight tracker about an hour and a half into your flight. The boys were very interested in how this works and made me show them several times but the line didn't move very fast. (That was the disappointing part...you should have taken a super speed jet plane!) :-)