Donut Day

"Charlie, you forgot to eat the donut!"

I pretty sure he does not care, by the looks of his face.

Out of Commission

As a mom, you never want to be out of commission. Especially the first week your kids start school at a new school and your husband starts running a school. It has been a stressful week, needless to say. I have missed the first school day, family fun night, meeting new parents, etc. It is almost as if I do not exist yet. My family talks of this person and that person, as if they are life long friends, and I have yet to meet them all.

My fever started last week Saturday night after our birthday party for DJ. (Thank goodness we celebrated Saturday!). After the kids were in bed, IT began.

It is now Friday at 5:45 pm and I am still medicated for a fever. It will not go away. I went to the doctor on Wednesday, and as usual, he said it was probably a virus. What he does not understand is that I am a mom of 4 children and a wife to an extremely busy, and tired husband right now, so hearing that it is a virus did not make me feel any better.

My house is a mess, laundry is piled to the ceiling (not really, but close), beds are unmade, etc. I have contemplated throwing an adult fit to see if I could actually "fit" it away.

What really saddens me, is that I can never get this week back again.

Blog picture

Above is our new blog picture ~ we took it while hiking up "Little Mountain", which is about 3 miles from our home. If you look between Jeff and I, you can see the snowcapped peak of Mt. Baker. We hope to hike up this little mountain often, which also overlooks the puget sound. The sights are breath taking!

Where's the potty?

Potty training is such an exhausting process. Our method requires no pants and the potty going everywhere with the kid. Unfortunately, it also requires a person to constantly be with the kid! There are times where we are either asking (after the kid has been doing the potty dance for a while and is no longer) "where is the potty?" or "where is the potty?" (as in, get the kid there quickly). We are happy to report that our kid (Charlie) is doing pretty well, but he is still not too certain. Right now our family room is covered with a little people land and the potty is centrally located so he can dance his way right over and do his job.

Oh, Happy Day

Josie turned 9 years old on Friday! Her dessert choice was a chocolate shake, so we had to be creative with blowing out the birthday candle.

All the kids enjoying their shakes.

Josie was surprised with some fun packages in the mail that day. Thanks for the presents!!

It was a happy birthday for Josie ~ beginning with cinnamon rolls and ending with chocolate shakes. Oh yeah, and some fun gifts to open too!

"Eye of the Tiger"

I am not sure what to feel about the fact that my 2 year old baby, dressed in red puppy pajamas, is running around the house belting out "Eye of the Tiger. Bum.....Bum, Bum, Bum......Bum, Bum, Bum.........Bum, Bum, Buuuuuuuuum." The hard rock edge is not up to par, and the clarity is iffy, but if you listen closely it is there.

emotions

We had to say good-bye to G'pa and G'ma Crull earlier than what was planned ~ Great G'pa Kelley was not doing well and Great G'ma needed G'pa and G'ma Crull to come home.

I do not think I realized the distance of our move until that moment. When my parents decided to take off after the phone call with my G'ma Kelley, it was discussed whether it would take 2 or 3 days to get back to Iowa. They had taken their time coming to WA, which was a 3 day journey. I felt horrible, as if I was taking time away from my mom and her dad.

The emotions started as they left. The kids were so sad that they had to say good-bye to my parents, which in turn tore my heart to see. I was sad the rest of the day ~ that we had made the decision to take our kids away from both of their G'parents and the relationships that had been beautifully developing for the past 5 years.

I am still sad.

A day away....

to Larabbee State Park.

Spain 2010

In Barcelona - a park designed/created by architect Gaudi

Same park - Jeff and I found a cool spot for a pic

The cathedral "Sagrada Familia" also designed by Gaudi - still in process today.

An arch in Barcelona - probably something important......

The beautiful Mediterranean Sea!

Back Up and Running

Hi Everyone,

Many of our friends and family have been asking how to stay in touch with us during this transition. We have decided that we would begin by updating our blog more often. For those of you who do not know we are moving to NW Washington in a few weeks. I will be the principal and athletic director of Mount Vernon Christian High School. Currently Monica and I are in Madrid, Spain visiting family. We look forward to hearing from many of you soon, and we will make sure to keep everyone updated the best we can.

Later,

Jeff

Welcome to the Family!

We have a new nephew/cousin! Carter Elias Droog was born on February 12, to Dan and Julie, and we are already anxious to meet him :)

One Year Ago

One year ago today, Charlie Alan was born. When I think of my baby being 1 year already, it makes me sad. Seriously, where does the time go?

THEN
NOW

Is it possible?

Josie lost her two front teeth and soon after, Charlie got his first two teeth. I call that true "give and take"!!! :)

Daddy, STOP! (Tickle, Tickle)

Oh, I am soooooo tired!

Iowa

There are many things to love about Iowa.
- the green, green grass
- the big expanse of blue sky (even in the winter)
- the corn
- seeing for miles and miles
- the early morning sunrises and beautiful sunsets

There are many things to not like about Iowa.
- the smell of ripe manure being spread on the fields, especially this time of year.
- hog smell
- WIND that makes you wonder why anyone would live here!
- wind and bitter cold in the winter
- um, these little black bugs that never used to live here when I lived here before, but now live here since I have moved back. They come during the harvest, and spit acid on your skin (which totally burns).

I am sure there are pros and cons to every state and country. I thought I would share with all of you the things I like and don't like :)

cousins

After Hurricane Ike hit Houston, TX, Julie and Eden came to stay. During their time in Iowa, we had a get-together at the Trowbridges where we decided it would be good to get a picture of the Droog kids. From oldest to youngest: Katelyn, Samantha, Jennifer, DJ, Shayla, Josie, Shiloh, Emma, Shalom, Eden, Yishai, Charlie and new baby (Dan and Julie) on the way!!!!!

My Grandpa

My Grandpa Crull passed away this past Sunday. We have been busy this week packing, traveling to Illinois, seeing family that I never knew I had, attending the visitation, the burial and the memorial service.

I never lived close to my Grandpa and Grandma growing up, but my parents made a big effort every Summer to visit and stay with them for 2-3 weeks while my dad helped with the farming. It was one of my favorite memories of childhood - going to my Grandparents in Illinois. They had a huge farm with an orchard of apple trees, a swimming pool, GREAT food, pedal cars (yes the classics!), cats/kittens, cows, a riding lawn mower, and the list could go on and on. I was always sad to leave when our time was done.

My Grandpa was extremely musical. He LOVED music and sang all the time for weddings, funerals, with a Barbershop Quartet, etc. I remember when I was learning to play the piano, he would love to listen to me and would always encourage me to play with more feeling. (I suppose that is why today I "feel" so much through music). He would literally sit at the piano with me and sing with feeling. It was such a learning experience I never knew was even happening.

The last time I saw my Grandpa was over 2 years ago. I have to say that when my Grandma passed away when I was in 6th grade, our relationship changed. He remarried and we were still living far away, so everything changed. We did not see him as much as we had all the other years.

I think what saddens me is that our ties to our life and memories of Illinois may be gone forever. A part of history/generation is ending. A cousin of mine told me yesterday that he and his wife had visited a few years ago and video taped Grandpa for about 2 hours. They drove around and heard all kinds of stories - where he grew up, things he had built, etc. I have never heard those stories from him, but we now have it documented. History doesn't have to be lost if we stop our busy lives and spend the time talking, sharing stories, etc.

I will forever be grateful to my cousin who took that time to do that for our family. I look forward to hearing and learning more... from my Grandpa - in his own words, his own facial expressions. That will be something to cherish and hang on to for the next generation.

Thank you Brett and Julie!

PEEK-A-BOO

During Charlie's younger days, he figured out the game peek-a-boo all on his own. He would somehow get the blanket over his head, giggle and kick awhile, then quickly pull the blanket off. I think he is learning quickly how to self-entertain, which is a great thing to learn - I just never thought he would have it down at 4 months old, when he started this new trick!

Bathtime

The whole family gets involved with Charlie's bathtime! He loves the sink because he fits so perfectly, plus he can just splash away without falling over :) (Notice that poor Charlie is way in the back of everyone. Someday soon he will be fighting for the front.)

1st Tooth!

Do you see it? There it is FINALLY!! We had a hard time getting this little tiny thing to come through, poor baby.