Chivalry Lives On... I think.

The girls had a play date at a friend's house recently. Their kids are about the same age as ours. Of course it wouldn't be a play date without some dress-up! The first picture shows two Queens in the back row, a brave Knight in the center, and two lowly Serfs up front. Everyone seems to be happy with the status quo...

Apparently, all was not well in the Kingdom. Soon, the House of Silliness was in full revolt:

Fear not. Cool heads prevailed and peace was soon returned to the Kingdom. And they all lived happily ever after (until nap time anyway).

Cleaning the garage

This weekend's project was cleaning out the garage. We also sorted through a few boxes and actually emptied a couple. Among the "clutter" we found some of Janell's early schoolwork. I couldn't resist sharing a fifth grade writing assignment. This is from Mr. Guthrie's class, Fall 1983. The assignment read: "Pretend you can look into a glass ball and see your future. You can see yourself as you might be when you are twenty-five years old. Describe what you would look like. Describe the place where you will live. Tell about the kinds of things you would be doing." Janell's foresight was uncanny...

"If I could see what I would be like at the age of twenty -five years old... I think I would have long brown hair with a hint of red in it. My
hair would always be in a bun I also would be tall about 5 ft 11 in and I wold be slim.
"I would live in Rome, Italy in a mansion. I would have a
handsome husband and would have a pair of twins, Rose and Ryan. I am expecting another girl her name will be Violet.
"I would be a professional ballet dancer. I would dance in
theaters all over Italy.
"This is what I think I will be like when I am twenty-five years
old."

OK, so she didn't quite get all the details right. It was fun to share this with the girls yesterday. I just want to know when I get to see Janell on stage in her tutu in Venice!

Oh my

Janell says she looks like a Kentuckian. We have some friends who might take exception to that comment...

Caught, Red Handed

Recipie for trouble: Beth is awake, not in sight, and quiet.

Something is bound to be wrong. Sure enough, this evening, she found the stamping set in the school cabinet and decided it was memory making time. Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. [That would be a deep sigh of frustration that any parent knows all too well.]

Thankfully, she restricted her "stamping" efforts to a single piece of paper! Amazing.

Tijuana Taxi Ride

No, it's not a metaphor. Katelynn, Emily, and I, "enjoyed" the adventure of a taxi ride across Tijuana, Mexico, last Saturday. And, no, it wasn't planned. The Bible study group that Janell and I attend organized a brief missions trip to a single moms' day care center in southern TJ. We collected toys and gifts to bring down for Christmas. One of the ladies in the group grew up in TJ and she did most of the talking for us, including reading a story. The plan was to walk across the border and have a bus drive us to the day care center. 45 minutes after the assigned meeting time, still no bus. Before I knew what was happening, our Spanish speaking guide had hailed 3 taxis and we were loading into the back of the small Toyota sedans. Our taxi had 6 people, not including the driver. There is nothing like a ride across TJ in a taxi to strengthen your prayer life. We had a few close calls and inumerable spine-compressing bumps along the way. But, we arrived at our destination in once piece. The girls enjoyed meeting the young children at the daycare (ages ranged from about 2 to 8), although they soon realized that language differences can be a real challenge in the mission field. We made a craft and decorated Christmas cookies with the kids. My girls were especially helpful with the latter.
The trip was a great introduction to missions work for the girls. They saw how God can work through difficulities to touch and change lives. We were relieved to finally walk back across the border shortly after sunset. (The day care center was able to drive us back to the border in their Suburban.) When we got home, Janell asked Katelynn what she thought of Tiajuana. "It's dirty!" was her reply. Hopefully the trip gave the girls a renewed sense of thankfulness as well.

Hailey finally smiles in Beth's arms!

This doesn't happen very often! Would you believe this was a very fussy day for Hailey? We won't show you pictures from the rest of the day. :)

More Pix

For Halloween, we had a Ballerina, a Butterfly, Raggedy Ann, and a Clown... (this photo was taken AFTER the Fall Festival at church. It was about 9:30 at night! Where did those smiles come from?) (Yes, we forgot to bring the camera to church) Somehow details like that seem to slip through the cracks more and more lately. I wonder why.

Hailey just LOVES her big sisters. She smiles almost every time she sees them...

Emily and Hailey are two peas in a pod: our "even" girls (#2 & #4). (I guess that makes Katelynn & Beth the odd ones, although I'm not so sure...

Just when you think they're figuring things out

It's been too long since I've posted anything. I think I psyched myself out, thinking I had to write masterpieces with every entry. Perfectionism-induced writers block. I'm sorry for the gap in updates. I'll fill in details on the past month later. For now, I had to share a little about this mornings' events, as recounted to me by Janell. I was on my way home from Janell's grandfather's house in Buena Park, about an hour and a half away. Janell and the girls were getting ready for church. Because of my long drive in the morning, we were planning to attend the late service, at 10:30. I figured Janell would have plenty of time to get everyone ready for church, and I was planning to be home by 9:30, anyway. Well, I didn't leave Granpa's until after 8:30 and the drive was a little longer than an hour and a half, so I strolled in the door at 10:15, honestly expecting to see everyone waiting for me to load up and head to church. Sure enough, three cute little angels greeted me at the front door with cries of "Daddy!", all dressed in Sunday outfits, hair done, and everything. Katelynn even looked like she had makeup on--sort of. I found Janell upstairs, curling her hair, and clearly not ready to go. Hmmm. All she said was "I'm giving you two weeks notice." Uh oh. With a smile, she recounted having to discipline Beth (for a reason I didn't catch), leaving her on her bed (naked for some reason that I didn't catch), resulting in a pee-soaked mattress cover (for reasons that were obvious at that point). And then she found Katelynn with white goop all over her mouth. When asked what she was doing, she said that she couldn't find her lipstick, so she was using her pink gel toothpaste to "darken her lips". Of course the pink gel dries to a white crust. Janell explained this to her, instructed her to clean it off, then went back to getting other girls ready. A few minutes later, Janell smelled nail polish. Uh oh. She returned to Katelynn's bathroom and found the nail polish open, and a small paper cup with nail polish in it. Katelynn had mixed the polish and some water together to make a rouge with which to darken her cheeks and eyelids, and had already applied a liberal amount to her face. Where do they get these ideas?! Janell was able to help get most of the goop off Katelynn's face, along with a lecture including something about "No more makeup until you're a teenager". I still owe Katelynn a lecture about this one. The rest of the day went better, but we were definitely reminded this morning that we must always be vigilant and never assume that we've figured out the trouble our kids are capable of creating.

Saying goodbye

Our last weekend in Maryland was incredible. We were surrounded by great friends, the Love of Christ, and an immense amount of help to get ready to sell the house and get on the road. Friends put in over 30 man-hours to help us hide the evidence that 4 kids and 2 dogs had ravaged the place for almost 4 years. I am so thankful for their friendship and for modeling Christ's love to our children.
On Saturday afternoon, we were treated to a semi-surprise going away party, with nearly everyone we know from the church there. We are so blessed to have known and loved these people. This is what makes saying goodbye so hard.
All weekend, the girls spent time at their friends' houses, enjoying one last visit.
This evening was probably the toughest goodbye, when Katelynn had to say goodbye to her best friend. I know it will be even harder in a few days when their moms will have to do the same.

Moving Day

The last two days have been a whirlwind in the Stringer house. And the girls weren't even home! The packing crew from the moving company assigned by the Navy was here, sealing our home up in cardboard boxes. I'm hoping we can find Beth when we unpack in San Diego. We'll look for the leaky box, I guess. Actually, the girls have spent the day with very gracious friends' families while their room was professionally tossed. We brought them by the house this afternoon after the packers had left so they could explore the new cardboard city that has grown inside what used to be our home. Now it's filled with brown towers marked with "Rainbow Moving Co". Hmmm. I won't ask. The truck comes tomorrow morning to take everything away. The girls got a kick out of figuring out which toys might be in which box. They sadly said goodbye to their stuff, probably not convinced that they will ever see it again. This must be a hard time for a kid, to see their place of sanctuary and security boxed up and shipped out, leaving nothing but piles of dog hair and dust bunnies behind (sorry, Janell, for that graphic detail). Our girls are handling it with their usual sense of adventure, though. I'm proud of them. Katelynn and Emily seem to be looking forward to their drive across the country with me. We'll take a leisurely 10 or 11 days to make the drive, zig-zagging across, looking for that "World's Largest Ball of Twine". Janell, on the other hand, will hang out here with friends for an extra week, then jet across with Beth and Hailey, assisted by my Mom. We should be re-united in our new house around the 22nd or so. Your prayers are appreciated as the chaos of moving continues to dominate our "routine". The Lord has been good to us and as always, we trust in Him to bring us through.

Our New House

This will be our new home in Chula Vista, CA, after Sept 20. We can't wait! But then, that means leaving all our awesome friends here in Maryland. Rats! (We're working on a plan to get the whole gang to move with us... I think I've still got that Admiral's number somewhere...)

I scream, You scream...

We all scream for Ice Cream! Especially Mint Chocolate Chip! Mmmmmm.

It's just a log ride!

I'm not sure if the girls will ever trust me to take them on a ride again.

"It's just a log ride... how bad can a boat be?!"
"Daddeeeeeeeyyy....."

They were actually smiling (perhaps quivering a bit, too) as they disembarked 30 seconds later.

... and I wasn't trying to be as devious as my smile in this picture suggests.

Chocolate and Caves

The kids are finally in bed. My ears are still ringing, but Hailey is done screaming... for now, anyway. Yesterday was a 12-hour epic adventure at HersheyPark in Pennsylvania. Hershey, PA, is the mecca of American chocoholics. ....
... this post was started at 10pm on Aug 27, but fatigue prevailed and words started to blur together in the week-old mound of Jello between my ears. And of course in the mean time, life has taken hold and kept me from further posts.
HersheyPark was great, except for the diaper changes between every ride (the babies--not me), long lines, and crowds of people. It was a fun weekend with super friends, though. They were incredibly patient with our "high maintenance" family. Of course, we came home with a trunk full of dark chocolate (if you ask Janell, there is no other kind).
On Saturday, we took the girls Spelunking at Indian Echo Caverns. Unfortunately, when you turn out all the lights in the deepest reaches of a cavern, it gets very dark and very quiet... two things that two year-olds detest! I was forced to retreat back to the land of the Eloi with Beth on my back, screaming in my ear until she could see my face. So much for the 10-buck entrance fee. The two big girls were able to finish the tour with our friends. At least they thought it was cool.
Following a quick "lunch" at 2pm at Cracker Barrel, we sped south toward home (3 1/2 hours away). My squadron conveniently scheduled my "farewell" dinner for that Saturday night at 6pm. We actually made the drive non-stop, but Hailey screamed pretty much constantly the whole way. We walked into the restaurant at 6:50, literally shaking with shot nerves. The girls were amazingly well behaved considering the long day. Everyone slept til 9 the next morning!

Even after 11 hours at HersheyPark, Beth is ready to ham it up for the camera! 

Happy Hailey loves her Mommy!

The shiny two-year old

I was washing my hands in my bathroom this evening and noticed that there was more Vaseline outside the bottle than in it on the counter. A nearby thermometer was gooey, and much of the counter was glistening. Hmmm... this had the look of Beth's doing.
Sure enough, Janell later explained that in the middle of nursing Hailey (things like this are always in the middle of nursing it seems), Beth appeared at the top of the stairs, looking a bit shinier than her continuously runny nose usually causes. Our friend, Melody, walked in the front door just at that moment and came to Janell's rescue. Beth happily showed Melody (aka "Auntie MomMom") where she had found the jar in our room, opened it, smeared it all over herself, assuming it was lotion!
This is why I go to work.

ps. THANK YOU, MELODY, for cleaning the slippery little stinker!

The Stringer Zoo

Introductions

I guess I ought to introduce the cast before we go too far with this. My name is Scott. My incredible wife, Janell, and I have been married for a little over 10 years. We have 4 crazy little girls and 2 pretty mellow dogs. Our girls are Katelynn Joy (7), Emily Grace (5), Elizabeth ("Beth") Hope (2), and Hailey Faith (6 weeks). The dogs are Eli (9) and Abbey (5), both Golden Retrievers. I won't go into detail here... we'll let the story weave itself...

Katelynn, Emily, and Beth

(Nov 2004)

Here we go...

OK, I've never been a big blogging fan, but I thought this might be a fun way to share some of the crazy things our little angels come up with every day. We'll include stories, quotes, adventures, musings, and the occassional embarassing picture. The intent is have a place to share our lives with distant friends and family, but maybe we'll make some new friends along the way. Enjoy the show...