Author Archives: teamthiessen3

I’m not even going to apologize…

Posted on October 7, 2014 by teamthiessen3

The last year (and a bit) has been pretty full of excitement. Some good, some not so good. So I’ll do my best to sum it all up in some bullet points. You ready?

We made it to Summerville and still love each other.
I started classes at CSU May 2013
Dave missed T’s 4th Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
We added a fur-baby, Poppy! to our family… because I wanted more crazy in my life…
T started all day pre-K and made some great friends!
I made an epic Thomas the Train costume for T (with help from my parents) and went as Sir Topham Hat
My parents and I took T and his cousin Mia to a Day Out with Thomas event in GA and it was FANTASTIC – the look on T’s face was absolutely priceless and worth every penny (it really wasn’t anything close to what I spent for Disney and I think he had more fun with Thomas…)
Dave returned to San Diego in January 2014, (from our most stressful deployment) I surprised him (with LOTS of help from SD friends) by being there
I submitted my application to the Nursing school at CSU
T and I both finished school
We moved to another (WAY MORE AWESOME) rental house – because, clearly, I love packing my stuff and moving
I took a Certified Nursing Assistant course at a local community college as a back up plan in case I didn’t get accepted to Nursing school
I GOT ACCEPTED TO NURSING SCHOOL AT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
Dave was HERE for T’s 5th Birthday party!!!
T started school Kindergarten at my old elementary school. His teacher is the daughter of my 5th grade teacher. It’s still a small town dressed up to look big
I started Nursing school (and lost all ability to maintain a semi-organized house…life…)
Dave resigned from the USMC, he starts a new FLYING job with a company out of Canada and will be doing Fire Rescue drops for them in Australia in a few months.
T thinks Daddy’s new job is crazy awesome (“He’s just like BladeRunner from Planes Fire and Rescue!!!!!!!!!”)

That about brings us up to date. I left out A TON of details. But those are mostly private and though they’d make for a lot of really awesome posts, and likely very therapeutic to “let it out”, I’d probably regret sharing soon after I posted. 🙂

I want to get back into posting and sharing. I still have several “drafts” that never got posted and maybe I’ll finally get those out for the mass public’s enjoyment… Does anyone even check in on Team Thiessen anymore? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, we’ve been pretty quiet (and private) for more than a year! But now that everything is pretty finalized (I’m referring to the major career change previously referenced) I don’t have to be so private any more, do I?

So maybe I should consider posting my REAL THOUGHTS about certain things from the last year… but probably I’ll do that over at my “personal” blog, not the family blog. You’re all intrigued, aren’t you? 😉

Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Packing Fun. Or not.

Posted on April 10, 2013 by teamthiessen3

Top left: Crying fit, face down, banging feet and all. Because he wanted to play with the very same train tracks (wooden) he insisted I pack up earlier in the day and oh yeah, I turned on the wrong Thomas episode. No, I do not want to watch this new one I maybe haven’t seen yet, Mommy, how dare you.

Bottom left: Hiding because he was upset I was taking a picture of his ridiculous fit on the floor.

Top right: Oh, wait, maybe I do want to see this Thomas episode.

Bottom right: Yes, this is interesting, I haven’t seen this one before, yes, I think I’ll sit here for a bit and quietly watch this while Mommy packs.

In all reality T has actually been pretty good about the packing. He’s been insisting I pack up his trains for days and I finally got so frustrated that I put the lid on the container and taped it up. I knew better. He’s been trying to be helpful, though occasionally in his desire to be helpful he is actually un-helpful; but in a very cute way.

In other news, I feel as though I’m slowly loosing my mind. Will we get it all done in time? Of course! Will we be sane when it’s done? Probably not until we’ve arrived in Summerville and returned the rental trailer.

Categories: Family Time!, Moving, Tantrums, Tarleton, Thomas the Train | Tags: mommy, Moving, summerville, Tantrums, transportation | Leave a comment

This is happening:

Posted on March 24, 2013 by teamthiessen3

We knew that THIS:

was happening some time this year. We did not anticipate it happening sooner, but it is. In preparing to deal with it later in the year Dave and I made the heart wrenching decision that I should apply to schools back home in Charleston to see if maybe I could do a nursing program there and have family close for support and help with T. Not surprisingly, this happened:

Unfortunately, now there are some classes that are “too old”(!!!!!) and I now will have to retake them and a few other “new” prerequisite courses I wasn’t anticipating. This post isn’t about that frustration though, so I won’t get on that soap box…

It means that T and I are moving back to Summerville, for an indefinite amount of time. I.E. until I finish school, whenever that may be. Some of the time Dave will be out of the country, but most of it he will likely be here in sunny San Diego. This will probably be the biggest hardship we have taken on so far, for the betterment of our family’s future.

This morning I tried to explain to T what was going to be happening in the next few weeks. It went something like this:

Me: Hey buddy, what would you think about going and living near Lela and Pop Pop, Mia, Morgan and Elizabeth?

T: Well, we can go visit!! But we can’t live there, we have to come back here because San Diego is our home.

I expect I will be crying a lot the next several weeks…

Categories: Family Time!, Friendship, Growing Pains, Helpful Husbands, Learning, Tarleton | Leave a comment

He’s full of will – not food.

Posted on March 1, 2013 by teamthiessen3

Don’t let that sweet, pout face suck you in…See that perfectly, balanced, healthy meal? He ate the corn. ONLY. Usually he is all about broccoli but for some reason this night’s broccoli was “funny” tasting.

And those 5 tiny pieces of chicken? The cause of the face. The cause of the retreated stance. And the cause of the resulting tantrum, bottom pop, and immediate bedtime.

To be clear, he did not earn the pop because he didn’t eat. He got that because of his actions during the tantrum. I’m still not completely sure I know why I decided that I was going to put my foot down on this issue. I think it’s because he went to a friend’s house and was willing to try shrimp there but I can’t get him to try a piece of chicken (which tastes a lot like the Dino Chicken nuggets he eats!!!) at our house.

Dave and I have been…ok, well, I have been wondering if we are enabling T’s picky eating/refusal to try new foods. He is a good eater in that he eats really, really healthy foods. Today’s lunch? Peanut-butter sandwich, carrots, cucumbers, kale leaves and some peanut-butter crackers. He even instructed me which compartment each thing went into. He ate some of the kale leaves to be sure they were, in fact, the “salad” that he liked. THEN he grabbed the rest of the cucumber and asked if he could eat it on the way to school… “uh, sure, kiddo.”

We just can’t get him to try new, different things. I got him some “Mickey Mouse” shaped chicken nuggets because they were made with whole grain breading unlike the dino nuggets. He maybe ate them twice before declaring that he didn’t like them at all. Sure enough, I get the dino nuggets and after some initial complaining, he ended up eating two of them. And also let me know that he likes them better withOUT the ketchup.

*smack in the face* Most kids will eat more things when they are covered in ketchup, or ranch dressing. Not, Tarleton.

Why am I complaining? I don’t know. Dave and I kind of think we should stick with what he likes because, well, other than the typical snacky-things (donuts, cupcakes, gummi worms) he eats healthy all by himself. He will say “I don’t like that now, but I will like when I’m bigger. Then I will try it.” So maybe we should just listen to him and let him let us know when he’s ready to branch out. It’s been working so far…he started eating spinach leaves and kale leaves when I started juicing them; he asked to try them instead of putting them in the juicer – and he liked them!! He likes them so much he will pull pieces and eat them before we’ve even paid for them at the store.

So again, I ask, maybe we should just listen to him. We should still ask and offer, but maybe he will try all these new things when he’s a little bigger. In his little world, a little bit bigger is every single day. He could suddenly ask to eat something new and different tomorrow because tomorrow he will be a little bit bigger than today.

Categories: Growing Pains, Helpful Husbands, Learning, Picky Eating, Tantrums, Tarleton | Tags: dino chicken, food, peanut butter sandwich, Picky Eating, Tantrums | Leave a comment

The Creative, Imaginative, Destructive Child

Posted on March 1, 2013 by teamthiessen3

I don’t know what else to call him. His intelligence stops me in my tracks some times. And please don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to brag here. (Of course I think he’s the smartest, greatest, etc, etc, child in the world!) He just comes up with these logical arguments that are, no kidding, difficult for an adult to dispute without bold face lying.

So now you know. Some times I am FORCED to lie to my child. I try not to, but on occasion “Because I said so” really isn’t a decent enough answer for a 3-year-old. As in, if I were him, getting those answers, I’d keep questioning too.

Back to the main subject though. He is constantly creating games so elaborate that if you don’t pay close attention too all the details (because he always explains to you) and accidentally move one of the “pieces” you will have a full on meltdown on your hands. And then the meltdowns become destructive. Why? We can’t figure it out. Why on earth would he want to destroy his beloved toys? We’re working on getting him to harness his frustration in a less destructive way so he learns early how to deal with his temper. This picture is from a day during our sickness, yes, but it is also the result of a mess, then Mommy demanding he clean up, then him being furious and making more of a mess. It was after this particular incident that because Mommy had to inevitably clean up the room he lost his trains for two full days. The grinch in me wanted to make it a week but we had sitters set up in two days and I didn’t want to completely screw them over.

He’s lost puzzle pieces indefinitely at the moment because he just can’t pull ONE out at a time and play with it properly before we have a full mess of numerous puzzles all mixed up. (Thankfully, they have markers on the back of the pieces so I don’t completely lose my mind and toss them in the trash.) It isn’t because he’s just doing a “52 card pickup” with the pieces. No, he’s using the pieces as “candy” in a game he’s created. Or, he uses them as markers to indicate a new “train station” in a different part of his room (or ours, or the living room, well, hell, the whole freaking house!!) It would be easier to take them away from him if he was just making a mess. But, no, he has a REASON for each piece being where it is. The problem comes when he doesn’t want to pick them up. The reason? Wait for it…

“Mommy, I’m out of energy. I don’t think I can pick them up right now. Maybe after a show I will have more energy.”

Kid.

He hasn’t been super thrilled with Mommy’s and Daddy’s response: “Well, if you don’t have energy then you need to lay in your bed until you have more. With no leap pad, no Mommy’s Nook, no electronics…just lay there and rest and fill back up with energy.”

“Oh, well maybe I have a little energy.”

Categories: Growing Pains, Learning, Tantrums, Tarleton, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Mom’s sick. T’s sick. Dad’s still healthy…so far.

Posted on February 13, 2013 by teamthiessen3

T and I have been sick. A cold, the flu, who knows. (Well, now we know T currently has a double ear infection, and definitely not the flu.) And when I say I’ve been sick, I mean I can’t remember the last time I was this fatigued, coughing, congested, sore and achy and just flat out miserable. Thankfully, T has not had all of my symptoms. I’ve had so many blog ideas in the past ten days but no energy to actually type them up.

But a few minutes ago, I discovered something that I simply could not go without blogging and sharing with all of you who check in to our little place in the world wide web.

There I was laying in bed somewhere in between sleep and consciousness watching a show on my computer. T, I thought, had finally settled on the couch watching Dinosaur Train (his cartoon of choice for our sick time – we’ve seen every episode available on Netflix…twice, I think.) Then he comes into my room and my mom-radar kicks in and I’m awake again.

me: “What’s up, buddy?”

T: “Nothing. I think you should stay in bed until the clock says 8 – 4 – 0”

me: “um, that’s actually a really long time and will be past your bedtime. What’s up?”

T: “Nothing, I just think you should stay in bed until the clock says, um, 6 – 2 – 0”

My intuition kicks in and it dawns on me that T doesn’t want me to get up for a reason. I think he’s snuck out some snacks or something. I get out of bed and he immediately tries to keep me from leaving the room. I’m laughing because, surely this is a game of some sort… Then, I reach the door way and see the following. Intake of breath and immediate covering of my mouth – I back up and get the camera.

Just in case you can’t quite see the reasoning behind this colossal mess and misuse of good toilet paper: he made train tracks for his trains.

One day when he’s older and has a preschool age child who makes a huge mess, I will dig up these pictures and laugh hysterically at his whines. Until then, he has until the clock reads “5-3-0” to finish playing and then it all gets trashed.

Categories: Growing Pains, Learning, Play Time, Tarleton, Thomas the Train | Tags: kids, sick, toilet paper | Leave a comment

One of the coolest days ever!

Posted on January 20, 2013 by teamthiessen3

Everyone has a list of events in their lives that fight for the rank “Coolest” ever; today is definitely a contender (after the birth of Tarleton, getting married, college graduation, etc).

I have always, ALWAYS wanted to fly in a bi-plane. You know, open air, old school, double wings – the type you see flying around when you’re at the beach and think,”Man, that would be so cool to get a chance to fly in one!”

(I’m almost so excited, still!, that I can hardly type coherently. I just want to squeal some more!)

A while back my awesome, super, wonderful, amazing aviator husband had to do an air show at a municipal air field in San Diego. No big deal. While there he met a gentleman who owns a plane and lives in a hangar at the air field. Yes, you read that right. At this airport people can LIVE in their hangers; and I’ve seen a few of these places, they are amazing homes! Anyhoo, in Dave’s friendly way, he made friends with this man who introduced him to some other people, one of whom owns a Stearman (bi-plane). Around Dave’s birthday he happened to be visiting his friend and while having lunch discovered that as a “gift” he was going to get a ride in the Stearman. Knowing I would be beyond green with envy he immediately started trying to figure out when I could get a ride.

Few months later here we are, and here I am writing this still giddy with excitement!

It.Was.SO.COOL!!

Yes, I flew it for a little bit. Yes, we did loops and a maneuver called the hammer-head. I FLEW ONE OF THE LOOPS. And I squealed and laughed and yelled the whole time. 😉

It was an awesome reminder to be so appreciative of the life we have and live it to the fullest. Fear will always be a part of your life, but it will only hold you back as much as you let it.

Categories: Family Time!, Friendship, Helpful Husbands, Learning | Tags: amazing aviator, aviation, bi-plane, Stearman | 1 Comment

“Flying” with Daddy!

Posted on January 4, 2013 by teamthiessen3

What an amazing memory made yesterday: Dave called to say he had an “open” sim and would I like to come and “fly” the osprey. OF COURSE!! I’ve been whining that he hadn’t gotten me into the sim practically since he checked in to the squadron. Obviously, the little man would have to come along but we figured he’d be so intrigued he’d behave fine. T loved it! I’m surprised he didn’t get motion sick because for him to feel like he was “flying” he needed to see constant movement which meant a lot of swaying, boat-like movements. Add in a few “barrel rolls” and he was in heaven!

I *shockingly* landed once and did a “fly by” once. I also have new appreciation for my husband’s job. As cool as it is, it’s also, just a tad stressful. But just a tad. 😉

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: aviation, little man | Leave a comment

Merry Christmas from the Thiessens!

Posted on December 27, 2012 by teamthiessen3

Thiessen 4407

This year we were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas all together and decided to have a little fun with our Christmas photo. 😉 Our good friend Stephanie was nice enough to help us out and we can not say Thank You enough for her dealing with our crazy selves!

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This year’s Santa picture is a far cry from last year’s! T was happy to tell Santa that he wanted new Thomas trains and then informed Santa that he saw Santa give the little girl before him some candy, so … where was his?