Worth It

[posted by Maribeth]

As we age, birthdays become a thing of passing concern. Another year older? Maybe, but only a day older than yesterday. Aging becomes less exciting, more sobering. Rather than each day bringing us closer to our independence, each day is one day less to work on dreams and aspirations. One day more in the mundane.

Aging is not a bad thing and should not be frightening, but it certainly loses it's coolness somewhere around 25.

That does not mean, however, that we cannot take full advantage of said birthdays.

On April 13th, Zach reached a threshold. He turned 30. For him, again, it was of passing concern. He does not feel different, he does not feel suddenly useless to a world focused on youth and brevity. He's old, and he's okay with that.

I, however, felt the need to show his youth out the door with enthusiasm.

The planning began rather pathetically. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a good hostess. I am indecisive, easily stressed, and annoyingly thrifty. Simply not a good mix for a party planner. Nevertheless, I was determined to show Zach's youth a good time. While Zach's veteran expert party planning mother needed to intervene several times to avoid catastrophic faux pas, the end result actually wasn't too bad.

There was a small surprise party Easter weekend with just family to avoid detection of the real thing (which took lots of work nonetheless)(thanks Mom!). For the weekend of the actual party, Zach believed I was out of town with several other family members for a girls' weekend. He was to take Declan to a little community building in Mount Gretna for a kids' spring craft day. Luckily, he bought the whole story.

With everyone's willingness to help, the cars were parked down the street, there was a wonderful spread of food and drinks, great music and a slide show, and the decorations were fabulous. Thanks to the Archer family, we have great pictures as proof:

All in all, the party was a great time. I know I said this already while speechifying at the party, but I (we) owe so much to everyone who was there. A party just isn't a party without great guests, and we had the best. I'm feeling pretty darn lucky right now to know all of you.

And, even though I swore up and down while planning this thing that I would never do it again, it seems now that the pain was worth it.

Refreshment

[posted by Zach]

A little while ago I had posted a video that was actually a commercial for the Discovery Channel. It was one of those videos that made you just feel good.

Well, as some of you may have seen during the Superbowl, Pepsi aired a commercial which showed the generational likenesses from past to present. It also, is one of those feel good videos.

If you missed it, here ye be.

Absolutely Amazing

Courtesey of Michael Yon Online.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/report-from-usmc-in-anbar-province.htm


MGen John Kelly USMC, CG MNF West, senior Marine in Iraq.

From: Kelly MajGen John F (CG)
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 9:53 AM

Election Day

I don't suppose this will get much coverage in the States as the news is so good. No, the news is unbelievable. Something didn't happen in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, today.

Once the most violent and most dangerous place on earth, no suicide vest bomber detonated killing dozens of voters. No suicide truck bomber drove into a polling place collapsing the building and killing and injuring over 100. No Marine was in a firefight engaging an Al Qaida terrorist trying to disrupt democracy.

What did happen was Anbar Sunnis came out in their tens of thousands to vote in the first free election of their lives. With the expectation of all of the above (suicide bombers) they walked miles (we shut down all vehicle traffic with the exception of some shuttle busses for the elderly and infirm) to the polling places. I slept under the stars with some Grunts at Combat Outpost Iba on the far side of Karma, and started driving the 200 miles up the Euphrates River Valley through Karma, Fallujah, Habbiniyah, Ramadi, Hit, Baghdad and back here to Al Asad. I stopped here and there to speak with cops, soldiers, Marines, and most importantly, regular Iraqi men and women along the way. It was the same everywhere. A tension with every finger on a trigger that broke at perhaps 3PM when we all began to think what was almost unthinkable a year ago. We might just pull this off without a bombing. No way.

By 4PM it seemed like we'd make it to 5PM when the polls closed. At 4:30 the unbelievable happened: the election was extended an hour to 6PM because of the large crowds! What are they kidding? Tempting fate like that is not nice. Six PM and the polls close without a single act of violence or a single accusation of fraud, and nearly by early reports pretty close to 100% voted. Priceless.

Every Anbari walking towards the polling place had these determined and, frankly, concerned looks on their faces. No children with them (here mothers and grandmothers are NEVER without their children or grandchildren) because of the expectation of death. Husbands voted separately from wives, and mothers separately from fathers for the same reason. In and out quickly to be less of a target for the expected suicide murderer. When they came out after voting they also wore the same expression on their faces, but now one of smiling amazement as they held up and stared at ink stained index fingers.

Norman Rockwell could not have captured this wonderment.

Even the ladies voted in large numbers and their husbands didn't insist on going into the booths to tell them who to vote for.

One of the things I've always said was that we came here to "give" them democracy. Even in the dark days my only consolation was that it was about freedom and democracy. After what I saw today, and having forgotten our own history and revolution, this was arrogance. People are not given freedom and democracy - they take it for themselves. The Anbaris deserve this credit.

Today I step down as the dictator, albeit benevolent, of Anbar Province. Today the Anbaris took it from me. I am ecstatic. It was a privilege to be part of it, to have somehow in a small way to have helped make it happen.

Semper Fi.
Kelly

The Boofers Song

[by Zach]

Boofers, eh? Where to begin? Well, I guess it all started a long time ago when I was a just a little pup. The story I heard was that Dad used to sit at the table, after a meal and stretch, The resulting exhale/sigh sounded like 'boofers'.

Boofers has since become a family word.

When to use boofers? Well, Boofers is used when remarking about a negative situation. As an example, one would use it as such:

Zach was walking across the kitchen and dropped his cup, resulting in a huge mess of broken glass and water. Looking at the mess, Zach says, "Boofers*."

*Note: the short form, 'boof' can be substituted, or the semi-sarcastic form, 'booferrific' (i.e. "Well that was just booferrific").

Boofers has become such a normal word in our household that I think, when he finds out it is not a real word, Declan will need counseling.

He uses it all the time and, at one point, even had a song about it.




...and by the way...this recording, which was exclusive to Uncle Gabe and Aunt Karla, is now available to the masses.

Good job, Lil Man.

Mr. Sneaky

[by Zach]

Normally something like this isn't really blog worthy, but I honestly believe this is Declan's first real attempt at defiance and trickery, so...I'll share.

Over the holiday season we were reminded once again how much little boys like cookies. Any time one would see the light of day, Declan would devour it and use his super human strength to locate and consume more....as if he were Galactus and each cookie was an insignificant little planet.

On the way home one evening, Declan had a cookie as a snack...no big deal. He was told that he could have no more cookies...I was witness to that. The Swarrmobile pulls in the driveway and we all pour out of the car with bags of new gifts. If my memory serves me, I got waylaid coming to the house, I think by taking trash out or something, and Maribeth was tasked with finding temporary homes for the big bags of stuff once inside.

After a few minutes I finish my duties and walk in the back door. Then I hear it...the distinct sound of a 3 year 10 month old male...crying. It's one of those sad cries; not the angry or mad cry or the sobbing/can't catch my breath cry, but just a real honest to goodness sad cry.

I go upstairs and find Lil Man laying in bed crying and Maribeth standing over him with her arms crossed. The look on her face: stern and stony-like with a hint of something I can't quite figure out. I look at her and mouth, "What happened?"

I get the sideways head jerk which I correctly interpreted as "Go into the other room with me and I'll tell you what happened." We go to the other room and she starts laughing.

The story came out that Declan lost one of his three bedtime stories because...when we got home, Mommy and Daddy weren't around and little man took a cookie off of the tray in the kitchen. And not only did he decide to eat it without permission, he decided to go upstairs and eat it so we wouldn't catch him.

For shame, Little Man....but good attempt nevertheless.

But know this....we will always know your tricks...always.

p.s. Given the lighter nature of the offense, Declan was given the opportunity to regain his third bedtime story if he was well behaved and listened while getting ready for bed. He did.

Outsmarted by a man half my size!!

[by zach]

I love to talk to little man when I take him to school in the mornings. Obviously because he's my son, but mainly because you never know what he's gonna say. Case in point:

This morning for instance, I tried my hand getting him to see things in different perspectives. We were driving by a pond and I accidentally called it a lake. But that got me thinking...how he views a tiny puddle is different than how an ant would view that same puddle. Seemingly pointless information, but it may give him something to think about; analytical thinking is high on my importance list for him. So the conversation went as follows:

Me: "Declan? Did you ever think about how a small puddle would look to an even smaller ant?"

Declan: "No."

Me: "Well...let's say you're standing near a tiny puddle. And because you're so big, it's just a tiny puddle, right?"

Declan: "Yeah. Because I'm sooo big and the puddle is sooo small."

Me: "Now, let's say a tiny little ant walked up and stood at that same puddle. What do you think he would see instead of a tiny little puddle?"

Declan: "He'd see me standing at the puddle."

Awesome

I just have to say right now how awesome my husband is. I came home from work (just after Zach had left the house for class) to find the table set and decorated, stuffed salmon in the oven with sides of pasta and vegetables on the stove and bread and shrimp on the table waiting. The oven and stove timers went off minutes after I walked in the door with Declan. So we sat down to a wonderful, delicious, almost relaxing dinner together, lamenting the fact that our 'daddy' was missing from the party.

Thanks honey. I love you.

Should've Eaten My Wheaties

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea the amount of work I had to do before lunch.

I thought it was to be an ordinary day, but alas, I found myself destroying the Dallas Cowboys, rescuing a US Embassy from terrorists, spelunking for hidden treasure, and rescuing a princess from the clutches of a giant evil dragon-king after getting sucked down a pipe.

Whew!

I love online Nintendo Games.

Mr. McPiddlefingers

[posted by Zach]

Tonight is the weekly, ever-anticipated Family Fun Night here at the Swarr household.

After we got home we made dinner and decided to play a board game while we ate. The game's called Frustration. It's a knock of the Milton Bradley game, Trouble. We just got it this past weekend at a consignment shop and little man loves it.

So there we were, playing and munching on the living room floor, when the smallest of our number began to wiggle around with his legs crossed. Maribeth, using her acute powers of observation asked, "Declan, do you need to go to the potty?"

"Mm hmm," was little man's reply. And with that he stood up and ran off to the bathroom.

We could hear everything from where we were. We heard the seat lift, his pants unsnap and get pulled down. The 4 second stream of whiz...

Then...Silence. A good 6 seconds of silence.

"Declan?"

"Whaaat?" came a little sing-song voice.

"What are you doing?"

"Um. Washing my hands," he said with a hint of that oh-crap-I'm-busted tone.

"I didn't hear the sink," Maribeth said as she got up and made her way to the bathroom, "did you wash your hands in the potty?"

"Um. Mm hmm," was his meek response.

"C'mon. Over to the sink. You have to wash your hands," Maribeth said.






"...but I already did..."



I love Family Fun Night.

Aquarium

Declan's first trip to the aquarium - there's not really much to tell. The adventure was much like any other 3 year old's introduction to the world under the sea. We drove down to Baltimore with Nana, Pappy, Uncle Gabe, and Aunt Karla, and after getting over a bought of car sickness, Declan was a ball of excitement. He loved the entire day! The pictures tell it better though:

Like Father, Like Son

[posted by Zach]

Last night was Family Fun Night at the Swarr household. We've been very good about taking every Wednesday and spending time as a family; either playing board games, watching movies, or going somewhere. The other thing about Family Fun Night is that Lil Man gets to sleep in our bed. It's a lot of fun and he absolutely loves it.

Last night we got food from Isaac's, rented Charlotte's Web and hung out upstairs. After getting ready for bed (teeth, jammies and stories), the lights went off and it was time to sleep.

I was lying facing away from Declan and trying to relax and Little Man was curled up behind me facing toward me. I was lying there and eventually I started to feel little Declan feet pressing on my butt. I asked him to stop and he didn't. I told him to stop and he didn't. So, like a responsible father I made a little push against his feet with my butt and I made a fart noise (with my mouth, of course).

Naturally, this prompted Little Man to push harder on my butt with his feet and every time he did, naturally I made another fart noise. He kept giggling, so, of course I kept doing it. Then he started to make fart noises. And before we knew it, the two of us are making fart noises and giggling in bed like a couple of three year olds...

Then, as if she was actually trying to sleep, we got a groggy, "OK. It's time to relax, boys" from Maribeth's side of the bed.

So, after a couple more giggly fart noises from both of us and another 'reminder' from Maribeth, we eventually calmed down.

Silent. Relaxed. Ready to sleep.

Then I felt two little fingers 'walk' up my back, down my shoulder, across my neck and up to my ear. I feel them 'squat' and then Little Man lets loose a fart noise and giggles.

I chuckled and turned to him and said, "OK, buddy. Let's sleep now."

I smiled and rolled back over. Beaming with pride.

A Mighty Groin Kick

[by Zach]

I love cartoons. I grew up with my eyes glued to the TV every chance I got. I grew up watching the greats like Transformers, He-Man, Centurions, GI Joe, Inhumanoids, Smurfs, Snorks, TMNT, Robotix, blah blah blah...I could go on and on and on.





I still watch cartoons. I LOVE them. I even watched them when watching cartoons wasn't cool...in high school.

I'd come home and devour them. To the point, I must say, I watched Bonkers, Talespin and Goof Troop. On the other end of the spectrum, there were really good cartoons in the 90s. Batman: The Animated Series, The Tick, Tiny Tunes, Gargoyles, Animaniacs, Darkwing Duck, etc...











I must say, with few exceptions, one cartoon of that era stood out. Well above the rest. Maybe not in an animation sense, but the writing, voice acting and overall story arc was phenomenal. I'm speaking of Mighty Max. That blasted cartoon was amazing! Max, Virgil and Max's guardian, Norman. For an episode listing go here.


One of the things I love to do is gather up old cartoons I used to watch. Ask Maribeth, I have VHS tapes of Hulk Hogan's Rockin' Wrestling, DVDs of Gummi Bears, Transformers, Gi Joe, etc...
So, I find it only natural to buy Mighty Max on DVD. The entire series (even if it is only 2 seasons). I want it.


But I can't get it. It doesn't exist.

And to rub salt in the wound...I scrolled down on my amazon search...and found that this steaming pile of crap series got released. Who ever watched Biker Mice from Mars? Probably the same people that watched Capitol Critters...asses.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Four WONDERFUL years! Thanks, honey...

Pride and Determination- Declan Style!

[posted by Zach]

During the days of potty training, we found that a little incentive goes a long way. One of those incentives was that Lil Man could pick out some underwear with his favorite cartoon characters on it. I forget the circumstances why, but I ended up going to Kmart and grabbing a bunch of underwear while Lil Man was at home with Mommy. In all of my geeky dad wisdom, I got him Spider-Man, Superman and, of course...Transformers Animated.

Over time, they became just any old underwear, but recently he's been taking a liking to the Transformers underwear (let me wipe my tear of joy).

This morning, however he only had Spider-Man and Thomas undies to wear...but wait! Mommy just moved a load of laundry over to the dryer. He's a Lil Man on a mission.

He's digging...














and digging....

FINALLY!! The treasure hunter found his booty!

Good job, Little Buddy!

Fed Up

By: Mrs. Swarr

This blog is a place for family updates and recording some of Declan's day to day life. It was never intended to be a place of ranting or raising controversy. However, there is something I have been aching to get off my chest. It involves politics, so if you don't care to hear yet another political rant, read no further.

Here's my beef. Everyone knows that politicians are generally sleazy or unlikable in their own way. It takes a certain type of person to be a politician, and generally, that type of person has traits people don't like (generally, not always). It could be that he or she is a bit too good at schmoozing, or uses language that is far too antagonistic. Maybe he or she doesn't value the bonds of marriage or has simply said something once that annoyed you. This is nothing new.

What is bothering me most about our current election season is not the candidates themselves though. It is the American people. The outlets available for political discussion reflect truly pathetic conversation. Reported news is almost always biased, but that is not entirely new either. The internet has opened a new avenue for a very diverse nation to reach out to each other, discuss their views on our nation's future, and help each other make informed decisions.

Or so one would think.....

I have yet to find a single source of opinion and discussion that is intelligent, factual, and non-accusatory all in one. Readers leave comments to berate biased news articles, only to use name calling tactics themselves. Is this seriously the best our country has to offer? I do not believe that all internet users are uninformed, socially inept, name callers. That being said, why can't I find any intelligent conversation?!

Granted, there is nothing wrong with an old fashioned, person-to-person political conversation, but we are so limited if we converse no further than our own back yards! I am so incredibly frustrated by people who accuse and refuse to listen. Please, America, can't we have some intelligent, kind conversation on who we think the best presidential candidate is and why??? I have my mind made up on the matter, but that does not mean that I don't respect those that support the other guy. We are all entitled to our opinions, but we are NOT entitled to act like children and treat each other like garbage simply because we have not come to the same conclusion on who should lead the country. If you want me to change my mind, send over some well-informed, well-thought out information. Calling me stupid will not help your cause, I promise.

The Good Stuff

By Mrs. Swarr

As most of you know, Zach is going back to school. He actually started last week, and we are slowly getting into the groove of this new adventure.

One of the benefits of Zach's endeavor is that I get Declan all to myself one night a week. To be quite honest, this is the perfect medicine for whatever ails me. Declan and I have a really great time when it is just the two of us, and it makes me feel more connected to him after spending 10 hours a day apart.

Last night was the first of these nights, so I decided Declan and I should have our own little celebratory dinner together. When I mentioned that we were going to go somewhere special for dinner, he immediately shouted for joy 'old macdonalds!!' as he calls it. I tried to say that, no, this was not what I had in mind, but whining ensued. To avoid any further grating on my nerves, I calmly explained to him how important it is to put good stuff in our bodies.

"But Mommy, chicken nuggets are good stuff. I eat them at school."

"Yes, and they're ok every once in a while, but they are not the best for us. We need to put fresh food, like vegetables and fruit into our bodies."

He agreed, so I took him to the Chocolate Cafe and ordered us each a peanut butter chocolate banana panini. Yes, he was bouncing off the walls all night, but at least his dinner was all organic. Right?

A Few Good... Commercials

[posted by zach]

I thought I'd post the two newest Marine Corps commercials for your viewing pleasure. Courtesy of the Our Marines website.

This first one was from January and it is entitled Marines Across America. A portion of the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team traveled to fifteen sites across America to film this one.



This one is the newest of the Marine Corps commercials, called 'Leap'. It just aired in June and it tells the story of Staff Sergeant Hill, now a Senior Drill Instructor at MCRD Parris Island. Please follow this link to read more. It's worth it.




Also, check back soon, I'm working on a few posts about my experience in the Marine Corps from start to finish. For starters, take a look at this commercial...the one I remember.

Semper Fi.

School again, school again jiggity-jig

For those of you that don't know, I am officially a student. I've decided to further my education by going to college. For starters, I'm going to HACC, then I'll be transferring to another school to round out my education and go from there. My ultimate goal is to become a history teacher. Yay me.

I've decided to start slow this semester to ease into things and I'm only taking 3 classes, two of which are online. I think this is a good move since I have a tough time getting into the mindset that I am a student. Those that can recall, I was not the most engaged student in high school.

The other thing I have to get used to is that all of the students at school are 10 years younger than me and the faculty at HACC deals with them day in and day out. Case in point:

I went to the campus today to pick up a few books. Not having a student ID yet, I went to the Student Services desk and decided to ask the lady (a non-student) a question...

me: Ok, question: Do I need a student ID to buy books from the book store?
lady: Well I'm not sure. Can I have your student ID?
me: Sure, it's Hxxxxxxxx.
lady: Can I see it?
me: Can you see what?
lady: Your student ID, I want to make sure it's correct.
me: What? I-I just gave it to you. Hxxxxxxxx.
lady: I know but I want to make sure you're giving me the correct number.
me: What? That's the number I use to log in online, correct?
lady: That's the same one. I'd like to confirm it's the right number.
me: Um, could I borrow a post it note and a pen?
lady: Oh sure.
[hands me said items...I proceed to write Hxxxxxxxx]
me: Here you go. [hand her info-filled post it note]
lady: That's correct. Thank you very much.
me: Are you serious?
lady: Hm?
me: Oh...uh...nevermind.

Lake Tobias

By: Mrs. Swarr

Ever been to Lake Tobias? No? I highly recommend it. It’s a wonderful little collection of strange animals like capybara, zedonks, yak, alpaca, and many more that I have never heard of. Many of the animals are so accustomed to people that they will walk right up to say hello (if they could actually talk). Definitely a good way to spend the afternoon.

Lake Tobias was the first of Declan’s field trips where I was lucky enough to tag along. There was plenty of fun to be had, but unfortunately the fun had to wait until after lunch time when Declan finally managed to get over his carsickness. We went on a safari in the morning, and I hate to admit that I was one of those goofy parents who was ten times more excited by the numerous animals than my own child was. Declan kept his head down on the seat trying not to throw up while I nudged him every 5 seconds to get him to look at the awesome buffalo or the huge moose climbing onto the topless safari bus. He just didn’t care.

After we got some food into his little belly, he was ready for adventure. We went straight to the petting zoo (aka herd of goats) where he fed baby animals and tested the patience of several alpacas (did you know that a black alpaca lazing in the sun feels really good against your naked belly? Yeah, me either...Declan does). He also violated at least one goat (kid sees goat with upturned tale, kid thinks ‘what’s that hole for’. Then, said child cannot possibly restrain finger from poking said hole), after which I dragged him directly to the exit to find a place to wash his hands, found that there was no such place, and promptly decided, meh, its just goat butt, how dirty can it be? Yes, apparently spending my childhood summers on a farm did damage my code of hygiene. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip. Have a look-see for yourself.

Warm Fuzzy

[posted by zach]

I was home sick a little while ago. I can't really recall when or what was wrong with me, but I remember that it sucked. Ask Maribeth and she'll confirm; when I'm home sick, I will lay and watch TV all day long. Movies, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Military Channel, etc... If it's interesting and somewhat educational, I'm there.

Well, this particular time, I was watching my third consecutive episode of Survivorman On Demand (I will take this time to say that Survivorman is 1,000 times better that Man vs. Wild). The cool thing about On Demand is that they don't have commercials during the programs, but more of their own Network Plugs. They'll advertise about the network in general or an upcoming series, etc. Fine by me.

Les Stroud just finished skinning a rabbit when it faded to the break. I sat there and watched two astronauts floating in space, talking about the view. They then broke into song and this segment continued on showing different people and situations. All the while they are each singing this song. I was enthralled. I was laying there in awe of what I had just seen. Then I realized it was On Demand, so I was rewinding and rewatching it over and over.

Although I was sick, this segment made me feel good. Not healthy or giddy or anything...just good. Like the world is one big happy family. Well. Thanks to the interwebs, here is that same segment for you to enjoy. I guarantee you'll watch it over and over....and it'll put a smile on your face every time.