Dream of Flight, Part 5 – License to Fly

After my mission, one of my first concerns (aside from finding Lisa) was to get back into college. Before leaving for England, I had been “prompted” by Dad to seek out an education. If I remember correctly, his words to me after I graduated high school were “if you want to continue to live under my roof you can find a full-time or you can go to college.” I tried the work-thing briefly, and decided that college would be less “work”. The cheap and easy (to get into with my grades) choice was Utah Valley State College – formerly the Central Utah Vocational School, soon to be Utah Valley University – where tuition was low, the commute was manageable, and classes seemed to be an easy step up from high school.

Back from London, and with a semester under my belt, I headed back to UVSC. When the time came to declare a major, the logical choice was the fledgling aviation program at the college. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay the tens of thousands of dollars it would take to fund all of the flying training, but it was a first leap of faith. The first step was ground school and my initial flight training. Learning to fly wasn’t really cosmic – it was a little like driving a car – but it sure was fun. It took a few months, and a few thousand dollars, but in June of 2001 I passed the Private Pilot’s License checkride and became a pilot.

I had plenty of good times flying little puddle jumpers, from long cross-country trips, to quick hops for a “$100 lunch”, to scenic trips though the red-rock canyons and alpine valleys of Utah. Probably one of my most memorable flights was shortly after passing my checkride.

Lisa and I were engaged to be married in about a month, and she was down in St. George making preparations for the wedding. Having not seen each other for a few weeks, and with the ink still wet on my license, I rented a plane and made the hour flight down south to surprise her.

It’s been a couple years since I’ve been able to go up alone in a little plane. Flying across the country at 600 mph and doing loops and rolls in a jet is great, but it’s just not the same as flying low and slow in a Cessna. Maybe when I have a little more time and money, I’ll take the boys up to share the dream.

Training Time?

Monday was a big day- we put Brian in underwear. He has been able to pee in the potty for several months now, but only when we put him on and prompt it. We were hoping that being in 'big-boy' underpants would help him progress.

Well, he loves his underwear and he is always willing to go sit on the potty . . . but he still is not reconizing the 'urge' to go. We've been putting him on the potty every 30 minutes, and we are having about 50/50 accidents and successes. But the accidents do not seem to bother him much; not a good sign for his toilet-training-readiness. Here are a list of questions I found from the Mayo Clinic about if your toddler is ready, and Brian's answers. I'm sure 10 years from now he'll be embarassed about me writing about this, and I'll be amused that I thought it was such a big deal.

1. Does your child seem interested in the potty chair or toilet, or in wearing underwear? yes
2. Can your child understand and follow basic directions? yes
3. Can your child ask simple questions? no
4. Does your child stay dry for periods of two hours or longer during the day? no

5. Does he or she wake from naps dry? no
6. Does your child have fairly predictable bowel movements? no
7. Does your child tell you when he or she needs to potty or poop? no
8. Is your child uncomfortable in wet or dirty diapers? wet-no dirty-yes
9. Can your child pull down his or her pants and pull them up again? no

So I've basically decided that while he is totally cooperative and on the right track, we are not quite ready yet. And that's okay! We'll try again in a month or two, and see how it goes. On a semi-related note, check out the MESS Brian made while he was playing with the sand & water in his underwear. I've decided the sand was possibly my worst idea ever. I need to get rid of it, and just stick with water! I don't mind the boys getting wet, but the sand gets EVERYWHERE and it is a pain to clean up. On yet another semi-related note, we have an extra 50-lb bag of new sand at our house . . . if anyone wants it it's YOURS!!!

Dream of Flight Part 1.1 - Brian's First Airshow

Well, Brian had his first milestone in his own journey to fly (even though Mom teases that he'll be an accountant or modern dancer) - his first airshow. I'd considered waiting until the airshow here at Vance in October, but considering the probability of not sticking around that long, decided to make the pilgrimage to Oklahoma City for the annual airshow at Tinker AFB. Despite the heat, humidity, crowds, noise, and risk of dirty diapers, it was a success.

Brian seemed to like being so close to the airplanes on the ground. We stood in the bomb bay and next to the tires of a B-52 and checked out the cavernous cargo bay of a C-17.













Brian did seem a little alarmed during the "Tora! Tora! Tora!" recreation of the Pearl Harbor attack, with the furball of planes swirling over the crowd and pyrotechnics exploding out beyond the runway. Then when the F-15E Strike Eagle lit the blowers for its high speed pass, he was a more than alarmed - 'jumping out of his skin' would be a better description.

By the time we made our way over to the kids area to ride in the pedal planes, Brian had just about had enough:














Lisa thinks we'll show this picture to Brian when he turns out to not be a pilot - I think it'll be in his pilot training slide show.

Surprisingly, Brian seemed impressed when the Thunderbirds ended the show with their demonstration. I guess they rely on grace and form rather than raw power or explosions, so it was a treat to sit on the ramp, father and son, and watch a diamond formation of F-16s streak overhead. We finally made it home after a long day and relaxed with a book about - you guessed it - airplanes.

Water, water everywhere

I found a sand & water table today at a garage sale . . . it is a great one, and I was so excited because we were planning to make a sand pile for Brian anyway, and this will be even better. So we set it up, and I explained very carefully to Brian that the water stays on the blue side and the sand stays on the red side (and no he is not color-blind). You can see how well that worked out. Not only is the sand all over both sides of the table, it is all over the patio, the house and Brian.

So the jury's still out on whether this new toy is a great idea or a terrible idea . . . but Brian L-O-V-E-S it. I think when this batch of sand 'runs out' we might just stick with water.

Oh, and an update on our birds- the dove hatched two babies, who grew up FAST-as in one week from teeny babies to growing twice as big & flying! They have already 'flown the coop'. I watched them one afternoon as the babies practiced flying from the nest down to the porch and back. Pretty cool!

One Word

Krista, I thought this was pretty cool! It was harder than I thought though, answering with just one word.

1. Where is your cell phone?............... Kitchen
2. Your significant other?............... Andrew
3. Your hair?................ Messy
4. Your Mother?............... Best
5. Your Father?............... Hilarious
6. Your favorite thing?.............. Family
7. Your dream last night?............... Nonsensical
8. Your favorite drink?................ Barq's
9. Your dream/goal?............... Organization
10. The room you're in?............... Living
11. Your children?................ BOYS
12. Your fear?............... Spiders
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?....... Rich!
14. Where were you last night?................ Park
15. What you're not?...............Petite
16. Muffins?................ Blueberry
17. One of your wish list items?............... Travel
18. Where you grew up?................. California
19. What are you wearing?............... Capri's
20. Your t.v.?................ None
21. Your pets?................. Kids
22. Your computer?................ Lifesaver!
23. Your life?............... Awesome
24. Your mood?............... Happy
25. Missing someone?............... Grandma
26. Your car?............... Green
27. Something you're not wearing?............. Sweater
28. Favorite store?................ Thrift
29. Your Summer?................ Graduation!
30. Like someone?................ Friends
31. Your favorite color?................ Blue
32. Last time you laughed?................ Today
33. Last time you cried?............... Friday

I tag anyone reading this who wants to play!

Where is Clayton?

The other night I noticed Clayton was being very quiet (usually a very bad sign) and I went looking for him- here is what I saw:He was just hanging out in our pantry . . . silly kid. Then the next day I found him again in a different cupboard:
I think he really enjoys being in a 'cozy' space. I've noticed that he ALWAYS sleeps sideways in his crib- so his head and feet are pushed against the sides of the crib. Crazy kid.

Oh, and today was the base garage sale- it was SO fun! A bunch of friends and I pooled all the stuff we had to get rid of, and set up a booth on base. There were about 40 booths altogether- great chance for everyone to buy and sell.

Brian Sings

Here is Brian singing . . . sort of. He is watching the end of Toy Story 2 and singing along with 'You've Got a Friend in Me'. Every time they sing the word 'friend' he belts out 'FRIEEENNND'! He absolutely loves the music in this movie. Sad to say though, I think Brian has inherited his mom's singing abilities! Sigh. Oh, and jumping (and occasionally stomping) is Brian's version of dancing.

Celebrity Look-a-likes!

I saw this on Erika's blog and thought it was pretty cool! Here are the celebrities Andrew and I most resemble:




I thought Andrew had a pretty interesting range of 'look-a-likes'! But his top resemblance was only 60%; mine were stronger. I wonder if they picked Jodie Sweetin just based on my hairstyle?

The Boys' Room

Today we moved Clayton's crib into Brian's room- so now it is the Boys' Room. Hopefully that will give Andrew more of an office, and maybe a little space for me to work on crafts, etc. I tried putting the boys down for a nap in their room today- Clayton would not go to sleep at all and made quite a fuss- but Brian slept through the whole thing! I think after a few days they will both be fine with it. And if not, we can always move Clayton back to the other room. If anyone has advice on how to make this transition a little smoother, I would love to hear it!

And check out Brian's 'new' hat. I found it (where else?) at a garage sale. In case it's hard to read, it says 'Brian's Machine Shop - Enid, OK' (you can also click on the pictures to see them enlarged). I especially like the shiny silver flourishes on the brim.

Splish Splash

What is more fun than playing in a wading pool with 1 inch of water and a slide? Playing fully clothed, that's what! Brian, Clayton and our friend Ava had a blast today splashing in the water.

Apparently, swimming once today was not quite enough for my boys. So here we are again. Note Clayton's soggy, saggy diaper. Not to worry, I bought the 'Swimmers' diapers for when we go to an actual pool.

Another Tag!

A ~ Each person has to list 6 facts/habits about them

B ~ After part A, go to 6 people's blogs and leave a comment letting them know to read your blog, and that they have been tagged. List at the end of your posting who you have tagged.

*I am going to write this tag about Andrew, since I have already written a couple of tags about myself.

1. Andrew has a habit of tapping/wiggling his legs, especially when he is at the computer or trying to go to sleep.

2. Fact- Andrew had an imaginary friend as a child named 'Dirty Grotty'. I'm guessing he looked something like PigPen from Peanuts?

3. Fact- Andrew hates to touch paper napkins and paper towels. He will if absolutely necessary, but it's like fingernails on a chalkboard to him.

4. Andrew sneezes at least once every morning when he first wakes up. And so does Brian!

5. Andrew HATES 'gummy' type candies.

6. Andrew talks in his sleep. One time he woke me up because he was laughing really hard in his sleep- I asked him what was so funny, and he said "Smartie fishes! Smartie fishes!" ????? Who knows.

Okay, I tag Leah, Krista, Melissa, Susan, Julie and Stephanie. And anyone else who wants to play. You can write about yourself or your husband.

Happy Birthday to ME!

My wonderful friend Kelly made me a GIANT cookie for my birthday! And my equally wonderful friend Leah made me this delicious lemon cake (you can see a piece of it in the picture). Thanks for making my day so great! Love you guys.

Andrew took me out to Chili's, and got me the movie 'Enchanted'. What a fun day.

Funny Tag

I got this from my friend Maren . . . I thought it was hilarious! Check out my new 'names'.

1. My rock star name (first pet and current car):
Jenny-Pretty Landrover

2. My gangsta name (favorite candy bar and favorite cookie):

Rolo Peanut Butter

3. My "brotha" name (first initial of first name and first three letters of last name:

L Mon

4. My detective name (favorite color and favorite animal):

Blue Dog

5. My soap opera name (first name and city where you were born):

Lisa Provo

6. My Star Wars name (first three letters of your last name and first two letters of your first name then the word "of" then a medication you are on):

Monliofsynthroid

7. My superhero name (2nd favorite color and favorite drink with "The" in front):

The Green Root Beer

8. My Nascar name (first names of your grandfathers):

Keith Heber

9. My stripper name (name of your favorite perfume/cologne and your favorite candy):

Happy Apple O's

10. My witness-protection name (mother's and father's middle names):

J Shurtliff

I think my favorite one is my stripper's name. Oh, and yes my first pet (a kitten) was named Jenny-Pretty. My mom let my brother and I pick a name and we could not agree on it. I wanted 'Jenny', he wanted 'Pretty' . . . so 'Jenny-Pretty' became her name! Okay, I want to read this tag on everybody's blog! I think it's way too funny not to share.

Gardening Fun

This morning the boys and I went out to plant some flowers. Brian loves digging in the dirt, and watering the plants. Clayton loves running into the water from the hose (him getting soaked was all his doing, I promise! Well, Brian helped a little). All in all, a pretty fun time for everyone.