Spreading the joy.....

Well McKaylie is doing better, Myshel has pink eye and Vance is throwing up now. So as I predicted, it's going to spread through our entire family in one form or another and Chad's missing all the fun! Joy! Joy!

Getting Sick

I woke up Saturday to McKaylie throwing up in my bathroom, not the best way to be woken up, but at least she made it to the bathroom. She continued throwing up off and on throughout most of the day. Around noon she had a fever to go with it. Now I knew she was sick, but what really made it convincing for me was when she fell asleep around 11AM and took a pretty good nap. For McKaylie to spend the day doing nothing but laying around....it's serious!

The whole day while I took care of McKaylie I kept mumbling to myself..."please don't let the other kids get sick......please don't let the other kids get sick....please don't let me get sick". McKaylie woke me up Sunday morning announcing that she was feeling great! She looked white as a ghost and exhausted, but she insisted that she was doing wonderful. I still made her stay home from church. She didn't understand that since I hadn't been able to keep any food down her, other than one banana, that I didn't want to take her to church and run the risk of her throwing up again during the meetings, not to mention the other parents wouldn't appreciate me bringing my sick daughter to church.

Myshel's had a cold for about a week now and woke up on Sunday with a slight fever. Not knowing if it was becasue of her cold or because of the stomach flu that McKaylie had, she stayed home too. And since Chad's gone and couldn't take the other kids to church, we ALL stayed home.

Around 11AM I started getting a migraine and it's still going strong, today. So, apparently mumbling under your breath....please don't get sick, has exactly the opposite effect. Did I say, I love being a mother!

Right or Wrong

We try to teach our children that they always have choices to make and with those choices some consequences. So, if they want good consequences they need to always "choose the right". So, when I made a "bad choice", my 5 year old, McKaylie, was quick to point it out........."Mommy, you chose the wrong". And a little child shall lead them........................

Shave and a Haircut....

Noah is a very strong willed little boy. When he sets his mind to something there is very little you can do to change it. Somewhere along the line he's decided that he doesn't like haircuts. I will usually let it go until I just can't stand it any more. I mean when he starts looking like a shaggy little orphan, it's more than I can take. I've been telling him for days that he needs a haircut and even sang the song "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits..." to him hoping he would think it was a game, but all I got each time was "NO, NO HAIRCUT". So I decided that this time I'd start cutting it while he was taking his nap. It's worked before so maybe it would work this time. Well, it was going really well until he woke up half way through the cut. (Maybe I should note that he usually wakes up very grumpy, he gets that from his dad's side of the family, I'm sure) Now what do I do???? I have to take the other 3 kids to the dentist in 2 hours and I can't take him out of the house with half a haircut............. So, I did what any good mother would do. I thought of something that he would hate worse than a haircut and used it against him! "Noah, I can't take you to the dentist with everyone else with half your hair cut, so, I guess I'll just have to call the babysitter and you'll stay here with her". Boy, he really had to think about which one he thought was worse. He reluctantly sat down and let me finish the cut, but not without a good amount of tears. It wasn't perfect, but that's ok. I'll take what I can get.

Blue and Gold

I've been Vance's den leader for 3 years now. I've given him his first award that he earned and now I've given him his last cub scout award, his Arrow of Light. Blue and Gold banquets are always crazy. I've done 4 of them so far. They're held in the church gym, so it's noisy and there's lots of little kids running around. We don't have a big pack, but it's big enough for me. So, after 40 hotdogs, 2 huge bags of tator tots, 30 baked potatoes, 2 pots of chili, 2 cakes, all the condiments, 6 scouts, about 12 parents, 1 scout leader, a few church leaders, and about 20 brothers and sisters (at least it seemed like that many) our blue and gold banquet is over............and so am I. I'm being released from this calling. I say, good timing. phewwwwwwwwww
(Picture is Vance with his Arrow of Honor and all the "things" he's earned in cub scouts. We're very proud of him.)

Gone again........

Looks like Haze gray is the forcast for the next month or so. Chad's out to sea again.

A Little "Hey" from VA

It's not so bad....

I think most people who know me, know that Norfolk isn't my favorite place to live. But.........Chad talked to his parents last night in Wyoming. They told him it was 20 degrees below zero with the windchill factor. That's the kind of cold that makes your nose stick together when you breath because it freezes up instantly. It's not fun, but it's not completely uncommon for Wyoming. In fact, the day that we got married, it was snowing like crazy and around 60 below zero with the windchill. So, I grew up with the cold. Coming to Virginia and it's humidity was a realy shocker for me. I still don't think I'm completely acclamated to the temperatures and humidity here. However after spending the day here in Norfolk in the low 70's running around in shorts while they're freezin' in Wyoming with below 0 temperatures, I've decided that, Norfolk......It's not so bad!

He's Back!

To mine and everyone's surprise Chad walked in the door a day early. It was announced by the screaming from the living room................."Daddy's home, daddy's home!", and the stampede to the front door. So that about says it all. Daddy's Home.

Valentine's Day..............whatever

Today's valentine's day and of course Chad's gone, which means it's really no big deal day. I think it's sad that my 13 year old daughter got a rose from her "boyfriend" even though in 2 weeks time he'll probably be history, and I didn't get anything. Now granted Chad might bring something back with him, but still Valentine's day stinks this year!

Boys will be boys.....

Vance is recieving his Arrow of Light Award for cub scouts at the end of this month. It's the highest award that cub scouts can earn. Chad and I thought that he deserved something special for all his hard work. So we ordered an arrow kit that we can put all his patches and awards on. I had it hidden in my closet until I could put it together. Vance has been asking about the triangle shaped box for days, so I kept thinking to myself that I needed to hide it better, but never quite got around to it. Yesterday he asked what the beads hanging out of the box were for. I knew that nothing had been hanging out, so I knew he'd been in it. I asked him straight out if he'd gotten in the box.........."weeeelllllll yessssssss, but Myshel got in it too", as if having his sister with him while he was snooping around in my closet made it ok. I knew I should have hid the box better. I guess now the only surprise is where my next hiding place will be. As Chad would say.....................boys will be boys!

A wintery day.....

The forecast called for rain, a mixture of snow and rain, and then snow. My kids were so excited because they were going to wake up to snow this morning. But, what they don't realize is that more often than not, when the forecast calls for snow in Norfolk, we get rain, sometimes sleet, but rarely snow. Sometimes it will snow, but it won't stick to the ground, though. So when the kids woke up and there was no snow they walked around the house moping. They kind of looked like balloons with the air gone out. Every once in awhile Myshel would try to cheer herself up by saying "look, it's snowing harder now, I think it will start to stick". But, as usual it didn't, it didn't even kind of stick, it didn't even think about sticking. My husband and I agree, we need to get our kids somewhere where it really snows.........so then they can wish it would stop snowing.

A quiet evening at home......

When Chad's gone things seem to be quieter than usual.........Yesterday for instance, we got home from taking McKaylie to the dentist, started dinner, Vance tells me he feels sick and the smell is making him feel worse, Myshel has at least 10 different forms from school that I have to sign, right now, McKaylie wants to do her homework, right now, Noah's just being Noah, climbing on things, jumping off things, running around like a maniac, jumping off things some more.............got through dinner, Vance didn't eat what I made, Myshel feels dizzy, "it's probably the food that you made, mom. It's making everyone sick", the gasket that seals the sink/garbage disposal came off mysterisouly and now there's water dripping under the sink, the bathtub won't drain unless you hold it down, McKaylie doesn't want to go to bed because it's messing in there and Noah is carrying pillows around tryping to decide where he's going to sleep (so he thinks), Myshel still feels dizzy, but going to bed just doesn't seem like it would help................................10Pm everyone's asleep and now I can start on my own list of thing to do.

Haze Gray and Underway

When the navy ships go to sea they have a saying....."haze gray and underway". Haze gray is the color of the ships for those who may not know. So, that's where Chad's been for awhile......"haze gray and underway". But, haze gray seems to be the mood at our house when dad leaves. So, I think that it can be the saying for our family, too, when Chad's underway. Only the "haze gray" part will be the color of our moods and not the color of the ship. So for now, we're all "haze gray and underway".

Happy Birthday to Me

Since Chad is gone, I reluctantly baked my own birthday cake. My kids insisted on decorating it for me. I wasn't sure if that was such a good idea, but I have to say, they did a great job. It said happy birthday, #1 mom. They definitely have their moments.