Hide and Seek

I've been having trouble with my Norton Security program on my computer lately. So, this morning while trying to get my kids ready for school and do all the "morning stuff" I was also trying to uninstall and then reinstall Norton. It didn't want to work so it took much longer than it should have. I was getting really frustrated and was really concentrating on it when I realized that the house was very quiet, too quiet. I knew that Vance and McKaylie had left for school just a little bit before that, but where was Noah? I went on a search..........nothing.............I called to him.......no answer........I searched every room.........nothing...........I called some more..........no answer.........I started to panic a little.......did he go outside when the kids left for school?..........I'm still looking.......nothing...............that 5 minutes seem to be an eternity at the time ................so I'm thinking to myself what kind of a mother are you that you lose your kid in 5 minutes time, in your own house.........................I was distracted by the computer..................that's not a very good excuse..................so, I decide to call one more time before panic completely takes over............."Noah, you're scaring me, where are you?"..............then I hear a thump from his bedroom. He comes running out saying, "Mommy, I was hiding from you and you didn't find me"! While my heart was still pounding, I picked him up and gave him a hug and said, "You are a good hider, Noah, let's not ever play that game again!"

Diamonds are a girl's best friend!

I went to the jewelry store to have my wedding ring looked at today. It's been catching on everything lately and I've been worried that it would catch and possibly break the prongs that hold my diamond. I really had it in my head that it would be a quick little fix, no big deal. Much to my dismay, it will cost a lot more to fix than I thought. In fact, I'll basically have to get a whole new ring with my diamond in it. The good news, I was told, is that the wrap around the solitare is in good shape....like that made me feel a whole lot better.....not. So, anyway, I'm thinking......if I have to get a whole new ring, why not get a whole new diamond??????? Yeah, if only it were that simple!



Simple Logic

McKaylie was asking me if she could go to the park behind our house and play. I was having fun teasing her so I said, "Who are you?"
Which she answered, "I'm McKaylie Elizabeth"
I came back with, "You're too tall to be McKaylie. McKaylie's only this tall", I held up my hand about 6 inches shorter than she was.
So, she squatted down so the top of her head was right at my hand. "See, I am McKaylie".

Who needs a bed?

Asleep on the couch console

Asleep on the stairs

A friend and I were talking about the funny places our kids have fallen asleep. Here's Noah in some of my favorite places I've found him. I don't think he needs his bed most of the time!

Raising children......

Finally, somebody gets it!

Do You?

Do you ever look at your kids and you're just amazed at how big they look and wonder when that happened?

Reading

A couple of weeks ago, McKaylie came home and read me a book from school. She's been learning her sight words and sounds, but it was like it all came together for her that day. It was like she finally understood why she had been learning all those things and she knew what to do with it. She reads to me all the time now. She's still just learning and needs help, but I am completely impressed at how quickly she picked it up. It seems like she went from sounds to reading over night. She's very smart and remembers things really well. (I may be a little bias) Her list of sight words that she knows has probably tripled since she read me that first book. It's fun to watch her, and all my kids, learn new things. It's like a whole new world has been opened up to her, because she can read now. I love that.

Orchestra

Myshel started playing the violin this last school year. She's doing a great job learning to play. Her group of first year students performed at a music festival yesterday and they did a fantastic job. I am so impressed at how well this group of kids can play after less than a year of learning. Her group recieved a superior rating, which few other groups recieved. I am soooo proud of her and I think she's pretty proud of herself. She loves to play and I love to listen.

Norfolk Port Call..............

I picked Chad up Monday night at 6pm. My kids didn't know he was coming home that day. I told them I was going to the store (which I did after getting him) and had Myshel watch the others at home. After I picked him up I had him call the kids on my cell phone and tell them we were going to the store now. They were so surprised and a little confused, I think. They called my cell phone back to see if he was really with me.
It's soooooo great to have him home, but with good news comes bad. He's only here for two days. The ship pulls out again on Thursday and Chad along with it. They'll only be gone for about a week this time, but it's still really hard to get him back and have to say good-bye so soon. We (half) joked around about how Norfolk is just his port call. (I think most navy wives could tell you that at times it does feel like their home port is just a place to stop over for awhile.) They were kind, though, and gave him Tuesday off. That was great, too. We spent the day just doing every day stuff, taking McKaylie to the dentist, going to the store, things like that, but it was a good day. I love having Chad with me no matter what I'm doing.

I had a little surprise for him too. I had heard that there was a Red Robin restaurant in the area. So, I looked it up and found the directions to it and took Chad to lunch yesterday. When Chad and I were first married he worked at a Red Robin restaurant bussing tables. It was actually his second job. We used to go there and eat every so often and it was a big splurge for us at the time. It was fun to go back and reminisce about when we were first married. We had to laugh, too, because it was one of our cheaper lunches. It's interesting to think about how times/things change. I remember sitting across the table from Chad at the Red Robin when we were first married and just loving to be with him and watching him smile at me, just being happy with life in general. Yesterday, I sat across from him and watched him smile at me and thought, after 15+ years of marriage, and 4 kids and the navy, the only thing that's changed is that I love and enjoy being with him even more............more than I ever thought I could 15 years ago.


(Just a little note, the plague goes on......Myshel woke up Monday in the middle of the night with the stomach flu. I give up!)

Early?

Chad was scheduled to come home tomorrow. He told me the other day, though, that he'd be back a day early, which is great. So all day I'm thinking he's going to call so I can come get him. Around 4PM I get an email that says to meet him at 7PM. I hate that! I really really hate it when they make them stay and work longer after they pull in, especially when they've been gone for so long. Well, at least we'll get to see him for a couple of hours before he falls asleep, if we're lucky!

Enough is enough......

I got up yesterday and got ready for church and everthing was going great. I wasn't even that late, maybe a few minutes......until we were about 5 minutes away from the church building and I hear little noises from the back seat and I ask Noah if he's ok and don't really get an answer. The next thing I knew he was throwing up. So I took the other three kids to church asked a friend to keep an eye on them and took Noah home. As I was pulling into the garage, I was thinking that at least I'd made it back home before he got sick again when he threw up again, in the van. I took him out of the van and he threw up in the garage. I gotta say, that is not a great way to start your day! Man, I must have the worst luck. I just can't seem to get rid of this bug!

Saturdays.....

At our house, we clean on Saturday. Ideally, we should be able to clean in the morning and "play" for the rest of the day. My children know this is the routine, we do it every Saturday. I can't understand why they haven't learned that the work will get done faster without the complaints and fighting. However, without fail, when I tell them it's time to get to work, they act like they've never heard of cleaning on Saturday before in their life. I get all kinds of statements, such as, "you're sooo unfair", "all you ever do is make us clean", "I didn't make that mess", "he/she isn't doing her job" and it goes on and on. It amazes me how sincere they sound, too. If you didn't know any better, you would think that it was the first time they were asked to clean on Saturday. I do know better, though; so, however much they amaze me with their agony and long suffering, all it's getting them is more chores.

Naughty Little Noah............

This is how the conversation went with Noah tonight when I was getting ready to read him his bedtime story.
Me-- "What story should I read"?
Noah-- "The Monkeys".

One of his favorite books right now is called Naughty Little Monkeys.

Me-- "Are you a naughty little monkey"?
Noah-- "No, I'm a Noah".
Me-- "Are you a naughty little Noah"?
Noah-- "Yesssssss" as he falls over giggling.

And there you have it, straight from the "monkey's" mouth........

De`ja`vu

I was up half the night with McKaylie and Vance. McKaylie was running a fever of 102 and Vance was throwing up..................Haven't I been here before?..........................Recently???????

A Nagging thought.......

I love that I have email, because when Chad's gone I can "talk" with him almost everyday. Chad is really good about emailing me on a regualar basis, too. But, like with everything else in the navy, there's a down side to that...........You see Chad's ship is out doing work-ups, they're getting ready to be at sea. They're also doing sea trials to prove that they are ready to be at sea......which means they shut down the email whenever they feel like it (usually it has something to do with security, but that's not the issue here). They don't tell you, of course. So when I don't hear from Chad for quite awhile I have to wonder......"is the email down, or is he just not writing to me". When I ask him about it, his answer is always, "the email was down". But you know, he could be just telling me that just because he didn't email me and that will keep him out of trouble because he has no control over that, right, and I wouldn't know the difference, would I? Sooooo, I guess it comes down to a matter of trust, which Chad wins in a landslide. Buuuutttt......I sometimes still have that nagging little thought in the back of my head..... at least a little. But, if that's all I have nagging me in the back of me head, then I'll consider myself very fortunate.

Modern medicine.....

I woke up this morning with a migraine to beat all migraines, yet I still had 3 children to get off to school and one at home to take care of. Luckily, Myshel and Vance are old enough to get ready on their own and can help McKaylie, too. Unfortunately my kids are all too familiar with my migraines and they help me out a lot. After two doses of Imitrex, though, I was ready to get up and try and face the day, around noon I might add. The migraine's still not completely gone and I still feel rather nauseous, but I am out of bed. I remember my mom suffering with her migraines with very little available to help her, so I am so grateful for modern medicine. And I'm grateful for great kids that try and help me out when I'm not feeling well.