A Cook Who Doesn't Cook.............

Chad's rate ( his job- for you non-navy people) in the navy is a CS, a culinary specialist. So basically, he's a cook. Everyone's first question when they hear what he does is, "does he cook at home?" My answer is, "yes, my wonderful husband does cook at home, but, he doesn't cook at work". That's right, he's a cook who doesn't cook. In fact, he hasn't cooked in a galley on a regular basis in over 5 years. I know, it doesn't make a lot of sense. He's actually the records keeper for his division. He sits at his computer, in his nice little office that he shares with the FSO (food service officer) a good part of the time. Every once in awhile, though, they'll have some big ta-do on the ship and they'll throw Chad back in the galley. I tease Chad about how sitting at his computer most the time hardly seems like work, so he sent me these pictures to prove that every once in awhile he does do real work! I like the picture because he's actually smiling, which he doesn't do in pictures very often, I miss that smile so much, plus he's just cute in his little cook hat!

Hello You...........

Myshel and I have a rather silly game going. A few weeks ago we were watching the movie Jungle 2 Jungle with Tim Allen. There's a small part in the movie, where Tim Allen's laptop talks to him when he turns it on. There's a picture of a pretty girl and in a soft, very suductive voice she says, "hello you". So I started saying that to Myshel when she would least expect it. We'd be standing in line at the store and I'd lean over and whisper, "hello you", or when we're watching TV or in the kitchen, whenever or wherever I would think of it, I'd say, "hello you". So, she started doing it back and like I said, it's become a silly game. I came home after running some errands the other day and this is what I found on my vanity mirror and bathroom mirrors (I hope you can see it, ok). I'd done this on her mirror a couple of weeks ago and she must have been waiting for an opportune time to get me back!

When I think about all this silliness, though, I realize that it's become more than a game. It's become a way of communicating with each other while saying very little. Myshel has never said it to me when it hasn't made me smile. No matter how grumpy or frustrated I am, it always brings a smile to my face. I know it's that way for her, too. Once we were arguing about something. Myshel was very angry at me about whatever the fight was about. I took a deep breath and I said, "hello you". I could tell she was trying not to smile and she said, "quit it, I'm still mad at you". It broke the tension and we stopped arguing. Another time I was standing in the kitchen crying. I was upset about something, I don't even remember what. Myshel came up behind me and whispered, "hello you" and gave me a hug. It made me smile and helped me feel better.

So, through what started as silliness, I've found a way to communicate with my teenager. It gives a chance to play and be goofy, but it also gives us a way to encourage, help, comfort, uplift, and lighten each other. Sometimes it's just another way to say, "I love you". I love and appreciate that and I love and appreciate Myshel.

An unexpected answer.................

A couple of days ago, I had a bad day. When I say bad, I mean BAD! I don't know if it was any one thing. I think it was just an accumulation of lots of things, topped off by a bad mood! I was up late that night, trying to finish some things before I went to bed and trying, somewhat, to calm down. I even remember saying a little prayer, that went something like, "please help me to change my mood so that tomorrow can be a better day". But, I was irritable even then. Around 11PM the phone rang. Of course, my first thought, "who would be calling me at this hour". So, I grumbled to the phone and the caller ID had a Norfolk number on it which I didn't recognize. I considered not answering it but decided I would. I figured it was someone with the wrong number, so I'm sure I sounded a little testy when I said hello. After a short pause, I heard, "hello beautiful". It was Chad. We only got to talk for a few minutes, but those few minutes made all the difference. He made me laugh and he lightened my mood and the next day was a better day. I would give anything to have him here talking to me in person, making me laugh and brightening my days, but I'll take what I can get for now. It's nice to know that even from thousands of miles away, he can still be the answer to my prayers.

Reason #1

The #1 reason why children should not track water into the house and leave it...................because mom comes in behind them, slips and falls and lands on the metal track of the door. Then her ugly leg is even uglier!

When I tucked McKaylie into bed that night this is what she had to say, "I didn't know mommy's could get hurt like that".

The Dilema continues.............

They came to fix the dishwasher yesterday..........again.................and it's still not working. We did discover the problem. The water line, the hose that brings the water into the dishwasher, wasn't connected to the dishwasher! That would explain the water flooding my floor. Apparently, it's broken and the guy that came to fix it last time tried to glue it on. That obviously didn't work, so now they're ordering a new water line. They don't know how long it will take either.

Now, I know that washing dishes by hand is not the end of the world. We did it for a year in Florida and lived through it. BUT, with four kids, it's ridiculously inconvenient. I am lucky, though. My two oldest are old enough to help with the dishwashing task and even McKaylie can help with supervision. If nothing else we'll learn to appreciate the dishwasher that we have! If we ever have one that works again!

Feeding the Monkeys.........

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Here's Chad feeding wild monkeys in Malaysia

Hawaiian Luau

They do look a little grumpy, but they were actually excited to get this picture taken!

We went to a Hawaiian Luau tonight. It was lots of fun. There was some games and crafts and lots of food. I even ate a roasted pig! I wanted to take a picture of it, but I wasn't quick enough! They gave us flower leis and the kid's leis even lit up, which was really fun after dark. We got our picture taken, too! I also thought I'd put in a couple of picture of the hawaiian dancers that we got to see! Lots of fun tonight!

They were teaching the children to hula in this picture. Of course, my kids wouldn't go up there and try, but it was fun to watch them anyway. The funnest to watch, though, was when they were teaching the men to dance!

For Identification Purposes Only....................

For part of our family home evening this week, we updated the kids ID kits. These were the new pictures we took to put in them, so I thought I'd share them.





VANCE: aka The Needler






NOAH: aka The Wild Thing







MYSHEL: aka The Drama Queen









MCKAYLIE: aka The Fireball

Dishwasher Dilema

About 3 weeks ago I phoned in a maintenance call to have my dishwasher fixed. The "thing" that holds the silverware basket broke and it wasn't washing the dishes very well. Usually, maintenance responds in 1-2 days. They're pretty good about getting right out, but not this time. 3 weeks and several phone calls later, someone finally showed up to fix it. They took a look at it and told me that they don't even use that brand of dishwasher in the housing anymore. Not exactly what I wanted to hear. Then he told me they'd just replace it. That's what I wanted to hear! So, I was very excited. They showed up the next morning, which was yesterday and brought me my new dishwasher. I used it for the first time this morning and it flooded my kitchen 5 minutes after I turned it on. So, we're waiting again for maintenance to come back and fix the dishwasher. I think Vance hit the nail on the head when he said, "I should have known this was too good to be true!" I agree, when they told me I was getting a new dishwasher, I was really hoping for one that works!

#3

Here is Vance's quilt. I love the way it turned out, but it gave me lots and lots of problems. Even though I would measure 3 times, when we would go to put it together, it just wouldn't come out right for us. Apparenently, there's a problems with my math abilities, or my cutting abilities or my measuring abilities, or perhaps some other sewing ability. I don't know, I just know that this quilt had me frustrated to the very end. I love how it turned out, though. It fits Vance perfectly. He did a good job picking out the material. He's working on his pillow sham now, and maybe curtains, too.
So, we have 3 down and 1 to go....................

Miniature Golf

I finally got these pictures to post. They're from when we went miniature golfing last Saturday. A free-for-all to the hole

We were waiting our turn to play this hole. It goes inside this mountain and it's right behind the waterfall, which you can see in the background.

Noah, our little expert golfer.............

This is another waterfall that you play by. There's a "window" behind it where you can look out from inside another cave. You can't see them very well, but all 4 of them are there. If you click on it you can probably see them better.

We were waiting again here (we did a lot of waiting that day) The kids are looking at the HUGE fish they have in the pond.

This was toward the end of our golfing experience. We were all getting a little tired and hot.

I had to get at least one picture of them with a pirate! Noah was only interested in his hook. He has a hold of it in the picture. Myshel was just being silly. McKaylie and Vance were being very cooperative!

Quilt #2

This is Myshel's quilt, front and back. She a very girly girl, so I was surprised when she picked this material. I like it though. it turned out very nice I think. It also is a reminder that she is growing up and her tastes are changing. She told me later that she chose this material because it was something that she wouldn't outgrow in the new few years and that she could even take it to college with her. Wow, my baby's looking ahead to college already. That's a little scary! I'm proud of her, though. She's a great kid.

Seems Unfair at Times..................

Singapore

While I sit at home taking care of his 4 children, Chad is getting to see amazing sites like this. Does that seem right to you????

The Perfect Punishment

I finally found the perfect punishment! Ahhh ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

Traffic, Miniature Golf, and More Traffic

We went miniature golfing on Saturday. It was with the housing, of course. I really considered not doing this activity because it was in Williamsburg, which isn't really a long ways away from us, but there's several areas to go through where traffic can be bad. I figured it was Saturday, there wouldn't be any rush hour traffic...............it really shouldn't be so bad. I don't think I've ever been so wrong in my life!!!!! We hit traffic at the bridge/tunnel. I expected that though. Then we drove all the way past Newport News (this might not mean much for those of you who don't know the area, sorry about that) which under normal conditions only left about 20 minutes of driving. Notice I said normal conditions...............we hit an unbelieveable backup! I think there was an accident, but I'm not sure. Anyway, what should have taken 20 minutes took us about an 1 1/2 hours. If I could have taken an exit and gone back, I would have! To make matters worse, Myshel had to go to the bathroom for the last 30 minutes or so. By the time we got to somewhere we could stop, she could barely walk. (I know, I'm such a mean mother to put that in here) I felt bad for her, but since she wouldn't go on the side of the road there was little I could do, not that I want my 13 year old daughter to do that...........

So we did finally get there and the golfing was a lot of fun. The golf course has a pirates theme and it had lots of waterfalls and cannons and ships and on and on. There were 2 different 18 hole courses we could golf on. We only played about 27 holes, I think. Half way through the second one we got too hot and tired, but it was fun. The kids were great to watch. Once everyone teed off, it was like a free for all for the hole. I couldn't get them to slow down and take turns either, but they were having fun and that's what we went there to do. Vance and I each got a hole in one, too! They had some greens that went behind the waterfalls and some went into caves and some went over bridges.................we had to fish several of our golfballs out of the water several times! Golfing was fun the drive home was not...............

Again we hit traffic just outside of Williamsburg. This time I took the first exit into Newport News and drove through the city and got back on the interstate on the other side of the Newport News. The traffic was clear there, so I had high hopes. It didn't last. We got into the Hampton area and it went downhill fast. I don't know if there was an accident or a break-down or what, but traffic was backed up for miles, not just heavy traffic, stop and go traffic and for awhile completely stopped traffic. So, once again, what should have taken us about 30 minutes in normal conditions took us, get this, a whoppin' 2 1/2 hours!!! I am not kidding. I was so exhausted when we finally got home that I didn't want to do anything!

While we were sitting there I wondered if the miniature golfing was worth all that. And then when we finally got through the tunnel and clear of the back up Vance said this, "man mom, I think we spent more time in traffic than we did playing golf" and he was right, we did. I still haven't decided if it was worth it, I'm leaning toward NOT!

Hong Kong

School Supplies Galore!

School supplies, school supplies, school supplies...................I feel like I'm drowning in school supplies.............and we're not even done yet! There's spiral notebooks, composition notebooks, 3 ring binders, trapper keeper type binders, regular pencils, mechanical pencils, crayons, markers, glue, glue sticks, scissors, rulers, erasers, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...............it goes on and on..............And that's not counting the new shoes, socks, jeans, t-shirts, uniforms.........Oh Man.................Only 3 of my children are school age, when Noah's old enough, it will be that much more. My mom had 5 children. How did she ever manage the mayhem of buying school supplies for 5 children. Was it different back then? or am I just a whiner?

Friends, Cheesecake and Fun

(Before I post this--I'll mention that I had this written and set up and then couldn't get the picture to post right, so I saved it to try again later. Since then, I've seen that Marie also put this picture up on her blog! We must be on the same wave link. Brilliant minds think alike!!!!!)

Any whooooo..............

I have good friends, in fact, I have some great friends. A few weeks ago after our enrichment meeting, we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory! There was actually 9 of us there, I think. There was lots of conversation, lots of great conversation and I loved it. I had the perfect seat too, right in the middle. I could listen to one side of table and then to the other and it was just a great spot to be. Plus, we got cheesecake, need I say more?!? I didn't realize how much I needed a night out until I actually had one! It was a very late night, though. It was almost midnight before I got home, but it was very deserved if I do say so myself. My kids were calling me fairly often to see what was taking me so long and why I wasn't home yet, but they got over that, too. It was a very fun night and I appreciate my friends for "making" me go out (that was for you Marie). When you're sitting there surrounded by friends, laughing and enjoying each other's company, it's easy to see how blessed your life is, even when your husband is 10,000 miles away. I'm looking forward to the next time.

Hot Time in the Summer.......

Ok, I've had 4 different people from 4 different places out west tell me that they've sent this heat my way! Like I don't have enough going on with my husband gone and 4 children at home on summer break, you have to throw 3 days of over 100 degree weather at me! As Virginia summer's aren't bad enough! Well, thank you, thank you very much! And just so you know......you're all on my list, I've put a little black x next to your name on my little mental list. You will not be forgotten.................

Snug as a Bug.................

He really does have a bed to sleep in!

If you look closely at his fingers and toes, you'll see his big sisters' influence on him.......nail polish!