The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Normally I'm not overly anxious to send the kids back to school. For the most part, I like having them home and not having a routine to stick to. This year, though, I'm dying to get the kids back to school and have been for weeks. Since Chad left I've almost been desperate for them to get back to their school schedules.

So, finally today is the day, at least for McKaylie and Noah. Vance will start tomorrow and Myshel starts her classes next week (but they're in the evening, so they really don't count). I think they were really ready to start, too.

Noah's in second grade this year McKaylie's in 5th grade--her last year in elementary school---I can't hardly believe that. I think this will be a great school year for everyone!

Silly Bands

McKaylie and Noah have collected a few silly bands over the months. They trade them with their friends and have fun getting new ones. I'm really glad, though, that they don't try to wear them all at once They'd have silly bands up to their elbows! Besides, their pediatrician told McKaylie to be careful when she's wearing them because they can cut off the circulation to your hands, especially if you sleep with them. Thank you Dr. Patten for solving that problem for me!

Lovin' Our Tomato Plants!

So far we've gotten a couple dozen tomatoes off our plants! We also have several banana peppers, too. We've enjoyed them plain, in salads, on sandwiches, and we made some fresh salsa! Yummy! I really like the yellow ones. I've never had them before, so it's fun and yummy to eat them! I hope everyone's enjoying their garden as much as I'm enjoying my little one.

McKaylie's Quilt

Here's the quilt I made for McKaylie. The squares have dogs on them (of course). She loves it and is constantly wrapped up in it.

It's Pouring . . .

It's been awhile since I posted, longer than I thought. It's been a crazy few weeks at our house. It seems that the saying "when it rains, it pours" really is true. Between kids, summer, family, migraines, church, school coming, Myshel's job and starting college, the navy, vehicles, and all the everyday house stuff, it's been pouring like crazy around here.

Some of the things I'll post about, some I won't. I'll start with the navy, because it seems to enjoy throwing my life upside down. About 2 weeks ago Chad found out that they'd let him take an earlier leave (He was planning on coming home in September for about a week and a half) and he'd be able to stay a week longer. We were pretty excited. The day that Chad was going to put in the official request, his ship got word that they were being deployed a month early and all leave was canceled. We were crushed. It looked like we'd be going 10 months without seeing Chad at all. We always knew that was a possibility when he left and we stayed here, but it was devastating nonetheless.

The next few days we spent waiting on a special request for leave. It was a long shot and we never really expected to get it, but Chad called me on a Friday night and said that he'd been approved for one week of leave and it started the next night. He asked me to check into plane tickets for that Sunday. ----I don't advise buying plane tickets 36 hours before you need them unless you absolutely have to ---- really expensive!!!

So Chad was on a plane out of Norfolk at 5:45 Sunday morning. It was great to have him home even for just a week. It was terrible saying good-bye again, especially knowing that it would be 8 months before he'd be back from deployment. To add to the stress and frustration, his flight back to Norfolk was canceled and we had to scramble to get him to Boston to catch a plane first thing Monday morning. Thank goodness for friends!

Chad slept, or tried to sleep, in the Boston airport Sunday night, caught his flight at 6:30AM, got into Norfolk around 10AM and went straight to work until 7PM, slept for a few hours and had to stand watch from 1AM- 4AM. Not a very fun couple of days for him.

Chad also was told that the deployment was extended a few weeks and that they wouldn't be pulling into port for the first four months. That's not the kind of news that either of us wanted to hear.

It's been pouring . . . I'm really hoping for a slow drizzle instead!

First Tomato

I know I should have given it another day or two, but I couldn't wait. I ate my first tomato of the year this morning and ohhhh was it good. There's about 5 more turning red right now and one of my yellow tomatoes is turning too. I'm soooo excited!

This Week . . . .

Well, I've made a mistake . . . now that I've taken the kids to the river to fish, they expect me to go everyday!!!! They're wearing me out! This week has been a little crazy, between the kids activities and a migraine, I'm wiped out today! Here's some pictures from our recent fishing trips this week. Noah, with a little froggy buddy they caught just after we got there. They all played with him right up until we left ---- including putting it on mom's arm while she was reading ---- not funny! The only fish Vance has managed to catch with his fishing pole. It's not huge, but was still fun.The bigger fish is the one he caught with his pole the others were caught in the minnow trap. Myshel will fish for, oh, about 5 minutes~ The boys adding minnows to the bucket. They discovered today that bread is the best bait of all for them! Looks deep doesn't it. It's only about 2 feet deep out where Vance and Myshel are and about a foot, foot and a half where Noah is. They have a lot of fun swimming out there. (McKaylie was at a friend's house---I didn't leave her out of the pictures) I love this picture of the crane. He came and landed a few feet from us, looked around and then flew away. I was really excited that this picture came out!

Chad's doing good. The galley just passed their first big inspection since Chad's been there (and in charge) So that's great for him. His first week on the ship he ran into a pipe walking through a p-way (passageway) and cut his forehead. He sent a recent picture of it and it's looking much better. The first one isn't a great picture, but if you click on the second you can get a better look at his new scar! I don't think he'll ever live that down. He said the guys call him Scarface!

Myshel and Vance have to be at the church tomorrow morning at 5:15 AM for a temple trip!! Ugh!!! That early morning stuff is suppose to be Chad's job!