Wordless Wednesday

Dress Whites.....Gotta Love 'Em!

(But the dress blues are actually my favorite!!!) Chad's mom asked for a picture of him in his whites. I thought I'd post it on here, too!
I think he's looking pretty great!

20th Anniversary

I was going to say that Chad and I celebrated our 20th anniversary last month (Dec 28) but since we're not even in the same hemisphere that's not quite true. It was disappointing to say the least that we couldn't be together on that day.
So, I'll say that our 20th anniversary was last month. And to my surprise, Chad sent me flowers. Ahhhhhh! I was great to get them that day and they were beautiful and I was really touched! It really made my day and my bedroom smelled like roses for days after that, which reminded me of him. So, I thought I needed to include them in my blog. (Thank you, Donna, for helping him out!)

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!

Summer Update

I've been properly "reminded" to update my blog, so here I am. I do need to keep up with it more. I'll have to try harder, I think.

So a little update of our family's status as of today.

Chad reported to his ship, the USS Ponce, on July 1st. They're going to be out to sea on and off (mostly on) through the rest of the summer and then at the end of September they're planning on deploying for 7 months. The kids and I are staying here in Maine while all that's going on. It's a good thing for the kids. They'll get to stay here with friends, school and other things they're familiar with while their dad's gone. It's good for me, too, I guess, but being here in Maine while he's stationed in Virginia has left me feeling very disconnected from him and what's going on. Since he's at sea, you'd think that it really wouldn't matter, but it does for some reason and I don't like it. We should be able to see Chad in September before he deploys. That will be nice and difficult at the same time. We know that this is the right thing for our family and so we do what we need to do. A year spent mostly apart just isn't very appealing, though. Of course, Chad would be quick to point out that we'd still spend the year mostly apart even if we were in Virginia. Don't you just love the navy!

Vance returned from scout camp last Friday. I was super proud of him. He passed his swimming test and earned his swimming merit badge while he was there. He was rather concerned about it, so I was really happy to hear that he'd accomplished that goal. I heard a lot about how "hot" the swimming teacher was . . . maybe that's why he tried so hard and passed???? (she's 21)

Myshel left for girl's camp this morning. She is one of the youth leaders. I think she'll have a great time, even though camping is not her thing.

With Chad gone and first now Vance and now Myshel being gone, our house has been feeling rather strange.

Noah has summer school 2 days a week, which he likes because his best friend is in his class with him.



McKaylie has friends calling her every day wanting to play. She'll be at one friend's house and 3 others will call while she's gone! I can't keep up with her social life! and she's only 10!

New Navy Uniform . . .

I know that alot of you navy people out there have had this uniform for a long time but Chad is stationed on a base that is closing soon. So, the priority for this base to start wearing it is low. The base isn't officially scheduled to be wearing the uniform until Oct 2010, but the captain put out that he wants all personnel wearing it by Oct of this year. The blue camo is only one of the new uniforms. I'll post the others when I get pictures.

"I'm Sorry I Made You Sick" Flowers

Chad brought these flowers home for me on Monday. He gave them to me because he felt bad that he gave me his cold and that he was only sick for 2 days and I was sick for 10. He also gave me a get well card (picture in the corner) where he wrote another apology! The roses are absolutely beautiful. They really are. One of them broke, so that's why it's in a small vase in front. They smell wonderful, too! I'm so glad that this week I can smell things again or else I wouldn't be able to completely enjoy them! So, let's hear it for Chad! Ahhhhhh, that's so sweet!

Another Day's Ramblings......

I managed to get all my kid's off to school again today. That's 2 school days in a row! WhoooHoo! It feels like they were sick for such a long time. I'm getting a little congested myself, but trying desperately not to get any worse. I just don't have time to be sick.

At our house is always so busy this time of year, actually from about mid October until the end of the year, it's a little nuts. I'm really in awe, though, that it's already November. This year sure has seemed to fly by......so, mid October, we're getting ready for Halloween and Noah's birthday, then we move on to getting ready for Thanksgiving, and Myshel's birthday (she'll be 16 this year!!!!! YIKES) and then on to Christmas and New Year's. It sure seems to keep us running. I'm trying to take a few breathes, remind myself to just enjoy this time of year and relax a little. I'm not sure how well it's working, though. It's so easy to lose track of the important things, isn't it? This year, I'd just like to appreciate the blessings of the seasons (Thanksgiving and Christmas), the blessings of my family and stress a whole lot less on the "other stuff".

Chad is doing really good after his shoulder manipulation on Friday. The pain isn't nearly as bad as we anticipated it would be, which is always nice. (Priesthood blessings are wonderful!!) There is a physical therapist out there that is now on Chad's "bad" list, though. Apparently, she's awfully rough. I'm just wondering if the others weren't too soft!?!

I personally have 3 appointments in the next 3 days and that's not counting the church acitivites for the kids, school things and Chad's work. It's just that time of year at our house! Better get going............

Chad's Going Back.....

Back to the hospital that is. Chad's shoulder is all locked up and the physical therapists just can't get it moving. He can barely lift his arm to should level. So, Friday morning, he'll go back into the hospital, get a nerve block in his shoulder, go under anesthesia, and the doctor will move it for him.

We were told that he's just one of those people that builds up a lot of scar tissue and that scar tissue has healed everything all together and it's keeping him from making any progress in his physical therapy. Basically, the doctor will knock him out and then tear (for lack of a better word) the scar tissue free from his muscle and bone. He told Chad that if he were awake it would sound like pulling apart velcro; doesn't that just give you a warm, happy feeling inside!?! After the doctor does his thing, the physical therapists will come in and move his arm every hour for the first 24 hours. They'll teach us how to move his arm, too, to keep it loose. He'll also have to go to therapy every day for a week and then every 2-3 days for the next 2 weeks after that. The doctor told Chad that it's going to hurt....a lot.....and that he's just going to have to work through it, or his shoulder will freeze up again.

Sounds like lots of fun!

Keys. Keys...Who's Got the Keys?

I woke up this morning and everyone was still asleep. Well, except for Chad and Myshel. He had already taken her to seminary like he usually does. It was nice and quiet and I was hoping that they would all stay asleep until after I left to pick up Myshel. I enjoyed eating my cereal with no one around to harass me and read the Ensign while I ate. It was a nice relaxing start to the day. When it was time to pick up Myshel I gather up my purse and reached for the car keys. They weren't on their hook!!! I always put them back on the hook! I thought that maybe I had left them in my purse. Nope, they weren't there either. I looked and looked but couldn't find them anywhere. I was really getting frustrated. The seminary teacher has to get her own kids to school and then go to work, so, she can't wait around to make sure that everyone gets picked up. The kids just have to sit at the church until their ride comes and gets them. So, I knew that Myshel would be waiting/wondering what was up if I didn't find the keys soon. I considered waking Noah up and asking him if he knew where they were, because he really likes to play around with the keys. I decided to call Chad first. This is the conversation....

Me: "Chad, do you know where my keys are?"
Chad: "ummmm, I have your keys?"
He took my keys and didn't tell me!!!!???!!!!
Me-trying hard not to explode: "What? Why? Where are your keys?"
Chad: "I don't know where my keys are. I couldn't find them, so I just took yours and figured you could find mine." (It's such a good thing that I love him, really it is!)
I couldn't say anything, I just mumbled some sort of a good bye and hung up.

I was so irritated at him. I couldn't believe he did that and didn't even tell me. I went and woke up Vance to help me look and woke up Noah. Noah was still half asleep and wouldn't give me an answer about whether he had the keys or not. We still couldn't find them. After about 10 minutes, I called Chad back.

Me: "You have to go get Myshel. She'll be sitting there waiting."
Chad: "Can't you call the church."
Me: "And tell her what? That we can't find the keys, she'll have to sit there and wait until we can find them even though we don't know how long that will be? She has to be at school in 1/2 hour."
Chad: "My class starts in 1/2 hour and I can't be late"
Me: "Then you'd better hurry!"

Not very sympathetic, am I? I was beyond frustrated. After Noah had been up for awhile I asked him if he knew where the keys were. He hemmed and hawed for awhile and then like a light bulb going off in his head, he ran to the bench , crawled under it and viola, he found the keys! Needless to say, he'll never be allowed to touch the keys again! Chad called and asked if we'd found them, apologized and told me he was just going to drop Myshel off and not come in, so that he could get back to the base in time for his class. I don't know if he made it not. It was probably close. I hope he did, though. So, much for a nice quiet start to the day!

Catchin' Up....

Well, let's try and get caught up.....

We finally convinced the school's superintendent to let us change schools. It was exactly what I wanted, but I was a little nervous about it still. We went in to register the kids at the new school and have their records transferred the very next day. From the moment we talked to the ladies at the front office, I knew it was the right thing to do. They were so nice and helpful and friendly, the complete opposite of what we had at the other school. I felt so much better, and the icing on the cake was that Noah got the teacher we wanted. I actually asked if he could get into her class, but was skeptical about whether they'd consider it. They were really really nice about it and put Noah in her class! YEAH!!!! The teacher we wanted for him is in our ward and I've just been completely and totally impressed with her from the moment I met her. I was talking to another lady at church this last Sunday (her son is in Noah's class--another Yeah!) and I was telling her how excited I was that Noah was in this teacher's class because I just loved her so much. Her response was, "Oh, Cindy, Sister____ has a gift with kids. It's not that she's great with them, she has a gift with them!" Which made me that much more excited about this school and where Noah will be for his first year. I really feel like our prayers were answered. Even McKaylie seems very excited about the new school is ready to go.

Chad's continuing to do well with his recovery. He gets his staples out tomorrow. I think he's a little nervous about it, though, because then he'll have to start exercising it more, which is going to hurt. He's pretty tough. I think he'll do fine. He definitely doesn't like to be waited on, so maybe that will help him get through the pain. We're enjoying having him around. We just don't get very many chances like this with the navy. I think he likes being home, too, but they call him almost every day asking him about things. It makes you wonder what they'd do if they couldn't call him.

I think all my kids are ready to go back to school and I am very ready for them to go back, too. I'm not usually one to completely appreciate schedules, but I think we'll all benefit from it this fall. This summer has gone by so fast, though. It doesn't feel like we've had much of a summer at all.

McKaylie will start soccer this week. She begged and pleaded for us to find her a soccer team to play on and assured us that she'd play and be happy about it. So, we signed her up for soccer, paid the fee and took her to the first meeting, where she announced to us that she didn't want to play anymore. Ohhh she makes me crazy! I'm not sure what we're going to do. We can't get our money back now and I don't know if we can convince her to play. Chad and I still have to "talk it over". I don't want to force her, but I'm also not happy that she knew we were paying for her to play and then she wants to quit before she even gets started.
I think that's about it for now....

Chad's Update....

Chad's doing pretty good. His surgery went really well. This picture isn't a great one. It makes him looks worse than he actually did. It was taken Friday night after his surgery, before the nerve block wore off. They removed the bone spurs and a lot of scar tissue. The tendons weren't torn, which is really good. They were surprised by how much scar tissue there was, though, and said that that's why he was having so much trouble lifting his arm. The doctor also told him that the bone spurs were really sharp (they're usually smooth) and they got them out just in time. Because, they would have really torn up his rotator cuff if they had been there much longer. He has 9 staples, which Noah and Vance think are so cool. McKaylie thinks they're kinda cool and Myshel refuses to look at them. She says it makes her hurt too much. I don't think it's that bad. They gave him some medicine for the pain, so most of the time he's either in pain, or asleep. I took this picture Saturday afternoon and he asked me on Sunday when I took it. So, that tells you how coherent he is when he's taken them. But most of the time they just knock him out. He's actually cut back on his dose today, so the pain is subsiding, slowly.

He is doing good, though and he's in good spirits. We're both relieved that the surgery part is over and we can just concentrate on the recovery. We're very grateful for all your prayers and thoughts on his behalf and we'll keep you posted on his progress.

Chad Update.......

Chad's been having trouble with his shoulder for almost a year now. After talking/working with 3 different doctors over the last 6 months, they've finally decided to do surgery on his shoulder. He's at the point right now, that he can't even put on his shirt without it causing him serious pain. It's been hard to watch him suffer through, trying to find/workout a solution. I never wanted Chad to have to have surgery, but if it will relieve the pain I know that he's dealing with, I think it's the right choice.

So, when Chad went to talk to the doctor on Tuesday, I knew they would schedule his surgery. I just didn't expect it to be so soon or to have such a long recovery. They're doing the surgery August 15. He'll have to stay the night in the hospital, so that they can monitor his pain. Then he'll have to be in a sling for 5 weeks! They've requested 3 weeks of convalescent leave. We don't know if he's get the full 3 weeks yet, though. The doctor told him that the recovery is really painful, but once it's over, he shouldn't have any pain at all. That's good and that's the outcome we want, but it still makes me worry about him.

Chad took Vance Fishing........

And look who caught the fish!!!!Chad said this was probably the biggest fish he's ever caught! It's a striper and they he caught it on the Androscroggin River. Vance didn't even get a bite.....

A Great Surprise!

I came home one day after taking Noah to speech and was so amazingly surprised to find this at my house! Chad snuck them in while I was gone and didn't tell me anything about them! He was very sneaky, but I'm not complaining. It was such a great surprise. I was so happy. I mentioned a while ago that my clothes dryer died and it took us awhile to replace it. My wonderful husband not only found me a dryer, but a matching washer as well. There was someone he works with that was getting rid of them because they were moving and so he snatched them up. They're a few years old, but I don't care! They work! and that's all that matters to me. They're actually very nice and much fancier than I would have paid for myself. Thank you, Chad! I knew I loved you!


(I won't mention that when Chad plugged the dryer in, it blew the main fuse to our house and our neighbor's house and we had to call housing at 7PM to come and fix it.----they keep the door to that maintenance room locked--stupid, I know--- I also won't mention that it messed up our internet connection, which took us a long time to get back. I won't mention any of that, because I'm sooooo happy that he surprised me and brought me a washer and dryer and I love him so much for it!)

Youth Temple Trip

On the 19th the youth had their temple trip. Our ward attends the Boston Temple. It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful! Chad went along to help and, truthfully, I was so jealous! I would have loved to go with them, but I wasn't able to go this time. I love going on the youth temple trips. This was also Vance's first trip to the temple. He missed the temple trip last year, in Virginia and here, because of our move. I would have loved to be in there with him, but at least Chad was able to be there! Chad was able to do baptisms with Myshel and confirmations with Vance. What a neat experience for them to have with their dad! Next time, I get to go, too!

A Little About Us.....

Marie had this on her blog. I thought it was fun and who doesn't like to talk about their sweetie?!? So, here goes. Oh, and I'd love to read about you and your sweeties..............................

How long did you date? 2 1/2 years, off and on
How old is he? 36
Who eats more? Chad definitely eats more than me
Who said “I love you” first? Chad did. I didn't tell him that I loved him for about another week or so.
Who is taller? Chad
Who sings better? Me, although that's not saying much
Who is smarter? I would say me, but that's probably because I took school a little more serisouly than he did
Whose temper is worse? Chad's is worse, but I probably lose my faster
Who does the laundry? That would definitely be ME
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I sleep on the right side, but I don't have to, sometimes we switch
Who pays the bills? me
Who cooks dinner? It's probably split about even, Chad cooks a lot, though ( I sure love that)
Who drives when you are together? Chad
Who is more stubborn? I plead the fifth.........actually, truth be known, it would be a real toss up, we're both extremely stubborn
Who kissed who first? Chad definitely kissed me first
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? probably Chad, I guess
Whose parents do you see the most? Well, when we go home to visit, we stay with my parents, so I guess mine
Who proposed? I think it would be considered a mutual agreement...........Chad did ask me later, though, when we bought the ring
Who is more sensitive? Are guys sensitive???? just kidding, honey......but the answered is me
Who has more friends? I guess me, I don't know about that one
Who has more siblings? Me, I have 4, he has 1
Who wears the pants in the family? That is definitely shared at our house, although the guys that Chad works with would say that I do, and I'm ok with that!!

17 Years Together

Chad and I celebrated our 17th anniversary on Friday. So here's 17 random tidbits about us.