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