Have a Great Navy Day!

Deployment Update

2012-01-30T13:56:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I told you that we were beginning Deployment #7. Well, so far so good! The kids have been so amazing since their Daddy left, which I am so thankful for. Lulu stays in her bed at night, whereas she used to fight bedtime every single night. She is also completely potty trained during the day. She even uses the big potty all by herself. It really shouldn't be a surprise. She was two months old the last time my husband deployed and she was the easiest infant to take care of ever. She rarely cried and she slept through the night. She continues to amaze me on a daily basis. She's not even 2 1/2 and she's potty trained, knows her colors and shapes and is already starting to count and identify letters. She is just so independent and curious. I love it! She's also begun singing songs. Her favorites are "Row Row Row Your Boat" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." It is just too stinking cute! Now if only I could get her to keep her clothes on....

E-Ray has been pretty good, too. He is having so much fun with basketball and I truly love watching him play. He's only 5, so one of the youngest on the team, but he does great for his age. He had a takeaway in his game this past Saturday and was so proud of himself. It just melted my heart to see how excited he was about it. He's been doing well in school, too. His reading has really taken off. He tries to read all of the signs he sees when we're out and about. Most of all, he's just so sweet. The other morning I woke him up for school and he said, "Do you want to cuddle for a few?" Um, duh! I would love to! Then, while we were laying there I asked him if he was ready to eat breakfast. He said, "If you're ready. I just want to do what makes you happy, Mom." Deployment really is a breeze when I have these two around to make me feel so loved and happy. Sure, we have our occasional struggles, but the good far outweighs the bad. I wish deployment could be as easy on my husband. I know he misses these two like crazy.

As for me, I've been working on my goals. Lately I've been focusing on genealogy and organizing my life and home. I updated my genealogy blog, which took up an entire weekend of work and research. I also came up with a meal and nutritional plan for the kids and I and a cleaning schedule for the house. I still need to come up with a good home maintenance schedule. I haven't been involved in the FRG this deployment. I stepped down from President because my husband is transferring off the ship soon. The meetings are in the middle of the week later in the evening all the way over in housing next to the base, so it's just not convenient for me to go to the meetings when I have to deal with traffic and it's a school night. I'm busy enough, anyways. It's isn't all work and no play, though. This past weekend one of my besties came up for a visit so I got my girls together for a night out. I didn't tell them what we were going to do. It was a surprise. We went roller skating at a skating rink! We all had such a great time. It was seriously so much fun, and none of us fell down, which was a miracle.

My Girls

Sk8rs

Goals Update 1/23/2012

2012-01-23T22:16:00.000-05:00

Every Monday I want to try to get on here quickly to post an update on my goals progress. If you're keeping track of your goals, I encourage you to do the same, whether it be in your blog, on Facebook as a note, or on regular old pen and paper.

You can view my original goals blog post here: http://usnchic.blogspot.com/2011/10/goals.html

Daily
-One hour of reading and/or learning activities with Lulu. Thanks to educational apps on the Kindle Fire and her MobiGo, we've been doing OK with this one. I need to do more one on one with her though.

-Fill out E-Ray's task chart so he can earn his allowance. Yep.

-Limit kids' electronics time to 2 hours per day. This includes TV, video games and computers. I need to work on this again. Kindle Fire, Computer, TV.....at least most of it is educational.

-No more than one "sugary" snack per day. (candy, fruit snacks, cookies, etc.) We're actually doing really well with this.

-Eat fruit AND veggies every day. Doing OK with this one. Kids need more veggies, I need more of both.

-Kids in bed by 8:00 (8:30 on basketball nights), myself to bed by 10:00 and up at 6:00 to work out. No more sitting on my arse wasting the day away on the computer all morning waiting for my motivation to kick in!!!
Got up and worked out at 6:00 this morning. Up past 10:00 tonight. Getting there!!!

Weekly
-Stick to weekly cleaning and maintenance schedule. I have the cleaning schedule written out, I haven't started following it yet.

-Work out at least three times per week. Worked out today and once last week. Not enough...

-Eat out no more than once per week. Easy peasy now that the hubs is gone.

Monthly
- Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather. We have not done this yet this month. Probably won't.

- Go to church at least once per month. Did this last month. Have not been yet this month.

- Go to one new place per month. Done for January (Great Wolf Lodge)

- Buy birthday cards for the month and first week of the next month at the beginning of each month and address and stamp them immediately. Done for January.

-At the beginning of each month, upload photos from previous month to Snapfish. Done for January.

Short Term
- Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.

- Get Lulu potty trained. She has been doing really well. A few accidents here and there, but for the most part, she does it all on her own, and on the big potty at that. I am very happy with her progress.

- Update meal plan. I need to come up with a meal plan for just the kids and I since Hubs will be gone most of the year. This is a work in progress. I printed out a bunch of new kid friendly recipes to try.

- Create a daily/monthly activity schedule Done! Now I just need to follow it.

- Dry clean wedding dress.
Yes, our wedding was 6 years ago and I still have not gotten my wedding gown dry cleaned. This is why I must set goals for myself. I am the ultimate procrastinator! I am trying to wait to for a Groupon or something for this.

- Get Spring consignment sale items sorted and counted.

- Make a plan for genealogy research and organization. Focus on one surname at a time and don't get sidetracked. I haven't come up with a precise plan, but I did a lot of genealogy work this weekend and made some updates to my genealogy blog that I've been wanting to do for a long time.

Long Term
- Get out of debt.
- Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.
- Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).
- Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA.
- Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.
- Run in a charity race.

Short/Long Term Goals Completed Since October 25, 2011: 10

Deployment #7

2012-01-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

Today the Hubs left for deployment. You'd think after 6 deployments we'd be used to this by now, but it's never easy to say good-bye. Thankfully, this is the short one. He transfers off the ship in April, then he's off to Northern VA for some training and then it's time for deployment #8, which is the long one. I think today is so hard because it's just the beginning of what is going to be a very long year for us. It's a good year though because he is finally leaving what has been the worst command of his entire career thus far. We are both quite ready for him to start the next chapter in his career, back on an AEGIS ship where he belongs! Then, once he's finished with that ship, it's off to shore duty. I can not wait!

Goals Update 1/16/2012

2012-01-16T10:41:00.001-05:00

Every Monday I want to try to get on here quickly to post an update on my goals progress. If you're keeping track of your goals, I encourage you to do the same, whether it be in your blog, on Facebook as a note, or on regular old pen and paper.

You can view my original goals blog post here: http://usnchic.blogspot.com/2011/10/goals.html

Daily
-One hour of reading and/or learning activities with Lulu. Thanks to educational apps on the Kindle Fire, we've been doing OK with this one.

-Fill out E-Ray's task chart so he can earn his allowance. We were doing great with this for about a week and then forgot about it. Will start back up today.....really.

-Limit kids' electronics time to 2 hours per day. This includes TV, video games and computers. I need to work on this again. Kindle Fire, Computer, TV.....at least most of it is educational.

-No more than one "sugary" snack per day. (candy, fruit snacks, cookies, etc.) We're actually doing really well with this.

-Eat fruit AND veggies every day. Doing good with this one, too!

-Kids in bed by 8:00 (8:30 on basketball nights), myself to bed by 10:00 and up at 6:00 to work out. No more sitting on my arse wasting the day away on the computer all morning waiting for my motivation to kick in!!!

Weekly
-Stick to weekly cleaning and maintenance schedule. I have the cleaning schedule written out, I haven't started following it yet.

-Work out at least three times per week. I haven't worked out in weeks! FAIL!

-Eat out no more than once per week. Hubs is leaving, so this should be easy from here on out.

Monthly
- Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather. We have not done this yet this month, but we did go launch a model rocket in a big field yesterday and we lost it and walked all over the place trying to find it, with no luck.

- Go to church at least once per month. Did this last month. Have not been yet this month.

- Go to one new place per month. Done for January (Great Wolf Lodge)

- Buy birthday cards for the month and first week of the next month at the beginning of each month and address and stamp them immediately. Done for January.

-At the beginning of each month, upload photos from previous month to Snapfish. Done for January.

Short Term
- Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.

- Get Lulu potty trained. She has been doing really well. A few accidents here and there, but for the most part, she does it all on her own, and on the big potty at that. I am very happy with her progress.

- Update meal plan. I need to come up with a meal plan for just the kids and I since Hubs will be gone most of the year. This is a work in progress. I printed out a bunch of new kid friendly recipes to try.

- Create a daily/monthly activity schedule

- Dry clean wedding dress.
Yes, our wedding was 6 years ago and I still have not gotten my wedding gown dry cleaned. This is why I must set goals for myself. I am the ultimate procrastinator! I am trying to wait to for a Groupon or something for this.

- Get Spring consignment sale items sorted and counted.

- Make a plan for genealogy research and organization. Focus on one surname at a time and don't get sidetracked.

Long Term
- Get out of debt.
- Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.
- Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).
- Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA.
- Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.
- Run in a charity race.

Short/Long Term Goals Completed Since October 25, 2011: 10

Goals Update 1/9/2012

2012-01-09T08:47:00.002-05:00

Wow! I didn't do a goal update the entire month of December!!! It was a super busy month with the holidays and all. Now, it's time to get back down to business!

Every Monday I want to try to get on here quickly to post an update on my goals progress. If you're keeping track of your goals, I encourage you to do the same, whether it be in your blog, on Facebook as a note, or on regular old pen and paper.

You can view my original goals blog post here: http://usnchic.blogspot.com/2011/10/goals.html

Daily
-One hour of reading and/or learning activities with Lulu. We've only been doing bed time stories lately, but we do talk about shapes, colors, numbers and letters randomly throughout the day.
-Fill out E-Ray's task chart so he can earn his allowance. We were doing great with this for about a week and then forgot about it. Will start back up today.
-Limit kids' electronics time to 2 hours per day. This includes TV, video games and computers. With all the new things they got for Christmas, this shouldn't be too difficult. I think the Lego table and air hockey table will be a big help..
-No more than one "sugary" snack per day. (candy, fruit snacks, cookies, etc.) This was not an easy task over the holidays. Getting back on this one today.
-Eat fruit AND veggies every day. Getting there....

Weekly
-Stick to weekly cleaning and maintenance schedule. I have the cleaning schedule written out, I haven't started following it yet.
-Work out at least three times per week. I haven't worked out in weeks! FAIL!
-Eat out no more than once per week. We don't do good with this when the Hubs is home, especially when he's about to deploy!

Monthly
- Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather. We have not done this yet this month.
- Go to church at least once per month. Did this last month. Have not been yet this month.
- Go to one new place per month. We stayed the night at Great Wolf Lodge last week, which was a first for us. It was fun!
- Buy birthday cards for the month and first week of the next month at the beginning of each month and address and stamp them immediately. I need to do this this week.
-At the beginning of each month, upload photos from previous month to Snapfish.

Short Term
~~- Organize E-Ray's rock and coin collections.~~ They are as organized as they are going to get at this point.
- Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.
- Get Lulu potty trained. She has been doing really well. A few accidents here and there, but for the most part, she does it all on her own, and on the big potty at that. I am very happy with her progress.
- Update meal plan. I need to come up with a meal plan for just the kids and I since Hubs will be gone most of the year.
- Create a daily/monthly activity schedule
- ~~Clean out closets, cabinets, and toy boxes. Sell and donate unwanted items before the holidays.~~ I did this in December. I am going to keep it on here though because it is something that needs to be done at least twice a year.
- ~~Frame the USS Nicholas Pirates front page newspaper and hang it.~~ Done!
- ~~Frame or scrapbook E-Ray's sports photos.~~ Done!

- ~~Get Lulu's portraits done~~. Done!

- Dry clean wedding dress.
Yes, our wedding was 6 years ago and I still have not gotten my wedding gown dry cleaned. This is why I must set goals for myself. I am the ultimate procrastinator! I am trying to wait to for a Groupon or something for this.

- Get Spring consignment sale items sorted and counted.

- Make a plan for genealogy research and organization. Focus on one surname at a time and don't get sidetracked.

Long Term
- Get out of debt.
- Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.
- Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).
- Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA.
- Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.
- Run in a charity race.

Short/Long Term Goals Completed Since October 25, 2011: 10

My friends Rose and Jaime are participating in this goals "challenge" as well. Check out their progress and encourage them to complete their goals.

Jaime: http://seeyouaboutthedecks.blogspot.com/
Rose: http://clanbrunn.blogspot.com/

Goals Update 11/21/2011

2011-11-28T13:24:00.000-05:00

Every Monday I want to try to get on here quickly to post an update on my goals progress. If you're keeping track of your goals, I encourage you to do the same, whether it be in your blog, on Facebook as a note, or on regular old pen and paper.

You can view my original goals blog post here: http://usnchic.blogspot.com/2011/10/goals.html

Daily
-One hour of reading and/or learning activities with Lulu. We've only been doing bed time stories lately. We've been pretty busy.
-Fill out E-Ray's task chart so he can earn his allowance. Started this today.
-Limit kids' electronics time to 2 hours per day. This includes TV, video games and computers. Still need to cut back.
-No more than one "sugary" snack per day. (candy, fruit snacks, cookies, etc.) Doing ok with this.
-Eat fruit AND veggies every day. Meh...

Weekly
-Stick to weekly cleaning and maintenance schedule. I have the cleaning schedule written out, I haven't started following it yet.
-Work out at least three times per week. Fail.
-Eat out no more than once per week. We don't do good with this when the Hubs is home.

Monthly
- Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather. Done for November
- Go to church at least once per month. Done for November
- Go to one new place per month. Done for November
- Buy birthday cards for the month and first week of the next month at the beginning of each month and address and stamp them immediately. Done for November

Short Term
- Run in a charity race.
- Organize E-Ray's rock and coin collections.
~~- Start collecting the state quarters with E-Ray.~~ Done! Bought a little folder thing at the craft store to organize them.
- Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.
- Get Lulu potty trained. Work in progress
- Update meal plan. Well, I did the first week and Hubs didn't like 2 of the recipes, so I need to re-work it.
- Create a daily/monthly activity schedule
- Clean out closets, cabinets, and toy boxes. Sell and donate unwanted items before the holidays. I cleaned them out, now i just need to donate them.
- Frame the USS Nicholas Pirates front page newspaper and hang it. Framed, just need to hang.
- Finish Christmas shopping by Dec. 10
- Send out Christmas cards by Dec. 10
- Frame or scrapbook E-Ray's sports photos. I bought the scrapbooking materials and frames, now I just need to create the scrapbook pages and hang them. With every new season, I will create a new one and put the old one into his sports scrapbook.
- Get Lulu's portraits done.
I bought a Picture People Groupon, so this should be done soon.
- Dry clean wedding dress.
Yes, our wedding was 6 years ago and I still have not gotten my wedding gown dry cleaned. This is why I must set goals for myself. I am the ultimate procrastinator!

Long Term
- Get out of debt.
- Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.
- Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).
- Scrapbook E-Ray's sports photos.
- Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA.
- Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.

Short/Long Term Goals Completed Since October 25, 2011: 3

Well, it looks like I really need to start working on my daily tasks. I'm not doing so hot on those. I am, however, making quite a bit of progress on my short term goals. Monthly goals are complete! YAY!

My friends Rose and Jaime are participating in this goals "challenge" as well. Check out their progress and encourage them to complete their goals.

Jaime: http://seeyouaboutthedecks.blogspot.com/
Rose: http://clanbrunn.blogspot.com/

Celebrate Something

2011-11-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

What is it about religion and politics that brings out the ignorance in people, especially around the holidays? An acquaintance of mine posted a rant on Facebook regarding some of her friends posting that President Obama put up Holiday trees in the White House. She is offended that they are being referred to as holiday trees rather than Christmas trees and is placing the blame on the President. I haven't seen any of the posts she is referring to; however, I think it is unfair to blame the President for what other people describe the trees in his house as. Regardless, we live in a "politically correct" age, and holiday tree would be the PC term. I'm not a history buff, but I'm pretty sure part of the reason our country was founded was so that our people could practice freedom of religion. America is a melting pot; not everyone shares the same beliefs. Why do people have such a difficult time accepting the fact that not everyone is going to share their beliefs? I don't care what you believe so long as you don't use your "beliefs" as an excuse to be ignorant of others.

So, my response to her post was, “The wonderful thing about our country is that we have freedom of religion. Not everyone is forced to believe the same thing.” To which she responded, "Then why celebrate it? It is CHRIST birthday. It wouldn't even be a holiday if it wasn't for him!!!" I'm not quite sure how to answer that. To many people, yes, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ, but the holiday has evolved into so much more than that. It's a time to send cards to friends and family that you may not always be in touch with. It's a time to make your child's dreams come true. It's a time to reflect on the past year and all that was accomplished. It's a time to eat cookies and enjoy a break from our every day lives. And, apparently, it's also a time for people to judge others based on what they may or may not believe, which is unfortunate.

I truly hope that everyone reading this has a wonderful holiday season, regardless of what you may be celebrating. We all deserve a break from the norm to celebrate what is important to us. ♥

Holiday Cards

2011-11-21T20:37:00.000-05:00

One thing I look forward to every holiday season is creating our family holiday card. I love photo gifts, and photo Christmas cards are so fun and personal. Even before I used Snapfish.com for photo prints, I used them for creating my holiday cards. Here are all of the cards I have created through the years:

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Goals Update 11/21/2011

2011-11-21T14:29:00.002-05:00

Every Monday I want to try to get on here quickly to post an update on my goals progress. If you're keeping track of your goals, I encourage you to do the same, whether it be in your blog, on Facebook as a note, or on regular old pen and paper.

You can view my original goals blog post here: http://usnchic.blogspot.com/2011/10/goals.html

Daily
-One hour of reading and/or learning activities with Lulu. We've only been doing bed time stories lately. We've been pretty busy.
-Fill out E-Ray's task chart so he can earn his allowance. I will start a new one next week!
-Limit kids' electronics time to 2 hours per day. This includes TV, video games and computers. E-Ray's been playing too many video games lately. Still need to cut back.
-No more than one "sugary" snack per day. (candy, fruit snacks, cookies, etc.) Doing ok with this.
-Eat fruit AND veggies every day. Doing good with fruit. Need to incorporate more veggies.

Weekly
-Stick to weekly cleaning and maintenance schedule. I have the cleaning schedule written out, I haven't started following it yet.
-Work out at least three times per week. Fail.
-Eat out no more than once per week. Did well last week.

Monthly
- Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather. Done for November
- Go to church at least once per month. Done for November
- Go to one new place per month. Done for November
- Buy birthday cards for the month and first week of the next month at the beginning of each month and address and stamp them immediately. I did this today.

Short Term
- Run in a charity race.
- Organize E-Ray's rock and coin collections.
- Start collecting the state quarters with E-Ray. Started! Bought a little folder thing at the craft store to organize them.
- Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.
- Get Lulu potty trained.
- Update meal plan. I started this last week. I re-organized my entire recipe binder, incorporating all of the new recipes I recently printed out and getting rid of ones I never make. I also completed one week of meal planning. I still want to incorporate three more weeks.
- Create a daily/monthly activity schedule
- Clean out closets, cabinets, and toy boxes. Sell and donate unwanted items before the holidays. I cleaned them out, now i just need to donate them.
- Frame the USS Nicholas Pirates front page newspaper and hang it. Framed, just need to hang.
- Finish Christmas shopping by Dec. 3
- Send out Christmas cards by Dec. 10
- Frame or scrapbook E-Ray's sports photos. I bought the scrapbooking materials and frames, now I just need to create the scrapbook pages and hang them. With every new season, I will create a new one and put the old one into his sports scrapbook.
- Get Lulu's portraits done.
I bought a Picture People Groupon, so this should be done soon.
- Dry clean wedding dress.
Yes, our wedding was 6 years ago and I still have not gotten my wedding gown dry cleaned. This is why I must set goals for myself. I am the ultimate procrastinator!

Long Term
- Get out of debt.
- Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.
- Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).
- Scrapbook E-Ray's sports photos.
- Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA.
- Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.

Short/Long Term Goals Completed Since October 25, 2011: 3

Well, it looks like I really need to start working on my daily tasks. I'm not doing so hot on those. I am, however, making quite a bit of progress on my short term goals. Monthly goals are complete! YAY!

My friends Rose and Jaime are participating in this goals "challenge" as well. Check out their progress and encourage them to complete their goals.

Jaime: http://seeyouaboutthedecks.blogspot.com/
Rose: http://clanbrunn.blogspot.com/

Goals Update 11/14/2011

2011-11-14T10:44:00.001-05:00

Goals Update 11/7/2011

2011-11-07T10:23:00.001-05:00

Every Monday I want to try to get on here quickly to post an update on my goals progress. If you're keeping track of your goals, I encourage you to do the same, whether it be in your blog, on Facebook as a note, or on regular old pen and paper.

You can view my original goals blog post here: http://usnchic.blogspot.com/2011/10/goals.html

Short Term
1. Come up with (and stick to) a cleaning and maintenance schedule for the house.
Cleaning schedule is done. I still need to come up with a maintenance schedule.

2. Come up with (and stick to) a workout routine that includes running.
I have been working out, however I don't have a set workout schedule.

3. Start running in charity races, half marathons, etc.

4. Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather.
This weekend we walked some of the trails at First Landing State Park. It was so fun!

5. Organize E-Ray's rock and coin collections.
I bought two little boxes for organizing E-Ray's coin and rock collections. I have not organized them yet, but it's a step in the right direction.

6. Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.

7. Set aside at least one hour a day for reading/learning time for Lulu.
We are starting on flashcards today.

8. Get Lulu completely potty trained during the day.
Work in progress.

9. Limit electronics time for the WHOLE family. Not entirely sure what that limit should be. Suggestions?
We haven't been watching much TV. I haven't set and stuck to an exact limit yet, but we've definitely cut back.

10.Send a card or letter to my closest friends and relatives on their birthdays rather than just wishing them a Happy Birthday on Facebook or sending them a text message.
Well, I think both the ones I've sent so far have gone out late, so now I just need to work on my timing. :)

11. Eat out no more than once per week. (We've been eating SO much fast food ever since E-Ray started football. It's just too convenient.)
We failed miserably at this this past week. I was craving fried cheese curds, so we met the Hubs for lunch at A&W on Tuesday, Friday we attended a hail and farewell at a bar/restaurant, and Saturday we had fast food for lunch and ordered in for dinner. FAIL FAIL FAIL!

12.Eat healthier and provide healthier meals and snacks for the kids. No more junk! Fresh fruit and veggies in the house at all times.
Still working on this.

~~13.Try going to church. (This will probably shock most of my friends. I will elaborate in a later post.)~~
We went to a Unitarian Universalist church on Sunday and we enjoyed it. We will be returning. So, I guess I can cross this one off my list!

14. Update my meal plan and try some crock pot recipes.
Thanks to Pinterest, I have printed out a ridiculous amount of new recipes to try. It's amazing how many recipe blogs there are out there. Now, I just need to organize all of these new recipes and try some out.

15. Come up with a daily and monthly activity schedule.

16. Get back to the daily goal/task/chore chart with E-Ray. We stopped doing it around the time football started.

17. Go to one new place (park, museum, etc.) per month.
Well, we knocked off two of my goals with this one......hiking at the park and going to church.

~~18. Make a coupon binder.~~

Long Term
1. GET OUT OF DEBT!!

2. Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.

3. Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).

4. Scrapbook E-Ray's sports photos.

5. Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA. ~~(Hopefully my acceptance letter to Virginia Wesleyan will arrive in the mail soon!)~~
I received my acceptance letter on Friday!!!

6. Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.

Goals Completed Since October 25, 2011: 2

Goals Update

2011-10-31T13:50:00.000-04:00

Every Monday I want to try to get on here quickly to post an update on my goals progress. If you're keeping track of your goals, I encourage you to do the same, whether it be in your blog, on Facebook as a note, or on regular old pen and paper.

You can view my original goals blog post here: http://usnchic.blogspot.com/2011/10/goals.html

Short Term
1. Come up with (and stick to) a cleaning and maintenance schedule for the house.

2. Come up with (and stick to) a workout routine that includes running.
I did start working out last week. I ran once and then two days later I did a butt and thigh toning workout on Yourshape Fitness Evolved for the Xbox Kinect. After that, I could barely walk for the next 4 days. I can't believe how sore I was! I will pick up working out tomorrow now that I'm not quite so sore anymore. I will work at out least three times per week, more if time permits.

3. Start running in charity races, half marathons, etc.

4. Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather.

5. Organize E-Ray's rock and coin collections.
I bought two little boxes for organizing E-Ray's coin and rock collections. I have not organized them yet, but it's a step in the right direction.
6. Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.

7. Set aside at least one hour a day for reading/learning time for Lulu.

8. Get Lulu completely potty trained during the day.

9. Limit electronics time for the WHOLE family. Not entirely sure what that limit should be. Suggestions?
We haven't been watching much TV. I haven't set and stuck to an exact limit yet, but we've definitely cut back.
10.Send a card or letter to my closest friends and relatives on their birthdays rather than just wishing them a Happy Birthday on Facebook or sending them a text message.
I sent a birthday card to my friend, Rose. Her birthday is TODAY! Happy Birthday Rose!!! I miss you! ♥

11. Eat out no more than once per week. (We've been eating SO much fast food ever since E-Ray started football. It's just too convenient.)
We only ate out once last week.

12.Eat healthier and provide healthier meals and snacks for the kids. No more junk! Fresh fruit and veggies in the house at all times.
I went grocery shopping today and didn't buy any junk. Lots of fruit and veggies! Saved me a lot of money, too!
13.Try going to church. (This will probably shock most of my friends. I will elaborate in a later post.)
Going to go this coming Sunday. I actually talked the Hubs into going, too!

14. Update my meal plan and try some crock pot recipes.

15. Come up with a daily and monthly activity schedule.

16. Get back to the daily goal/task/chore chart with E-Ray. We stopped doing it around the time football started.

17. Go to one new place (park, museum, etc.) per month.

18. Make a coupon binder.
I made it yesterday! It's pretty sweet.
Long Term
1. GET OUT OF DEBT!!

2. Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.

3. Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).

4. Scrapbook E-Ray's sports photos.

5. Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA. (Hopefully my acceptance letter to Virginia Wesleyan will arrive in the mail soon!)

6. Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.

No one home to hand out candy?

2011-10-30T12:12:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, no one will be here to hand out candy during trick or treating because we will be out with the kids. So........I made this nifty little sign to hang with the bowl of candy that I will have on my front porch. The bowl will sit in front of my window, and inside the house looking out will be some Jack-o-Lanterns. Cute, eh? :) You can click on the image to see it full size. Right click it to download and print.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #63

2011-10-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

Link up over at Wife of a Sailor's Blog

1. The best part of October was my family visiting from Wisconsin AND the Packers going 7-0!
2. The worst part of October was my hubby being gone so much.
3. For Halloween, I’ll be taking Darth Vader and Minnie Mouse Trick or Treating.
4. I hope that in November I can stick to my newly set goals.
5. Wifey has posted MilSpouse Secret Santa. I will not be participating.

Fall Festivities

2011-10-27T07:39:00.000-04:00

As much as I love Summer and hate seeing it end, I have to admit that I do love Autumn, especially now that I have kids. Halloween is such a fun holiday. I love hearing what the kids want to dress up as and I love going to the pumpkin farm. The past three years we have visited Hunt Club Farm for their Harvest Festival. We always have a great time.

The weekend after we went to Hunt Club Farm we traveled down to North Carolina to visit with some friends and checked out a different type of farm experience. We went to 30 Acres and a Mule Farm for some gem panning. When we pulled up we weren't sure if we were in the right place, but don't judge a book by it's cover. Our 5 year old boys were thrilled to do the gem panning. You pay $25 for a bucket filled with sand and gems. Then you are shown how to pan for gems using a pan and a water troff. The boys absolutely loved this activity. When we were done the lady looked at their rocks and identified the different types for them. She was very friendly and informative. You get to take all of the gems home with you. It's especially good for kids who have a rock collection or want to start one. If you have children aged 4+, I highly recommend looking online to see if there is somewhere near you that offers gem panning. It was such a great, fun, educational experience for the kids and the grown ups.

Finally, there is the pumpkin carving:

Darth Pumpkin

Packer Pumpkin

And the costumes:

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Church

2011-10-26T07:30:00.000-04:00

In yesterday's post about goals, one of my goals was to try going to church. If you know me, you're probably beside yourself. Yes, that says church. My good friend, who is an atheist, goes to a Unitarian Universalist church (who knew atheists go to church!?). Yesterday she was talking about the Halloween activities the church has planned for the kids this weekend. My kids are missing out on that, and so much more, because we don't go to church.

I recently determined, thanks to my friend mentioned above, that if I had to put any sort of religious label on myself, it would be agnostic. I was raised Lutheran. I was baptized, confirmed, and went to Sunday School my entire childhood. It was fine when I was a kid, but as I grew older I did not enjoy it. My parents still made me go. Looking back on it, I don't know why I disliked it so much. My current views about religion are fairly new. I guess as I grew older, deep down I just knew something wasn't right.

I do not want to stir the pot, so I won't get into the specifics of my religious beliefs. It took me a long time to find the label that best describes my religious views. I was not comfortable with the term "atheist". It's a bit too extreme for me. The simplest way to describe my beliefs is that I don't believe in the bible, but I don't disbelieve that there is some entity out there that is greater than us. Maybe that entity is God, maybe not.

That being said, let's get back to the idea of me going to church. I don't want to shelter my children from religion. I want them to make their own informed decisions. They are still too young to do so, but when someone mentions Jesus or prays in front of them, I don't want them to be clueless. I want them to have an understanding of the beliefs and practices of those around them. And really, church is more than just religion. It is a supportive community. It is an excuse to get out of the house. It's a social experience. It's is an opportunity to broaden your horizons.

My friend has been a member of the Unitarian Universalist church for as long as I've known her, and she's talked about it on a number of occasions. Based on what she's told me, if there is any church for us to attend, it is this one. From the Unitarian Universalism Association website: Unitarian Universalism welcomes people with diverse beliefs. Our Unitarian Universalist faith has evolved through a long history, with theological origins in European Christian traditions. Today Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal faith which allows individual Unitarian Universalists the freedom to search for truth on many paths. While our congregations uphold shared principles, individual Unitarian Universalists may discern their own beliefs about spiritual, ethical, and theological issues.

With D-day on the horizon, I think now is as good a time as ever for the kids and I to give it a shot.

Goals

2011-10-25T22:12:00.005-04:00

It's good to have goals. I have so many that I don't even know where to begin. It's so hard to find the time to accomplish these goals with two small children and no family around to help out with them when the hubs is gone. The good thing is, some of them are goals that don't require immediate action. I guess those are long term goals. My main problem is that I get side tracked too easily, usually by the computer. Or, I'll be working on one goal, then a new one will pop into my head and the one I was working on gets left in the dust. I think what I need to do is compile a list of short term and long term goals so that the ones that get left in the dust don't get lost forever. Listing my goals on my blog will give me a point of reference and a means of easily updating the list. Would anyone else like to join in on the goal setting fun? If so, write a similar blog post and share the link in the comments. We can keep tabs on each other's progress and give each other friendly reminders if needed. :)

*Update: Every Monday we will post a goals update. We will discuss what we accomplished the previous week and what we hope to accomplish in the coming week. Don't forget to link up in the comments of this blog post.

Short Term
1. Come up with (and stick to) a cleaning and maintenance schedule for the house.

2. Come up with (and stick to) a workout routine that includes running.

3. Start running in charity races, half marathons, etc.

4. Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather.

5. Organize E-Ray's rock and coin collections.

6. Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.

7. Set aside at least one hour a day for reading/learning time for Lulu.

8. Get Lulu completely potty trained during the day.

9. Limit electronics time for the WHOLE family. Not entirely sure what that limit should be. Suggestions?

10.Send a card or letter to my closest friends and relatives on their birthdays rather than just wishing them a Happy Birthday on Facebook or sending them a text message.

11. Eat out no more than once per week. (We've been eating SO much fast food ever since E-Ray started football. It's just too convenient.)

12.Eat healthier and provide healthier meals and snacks for the kids. No more junk! Fresh fruit and veggies in the house at all times.

13.Try going to church. (This will probably shock most of my friends. I will elaborate in a later post.)

14. Update my meal plan and try some crock pot recipes.

15. Come up with a daily and monthly activity schedule.

16. Get back to the daily goal/task/chore chart with E-Ray. We stopped doing it around the time football started.

17. Go to one new place (park, museum, etc.) per month.

18. Make a coupon binder.

19. Go to the Home Depot Kids' Workshops with E-Ray on the first Saturday of the month if it doesn't interfere with sports.

Long Term
1. GET OUT OF DEBT!!

2. Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.

3. Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).

4. Scrapbook E-Ray's sports photos.

5. Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA. (Hopefully my acceptance letter to Virginia Wesleyan will arrive in the mail soon!)

6. Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.

That's all I can think of right now. I know there are more, and I will update the list as I think of them.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #62

2011-10-21T08:28:00.000-04:00

I haven't done one of these in quite a while. You can link up over at Wife of a Sailor's blog.

1. I want....to get out of debt.
2. I have....the most amazing family. Seriously. How did I get so lucky?
3. I wish....all children could be protected from violence and life threatening illness. I can't even watch the news anymore. There's always a heartbreaking story about a little life that has been ended entirely too early.
4. I hope....my children live long, happy, fulfilling lives and give me lots of adorable grandbabies some day.
5. I wonder....how far away the nearest life on another planet is and if humans will ever be aware of or interact with it. (Nerd alert!)

Transitions

2011-10-19T10:31:00.000-04:00

We've been making a lot of transitions around here lately. E-Ray transitioned to kindergarten and is still getting used to going to school every day, as well as the idea of homework. He's not a fan of either. He is also transitioning into quite the little reader. He brought home a packet of nursery rhymes and read two of them to me. I was so overwhelmed with pride that I teared up. His first progress report was good. The only area he needs to work on is his handwriting, which surprised me because his handwriting is better than any other five year-olds I know, and it should be considering we worked on it all summer. Football season is wrapping up for him. He only has one game left. They have a bye this week, so Monday night instead of practice they had a kids vs. parents scrimmage. It was so cute! We've really enjoyed being a part of this team. His coaches are great and it's been fun to see the boys grow in so many different ways. I already can't wait for next season!

Lulu has been making a lot of transitions of her own! She turned two at the beginning of the month. My parents and brother were in town for her birthday, so it was extra special. At her 2 year check up she weighed 25 lbs and was 34.5 inches tall. Her vocabulary is amazing. It's so nice that we're finally at the point where she can ask for help and tell us what she wants or what is bothering her. Two days ago we made the transition from crib to toddler bed. She always fights nap time and bed time, so I was really concerned about her staying in her bed, but she had started climbing out of her crib, and I obviously don't want her to get hurt, so it was time to convert the bed. The first day she went without a nap and it took about an hour to get her to stay in her bed that night. Then, she was up at 2:00am so I brought her into bed with me. Yesterday I sat next to her until she fell asleep for her nap. Last night I put her to bed, then she got up and came out of her room about one minute later. I sternly told her to go back to bed and she yelled, "No! No night night!" I gave her a minute and told her again to go to bed, to which she responded, "Ok Momma. Night Night!" She went in her room, shut the door, and that was that. I didn't see her again until 8:30 this morning. So, the transition is going better than I thought it would!

Lulu with Grandpa and Grandma

Birthday Caaaaaake!

Time for a Break

2011-10-13T09:57:00.000-04:00

I asked E-Ray if he wants me to sign him up for basketball this winter and he said no. This makes me a little sad, but he certainly deserves a break if he wants one. We've been pretty non-stop since April. He played T-ball in the Spring, spent the summer in swimming lessons and sports class at the Field House. Then, a month before school started he started football, which was 2 hours of practice 5 days a week until school started. He has had a lot of fun with football, but between that and transitioning to going to school every day, I think the little guy is just worn out. He is only 5. It will give him more time to develop some coordination, which we all know most 5 year-olds are lacking. haha! I will still keep him active over the winter, but we will be able to spread out our activities and do a variety of things. Maybe he'll want to shoot hoops next year. It will also be nice to not have to commit our weekends to sports for a change. We will have more flexibility to visit his bestie down in North Carolina! :)

21 Questions to Ask Your Child

2011-10-11T12:29:00.000-04:00

I snagged this from Photina over at One Guy in a House of Girls. :)

I'm asking E-Ray these questions and will fill in his answers word for word. This should be interesting!

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
I love you.

2. What makes Mommy happy?
When I give you kissies, and huggies and squeezes. (Nothing makes me happier!)

3. What makes Mommy sad?
When I don't do anything for you.

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
When you tickle me.

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
A beautiful girl.

6. How old is Mommy?
28 (Smart kid!)

7. How tall is Mommy?
5 ft. (5'11")

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
Give me kisses and cuddle and do everything you like.

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
Take care of Lana.

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Maybe an actor?

11. What is Mommy really good at?
Making me happy.

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Not making Daddy not happy. (huh?)

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
Take care of Lana and Me and at the Destroyers game.

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
Sushi (wrong.....cheese)

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
I don't know.

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Wow Wow Wubbzy

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
Have fun!

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
We both play stuff.

19. How are you and Mommy different?
You're taller than me.

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Because I know everything. (Love this answer.)

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
To the Alligator Place because it has your favorite chips. (AJ Gators....good chips.)

Oh, how they grow!

2011-09-14T15:27:00.002-04:00

My little boy is almost finished with his 2nd week of Kindergarten and just had his first football game this past Saturday. I still cannot believe how grown he is and how quickly it happened. Some of the things that come out of his mouth make him sound even older than he is. He makes me laugh on a daily basis. I adore his innocence and his inquisitiveness. I'm thankful for his independence and eagerness to learn.

First Day of Kindergarten

I'm thrilled about his interest in athletics. He loves playing sports and even enjoys watching them on occasion. He loves my Packers and is a huge fan of Aaron Rodgers. Two weeks ago I took him to a Virginia Destroyers practice and scrimmage. Afterward, the players and coach all came over and gave him a five. A few stopped to talk to him for a little while. He was in awe of the huge men in their uniforms and surprisingly shy, but he really enjoyed the experience.

With QB Chris Greisen

With Coach Marty Schottenheimer

My little girl is growing by leaps and bounds as well. She will be two years old in a matter of weeks! TWO! I don't even know how that is possible. She's turned into quite the little sassy pants, but she's still pretty sweet a lot of the time. Her vocabulary is out of this world. She will repeat anything that she hears and most words tend to stick with her. Her newest was today, "zhu zhu pet". Those are her favorite toys at the moment and she asked for them when I was putting her down for her nap. She is also doing a phenomenal job with potty training. I still can't believe how much easier it is with her than it was with my son. I guess it's true what they say about girls being easier than boys. She is to the point where she will take off her pants and go on her little training potty, wipe, go dump it out in the big potty and flush all by herself.

Lulu Eating my Birthday Cake

I'm growing, too.........old! I turned 28 years old on Monday! :) Honestly, I completely embrace growing older. I don't understand why some women get all bent out of shape about it. Another birthday means I made it another year, so what is there to be sad about? Some people just need more optimism in their lives I suppose. The past two weekends were filled with birthday celebrations. Jaime, my sister from another mister, celebrated her birthday on August 31st, so we celebrated over labor day weekend. Between her husband recently deploying to Afghanistan, hurricane Irene knocking her power out for two days, and the other general stresses of taking care of your family while your husband is away, she needed a girls' night out away from the kids, so I gave her one. Can you say Cheesecake Factory!? We had a really great time eating delicious food, having adult conversation, and being followed by a fire truck full of gawking fire fighters. hahaha! Then, this past weekend we celebrated my birthday at my house with our closest friends. Jaime even got her hands on my mom's chocolate cherry cake recipe and made it for me, decorated with Packers colors and all! Every single gift I received was related to the Green Bay Packers. haha! I'm so easy to shop for. :)

Speaking of the Packers, the opening game of the season last Thursday was a really great game! Did anyone else watch it?? Packers offense was incredible, and defense made some pretty crucial stops. Defense didn't look top notch, but when you consider how great the New Orleans offense is, they did a heck of a job. AND, we finally have some special teams! I look forward to seeing a lot more of Randall Cobb this season! GO PACK GO!

Birthday Girls Ready for a Kid-free Night Out!!

What a WEEK!

2011-08-29T10:03:00.001-04:00

Last week was really something else. It began with some drama in the FRG, was followed by an earthquake, then a medical procedure, and ended with a hurricane evacuation. Needless to say, I'm glad that week is over.

The Earthquake on Tuesday was definitely my favorite part of the week. I am an Earth Science geek, so words can't describe how awesome it was to feel my very first earthquake. Thankfully, no one was hurt and there wasn't any major damage in our area. I didn't even realize it was an earthquake at first. I was taking medicine to prepare for the medical procedure the next day, so I was lying on the couch feeling a little nauseous. I felt the couch start shaking and thought maybe Lulu was crawling behind the couch shaking it. My husband called me a little while later and asked, "How'd you like that earthquake?" I still couldn't believe it was an earthquake, here in Virginia?! East coast quakes are so incredibly rare, and I felt one! Awesome! :)

Not only did the kids and I get to experience our first earthquake together, we also got to experience our first hurricane evacuation together. I had to sortie a couple times when I was in the Navy stationed in Mayport, FL, but I don't really call that an evacuation. It's completely different when the choice is left up to you, especially when your husband had to leave on the ship, leaving you to prepare your home and your family all by yourself. That was the worst part; not having him here to make me feel safe and to make the decisions. Being from Tampa, I knew what his decision would be; he would have stayed. But it's amazing how vulnerable I feel when he is not here. I went back and forth numerous times on whether or not we should leave. In the end, I knew it would give my family peace of mind and I knew I could never live with myself if something happened to the kids and I could have prevented it, so we left. My neighbor insisted that we evacuate with her to her parents' house Northwest of Richmond, VA. So, that's what we did. The power went out all the way over there, but luckily they had a generator, so it wasn't too bad. We returned home yesterday morning and I was so relieved to find my home just as I had left it. The only damage was to the gate on our fence, and our backyard was a mess due to all the trees back there, but that is it. We are incredibly fortunate. We even had power, and our neighbors across the street did not. I immediately went to work cleaning up the back yard. It took about three hours and I ended up with a huge pile of sticks and 10 big bags full of leaves. It was strange raking up leaves in the yard in 90+ degree heat! I'm used to doing it in the chill of Autumn.

Thankfully, that week is over and a new one is about to begin. E-Ray was supposed to have his first football scrimmage this past Saturday, but that was obviously cancelled due to hurricane Irene, so it should be rescheduled for this week sometime. I can't wait to see my little man play football for the first time!! We are also looking forward to some excellent company over Labor Day Weekend. My friend whose husband I mentioned in an earlier post just deployed to Afghanistan will be here with her kids for the weekend. Her birthday is Wednesday, so I'm hoping to get a girls' night out planned so that we can celebrate and let loose for a little while. She lives down at Camp Lejeune and was without power for 2 days, cooped up with her kids thanks to hurricane Irene, so she definitely needs a little break!

If you felt the Earthquake and/or were affected by hurricane Irene, I'd love to hear your story! Leave a comment if you'd like. :)

Busy Kids, FRG, and a Friend Deploys

2011-08-15T13:58:00.000-04:00

I simply cannot believe we are already halfway through August. Where has the Summer gone??? I mean, I'm glad it's NFL Preseason has started and all, but this Summer has flown by much too fast. It was been a very exciting summer, though. In July, E-Ray turned 5 and was a very handsome ring bearer in my brother-in-law's wedding. This month he learned how to swim thanks to the local recreation center's swimming lessons. At the beginning of summer he wouldn't even jump in the pool by himself and it would take me 10 minutes to convince him he could let go of me and touch the bottom with his feet in 3 foot deep water. Now, he will jump in all on his own and can swim and tread water. I cried the first time he swam. I was so overwhelmed with pride.

Here is the video of the very first time my big boy swam:

Here is the video of him swimming on the last day of swimming lessons:

He also started playing tackle football this month. I mentioned this in a previous post. He really seems to enjoy it, even though it's very disciplined and more physical activity than he's ever done before. I'm so glad that he's taken such an interest in sports. He already plans to play basketball in the winter, and next Spring will be his 3rd season of baseball.

Here's a video of the first couple of tackle practices he had:

On top of the sports, he has been working on his schoolwork all summer, as well. His handwriting has really improved and he's almost ready to start reading. I couldn't be more proud of him.

As for Lulu, she decided last Friday that she wanted to start using the toilet. She used the big potty and then I got out the little training potty for her. She has gone on the potty every day since then. This morning I heard her exclaim "I did it!" while I was in the computer room. I went to the living room and she had pottied in her toilet all on her own. She even pooed in the toilet yesterday! She's not even two yet, so I wasn't expecting to potty train her this early, but I guess she's ready! She's been such a chatter box lately, too. Her vocabulary has really taken off, and she's such a little copy cat. You definitely need to watch what you say around her. Her favorite phrase to say to her "bubba" is "That's not nice!" It makes me laugh every time. :)

Thing's with the Hubs' ship are OK. Since passing INSURV they had a change of command. The new CO and CMC both seem really great and I've heard nothing but good things about both of them. The ship is scheduled to deploy early next year, so I'm in the process of trying to revive the FRG. A short recap; the ship came home from deployment in June of 2010 and immediately went into INSURV preparations, which meant insane working hours. They then failed INSURV in December, so the ridiculous working hours continued until they finally passed INSURV in June of 2011. So, during the past year none of the spouses have really wanted anything to do with the command or FRG. Now that we have a lot of new sailors on board, along with a new Commanding Officer and a deployment just around the corner, I'm hoping people will regain interest. We held a meeting last week and had a fairly decent turnout. Most of the FRG board members are transferring before or during the next deployment, so my number one goal is to find replacements as soon as possible so that the FRG can get back on it's feet and have a strong following by the time the ship deploys. Wish me luck! :)

Lastly, one of my very best friends just saw her husband off to Afghanistan yesterday. He is an HMCS stationed with the Marines down at Camp Lejeune. Sending your spouse off on a deployment is never easy, but this time was especially hard because it is the first time their kids have had to say goodbye to their Daddy, and vice versa. Please keep Senior Chief Thomason and his family in your thoughts and pray for his safe return.

Coping with Tragedy

2011-08-08T14:56:00.000-04:00

I did not personally know any of the service members lost in Afghanistan this past weekend, but I have still been mourning their loss. Most of the SEALs that were lost were stationed right here in Virginia Beach, so it hits really close to home. I first saw the horrific headline on my phone while my husband was driving us down to Camp Lejeune for a farewell cookout for a friend of ours who is deploying to Afghanistan very soon. Tears immediately began streaming down my face. Any loss is a huge loss, but this was something else. And for this to happen just as one of my very best friends is saying farewell to her husband and he deploys to Afghanistan, it's just completely heart wrenching and terrifying.

This afternoon I sat down and began reading stories about the lives of some of the heroes that were lost. You should do the same. Familiarize yourself with these brave individuals that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Most of them were married with small children and pregnant wives. Over 40 children lost their fathers. The next time you think your life sucks, think of the baby that will never meet their father, or the pregnant widow who is left to raise her children on her own. The next time you see a service member in uniform, thank them for their service. Do everything you can to support the people you know with loved ones deployed to a war zone; spouses, children, parents. They are scared. Keep them busy, keep them laughing, and listen. Support our troops and the families that worry for their lives every day.

Here are some links to check out:

Remembering the Fallen: Troops are Identified in Helicopter Crash in Eastern Afghanistan

Local Donation Drive in Hampton Roads

Donate to the Navy SEAL Foundation (Or Text "SEAL" to 90999 to give $10 to help support the Navy SEAL foundation)

Navy SEAL Foundation Facebook Page

Football Mom!

2011-08-01T21:18:00.000-04:00

I am officially a Football Mom! YAY! E-Ray had his first practice tonight. He was so excited all day long, he kept asking me if it was time to go to practice. His team, the Lions, is 5-7 year olds, and even though he just turned 5, he's average size for the team. In addition to the head coach, there are four assistant coaches. It's tackle, which makes me a little nervous, but he can't wait to tackle. He was bummed tonight that he didn't get to tackle at all. They practice 2 hours a night, 5 days a week until school starts and the first week is all conditioning. Once school starts they practice 3 times a week, and on Fridays when the local high school has home games, he's going to take the team to the games in their jerseys. How cute is that? It's going to be a very busy Fall between him starting Kindergarten and all of these football practices and games. I am so excited though, and very proud of my little boy! GO LIONS GO! :)

Here he is soaked in sweat after practice tonight:

Photoshop help!!

2011-07-20T21:10:00.000-04:00

I need some help and am hoping someone will stumble across this that can be of assistance. We were just down in Tampa for my brother-in-law's wedding and I got a really great photo of our family...well, 3/4 of our family. E-Ray is blinking in the photo. Other than that, it is perfect! So, I took his head from a picture from the same evening and tried to Photoshop it into the family photo, but I just don't have the skills to make it blend in just right. If I can get it just right, I'd like to print a large copy of the photo and have it framed. Can anyone help me? If so, please let me know! Thank you!

Here are the photos. I think if you click on them you can view and save the full size photo.

Here's my attempt:

The V-word

2011-05-23T09:34:00.000-04:00

Vasectomy. My husband had a vasectomy done almost three months ago. We had both agreed that one boy and one girl was perfect for us, although I am sure that once Lulu is about three or four years old I will yearn for another tiny infant. Even though my husband had this procedure, I was still skeptical. My mind was playing little tricks on me, making me think that perhaps I was pregnant. Last month I was somewhat dismayed when my menstrual cycle started. I actually sort of hoped that maybe I was pregnant. One little tear streamed down my face that day last month.

This month, however, when my cycle was two days late, I had the complete opposite reaction. I was terrified that I may actually be pregnant! In my head, I thought about how I would tell my husband and our family and friends, and that made me smile. But, then I remembered how I had consigned all of my maternity clothes, as well as all of the baby clothes and toys. I thought about how we'd have to endure a car payment again. We'd certainly have to invest in a mini van if we were going to have three children. I thought about how many more years I'd have to put off my degree and my career....

Both of these situations made me realize two things. 1. The vasectomy served it's purpose and I will not be having any more children. 2. I am OK with that. I'm perfectly content with being the mother of two perfectly healthy, utterly beautiful children; a boy and a girl. What more could a girl ask for? I don't think it can get much better than this. ♥

The "Back to School" debate

2011-05-18T09:45:00.000-04:00

I only have about one year of school left before I will earn my Bachelors degree. After I finished the Spring 2009 semester I gave birth to Lulu and decided to take some time off of school to stay home with the kids. I have been debating when I should go back. I've already been accepted to Old Dominion, but I'm just not ready to take that leap yet. I'm intimidated by the size of the school, but most importantly, I think the kids still need me here, at home as a full time mom. It's hard enough on them that their Dad is not home nearly enough due to his job. I think they deserve the stability of at least one parent that can always be here for them. I can't wait to get my degree, and it sure would be nice to have a second income, but for the time being, I'm needed here at home.

Crap on a Stick!

2011-05-15T13:59:00.000-04:00

I have been using myphotoalbum.com to store and share my photos and videos for quite a few years. It cost $20/year for unlimited storage, which I thought was pretty reasonable. I had my photos grouped into different albums based on the subject matter of the photos, but decided I'd also like to organize them by date, since a lot didn't fit into a particular category. I had let my account expire and had to renew it, which to my surprise, cost $30. "Oh well" I thought, I already have a ton of photos stored there, I'm not about to start over somewhere else. So, about a month ago I finally finished uploading all of my photos ranging from 2002 until present day. Needless to say, it took a long time to upload almost a decades worth of photos! Not even two weeks later I received an email from the company stating they had to shut down their website because it was no longer cost effective to keep it running. All of my photos and videos would be deleted. I emailed asking if the money I just paid to renew my account would be refunded and, unsurprisingly, did not receive a response. Crap on a stick!!!

So, my question to you is, what website do you use to store, order, and share your photos and videos?? Your feedback is GREATLY appreciated!

Bad Week for Birds

2011-04-26T16:18:00.000-04:00

It sure is a bad week for birds here in VA. It was only a week ago that Quack was found dead in the street, and now the Bald Eagle that lived at the Norfolk Botanical Garden had died. She was struck by an airplane this morning. She's sort of a local celebrity. I believe she has been nesting there for a few years now and they have her nest on a web cam feed. She currently has three eaglets in the nest awaiting her return.

Two lovely birds killed unnecessarily by human technology. I appreciate technology, but I hate the consequences.

As for Duck, he only returned the morning following Quack's death. I haven't seen him since. I did, however, see a different pair of ducks (male and female) land in a neighbor's yard a few houses down yesterday. I hope they don't make it down to our house. I really don't want to get attached to wild life any more. But, go figure, I have seen some baby bunnies and an adult bunny in our yard every day since last week. I think they live under our deck. They are SO unbelievable adorable. Two of the babies were chasing each other about an hour ago. Too cute! Hopefully they will stay out of the damn road!

Fundraising for the MS Walk

2011-04-25T13:06:00.000-04:00

I have a good friend that was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and she asked me if I'd participate in a fundraising walk for MS with her. Of course, I said yes. Unfortunately, I am terrible at fundraising. I just hate bugging people for money, especially in person, so here I am turning to my blog. My goal is $150 and I have raised $75, so I am halfway to my goal. The walk is this Saturday. If you'd like to donate, please follow the link below. Thank you so much!

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/NCTWalkEvents?px=9030686&pg=personal&fr_id=16166

Still Sad

2011-04-19T08:54:00.000-04:00

I am still terribly sad over the loss of Quack. I had a very hard time getting to sleep last night. Duck showed up in the yard this morning with one of his friends and they just laid down and went to sleep. I'm glad he is not alone, but having him here, in my yard, is only making me more sad. I know he is here waiting for Quack to come back and it just breaks my heart into a million pieces. They arrived in the yard just as E-Ray was getting up this morning, so I was crying as he came down the stairs. I told him that Quack had died and he took it very well. I guess he doesn't fully grasp what it means to die, but I'm glad he's not sad.

Rest in Peace, Quack

2011-04-18T20:57:00.001-04:00

Tonight was so terribly heartbreaking. You'll recall my previous post about the pair of ducks that have been in our neighborhood just about every day for a month now. E-Ray named them Duck and Quack. Well, around 7:20 tonight my neighbor got home from work. She ran over here and told me that the female duck was dead. I ran outside and there she was, lying in the street. Two male ducks were fighting over her and a third male was standing a short distance away watching. One of the male ducks fighting over her was her mate, and the other duck kept pecking at her. I immediately began to sob. It wasn't really clear what caused her to die. At first we thought maybe the one male duck that was pecking at her had killed her. I shooed him away so that her mate could have a moment alone with her before we removed her from the street. He just sat there with her. It broke my heart. Once my neighbor's husband removed her from the street her mate walked over to the two males and they just stood there together.

It didn't appear as though she were run over by a car or attacked by a cat. My mom and my husband both said that she could have been poisoned by something. We always fed her small bits of whole grain bagels or bread and corn bird feed. I also always had a bowl of fresh water out. Maybe she was just sick. I wish I knew. 30 minutes before my neighbor came to the door I had looked out the window and seen them and they were just fine. I wish I had been out there to see what happened. I wish I could have prevented this.

About 10 minutes after we said goodbye to Quack I called my mom to cry it out. I sat in a rocking chair on the front porch as the sun was setting and as we were wrapping up our call the three male ducks walked by. It was a little comforting to see that Duck has his two buddies with him to help him mourn the loss of his mate.

Once I got off the phone with my mom I sat outside for a bit more. My husband came at sat with me and then Duck started flying circles overhead, I assume looking for Quack. My heart broke in two again and I sobbed some more. I had to come in the house. I couldn't bear to sit out there and see him flying overhead looking for her. I wonder if he will return here tomorrow?

The kids and I had grown so fond of this lovely pair of ducks and we looked so forward to seeing them every day. I suppose it may seem silly that I am so deeply affected by this loss, but I am. Duck and Quack were a little part of our family. I cherish the time the kids and I spent with them, and I will never forget it.

*Edited to add that now that I've had more time to get over her death, I really do think she must have been struck by a car. :(

Meet Duck & Quack

2011-04-14T21:54:00.000-04:00

We've made some new friends! A couple weeks ago I noticed a pair of Mallard ducks in our yard. Naturally, I fed them, and now they keep coming back. The kids adore them. E-Ray has named them Duck and Quack, which is convenient because those are two words that Lulu has in her tiny little 18 month old vocabulary. Tonight was the most fascinating thus far. E-Ray asked to be excused from the table when he was finished with dinner. A couple minutes later he shouted that the female duck (Quack) was outside, so I hopped up and grabbed the last of the bagel thins. E-Ray and I went out and sat in the grass and fed her. I was a little worried that Duck wasn't there. I had never seen them apart before. Then, as soon as E-Ray through the last piece of bagel to Quack, she started to flap her wings and quack. I looked up and there was Duck flying in to join us. It was so neat! E-Ray really got a kick out of it. He went in to grab a piece of bread for Duck, and then the Hubs and Lulu joined us. Hubs even snapped a few pictures. The kids and I really adore this pair of ducks. I hope they will bring their ducklings by for a visit one day. I will be sad when they stop coming by for dinner, but hopeful they will remember where we are next Spring.

They always take a little nap after they eat. ♥

Where have I been??

2011-04-08T20:13:00.000-04:00

In case it isn't apparent to you, I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon, especially the milspouse blogging. I have been so busy lately with every day life and have been spending most of my free time on my genealogy research. Here's an update on what I've been up to since my last post.

At the end of February the kids and I traveled to Wisconsin for my lovely mother's 50th birthday. We had such a great time. The kids were spoiled rotten and I ate a ton of delicious food that I just can't get here in Virginia. My bestie and I traveled up to Green Bay and went through the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame and did the stadium tour. My parents took the kids and I down to Monroe, which is where my mom was born. The majority of her family history is in that area, so it was truly fascinating. I was able to find and take photos of the majority of her ancestors headstones. I went through all of my grandmother's old photo albums and found some really great photos of my dad and his family. On our last day in Wisconsin we all went sledding. It was so fun! Overall, it was a really great trip. I hate living so far away from my family and friends! I wish I could get back to Wisconsin more often. E-Ray really misses his Grandparents. Ever since we got back he has wanted the same bed time story every night, Little Critter's "Grandma, Grandpa and Me." He is just too sweet.

After we got back to Virginia, Lulu and I were sick for a little while. Then, we went down to North Carolina for a very special little girl's 3rd birthday. That was another really great time. It was a little reunion with some of my best friends from when we were stationed up in Illinois. The kids had a really great time, and so did the adults! We will be heading back down there at the end of April to participate in an MS fundraising walk with my friend that was recently diagnosed with MS.

E-Ray has started t-ball practice. This season his team is the Phillies. Their first game is next Saturday and I cannot wait! I think I am more excited than he is! Lulu is just growing way too fast. She is 18 months old! Where did the time go? She has four new teeth coming in, so she's been a little monster lately, but she's still pretty sweet. :)

The Hubs ship just came out of a short dry dock period and is getting ready for their second shot at INSURV, which means he is working ridiculous hours again, including weekends. I am so ready for this tour to be over with. It has been, by far, his worst command yet. He has begun looking at orders and it looks like he may be going to a carrier here in Norfolk. It will be his first! One thing is for sure.......NO MORE FRIGATES!

Well, that's enough for now. Ancestry.com is calling my name! I'll leave you with a few pictures from the past couple months.

Four Generations of Females
My Grandma, Me, Lulu, My Cousin, My Mom

My Mom and Dad with the kids.

Lulu looking way too grown up.

E-Ray at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk.

What a journey!

2011-02-09T13:33:00.002-05:00

At the end of last season I stated that the Green Bay Packers would win the Super Bowl within the next three years. This past fall I was sitting in the waiting room of Grease Monkey while my oil was being changed. I read an article in Sports Illustrated which predicted that the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers would meet in Super Bowl XLV. Many other NFL analysts were making the same prediction. I knew this would be an exciting season, and it sure was. A lot of people wrote the Packers off when the injuries began piling up, but the depth of the team was truly remarkable. Beating the Bears to clinch the Wildcard, and then beating those losers again to win the NFC Championship was amazing. It's always a big highlight of the season when we beat the Bears, but to beat them in both of those situations was indescribable. Equally indescribable was watching the Packers win Super Bowl XLV. The Super Bowl played out like the season, with key players being taken out of the game with injuries, but yet again, they were resilient.

Congratulations Green Bay Packers, and thank you for bringing the Lombardi trophy back to it's rightful home. I feel truly lucky to have been brought up to be a fan of such an amazing and historic football team. GO PACK GO!!!

I'll be heading to Wisconsin for my mom's birthday in a couple weeks and am hoping to make it up to Green Bay to see the newest member of our Lombardi Trophy collection!

Owning a Home is $tressful!

2011-02-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

The Hubs was promoted to LTJG on Tuesday. We've been looking forward to this pay raise for a LONG time! We've been trying to tackle our debt for a while now, and 2011 was shaping up to be a good year to do just that. Then, things began to fall apart. Well, it really seems like things have been falling apart from the moment we moved into this house 19 months ago. It's a 2200 square foot house that was built in 1978, so it's big and older than me. So......since we've moved in Hubs has had to replace two toilets, a garbage disposal, install a vent fan in the bathroom, and numerous other smaller jobs. Thankfully he's quite handy. Most recently, I discovered a leak in the dishwasher when water was coming up out of the wood flooring in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure the leak had been there for a few months and it just took us this long to notice it. So, we had to spend the money we were saving for a new sofa set on a new dishwasher. The wood flooring in our kitchen is all messed up, and there's mold behind the cabinetry next to the dishwasher. Oh, and the week before I discovered the leak in the dishwasher, I discovered a leak in our water heater. AND, on top of all the things falling apart in our house, we had to drop $700 on brakes for my vehicle in December. At this rate, I wonder if we'll ever be out of debt. I also wonder what's going to kick the bucket next.....

GO PACK GO (to the Super Bowl)!!!!

2011-01-24T14:11:00.001-05:00

They did it! The Green Bay Packers beat our evil arch nemesis, the Chicago Bears, in the NFC Championship! The oldest rivalry in the NFL. A game that will certainly go down in history. I literally lost sleep over this game all week long. If you are/were a regular reader of this blog or know me personally, you know that I live and breathe Packer football. Words cannot even describe how excited I am! It is hard living so far away from Wisconsin though. I really wish I had some friends here in VA that are Packer fans. The Hubs is from Tampa, and a Bucs fan. He'll cheer for the Packers with me when they're not playing the Bucs, but his heart isn't in it like mine is. I know I'm not the only lonely soul in this position, so I created a "Displaced Cheeseheads" page for all of the other Cheeseheads spread throughout the world on Facebook. It took off more quickly than I could have imagined. It's already up to over 400 "likes"! I also made a t-shirt design to go along with it. You can click a shirt to be taken to the shop.

I've also been keeping track of where all of our fans are from using google maps and posting updated maps on the page. Here's the most recent map:

It's so much fun to see where everyone is cheering for the Packers from. We really are supporting our team on a global level. GO PACK GO!!!!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T11:49:00.000-05:00

I've kind of fallen off the blogging bandwagon. I didn't write a single post in the month of December! Yikes! Let's play catch up. As I mentioned in a few previous posts, the Hubs had been working insane hours ever since returning from deployment in preparation for the ship's INSURV inspection. Well, they finally had the inspection in the beginning of December. They failed. They got home from a 6 month deployment and for the next 6 months worked 12+ hour days, 6 days a week.........and they failed. Imagine how discouraging that is for the crew and the families after dealing with those grueling work hours. Failing INSURV is a pretty big deal in the Navy. Here's an article about his ship and another ship failing the inspection. So, now they have to redo the inspection in a few months. Nightmare!

On the bright side, Hubs finally got a break from work with the holiday leave period, so we went to Tampa to spend the holidays with his family. It was exhausting, but so much fun. It's always so nice to see everyone, especially the kids, but there's never enough time and the trip just flies by. We drove from Virginia to Tampa and it only took us 12 hours. We drove through the night and the kids slept the majority of the trip, so it was a pretty easy drive. We drove home Christmas day and thankfully made it home just before the blizzard.

While we were in Florida we took E-Ray to Disney for the first time. We went to Magic Kingdom. He really enjoyed it. I didn't care for it, but I did enjoy the Christmas parade. I just hated waiting in long lines for such boring rides, but the smile on E-Ray's adorable little face made it all worth it. :)

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays as much as we did, and I wish you all the best in the new year! Here are a few photos from December:

Lulu and I Christmas Eve

Hubs and his best friends.

Proud to Have Served

2010-11-11T09:12:00.000-05:00

Veteran's Day is upon us once again and I just can't believe it's been 4 years since I completed my service in the Navy. Time sure has flown. I am so thankful that I can look back on my Naval service with pride and fond memories. I served on a great ship with an awesome crew and an excellent chain of command. I traveled to a lot of fascinating places and served in support of OIF and OEF. I served alongside my husband, and now I support him from the other side of the lines. Sometimes I feel like being a military spouse is actually harder than being the active duty service member, but when I find myself missing the Navy, I realize that there is no way I could possibly deploy and leave my kids for 6+ months. I'm proud to have served and to continue serving as a spouse and FRG leader. The Navy will always be a huge part of who I am. Some days I love it, other days I resent it, but all in all I have a pretty great life and I couldn't have gotten here without the United States Navy.

Veteran's Day Freebies/Discounts

2010-11-10T09:48:00.000-05:00

Here's a pretty comprehensive list of the Veteran's Day freebies and discounts I received from the CMC. You may want to call ahead to ensure the discount is valid in your area. Happy Veteran's Day to all of my fellow shipmates! :)

Restaurants

Applebee's Restaurant - Free dinners to veterans throughout Veterans Day

November 11th; selections will be from a new Veterans Day menu.

Outback Steakhouse - Free Blooming Onion and beverage.

Golden Corral- Free buffet dinner from 5-9 p.m. on Nov. 16 to anyone who

has ever served in the U.S. military Staff.

Chilis- Free choice of one of 6 entrees.

In celebration of Veterans Day 11 Nov 2010, Subway is showing its thanks

with free six inch subs to all Veterans or Active Duty members.

On Nov. 7, McCormick & Schmick's restaurants will offer a free entree to

military veterans for its 12th annual Veteran's Appreciation Event. Menu

picks include such seafood items as parmesan crusted tilapia, roasted

cedar plank salmon and almond crusted rainbow trout. "Our Veterans

Appreciation Event has become a tradition that our restaurants look

forward to each year," said Bill Freeman, CEO of McCormick & Schmick's

Seafood Restaurants, in a statement. For more information:

http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/

Krispy Kreme - One free doughnut of any variety.

UNO Chicago Grill- Free entree or individual pizza with an entree or

pizza purchase of equal or greater value.

Coushatta Casino Resort - The Louisiana casino and resort is offering a

free seven-clans lunch or dinner buffet to veterans or active military.

MarketPlace Grill & Express - Veterans and active-duty military receive

free entrees.

Masala Wok - The Northern Virginian restaurant is offering a free entree

to veterans.

Hy-Vee supermarkets - The mid-western supermarket chain is offering a

free breakfast to veterans.

Abuelo's Mexican Food Restaurants - All veterans and active-duty

military receive a free entree.

Carolina Burgers & BBQ - In Matthews, NC is offering a free meal to all

service members and veterans.

Retail Freebies

Brides Across America - Provides free wedding gowns to qualified

military brides.

Lowe's & Home Depot - Extra 10% off to active-duty military members,

National Guard and reserve members, retirees, honorably

dischargedveterans and immediate family members.

Sam's Club - Over 25,000 Hugo canes will be given away to U.S. veterans

in need of mobility assistance. Membership is not required, but

suppliesare limited, so check with your local store.

Amazon.com - Free "Veterans Day Honor" MP3 album download. The album

includes 12 songs by The Bands and Ensembles of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Cabela's Outdoor Store - Offers their employee discount to all veterans,

active-duty military and reserves, law enforcement, fire and

EMSpersonnel Nov. 11-12. Discounts vary from 5% to 50%, depending on the

item.

Build-a-Bear Workshop - Members of the armed services including the

Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Reserve

OfficerTraining Corps, will receive a 20% discount Nov. 11-15 on any one

transaction at Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Dollar General - 10% discount for all veterans, active-duty military,

National Guard and reserve and their immediate families.

Fashion Bug - 20% off all plus-size and misses clothing purchases with a

copy of military ID or spouse's military ID.

Entertainment Freebies

National parks, forests and monuments - Admission is free to everyone on

Veterans Day.

Knott's Berry Farm - Free park admission to U.S. armed forces personnel

and a guest during Veteran's Month, November 1-26.

Colonial Williamsburg - Free admission Nov. 6-11 for active-duty

military, guard and reservists, retirees, veterans and their dependents.

San Jacinto Museum of History - Free visits to the Observation Deck,

theatre, and special exhibit for veterans, active duty military

personnel, and their families.

Historic Jamestown - Free admission to veterans, current Armed Forces

members and their family members.

Battleship Cove - Free admission and a special ceremony for veterans,

active, duty and reservists.

Vicksburg National Military Park - Free admission for all.

Birmingham Museum of Art - Free admission to the ticketed event "Life

and Liberty" on Nov. 10-11 for veterans and active military.

Vulcan Park and Museum- In Birmingham, Alabama is offering discounted

admission through November to the park and museum.

Greenbay (WI) New Zoo - Free admission to veterans and their families.

Central Florida Zoo - Free admission to the Sanford, Florida zoo with

proper ID.

Strategic Air & Space Museum- Free admission for veterans Nov. 11-14 to

the Ashland, Neb. museum.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum - in Oklahoma City offers free

admission to veterans and five guests from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on

VeteransDay.

Natural Elements Spa & Salon - In Chesapeake, Virginia, will provide

free services from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to both active duty and retired military.

Bad Case of the Mondays

2010-11-08T14:25:00.000-05:00

Today is sucking, so I need to vent. Incident #1: I ordered heart worm preventative for the dog from petcarerx.com last night. I get a call from the local vet today saying that they had to deny the prescription request because I have to bring the dog in for a heartworm test first since she hasn't had one since last year. If she's on preventative, why do I need to bring her in to get tested every year? Why do I even need a prescription for this stuff? Oh yeah, so they can force me to come in and pay for the stupid test.

Incident #2: I was supposed to have an orthodontist appointment today. I took the baby to my neighbor's house, dropped E-Ray off at school and went to the ortho office. They tell me my appointment isn't until next Monday. No, it is today. I know it is today because when the lady scheduled my appointment for November 8th it clicked in my head because I have two friends with birthdays today. The fact that they refuse to admit it's their fault and assume I'm the idiot makes me even more infuriated.

I can't wait for my husband to get home tonight! I haven't seen him in over a week, so that will brighten my day. :)

Small Acts of Kindness

2010-10-29T15:20:00.000-04:00

This has been a heck of a week. We've been hit hard with a stomach virus. It started Wednesday night with E-Ray. He threw up all night long. Then yesterday it was me. Today, Hubs came home sick from work and E-Ray threw up again. A friend of mine mentioned the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet for when you're getting over a stomach virus, so I had to make a run to the store. As I was pulling out of the driveway our exterminator arrived. I told him I was headed to the store to get some food for my sick family. He handed me a few Halloween goody bags and I was on my way. When I returned, I noticed that he had put the garbage bins away for us (today is trash day) and he had left a little note on our invoice saying he hopes everyone gets better soon. Such a simple act of kindness, but it was very appreciated. He has been servicing our home for a number of months and is always so friendly and really goes above and beyond, so today, I wrote the company to let them know what a fantastic employee they have. The company is Home Shield Pest Control, and I highly recommend them; well, I at least highly recommend Taylor at the Virginia Beach office. :)

My Baby Girl Turned 1!

2010-10-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

I have been MIA from the blog lately. I had friends in town for Lulu's first birthday bash and now I have a cold. Also, my dear husband has gotten me hooked on a computer game; Civilization V. Nerd alert! I've even been MIA on Facebook, posting much less than usual. Some of my friends may be rejoicing!

Anyhow, Lulu's first birthday was a lot of fun. A couple of our besties from when we were stationed in Great Lakes that are now stationed down at Camp Lejeune came up for the weekend. We had a lot of fun together. We sat around the fire Friday night, Saturday we shopped and I got Lulu's ears pierced. She was a trooper! The first ear didn't phase her one bit, and she cried for the second one, but only for a few brief minutes.

We had a small party for her on Sunday, which was her actual birthday. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this in the past, but my mom has always made me a chocolate cherry cake for me on my birthday, which I LOVE, so I wanted to make that for Lulu's first birthday, but I decided to make cupcakes. They turned out great! Soooooooo yummy! Here are a couple pictures from her big day:

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #14

2010-09-24T00:05:00.002-04:00

It's time for this week's edition of MilSpouse Friday Fill-In. You can link up over at Wife of a Sailor's Blog if you'd like to participate! Or, if you don't blog, go ahead and answer the questions in the comments section.

What characteristic about yourself has either been strengthened or weakened due to your experience as a Military Spouse?
I am definitely more independent and confident in myself than I have ever been. This has a lot to do with taking care of our kids and numerous other aspects of our lives all by myself all the time.

What is your favorite vacation spot and why?
Vacation? What's that? We never go on vacations because if we ever travel it is to visit our families........so, I guess the answer would be Wisconsin and Florida. If given the opportunity to actually go on a vacation, for a family vacation I would choose Orlando and if it were just the Hubs and I, I would really love to go to Hawaii for a couple weeks.

If you could have any fast-food restaurant in the food court on base/post what would you pick?
I don't live near base, so this is pretty irrelevant to me, however, I would LOVE to have a Culver's here in Hampton Roads! I really miss their fried cheese curds!!!

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Jamaica. It was an experience to say the least. *Note: If you ever go to Jamaica, do yourself a favor and stay at an all inclusive resort so you don't ever have to leave it.

If you could have any job in the world regardless of money, degree or experience, which job would you have and why?
I want Pam Oliver's job. She's down on the field interviewing NFL players and coaches before, during and after the game. DREAM JOB!

Share your homecoming stories! Link up with Heartwarming Homecomings!

What's up with Facebook?!

2010-09-23T16:32:00.001-04:00

Facebook is apparently down. I feel like a crack addict going through withdrawals (or at least what I imagine a crack addict going through withdrawals would feel like)! My Hotmail isn't working either. It says they're doing maintenance. This is probably a sign that I should be tidying up the house that I've let go since the Hubs has been gone......

A word on the Facebook outage: http://mashable.com/2010/09/23/facebook-down-again/

NO SOLICITING!

2010-09-20T10:48:00.000-04:00

so·lic·it Verb /səˈlisit/
Ask for or try to obtain (something) from someone.

I have a sign similar to this on my front door. When we first moved into our home last year we were overwhelmed with solicitors. It drove me NUTS! So, I put this sign on our front door. I think it has helped some, but for some reason, certain people think they don't apply to this request. The typical offenders are children and religious solicitors. I've had one of each this past week. I'll let the young kids slide. They probably don't know what soliciting means, and I've been known to buy a candy bar or two. The people that show up on my doorstep with bibles, however, ought to know better. If you can read the bible, you can read my sign. I even had one lady who was prepared for me to point out my No Soliciting sign. She had her bible open to a page where there is apparently some verse that describes how they are not solicitors because they are not trying to sell me anything. No, you are not trying to solicit my money, but you are soliciting my time and trying to sell me on your religion. GO AWAY! I hate to be rude, but c'mon. The sign was your warning. Maybe I will start to keep Darwin's Origin of Species at my door and preach to them about my beliefs.

Search Amazon.com for no soliciting sign

Mamarazzi Monday: Tee Ball

2010-09-20T08:45:00.001-04:00

E-Ray had his first ever Tee Ball game on Saturday. It was SO cute! I actually teared up a few times. The teams are made up of 4 and 5 year olds and it's a very introductory league. They played two innings, so each team was up to bat two times. The coach pitches to the batter 3 times, and if they don't hit a pitch, then they bat off the tee. The kids run the bases are aren't called out if the base is tagged before they get there. E-Ray did so well and I was so proud of him!

Daddy Coached First Base the Whole Game

Best Buds

Link up with Mamarazzi Monday!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #13

2010-09-17T00:01:00.001-04:00

It's time for this week's edition of MilSpouse Friday Fill-In. You can link up over at Wife of a Sailor's Blog if you'd like to participate! Or, if you don't blog, go ahead and answer the questions in the comments section.

1. How do you spend your deployment money; do you save, pay off bills or enjoy the extra money while it is there to buy the things you do not normally have?

We pay off bills. Fun.

2. If you could relive one occasion or moment, what would it be?

Probably our wedding day. It was SO much fun and went way too fast. I wish I could go back and take it all in.

3. What’s the worst job you ever had and if it was so bad why did you take it?Well, there were times where I thought the Navy was the worst job in the world, and other days I thought it was the best. I took the job to serve my country and see the world. It was definitely worth it!

4. If you could play any character on TV, who would you be?

Probably Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights. I'm not really old enough to play that character, but I love her! She's so beautiful and strong and *bonus* her husband is a crazy hot football coach.

5. If you could become the world’s expert in something, what would it be?

Geology. *nerd alert* The study of the history of Earth fascinates me more than anything else. It really is amazing what our planet has been through. (Second choice would be Green Bay Packer football!)

I am in shock.

2010-09-15T09:10:00.002-04:00

Less than five miles from my very own home a Navy Wife was brutally murdered in her apartment while her husband was out to sea. Shockingly, I didn't hear about this on the news, I heard about it via another MilSpouse blog. This is every military spouses' worst nightmare. While reading the news story, this paragraph made me shake my head, "When [neighbor] moved into his nearby apartment in July, he said, he knocked on [victim's] door to ask whether her husband could help him move his couch. She told him that her husband was deployed." Ladies, please do not tell strangers that your spouse is deployed. "I'm sorry, he's not available." "I'm sorry, he has a bad back." It's OK to lie when it comes to your own personal security. This murder did not happen in a so called "bad part of town." I feel so horrible for her and her family. I wish there was something I could do to help. I hope with all my heart that they find the horrible person that took this young woman's life. Please remind your fellow military spouse friends to protect themselves at all times, and especially when their spouse is away.

Tasty Tuesday: Peanut Butter Cheesecake Squares

2010-09-14T08:56:00.000-04:00

I recently received a FREE Jiffy Mix Cookbook that I had requested and was surprised to find a few cheesecake recipes in the book. The recipe that immediately caught my eye was the Peanut Butter Cheesecake Squares, so that was the first one I made. They were SO yummy!!! My family and my neighbors all loved them.

I think this could be a versatile recipe, too. The crust uses two packages of the chocolate muffin mix, but I think it would also be good with the banana muffin mix. Who doesn't love a peanut butter banana sandwich?? :)

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Squares

(12-15 Servings)

Crust

2 pkgs. "JIFFY" Chocolate Muffin Mix
6 Tbsp. margarine or butter, melted

Filling

2 pkgs. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°, grease 13"x9" baking pan.

Combine muffin mix and melted margarine or butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan and bake 10 minutes. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in peanut butter. Spread mixture over crust. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake 25-30 minutes. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight before serving.

*Note: When I make these again I will use a smaller pan. The 13x9 seemed a little too big.

The VMAs aged me on my 27th Birthday

2010-09-13T10:30:00.000-04:00

Last night I watched the MTV VMAs and boy did it make me feel OLD! I didn't know who half the people were. I had no idea Jared Leto was in a band, let alone a band that would win an award. What's with that Bieber kid in the bedazzled jacket? He looks like he's 10 and teenage girls are wild about him? When I was a teenager I was in love with Nick Lachey from 98 Degrees. He was manly and muscular.......not a pubescent little boy. I just don't get it. As for Lady Gaga, I really do like her music, but that girl is WHACK! I realized that I had never seen any of her videos, so I just watched them on YouTube. Wow. Have you ever watched her videos? Seriously, she has issues. I truly hope that she is not a role model to teenage girls. She makes me feel like an old PRUDE!

The performances were OK. The only ones I really liked were Eminem, Linkin Park (Love them! Great workout music!) and Florence + The Machine, who I had never heard of before. Really amazing performance. B.o.B. and Usher were alright. Drake with Mary J. Blige and Swizz Beats was awful. What was that crap??? Also on the WTF list is Kanye. I don't think I need to explain myself there. You can watch the performances here. Here's Florence + The Machine's performance:

2010 MTV Video Music Awards - More VMA Video

Anywho, yesterday was my 27th birthday. I LOVE my birthday! I still look forward to it every year. I wonder when the excitement will fade? The Hubs had duty, so we celebrated on Saturday. Nothing big, but it was a wonderful day. Hubs came home from work with a bouquet of flowers. We went for a nice family walk to a couple of the playgrounds in our neighborhood and played some HORSE. I even taught the Hubs how to shoot a lay-up. :)

When we got home we had dinner and the Hubs had gotten me a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, so he put some candles in it and he and E-Ray sang to me. E-Ray knew all the words to the birthday song and it totally melted my heart! I asked him what I should wish for and he said, "A toy that we can play with together," so that's what I wished for. :)

Yesterday, my Facebook page was flooded with birthday wishes and my phone rang a few times. I felt very loved! All I wanted for my birthday was a Packer win, and I got it! YAY! I enjoyed watching the game with my little Cheeseheads.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #12

2010-09-10T00:15:00.001-04:00

I always have goals. Right now I'm working on my family tree and my current goal is to go through all of the old census forms I have and transcribe them. I'm also working on getting in better shape by running and playing sports with the Hubs.

2.What would you say to someone dating a military guy or gal?

Hi. :)

3. If you have children, how do you prepare them to move to a new place?

E-Ray was just about to turn 3 the last time we moved. I let him know that we would be moving to a new place that is far away from his friends and Grandma & Grandpa, but that he would make new friends and we could still visit Grandma and Grandpa sometimes, just not as often. It was pretty hard on him. :(

4. Name one hobby that gets you through alone time.

Genealogy!

5. What’s the one food you don’t ever get tired of?

Pasta!

If you have some spare time, be sure to check out Heartwarming Homecomings and share your Heartwarming Homecoming stories!

I've been Tagged! Have you?

2010-09-06T15:17:00.000-04:00

I was tagged by Sespi to answer these questions, so here we go...

1. If you could have any superpower, what would you have? Why?

This one's tough. I think I would like to have the power to heal, no matter what the problem is....an injury, cancer, etc. I would focus my power on sick children.

2. Who is your style icon?

Probably Kelly Rippa. She always looks fabulous.

3. What is your favorite quote?

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Vince Lombardi

4. What is the best compliment you've ever received?

The best compliment ever is when my husband tells me how great I am at taking care of our family. It's my life's work. :)

5. What playlist/cd is in your CD player/iPod right now?

Tom Petty......he's been in there FOR-EVER!

6. Are you a night owl or a morning person?

I loathe mornings. Definitely a night owl.

7. Do you prefer dogs or cats?

I'm a dog person. I've never had a cat. I don't mind them, I just prefer dogs........big dogs. Not cat sized dogs. :)

8. What is the meaning behind your blog name?

It's just a corny Navy saying that stuck with me. I describe what I think it means in reference to my blog on my side bar: When you are a Navy family, everything you do pretty much revolves around the Navy. Every day is a Navy day, and hopefully it is a great one. But, sometimes that just isn't the case.

OK, now I'm supposed to tag 8 people.....um, that's a lot.

Rose @ My Clan

Jaime @ See You About the Decks

Annie @ Live it. Love it (or not). Write about it.

Jill @ A Troop's Girl

Bella N Chief @ A Whole New World

Photina @ One Guy in a House of Girls

Karen @ My Goal is Simple

aaaaaaaand.....I'm stealing Sespi's idea here: I'll leave the 8th spot open. If you follow my blog and want to participate, consider yourself tagged. Happy Labor Day y'all! :)

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #11

2010-09-03T00:10:00.002-04:00

At the end of a Packer game, if a win depends on the outcome of a field goal, I close my eyes and cross my fingers until the play is over.

2. What are your hopes and dreams for the years AFTER the military? After all, we aren’t in it forever!

I plan to be teaching high school science, probably at a high school somewhere in Florida. Not sure what Hubs will do, but I know he will be successful in whatever it is!

3. What is your yummiest apple recipe?

Well, I already used this recipe as an answer to another question a couple weeks ago, but it's the only apple recipe I have and it's AMAZING! Caramel Apple Salad

4. How long have you gone as a military spouse without talking to your husband/wife during service?

I don't know. Do people really keep track of that? Sounds depressing.

5. I occasionally watch When I was 17… on MTV. So, what was something that was significant about your 17th year of life?

When I was 17 I joined the Navy! I'd say that's pretty significant. It has pretty much shaped my life. :)

Tasty Tuesday: HELP! Slow Cooker Recipes!

2010-08-31T08:09:00.000-04:00

I have a crock pot. I bought it about 2 years ago. Guess how many times I've used it....ZERO! So, this Tuesday, it's your turn to share your recipes with me! Anyone out there have any slow cooker recipes they'd like to share so that I can give my poor, lonely slow cooker some attention? What is your favorite source for finding new recipes?

*I should warn you, I'm fairly picky. My main aversions are seafood and mushrooms. Bleck!

Lovely Day

2010-08-27T21:58:00.000-04:00

The Hubs is on duty, so the kids and I made the best of the day. First we went to our favorite park. Lulu had her first ride in a swing, and I think it's safe to say that she liked it....

E-Ray had fun playing follow the leader with some kids he had befriended. It's amazing how easy it is for a 4 year old to make friends in a matter of minutes. All they have to do is be roughly the same size and they're buddies. I'm glad he's not shy.

Next, we had to return some books to the library. I asked E-Ray if he wanted to get any new books. He mentioned that he'd like to get some Super Mario books. Unfortunately, I had to break it to him that the library doesn't have any Super Mario books, to which he responded, "Why do this Earth not have any Mario books?!" He makes a valid point. I'm amazed that there's not a line of Super Mario books. Someone's missing out on some serious cash.

After that, we came home for some lunch and then headed to the pool with the neighbors. This was actually our first time there all summer! Here's an interesting observation; E-Ray's buddy, T, who has never been in swimming lessons, was more comfortable and skilled in the water than E-Ray, who just went to swimming lessons every day for an entire month! I think I want my money back! E-Ray learned more by watching T today than he did that whole month at at the Rec Center! He put his "whole self", as he puts it, under the water, which he had never done before. He held his breath and looked around under water. He retrieved little diving toys from the bottom of the pool, and he jumped in without insisting someone catch him. It was really great! I was SO proud of him!

Check him out for yourself!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #10

2010-08-27T00:30:00.003-04:00

It's time for this week's edition of MilSpouse Friday Fill-In. You can link up over at Wife of a Sailor's Blog if you'd like to participate! Or, if you don't blog, go ahead and answer the questions in the comments section.

1. What secret indulgence do you act on while your spouse is away?
Usually some therapeutic shopping, but that's not much of a secret. Also, not shaving my legs!!!!

2. If you were a spice, what would you be?
Well, the What Spice are You quiz says that I am Basil. "You are quite popular and loved by most people. You have a mild temperament, but your style is definitely distinctive. You are sweet, attractive, and you often smell good." Italian's my favorite food, so I'll roll with it! :)

3. Where do you go for support when your significant other is deployed?
My magnificent mother or my fabulous friends!

4. What is the oldest thing you own?
My Aunt owns an antique shop and she gave me this poster about 10 years ago. It's framed, and I never took it out of the frame, so I'm not sure if it's authentic or a duplicate, but I'd like to think it's authentic. :)

5. How did you vision your future pre-military?
Well, I knew since my sophomore year of high school that I wanted to join the Navy, so this question makes me go way back. Before I decided to join the Navy, my dream was to play college basketball and make it to the WNBA. Talk about unrealistic! While being a professional athlete would be just about the coolest thing ever, I'm completely satisfied with where I ended up. I couldn't be happier!

If you have some spare time, be sure to check out Heartwarming Homecomings and share your Heartwarming Homecoming stories!

Tasty Tuesday: Italian Turkey Meatloaf

2010-08-24T00:27:00.000-04:00

I mentioned on Facebook last week that I make a MEAN meatloaf! It's an Italian Turkey Meatloaf and it is SO moist and delicious. I halved the recipe since we are just 2 adults a four year old and a 10 month old, but the kids both really liked it, so I think I will make the full recipe next time. I like to serve it with green beans, mashed potatoes and garlic bread.

Italian Turkey Meatloaf

2 lbs. ground turkey
1 c. Italian bread crumbs
1/2 c. ketchup
1 c. shredded mozzarella
1 c. diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 c. pasta sauce

Heat oven to 350*. Oil a large loaf pan and set it aside. Combine all of the ingredients except the turkey and pasta sauce in a large mixing bowl. Add the turkey and knead the mixture well. Transfer the mixture to your loaf pan. Bake it for 40 minutes, then remove it from the oven and spread a cup of the pasta sauce over the top. Return to oven and bake until cooked through, approximately 35 more minutes. Let the loaf cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before slicing it and serve it with more pasta sauce if desired.

I want to add that when I made this last week I used Tastefully Simple Onion Onion and Garlic Garlic in place of fresh onion and garlic and it was phenomenal (and less work)! I actually prepared the meatloaf and let the meat soak in all the seasonings overnight in the refrigerator. If you can plan ahead, try it! One of my best friends is a Tastefully Simple consultant, and I am so hooked on their products! ♥

*Recipe adapted from FamilyFun Magazine.

E-Ray's 4 Year Physical

2010-08-23T12:49:00.000-04:00

E-Ray had his back-to-school physical today. They weighed and measured him first.........97th percentile for height and 93rd percentile for weight. Did I mention that Hubs is a giant (6'2) and I'm an Amazon (5'11")? So, it's really no surprise that E-Ray's taller than 97% of the kids his age. Everywhere he goes he's the tallest. I hope he puts that height to good use in sports! :)

He had his first ever eye test, and he claimed that he couldn't see the smaller letters, so I'm going to take him to get his vision checked, just in case. The Hubs and I both had horrible vision before we had laser vision correction, so I would not be the slightest bit surprised if he also had poor vision, but my fingers are crossed.

Ever since I scheduled this appointment I've been so nervous about how he would react to the vaccinations. When Lulu got her shots at 9 months earlier this month E-Ray was in the room and I made sure he paid attention to how brave his sissy was. She only cried for a few seconds. E-Ray was a little nervous going in today. He tried to haggle, "Mommy, I'll let them give me one shot, but that's it!" Well, luckily all he needed was two, so bargaining for one more wasn't too difficult, especially when I told him that when he was done we could use the Toys R Us gift card he received for his birthday to go buy Super Mario Galaxy 2! He received the first shot and whined a little bit, but the second one........that one got him. He screamed and cried, but then he received this sticker, and it made him laugh. All was well with the world once again!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #9

2010-08-20T05:00:00.002-04:00

Stalking the Green Bay Packers.

2. How long do you think you will be a military family?

At least 8 more years. That's when Hubs hits his 20 year mark. I don't imagine he'll stay in any longer than that, at least I hope not.

3. What’s your favorite recipe?

Oh, I have so many and I try to share one each week on Tasty Tuesday, but I tend to fall behind. One of my all time faves is my Caramel Apple Salad. It tastes just like a caramel apple, but it doesn't even contain caramel! It is SO good and everyone always raves about it. (Does anyone have a Tasty Tuesday link up? I'd love to start linking up somewhere!)

4. What would you want your last five words to be when you leave this life?

"I lived a long life" spoken to my children.

5. Where do you hope to retire?

Hubs is from Tampa, so we plan to retire in Florida. In my dream world, we'll have a summer home in Wisconsin and a winter home in Florida. :)

Virginia Beach Consignment Sale

2010-08-17T16:55:00.002-04:00

There is a HUGE consignment sale in Virginia Beach this week. I volunteered at drop off this afternoon and there is already so much stuff there! If you have kids or are expecting, be sure to check it out! It is at the Ascension Catholic Community Center on Princess Anne Rd.. I posted a map below the flyer.

View Larger Map

Fun with your Spouse

2010-08-16T14:21:00.002-04:00

When I was a kid, I lived and breathed basketball. I'm 5'11", and was always the tallest girl in my class, so I really didn't have much of a choice! I went to all sorts of basketball camps and spent a summer on the AAU Wisconsin Gold team.

When I went into the Navy I went up to the gym in A-School and played ball with the guys a few times, but that was the last time I played.......until yesterday! I've been itching to play for a while, and since the Hubs finally had the weekend off of work, we had the time to go shoot some hoops. While warming up, I made all but one of my perimeter shots on the first try, so I was stoked. Momma's still got game! We played in the 95 degree heat and sweat our butts off. We only played to 11, but we were pretty evenly matched, so it took FOREVER! Hubs ended up winning 11-9, but I'll get him next time. :)
Here's a pic E-Ray took of us after the game:

It was SO much fun and a really great work out! It was also FREE! I think we've found our new hobby. He also likes to run, so I've taken up that hobby as well.

I think that having hobbies you can do together is such an important method of bonding and keeping that bond in marriage. What do you and your spouse like to do for fun together (besides the horizontal hokey pokey)?

Family Update

2010-08-15T13:16:00.000-04:00

It's about time for a family update. We've been so busy around here! The Hubs is still working insane hours on the ship, but this weekend they finally got their first break. They had a ship picnic for the crew and families on Friday and yesterday was his first Saturday off in TWO MONTHS! YAY! It was so nice having him home, and he was able to make it to E-Rays final t-ball clinic, so that was nice.

Speaking of E-Ray, he's been a busy little bee. Swimming Lessons at the Rec Center and T-Ball with the YMCA both wrapped up this past week. He went to swimming lessons every week day for an entire month and he made a lot of progress. He can't swim on his own just yet, but he's getting there. When he started, he wouldn't even put his face in the water....

Lulu is just growing much too fast. She is now 10 months old and has 4 teeth. She's so close to walking. The Hubs snapped this picture of her standing unsupported the other day:

She's starting to talk a little bit, too. She's up to 5 words. Here they are in order of when she said them,

1. Dada

2. Mama

3. Chee (Cheese) [That's my little cheesehead!! YAY!]

4. Nana (Banana)

5. Yum

She said Yum yesterday and I actually got it on video!

As for me, I've been focusing most of my free time on my blog and my genealogy, my two favorite hobbies. I added a custom navigation bar and some section headers on the side bar of this blog and I started a genealogy blog to organize my findings and share them with my family. Oh, I've also taken up ~~running~~ jogging! I haven't run at all since I got out of the Navy over four years ago, so I'm definitely a work in progress. I've gone jogging 4 times now, and yesterday was the first time I ran a mile and a half without stopping. I was so proud of myself! I'd like to be able to run at least 3 miles so I can start doing some 5k's. The Hubs is a pretty great runner, so I think it would be fun if we could do 5k's together.

Well, I'm going to see if I can convince the Hubs to go shoot some hoops with me. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #8

2010-08-13T09:16:00.003-04:00

A lot of us don't like to ask for help because we feel like a burden. Don't say, "If you need anything, let me know." It is nice of you to offer your help, and we appreciate it, but if you truly want to support us, as Nike says, Just Do It.

(I should add, for this last deployment I had very amazing neighbors that always supported me without even asking, or waiting for me to ask. I was SO very fortunate and am very thankful for them!)

2. What is your favorite mistake?

When I took a wrong turn and found a cute little puppy on the side of the road. She's been with me for 6 years and has been the best pet a person could ever hope for. (Read more here.)

3. What indulgence could you give up for a year?

Drinking alcohol. I didn't drink the whole time I was pregnant and it didn't bother me one bit.

4. If you could be a winged animal, what would you be?

The kind that doesn't eat worms or fish! :)

I think I'd like to be a parrot. They are so pretty and it would be fun to mock people in parrot talk.

5. What is one question you’d like to see asked in a future MFF?

Who's your celeb crush?

New! Heartwarming Homecomings!

2010-08-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

We all know that the most memorable and special times in our spouse's military career are the homecomings. I'd like to introduce you to Heartwarming Homecomings!

This is something I created that will enable us to link up and share our homecoming photos and stories with each other. Check out the page for more information! You can also join up on Facebook.