A Christmas tag...

I actually did this tag last year, but a lot of people I know have started blogs since then. So I am doing it again. If you have a blog, consider yourself tagged!!

1)egg nog or hot chocolate? Honestly I love both of them. Hot chocolate with marshmallows and/or whipped cream, with a candy cane for stirring. Yum. But I also love my Mom's egg nog and plan to serve it this Christmas.

2)Do you wrap your presents or not? I am not a very good wrapper,and so I tend to go through paper fast. So it depends on if it is a hard gift to wrap and if I have enough paper left.

3)Colored lights or white? Honestly, I love the look of just white. I think it looks so pretty.

4)Do you hang mistletoe? No, I think we do just fine without it!

5)When do you put up your decorations? We do it the day after Thanksgiving. It is usually a guarantee that Ben will be home to help that day. Although this plan has been thrown for a loop some years!

6)What is your favorite holiday dish? Hmm...I love glazed ham. Mashed potatoes and gravy. Is there anything not good about the food at the holidays?!

7)Favorite memory as a child? I have a lot of good memories, the scavenger hunt for our $50, opening stockings was always fun, opening the gifts from Grandma Whitby, going to see the Nutcracker with my sisters, caroling, so many...

8)When and how did you learn about Santa? I am not really sure. I just remember one year when Mom asked me to read stories to my nieces so that they could wrap gifts.

9)Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? yes, the kids get new pj's every Christmas. So I always let them open those, it makes for cute pictures in the morning!

10)How do you decorate your tree? Unbreakable ornaments, dollar store ornaments and ones the kids have made are on the bottom. The rest are just scattered everywhere. I am not particular about how the tree looks. Ecspecially after last year when my favorite ornament was broken!

11)Snow...love it or dread it? I love the snow.It is really pretty. It has been a long time since I had a white Christmas though, and I am not holding out any hope for it this year! :)

12)Can you ice skate? no that would take skill

13)Do you remember your favorite gift? My ipod last year was a good one, the year I found out I was pregnant with Harmony, I remember getting a Lane chest ( about the size of a tissue box) that held Barbie clothes. I still have the chest today. Although Harmony now uses it.

14) What is the most important part of the holidays? Teaching my kids the real meaning of Christmas. "That Christmas doesn't come from a store. But perhaps means a little bit more."

15) Favorite holiday dessert? Fudge. My Grandma's pb fudge. Yum.

16) Favorite tradition? My favorite as a child, was opening stockings on Christmas Eve, trying to stay up late with my brothers. Now my favorite is staying up late with Ben on Christmas Eve, wrapping presents, laughing, crying (and quoting!!) It's a Wonderful Life.

no catchy title today....

Why is this time sooo darn busy?! I mean, we don't even hit the first of December until Saturday, and already I am filling in my calender with so many to-do's and appt.'s it makes my head spin.

This weekend is going to be a busy one and I am sooo hoping that my camera comes. My sister, who has turned into my own private post office, sent it to me as soon as she got it. I have tracked it and so far, I know it has left Honolulu. So yesterday, when I saw the mailman coming up to my house, I was so giddy. And with a big huge box. From Stampin' Up?! I think he could tell I wasn't happy at what package I was recieving.I had expected a package, just not that one. Now normally a box from Stampin' up would make me very happy, but this package wasn't for me. So alas, a very bad mail day.

Speaking of mail days, I can't wait to start getting Christmas cards. I love this time of year. When you get those little expected & unexpected cards and packages. I have so much more to do before I can head to the post office for a big drop off but I am happy to say that...I have a pkg. of wrapped Christmas gifts headed out on Saturday. Oh the excitement of getting something accomplished!

Tonight Harmony is going on a Girl Scout sleepover. She is so very excited because they are doing a book exchange. She took the book that she bought to her room last night, because she wants to finish reading it before I wrap it! So she is leaving me with the boys tonight and we are headed to Home Depot. Good times. I actually have a few things that I want to get there so it's all good.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to another 5k, grocery shopping and then we are all going to go to an awards ceremony for the Girl Scouts and listen to Harmony be the narrator in their skit. So much to do and so little time!

Her leader is going to give me a disk with pictures from some of their activities, including more from their trip on the Houston, so I will be putting those on.

Oh, one matter of business...my phone number is changing. Just my home phone. I have no idea what it is yet, and of course wouldn't post it on here, but I will send it out in an email later on today when I get it. I am excited though because I will have unlimited calls to the states. So be prepared!

don't you hate it when...

don't you hate it when you go to the store, and amongst $20 V-smile games, there is a Toy Story game on clearance for $6 and you snatch it up so fast, a huge smile plastered on your face knowing you got a great deal...and then your husband tells you that your son has a v-smile BABY and that the game is for just v-smiles.

don't you hate it when you go to the library, in desperate need of something new to read. And the librarian tells you that yes they have the new Mary Higgins Clark book ( which by this point can't even be described as new)even though you haven't seen it there once in the 6 months you have lived here. So you try a different author, since you are in that section. You take the book home and think "that cover picture looks kind of familiar" and as you keep going you realize that yes, you have read this book before.

don't you hate it when your 2.5 year old refuses to take a nap? And then won't sleep all night and you squish into his toddler bed with him and coerce him to go back to sleep because frankly a quarter to 4 is not Ivan's wake up time. And then he is crabby all the next day but still won't take a nap!!

don't you hate it when your son keeps getting behavior grams home for talking? And then your husband says, "well he didn't get that from me". Knowing full well where he gets it from, seeing that one of your friends husbands practically hates you because you sat and talked to his wife at the commissary for an hour, while he had to grocery shop by himself.

don't you hate it, that my blog is boring without picture? But my sister has already got the camera in the mail to me. But now I just have to wait. Patience...so not fun.

doin' the impossible...

It all started with the fact that 1) the boy's playstation is not running very well.at.all and 2) the want for the video game Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga. This game, is all of the Star Wars movies put together. Which if you have lego Stars Wars 1 &2 doesn't that mean you have all of them?!Hmmm...anyway, the boys have been wanting this new game, but it doesn't work with their game system. So we decided, that it would be fun to get a Wii, for the kids for Christmas.

So Ben went to the Navy exchange and...there were none there. Ben was told that they were going to get a very limited supply in for Black Friday. 100 only.

So we started looking online. At any online store we could think of. We had seen it advertised for $250, and we were not willing to pay more than that. I started looking around and any that were that price were completely sold out. Oh, we found ones that were selling for 400+. Nope not going to happen. We basically decided to forget about it, and we would wait.

Well on Black Friday, I was awake before the exchange was opening for their sale. I decided, very last minute, that since I was up anyway, I would go down there. The lines were insane. Winding clear around the store.I waited about 20-30 minutes just to get in the line! As I was walking through the store, I kept seeing people with the Wii's in their carts. There was supposed to be a limit of 1 per customer, but I saw people with 2 and 3. Finally I managed to get in the electronics department, and they started opening new boxes of them. I happened to get in the right spot, and was promptly handed the coveted wii.

I was so happy. I couldn't wait to go tell Ben. The kids are going to be so excited when they open it. I think Ben wil have fun playing with it too! Oh what we won't do to make our kids happy!

Gobble 'til you wobble

"Mommy, ugh my tummy feels so fat!"

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

unbelievable!!

From day one, Connor has been his Dad's boy.100%. Maybe it is because of the birthday factor. Maybe it is because Ben is 1000 x's better at Lego's then I am. Maybe it is because Ben is just cool...and so cute. But that is a subject for another day! Anyway, for whatever reason Ben has the #1 spot in Connor's heart. I think I am 2nd!

Well Connor had a Friendship Feast today, where they also were going to have a short program. One big problem, no siblings. Doesn't make it easy on those of us who still have children at home. All of my friends that live near me, also have kindergarteners. So there was no one to watch Ivan, plus the program was supposed to be VERY short. Ben was actually able to make it but Ivan threw us for a loop. I decided that I would just send Ben, and I would stay home with Ivan. As long as there was one parent there, he would be happy.

This morning, I let Connor know that Ben would be going by himself. He looked at me so sad, "and said no I want you to come."I was floored. He NEVER wants me. We talked to him about it a few times and I said, " you will have Daddy all to yourself." No I want Mommy. I was shocked...and secretly, so happy. ( not a secret anymore though...)

I love my little Connor but I know my place in his life. Right behind Ben. :) And I am totally ok with that. They have a close relationship and it is so special. Ben said his feelings weren't hurt because of all the time he spends with Connor.

I think the kids just see it as Mom= food, cuddling, going to school things, etc
Dad=fun, fun, and more fun.

I don't have my new camera yet so I went and bought a little disposable. I will put the pictures up after they get DEVELOPED. Oh it has been a long time since I had to do that. So old fashioned. Anyway, my blog is getting so boring without pictures so here is an old one of Connor!

Military Family

I just found a blog carnival that I decided to participate in. I found it over at An Army Wife's Life. I am not sure how this enclosure link works so...here is the address just in case: http://mollypitcher.blogspot.com

The topic is "Being Part of the Military Family makes me thankful for..."

Until Ben joined the Navy,I had never really known anyone who served in the military. When my brother joined the Coast Guard, I thought "why on earth would he want to do that?" My knowledge of the military...was honestly...embarrasing. I thought all Navy guys were on a ship. All Air Force flew planes. All Army guys were fighting wars.GI Joe style. Marines...I had no idea what they did!! When Ben asked me if I would support him if he joined, I said yes...and life has never been the same.

This life is not for everyone. Sometimes this life is not for me! It can be hard, but there are many rewards to be had. For the 5th year, I am away from my family at Thanksgiving. There will be no going to the church to borrow their oven. Or heading to Thriftway for the forgotten ingredient. There will be no chit chat with my Mom as we work together to put dinner together. We won't be heading to Ben's Grandma afterword. No notebook will be sent around asking what we would each like for Christmas.No black friday ads being perused with my sister in laws. Catching up. Talking, laughing and eating. Not with family anway.

But being here on Guam, I do have family. Those who are here to help when the kids get sick. Who call to make sure that you got the email from the school. To watch your kids while they are at the park. Who listen when you are frustrated with the hours that your husband is working. People who are willing to open their homes to others. So just because I am not with my family, I am part of a bigger family. A military family. I am a Navy wife. And I am thankful.

Thankful for:
**people who defend their country
**people who understand your life & world
** strong wives and mothers
** kids who struggle w/o their active duty parent but rise above
**the yellow magnets declaring " Support our Troops"
** flags waving
** families who sacrifice
** the flag
** life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
** protection, mine and my children
** free health care
**friends that we have left behind
**new places, new stations
** uniforms
**a shoulder to cry on, from someone who has been there
**feelings of patriotism
**my soldier

Christmas countdown...

I think it is the weather. I honestly do. There is no possible way that Thanksgiving is in 2 days. Because the weather outside, is the same as it was in June. And July. And August. A touch more rain, but it hasn't changed. I am not the only one who feels this way either. I was discussing with a friend of mine, our lack of Christmas preparedness, and she agrees with my theory.

By this time of the year, I have usually bought a few gifts, putting the last finishing touches on cards, and planning stockings and other things. And as I realized all that I had done compared to all that I haven't...the list is quite long. And it kind of lit a fire under me. So within the past couple of days I have got off my behind and got a little bit of work done.

Cards:made, adressed, awaiting pictures and stamps. Then they will be put in the mail. yee-haw!

Gifts: sorely lacking!! However, 2 have been ordered, 3 have been wrapped, 2 will be sent from internet sites & are currently being worked on. As for the kids, the boys have a lot done. Mostly because, their father lives vicariously through them, and so has bought many items, that contain the letters l,e,g,o. Harmony has 1 item. Only 1. Adn she is the easiest to shop for!! Ivan has 3. And they were bought today.

Post office runs:only 1 so far. But I got a few boxes & customs forms.

Still a lot to do, but not as much as I did yesterday! I was told that I should have had it all done by Halloween. Yikes. Wish me luck on getting the rest done! :)

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

On Saturday night, Ethan came to me complaining of a sick tummy. It was near bed time so I put him to bed but told him if he still felt sick and couldn't sleep to come and tell me. Well a little while later, here he comes. I stayed up late with him and cuddled on my bed and read stories. He went off to bed and I didn't hear from him for the rest of the night.

Sunday morning, he said that he felt much better. So, we headed off to church. During primary he comes to tell me that he doesn't feel well and thinks he is going to throw up. I teach a class and so Ben said that he would take him home. When the rest of us come home, I find him on my bed, drinking sprite, watching Disney, with his Lego Knights all lined up. He took a nap later but was in a good mood,and was running around with Ivan. I am starting to think that maybe he is faking it.

So this morning, he comes down and heads straight to the couch, telling me that his tummy is still sick and he doesn't feel that he can go to school. I let him lay down and let him know that if he stays home, he will be laying on the couch, no video games, no playing outside,nothing, nada, zilch. Sick boys lay down and rest. He says fine. Well, once Connor hears that Ethan is staying home, he tells me he doesn't feel well. His exact words are, " I don't feel well. My heart has stopped beeping." However, he runs round all morning. I tell him ok, you are headed to school, but if you really are sick you can always call me and I can come and get you.

Well this morning was a busy one, and the phone rang about 10 times. The last call was Ms. Grey, calling to tell me that Connor had been feeling ill all morning and could I come and get him. So I think, ok maybe Connor isn't faking. We go to get him, and come home. As soon as he is home, he is asking for hot pockets and chips, to play playstation etc. I told him the exact same rules that I told Ethan. By this time I am frustrated with them because I think they are pretty much lying. I told them, that if they are really sick, then Mommy has no problem taking care of them. But if they are telling a fib, Mommy is very dissapointed that they would lie to me.

Well...after lunch, I sent them off for naps. Yep. A nap. I told them that sick boys need rest. They have totally crashed and have slept the whole afternoon. My boys, don't take naps anymore. It is VERY hard to get them to take a nap. So where does this leave me? I have no idea. I don't know if they are actually sick, or just really good fakers!!

an update

My weight loss blog has been updated. Won't go into details here, since you can just read it over there. There is a link on my side bar. :)

bathroom re-do

I read a lot of blogs. And I have a whole little folder just for organizing/home blogs. I am a dork, I already know it!! But I was reading one and she was talking about your "guest" bathroom. She describes it as the bathroom closest to the living room area, or the one someone would use if they were at your home. Soooo...mine has been looking pretty sad. The kid's bathroom is cute. I found some cute bathroom decor at the K-Mart here ( that is saying a lot-BELIEVE ME!) and it was a great price. The one in the master is...well functional. Not cute. But since it is in the master bedroom, not many visitors use it. Plus I don't think Ben really cares about a "cute" bathroom.

Moving onto the downstairs...this bathroom has the ugliest green tile.Obviously there is nothing I can do about that. But while I was at the store, I went into their bathroom section and started looking and getting ideas. The one I really liked was called the "Annapolis collection". So cute...so stinkin' expensive. I believe it was Tommy Hillfiger. It was all red, white and blue. I am an All American what can I say? So I started thinking about what I have at home and how I could incorporate the same idea. So I bought a couple of hand towels and a rug, and a red air freshner and with a few little touches from around my house, I now have a cute bathroom. I am excited.

I didn't inherit a decorating gene. But recently I have been to a couple of friend's homes who are just CUTE. And I want my home to be cute. So one room done. I have a cute bathroom. So if you ever want to come and use my guest bathroom, you can!!

**And of course there are no actual pictures of it because of the camera incident, so if you want to see it...you are going to HAVE to come and use it! LOL

If it weren't for bad luck...

than I wouldn't have any luck at all! At least with cameras that is. I ruined yet another digital camera. Yep. Can you believe it? And it is my fault so it is not like I can get a replacement one. I guess it got a little too much sun & sand at our fall festival yesterday. I am so bummed!!! If there is one thing I know about myself though, it is that I refuse to go without a camera. I found a great deal online, and so hopefully will have a camera in hand soon! This time I will make sure to bring my camera bag when I go to the beach. Grrr!

Anyway, yesterday our spouse club put on a fall festival for all the families in our command. I am not going to go in who all that entails! Anyway, this event has caused me a lot of stress lately and I have to say I AM SO GLAD IT IS OVER! It was fun. I had a good time, there are so many good, nice people here. But I am so glad that I don't have to stress out about it anymore. I was up at 6:30 yesterday and Ben at 7:30, trying to get things taken care of for this. By the time we got home, we were dead tired.

I got some cute pics of the kids and some nice scenery shots before my camera died. Enjoy!

Smart Habit Saturday

Blech! This morning I woke up with a little bit of everything...a sore throat and runny nose ( the throat really isn't too bad-just annoying), a stomach ache and a headache. I woke up early to take my shower and got right out and got back into bed!! I honestly think that all the busy-ness of this week has just finally caught up with me. I decided to stay home from church, Ivan is with me, and now I am feeling a little better. I hate that.

Anyway, life has been so crazy lately. I have a fall festival tomorrow and then hopefully, I can get things to calm down...a little. I have been having some major problems keeping my house clean. What else is new?! But there is this one little problem that is making it even harder. I stay up late...and Ivan has been getting up at 6. I hardly ever hear him and I usually come down to find him on the kitchen counter getting into something. Rarely is he sitting quietly in the corner playing nicely.

So I have decided that I need to go to bed earlier & get up earlier. And then...if possible, to take a nap during the day. That way when Ben gets home, I am actually awake and can spend quality time with him. So I have a few things that I want to do this week, that hopefully will become habits. I honestly forgot what my goals were the last time, so lets just start new, shall we?

**drink 64 oz of water daily
** go to bed by 10
** up by 5 ( so I can get a few things done before Ivan wakes up)
** clean kitchen nightly
** log reciepts daily
**write out and follow through on a morning routine

I'll let you know how I do next week. If you are interested in participating head on over to www.thelazyorganizer.blogspot.com!

the seasons

"Mom is it really fall?" I hear this question all the time!! The kids are so confused about what season it actually is.

It is 90 degrees every day, the humidity is high, they wear shorts every single day, and crocs, they can go swimming every day, there are palm trees, Mom keeps making things like potato salad, key lime pies, and Dad is outside grilling...a lot.

It is kind of hard to get excited about the holidays when it doesn't even feel like fall. I keep thinking that I have plenty of time and then am shocked that Thanksgiving is not very far away!

Yesterday, the morning was really grey and so for a little while I could almost pretend that it was an actual fall day...as long as I stayed in the a/c. I would love to wear jeans and a nice long sleeved shirt...but that is not happening! So in order to add a little more color, I bought a table cloth in nice fall colors, and am going to break out the Thanksgiving decorations today. I have very few of them but...

Ivan the terrible

This week has been *huge shocker* another busy one!! Hardly ever home. And sometimes I think Ivan thinks to himself, " I am going to make my Mom pay for messing with my schedule". Honestly. The kid has been a serious monster lately!!

He has learned how to run the bathwater. Except he hasn't figured out that you have to push the little thing up to keep the water in the tub. So he just runs the water,and dumps a whole bottle of body wash in, so that" want bubbles Mommy". I have had to buy more body wash here than I have in the past year!!

He just has tons of fun in the bathroom apparently because, he keeps going in, turning on the faucet and then flushing the toilet.

Halloween candy is still in abundance around here. So I put it in the highest cabinet possible. Stops the older kids...not Ivan. He merely climbs on to the counter,and gets out whatever he wants. This morning, Ben and I were still in bed when he woke up. So he came and CLOSED our door, proceeded to go downstairs and get into it. It is now in the cupboard above the sink b/c he won't climb into the sink...I don't think anyway!

While I was upstairs, cleaning HIS room, he came down, climbed back onto the counter and got out a container of mini choc. chips and dumped them out on the carpet. I made him get the little vacum and clean it up. That was fun though and now he always wants to.."cum".

This kid is exaughsting!!!

Tackle it Tuesday

I have been so busy lately that I have let so many things go. Including the little things. So I decided that although it is a litle one, it was one that I needed to get done. My entertainment center.

Awhile ago, I decided that all of our dvd's were starting to take up too much room. That and the fact that I would find Toy Story in the Scooby Doo case and Scooby Doo in the Over the Hedge case, etc. So I spent an evening throwing all the cases away and moving the dvd's to the zippered cd cases.

Well it worked for awhile but...instead of the movies being put away, they sit in stacks.I tried to get a picture of one. Well this just resulted in ruined dvd's. Finger prints, and other things. So if there is anything I learned from that experience was that sort of storage didn't work for me. So last night I went to the store and got some cases. I filled the cases and have extras. Plus I am just going to start keeping cases from any new movies I buy.

Then I cleared off the toys, put all the video game stuff in a basket,hiding it behind a picture. Dusted and...done. Something small but I like looking at that nice cleared spot!!

Can it be?

That I have gone a whole week without blogging?Is that even possible?! This week has been completely crazy! I have been trying to keep up with it all and apparently dropped the ball on a few things. What can I say? I am not perfect!!

So like I said, it has been a busy week. What have we been up too? Here is the rundown...

Monday:back to school. Connor had snacks. I had planned to make Halloween cupcakes. But my neighbor said she didn't think that the snack could be homemade. So I dragged Ivan down to the commissary for 22 cupcakes, juiceboxes and a cookie for Ivan once he found out that he wasn't getting a cupcake. Hurried to the school, only to find the gate by the k's lot, locked. So I am hauling Ivan, 22 juice boxes, 22 waterbottles and 22 cupcakes up to Connor's class. I saw my neighbor ( the same one who told me about the cupcakes) whose son had to go to the er. So I babysat her other son after school. LOOONG day!

Tuesday: a fairly normal day.Until I got a most dreaded phone call. From someone, who I won't even mention their name. From that phone call on, I flinched every time the phone rang. I was answering emails and phone calls for the rest of the day. Dealing with a situation that did not need this much attention. Ended up throwing the kids in the van as soon as they got home, to go take care of this situation...again. Because Ben had to come with me to deal with this,he had to work later. We hit Wendy's for dinner. Did I mention that Wendy's is about a half an hour away? And Ethan got sick on the way home...

Wednesday: I think you can pretty much guess. Ethan came home from school with 4 goody bags. On Halloween. How much sugar does one kid need in one day? Why didn't the parents provide a toothbrush & tooth paste in those goody bags? The kids were so excited to go trick or treating. In our housing, trick or treating lasts from 6-9. By a quarter till, all the kids were hanging out on the lawn just waiting! We gave our candy bowl to a neighbor girl to hand out, and we all went together. Ivan just sat in the wagon, and people would just come up to him and say " oh aren't you cute, here is some candy" he didn't even have to say trick or treat. By the end of the night, I had the kids in the bath and told them that they would be going to school in the morning!

Thursday: Our spouse club, decorates the grave of a boy, whose family used to serve in our command. So Thursday was busy, running around getting the flowers, dropping Ivan off with Ben, wandering around the cemetary looking for the grave ( because go me, forgot the map). Never found it. Headed up to a stampin' up party,and had to leave early :( to go pick up Ivan. Figured out where the grave was, through the kids in the van, and went and dropped the flowers off. Phew,so glad I finally found it!

Friday: there was no school on friday. So I usedthat as a day to cook, clean and organize. It was so nice to have a day at home. I didn't let the kids stay up late ( I usually let them stay up a little later on Fridays) and stayed up reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Again.

Saturday: yard saling with Harmony, grocery shopping, cleaning, a teeny tiny nap, swimming, making enchiladas with Connor. Sending kids off to bed early.

And there we have it. Only now have I realized the importance of Sunday as being a day of rest!

I will try to do much better this week but let me tell you...this week is a doozy too!!