pure bliss

Yesterday it was pouring down rain. Wet, grey and dreary. Ivan was down for his nap. The house was quiet. A whole long list of to-do's running through my mind. So many options, and what did I do? I crawled in my bed and slept for 2 hours. It was blissful. That is definatley one of the benefits of being at home!

Ethan's turn...

Ethan totally had me cracking up yesterday. So I guess it is only fair that we do some ethanisms! Last night I made this dessert, that has angel food cake, pudding, cool whip and butterfingers. Ethan is a sweet boy and generally eats anything I make, but with desserts he has a one track mind...ice cream. So I had him try it and he says...

" Mom this is ACTUALLY good!" ( gee thanks Ethan!)

" What is this cake called?" " It is called angel food cake." " Well Mom you need to thank those angels for this cake!"

" You know, we should really eat this more often!"

I always love the comments that the kids make about food I make. Always makes me feel so good! Yeah right!!

Connorisms

It is not often that I get really good one on one time with the kids. Yesterday Connor got sent to time out shortly after he got home from school...and he fell asleep while there. For almost 2 hours. Needless to say, when it was time for bed, only 2 hours later, he wasn't very sleepy. So he got to lay on my bed until the other boys fell asleep. He was so cute and talkative. These are just some of the things he said...

" Mom you know how you make us put our clothes away? I wish that it would go back to just you doing it."

"Ethan keeps calling me mean names. He called me connor connor pumpkin eater!"

" I want this size of bed. ( a queen) and just Ivan and Ethan can share the bunk beds."

" Maybe Daddy can have my bunk bed and I will just sleep in here."

" I wish that Daddy would finally let me get all the Indiana Jones dvds. You know it is on lego.com too!"

"Andie is in love with me at school. But Emma ( Andie's twin sister) said a bad word about boys...that she HATES them!"

" I don't know very much about girls."

"Mom, I don't really like your chili. I just don't like the bean part."

THAT Mom

This morning was not a good one. It started with yet another power outtage, at around 5:15. Once the air conditioner & fans go off the kids wake up because they get hot. So the kids were all up bright and early...and in my bed!! So not knowing what time it is, we didn't start getting ready for school until 7! Then I turned into that Mom. One who is grumpy, yelling, impatient and more. Trying to get lunches made, and unable to find any lunch bags. Harmony deciding to play Barbies instead of getting her shoes on. Connor not following the " no toys at the table" rule. Ethan lying about bringing his lunch bag home, Ivan just causing trouble in general. So not a good morning. Harmony felt like I was picking on her the most.
" Just because I am the oldest." So my frustration is rising, and I ask Harmony where her lunch bag is. She says she left it at school and I am annoyed. It is a pet peeve of mine. I send her off with a paper lunch sack that says" bring your lunch bag home or suffer the consequences" and an I love you. So I start to clean the kitchen and what do I find? Her lunch bag. On the counter with the load of dishes that I didn't get done. I HATE it when that happens. Now I owe her when she gets home...

World Thinking Day

Girl Scouts is very big out here. And they have done a lot of fun stuff. Today we headed out to the University of Guam for World Thinking Day. Each troop represented a different country and had to learn all about their country. Harm's troop had Fiji. They got to walk around to all the different booths and learn about the different countries. You paid a nickel to sample food and then all the money was donated. It was fun. Harmony also did a dance that I will add the video on later. Here are some pics though...

and yet...some more of our busy week

So where did I leave off? Oh yes, Ben's birthday. So the next day, we had a busy day. I only had the kids go to school for a couple of hours so that Ben and his Dad could go snorkeling. I ran around getting doughnut holes for C's birthday snack and trying to get a couple of things done in the house.

We picked the kids up, and then opened Connor's presents. Poor kid. Opened his presents and than just had to leave them. We headed to McD's first and than headed for the beach.

We first stopped at Asan Park. We just walked along and took some great scenic photos. Ivan also escaped from his stroller and ran around, which was good as he got some of his energy out! We stayed their for awile. It was funny b/c Harm and Ethan and I, started looking for shells. We found some really nice ones too. They started talking about burying some treasure. Harmony said I am going to mark mine with an X. Ethan chimed in with " I am going to makr mine with a Y so no one goes and looks for it!" Sooo funny!

Next we headed to Two Lovers Point. There is a legend about two lovers who plunged to their death there. I won't expand on the legend here but...a lot of people get married there now. At the top there were luggage tags hung on the fence. They were all covered in couple's names. It was pretty high up there but it was a nice view.

After that we headed down to the Chamarro Village.I think that is a must see for every visitor to Guam. We walked around the shops, bought some wood windchimes, necklaces for Harm and I and a few other things. We also got yummy shakes and smoothies. Also, we bought dinner...red rice, bbq'd pork and chicken. The prices are way cheap and we are still munching on leftovers.

We had a really fun ( all be it TIRING) week. It was fun playing tourist. We have decided to go to a new tourist spot once a month so that we can see everything.

update

my homemaking blog has been updated. I didn't get a chance with Ben's parents here but it will be updated from now on. :) There is a link on my side bar. Martha-wannabe.

more from our busy week

I am not very good at surprises. I usually spill the beans way before my actual surprise occurs. And honestly, Ben is really good at guessing things like that. However...for the first time in my life, I finally pulled off a surprise. Nothing big but still...

For Ben's birthday I decided to fill his office with black balloons and Over the Hill decorations. Because party stores here leave a lot to be desired, I really was only left with black streamers and black balloons. I ordered a sheet cake to be had at a fundraiser lunch we do once a month. So on Monday, I picked up the cake, brought it to my friend ( so she could hide it for me). Later I dropped Harmony and Christy off at Girl scouts and headed back to blow up balloons. In total I bought 100 but some popped. I had a lot of help in pulling this off ( thanks everybody!!). I got Ben to go down to his office, with his parents while I helped set up the lunch and bring his cake in.

Ben is soooo not into birthdays, or having attention brought on him, but he handled my little surprise well.

Apparently, that morning they were using his office that morning as a drop off place for a urinalysis ( nice huh? Just what everybody wants going on in their office...) and someone walked in and saw all the balloons before Ben did. Luckily he didn't call him or anything!

a busy, busy week

The Turners left bright and early this morning, and with that, our busy week will hoopefully be slowing down. Back to our normal life, back to our normal routine.I love normal.I love routines. We really enjoyed their visit and there was so much going on while they were here. So consider yourself warned. First things first...

On Saturday we had Connor's birthday party. We figured that Connor would not always have a chance to have a pool party on his birthday so we went down to the pool on base for his party. He had insisted on a baseball cake but once he started looking at the book...he went with Star Wars. We bbq'd hot dogs, swam, open gifts and just played. He got some fun gifts and was anxious to get home and play!

Later that night, we decided to go to Planet Hollywood for Connor's birthday. The kids were pretty worn out but we ate and than went to a gift shop close by. Christy had souveniers that she wanted to buy so we walked around there.I wanted to get some picture of downtown Tumon ( the tourist-y area) but while pushing Ivan they weren't that great. But that's ok...

Wordless Wednesday

How my kids kill time at K-Mart...

thirty reasons...

that I love my thirty year old!!

1) sooo hot
2) hard working
3)kind
4) merciful to me and others
5) always wants to help people
6) intelligent
7) his talent for woodworking
8) he is a good cook
9) he is a wonderful father
10) he indulges me
11) he can fix anything
12) he plays baseball with the boys
13) he takes Harmony out for snorkeling
14)supportive in the things I want to do
15)because he likes to have fun
16) because he can take a joke
17)because he makes me laugh
18)he buys Lego's for the boys so that he can play
19)because he understands how Harmony feels ( being the oldest & only girl)and can talk toher about it
20)because he takes his priesthood responsibilites seriously
21)because he calls when he will be late
22)because he looks so cute when he falls asleep with one of the kids
23)he is patient with me
24) he is stubborn 9( I only love that up to a point!)
25) he wants what is best for me, even if it isn't what he would want
26) he knows how important family is
27) he spoils me
28) he cuddles in bed when he gets cold,because I always have the a/c and the fan on
29) he lets me keep the temp.in the house where I want it
30) he loves me

Happy Birthday Honey! I now have officially known you more than half your life! Love you tons!

more Falls pictures

Talafofo Falls

So after a slow start yesterday, we did finally get up to Talafofo Falls. We took a longer route to try and keep Ethan from getting sick. He is the absoolute worst when it comes to getting car sick. There were tons of places that we drove past that I would love to go back and get some photos of. Anyway...

We got there and the first guest to welcome us was this huge pig. Apparently he eats anything because Ben dropped a reciept and the pig snatched it up and ate it!!

Living in the gorge, I have never had to pay to see waterfalls. But after a military discount and being charged as locals instead of tourists, it wasn't as much as we thought. Although still a lot for just looking at a waterfall. Know what I mean?

We went down the cable car ( which Harm was totally freaked out about BUT did great!) and then walked around the falls. It was really beautiful and we got some fabulous pictures. We walked back up on a suspension bridge( that once again freaked harm out but not the boys) and then viewed some more of the falls. Once we got up there we walked around in the water. You weren't actually supposed to swim, but thanks to a lot of slick algae on the rocks, I being so graceful, slipped and fell. And brought Ivan down with me.We did make it out unhurt though. After the ducks were loaded up on goldfish crackers,we decided to head home. We had intended to hit the beach but the kids were exaughsted and so was I.

languages

Ethan is getting really good at speaking Spanish. He loves his culture class (about Guam and learning Chamarro) but he also loves to learn spanish. He is constantly surprising me so well he can speak it. So we were driving and I asked Ethan if he had learned how to roll his r's yet when he replied..."no but I can roll my eyes." So funny!

a busy blogger

We have been really busy this week. First we were preparing for the Turners to come (Ben's parents) and now we are busy trying to keep them entertained! They arrived on Wednesday night and the kids have talked their ear off non-stop since they landed! :)

Because yesterday was full of Valentines parties and bake sales etc. I sent the kids to school. Today however, we are going to go and play "tourist." I am excited to see some of the sites on Guam that we haven't made it to yet. I will post pictures later today.

Last night was sooo nice. We actually got to go out on Valentines day! That hasn't happened for a long time. We went with two other couples and had a blast. Watching "Over Her Dead Body" which I thought was cute. Predictable but cute. Then we went to a bookstore and then onto LoneStar for dinner. Just a fun night of laughing and talking. Until one of the husbands scared me to death! ( I am going to kill Kory for that Tiff!)seriously a fun night.

I have to go and clear my memory card. I will try and keep posting while the Turners are here but no guarantees on that one! :)

soo excited...

Can not wait for this...

( a bit choppy but...)

A fairy tale?!

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, (somewhere near Guam) there was a girl. This girl was smart, beautiful, interesting, sweet, artistic and more. Unfortunately for her, she lived in a perpetual state of “ that is soooo unfair!” Her life was very rough. She is expected to do her homework before playing on the lap top. She is not allowed to do said homework on her Mom’s bed while watching Zack and Cody. She is expected to help her brothers straighten up the living room. And when she throws a fit about it, her mean mom sends her to her room. Speaking of rooms, he poor girl has her own room. “ But that is not fair, I don’t have two people cleaning my room! “ she cries. Her “meanest Mom ever” makes her use he own money to buy a travel size packet of strawberry scented tissues! Life is never fair. The poor, poor girl. There is always so much expected of her.

How will this story end? Only time will tell…hopefully the meanest Mom ever will have lived to tell it!

snip snip

Harmony has been growing her hair out forever. She had intended to wait until it was long enough to send to Locks of Love. Well...it was starting to cause us some problems. It was getting really tangly, hard to brush out, she didn't want to sit still etc. I finally told her she was going to get a hair cut. I am mean I know. But it was just as much of a hassle for me as it was for her. I said at the least she had to get it shoulder length. After that it was up to her.

Last Friday my friend Tiffany came and did it. And Harmony loves it! I keep finding her checking herself out in the mirror! :)It's cute.Plus it has hardly taken any time at all to do in the mornings. I don't know if she will ever grow it out again but for now we are happy.

I forgot to take a before picture but I did snap a good one of when she was working on her science project the week before. So you can see how much was cut off!

a new blog

..in addition to this one. I know how many blogs does a girl need? Anyway this is a homemaking blog. If you are interested you can go to MarthaWannabe Just a place to do all my home challenges!

Hmmm...

I took this quiz that my sister had on her blog...
Find out Which Lost Character Are You at LiquidGeneration.com!

What do you think?

baseball fever

Is baseball still America's favorite pasttime? Well, even if it isn't, it is sure getting popular around this house. Ben has always wanted the boys to play baseball, however, they never showed any real interest. The mitt he bought was slowly gathering dust. Then all of a sudden, they wanted to play. So Ben decided that the best way to do that was to teach them to play catch first.

They did pretty well and have been talking about it ever since. Every day before Ben gets home they say, " Mom make sure to remind Daddy that we have to play baseball when he gets home."

Unfortunatley, Ethan took a ball to the face. Which is why Ben reminded me that, " you start out with tennis balls because they don't hurt as bad."

ageless

Last night, there was a knock on our door. Connor and I went to open it and there was a guard standing outside. He looked at both of us and then said, " are your parents home?" I said "uhm yeah I am the parent." To which he replies, " oh I am sorry Ma'am." I told him " you don't have to be sorry about that!"

Unfortunatley we couldn't help him but he has now earned a spot as one of my favorite guards! :)

MPM

Part of my attempt to be a better homemaker, I realized that one of the things that I really needed to work on, was my meal plans. Sometimes our meals are so sporatic. One day I want to make a full course dinner, the next it is mac and cheese. So I want to have it all planned...even if it is mac and cheese! If you want to check out Laura's site and get some ideas you can go here

Monday: ( Happy Birthday Ivan!!)
B: eggs and ham
D: turkey burgers and hot dogs, tater tots, fruit and birthday cake

Tuesday:(Ben & Harm gone)
B: pancakes
D:chili pie casserole, carrots,

Wednesday:
B:cereal
D:pork loin, rice, vegi's and rolls

Thursday:
B: muffins
D:spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

Friday:(date night)
B: leftover pancakes and muffins
D:leftovers

Saturday:(from now on every Sat will be pizza night!)
B: cinnamon rolls
D:pizza

Sunday:
B: kids pick
D: crockpot roast, carrots and potatoes, rolls

Happy Birthday Ivan!!

I must have blinked, because how could three years go by so darn fast?! When the kids were younger, I wondered if I would ever get out of the diaper/bottle stage. And then the next thing I knew, it was over. And when Ivan was born, I was suddenly thrown back into it. And now he is three. My BABY is three. Somedays I wish I could just bottle the littleness up and keep him forever. Others I can't wait to see the little boy and than man he will turn into. Awww...just feeling so sentimental!

patience is a virtue...

...that 3 year old boys just don't have. ( Most adults don't have either so...) We had decided to celebrate Ivan's birthday around three, when the kids got home from school. Ben has the day off today, for Super Bowl Monday ( yep it's Monday over here). I decided to give Ivan one gift though, so that he would have something new to play with during the day. Unfortunatley, he saw the big birthday bag. He stared longlingly at it and then waited for me to leave the room. I went upstairs to gather laundry and came down to find him digging into his gifts. The big gift he left in the bag but...

I have to go and pick up his cake later. I wasn't going to get him one, just make cupcakes or something. But then, he started talking about having a Buzz birthday cake. I don't know how/wh en he realized he could get a cake with Buzz on it but...I took him to the commissary to order it but he changed his mind when he saw the Thomas cake. He cried and cried when he realized he couldn't take the cake home with him yet!


A funny story about the bag that Ivan is trying to dig into....I have always been one to keep bags. Always. Just saves me having to wrap later! Well this bag ( does it look familiar Mom?)has been at our house since Ethan's 1st birthday! Mom had gone shopping for his birthday and just put all the gifts in that bag. Well, we started using it the same way. Ecspecially when the kids were still small and couldn't get wrapping paper open. And we still use it today. How much longer do you think that bag will last?