Saturday, October 31, 2009

Our first last

(The graveyard cake...what do you think?

(Ivan won the cupcake walk, and chose one that he and I made! Awww)

(as soon as Ben heard "family picture" he was out of there! Stinker. He said he didn't hear me say it, and just went out to get the trunk ready. Hmmmm...)

( Harmony went as Marie Arnold. Don't know who that is? It is the main character in the book she is writing!!)

( the older kids hamming it up)

(Expecto Patronum!!)

(One of our Indy's. Connor was also Indiana Jones)


(arrrgh! Hanging out in the carrier. I bought this for $1 at a yard sale and I have to say it was worth every penny!)

( me with some friends at the trunk or treat)

With just a little over six months left on our sentence...I mean time left on Guam, we are starting to experience some lasts.

As we walked around housing for 2 hours last night, dripping sweat in the 80+ degree weather, trick or treating, we thought about the fact that this is our last Halloween on Guam! It was the first of many lasts that we will be experiencing. It is amazing how fast time really does fly!

Friday night was a busy day. I sent the kids off to school with an orange & black lunch (mac & cheese, oranges, orange juice, purple grapes and oreos) with Halloween stickers and jokes. I also placed a spider ring in their mac & cheese. They told me that their friends were fooled...but not them!

After picking up Ivan,I spent the day baking. I made a graveyard cake as a treat for the trunk or treat. I wasn't very happy with how it turned out but Ben told me to "let it go, it's not important". I am not sure if I agree or not. But, it doesn't matter anyway because it was devoured 48 hours ago!! I will try again next year and see what happens!

The kids had fun doing their usual thing. Playing games, making crafts, eating way too much sugar etc.

Saturday we went around housing and filled buckets. Mason was in his carrier and so we forgot the stroller! By the end of the night, I was carrying Mason, 2 Indiana Jones hats, 1 "leather" jacket, and 3 treat bags. Ben was carrying Ivan.

As the kids complained about the heat, and how far they had to walk, I just laughed! Our kids have it made. In White Salmon, homes were not that close! We had to walk a lot farther than up and down a few streets! I told them they would not have cut it as trick or treaters "way back then".

And of course, they were all up at the crack of dawn, counting, sorting and trading their candy. Let the teeth rotting begin!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Let the Haunting begin...

( his class all lined up)

(with his teachers)

(Holding a "bubble" in his mouth. The teachers do this when they want the class to be quiet. Ivan held his bubble the ENTIRE time!)

(walking in the parade)

I have quite a few friends who are big Halloween fans. Me...not so much. But the kids, of course, love it. How can we not share in their enthusiasm right? So far, the Halloween costumes have been sitting on top of the freezer just calling to them. But I haven't let them play with them. We paid a pretty penny for a couple of them and I do not want them getting ruined!!

The older kids have been having Red Ribbon week. They have enjoyed wearing their clothes inside out, wearing ties and today they are sporting their pj's. I swear they have never been ready for school so fast! I wish every day was pj day!

Ivan however got to have a character parade. My original idea was for him to dress up as a pirate and be from the book, "Pirates Don't Change Diapers". Mason is going to be a pirate this year so I thought it would be cute. Ivan said, "no pirrrrrrrrrrrrates!" to that idea. So he wore Ethan's Harry Potter costume.

With Ivan, change is never easy. Even if it is something fun. Our morning went like this...
" Why do I have to wear a costume?"
"What is a parade? Where do I walk to it?"
"Why does Harry have a scar?
"Why is it shaped like that?"
"Do you have to wear your rain coat on a costume?" (He just got his new rain coat on Saturday and has been wearing it every day since then)
"Ms. Adams said there is no snack in the parade."
"How come we are doing this?"
"Can you wash this scar off? I don't like this."

On and on it went. By the time we got to school, his frustration level had risen. He wasn't happy. He hid his scar, hid behind me. No eye contact. Finally after a little convincing he put his costume on and was a happy little wizard. I love the pictures, he looks so cute.

Honestly, if he didn't want to wear it, I wouldn't have pushed him. But I am glad that he decided to just go with the flow! Fun times. He is now eating a ghost shaped sandwich. (:

Tomorrow he has snack so we are making fun Halloween snack bags. We also have our trunk or treat tomorrow. I will be busy baking and decorating but looking forward to it!

Monday, October 26, 2009

To do List

Found these today and laughed until I cried! (: Enjoy!





Sunday, October 18, 2009

a sick day

( my favorite 4 year old!!)

( I have rotated this picture about a million times and it just doesn't want to go the way it is supposed too. Sorry! Ivan has decided that he doesn't want to get pictures taken anymore!)

(avoiding the mamarozzi)

(big brother kisses)

( Cute little boys in red)
Yesterday, Ivan started coughing. He was grumpy. This morning his little body was all warm, he still had a cough and very dramatically kept pointing to his throat saying, " that hurts". So it is official...he has his first cold of the season.

Mason came home from church yesterday and went to bed at 5pm. We have that lovely 1-4 church schedule right now! Anyway, he went down and I decided to just let him sleep. Unfortunatley, he didn't sleep as long as I hoped. Isn't that the way it always works? We were up at midnight, back to bed at two and than up at six. This Mama is a little tired!!

So we are taking a sick day. The house is so quiet and peaceful. So I thought I would take the chance to update my blog. Unfortunatley...there is not much to update! We have just had our normal busy-ness! But here you go anyway!

Harmony is a busy girl enjoying Girl Scouts and Achievement Days with church. Unfortunatley they both fall on the same night. So every other week she is missing Girl Scouts. But it works right? She is struggling a little in school with her lack of organization. We are working on it. She is growing up so fast.

Ethan is turning into such a BOY! He was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and felt the need to watch the "melting face part" over and over. He has been playing outside a lot lately! He even used his own money to buy a jump rope from the PTO. He is also becoming a really good reader.

Connor is our sneaky little boy! He lost his DS, 4 out of 5 (seriously!!) lego bins and more. Hopefully his behavior will improve soon and he can have some things to play with! He is a sweetheart though. He loves to make Mason smile and laugh. He is drawing constantly and is doing such a good job on his art.

Ivan has been driving his Mom crazy with just three words..."why?" and "how come?" He is constantly asking me why! He has been doing well in school lately. He is so proud when he comes home with a green bear in his folder. He really likes his teachers. Primary is still a work in progress though!

Mason got off his schedule...and I really hope we can make it back!But in the meantime he loves to delight us all with his sweet smiles and laughs. He is actually playing with his gym so it is nice to have a few minutes to get things done.

Ben and I are busy. Always busy. It seems like that is just the way it goes! Ben was just called to be in Cub Scouts and so he and I will be working on that together. Otherwise I am trying to get some ideas flowing for the holidays.

So like I said...not much going on. But at least you know we didn't fall off the planet! (:

Sunday, October 11, 2009

oh for the cute

(Do you love those chubby legs? What you can't see are his rolls!)

(he likes that monkey!)

(love, love, love baby feet)

( Don't you just want to pinch those little cheeks?!)

( His cute little "island" shirt that he got from Grandma Turner)

Although it is hard to believe, Mason is already 3 months old!! Where did the time go?

We are feeling very frustrated, because thanks to the wonderful people who work at Guam Naval hospital, Mason is still not on our inusrance. Otherwise known as Tri-Care. They had him entered as "Baby Boy" instead of Mason. So we had to show them something with his actual name on it. I went and got his Guam birth certificate but we still have to go back.

So unfortunatley, he is STILL not on our insurance and STILL has not gone to the doctor. However, he is such a little chunky monkey that we know he is feeding just fine!

We had him blessed last weekend. Mason was the first baby to be blessed in the Dededo Branch. How cool is that?

He is able to roll over from tummy to back...if he gets mad enough! He has also been blessing us with sweet, gummy baby smiles...of course not for the camera though! I wish he would but I have yet to capture it.

He is a fabulous sleeper and has been sleeping through the night since he was about six weeks old. He spends his time, sleeping, playing on his baby gym, being entertained by his siblings or eating. He is staying up for longer periods of time. All we can say is he is the cutest little thing and we love him to death! (:

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

my rambling thoughts

So I am not sure this is where I want to post this. Sometimes, no offense loved ones, you just "don't want to hear it". You have your excuses and you don't want anybody else to bug you about it. LOL But once again, I have to remind myself that this is MY blog. MY place to write down MY thoughts. Whether you agree or not.

Now with that opening you all think I am going off the deep end right? Not quite...

Once again it is about my "weighty issue"

I KNOW that I need to take care of myself.
I KNOW that I need to be a good example to my family.
I KNOW that if I don't take care of myself, I will not be able to take care of my fam
I KNOW that I am at risk for like a zillion illnesses & health problems if I don't
I KNOW that I am not happy with the way that I look

For one month, I made very small (is giving up caffiene cold turkey small? Hmmm) changes. In one month I lost 4 lbs and 8 inches. Go me right?

Well this month, I think we may have sat down for a family meal twice. Seriously. The house has/is a disaster area. I am tired constantly (no caffeine = naps). I am grouchy. My grocery budget went through the roof. I am crazed. Life is...not necessarily better.

Right now, I am at a point when my kids still need me. My husband needs me. I want/need to be there for them 100%. I want my home to be warm and inviting. I want home cooked meals sitting on the table when Ben comes home from work. Am I old fashioned? Probably. But I am honestly good with that.

I am already thinking ahead to the fact that I do not want to look awful when I go to Ben's Christmas party or to our ball later in March.

I feel frustrated. I don't want to give up on myself BUT I don't want to do it to my family either.

Deep thoughts at 8:43 in the morning...

Friday, October 02, 2009

C is for...


Connor! The other night, we had a Communication problem. (: He thought we were having pizza for dinner and was bummed when he found out that he wasn't. So, since I thought we were leaving the kids with a babysitter last night, I told Connor he Could pick whatever he wanted for dinner. He Chose one of his favorite C's...Corn dogs! So while I was at the Commissary, I also noticed Cheetos were on sale. An idea formed in my mind and we had a "C" themed dinner. It was so fun! On the menu was..

Corn dogs
Cheetos
Cucumbers
Carrots
Chocolate milk and
Candy Corn for a treat.

Then we all watched Fred Claus.

The kids had so much fun using "C" words and eating our "C" food. (Get it, see food?!lol)
It turned a normal family movie night into something even more special.It really is the little things isn't it?

Ethan told me later, since we are doing it in alphabetical order I get to go next right? I honestly hadn't planned to do all of them but it will be fun! I think I will do them once a month and just go around and around. Fun times. So I will be racking my brain for Ethan...eggs and egg nog? eggplant? We'll think of something!

However it turns out the best "C" Came this morning...CANCELLED! The storm watch over Guam has been lifted. We are so grateful that our little island has been spared. Thanks for all the prayers on our behalf!

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Not done yet...

( Housing did this, I don't know about you but I am not sure duct tape is going to stop winds at 30+ mph...)

(Grey sky in the morning, sailor take warning)

( Our "backyard" in the first storm)

The last storm blew by us without any problems. I felt like I had panicked for nothing.

However, we knew that two more storms were coming.

While at the commissary, I got a call from Ben letting me know that the base was going to go to TCOR 2. This is how they measure how high the winds are and how far away the storm is. I can't remember exactly what it stands for though. The last storm, the Gov. of Guam went to TCOR 1, while the military stayed at 3.

Now the military is going to 2 by three o'clock and 1 by midnight.

The typhoon is( according to local news) will be reaching Super Typhoon status. Also according to local news, the storm is starting to move to the south west. It WAS moving up North and out of our way.

We are bracing to get hit, and hoping to get lucky like we did last time. There is one more storm coming up right after this one.

Keep praying for us as we face this.

Also, many of our Guam friends have lost loved ones in the storm that hit Samoa. Others are still looking for their families, both in the Phillipines and Samoa. Keep them in your prayers also. I can't imagine what they are going through.

I'll keep updating as long as we have power.