Living in Oblivion

Loved The Lighting!

2012-02-02T12:37:00.000-05:00

Who would believe that there was this in the middle of the DESERT?!!!

We had been hiking all morning in the desert and ended at the Oasis of Palm Trees in the middle of nowhere. Well, actually not really in the middle of nowhere....i did see a sign that said 29 Palms was just down the road...but anyways, after hiking everyone was ready for lunch! So we pulled out all the lunch stuff from our ice chests and made sandwiches for 17 hungry people who had just wandered the desert...on a horse with no name....ooops, wrong story, again, silly no named horse! After lunch we opened up a ton of bubbles and had fun blowing bubbles everywhere! Much better than last reunion where we had marshmellow wars with our super cool guns! I mean the marshmellow war was more fun, but than we saw the sign after we had dispersed about 40 bags of mini marshmellows in our epic battles that read, please pack out everything you brought with you. We decided to be more planet friendly this year and not give the wild life cavities or bring down their immune system with an onslaught of sugar! After the bubble blowing tag i saw Ty and Carissa sitting on one of the palm trees. I loved how the ligh was reflecting all over the place and hoped my camera could capture some of the beauty! I took one without them knowing and than i had them pose for me and Ryan jumped in right when i went "click", but i love it and think it is hillarious, even if my camera didn't quite capture all the sparkles the sun light was bouncing all over the place!

Had fun brushing the outer part of the picture black and white

Love how Ryan jumped underneath it! Just wish my camera could have captured all the sparkles, well, probably just dust particles in the air!

Girls Night Out...no more....

2012-02-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

It's been in many kichens....most recently in NC

I have had my Girls Night Out Jar for like atleast the last 6 duty stations. Ed probably puts the most coins in it. And yes, i have gone to the movies with my girlfriends and paid in all nickels, dimes, pennies, and quarters! I usually have a twenty at the bottom under all the coins for my emergency stash for last minute out with my friends when i will need more than the normal couple of dollars needed for the base movies. Well, Ed took all my coins and cashed them in, much to my dismay.....He ended up with a little over $36 after he poured all my coins in. I had snagged my twenty out when he began throwing out guesses as to how much was in MY jar. He is NEVER a guy of just talk! When he starts throwing things out there i know i don't have much time before the throwing out there turns into the actual doing! He has now hijacked my jar and has thrown out there that he is going to duct tape over my "girls night out jar" and have it say "Ed's Silverado Jar". Usually when we go anywhere and have to buy something he always hands me the change and i drop it into my purse. Not anymore, now he starts to hand it to me and then remembers and pulls his hand with the coins back and drops them in his pocket saying, "sorry, Silverado, babe" and dumps the change into MY jar when he gets home reminding ME that it is 'The Silverado Jar" now!! I am already feeling the pinch! Just this morning at work when i went to grab 50 cents out of my purse i realized i didn't have 50 cents!!! No oreo's for breakfast for me today! Yep, he has decided he wants a Silverado and he is going to aquire it by one coin at a time....meanwhile the vending machine at work will miss me....and i suppose it is a good thing that i have no friends this duty station to have girls night out with anyways...

Saturday Night Seizure

2012-02-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

Ed and I were at the grocery store in town buying light bulbs when the frantic call came in from the kids. They were hysterical and the only thing i could understand through the screaming garble was "Leah's dying!!!" We were just setting the bulbs down to pay for them as i hung up the phone. I told Ed i couldn't understand anything they were saying except that Leah was dying and for him to call the house while i paid for the bulbs. Last time a tearful call came from Ty that Leah was dying she had eaten 1, ONE, cocoa puff that had fallen on the floor and Ty was a complete wreck asking if she was going to die, so i was hoping it was something along that line, but my gut said it was worse. I wasn't even sure who i had even spoken to on the phone....they were all screaming! Ed called, somehow got someone to speak clearly and determined that he thought Leah was having a seizure. While we raced home i sent an urgent prayer request up and i called the after hours emergency number, it was Saturday night, and i got thru. I explained the symptoms, asked their hours and location as our Vet was closed and told them i would call them back after we got home and physically assessed the situation. Than i lost it and just started sobbing. Leah is Ty's dog technically, but i was the one she was left with all day long while the kids were in school and Ed was in Afghanistan. She was my little buddy. I was the one constantly pulling her out of Jasper's mouth, he thought she was his new chew toy! She slept with me, sat on my lap while i read, i bought all her cute outfits, potty trained her, everything! She was MY little fur ball of a friend while Ed was gone, my only friend....other than Jasper and Tank.....Than my stronger half reminded me that i had to pull it together before we got home, for the kids. After one last great big giant sob, i did. We came home to find Leah on the floor by the front door with the kids gathered around her crying their eye balls out. They said they had been praying for her to get better. I silently sent up another prayer for THEIR prayers to be answered! Their panicked expressions showed their worst fears. I managed not to fall apart and of course, Ed never does fall apart....i took Leah's head in my hands and her face and neck were all soaking wet and there was a bowl of water on the floor. I asked if she had been drooling excessively....Vicki quickly explained that she had the boys bring her a bowl of water and every time she thought Leah was going to go unconscious she would splash water in her face to keep her awake. Poor Leah.....she's having a seizure while being water boarded by Vicki! BUT, in Vicki's defense we have always told her to not let the boys go unconscious if they hit their heads or something, so i understood the logic....and Vicki said she was NOT going to let Leah die on her watch!!! Leah was now pulling out of the seizure and wanting to stand up and walk around. She was beginning to act like herself again. She had this look on her face that said "What just happened?!!" We had a family prayer in thanks that Leah didn't die and asking for her to be all better. Ed told Ryan to take her outside on the leash for a walk to see how she did and that she also might need to go to the bathroom or throw up. We let Jasper out of my room. He had been going crazy with his little girl apparently dying and was absolutely no help at the time of the crisis! Stepping all over her and nudging her head with his snout was NOT what any Doctor would order and Vicki had screamed for the boys to lock him up! I heard that when i was on the phone with them at the store! Ryan brought her back in and with a shaky voice said, "she isn't right, she can't walk straight, I think she is going to die again." I called the emergency vet and told them we were on our way. Ed carried her out to the jeep while i jumped in the backseat where he put her on my lap. Ryan jumped in the front seat and firmly stated while buckling up, "I'm going!" It was in another town, not too far away. Leah seemed to be doing well and was looking back and forth between out the window and to me while licking my hand. I silently prayed the whole way there that the kids prayers would be answered and that they wouldn't loose their friend, and that i wouldn't loose her either. She is very possessive of me and is my constant shadow. I trip over her endlessly in the kitchen as she plops herself right next to my feet while i am cooking. Every morning when Ed gets up, his alarm goes off at 4 mine at 4:45, she jumps right up on the bed, pins me down with her paws and licks my face before squishing herself onto my pillow and cuddling up with me until my phone starts dinging at 4:45. She gets up with me and plops herself on the rug in front of the shower while i am in there. She licks my feet while i dry off, which is good since she is on the rug! She literally shadows my every move, except for when she is outside! Than she is wild and free! I was just not ready to loose her yet, but than, i don't think we are ever ready to say goodbye to anyone that we love! We were the only ones at the vet, so she was able to go right in. They did all kinds of labs. The Vet asked Ryan what exactly happened. I almost cried listening to him as his voice shook and bottom lip quivered while he gave her a play by play of what happened. It was concurred that Ed was right, she had had a seizure. Everything else was fine aside from her cholesterol, it was a little high! I think it is because she is constantly eating rodents in the back yard! Apparently seizures are common for Huskies, did not know that.....they told us she might have more and might never have another one again, we are hoping for the latter! We were given instructions on what to do if it happens again and that they would send all of her lab work to her Vet and to just monitor her for now. Well, it is 12 days later and I couldn't be happier that she has been her normal crazy self!

Giving Jasper his lovins...

In my face...

Running crazy all over the backyard...

glaring at me when she is mad...

Winking at me because she is silly like that....

grumbling at me....

Posing for me and my camera...

howling at me, she is always howling...!!!

back to her fighting/playing with Jasper.....

playing hard like nothing ever happened....

I just HOPE she didn't make a deal with the Devil in her darkest moments!!!

Surprise! Merry Christmas Baby!!

2012-01-29T21:07:00.000-05:00

It was the most perfectly beautiful day to go to Alcatraz! Coming in on the boat.

Ed has wanted to go to Alcatraz since he heard about it as a little boy....my family is just 45 minutes away from The Rock...you would think i had taken him there sometime in the last 16 years....nope, unfortunately it hasn't happened....It has been a long standing joke anytime we see reference to it on TV or in a movie or a conversation...going something like this;

Ed, "Wow, wish i knew somebody from up there so I could have a reason to go to Alcatraz....." "Too bad i didn't marry a girl who had family near Alcatraz so when we visited i could go there..." "Wish we had an excuse to go up to Northern California so i could go to Alcatraz...." "I've seen pictures of the place, looks really cool..." "How many times have you been there?" "Wow, my kids have even been there..."

So, yes, the teasing has been horrendous.....and every San Francisco's sports team always shows shots of it when their home games are aired....there has been no escaping the snide remarks....I honestly did not know Ed had wanted to go to Alcatraz our first couple of years of marriage....when something is in your backyard and you have gone multiple times you just don't realize someone might want to go there, so that part wasn't my fault. Once Ed let me know he wanted to visit Alcatraz I did try to make that happen. Unfortunately, when visiting, the days available for going didn't correspond with plans already made on visiting with everyone...so the joke turned to he just wanted to go there before he died. We tried to go in 2007 when we were visiting from Okinawa, but the only slots they had available were a couple days after he was flying back out to our own rock in the Pacific. The kids and i were staying longer, so we went, again...without him....Soooo, i knew this trip i really needed to get that guy to Alcatraz! He's fought in 2 wars in 2 different countries and so i really wanted to get this in before his next deployment! I called home and told them about the plans i had for Ed's Christmas present. Grandma and Grandpa thought it would be really fun and wanted to go with us! Perfect! I reserved all our tickets for our 2nd day there and mum was the word. Ed brought up Alcatraz a few times as our fly date got closer. I told him i was pretty sure it was closed this time of year and that it would be really cold, windy, probably rainy, and just plain miserable to go this time of year. It was soooo hard to watch his face get that expression of a little kid who just watched his dog die...but i wanted to surprise him! We flew to Cali on Wednesday and Thursday morning we got up and i told Ed we were going into the City for the day and were going to have fun on Fisherman's Wharf and just enjoy all the Christmas festivities in the City. He asked about Alcatraz. I said it was closed. Again, the 'my dog just died' look...i almost caved and told him, but didn't. As we were driving across the Bay Bridge he was looking out the window and asking if that was Alcatraz out there in the water. We went on and on about how clear it was outside and that it is sooo cool he is able to see it from the bridge, and again about it being closed during the holidays and how cold it would be out there. He just looked out the window....the kids knew where we were going and i was sooo proud of them for not spilling the beans!!! We parked and began walking over to the water and the boats. We found where we were supposed to board and Ed was just looking at the boat that said Alcatraz Tours and said, "I think they are open..." I said, "They are! Merry Christmas Baby! Our boat leaves in an hour!!!" He was sooo happy and the kids were all full of giggles! Sooo, Ed finally got to go to Alcatraz! I think it was everything he thought it would be.....I am just sooo glad i was finally able to do something on HIS bucket list since he is ALWAYS taking care of my bucket list....scuba certified, elephant riding in the jungles of Thailand, hiking The Great Wall of China, shark cage diving, visiting Guam where my Mom lived as a military brat, family vacation to Hawaii, The Grand Hotel, my famous ferris wheel addiction, family tandem bike riding...the list goes on, maybe i will blog about my bucket list someday....but anyways, 16 years worth of him making my simple and not so simple dreams come true....sooo glad i could take care of one of his, especially since his job is waaaaay more dangerous than mine!!! We had a great day on Alcatraz! The audio tour is amazing as it it takes you through the prison and the grounds. You have your own head set and so you can pause it if you want to stay longer on any given part of the tour. Or, you can take one in a different language and test your skills! Haha! I am sure the tours with the Park Rangers are still just as good as they have always been, but it was nice with the audio tour on how you got all the sound effects to go along with all the stories and the different voices in the narration..it was a perfect day to visit Alcatraz and relive all the history on The Rock!

He didn't know until we walked up to our boat!

Home sweet home for the Michigan boy!

Playing a mock baseball game in the rec yard

The tourist picture...

Is this your first time behind bars? Um, dont answer that!

Ty reading about an escape attempt that happened at that very spot

Love These Hands

2012-01-27T09:29:00.000-05:00

I love my guys hands.....whether they are clean or dirty. I especially love how my hand gets swallowed up into his whenever he takes my hand......

Sky High!

2012-01-26T12:57:00.001-05:00

Sky High, another reason why we are not so fond of North Carolina...there just isn't much to do here, especially in the winter time! But in California there is always something to do!!! Rain or shine, cold or hot, there is always something fun to go and DO. We are not a family that is fond of sitting and watching! Here in NC it is the movies or stay at home on a rainy or super cold day. We can only hike sooo many trails, canoe and kyaak the waters, and wander Civil War trails so many times before the kids are a bit irked at the redundancy of our activities! We have seen the Battleship NC a few times, done the Red Neck Wedding, toured the different plantations, been to Tryon Palace during different seasons, as well as the newly opened hands on mueseum down the road from the Palace, visited the birthplace of Pepsi, done the Ghost Walks, the Pirate Invasion, the Cape Fear Serpentarium, Zip Quest Park, bought our sandals at the Cottin Gin, ate the famous dinner at Mikes Farm, bought our pumpkins on the hay ride, screamed our heads off (well, i did) on the haunted hay ride, saw the Christmas lights on the other hay ride, Medieval Times (twice), the Ripleys Aquarium, the NC Aquarium, Okracoke and Hatteras Lighthouses ( we will see the rest this year), been to Blackbeards house, Shackleford Banks to find the wild Mustangs, which we did as well as go shelling, successfully, gone horseback riding on the Outter Banks and have even ventured up to Virginia and Maryland.....you name it, we have been there, done it....but most of these places you only go to once, where places like Sky High you can go to on any rainy day!!! Yes, we miss the fun things our other Marine Corps duty stations had to offer, so for now we will branch out and i guess visit places that require us to stay the night somewhere as i think we have exhausted everything there is to do between Myrtle Beach and Raleigh....

But, anyways, enough of my grumbles....here was a fun day at Sky High with all our California cousins, Grams, and Aunts and Uncles. It is a huge work out but sooo much fun as even the walls are trampolines and you can jump off of those! I am soo bummed i have no pixs or vids from the foam pit! There is a place where you can run and jump or run and jump off the walls into this huge foam pit! Wish i had a picture of Ed trying to get out!!! He got swallowed up in the foam! Ryan is the one that does the flips off the walls into the foam pit and i just close my eyes! Dodge Ball is our favorite and thank goodness there are refs to call you out! Sooo wish they had one of these near our house!

Oh, and i HATE to jump in the same square as Ed! He sends me flying!

Grams can still do her cheerleading jumps!

Vicki in the air and everyone else is related to me!

Ed is in the air and again, everyone else is related to me!

My brothers having fun jumping and yes, everyone in video is family....

Trampoline Dodge Ball is the best! Most of both teams i am related to....

...and this is why Ryan is usually the last one standing...he just jumps and jumps and the ball never seems to hit him! he usually gets out by someone on the other team catching a ball he threw.

Festival of Lights

2012-01-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

While on Christmas holiday we had the opportunity to attend the 20th annual Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn in Riverside. I have no idea how we did not know of this all those years stationed at Camp Pendleton, i mean Vixs was born in Riverside!!! But, anyways, we went this Christmas and it was just absolutely amazing!!! For anyone stationed in So Cal or if you happen to be there anytime between the day after Thanksgiving thru the New Year, this is a must do!!! There are Cinderella Carriage rides, regular wagon style rides all pulled by beautifully decorated horses, carolers singing, some real, some looking very real hanging from the balconies, real reindeer, and outdoor ice rink set up just for this time frame, all the treats you can imagine and plenty of entertainment! The 3.4 million lights is turned on the Friday following Thanksgiving, so if you are in the area, don't miss out on this incredible Christmas celebration! AND, if we are ever stationed in So Cal again we are definately staying at this hotel for a night or two! It is just incredible!!!

Ty And The Wax Peeps

2012-01-17T16:49:00.000-05:00

Ty thought the Wax Museum was pretty cool, but didn't have as much fun posing as Vicki did....but he did like the Halo and Terminator Dudes!

Vicki And Her New Waxy Friends

2012-01-17T16:26:00.003-05:00

Vicki had a blast at the Wax Museum while we were in Hollywood! Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of her hamming it up with her new waxy friends.....

Looking cool with James Dean....

Taking a walk with the Beatles....

Oh No!!! What should i do with my hair?!!

Serious discussions with Clooney....

Posing with a Vampire....even though she is Team Jakob!

Thinking things over.....

Going western with John.....

Striking a pose with Mama Mia!

Looking serious.....

Vicki And Her Waxy Friends

I Work Out

2012-01-15T20:39:00.000-05:00

The whole Christmas Vacation Vicki and Julianna would just randomly say "I work owwwwwt" to just about anything. Wow, and even a picture to go with their line from a song i hear all the time.....

Love My furry Friends

2012-01-15T20:21:00.000-05:00

I just adore my furry friends, even though they drive me crazy at times! Sooooo, every once in awhile they rate a few slots on the Blogger....here they are on my bed.....i vacuum my bed a LOT!

Eskimo Kisses

2012-01-15T20:07:00.000-05:00

Leah and Tank have a love hate relationship. Leah was born with the instinct to not only kill cats, but to destroy them in the process. Thank goodness we got her as a puppy and we have been able to curb her kill instinct to play roughly instead. Yes, Tank has seen down her throat on more than one occassion......But, every once in awhile they show each other some affection....

Tank was sleeping and Leah jumped up on the bed to say hello

Tank and Leah Looking into each others eyes.....

Leah came over and gave Tank an Eskimo Kiss.....

.....and than Tank slipped Leah the tongue......

Busted!

2012-01-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

Jasper is not allowed on the couch, but whenever nobody is looking or home, he jumps up there like he owns the place! I caught him and took some pictures while telling him i was going to show them to Daddy and he was going to be in TROUBLE!!!

Jasper giving me his dignified look after getting caught

Jasper saying "Go ahead, tell my master, i laugh at the thought of him seeing these pictures! hahahahahaha!"

Lecture Time, Dog to Dog

2012-01-15T20:05:00.001-05:00

I walked into my room and Jasper was on the bed talking to Leah. I asked Jasper if he was telling Leah not to eat Tank, he just grumbled at me and laid down....

Found Some Reindeer!

2012-01-15T19:59:00.000-05:00

What would Christmas be like if we couldn't see REAL Reindeer?! Glad i don't have to know, found some! Yep, only the female reindeers still have their antlers at Christmas time!

Happy 13th John!

2012-01-15T19:47:00.000-05:00

Every other year we get together for a family reunion on the Mikolajcik side. John 's birthday always falls somewhere during the reunion. This year he turned 13! We spent the day hiking in the desert, swimming in the late afternoon, dinner at Red Robins, seeing the lights that night at the famous Mission Inn, and ending the night with the famous Costco Chocolate Cake! Happy 13th John!!!

John giving me a scary face before we start our hike in the desert........on a horse with no name....oooops, wrong desert trip....

......and 17 people wandered into the desert with only a water bottle each.....

Swim time after desert wandering....

Red Robbin was Johns choice for dinner, yum!

Than off to see the MILLIONS of lights at the Mission

.....and ending with a delicious Chocolate Cake!

Chocolate cakes are a favorite for these cousins.....Ryan even had one when we were visiting from Okinawa and his birthday fell during our Mikolajcik time!

Still Holds Our Hands....

2012-01-15T18:57:00.000-05:00

Every chance i get i snap a picture of Ryan holding Ed's hand. Someday he won't hold our hand anymore....and that makes me sad.....but until then i will snap away and than make a book of all these pictures i have taken of Ryan holding our hands.....

More Princess Carriage Ride

2012-01-15T18:51:00.000-05:00

I forgot to add these last three pictures to our carriage ride...

Grandma Mik, Julianna, and Vicki

Me up top with our driver

Our beautiful Cinderella Carriage

Ahhhhhh, The Sun Feels Soooo Good!!!

2012-01-15T08:34:00.000-05:00

The girls totally enjoyed soaking up the rays while we were in beautiful Sunny Southern California!

Busy tanning and texting, such talented multitasking Sun Godesses

The best part of So Cal is laying in the warm sun and still seeing snow on the mountains behind ya!

It All began With, “I’m Not Ty”

2012-01-13T18:46:00.001-05:00

In early December I asked Ty to do something for me. He just stood there with his finger going across his upper lip. I laughed and said, “Hey! I asked you to do this, do it!” Ty said, “I am not Ty.” I was a bit confused on his latest game and asked who he was. He said he was a guy with a mustache and that Ty was not around. Soon every time I asked any of the kids to do something they would put their finger across their upper lip giving me the mustache sign that they were no longer that child of mine. It was addicting and I began doing it when Ed would ask me to do something. We began to get creative giving our looks interesting beards , unibrows, etc. By the time we arrived in California it had become such a habit for our family that everyone else joined in! Here are a few pictures of everyone jumping on board to another Ty Craze…..

Merry Christmas! Even in our family picture!

The girls got creative!

......and even more creative!

Even with the pose with Grandma and Grandpa Mik!

Complete strangers aren't ammune to the mustache either.....

Vicki copying a mustache dude......

The original Mustache Kid

John addng the unibrow

Ryan even does it in his sleep!

Doin' The "Bernie"

2012-01-13T11:19:00.000-05:00

The dance move craze this family reunion was “The Bernie” ……."everybody’s doing it!" said Julianna and Vicki. Sure enough, those 2 silly girls had everyone doing it, the Cousins, the Grandparents, and even BERNIE!!!

Vicki, Julianna, and Jocelyn doing The Bernie

They even taught Grams!

...and Gramps!

AND, even Bernie herself! She said it was like acting out someone havine a seizure!

Oh, and Metal Man will be a whole nother post, yes, these two girls even had HIM do The Bernie!

Hearts To Laughter

2012-01-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

These two cousins had sooo much fun during Christmas break! These are 2 of my favorite pictures, I am sure there will be more if I ever finish going thru all the photos from our vacation!

Angry Birds Love

2012-01-13T11:08:00.000-05:00

I saw these Angry Bird hats when we were in LA. I showed them to Ty and Ry and they actually loved them! I even managed to get a few pictures of them wearing them in between their wrestling each other around!

Showing The Love!

They actually said, "OK, stop fighting and pretend like we love each other for Mom's picture!" when i took these!

Just Playing

2012-01-13T11:03:00.000-05:00

The neighborhood was happy to have Ty and Ryan home from Christmas Holiday. I had just gotten home from work when I saw everyone out playing and by the time I was able to pick up my camera everyone had gone home for dinner except Jailyn. Jasper and Leah were excited about having friends running through the backyard again too! And yes, a gate was left open and sure enough we saw a beautiful Lab and a Husky running down the road! Thank goodness Ed was home, otherwise I would have been on the road in the jeep chasing down two freedom happy dogs!

They missed wrestling with their friends!

Pausing between choke holds to smile for me!

leah and her tongue!

The dogs were sooo happy to be jumping on people again!!!

Carriage Rides For Princesses, and Boys, and Grandparents....

2012-01-09T13:59:00.000-05:00

We went to the famous Mission Inn while we were in So Cal for Christmas Holiday. There were all kinds of rides drawn by horses you could take to see the lights. We knew the girls just had to take the Cinderella Carriage rides. We figured we would throw the boys on one of the sleighs or wagons, but they wanted a Cinderella Carriage too. My pictures are horrible and i am hoping Gary has some good ones to snag when he arrives home from vacation. But the kids loved it and i had fun sitting on top with the driver as he told me about all the history of the Mission. It has been around for quite some time! Vicki and the girl cousins in her carriage had fun doing Princess Waves, blowing kisses, and telling their fans how much they loved them. The boys begged Carissa to ride in their carriage. Grandpa Mik jumped in with the boys and Grandma Mik jumped in with all the girls. There was a tiny spot left and Uncle Jake jumped aboard as well. While everyone was figuring out where they were going to be seating the driver was talking to a driver from last year. They were going on and on about a horse that went berserk and took off tipping the carriage and other such stories. I was listening and thinking what could be the worst outcome if Cindy or the other horse on the other carriage did something similar, the thoughts weren't pretty, especially for me up top! I asked the driver if the horses they were talking about were our horses. he laughed realizing i had been sitting there listening to them and reassured me the accidents were complete driver error and all the horses on the carriage, wagon, and sleigh routes were all awesome horses and he had been doing this for the last 9 years during the holidays on top of his regular horse duties at his horse ranch and the other driver had even more experience than him. I was relieved to know i wasn't going to be jumping on Cindy's back during our ride!

What the Cinderella Carriages looked like from a distance

Vicki

Jocelyn

I rode on top with the driver

Grandpa Mik, Justin, Dallin, Carissa in grey, Ty in purple

Ty and Carissa

Cindy was our horse, she was fabulous!

Another Vicki Pose...

2012-01-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

Vicki kills me with her sense of humor and no cares on what people may think....here is another Vicki Pose that had everyone on the prison tour laughing as i took a pix of her being her....

Only A Dozen Missing

2012-01-09T12:43:00.001-05:00

Every other year my side of the family gets together over Christmas Vacation. The site has always been Southern California. We decided it needs to be a warm place since it is over the Christmas break! I have hopped in from Kadena, Okinawa to Travis AFB and now twice so far from North Carolina. I didn't really appreciate the weather while i was coming from Oki, but coming the last 2 times from a NC winter, i really appreciated it this time!!! I took a quick picture of Grandma & Grandpa Mik with the Grandkids that were able to make it right before we set out on our desert hike. We were only missing a DOZEN grandkids this reunion!!!!

Carissa, Jocelyn, Ryan, John, Justin, Ty, Grandma Mik, Dallin, Jodi, Grandpa Mik, Vicki, and Juliana
Missing: Mikaela, Malia, Jorden, Jessica, Jakob, Alina, Rachel, Natalie, Mason, Elizabeth, David, & Matthew

We Love Legos!

2012-01-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are dorks, and love giant legos!

Space Mountain

2012-01-09T11:11:00.000-05:00

We used to go to Disneyland atleast 3 to 4 times a year while stationed at Camp Pendleton and MCRD San Diego. We were in So Cal for YEARS!!!! We did 3 duties on camp Pendleton before moving 35 miles south for 3 1/2 years at MCRD San Diego, so i honestly could not count how many times we have been to The Happiest Place on Earth! Space Mountain is my favorite ride there. I love how it is pitch dark inside and you can't see the tracks, so you never know when you are going down or around, or anything! I have not been able to ride it in decades because i was either pregnant or we had children not tall enough to ride. There was NOOOOO way i would have let Ed take care of the kids for a few hours while waited in line for my favorite ride, that would just be mean and i actually like the guy. Sooo, this time i talked everyone into riding it with me! It was a 90 minute wait but the photo was worth every last second of creeping along! We even got the very first space car!

The photo literally tells how each member of our family feels about rollercoasters! Poor Ty, he was regretting getting on this ride before we even pulled out down the tracks!

Vicki, not easily scared, just sitting back and wondering when the ride is gonna get good

Ryan, always looking around to see how everything operates

Ed, a good sport for me

Me, loving the thrill of the ride and hanging on for dear life

Ty, ducking down afraid to see what is ahead!

I found this photo from Vix's first time riding the Log Ride at Knotts Berry Farm, again, just looking out wondering when is it gonna get good! Miss those Erekson kids!

This might be when Ty became traumatized of roller coasters....Vicki said she didn't like all the yelling.....

Artificial Swimming

2012-01-09T10:40:00.000-05:00

I swim laps 4 nights a week at Camp Johnson while Vicki has swim practice. I am always sharing a lane with a Marine. I can still hold my own with these youngins, at least that is what i tell myself. If they weren't swimming in cammies i would have to really push myself to keep up. The other night i was sharing my lane with a Marine who was not in cammies but instead was sporting a new leg, or an artificial leg for him to use in the water. I was impressed and i loved swimming with him. He brought a whole new appreciation for what i take for granted. While i swam with him i spent a few laps only kicking with one leg and on my flip turns i only pushed off with one leg. This Marine that was swimming next to me was definitely working a lot harder than me to go the same distance. I lost him later in the evening as he slipped over to the training area to tread water with a brick over his head and work on his water entries and exits. This young Marine is forever scarred from battle but i adored him instantly and hope he will continue to be my lap buddy!

Boys And Football

2012-01-09T10:32:00.001-05:00

Ty used to always have a soccer ball at his feet. Last year he dove into football, and there is always a football within arms reach away for him to talk someone into playing catch with him. Even if we are on vacation, he will find one! Lucky for him he had a cousin who was more than willing to play catch with him at any given moment!

John happy to play catch with Ty!

Girls...

2012-01-08T19:06:00.000-05:00

Girls are hilarious, especially when you get these cousins together. Here they are striking their East Coast Girls West Coast Girls gang signs....

Temple Lights

2012-01-08T15:25:00.000-05:00

We were just about 40 minutes away from the Oakland Temple, so we zipped over there one evening to see the Christmas Lights, it was beautiful!

Faces While We Waited

2012-01-03T13:53:00.000-05:00

Vicki usually always covers the lens to my camera, but this trip she has been quite camera friendly! We were waiting for the guys to bring the vehicles down from parking when we were leaving the beach and Vicki was making all kinds of faces at me. These are a couple of my favorites...

Desert Hike Photo Op

2012-01-03T13:49:00.001-05:00

My favorite photographer who accompanied our Southern California adventures was taking some photos of me on our desert hike. We followed the McCallum Trail which took us to the beautiful Thousand Palm Oases which was a great place to stop and take some photos. It is literally out in the middle of the desert close to 29 Palms. Ed was zoomed in taking pictures of this and i found these on my camera....i am sure the other ones will be much better, atleast i HOPE so! lol

Ryan Seacrest Is A Little Guy

2012-01-03T13:18:00.001-05:00

We discovered that Ryan Seacrest is a LITTLE guy! I would never want to be caught in a picture with him! But Ty and Vicki looked just fine, although Vicki said she could easily beat him up or defend him if she was out with him and someone came along wanting to mug them.

Vicki's Favorite Celebrity

2012-01-03T13:13:00.000-05:00

Vicki found her favorite celebrity!

Hello Justin

2012-01-03T13:09:00.000-05:00

Vicki having fun with Justin Timberlake....now she knows if she ever happens to kiss him she will either have to go up on her tippy toes or he will have to bend down.....

Looking up....

On tippy toes

December Beach Days

2012-01-03T12:56:00.000-05:00

We left for Southern California the day after Christmas and had a blast enjoying the sun, sand, and the ocean with our California family and friends. I finally felt like i was at home again. Cold weather clothing is just NOT my thing and Boogie Boarding in December is NORMAL!!!! Here are a few pictures of the fun we had....

The first thing Vicki and Julianna wanted to do was jog the beach....and they did

Ed and Ty started off by playing tag, Ed won...

I just love walking along the water

Ryan was busy building sand castle forts

And boogie boarding

John catching a wave while Dallin got sucked into the wave

Carissa running along the beach

Loving all the negative ions!

My favorite photographer!

Ryan heading back in again

Ed, Jake, and Justin coming back from the tide pools with creatures

Jake, Ty, and Ed playing football

Football on the beach is a must!

On a walk with Ed.....telling him i was Queen of the Rock!

Every beach always gets tagged with my art work!

Beach Front Fixer Upper

2012-01-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

Ed and i were walking the beach at Crystal Cove a few days after Christmas and thought about buying this beautiful little fixer upper right on the beach....but decided not to when we found out that the plumbing used to run out to the ocean and of course that is totally gross and not even allowed anymore anyways! Sooo, the thought of an outhouse changed our minds. Oh, and also the whole no electricity thing and the tide can come right up to the front door at times....

But the view was beautiful.....

Balcony Wave & Kiss, Kretschmer Style

2012-01-03T12:04:00.000-05:00

I love my Eddie Spaghetti and how he will humor me! I decided we should do our own version of a royal couples wave and kiss from a balcony...i thought Alcatraz suited us perfectly :)

Merry Christmas.......LATE!

2012-01-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

The holiodays are crazy when you travel! Everything was rushed to get done before we even left on our Christmas vacation! Unfortunately, many cards were never mailed out, oops :( Our Christmas card was actually pretty cute but none of those pictures are on this hard drive, so i will just post some family pictures on our travels....from up North to down South.....

Everyone loved their new electronic gadgets and of course never a day goes by that Ed is not on the phone due to one of his devil pups getting in trouble....um, i did not get any electronic gadgets....

We went from freezing Northern Cali to beautiful sunny Southern Cali
Christmas from one extreme to the other!

Viewing Pictures

2011-12-19T23:55:00.000-05:00

Every once in awhile I am sometimes pleasantly surprised when i am downloading pictures the kids have taken, usually pictures i did not know they were taking! Mostly they are the most random of shots, a shoe, Ty's trombone, and of course a LOT of their friends, but every once in awhile there are keepers for MY photo file! Here are some from when we were in Virginia. Ty and Ryan use Ed's deployment camera when he is home and i found these that made me smile....

Before we had asked Ty to take a picture when we were at Mt Vernon

I remember this picture...

I don't think Mr. Hottie likes these kind of pixs to get out....

Had no idea the camera was clicking, the kids do say we kiss toooo much!!!

He always holds my hand because otherwise i wander off and he looses me...

Strike A Pose!

2011-12-19T23:38:00.000-05:00

I asked them to strike a pose...this is what they gave me...

When Did SHE Begin Hanging Out With MY Friends?!!

2011-12-19T23:34:00.000-05:00

Just a random evening hanging out with my friends....than i notice Vicki in the pictures and i am wondering when SHE began hanging out with us?!!! Time is going by much tooo fast!

We Call Him Hollywood

2011-12-19T23:10:00.000-05:00

We call him Hollywood....and i don't know why ;)

Boys & Football

2011-12-19T23:01:00.000-05:00

I am not exactly sure when it happened but Ty and Ryan each acquired a favorite football team. Ty picked the Panthers and Ryan the Falcons. Ryan picked the Falcons because there is a player with the name Ryan on his jersey and Ryan of course had to have that jersey and it has been his team ever since. Ty picked the Panthers. Don't know why, and neither does Ty....Ed's team ever since he was a little boy has been the Steelers. He likes the Saints and some other teams, but the Steelers are his die hard team. It is hilarious to listen to Ed and the boys talk trash to each other about their teams and even more hysterical to listen to them when their teams are playing each other or just another team. I am afraid for when they get older though....i think there might be broken furniture during games and i am going to wish they drank and i could just drop them off at a bar to go watch their games...but than that could end up scary too....tonight was Ed's team playing a non Ty and Ryan team, so the boys had fun trash talking anything the Steelers messed up on against the 49ers. The power keeps going out in San Fran, so who knows when this game will ever end, good thing i have been baking because all three of them decided to watch it in mine and Ed's bed! The picture was hilarious! Maybe i will add it to this blog if i ever pull those pixs off the camera....

Holiday Baking 2011

2011-12-19T22:51:00.000-05:00

Holiday baking this year has been massively condenced since we are leaving for Sunny California for Christmas and New Year! I managed to finish it all in one day! Tomorrow it all goes out to my neighbors, well that is if Ed doesn't get up tonight and eat it all! I told him i will kill him if i have to spend all day tomorrow in the kitchen again! It was bad enough that my lemon cookies didn't have the white chocolate chips in them because Mr. Hottie ATE them!!!

This year i only made fudge, lemon bars, snickerdoodles, peppermint chocolate cookies, lemon cookies, 7 layer cookies, noel cookies, peanut butter balls, and i have no idea what these other things are called since i just have the ingredients and nothing else for the recipe! I just do half red and half green and they are very yummy!

Sooo, hopefully tomorrow morning everything is still in tact and Mr. Hottie stuck to only the items in the cookie jar for his mid-night snacking!

Football Photo Shoot

2011-12-19T22:43:00.000-05:00

Picture time for the Panthers!

The Soul Taker

2011-12-19T22:33:00.000-05:00

Ryan just barely made the cut off for Ty's division when we signed the boys up for tackle football summer of 2011. The cut off was July 31st and that was Ryan's birthday, so he was able to play on Ty's team. He was the youngest one out there and one of the smallest, but he is SOLID! He outweighs his big brother by 1 1/2 pounds. He was thrown around like a rag doll but nobody ever had to take a knee for this little guy. If he sticks with this sport i think he is going to end up being a tank out on the field....

Ryan finally let me take a picture of him

Taking a break on the bench

He is solid!

Football 2011

2011-12-19T22:23:00.000-05:00

Go Panthers!!!

Football season has come and gone for 2011.....but it was a fun season and the boys were the Air Station Champions! Ty earned his latest nickname, Touch Down Ty and Ryan was fightfully called the Soul Taker.

I am happy to be done with driving the 100 miles a day to get the boys to practices, but i do miss watching them play, the conversations we had driving back and forth, singing with them at the top of our lungs, and my cardios on the flightline....but i do NOT miss all the driving i did between driving to Lejeune for work every morning, to drive back to Richlands to pick up the boys, drive to the Air Station for practices, sometimes leave Air Station to zip to Camp Johnson if vicki wanted to swim laps, than back to Air Station to pick up boys to finally arrive home in Richlands around 8 pm.

Here are just a few pictures from the season....

Ty & Ryan after their first Football Game

Ryan on the far right Ty on the far left, a Kretschmer on each side

Heading if for weigh in before a game. Neither had any worries this season on being over weight! Vicki could have even played in this league!

Heading out after a good game

After a rough game in the mud!

Love his grin when coming off the field after a win

Ty at the far left of pix taking on 3 guys!

He loves making touch downs!

Vicki gave her brothers the run down on what they did right and wrong after every game. She moved all over the field so she could watch and holler at them

Ty wasn't sure about tackeling at first, but once he got a good tackle in it became his favorite thing to do and lucky him, he played the entire game so he was able to tackle and make touch downs!

at the end of another hot game

Huddle...Ry, no socks on left Ty, no socks, on right

She Does Like Me!!!

2011-12-16T14:30:00.000-05:00

The Special Needs student i had just walked by my classroom on her afternoon stroll with her new aid. She was all excited when she saw me! I wished her a Merry Christmas and a Happy Birthday and gave her a big hug! I guess she does like me after all! Or atleast out of the classroom! lol

Camping on Mothers Day

2011-12-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

I found pictures from our Mothers Day Camping Trip on my work computer!! Not alot, but a few!!

Ed and the kids took me camping for Mothers Day this year. It was fun to just sit back while they loaded the truck and i just packed my own little bag. (I did pay close attention and picked up some of the important things they were forgetting.....bug spray, stuff for smores, you know the stuff ya just can't forget camping!!!) We got a great spot right on the water at New River! Ed and the kids set up the tents while i just sat in the chair....i think Ed was a little purterbed that i was taking this "sit down and relax Mothers Day thing" just a little too far.....but i sat and listened to some grumbles about how he had never put up this tent before, blah blah blah.....yes, i am the only one that has ever put this tent up, pretty much by myself and i think Ed was really wondering how i had done that since the kids werent making it very easy for him.....I did finally get up and help as it was looking like he might just have us sleep in the back of the truck under the stars.....i guess he is only used to the Marine tents which are always missing parts and he gets to just improvise and make it stand up or something.....or maybe, just maaaaaaybeeeeeee he has been spoiled with Jr Marines always doing the work of setting up tents....that is just a speculation and probably wrong, but just a thought....tent was up, we went for a walk, had fun watching the fish jumping out of the water. There was only one other camp site taken, so it was relatively quiet. we had decided since it was Mothers Day Camping that it would be as simple as possible for me, the MOTHER! Sooooo, Vicki went with me to get food from Wendy's drive thru!!! PERFECT!!! Burgers and i didn't have to prepare anything at home before we left or sweat to death grilling them! WONDERFUL, except for the incompetant peeps working the drive thru. I started to check our order to see if it was right but the girl at the drive thru was giving me the EVIL EYE, so i drove back to camp. Vicki and i saw a HUGE deer as were turning into our camp ground. We were having soo much fun on our drive back! She loves it when i do my silly voice and talk about crazy stuff. Our stomaches were hurting from laughing soo hard by the time we got back to camp. Yes, we were missing like 4 things and the things that were supposed to be plain were loaded and the stuff supposed to be loaded was plain, so Vixs and I drove back to ge the missing items and the wrong things fixed.....i asked for the manager when i got to the drive-thru. I explained what happened showed her our reciept and she began fixing everything with many apoligies. Things were still messed up but oh well, that is just society these days, dumb people too self absorbed to really do anything right. But, there was enough that everyone was full and we had SMORES still to come! We had a fabulous night, not too many bug bites, totally fun being in the tent with everyone as we crowded around the itty bitty DVD player and watched Beverly Hills Ninja's. Ryan brought his BB Gun, he is soo funny. He always has a weapon on him! We convinced him that he should surrender the weapon to Dad and he could sleep without worries of an intruder! Our tent was full of giggles and peaceful dreams as we drifted off to sleep.....it was a Fabulous Mothers Day Weekend! Memories to treasure forever!

Vicki was awesome in getting everyone packed and ready to go!

Ryan, all excited and giving a sweet face for a change!

Our Campsite

Setting up the tent....

Frustration mounting....hee hee hee hee hee

Ty showing us his ninja balancing talents

Vicki watching, slightly amused....

What would they do without ME?!!! Mwahahahahaha!!!

Again, why is there NOT a rotate button on here?!!!

Down by the water the next day, hoping to see NO alligators!!!

He loves me.....

They love me!!!

Ready to go! I wish blogger would let you rotate pixs! Oh well! lol I got my bag packed and my favorite camping clothes on! Ready to sit back and relax for the first time EVER on a cmaping trip as a Mom!

Don't Miss These Crazy Mornings

2011-12-16T11:26:00.001-05:00

I think mornings are always crazy in any household. I know ours always are....Last year i did not need to be out the door until 7:30. It was wonderful being the last one out the door! I even got to vacuum before i left! Occasionally the carpets were even done by 7:29! This year i am at the High School on Camp Lejeune. It is only about 4 miles further to drive but takes 40 minutes longer to get there! Go figure! Pending what i am subbing for I leave between 6:15 and 6:30. I feel bad for those rainy days where Ryan can't sit in my car at the bus stop, but my neighbors are great and he gets to jump in their cars on those wet or chilly mornings. I am glad he is naturally VERY warm blooded and doesn't mind being wet, actually not much of anything bothers the little guy...Most mornings go somewhat smooth...there is the random "Mom, i need you to sign this right now, I need to take ________ to school today, what matches this?," etc. Sometimes there is the occasional mess like someone shaking their protein drink after i already removed the top, the dogs are missing, the cat is choking, and so on.....but i always give myself a 15 minute cushion so i am usually okay. BUT thank goodness the kids don't pull these kind of messes anymore as i am hurrying out the door!

A cereal bowl left unattended always ended up in a disaster zone with Vicki! Jammies, chair, everything ended up out on the back patio for me to take care of after i got home from taking Jorden to school and work!

This picture was in the same folder. If you weren't fast enough Vicki jumped in the tub, shoes and all! She is like me and has always loved the water! We thought we were getting ready to leave, but Jorden's bathwater was in the tub!

Another Long Term Assignment Finished

2011-12-16T11:06:00.003-05:00

I just finished a long term sub assignment for an extreme Special Needs student. Peachtree was in the process of hiring for this position, but they take forever, so i knew i would be with her for awhile. I love all the kids in this class, i have subbed in there before and i was the nurse for the first month of school, so i saw some regularly who came in for daily meds, diaper changes, etc. The student i had was a 20 year old girl who has absolutely no verbal skills, a feeding tube, and requires a diaper change twice a day. My days were long and tedious. She is very smart but would rather just curl up in her favorite chair and sleep and just wander around when she feels like it. I wasn't her favorite person, because we HAD STUFF TO DO!!! I have to document everything we do in 5 minute increments, weather she is engaged, inactive, or in avoidance. My goal is to have her engaged as much as possible. The first week was rough and it was physically, literally, she is strong! and emotionally draining! I got her into a groove and by the end of the week we had a field trip for Special Olympics, Basketball! She was engaged almost the entire day! The Marine assigned to help me with the one on one with her was a fabulous Corporal! Could NOT have asked for a better Marine to be her buddy. We did everything! She participated in all her events with hands on help, she made a Christmas card as well as even let her picture be taken for another card to take home! The second week we were in full mode! We began each day with reading and writing. I would pick stories for her on the computer and read them aloud to her and guide her hand to click the mouse to turn the page. She doesn't like this.... We would do all the activities that followed each story. Than we would go over calendar, her name, her birthday, her address, the weather, the season, etc. By this time she was ready to get up and go for her morning walk. While walking the halls i would just reiterate everything we had done and point outside to things that had to do with the weather or seasons. My right shoulder really got a work out from having my arm around her and than using my right hip to keep her in line and than i was constantly steering her. This is tricky and i know all the tricks! ha ha We would head back to the room and continue to work on her writing. I would have things printed out for her from the stories we had read or about the season or weather and i would let her do free hand and than i would do hand over hand with her. Next class was PE. During PE we would walk a few laps in the gym with her peers and than i would strap her in tight into her bike, especially her feet on the pedals. I think that is the only time her feet are pointed straight is when they are strapped that way on the pedals, otherwise they are completely turned out, and she can run fast like that! It is amazing at how fast she is! I got my daily exercise with her! I would push the bike so her legs would go round and round, so she can get different movement with her body. I would randomly stop pushing and help her legs put pressure on the pedals. She HATES that and would usually start trying to take off her helmet, so i would go back to pushing.....i would talk to her the entire time about her, who she is, the community she is in, lives in, etc. After PE it is time for a diaper change. Week 2 she had an infection on her side that got out of control and needed to be drained every other day and the antibiotics did not make it pleasant for diaper changing....next it was off to the classroom for lunch. She doesn't eat due to her feeding tube and there isn't time for me to eat as she likes to wander and i have to always be at her side or she will knock computers down, etc. She could cause 10's of thousands of dollars in damage in a few seconds unsupervised! Her least favorite part of the day is the Vocational Skills part. I would spend the last couple of hours each day preparing her to (hopefully) someday work an assembly line job. I know she can do this, but she is lazy and has no desire to do something productive. She might not have the mental capacity to know what it means to feel good about being self sufficient or accomplishing something. But we worked every day on sorting Lego's, building Lego's, linking chains, putting combs in and out of pouches, putting toothpaste holders together and taking apart, sorting colors, matching, etc. You name it, we attempted it! I tried so hard to get her to respond to SOMETHING! ANYTHING!!! I failed in this, but it hasn't been accomplished by anyone before, so i didn't beat myself up too bad when my long term ended. I found a book in the room that was not a little kid book and every time she would go into avoidance i would read from Hawkes Cove. I loved the book, so i had no problem reading aloud when she decided she was done. I wasn't sure if she had been listening or what she is capable of grasping.....but a few days after i started the book she brought the book to me and pulled me to her favorite chair! This completely caught me off guard because i really think she hates me, if she is capable of having those feelings! End of day meant taking her to get changed again, backpack packed, and walking her out to the bus. Our schedule was pretty much the same on Red or Gold days, just a slight change on Gold days. During her block to go to Art, which she spent the second half listening to the Chorus class i took another one of the students to PE. He is in a wheelchair. He would do a couple laps with his peers and than much to his dismay i would take him into the PT Room for his Physical Therapy. This way he is out of his chair and getting some stretching and exercise done. I don't think he is out of his chair much. Getting him from his chair to the table is a bit tricky. He isn't fat, but SOLID! He is super social and loves to be with his friends, so that is the motivation during the 40 minutes of exercise we do on the PT Table so he can get back out and do whatever it is his classmates our doing! This is hard work, for both of us! He is really tight, so the positions i put him in are not comfortable. He is a sweetheart and i just keep reminding him that as soon as we are done we can go back out with his friends and PLAY!!! The kids are really good and let him join them for whatever they are doing and just modify for him to participate. From PE i take him to the cafeteria and get him his lunch, and than head back to the room and switch to get my student back and the other aide heads to the cafeteria to be back with her student. We had another field trip on Friday of week 2. It was Christmas shopping and lunch at Ci Ci's Pizza. First stop was the Dollar Store where we did some of her Christmas shopping. She had a few meltdowns and my shoulder was on fire from pulling her up off the floor and being careful of where she is injured and being drained. Next stop was WalMart. She enjoyed walking up and down the aisles and especially loved the kitchen section with all the appliances. CiCi's was next. She loves Coke and had one while we were there, carefully drinking out of a straw. She doesn't have very many teeth left, but she doesn't eat...and a straw doesn't require them. Our last stop was the Mall. She was done. Every time we passed a bench she pushed me toward it and we sat down while her other classmates looked in different stores. By the time we got on the bus, again, i wasn't sure if i would be able to get her off the bus! She stayed awake, YAY! Because we got back just in time for Pep Rally!!! We had front row seats and she seemed entertained watching all the madness going on with the kids getting ready for basketball games and wrestling matches! I think it also helped that her brother is a Senior and had the mic most the time talking....Got the word today, Peach tree has hired someone and i am done. I love the work with her, but wow! It is just exhausting! My only breaks are at diaper changes when i ask someone to watch her for as long as it takes me to quickly go to the bathroom and wash my hands!!! Thank goodness i was put in computer lab the following week because i had a TON of handwritten documentation that needed to be typed up!!! It took 2 days but everything has been typed up, photo copied and all the students work has been copied and everything is turned in!

I Have Froze All Week!

2011-12-16T11:06:00.002-05:00

I have spent this week subbing for the Distance Learning teacher who was in a car accident early Monday morning on her way to work. She is going to be ok, but she is out for the week recovering and i have her class. It is a piece a cake! Especially after the long term sub i just finished for an extreme Special Needs student i will write about in another blog. It has been great to get caught up on all my emails, purge downloaded photos, (i've deleted thousands of pixs!) and get somewhat caught up on all these blogs i have found still in draft form and even more in the family journal i type into every day. My only complaint is the thermostat is broken in here and i have literally frozen all day, every day this week! In between classes i power walk the halls for 3 minutes to defrost my blood and get it circulating again! Sooo, i was going thru pictures on my hard drive and decided to post pictures that remind me of times when i was sweating....i am limited on what i have on my work computer....but there are a few that are reminding me of times i had wished to be cooler....

Yes, i remember sweating to death taking Jasper for a walk while the boys swam...

Another VERY hot day....

Oh yes, i would sweat buckets every Saturday morning walking down these stairs to dive Meida Point, and sweat even more coming up the stairs after our dive...soaked in sea salt and sweat salt....i am feeling a little bit warmer now....

Another get soaked climbing Pina Blanca Cliffs so you could jump down to the murky waters below....

Painting a fence on a hot September day....

I sooo wanted to ditch the camera and jump in the water when Ryan was spending the day learning how to train a dolphin in Japanese!!!

After dive two and already sweaty again heading to our 3rd dive spot on a surprise date Ed took me on

Loving the coolness with Ty as we watched the Killer Whales on this hot day at Sea World with a very large Ryan in my tummy!

After a fun day snorkeling at Hanauama Bay in Hawaii, it was a VERY LONG, HOT hike back up the hill! Not sure why Danette is going down, oh, and she is wearing my clothes...lol

One Of My Rituals When The dude In Cammies Leaves

2011-12-15T10:33:00.000-05:00

Can you see what i left out?

Every wife has different rituals for when their Marine leaves...doesn't matter if it is for a week in the field, a month at a course, a couple months on an exercise, or a long deployment.....i have different ones pending where The Dude In Cammies is going and how long he will be gone. This was a short one, leaving early September and coming home mid November. He was off to do some random 1st Sgt stuff and than followed by whatever it is called now, the name has changed soo many times....i think it is currently called Enhanced Mojave Viper, but i could be wrong. I am the wife, not the Marine, so i really don't care. I really get a kick out of the wives who think they are the Marine and rattle on like they know it all, weather they do or not, 'cause like, really?!! Who cares! I would die with laughter if Ed was telling me all about the DODEA Family, structure, my bosses, bosses of those bosses, how to work with Special Needs kids, blah blah blahs! I think this is Ed's 4th time and i think it has been called something different each time. Last time it was called Mojave Viper, now Enhanced Mojave Viper....I can not remeber what it was called the time before that, but i do know it was something different. I am just glad each time he comes home safe. It seems every time he goes a Marine is lost due to an accident and several injuries from other accidents. This time a Sgt was killed when a Track rolled and several were hospitalized from injuries from the roll. Always breaks my hear when we loose a Marine, especially at training....probably why i have all these rituals for when Ed leaves. So, anyways, back to this blog about my ritual for short ones. I am constantly picking up things of Ed's, so when he leaves i will leave one thing out, right where he left it and it will remain in that spot until he comes home. This time it was his shaving cream that he used to shave his head right before he left. I scrubbed out all the grody shaving cream and stubble left behind, put the razor away, but the shaving cream stayed right where his hands had put it and stayed there until he came home and picked it up again. I also do dumb things like drag out his laundry so every batch of clothes that i fold there is something of his for me to put away. Probably sounds dumb, but it is the daily things i do for him that i miss terribly when he is gone. However, i do NOT miss the Q-tips on the floor because he always misses the trashcan and the toothpaste and stubble goo in the sink, glad we have 2!

His shaving cream, right where he left it....glad it was in the corner!

It's Not A Gun Mom!!!

2011-12-15T09:13:00.000-05:00

I asked the boys to come get their gun off the table. Ryan said they didn't have a gun on the table. I said there was a gun on the table and somebody better get it before it goes in the trash! Ryan came in the kitchen holding the 'gun' informing me that it was not a gun, just stuff he had tapped together to make a 'disguise' gun! Did not know there was a difference....

There are actually no gun parts here, just scooter handle bars, pieces from their bike and random toys...

School Spirit

2011-12-14T14:34:00.000-05:00

Vicki loves the fun part of High School. She always does whatever the dress up things are. This was during Spirit Week. She is dressed like a boy....wish i had the rest of the days but she would NOT let me take pixs! GRRRRRR!

She borrowed her brothers, clothes...shoes....but she still looks like a GIRL!! lol

Rawhides Found

2011-12-14T14:30:00.000-05:00

I sent Ryan outside to go find the rawhides since none were anywhere in the house! Ryan came back with an armful and Leah sat at attention waiting for Ryan to drop the stash!

Good Bye Jewlery Box

2011-12-14T14:23:00.000-05:00

Just a little beat over the last 3 decades...

I have had this Jewlery Box since I was 12. It has PCS'd with me as a child, wandered around with me in my young adult years and has PCS'd around the world again with me as an adult. It is still housing jewlery from my childhood that i never wear....my initials are no longer JLS....i try hard not to wear air plane earings anymore....and there is just a lot of really out of date stuff that isn't coming back in style....all the cool stuff has been moved into my tower jewelery box that Ed bought me and my most worn jewlery is in my favorite jewlery box i bought in Okinawa....soooo, i looked at all my childhood jewlery one last time and put the entire thing in the trash! One less thing to be following me around the world....now to just get to everything else!

This holds what i wear most....actually the bathroom counter holds my most worn items because i wear the same stuff everyday!

EWWWWW!!!!

2011-12-14T14:09:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I know, i mention my hatred of bugs often, especially spiders! But, they are here, everywhere, and so they must get into my blog periodically.....more for my sake...i am trying to overcome my fear....unfortunately for Spiders, i will never overcome my wanting to kill them to ease my fear of them....

I came home at night and IT was on my front door. I smashed my foot, in a shoe, into door. Fear overcome by death!

It actually took a couple of days before i could face the aftermath on the door and clean up the guts...

I'm Just Trying To Sleep!!!

2011-12-14T13:48:00.000-05:00

Poor Tank....the guy finds a nice place to go to sleep on a Fall morning and kaboom, both of his giant furry friends come along and want to join him....

Tank sound asleep....

Than Miss Wolfie comes along for a taste....

Tanks claws come out in a warning....

Now he is alert and ready to slice some furry canines if they keep talking smack about wanting his spot!

The Furry Friends have decided they will skip a nose slicing....

Jasper will just work on killing his rawhide he stole from Leah....

Ty, You Are Wearing A Skirt

2011-12-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

Ty was wearing these shorts today that looked like a skirt. I kept asking him why he was wearing a skirt and making him roll his eyes and show me that they were shorts.

He was getting quite annoyed with me by now....

Little Guy Sneaks In.....AGAIN

2011-12-14T13:34:00.000-05:00

I swear, it is like clockwork! As soon as Ed leaves the dogs jump up on the bed and somewhere along the way the little guy sneaks in. On summer days i always wake up to someone snoring, purring, or licking my ears....aside from his dragon breath, i do love waking up and finding the little guy snuggled in with me.

YUM!

2011-12-14T13:30:00.000-05:00

I made the yummiest sweet n sour chicken n rice concoction EVER! Ed came in smelling it and i said he could only have a little taste until dinner.....i gave him his little fish bowl and i am sooo glad i had my camera handy, he made me laugh sooo hard the way he even used the miniature spoon i gave him! Love that guy....

Sume Wrestling, Balloon Style

2011-12-14T13:27:00.000-05:00

After they got tired trying to keep all the balloons in the air, they decided to stuff them in their shirts and sumo wrestle, bouncing off of each other. If your balloon popped, you were out! It was quite hilarious to watch them bouncing off of each other! Ryan slammed into them the hardest! Amazingly, no balloons popped in this game....

Ty was just a little scared of being hit by Ryan's balloon tummy again!

The Balloon Wrestlers

Balloons Can't Touch The Floor, No Matter What!

2011-12-14T13:23:00.000-05:00

Ty, Ryan, and Cole became very involved in their balloon game! These balloons could not touch the floor no matter what! I just heard stuff falling and that saw Ty flying over the couch....luckily nothing was broken in their attempt to keep 8 balloons in the air at all times and at all costs!

Feathers Are Now In! (Braided Of Course!)

2011-12-14T13:18:00.001-05:00

Vixs finally got her feather braided into her hair! She has wanted it for awhile, but her schedule and the family schedule was just not conducive to this.....but yay, my friend Sonja was able to take her in one day to FINALLY get her pink feather braided into her hair. Unfortunately she was being a punk and i have no good picture of her braided pink feather....than one day she was done with it and just yanked it out of her head....

I don't know if it is my flash or her radiant personality causing all this brightness....?! lol

Let There Be No Confusion!

2011-12-14T13:12:00.000-05:00

Vicki and her Daddy run, sometimes before or after the sun comes up or down and sometimes where it is REQUIRED to wear the lovely reflector (please don't hit me with your car) belt. Apparently a belt was always MIA at run time, so Vixs put an end to THAT!!!

Time For Shots, Again

2011-12-14T13:04:00.000-05:00

The kids HATE getting shots! Always have, might always will. I have held them when they were babies and now i hold their hands....Cole, who we have known since Oki and can also pass easily as Ryan's brother was with us on this last Poking Adventure. When we went into Immunizations they asked for Cole's shot book and when i said he wasn't getting shots today they asked to take a look in his shot book to see if he was missing anything since his brothers were both getting a handful of injections. I laughed and said he was just a friend along for the laugh. :) As they waited in the waiting room Ty and Ryan were begging to go home and Cole was just giggling away. When it came time to go in, they both drug their feet, walked incredibly slow and at poke time wanted my hand and squeezed like they were going thru natural child birth! Ty said that a tear even escaped out of his eyeball! I will admit, i do love that they still want to hold my hand for shots!

Oh, the dread of waiting....

I am sure Ryan is contemplating an escape route....he's run before at poke time....

Ty still begging to leave....

Holding Ty's hand....

Ryan.....nothing else needs to be said.....but nice to see chicklet 2 coming in!

Holding Ryan's paw.....

Walked By At The Wrong Time....

2011-12-14T12:51:00.000-05:00

I love that Ed knows how to change the oil in our vehicles and can do it without me trying to figure out when i can get them in in between my work schedule and all the kids practices here there and everywhere! Ty was outside when Ed was pulling the jeep into the grass and Ed said, "Ty, it's time for you to learn how to do this, you will be glad later..." Ty grumbled and was not even remotly excited about leaving his friends to go climb under the Micromachine. But, too bad, Dad had spoken... By the time they were done though, Ty thought it was pretty cool, especially on how he would have more money in his pocket for doing something simple and not forking the dough over to someone else.

Time to change the oil in the Micromachine. I love that Ed wears the jammers i buy him!

Ty walked by at the wrong time...

Ed telling him the what's, where's, how's and why's....no who's?

Ty getting ready to do his thing....

loosening it.....

undoing it.....

Finally! The oil starts to drain out!

He is just growing up sooo fast!

Uhg....

2011-12-14T12:30:00.001-05:00

I just saw several drafts that apparently i never published when i was scrolling down to find a pix from an older blog.....so there will be some quite out of date posts comming up! Rather, i guess before this post! Some still need pixs....so they might be really late or just stay in the family journal where sooo many stories seem to stay these days....

I used to be really good about cutting the grass....until we moved here. The 6 years we lived on the tropical island of Okinawa i mowed and weed wacked every Thursday, rain or shine and during the hot summer months twice a week! I hate bugs and snakes and i saw plenty of bugs and snake skins to keep me motivated! But here, we are on Chomper #3!!! (And we havent even been mowing for 2 years yet!!!) I don't know what is up with lawn mowers and weed wackers here, but they break down constantly and they are only used about half the year! Ed is gone, again, he has been gone most of the summer, and so i have slacked a little on the yard, but only because Chomper #3 is a bugger and my muscles aren't strong enough to start him!!! But, as i stated, i am afraid of bugs and snakes and we have more here than i ever saw in our tropical paradise, so i am cutting the grass today, it has been 2 weeks and i am terrified there might be a snake out there wanting to bite my furry friends that i sometimes love more than my own kids, so....it is cut the grass today no matter what!!! UHG!!!

Someday i will turn it over to these guys....

I Love Jazmine!

2011-12-14T10:40:00.001-05:00

My neighbor Jill has 2 adorable dogs. When i am at her house she constantly apoligizes as they jump all over me with their excitement of smelling Jasper and Leah, whom they share fences with and communicate often. I have to remind Jill that they feel like cotton balls bouncing off of me and i really don't even notice them compared to our 80+ pound beasts! Every once in awhile, actually quite often, Jazmine manages to somehow get herself under the fence and into our yard. I am positive there is help on the digging from our 2 dogs.....i can always tell when she is back there because Jasper and Leah will have completly different barks. I love watching them run and play and when i think Jaz might be on the borderline of a heart attack by the pursuit of the 2 giant Beasts i go scoop her up! Much to the dismay of the Beasts, Jaz comes inside with me and i get to pretend like i have a little dog. Usually about this time Jill notices that Jaz is gone and i reluctantly take this cute little girl home.....

His car Won't Take Him There....

2011-12-13T12:26:00.000-05:00

I've said it close to a million times and i will say it again....my kids can say the funniest things, well to me, i am sure they are lame to those that did not give birth to them, but anyways, here is another piece of conversation from one of my kids. We are driving home the other night and we pass this (Ty says old, i say older) man in a VW Bug. His hair is all spiked up, he has a sweatband around his head, round (trendy) glasses, he is holding tight to his steering wheel and singing a song he obviously enjoys. Ty says, "looks like he is trying to get back to the 80's, but his car isn't gonna get him there." Than the conversation drifted to the car that was used in Back To The Future and that this dude in the VW needed to trade in for a DeLorean......

Mom, I Take That Back

2011-12-13T12:18:00.000-05:00

We were sitting in church and the oragn began playing a hymn. Ty leans over and whispers, "Mom, this sounds like a good ole pirate song." He starts swaying back and forth to the music with a big ole grin on his face. Than everyone starts singing, "Tis sweet to sing his matchless love...." Ty leans back over and says, "Mom, I take that back!"

Googeling Ed

2011-11-22T08:12:00.000-05:00

I think it is funny that whenever I google Ed I get pictures of him screaming.....sometimes doing other things, but mostle screaming....i'm not going to put any of the ones of him screaming at other Marines up though.....because i am nice....

Like I said.....

Otherwise he is teaching a Marine something....

...or an entire class of Marines something......

Just The Way I Want It!

2011-08-01T21:24:00.001-04:00

Vicki hates it when i take pictures of her. Most of my shots are blurry or there is a hand in front of her face. One evening this summer i caught this shot when she wasn't paying attention. The sun was setting and i knew the flash would make a really pretty shot with her blond hair and her lips would match the sky. Love it when a shot turns out just the way i want!

The Itty Bitties!

2011-07-14T22:47:00.000-04:00

David's fingers holding onto his Momma's finger

My sisters twins arrived unexpectedly and quite early! At 29 1/2 weeks they came in quite tiny! They made their grand entrance on July 8th at 9:41p.m. and 9:43 p.m. Matthew weighed in at 3 lb 0 oz, 15.5 inches long. David was a just a bit smaller at 1 lb 7oz and 12.5 inches long. Both boys were crying at delivery and breathing on their own! Good sign!!! My sister was discharged on day 4 and has a special place to stay right next to the hospital while she continues to recover and be close to her boys. Things are looking good and it will be fun to see who these itty bitties grow into! Oh, and they just got the lab results back, they are identical!!! Fun times ahead for sure! Can't wait to meet the itty bitties in person!!

Do NOT Take A Picture Next To A Princess....

2011-07-11T22:42:00.002-04:00

I don't know what i was thinking, but now i know to NEVER take a picture next to a Princess, they just make you look bad!!!

Beauty & The BEAST!

Yep, wishing i had some beautiful flowing gowns to hide myself under.....instead i am dressed for all the miles i put in hiking palaces and riding in Dragon Boats......i am on hour 10 of walking, jogging, and boating to all the sites that were on my list this day!

I tried on a Princess Gown! Unfortunately i didn't look very Princessy......

I even tried sitting like a Princess....still no Princessy look going on.....

Not even with my giant flower hat!!! But!!! With the right makeup however i could be a Princess in a Star Wars movie!!

Priceless Peek-A-Boo

2011-07-10T21:24:00.001-04:00

I guess this might not have been the best place to play Peek-A-Boo.....

I Love Bella.......The Dog!

2011-07-08T17:07:00.000-04:00

I love Bella! Not the Twilight Bella, i think she is actually kind of a dork.....but a dog named Bella! She is the coolest canine! Our neighbors are fostering her until they find her a home. I would take her if i didn't already have 2 Twilighters in the household! She is the cutest dog and so i just enjoy playing with her.....while i secretly hope that they foster her FOREVER!!!!

She loves it when you whisper in her ear

Trying to hold her head up for a picture, but she kept closing her eyes and wanting to lick me!

It's Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? Dolphin!

2011-07-08T16:55:00.001-04:00

We go to the beach a LOT! Lucky for me Marines are usually near water! I have lucked out our entire marriage always being close to a beach! This is actually the furthest we have lived from the beach.....so we would go more often if it was just a bit closer....Vicki and Ed were in the waves and Vicki was telling Daddy how lucky he was because he sees dolphins every time they take the Amtracks out. As soon as those engines come on the dolphins come, more than one! Just as she finished telling her Daddy all this a dolphin came and jumped right in front of them! I wish i had my camera to capture Vicki's face! She was in complete shock! She said at first she wasn't sure what had just jumped in front of her! The dolphin was sooo close that if she had known it was coming and was going to jump she could have reached right out and touched him! The dolphin kept swimming back and forth and so i went and got my camera. By the time i got back over he was already going further and further out to sea, so didn't get any up close pixs.....but i don't think Vicki will need a picture to remember her dolphin encounter at Onslow!

Dream Highjacker!

2011-07-06T22:57:00.000-04:00

Teenage daughters are hillarious! Here is just one example....conversation with the Vixs;
Vicki, "Mom, remember that dream where the big scary alligator was living in our house?"
Me, "yeeeeeeesssss...?"
Vicki, "Was that my dream?"
Me, "Ummmmm, no daughter, that was MY dream!"
Vicki, "Oooohhhh, well you told in such detail i couldn't remember if it was my dream or your dream, followed by giggles"
Me, "You are a dork ya big Dream Highjacker!!!"

A No Shirt Whistle Boy

2011-07-05T20:47:00.000-04:00

Ed and i heard someone whistling in the back seat. I turned around to see who it was. It was Ryan and somewhere along the way he had taken off his shirt. I never know what to expect with this kid....

Life Size Gingerbread Boys

2011-07-05T20:42:00.001-04:00

I found an oven big enough to cook life size gingerbread boys!! I had Ty and Ryan try the oven on for size! Perfect!!!!

Splish

2011-07-05T20:23:00.000-04:00

Vicki was being a total little brat and Ed decided to cool her down by throwing her in the pool, it worked. She emerged much happier!

Splash!

2011-07-05T19:47:00.000-04:00

Ty was egging on his Dad with no mercy.....not that he has been taught any other way.....sooooo his Dad was done and in one swift moment Ed had scooped up Ty and was heading out the back door to throw him in the pool, clothes and all! Ryan, Alex, and Logan all tried to save Ty, but it was no use. Ty was lifted up, his pants were falling down in the struggle (no pictures of that part are posted), and than one big giant SPLASH! Ty had been defeated......and no, I didn't really expect this story to end any other way.

Ed drug Ty and Ryan while Logan and Alex each sat on a foot trying to keep him from getting to the pool

Logan was thrown in next

Ty coming up from his Splash!
2011

I See Me!

2011-06-27T20:55:00.000-04:00

Vicki fell asleep at one of the boys early morning baseball games, i took a picture of her. After downloading it on my computer i zoomed into her glasses and found me!

Jewelry Box Treasures

2011-06-27T19:48:00.000-04:00

My kids love to go thru my jewelry box.....Vicki for my jewelry, the boys- not so much for my jewelry, but for the things they find as they open different drawers and find hidden compartments. The latest treasure of mine they brought me was this:

Ty's FBI Badge that he made while we were on Okinawa. He even took a pencil and colored his finger with the lead and made his own fingerprint that he covered with a piece of tape so nobody could erase it! Yep, a thief wouldn't be happy to open my jewelry box but i would be devestated to loose my treasures inside!

Mermaid's

2011-06-27T19:39:00.001-04:00

I wonder sometimes if Vicki was born with my love for the water or if it was just brainwashed into her since she was born in Sunny Southern California and spent most of her life in San Diego and the Tropical Island of Okinawa with beautiful beaches minutes a way....This in turn makes me wonder if I was born with My Mother's love for the water or if it was just brainwashed into me since I was born in San Diego and spent my early years minutes away from warm water beaches in Sunny Southern California and the Tropical Republic of the Philippines...? Or, maybe we are just decendents of a special breed of Mermaids.....

I can float for hours, literally! I just close my eyes and fall asleep while ocean critters take up residence in my hair!

Ryan's Big Guns

2011-06-27T19:14:00.001-04:00

Ryan is sooo cute!!! He could care less what people think and will pose any way asked of him! He didn't even think twice when Ed asked him to show us his "Big Guns" in front of this picture.

For Jorden

2011-06-27T18:55:00.001-04:00

Jorden is my Skater Dude.....he has had a board as long as i can remember! I got my first skateboard when i think i was 8 and loved it! I am just not as good as Jorden and i don't skateboard anymore.....but when i saw this giant skateboard i couldn't resist and had to send this picture to Jorden's phone!

Stop?

2011-06-27T18:38:00.000-04:00

Sooooo, i wonder if someone watches this sign and trims it or if we just don't stop once it is covered...?

China Heard My Pleadings!

2011-06-27T18:23:00.000-04:00

I have been looking for Bright Stripe Bedding for years!!! I really did not think it was an odd request to want our bedding in our room to have a bright beachy look.....apparently it is not an odd request but more of a rare request! I have googled bedding for years with no success and once we arrived Stateside went into every place i ever saw that sold bedding in search of Bright Stripes! I even tried to get our LV Bedding i had made in Korea to atleast have the bright colored LV's, but they could only do in black and white or a brown/tan and white, so opted for the guy to make me the Black & White Louis Vuitton bedding set while i continued my Bright Stripe Bedding search.....years passed....nothing had been found.....if Ed and I shared a twin bed it would have been a piece of cake! But finding a King size comforter was just NOT happening.....and than all of sudden, there it was! A KING SIZE BRIGHT STRIPE COMFORTER!!! I finally have my Bright Stripe Comforter! Of course, i had just picked out all my beachy fabrics, i think there were like 12 different fabrics i chose for a custom made beach quilt.....but it will take a while to be made....so for now i am just happy that China heard my pleadings!

To Sea!!

2011-06-24T16:10:00.000-04:00

Ed is such a good sport when it comes to living with me....He really didn't want to do this.....but he loves me......so he did.....and i love him even more now!

Strawberry Picking 2011

2011-06-24T16:07:00.000-04:00

I love going to the farms and picking my fruits and vegatables fresh! The kids grumble but i have them take turns going with me....this time it was Vicki's turn.....I picked most of the really yummy strawberries while Vixster complained and found a few as she wondered absantmindly up and down the rows and rows of delicious strawberries.....

It was a beautiful day and everything was sooo GREEN!!

She just sauntered up and down the rows...

Miss Grumbles!!!

My first of many yummy bowls of fresh strawberries!

Pack & Boots

2011-06-24T15:31:00.000-04:00

I never EVER blog when he is leaving for all those short weeks here and there because i am a scaredy cat, so when i blog about him leaving on endless training that he already knows, probably better than the back of his hand, he is already home....but this is the site each night before he leaves on his fun Marine outings. I tease him about how it isn't fair that he gets to go camping with all of his friends, and hike around, and drive cool vehicles, shoot awesome weapons, blow things up, and of course the ocean swims! The dolphins always come when the tracks hit the waves! Oh! AND they even wear super cool make up that hides all your flaws when they are out on these camp outs! I am not jealous of the swamp swims though....it isn't so much the aligators, but the snakes! My luck i know i would get the hello via fangs injecting toxins to kill me greeting! He never takes pictures, so i ony have this image, the "Pack" that he begrudingly packs grumbling the entire time, his "Boots" and that cool "Vest" he gets to wear on their nature walks.....

3 Boys + 3 Trees = P x 3

2011-06-24T15:18:00.000-04:00

Not much to say for this post.....only that i love my boys, and sometimes i am just a bit envious....just sometimes....

After......

Mothers Day From Texas!

2011-06-23T12:52:00.000-04:00

Not sure why this is sideways...watching first baseball game

The GIANT card from Jorden

Yes, i am quite behind in my blogging and most will be out of order due to how annoying it is to attach pixs to my journal entries! So, when i have a minute, i pull an entry from my journal, copy and paste to here, and than the uhg part of adding photos.....but today is another stay inside day due to the fires, so catching up on the Blogger....Mothers Day Weekend of this year, 2011, began with the mad dashing to baseball games! No complaints here, can't think of anything more fun to do on a Saturday morning than watch my boys smack balls out to the outfield and cross home plate! The surprise today was coming home between games and finding a giant envelope on our front porch!!! It was from Jorden with a giant Mothers Day Card in it. He has always remembered my Birthday, and Mothers Day, and of course Christmas. Usually Mothers Day it has been a card that he has made and had his little siblings sign and a deluctable chocolate bar inside. he knows where my passion lies! Obviously he couldn't send me a chocolate bar from one hot state to another, but i love my card and it might be a permament fixture in front of the fireplace until the Fall!!!