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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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?

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!

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!!

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

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

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

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!

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!!! 

Body Surfing

Nobody grabbed the boogie boards this beach trip, so we only had our bodies to use in the waves.....we all still had a ton of fun as the waves were fast and crashing hard!



They are heading out boogie-board-less



Ed....i can think of several captions.....

Ryan & Ty

Ryan & Ty

Ty & Ryan

Ryan coming in

Ryan just hangin' out

I am not sure if Ed is aware of the two sea creatures that have attached themselves to him...

Tag On The Beach

Dad's IT!! Run ty, RUN!!!

Ty's IT!!!

Run Vicki, RUN!!!

Ty's Gonna Get you!!!

We love the beach!!!  Or actually, Ed might say "Julia loves the beach, and so everyone has been brain washed to be beach lovers..."  Any hoot, we love going to the beach.  This is the furthest i have lived from the beach in decades!  It takes about 40 minutes unless we go to the River, which is 20 minutes, but a river is just not the same!  Today the kids and Ed were playing tag and i had fun just jogging behind them taking pixs!

Ty's Car

We found a perfect car for Ty, well for today anyways, since it matches his shirt purrrrrrfectly!!!

Painting A Mural

We LOVE going to Beaufort NC!  It is North Carolina's 3rd oldest town....211 years old! Many of the original homes still standing.  We had fun painting a mural that should be up and hanging next time we come to town!