Skip-Bo Fun

It was a fun night at our house playing Skip-Bo! It is one of our favorite games to play together!

Gingerbread Houses

We made gingerbread houses.....it was fun.....but not very pretty.....but still fun!

Yummy Treats In The Mail

My brother Monte sent us yummy Christmas goodies! He said he remembered how much time i spent in the kitchen last year when he was visiting at Christmas baking and so he wanted to send goodies so i could spend more time enjoying Ed home. Well, we are definitely going to enjoy these yummy Christmas goodies from Mrs. Fields!!! 

It Just Needs an Egg

Misrepresentation of Cookies

Sun Roof Open Today!

Today was gorgeous!!!!

Happy Mornings!

Mornings are better when Mr. Hottie drives me to work!!! He's driven me a LOT this week!!! I love being driven!!!  I can read sooo many news stories on the way to work and take fun pixs with the driver!

Lets Try It On Our Tree!!!

I wonder if this will work on our tree....? We have had it for 13 years and it is still 7 1/2 feet tall....

Aquarium Study Trip

Today was our study trip to the Aquarium.  Love this place and we had a totally fun day! Love my underwater friends!!!

Me being silly....i sent this picture to the peeps i work with while we were driving the bus there. They laughed...

Love all the Santa Hats on the fishies

Sooo cute!!!

Ed and I should take up this for a part time a job....

This alligator was soooo funny!!!

I give this froggy a kiss every time i go here..... 

Happy Thoughts....

Love the underwater world....

After School

Today after school.....most days after school.....boys doing homework and now Vicki studying for her ASVAB.....I'm gonna miss not seeing the kids around the kitchen table while i start dinner and all the grumbles and groans and jokes and giggles and chit chats....

He Can Wear Jorden's Clothes!

Jorden left one of his sweaters here from when he was in High School back in 2009-2010.  It is hanging in Ty's closet.  Ed put it on today with one of Ty's hats and was laughing saying how he can now wear his kids clothes.  We laughed and laughed!!!!

Dinner

After the gym tonight we showered and changed clothes and went out to dinner. Ed's dad had sent us a gift card for Cracker Barrel to go out to dinner when The Dude in Cammies came home. It was a perfect night to have dinner together. The food was delicious and of course the boys had to challenge each other at checkers! It was a perfect Friday night!

Ryan Advances

Ryan is now on the other side challenging himself on the more difficult ones. He loves it and is doing really good at this new sport he has discovered! He climbed until his hands were hurting and his arms were too tired. I'm hoping he doesn't decide he wants to climb real rocks in the great outdoors!!!!

6 Seconds Or Less

Ryan has gotten soo fast on climbing the beginning cable on the rock wall at Lejeune. I think he gets up there in like 6 seconds and than calls down to me, waves, and than does his favorite part of releasing and letting the cable lower him. This is where he warms up first every time before he begins challenging himself on the harder ones.

Special Olympics

Today our kids were able to go the the USMC New River Air Station and participate in the 15th annual Winter Special Olympics of basketball skills. It was a great day with some pretty special people! Wounded Warrior Battalion Echo helped at each of the events. Truly a remarkable day. Love the people I work with and seeing our kids faces light up with excitement! Our kids also get a huge welcome being from the Base High School and the volunteers, all active duty, know our kids belong to a fellow Service Member. The volunteers are awesome to everyone but I think the base kids hold a special bond of family to them.

December Flip Flops

When I left for work this morning it was 68 degrees. By the time I hit Jacksonville it was 70 and when I hit the gate at 7:02 it was 72 degrees! I have LOVED being in flip flops all week in December and soo glad I looked at the weather and got my piggies painted!!! Loving this weather and not being in socks and boots!!!

Only if Mom Makes It!!!

Ed asked the kids if they wanted hot chocolate tonight.  The kids hollered back, "only if Mom makes it!!!" He was crushed and laughed and asked why.  They told him that Moms is better than his.  I told him i would make it.  I had to take several containers out of the fridge to rearrange some things.  Vicki comes into the kitchen and says, "You put ALL that in our hot chocolate?!!!  Maybe there are some things i just don't want to know!!!" I laughed and told her i don't do a complete Hot Chocolate Suicide, just a few of the items go in it!!!

Christmas Cuddles For Tank

Tank was up on Ed's lap loving his cuddle time!

Christmas Caroling

Tonight for Young Mens and Young Womens we teamed up with the Relief Society and Missionaries and went to The Heritage House to deliver treats, stockings, and sing Christmas Carols.  We stuffed the stockings first before heading over there.  One of my friends embroiders their names on the stockings so each resident gets a stocking with their name on it. Ty and Ryan did a great job taking stockings to the different individuals and we would all sing whatever song they requested. It was a fun evening.  When we were getting ready to leave Ryan said, "I feel like i just did the most awesome thing in the whole wide world! They were sooo happy to have us there and that makes me feel sooo good inside! Oh, and Mom, you can scratch everything off my Christmas list. We already have so much.  Just that one video game and nothing else." Yep, nothing feels better than showing your love to others. 

Bella The Elf

Bella is getting in the Christmas spirit with her Elf hat!!! She is pretending she doesn't like it!!! She is a good pretender!!!

Soy Sauce, Chocolate Chip Chicken, Leaf Raking

Tonight the kids were just extra funny!!!  I called everyone to dinner. Ty asked what was for dinner and i told him orange chicken and rice. He jumped out of his chair yelling, "Soy Sauce!!!" But in this totally funny Asian accent.  I still can't believe i took a picture that fast of him yelling this over and over again!!!

Somehow the Santa Cookie plate ended up at someones place setting....

Ty couldn't wait to put soy sauce on his rice!!!

Somehow a tin of cookies got passed around the table during dinner....Ty

looked at the tin of cookies and asked, "Is this chicken with chocolate

chips?" We all busted out laughing and said YES!!! It was hilarious!!

After dinner Ryan decided he wanted to dive into a pile of leaves and so he began raking leaves.  I was teasing him about making sure he didn't rake any dog poo into his leaves and he reassured me he was being extra cautious on dog poo!!!

When Ryan wasn't looking Ty his one of his guns in the pile as he was teasing his Dad while Ryan was raking and he wanted to be prepared when his Dad finally chased him down....

Ryan finally got tired of Ty bothering his leaf pile.....Ty might be chased down by everyone tonight!! He might want to break out a bottle of his "Soy Sauce!!!"

December 1st Skip-Bo

A Marine at 7 AM a Civilian at 2:45 PM

Jasper Had To Go Outside!

The Dude (not in) Cammies had to bring all his gear inside so he could do the ‘home from deployment ritual’ of going thru everything that made it home with him and matching those items with the inventory sheet of everything Supply issued out to him to take to the Battlefields.  The best way to do this is to FIRST, spread it all over the living room floor.  Well, Jasper was NOT happy with this at all!  The poor dog began to get VERY agitated and I think might have been on the verge of a Panic Attack! We had to put him outside…..he was just going a little crazy!!! Next, The Dude calls out an item on the list and the boys find it.  This is everything from magazine holders to grenade things to flashlights!  Yes, our kids are quite good at this kind of thing, like all good Military Brats are!  Thank goodness the weapons are turned in prior to us even picking him up! Ed makes sure it matches up and then the kids move the item to a new pile in the hall.  We eventually end up with a giant mountain of gear! Then it is all miraculously stuffed back into a pack and bag! Again, it has been another Deployment Inventory where everything is accounted for! He knew he was missing a shirt when he got home and so he ordered one online as they are not available to purchase around here and that was able to be put in the mountain of gear prior to being stuffed back in a pack! After everything was packed back up and sitting by the kitchen waiting to be loaded in the jeep in the morning Tank came sauntering in and jumped on the pack and bag. Um, yep, Tank was taken off the gear and Ed immediately put everything in the garage! Tank is NOTORIOUS for spraying The dude in Cammies packs. I think it is his way of saying “I don’t want you to go, but if you must, well your gear is safe from anyone coming near it!!!”  

Santa's List

I just couldn’t stop laughing when I came into the living room and saw Mr. Hottie on the couch with his Inventory List.  I asked him if he was going over his Naughty or Nice list.  He didn’t see the humor……but than nothing is humorous when he is going over gear issued over a year ago, especially stuff he never uses because like all good Marines, he has his OWN stuff he prefers but he still has to leave with it, keep track of it in a hostile, crazy, dirty, and dangerous environment and hope to return with it all, because we all know that gear issued costs a million times more than gear you can buy!!!! It is also frustrating because NOTHING is supposed to break during the year on the Battlefield and somehow be in great condition to turn in.  The Government thinks you go to the Battlefields and sit the whole time in a clean perfect weather environment I s’pose…..these people that decide what gear should look like on return need to actually wear the stuff for atleast 6 months out in the elements. Just an idea….but like all good ideas for the military it will never be utilized…..sigh……sooooo, anyways, he was not finding any humor…..but I still laughed……hahahahahahahahahaha!!! And, when all was said and done everything was there, some stuff still in their original packages.

 

Tank & Santa Hats

Tank sends his Christmas Greetings to everyone!!! Although, he is NOT thrilled to send them wearing a Santa hat!!!  But i think he looks great in it!!!