Christmas Cards

Someone asked me once why I send Christmas cards with all the work and expense why bother, right? Well I love everything about doing the cards. I love looking back over the year for the perfect photo or taking one special during the year. I love that the girls will look back over those photos someday, as I look back on the one's my mom did for us, and see how much we have changed and how many different places we have lived. I love looking at all the fun card designs on Shutterfly (I must have really liked last year's because this one is nearly identical). I even like figuring out what to say on the card so I don't have to hand write everything. I love the time we spend together as a family getting the cards ready to go in the mail (isn't it fun to get mail that isn't a bill or low interest rate notice??).

But the thing I love the most is thinking of each person on my Christmas card list and thinking about how they have touched my life. I get to replay memories from how I know each person whether we worked together and at which company, if we met playing tennis, spent crazy nights at the bar, had water fights in high school, or shared just a short time during one of our Navy moves. Even if I only contact you this one time each year please know it is my way of letting you know that you are special to me.

Another reason to love living in GA

One of the best things about living in coastal areas is having impromptu trips to the beach. Today I took dinner to a friend in Fernandina so we made the extra trek to the beach. It was a little cloudy and threatening rain, but that didn't stop us from playing chase the sea gulls, freeze tag, and looking for shells. I usually love to go to the ocean when Ben is gone because it makes me feel just a bit closer to him.

Here are a couple photos from our adventure. And I should note that we all managed to stay dry!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So back in about 6th or 7th grade there was a bake sale at school. A friend and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. There was some sort of mix up with the baking soda and baking powder and we had these horrible rock cookies that never spread out. Ever since I have struggled to make a decent chocolate chip cookie and ever since discovering Schwan's frozen chocolate chip cookie dough there really is no need to make this type of cookie from scratch.

Now I should point out that I absolutely LOVE to bake and cookies especially. There isn't anything more relaxing than baking a batch of cookies from scratch.

Today I decided to use a bag mix to make some chocolate chip cookies thinking there was no way I could mess these up right??? Wrong! Again I have little lump cookies that didn't spread. I'm sure it is because my butter was too cold, but hey it's getting late and after melting the first stick I wasn't willing to risk going for softer. However, these cookies taste better than the middle school batch so someone will be forced to eat them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Everyone has been doing thankful posts on fb and it got me to thinking about what I'm thankful for...

• I'm thankful I have Ben to love me even though I can't have him close all the time.
• My crazy girls. They really make me laugh and remind me how special life is.
• My mom (who else can you call 10 times while preparing for turkey day and she is still happy you called) and the rest of my family I can't wait to see at Christmas!
• That my renters are almost living up to their name.
• So thankful I have wonderful friends to share the holiday with.
• To the Navy for taking us to so many places to meet so many wonderful people that I treasure.

I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! Please enjoy your families and be happy they are there to make you crazy :o)

Why I should write things down

So last night as I was laying in bed trying to drift off to sleep at a somewhat decent hour I came up with a great idea for a blog post on...something, I think it was about family and thinking about the future. Anyway when that one comes back to my brain I will post about it. In the mean time I will try to post on a few things I have been putting off while I was trying to soak in as much of Ben as I could while he was still around. We were really busy with the girls this summer so I will post some fun pictures soon.

Hope everyone is well...and hug your family or dog or friend it makes you feel good.

KBSWOC Cookbook

In case you were wondering why I haven't been posting...I have been completely consumed with a new volunteer project. I took on being the chair of the Kings Bay Submarine Officers' Wives' Club Ways and Means Committee this year. And I am having a blast!

I remember when I worked in corporate America there were always volunteer opportunities available to me so I didn't have to put forth a lot of effort to help out. Then when I wasn't working I didn't make the effort and didn't realize how much of an impact helping others can have on your level of happiness.

So the committee and I have put together a bunch of donation drives, fundraisers, and service projects to keep us involved in our community over the next year. 100% of the proceeds raised throughout the year will be distributed to local non-profit organizations through the KBSOWC Community Grants Program in May. The application deadline is April 1, 2010 please visit kingsbaysowc.com for more information on the program or an application.

We came up with this great idea of putting together a cookbook for a fundraiser. So over the past month we have compiled, edited, sorted, proofed, proofed, and proofed 300 wonderful recipes. Meanwhile, one of our members painted a gorgeous cover for us.

In case you are wondering the cookbooks will be available in November and cost $20 +$3.95 shipping if you live out of state. The cookbook is 7 x 9 inches, bound with a 3 ring binder, and a beautiful full color cover. Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing one so we are sure to order enough :o)

And here is a recent photo of Ben the girls...Morgan's hair is finally growing out.

Things I loved about today

Cuddling with my girls first thing in the morning and listening to them tell each other about their dreams.

Spending time with a good friend.

Being present for the first time a boy told Morgan he loved her...and all she had to say was "WHAT???"

Being productive.

Having dinner with the family at Chick-fil-a and watching the girls discuss whether they want ice cream cones or cups through the glass.

Playing wii with my most favorite person in the whole world...even though he beat me, again!

Okay, Okay!

It is so wonderful to know that you all are actually reading my blog. I am so sorry to be behind. We are headed to Sea World this weekend, but I promise when I get back I will post about Morgan's birthday, recent visitors and whatever else has been keeping me from blogging.

Overheard: Growing up

Me: Someday you will be able to trim your own nails.
Nora: When I get big?
Me: Yeah, but you should enjoy being a girl.
Her: Why? Because when I grow up I'm going to be a boy?

Super Cute Burgers

My very sweet and cute neighbor Brittney made these yummy treats on the 4th of July and I thought it was too cute not to share. I'm not sure how anyone with a newborn in the house has the time or energy for this sort of thing, but they looked and tasted great!

For full directions visit http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2009/06/fast-food-fun.html

Family Time

Ben recently returned from sea and had some much needed time off. We did lots of sight seeing around town and headed to Atlanta for a family vacation. I have always wanted to go to the World of Coke Museum and Ben wanted to go to a baseball game so off we went. We didn't make it to the game, but the Coke Museum did not disappoint.

The girls loved the aquarium and while they visited the gift shop I was able to tour the special Titanic exhibit. Upon entering the exhibit they give you a boarding pass with a name on it and tell you to check at the end to see if "you" lived. This really affected me as I was watching kids run around joking about how they died. But those were real people with real families that froze to death for no reason. I just felt like they deserved more respect than that.

We also toured the CNN Center, visited the Underground, & the Zoo. It was a very busy couple of days, but very fun!

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Visti from the Mayo's

One of the nice things about Navy life is meeting wonderful people along the way. One of the first couples we met was Jeremy and Katie Mayo. They had their first baby just before leaving Charleston and moving to the West coast. Ben met up with them once out there, but I hadn't seen them for years. They were on their way to FL last month and paid us a visit. It was so great to catch up with them and spend some time with their adorable kiddos! We hit the pool and the zoo while they were here.

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Paradise 2009

My cousin Todd seems to be missing my blog so here are some photos from our trip to Paradise. You loyal blog readers will remember that last year we were lucky enough to be invited along to Paradise last minute by my friend Mary, but this year we planned it while our husbands were off fighting the war (yes, we feel mildly guilty about this). I was worried that last year we hyped the trip up too much and maybe it wasn't as wonderful as we remembered and going again would in some way taint the memory, but I am happy to report that it was just as fabulous this year!!!

Thank you Mary and Hannah for sharing Paradise with us again this year, we had a great time!

Funniest Commercial EVER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOBdTP9ZB-I

Photos from the last month

So I have been trying to stay busy since Ben went underway and have been slacking on the blog again. Nora finished up preschool and soccer (finally). It has rained nearly 9 inches here since Sunday. The sun finally came out for about 30 minutes on Thursday and the girls and I were nearly blinded (notice Morgan's hat and glasses in the slide show). But overall things are going okay. Just looking forward to the summer when hopefully we will get to spend some quality time with Ben.

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Going out of business

So I started selling Mary Kay when Nora was about 6 months old and I thought I might lose my mind at home. It really filled a need for me at the time and I love getting my products for cheap (because I use a lot of it), but the time has come to close my doors. So this is your last chance to support my business and score yourself a sweet deal on some make up!

So for one day only ~Friday, May 15th~ you can get any item I have in-stock for 40% off (ask me for a list) and anything else is 20% off. Just let me know what you need!

P.S. Sorry to use my blog to push my business, but this has been the only time and will obviously be the last :o)

P.P.S. Thank you to everyone that has supported my business over the last 4 years!

Sunrise by Nora Miller

So the other morning Nora woke up a little early and told me she wanted to sit on the porch and paint the sunrise. Here is her interpretation. Of course I think it is fabulous!!!!

Scorpion

So it turns out the south has every kind of bug known to man. Today I let out a very loud bug scream. This is a particular scream that Ben knows means there is a ridiculous creature in the house. Today that creature was a scorpion. Yuck! I've had the heebie-jeebies all day!!! Someday I long to live in a place where there are less bugs and snakes.

Health Insurance

Thank God or at least the US Navy for health insurance! Here is what we have been up to lately...

April 12, Easter - Take Morgan to the ER after her fever of 105 didn't let up all day. Determined she had a UTI, start nasty tasting antibiotics.
April 16 - Take Morgan to the Dr for a follow up. She has a clean bill of health. Take Nora because she has 104.4 fever. They determine she has strep and start her on amoxicillin. Also get referred to a pediatric cardiologist because he heard a heart murmur and wants to be sure it is nothing.
April 18 - Ben sees the boat Doc for a fever over 105. Strep is blamed again.
April 21 - Take Morgan to the urgent care in Yulee, FL (inside a wal-mart no less) because she has an allergic reaction to something, we think it is either crab or chlorine. Prescribed prednisone.
April 22 - Take Morgan to the regular Dr. so we can get a referral to an allergist in GA (had one in SC, but now we are starting over).
April 26 - Take Nora to the urgent care because she is covered head to toe in a rash. They determine she is allergic to amoxicillin. Prescribe prednisone.
April 28 - Score a speedy appointment to the cardiologist in JAX. Heart murmur is no big deal, not a heart defect. But he is concerned about the rash and starts asking me a lot of questions. He said before there was a blood test for mono they used to give kids amoxicillin to see if they broke out in a rash. If they did then they had mono not strep. He didn't want me thinking she was allergic to the antibiotic if she wasn't because it is used for so many different things.
April 29 - Take Nora to base Dr. They determine that she does indeed have mono. I have to admit this freaked me out a little at first, but the Dr. wasn't very concerned and with doing some research online I'm not either. And am pleased that she was able to get this illness out of the way when she was young so it doesn't get her later. Here is a link with some information about mono in case you have any questions or concerns...http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/infectious-mononucleosis-topic-overview
June 8th - Heading to the allergist...

Things

Wow I am a total slacker! 20 days without a real post...lame. Okay so we haven't been sitting around doing nothing. We went to the zoo, the beach to watch the USS Maryland to return, enjoyed opening day, hunted butterflies, a few egg hunts, decorated eggs, got some fun Easter presents (Thanks Grandma Mary, Grandpa Marty, Grandma Sal and Grandma Katie), a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, Moe's and Krispy Creme, haircuts, a visit from the Easter Bunny, Nora and Ben went to a baseball game, we all went to the ER with Morgan (just a really high fever due to a UTI), decorated some bunny houses, and visited the doctor for Nora (some crazy fever and sore throat). Since then we have been prisoners in the house as to not spread our lovely germs with all our wonderful friends and many strangers. Now Ben is down for the count.

Here are some photos from our adventures!

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Behind

Yes, I know I am a little behind on my blog, but Ben is home!!! Yeah!!!! So I will post some fun things in the next few days.

A few good things...

So today is a day I could complain and whine, but so many nice things happened today that I would prefer to share those.

• You already know this from a previous post, but I love Chick-fil-a and have a new reason today. On Tuesday nights between 5-7 pm you receive one free kids meal with the purchase of an adult meal. In addition to all of the wonderful things in my previous post they have clowns doing face painting and balloon animals and the cow was in the house! The girls got the biggest kick out of the cow!
• I won my singles league match today!
• I caught the right person at my home owners office and she gave me pool keys for free (long story here, but we are being positive remember)
• A new friend brought me flowers, a card, and most of all the support I needed to get through this day.
• Another friend watched my girls so I could play in that tennis match.
• Another friend called to see how my day was going and taught me loads about Navy stuff.
• Another friend gave me a pen at the store when I (Morgan) lost mine.
• I'm pleased that my hot water heater is big enough to fill the big tub for the girls and I still have enough hot water to take as long a shower as I want.
• I love that my girls love their daddy and can't wait for him to be home.
• Oh and this happened yesterday, but I love that my neighbor ran to get me Chinese food when the girls refused to go out to dinner.
  
  

Saint Simons Island

Our sweet neighbors, Ms. Janet & Mr. Mike, invited Mr. John, the girls, and me to join them for a day trip to St. Simons. They used to live there so they know all the good places to eat! We had ice cream at Zuzu's...twice, checked out the pier, two different beaches, some shops, a playground, a lighthouse and had a yummy burger for dinner! Whew! I can't believe I can stay awake to blog about it. The girls crashed on the way home and I just put them to bed in their clothes, sand and everything. Thank you neighbors for a wonderful day!

P.S. Jen I owe you a real tour of St. Simons on your next visit. Sorry :o)

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Gnats

Gnats have to be one of the most annoying creatures on this planet. We had them occasionally in South Carolina, but nothing like we have in Georgia. They swarm in huge clouds, get stuck in your ears, lip gloss, eyes, hair and everywhere else. It is amazing how a creature so dang tiny can inflict so much pain and itching on a grown person, not to mention poor Morgan (the bugs really love her). And for some reason bug spray, even 100% deet and skin so soft will not keep them off of you. I have grown to really appreciate a good breeze! I hear these terrible creatures disappear when the temperature stays above 78 degrees, so this summer when I'm blogging about how bloody hot it is just remind me that at least the gnats are gone.

You might be wondering why I bring this up today, well I'll tell you. Since Nora has started soccer Morgan and I are now stuck outside for an hour during dusk while Nora sits on the soccer field and picks flowers. Today Morgan and I were running laps to keep the bugs off. Maybe Nora playing soccer will keep me in shape too.

A few firsts

So the girls and I are still trying to stay busy and have done some fun things lately. On St. Patty's Day we had our neighbors, Mr. John, Mike and Janet, over for corned beef and cabbage. It is fun to share yummy food (Janet made a yummy coconut cake and Mr. John brought some green ice cream) and conversation with friends.

On Friday we had a birthday party to go to at a bowling alley. It was the first time the girls have ever been bowling and they loved it! Well all except the part about having to wait their turn. Just imagine when they have to learn that you really have to wait for the person next to you as well. Thanks for inviting us Kelly!


Then today we bought some new kites and headed out to the park with Mr. John. This was the first tme they have done this and my first time in many years. We went to wal-mart so they could both pick out the kite they wanted and Nora picked a Barbie one and Morgan a dragon (he is really hard to fly). They had a great time, but I didn't pick a very good park...too many trees blocking the wind. So after attempting the new kites and Mr. John's two, the girls were ready to head for the play gound.


Oh and one other exciting first...the first and hopefully last time the girls ate food coloring. I'm pretty sure they thought it was frosting.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

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Soccer

A while back I asked Nora if she wanted to play soccer and she said yes, so I signed her up. By the time we started to go shoe shopping for her she decided she didn't want to play. She even colored a ball on a paper and wrote NO and hung it up on the door. Then she found out that Kenneth was on her team and her tune changed again. So we went out and bought her cleats, shin guards, big ole socks, and a pink ball in size 3 (who knew there were different sizes??).

Yesterday was supposed to be Nora's first soccer practice so she got all dressed up in her gear, had a talk about playing nice (she told me she would have fun and try her best), posed for some cute pics for me and then off we went to the field. We searched all over for her coach with no luck. All the other teams were running in nice lines and kicking balls. About 20 after the coach comes wearing flip flops and she doesn't even have any balls. I think lucky for her it started pouring so she was off the hook...until Thursday. Nora and Morgan had a blast kicking the ball around anyway.

The Pig

Saturday night was the 19th Annual Silver and Gold Auction to benefit the Dolphin Scholarship Foundation. The Dolphin Scholarship Foundation provides scholarships to children of submariners based on academic and financial need.

So all the submarine crews and other commands on base all get together and dress up and create centerpieces based on the theme. This year the theme was "Game On" and the USS Georgia Gold crew went as a bowling team and Bree and Trisha created an amazing centerpiece.

The command that shows the most enthusiasm for the theme gets to take home the pig! The pig?? Yup, in 1998 the pig was the prize for a pie eating contest and has since been the prize each year. The pig has been out to sea and many other crazy places. Each group that wins him gets to paint him and show him off with great pride. This year the pig went to the USS Georgia Gold!!! The cake was so yummy I'm pretty sure that is what sealed the deal! Our cool bowling shirts that my friend Kevin designed for us helped too! Thank you Kevin!!!!

Can you believe this is a cake?

USS Georgia Gold with our pig

Froggy Friend

Much to my surprise Nora's little froggy friend returned to our porch this morning. Nora was very pleased, but I really think it is bad for the the poor frog for her to play with it so much...especially in the sand. We need to work on setting some boundaries for the frog I guess. For now he is off to safety in the corner with the vine.

Spring: The good, the bad, & the ugly

So Spring has definitely sprung in the South! The birds are chirping, the bugs are flying, the azaleas are beautiful and it has been absolutely gorgeous here lately. Sunny and 80 degrees! So I figured I had better get the yard work done while the warm weather is still exciting and before it gets too hot to go outside. I know some of you are like, I thought they bought that townhouse so they didn't have to do yard work?? Yes, but we still have to do the flower beds and there is a big one in the back that was overgrown. Morgan was sick this weekend (Sat-Mon with a stomach bug, yuck!) so in order to enjoy the day, but not share our germs we decided to hit the yard. I meant to do all this when my mom was here, but we were just too busy.

So I started on Sunday in the two small beds in the back and got through part of the big bed before the girls had had enough. The next day I finished pulling all the stuff out of the big bed. Tuesday we hit up Lowe's for some pots, soil, a few flowers, and a trellis. Then on Wednesday I bought the first 17 bags of mulch. Today I pulled all the weeds from the front and side and put down another 18 bags of mulch. Whew! No wonder I'm so sleepy!

So in the midst of all of this Nora made a new froggy friend which has now gone off to find more bugs in the woods and we had our first run in with a black snake. Man those things are FAST!!!! I don't know enough about snakes to know which ones are poisonous and those that aren't so I have a shovel on the back porch just in case. However, there is no chance I would have caught up with this one. Did I mention how fast he was? What about how long? Or how creepy???? Luckily we have wonderful neighbors like Mr. John, and Mike & Janet to bring a shovel too. Mike assured me this snake wouldn't hurt us, but I'm still not a fan. And I'm pretty sure I scared the girls for life because I came across this snake for the second time as I was coming back into the yard and it was in front of me. I ran like crazy to get between it and the girls and then started hollering at them to get in the house. Then Nora asked me if snakes tickle and I said no, they bite. I don't think they are too scared because they did go back out looking for the frog today, but I think the mulch made him move away...sorry Nora. At least I'm telling myself it was that and not our other visitor.

If you look closely you can see the flowers that Nora and Grandma planted

Silver Lining

Okay so if I have to find a silver lining in Ben being gone it would be that I don't have to turn on the air conditioning. It has been over 80 here the last few days and even I will admit that the house has gotten a little warm by late afternoon. While I call this cozy, Ben is usually sweating to death. And I think the girls have his temperature not mine so I did turn on the air tonight, but I set it to 78 and am seriously considering turning it off now that it has cooled down.

Oh and did I mention that Tuesday is my new favorite day of the week? I am very excited to sit down with a yummy snack and watch American Idol, then I can watch AI and the Biggest Loser tomorrow night. I know it is an exciting life I lead, but somebody has to do it!

Boat Ride

The other day our very nice neighbor Mr. John took my mom, the girls and me on a ride in his electric boat. The girls loved jumping around the boat and looking for jellyfish. It was a very relaxing afternoon even though we almost had to swim back. The girls turned the heater on and we noticed a funny smell. Then John noticed that the battery was being used up faster than normal. So we thought there was something wrong with the boat turns out that the heater just uses up the battery faster. Whew! Thanks for a very fun day!!

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More Silly Girls

The girls and I have been spending time watching videos and looking at pictures lately and they watched this video about 15 times in a row and were laughing hysterically! It wasn't until the next day that I even heard Ben's laugh in the background. So cute!

Reality TV

Okay everyone knows I love a little reality tv and this week I was completely torqued off when the Biggest Loser was to be continued and completely thrilled when Anoop and Matt made the top 13!!

Silly Girls

Here are some silly pictures of the girls I have been meaning to post for a while. Morgan is defiantly our comedian!

Riding the horse

Modeling the new shoes (Nora hasn't worn another pair since)

Everyone needs a cookie the size of their head once in a while

Yup, those are underwear!

Killin' Time

So today is tennis day, unfortunately it is windy and cold so the group cancelled, but it was too late to cancel my sitter. So that meant that I had 3 whole hours to kill in Kingsland, GA. Wow that was a challenge! Gas - 2 min, Lowe's - 15 min, ATM - 3 min (only because the first one was out of order), Belk - 15 min, Wal-mart - 45 min, and Zaxby's 30 min. I finally gave up and went home early.

On another note I know there a few military wives that occasionally read my blog and I was wondering how many pouty days it is normal to have during deployments and if the deployments will get easier the more we do? I feel like mostly I'm doing okay and the girls have been great, but I have moments I tear up over stupid stuff and sort of feel like a piece of me is missing.

Quality Time

So during the month Ben was home between underways he spent some serious quality time with his girls. Ben took them camping (so I could host bunco at our house), to the zoo, baked a princess cake and rocked out! Here are some fun photos from their adventures and even a video.

I really hope the girls appreciate what a wonderful daddy they have! He loves them so much and it is so hard for him to leave them.

Busy, busy

I know who isn't right? Well my cousin Todd pointed out (at my request) that I haven't posted in a little while, so here is a post I think he will enjoy.

My mom came into town to keep us company and give me some time to myself and we decided to head up to Charleston to see my Aunt Carol. I got to play some fun tennis with my old team, have lunch with a great friend, and spend some time with my Aunt! Sorry to those of you we missed this trip, but we will be back soon I'm sure. Mom had a great time too, she won 70 cents at her Friday poker game!

The girls always love to go to the lake and this time was extra special for them because my aunt was fostering some baby bunnies for the SPCA. Before long they had them named (Honey Bun, Lacy, and Button) and Nora kept referring to Button as her bunny because "he was the cutest." So I had to be very clear that we did not get to keep the bunny so Nora was not disappointed. She actually handled leaving very well because we got to go see Hannah, Mary and Mark for lunch. Unfortunately, Morgan came down with pink eye on the way to Mary's so we had to take her to the urgent care, but they saw her quickly and the medicine works fast. Sorry again Mary and thanks for keeping Nora while we went to the Dr!

Playing with the bunnies

Honey Bun and Button

The Lake - Sometimes I forget how beautiful it is

Poor Morgan looks like she got punched in the face

Visit from Jen

Over Valentine's weekend my friend Jen from Denver came out for a visit. We got to do some fun things with the girls. We went to downtown St. Marys for lunch and checked out the submarine museum, the tabby ruins, visited the sick sea turtles, checked out an old fort, baked some cupcakes, swung by the beach and of course fed the swans. Thanks for coming to visit Jen! It was wonderful to have company and stay up late playing :o)

Driving the submarine at the museum

On watch at the periscope

Checking on the sea turtles at Jekyl Island

At Fort Frederica in St. Simons

A chilly Fernandina Beach

American Idol

Yes, it is that time of year again. I wasn't able to watch it live last night because I was dog tired, so I watched it this afternoon with the girls and really wish I could have voted. However, being tone deaf is a problem and I am used to having Ben around to tell me when people are good. If they are really bad I can tell, but I really missed being able to peek over at him. He always knows when I look at him even if I try to be discreet and will give me a little nod if they are good. When he was at prototype working strange hours I would always cue it up for him the next day and then he would tell me.

I will say that being a day late watching it means I get to see the results in just a few short hours. I hope that Anoop, Brent, and Danny make it (yes, I know that isn't possible). If I have to pick a girl from this group it would be Alexis or Ann Marie. Poor Ricky did get the short end of the stick by people not hearing about him more over the last few weeks. Oh and for the record they made a mistake with Jamal. He was awesome!

Here is the link if you need details about the contestants http://www.americanidol.com/top_36/

Horrible Headline

So what is a headline you don't want to see when your husband is underway?? Nuclear Submarines Collide in Atlantic. I almost puked. Then when you click on the link it has space for the entire headline and you notice it says British and French, but what the heck! The whole idea of it makes me nervous and I apologize to the other submariner wives reading this because you probably don't want to think about it either. I would like to think if this were our boat that I would have heard about this before reading it on Yahoo, but you never know. Darn reporters!

Update

So for future reference that post did not help my emotional state. However, a late night phone call to my good friend Mary and a visit from my friend Jen did the trick. Jen, the girls and I have been running all weekend so there will be pictures to follow in a day or two.

10 Things I love About Ben

A while back some of my blogging friends were making lists about how happy they were to have married their best friend. So I am having a little bit of a pouty day today missing Ben so I thought this might help to remind me that he is totally worth it.

1. I love that he is such a good daddy. He really loves the girls so much and hates to leave them.

2. I love that he went to CT for two months, lived like a bachelor, and golfed regularly but he still couldn't wait to be with us.

3. I love the way he smells.

4. I think it is so cute how much he loves to play rock band, especially when he plays with the girls.

5. I love that he watches my tv shows with me.

6. I love that I can't wait for him to come home and not so he can help me with the kids, but so he can give me one of his wonderful hugs.

7. I love how competitive we are with each other. That reminds me I better get to work breaking all his wii records.

8. I love how supportive he is of me. Whether it's tennis or deciding to work or whatever.

9. I love that he always runs to the store for last minute things and takeout. And that he pumps my gas.

10. Mostly I love that he is my friend.

11. I needed one more to mention how much he makes me laugh.

Okay, your turn! I’m sure you have your own list of why you’re glad to be married to your best friend, and I’m sure he would LOVE to hear it!! If you’d like, post it here… or on your own blog… or write it out and give it to him!

Sara Smiley

Sara Smiley is a military wife that is now stationed in Maine. She writes a very funny column that they send out in a weekly military email. They are usually entertaining, but this one gave me a serious chuckle. Enjoy!

http://www.military.com/spouse/fs/0,,fs_Smiley_020909,00.html?ESRC=family.nl

Taxes

Yippee!!!! I am so proud of myself for not procrastinating! I have someone prepare our taxes, but I still have a bunch of Mary Kay stuff, house stuff and what not to get together and then fill out the big packet for the accountant. And it is going in the mail tomorrow!

Booster Seat

So yesterday we got Nora a new pink booster seat for the car because it was $20 off. I'm not sure how I feel about this because it gives her a little more flexibility in the car, but she meets all the requirements. If you know me well than you know that it is really important to me that everyone be safely buckled in the car. So I don't really like that she can just reach down and unbuckle herself, but she could do that before anyway. She is so excited about it! Here is a picture of her in her fancy new seat (fighting over a scarf with Morgan) and one from the park today. I am loving this nice warm weather!

Slumber Party

So last night was the boat "holiday" party, but since Ben is out to sea I volunteered to watch my friend Sunshine's kids. Our kids get along great so it was a lot fun! Well at least until I tried to get them to actually fall asleep. Which they finally did around 9:30 (sorry Sunshine :o). But I guess it wasn't too bad since it is 9:30 now and I can still hear Nora singing in her room.

We had tacos for dinner and popsicles during the movie they sort of watched. Then Adrianna read the little ones some books and Morgan tried to decide where to sleep. Which ended up being with me about midnight. I will say I have never slept so lightly. Melvin was sleeping on the couch and was having dreams and I could hear him making noises then whenever Tweeter (our 22 lb cat) would walk around I had to get up to be sure it wasn't a small child.

Then this morning we had some monkey bread, the kids played a lot and it was even warm enough today to go feed the swans. They left about 11:30 and the girls were asleep by noon...me by 12:30. It was awesome!

Blogging

I am going to try to post more often over the next little while so that when Ben gets home he can read this to catch up on what we have been doing. So if you catch me slacking let me know! Sorry if there is some boring stuff :o)

Flashback Friday: Gas Money

So after the move I was going through some old boxes and ran across this certificate that my creative and funny sister gave me, I assume, for my 16th birthday...wait maybe graduation. Either way I'm pretty sure I never collected.

Cookie Brownie Bars

So last time my mom was here she ran to the store and was sucked in by some buy one get one free deals. So I had this box of Cookie Brownie Bars in the pantry and used them for a last minute dessert to take to a friends house. Ben loved them sooo much they are now at the top of his baked goods to take underway list.

I'm not usually for mixing these things. If I want a chocolate chip cookie then I will go to my freezer and pull out some frozen Schwan's cookie dough and if I want a brownie then I will hit up the pantry and make a box. But I have been craving these things like crazy! So next time you need a chocolate fix give them a try. I still stand by my statement that Betty sure knows what she is doing.

Patrick Dempsey

So we all love McDreamy right? Well a while back I was scanning the tv for things to watch (I think when we were in TN so the options were limited) and there was an 80's movie on and I love my 80's movies and music. So I left it on. Then it hit me the scrawny little nerd in the movie was Patrick Dempsey. I couldn't believe it and truthfully now I have a hard time finding him as sexy as I did before. I wonder if the producers of Grey's saw this movie.