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.