Cleaning is Fun

Laundry. It grows. I don't mind washing and folding...but I hate putting it away. Today I elected my son to help me sort. I went upstairs to make sure I got everything, since it's normal for stray weeds such as Bear's underware to appear out of nowhere. My helper climbed on top of the dryer and started throwing the clean clothes that I laid flat to dry in the washer that was filling up with water. He was sooo proud...and I was, washing clean clothes.

Toys. They reproduce more then the Brady Bunch. You know the toys that go up you butt when you sit on the couch. Or jump out at ya when you open the closet. Or magically appear under your foot and make you stand like a flamingo. Yeah those. My daughter was the official toy organizer today...but she didn't want to. No, what did she want to do? She wanted to vacuum and use my handy Tough and Tender wipes to clean (my eco friendly cleaning stuff that my boy can eat and it won't hurt him). Yeahhh! I did something right! For a while scrubbing the base boards was a punishment...now it's all about turning up the VBS (Vacation Bible School) music with a sponge in our hands. I know your thinkin' scrubbing base boards? We also did push-up's and wall squats when time-out didn't work. That was all before we figured out taking toys and privileges was most effective with her. I remember as a kid when my brother and I started cuttin' up...my Dad saying "I can find something that needs to be cleaned". He sure did too. One time it was the Driveway! No we didn't get to use a hose...that was too convenient...instead we got the good ol' fashioned iron scrub brush and a bucket. Yup from that one time on, all they had to do was threaten with "Let me move the car".

So now that I have them brainwashed that a pear is a dessert, fruit leathers are candy and cleaning is fun, I need to work on introducing them to the kitchen. They might teach me something.

Dinner and a Dinner

We went to some friends house for dinner. Scrumptious! They made some beef tenderloin that I was able to cut with a fork. I know, great etiquette huh? They don't care. The kiddos ate everything on their plates. This makes me wonder...if they eat everything when I don't cook and only eat 3 bites when I do...humm? But that doesn't make sense, because I don't season everything with charcoal. I just don't get it. I made dessert...Berry Pudding Pound Cake. Someone remind me why we can't eat sweets for dinner? After filling up they pulled out the "Bones" and we played chicken foot. Wow. I miss playing those back in the day after Church. Max has always had an issue with that game. When he was pulling long shifts underway, the guys in berthing would slam em' down while he was trying to sleep...can't blame him. Tonight was fun. Kalee played too and picked up rather quickly. I think she actually beat me...well OK everyone did. Bear sat on my lap to watch after his nap and take a wild guess....his diaper leaked. We have quickly learned if his pull up is on he pees in it...underware, he pees in the toilet. Can't go a blog without talking about pee.

Friday night was the Ombudsman Appreciation Dinner. WOW! We are appreciated. We left the kids. gasp. I know. The 3rd time in umm, almost 5 years. Funny enough our boy waved and said buh-bye to us. Between the security of having sister with him and being with some good friends he was fine. We ate about a 20 course meal and had like 45 pieces for one plate setting. Geez. I will say I learned something. Knowing the uniform of the event was Summer Whites, Max wore comparable civilian attire. YUP! I have always known my husband is...well, not a normal Sailor..but now I know he's rebellious too. It was actually rather amusing. He even poured lemonade in the water glass AFTER me telling him it was the wrong one. Could it be the mustang showing already? I will never expect my husband to be a chameleon and blend in. He has always been the sore thumb and can usually count on him to yell out some sort of smart comment. No he doesn't embarrass me. I got over that about 7 years ago. I'm not one of those tea party pinkie out type of gals. I'm happy with a upside down Carmel Macciatto light on the foam from a drive through Starbucks....just make sure it's a venti, the kids know a Starbucks when they see one.

*I only expect some of you to understand what's between the lines. ;)

Yum, Crabs.

Whew! Did about 6K and weights in class today. The girls are doing great. Not my girls, the ladies. My girls see land from the down under....for now at least. They will get a raise when they are decommissioned (dang, I have been around Navy too long). That will be when this boy is off to College, at this rate.

Anyway, I ate so much I could of turned into a crab. You are what you eat, right? The Galley was open to all hands in honor of Ombudsman Appreciation Month (yes I am a command ombudsman). Normally it's only open to Active Duty. They were the best $3.60 Alaskan crab legs I tell ya....no wonder that Galley gets so many awards. Max joined us too. I think it was the first time I have seen him actually leave work to eat lunch. Ate his serving...and then some more, and more. It amazes me how much Max and Kalee can put away. Must get it from Grammi (my mother in law).

Here are some park pictures from today. My climbers. Bear is working on his acrobat moves and my Monkey is right where she belongs.

Max finally made it home from work about 21:00. As we were going through some paperwork (I'll explain at a later time), he brought something to my attention. It sounded something like "Hey Babe, do you realize this credit score is higher then your SAT score?" Yeah OK, so what if I did have a 3 digit SAT score...how convenient I don't remember what it was exactly. I mean it has been....err, ummm, almost a decade?!?!

I want to be a Mommy

K: "Mommy, I want to me a Mom just like you"

Me: "Well babe, you can after you get married....in about 20 years."

K: "I don't want to wait 20 years, that's too long"

Me: "Then go play Mommy with your baby"

K: "And my brother can be the Daddy?"

We will explain that one later. I told her he can play Daddy to a different baby. All he does is bring me the babe and insists I feed it. Humm, I guess he does learn from Daddy. ;)

I canceled Stroll N' Sculpt today due to a down pour. Had I of opened the door, we would have drowned. There was way more water filling the space in front of me then air. Make up is tomorrow and I can't wait. I need to at least get 5K in for the day...gosh I love my B.O.B!

Do you realize we pack-out in about a month?

Smart and Beautiful

Impressed! While getting started on parachute play at my PT TOT'S class Bear grabbed himself and said "pot-ty". I told the other Moms to continue with the song while I swooped him up. As I ran down the flight of stairs to the closest restroom I praised him for telling me. I get him in the restroom and pulled his pull-up off to find it DRY! I was sooooo excited! He sat on the toilet and went pot-ty. I had one of those 'Mom butterfly in the tummy' moments and told him how proud I was. As we went back upstairs, I had to announce it to all the other Mommies and they all clapped for him. He's got the hang of it. He found the yellow brick road, just didn't realize how long it was. Too bad that was the one of the only times he went in the toilet today....

Did you know Kalee was smart and beautiful? If not she will tell you. She always reminds me that reading and watching educational cartoons (the only ones allowed in this house) makes her smart. Daddy takes the credit for her knowing she's beautiful. He tells her daily. She's got his genes....and they both speak their minds. I was almost in tears when I tucked her in bed last night and she told me I was the best Mommy in the whole world and she likes me teaching her new things. Lets hear it all at once-"awwwwww". I know. My kids are the greatest!

Either I keep feeling the Earth move below me (not uncommon where I live) or I'm really tired. Time for me to go count sheep, everyone else has already.

It Finally Hit Me!

I went to the Commissary for some odds 'n ends and it finally hit me. While looking at the milk and eggs I noticed the expiration date was a date after we fly out of this country! Yes we leave in November....and yes that was the right expiration date. I jumped with joy! The lady next to me must have thought I was excited that they actually had the organic milk in stock. Yeah we react with excitement for things people in the US take for granted. Rather rare to have what you want in stock. I should have pointed to the expiration date and told her we were leaving before then. That would have at least justified my psychoness (Is that even a word?).

*Here we don't get gallons of milk, we get ultra pasteurized 1/2 gallons that have a shelf like of 30 months. OK maybe not 30 months but it's safe to say a few months. It's gross, sometimes it even contains a snot like texture to add to the flavor too. With eggs at least we have a better chance of finding good ones then watery, stinky, bloody ones...so at least that's good.

Too the pee story lovers-
Bear figured out that if he sits on the toiled backwards he can bang on the toilet lid and flush while he pees. Is this normal?

Never a Dull Moment

My son pointed to the ceiling "Ball, ball, BALL....Ah-Mah (momma in his language) BALL". I had to respond with "No son, that is the light bulb. It's not a toy." A little later I have Lightening McQueen chasing a beautiful bird. Yup, she is running around yelling "bock, bock" and he's grunting "eeerrrrrrrrrr (pant,pant) eeeeerrrrrrrrr" with his hand between his butt and under ware. And how come walking in mid conversation hearing Max say to Kalee "What if the ocean dried up" made me do a 180? Good thing I'm homeschooling her. Who thinks of that stuff? I know, I married the man. *Sigh* All in a day.


Wow, my brain hurts. Moving is one thing. Doing 4 moves in 10.5 months (now working on move #7) of our marriage....we've mastered it friends. Welcome to the season of chaos. With this lifestyle, things are always subject to change. Heck, it wouldn't throw me for a loop if they told us 2 days before we fly out we were moving to Guam instead. I'm game! I know I'll get criticized by those military families that lived in CONUS (continental United States) all their life, but I have to say it.......... y'all have no clue about moving until you have done at least one tour in a foreign country! ...and did a partial DITY (do it yourself) to and from overseas. To you non-military folks....I'm wordless. OK I may be excited for a change. Can't wait 'til I can see faces instead of the tops of heads when walking down the street. We might just be able to go somewhere without a local looking at my kids saying "kawaii" (cute). I mean, should I respond? I know I have two of the cutest kids on Earth (yes Mom, I do respond respectfully with a bow and a domo arigato guzimas). From Japan to USA, yeah we will probably encounter some culture shock since it's been so long. I have seen these same walls for a year and a half already. Yup it's about that time.

Time for these hands to turn into my rack. (Oops, forgot 'others' read this. I'll translate... it's my bedtime!)