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Family

Thanksgiving 2011

November 24, 2011

My wonderful husband (and the rest of his duty section) is working today and staying overnight so that other folks can be home with their families for Thanksgiving. We don’t mind, we’ll just have our big dinner tomorrow (and honestly, my 20-pound turkey needed one more day to thaw anyway). I make a big dinner, but since I’m the only chef in the house, I only include the basics: Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, gravy, and apple pie. The big dishes will be homemade from scratch, but there are a few things that I take some pre-made help from. My husband prefers Stovetop stuffing to all other kinds, so we’ll go with that 5 minute boxed stuff. Cranberry sauce from a can, and gravy from a few packets because even though I can make homemade gravy this is easier and never gets lumpy or over-thickens on me. I have never made a turkey before. The last two years Jason did the dirty work of touching the raw bird and slicing it after cooking. Before that, my Nana always did it for the family potluck holiday dinner. I know I can do it...

Baby #3 Coming in June

October 23, 2011

I announced a couple of weeks ago on my personal Facebook page, we are expecting our third child on June 4th. We’re so very very excited and are very much looking forward to adding to our family. We learned the news just a couple of days before we flew out to California a little over 2 weeks ago for our friends’ wedding. At that point all we’d seen is a pregnancy test, but since it was still really early on we didn’t want to announce until we’d at least seen a sonogram or heard the heartbeat. Also, a wedding is no place to announce a pregnancy, stealing the spotlight from our friends would have been pretty darn rude on a day that’s supposed to be all about them. So, we kept it to ourselves the whole trip and then once we got home went to see my doctor. He confirmed everything for us again and we got to have an ultrasound to check the due date and make sure everything looked as it was supposed to. At this point we’re just 8 weeks into the pregnancy making our due date June 4th. Looking back at my other two pregnancies,...

The Pics Kids Take

August 23, 2011

I tend to keep my camera in a handy spot, on the kitchen table or on the counter, usually on the lazy susan that holds our salt & pepper and napkins for mealtime. That way it’s always right there when I need to take a pic of a yummy dish I made or the kids with food all over their faces (I cannot even begin to tell you how many of those I have). The only slight problem with this is that the kids keep taking my camera! Jeremy does it all the time. Sometimes I don’t notice because he’s stealthy and will put it right back in it’s place when he’s done playing, but then I’ll go to use it and suddenly my memory card is full. *sigh* I go through them, keep a few funny ones and delete the rest. The other day, my friend Hiedi brought her younger daughter Raquel over to hang out and make cookies with us. Well, Raquel snatched my camera and went off to take a few of her own. Here are the handful of photos I decided to keep from the both of them… Jeremy’s pics Raquel’s pics Do you...

Rock Monster!

August 21, 2011

I know, the Veggie Tales movie The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything has been out since 2008, but Jeremy is just catching on (over the past year or so) to how awesome Veggie Tales are. We love them around here. When we had Netflix that streamed to the tv through our Wii game system, he had unlimited viewing capability of just about every Veggie Tales episode and movie. Unfortunately, we let go of our Netflix account and thus do not have so many Veggie Tales available anymore. Now we’ve only got Pirates (dvr recorded) or Wizard of Haas (on dvd). I think we need more! Anyhow, that was a long intro to the little bitty picture post for today… One morning while Jeremy was watching the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything during breakfast, he created a Rock Monster of his very own out of his favorite cereal… And, if you have never seen the hilarious Rock Monster music video at the end of the movie (a re-do of the B-52′s Rock Lobster), here you go…

Miscellaneous Summer Pics

August 20, 2011

Just a quickie post to share a few of my favorite snapshots from the past month or so. I haven’t written here on the blog much lately because we’ve been super busy having such a fun summer! A lot of tonight has been spent catching up though. Transcribing tons of notes on scraps of paper, editing and organizing photos, and writing writing writing. I’ve got a post queued up for every day this week, some recipes, some stories about the kids. But I’m still left with some pics in my Miscellaneous Kids photo folder that need to be up here and only have a few sentences to go with them. So, in no particular order, here we go!… Jesse was having an extra tough time falling asleep one night. He fought it for hours longer than usual. Finally, he crawled up onto the sofa next to Jason with his foam sword, and conked out. It was too funny not to take a picture. In July we spent a fun afternoon at a nearby lake with a fantastic group of people from our church. We got a prime spot down on the beach right next to the roped of...

When’s Dinner?

August 10, 2011

I’m getting another head start on dinner tonight. Call me elderly, but I really like having dinner on the table between 4:30 and 5 pm. It’s 3:15 in the afternoon and I’ve already got the biscuit dough mixed, garlic and herb topping waiting, and I’ll start on the pasta sauce as soon as I’m done with this quick post. The sauce will come together in a few minutes and sit simmering on the stove til we’re ready for it. The spaghetti noodles and biscuits take just 10 minutes. I’ve got 90 minutes til I need dinner on the table but if I get everything prepped now while the baby is taking a late nap, the just-before-dinner time will be spent casually and calmly getting the table set and plates dished instead of frantically throwing a haphazard meal together. The reason I love having dinner early is because it means that our bellies are full, my kitchen is clean, and the family is relaxing together well before 6 pm. Love it! Also, it means we’re done with kids’ bath time around 7ish with time to spare for dessert. Yum! I used to laugh when my Nana would have us kids...

Blueberry Picking!

July 1, 2011

Today we spent a gorgeous summer morning picking blueberries. Jason has the day off so we got up early, tossed the kids in the car and headed over to Betty’s Berry Farm to pick tons of blueberries. It was such a fun family outing! Betty’s blueberry bushes were huge, most of them towered over Jason’s head making them well over 6 feet tall, and they were heavy laden with delicious ripe berries. Jeremy did a great job picking from his level down on the lower branches and Jesse snagged a few from his perch up on Jason’s shoulders. Altogether we filled 2 buckets in about an hour, plus the several handfuls we ate while we were working out in the field.

Am I the Walrus? Who’s on First?

June 25, 2011

To expound on my cryptic and weird Facebook status from this morning… Today is not Saturday, it’s Friday again. Tomorrow is Sunday and Monday is Saturday. Don’t question it, I understand but don’t get it either. I’m tired. Can you tell? Reading that again I feel like I said “I am, He is, You are, He is, You are me, and we are all together. Hohoho Hehehe Hahaha” Remember when I wrote about Jason being amazingly lucky in his work scheduling not long ago? Yes, that was a really awesome week and a half. Well, he told me it would come around and bite us in the butt and did it ever! This past week has been harsh. Him Me/Kids Family Time Monday Regular work day. Get up early, take Jeremy across town to day camp. Get home just in time to have an hour for lunch and turn around to go pick up Jeremy. Adopt a new dog. More on that in an upcoming post. Tuesday Oncoming overnight ready crew duty. Goes in later in the afternoon, but doesn’t get to come home for dinner. Goes to class on base. Sleeps at work. Get up early, dog to...

Summer 2011 Plans

June 15, 2011

Jeremy comes home in 4 1/2 hours! I will be waiting for him at the airport, as close as the security guard will let me get to the gates, at 2:00 this afternoon. It’s the best feeling in the world to see him round the corner with his little backpack on and his kid-sized Toy Story carry-on luggage, see me, yell “Mom!” and take off running toward me. I have to summon all of the strength I’ve got to keep from crying happy tears all over the place. We have got some really fun plans for this summer. Jeremy is just a few months shy of turning 5 years old (never mind that he’s bigger than many preschoolers) and Jesse is walking short distances (I’m sure once his brother gets here he’ll take off after him in no time). 1) A weekend of quality family time. We like to give Jeremy a few days to relax at home and get used to things around here before we throw him back into our usual busy routine. Hoping to get out to the Hot Air Balloon Festival on Saturday. 2) Summer Camp at the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. We signed...

Wean Me Gently

June 1, 2011

by Cathy Cardall _______________________________________________________________ I know I look so big to you, Maybe I seem too big for the needs I have. But no matter how big we get, We still have needs that are important to us. I know that our relationship is growing and changing, But I still need you. I need your warmth and closeness, Especially at the end of the day When we snuggle up in bed. Please don’t get too busy for us to nurse. I know you think I can be patient, Or find something to take the place of a nursing; A book, a glass of something, But nothing can take your place when I need you. Sometimes just cuddling with you, Having you near me is enough. I guess I am growing and becoming independent, But please be there. This bond we have is so strong and so important to me, Please don’t break it abruptly. Wean me gently, Because I am your mother, And my heart is tender. _______________________________________________________________ I really needed to read this poem. A fellow breastfeeding mom posted it on a forum that I belong to online. I’ve never met her, but boy am I ever grateful...

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