waiting for mail

So as of lately we have not been in a position to hear back from Paul. We can write him all we want to, but he can't write back. It has been this way for a few weeks now and it is really starting to take it's toll on me. Things here haven't really been all that bad Thank You God, but there I am everyday like clock work writing to him about my day and even though I know he will not be writing me back I still find myself checking my email daily like it is part of my religion and I will die if I don't check it. Of course there is no mail from him and even though I expected that, I am still deeply sad. Crazy how much power they (men) have over us... Don't tell him I said that or I will never hear the end of it!!! Remember it's our little secret. :)

Having to remember verses

Due to us being in the south we go to a southern baptist church (that is all there is) and they do things a little differently than we are used to. The boys are going to Awanas which is kind of like Royal Rangers (for those who are familiar with that) and they have to remember verses to get badges. Needless to say the boys being completely opposite of each other one is excited to try to remember verses the other not so much. He "isn't a good rememberer." Which of course I do not believe because he has vocabulary words every week he has to remember in class and always gets 100% on the tests. So my question Do any of you have advice on how to remember verses? Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Cub Scouts

I have recently asked Iah what he wanted to do as an extra activity. We have church, school stuff, mom's club stuff and boat stuff but nothing that is really his. We talked about soccer again and he said yeah but then realized that Daddy was going to be gone for the whole season and with that soccer was dead. He has decided on Cub Scouts. We did it for half the year last year and it was fun but with everything else we only picked the things we REALLY wanted to do. This year he has decided that we are going to do it the WHOLE year. So that is what we are doing. Now we have to find something special for Patrick to do. Any ideas???

asking for shamu already...

Today in the car on the way home from picking up Patrick from school he says "Hey mommy I know something I would like to do." Silly me asks "What is that Patrick?" then in a quiet little voice he says "I want to go on an amily vacasin!!!" In adult terms that is translated to a "Family Vacation" I said "Oh yeah where to?" That same sweet little voice said from the back seat "To see Shamu." With a big question I said "Shamu?" Silly me what was I thinking because at that moment I heard my husband ring loudly (keep in mind he is currently in the big ol' blue) "Uh Yeah you know that big whale, he's black and white." Suddenly I felt as if the word Duh should have followed closely behind that sentence.

Now let me explain why this was so funny to me. Every year we as military get tickets to either Sea World or Bush Gardens for free, as part of saying Thank you to those who serve our Country. So of course we go every year and due to the size of our children we go to Sea World for the sake of more stuff to do with them. Our family trips always have to work with Paul's time off which unfortunately isn't very much so it has worked out in the past to be right about now or the beginning of October, so I think Patrick is getting that funny feeling of it's time to take a Family Vacation. So in that spirit of Shamu I posted some pictures we have from our last trip... Enjoy

Moto GP Race Canceled :(

I was so excited for this race today, but when I turned to watch it, I saw the worst news ever... It had been canceled due to rain. What the crap? I have been looking forward to this race since the season began. Why you ask? Well it is simple. My boy that I root for is Nicky Hayden and he is considered the hometown boy for the track so in other words looking for his first win of the season. I hope for everyone's sake they air the race later or Paul is going to be one upset cookie. I hate rain!!!

Gas Prices going UP AGAIN

Here in the south gas prices are a little lower than say on the West Coast however since we are in what is known as hurricane season and technically we are part of hurricane alley (even though we haven't been directly hit by a hurricane since 1994) we have do prepare and deal with all the side effects of a hurricane. Gas prices are not exception. So thanks to IKE approaching the Gulf Coast, gas prices are rising quickly and may reach over $5.00/gal. by the end of the day. It is unclear at this point if and when the prices will come down. Aw the south it isn't just good for sweet tea, it is also great for ruining the day as well!

Cooking with mom

Every so often we have those crazy times as mothers that make us think cooking with our children would be fun and it might not be SO messy!!! Well I tried it once again, silly me. Patrick came home with a school project which stated "Family Cookbook Project." At this point I believe the words "Oh No" came out of my mouth. I went on to read that they wanted the kid's favorite recipes and pictures of us making it together. Sounds like fun right? I then asked Patrick "What is some of your favorite foods that we can make together?" In the sweetest little voice he says "I like all your foods mommy." 2 questions then came to my mind...

1. What did he want?

2. How much does it cost?

I then asked well then what do you want to make. He decided on chicken tacos (odd since I have only made them a couple of times, but it is easy so I said OK.) and (oh no here it comes) Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting oh and sprinkles. Uh huh... There it was the catch. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a chocolate person. Never really cared for the taste even when I was little. For some reason I am a girl that was born with that link in my brain missing (No rude comments needed...) But being as since it was a school project and he had come up with the clever little plan to get me to do it, I just couldn't resist. Well I will let you see for yourself my crazy moments...

Saying See Ya Later To Daddy

I have found that even though this is one of 9 patrols it never gets any easier to say goodbye to daddy. No matter how long the separation is for it is always hard. This time was not the hardest time but it still wasn't easy being as since they had to leave a little early due to a tropical storm that was "on it's way" even though it never showed up...

When they leave there is a tradition that we like to do. We go to the beach and watch the submarine leave. It is a pretty cool thing to see. The coast guard patrols the waters and by helicopter which all the kids love. Then comes the submarine and where you stand on the beach it looks like you could swim out to touch it. So here are some pictures from saying see ya later!!!