Bored?

Either that or maybe she's trying to recreate being in the womb again?

Sunday Afternoon...

And mom gets to sit in a chair and read a magazine.

Now that's what I call a good day. :)

Overheard Conversation

My eldest to her friend:

"I'm glad "What Not To Wear" is on when we're kids like this. That way when we grow up, we will know better"

Just Me Worrying.....Again....That's What I Do.....

I worry.

I admit it. I worry about shit before I should even think of worry about it.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for my eldest for the summer.

The next upcoming school year, she will be going into 7th grade, the junior high portion of her K-8 school.

We bought a junior high yearbook for a friend who moved away earlier this year.

The eldest was looking through it.

She has a crush on a boy in there who is a year older than her.

So I started perusing through it.

And I see the "Lunch Box Social" pages.

It's where girls put together a lunch and the boys bid on it.

The boys do the same later on in the year.

So I worry that no boy is going to bid on her lunch, should she decide to do it.

And that she will be crushed.

She's starting to enter an age where it's starting to be a "social status" thing too.

It's not that she's unpopular.

But I know that she's not SUPER popular either.

I watched her at the 6th grade picnic today.

I did see times where she was just walking around by herself.

It made my heart break a little.

But the good thing was that it was only for a short time, and most of the time I did see her with friends, or playing volleyball.

Like I said. I worry.

I do encourage her to get involved with sports and school activities.

And she is a really good soccer player.

And good with softball too.

And I told her today that when she does get a boyfriend or a guy that likes her, that she shouldn't put aside her aspirations just because of him.

That if she has a softball or soccer or volleyball game, he should be interested in her interests as well, as her being interested in his.

I want her to be confident in herself.

And proud of herself.

But not conceited, obviously.

But the whole boy issue....

I know hubby certainly is not ready for any of this to be starting.

Boys can be such self-esteem breakers.

Because the hormones are raging and causing girls to be insecure at times.

Especially with the whole puberty thing.

I just hope she has good enough friends that are good enough friends, you know?

I did.

And still do.

Not that I have to worry about boys anymore.

I got mine.

And he's definitely a keeper!

Okay.

Enough rambling.

Doughnuts With Dad

Today was "Doughnuts With Dad" and the youngest's preschool.

Since Daddy is out to sea right now, we brought a picture of him, so she could at least have a picture of him with her while we had doughnuts and fruit and orange juice.

Oh, and the bandaid? She just has a scratch on her cheek and the girl is so obsessed with people NOT seeing any booboos, she has to wear a bandaid over it to cover it. Never mind that it just makes it THAT much more noticeable.

When The Youngest Is Bored....

Poor straw.

Probably never saw it coming.

The One To Watch Out For

You know you're in trouble with a child when they say to their sister, "C'mon, let's close the door so mom can't hear us"

And this is the youngest saying this.

We're definitely going to have to keep a very watchful eye out for this one!

Anyone want a truck that doesn't work?

Because that's what I have in my driveway.

Shortly before hubby went out to sea, he was starting up his truck and it made a very LOUD noise when the engine was running. So he's thinking it "threw a rod".

Whatever that means. All I know is that it has something to do with the engine. Which is not a good thing.

So he's out to sea now and so I have it towed to the repair shop (because you are NOT to drive a car when it has "thrown a rod". See, you learn something new every day) and this morning they give me an estimate.

Over FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!

Okay, the truck isn't even worth that much when it was running!

Yea, no, don't think so. Sorry, not going to happen.

So I have them tow it back to my house to put it in my driveway.

Well, the tow truck has to position the truck in a perpendicular way to the street so as to put the truck back in the drivway. So of course this blocks traffic.

And it just happens to be during the time of day when people are coming home from work. Most people are fine with it, some able to squeeze around. One guy who does manage to squeeze around starts yelling at me and the tow truck driver that we're blocking traffic.

Really.

Like we didn't know that.

He starts spouting off as to why don't we just park it on the street.

Yea bud, like I'm going to park a truck that DOESN'T WORK on the street for four months when I have a driveway to put it in.

So I start yelling at him, almost to the point of screaming because I am so pissed off at him that the truck doesn't run and then he takes off and I flip him off.

It's a good thing he did take off because I would have continued to yell at him and curse him out and give him holy hell. And come back with some GOOD comebacks. Of course I think of all of this AFTER he drives off.

I guess I freaked out my eldest because I was yelling at him. I told her it was okay, I was just yelling at him, I certainly wasn't afraid of him.

Then it got me mad that there are people like this in the world, who don't care about waiting for other people, or even think what people's situations are. All they think about is them, and how they are inconvenienced.

So now when hubby gets back home, he will be getting a new truck about a year earlier than we had planned, but again, that seems to be our life this year.

You Want Fries With That?

This evening we were on our way to get something to eat for dinner. Now, the youngest calls every kid's meal a Happy Meal. Doesn't matter if we're at Burger King, Wendy's, Carl's Jr., Jack In the Box, etc. (not that we even go to these places very often, in fact, before today, the last time we went to one of these places was well over a few months ago).

So we're on our way and I tell her, "Do you want a Happy Meal?" (I just call them that anyway so as to not confuse here and then go into a big long explanation that will take me forever)

And she says, "YES! I WANT A HAPPY MEA-! Wait, does it come with a toy?"

A girl's gotta have her priorities...........

Oh, and don't even get me started on ordering through the drive through. I couldn't figure out if she was saying "Banana" or "Vanilla", because I think she said both! I finally had to S-P-E-L-L it out and then when we got to the window it still wasn't right.

Memorial Day 2007

Okay, it's not even 9:00 a.m. and already I have things to write about!

This morning I was laying in bed with my girls (they get to sleep in my bed on the weekends when daddy's gone) awake and playing with the cat when the phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and it said "unknown number" and had some freaky phone number that I did not even recognize. For a second there, I thought about not answering it, but then I figured I probably should. And also, in the back of my mind, I remembered that hubby was pulling into a port on the other side of the world.

Yes, it was hubby! He was so happy to be on land! They had spent almost two months out to sea with no port visit. They even got a "beer day" for being out so long (they get two beers each, so it's not like it was a drunk fest out there, hell it probably wasn't even a "buss fest" out there for most of them).

We talked for a little while and then I handed the phone over to the eldest and she got to talk with her Daddy for a while. I always love watching them talk with their Daddy. Sometimes I can hear his voice too on the phone while they're talking. Then the youngest got to talk to Daddy and her telephone skills are much more concise than the eldest. I've got to figure out questions to have Daddy ask her next time where she will answer them and not have to think too much. That's when it gets her, when you ask her questions that she actually has to think to answer. She becomes silent................... If it was night, you could probably hear the crickets it would be so silent on her end.

So we got our morning call from him and I showed the girls where Daddy was. He's in a place called Dubai, that's in the United Arab Emerites. The eldest says, "Dubai? Is that where you got "do buy" things?" ............smart ass................................

Then some sad news. The eldest came out to the family room to see the hamster and the hamster wasn't moving. That always sucks. Being the one that finds the deceased pet. My youngest sister found my grandma's dog, Lady, when Lady passed away. I was so heartbroken then. So it was up to me to get rid of the hamster. Now, if you know me, I'm NOT one to have to deal with dead animals. I had to get rid of a dead fish (it was one of those sucker fishes and man when they are dead they are hard as a rock) and I had to scoop it up to flush it down and so I used the fish net, put it in a cup and it went THUD. :::::::::::::::shudder::::::::::::::::: Blech!!

So now we are one less pet in our house (okay, why is hubby always away when an pet in our house dies? He was away when I had to get rid of that fish, and now the hamster), and we are not replacing it. Dr. Doolittle has one less pet to worry about. Oh, don't get me wrong, I LOVE our dog and cat, and even enjoy the fish. The hamster was one thing thought that didn't rock my world. But I never hated it. Rest in Peace Jackie The Hamster.

Today the eldest has an indoor soccer game and then we are off to our friend's house for a dip in the pool and bbq.

United Through Reading

Have you ever heard of this program?

I had, a while back, something that I tucked away back in my brain.

United Through Reading, is a program that brings together moms and dads to their children when they are apart. The mom or dad reads children's books to a video camera, thus to their children, and the DVD is sent back home, so that the children can "see" their parent, even if they are far away.

This program has been on hubby's ship. We just got the 2nd DVD from him this past week. My youngest has been SO entranced by them. She likes seeing Daddy on TV reading and talking to her. The first one he sent, he was growing a moustache (hey, sometimes they get creative in their "trying to entertain" themselves when they are on a ship). The 2nd one, he had shaven it (thank goodness! He got bored with it and it was bothering him anyway) and my youngest said,

"Daddy doesn't have that hair on his face anymore!"

Too cute.

He read 4 books to her, two of which were Dr. Seuss. When my oldest was a wee one, I got just about every Dr. Seuss book they had (I'm sure there are a few I don't have). Well, I still have them and I pulled out the two that Daddy was reading to her and she was so happy that we have a couple of the books that Daddy was reading to her.

What a wonderful program, I tell you! For my girls to be able to see their Daddy on TV talking to them, while he is away.

Oh, I love that we have e-mail now, as when he first went out, almost 15 years ago, e-mail wasn't around then. Sometimes it would be 3 weeks before I got a letter from him because of the mail. Now I get an e-mail every day or every other day.

And when he's in port, he can call us too.

But having that video is just another good thing that is out there for my girls.

Love Thursday - Being A Navy Wife

picture taken by the Navy

This picture was taken yesterday, as our United States Navy entered the Persian Gulf.

I love this picture.

My hubby is on one of those ships.

One of the bigger ones, one of the aircraft carriers.

Seeing pictures like this make me DAMN proud to be a Navy Wife.

When hubby and I got married, he was already in the Navy, but I did know him before he joined the Navy (that story will be for another time).

We will have our 15th wedding anniversary this year.

However, hubby will not be home for it, he will be on one of those ships.

Of course it makes me sad that he's not here.

But I swell up with pride when I see pictures like this, because I know he's out there, doing his job to help protect our county. Even if it is halfway around the world.

Do I get scared? Of course, all the time.

He was over there 4 years ago when the Iraq War started.

And I'm hoping that this deployment will be part of it ending as well.

When it started 4 years ago and I knew that he was over there, I cried when the war first started. I was scared. I mean, come on, a war was starting and my hubby was over there.

Now granted he was on an aircraft carrier, which makes him a lot safer than being on the ground.

But I was still scared.

After 9/11 happened and I saw the show of support that our United States had for it's country and it's service members, I got all choked up with emotion. When I saw that every house on a street had their American Flag flying, it made me so glad to see that our people came together and supported our troops and rallied for our country. All the stories of people clapping their hands when service members came around, or offered their seat on a plane for them, etc. made my heart fill with pride.

Today, the Iraq war certainly isn't favorable among the majority of the Americans.

But they still support the troops and that makes me so happy. So happy that America has learned from Vietnam, that even though they may not support the war or the reason why we're over there, they still support the troops and are thankful to them for going over there and risking their lives.

I am a Navy wife.

Do I like war? Ummm....no........of course not.

Do I wish that there would be alternate ways to handle things? Oh yes, definitely.

But there are people out there in the world who refuse to compromise. People who want to kill people just because of their skin color. Or their religion.

Is this the only reason a war starts? Of course not.

While I certainly don't like being separated from my husband, I love him tremendously and I love him for serving our country. And so I deal with the hardship of being separated from him.

A Glutton For Punishment?

Today I took the girls to the softball fields so that my eldest and I could watch the All-Star games. She has friends on the teams and wanted to root for them. I enjoy watching the games too, and plus I get to chat with some of the parents that I have gotten to know as well.

And the youngest likes to play there, in the dirt, mostly....

Oh, and I've decided to be on the softball board for next season as the Uniforms Coordinator. Am I crazy? Like I don't have enough on my plate as it is. I wanted to do it, then found out that I really couldn't because of the "once a month" meetings they have and hubby will be in and out to sea for the next year and because they are in the evenings, I don't want to have to have to take my girls somewhere to be watched, I'd rather they be at home. But then I find out that you only have to be at the meetings for "voting rights". Oh hell, it'll be my first year there, I don't care that much about voting rights, I just want to help out the league. So I'm putting my name in the hat again to be the Uniform Coordinator. I'll really only be busy before the season even starts, getting the uniforms ordered and distributed. That's just one big lump thing to do all at once and I can handle that. Hell, I put a yearbook together in a couple of months and that was labor intesive on the computer.

Maybe it's just the "Uber Mom" in me wanting to come out again........

Conversations with my pre-teen

Ahhh.....the preteen years and the early teen years.

Hell, the late teen years and early twenties as well!

Okay, back to the preteen years.

Such the start of an emotional time for all preteen girls. The hormones are starting to flow, the bodies are changing, and the desire to "fit in", and have the cool clothes.

Being so sure of yourself one minute and so UNsure of yourself the next.

I frequently have conversations with my preteen about life and living it. Tonight was about being a good person (actually quite a few are like that). Treating others the way YOU want to be treated. Not judging someone by what you think they are like. And if someone you know is acting a different way, to ask them about it. You'll never know the answer if you don't ask. You'll never find out if there's a problem if you don't ask. It's about caring about the other person.

My preteen can have the biggest heart there is. Last year she spearheaded a Katrina Relief Fund at her school and the school ended up raising almost $1000 for it. All because she wanted to bring in a jar to her classroom to raise a few dollars for it.

But sometimes she can be the biggest snot and brat too.

Like I said....hormones.

I also think society can play a part in it too. That's why I frequently have convesations with her about it. And give her examples and show why certain things are wrong, or why certain things are right.

When I meet someone, I rarely, rarely ever had a preconceived notion about that person. I don't want to say I've NEVER had a preconceived notion about a person, because I'm sure I have at one point in time. I'm sure someone has told me something about a person I may find unflattering and that may have allowed me to think negatively about that person.

But I try to be a good example to my girls. To show them that you can't think a person is weird or different just because of how they look. Or dress.

I do have to say that I love the friends I grew up. And the atmosphere we had. It didn't matter the hair color, even if it was purple. Or a mohawk. Or ripped clothing. Or with spikes on it. We were open to knowing all people. And still are.

I could easily, EASILY, have the worst potty mouth in the town. I could cuss them up and down and sideways. But I don't, because I want to show my girls how to have good manners. Does that mean I don't cuss? Oh hell no. And I know they've heard me say things at times. Do I want them to think I'm perfect? Oh no. I know they need to know that I make mistakes too and I have to learn from them. And I will apologize to my children if I've gotten mad at them just because I'm PMSing. And I thank them when they do something I ask.

All I want is to raise them to be good, polite people with good manners, with the wisdom to know and learn from their mistakes.

I sure hope my preteen listened to what I said and took it to heart.

You never know with those preteens........ I know. I was one of them once......

Waiting For That Last Link On The Chain

And then he'll be home.

I miss my hubby.

I want him home.

We're not even 1/2 way through his deployment yet.

Sometimes the kids drive me bonkers.

Especially the youngest today.

She's in one of her non-stop talking moods.

At least I get a break on Saturday when I'm going scrapbooking with my friends.

Another friend is going to watch my girls.

I hate the way my body feels on the first day of my period.

Like today.

It makes me cranky.

And sometimes towards my girls.

I don't like that.

My cat likes to chew on cardboard.

Very weird.

My dog still likes to try and hump the cat.

Very, VERY weird.

I enjoy the fact that my eldest and I like watching certain shows together.

Like General Hospital.

And Dancing With The Stars.

And America's Next Top Model.

My youngest makes some of the cutest facial expressions.

It makes me smile and laugh.

It sucks that hubby is going to miss all of our (and his) birthdays and our 15th wedding anniversary this year.

But we deal with it.

That's Navy life.

It seems like a lifetime ago when we went through this for the first time 14 1/2 years ago.

This is our 6th time doing this.

And it's probably not going to be our last.

I'm rambling, aren't I?

Oh well, I'm in one of those moods.

If you don't like it, bite me.

That's one of my favorite sayings.

Bite Me.

I want to put it up on one of the walls in my scrapbook area.

I already have a "NO WHINING" sign hanging in there.

Time to get the youngest one in bed.

Ta.

This, That & The Other

Damn, I can't believe this month is almost 1/2 over already!! Hubby has been gone for almost a month and a half now.

April was not a fun month for me. I was sick with the stomach flu for over 2 1/2 weeks! Blech! And it's not like I could just lay in bed all day long and have someone take care of me. Being the sole parent sucks big time when you're sick. I still don't know how my mom did it, and she had 3 kids all by herself, all the time.

Which brings me to my youngest sister. She's 10 years younger than me and we are a lot alike in a lot of ways. Sometimes when I see her go through things in life, I'm like, "Wow, that was me back then". We have always been very close too.

She just recently lost her father, due to a brain tumor, that somehow got "activated" when he had to have surgery on a broken leg. He was 80 years old. Before that he had rarely been sick a day in his life. I feel for her. But before he passed away, she was able to let go of all of the negativity she had for him. I never got to do that with my father before he passed away. It warms my heart that she got to do that with her father.

Yes, you read that right. We have different fathers. In fact, our other sister who is inbetween our ages, has a different father too. Now some of you may be thinking, "Wow, their mom must have been a hoochie-mama, with all of them having different dads." You couldn't be further from the truth. She just had HORRIBLE luck with me. Part of me wonders if this was because she lost her own dad when she was 13. My grandma did marry again when she was 16, so she had my grandpa for that, but I know it wasn't the same for her. My father ended up still being married to his first wife when he was married to my mom. (Yea, I know, nice, huh??!!!)

Then came along my younger sister's dad and he and my mom were supposed to get married, but then he decided to take off on her before it happend and before my sister was born.

And finally, came along my youngest sister's dad. When my mom got pregnant with her, she was already set enough in how she lived that she did not really want to get married to her dad.

Pretty much after that, she just quit dating alltogether. I mean, come on, how could she, raising 3 girls all on her own?! And she never asked for child support either. She told me once that she didn't want to have to rely on it for one thing, and she also didn't want to have to be obligated where we had to spend weekends, vacation or whatever with them.

I'm sure you are thinking, hello??!, there is a thing called birth-control. And no she wasn't catholic either. Maybe she was naive. In a lot of ways I think she was. She was a trusting person for the most part as well.

So even though we all had different dads, we were all together all the time. My dad rarely came around, my younger sister's dad NEVER came around, and my youngest sister's dad probably came around more than anyone else's.

But having your dad come around here and there, never at any specific time, doesn't make for a good relationship there. And both me and my youngest sister definitely had issues with that. Our grandpa was always around for us, so we did have a male figure in our lives, but he was grandpa, you know?

Anyway, back to my youngest sister. The service for her dad was this past Wednesday. She went and got to spend time with her two older sisters and older brother. I am SO happy for her. I LOVE the fact that she is getting to know another part of her family. Over the years, I have gotten to get to know my two older sisters (I actually have 3, but I've never met the other one) and my older brother before he passed away in 1992. And even though they are my family too, it's still so different from the relationship I have with my 2 sisters that I grew up with.

*********************

My eldest daughter's softball team won first place in their division a couple of weeks ago. It was SO exciting! I was so happy for her team, and not just for my daughter. I was actually more happy for the coach, his daughter and the pitcher for the team. They had all been in the playoffs for 5 years in a row, and each time they had always taken 2nd place. Until this year. So it was a very heartwarming win for them.

**************************************

Mother's Day is this Sunday, and all I've asked for from my girls is to let me sleep in, and let me scrapbook that day. I don't want them buying me anything. To make me something is the best thing, because they made it for me.

It's also definitely a time where I do miss my mom a lot too, but a few years before she passed away, she let me know that it was okay for me to stay at home and enjoy my mother's day. After all, I'm a mom too. That was such a wonderful gift to give to me too. I got to start making my own mother's day memories with my girls (hubby and the eldest got on their hands and knees one year and cleaned the floors for me, because I was pregnant with the youngest at the time). So even though I miss not having my mom for mother's day, it's not as bad as if it was a day where I was with her every year.

And I do have my mother-in-law too though. She has been wonderful and has been there for me when I do need her.

Only Mothers Can See

Lately my youngest has been obsessed with eating Shrek Gogurt. For those of you who don't know, it's yogurt in a tube and you just squeeze it out to eat it.

Since it's Shrek and all and with the Fairy Tale theme going and all, I've told her that when she eats it and blows air out of her mouth that magic sprinkles come out with the air. But no one else can see them except for me. Mommy. Not even sister can see them. Only Mommy.

She LOVES this, and totally believes it.

Make believe. It can be such a sweet thing. :)

Out of the Mouth of Babes

So I'm sitting on the couch and my ear is itching so I'm rubbing it and my youngest says:

"Mommy, do you have fleas?"

Then, later in the bathtub she asks me,

"Mommy, do boys have to squeeze it to make the peepee come out?"

Only from her............

Love Thursday - Birthday Card

My youngest made this for me on Wednesday when we were at my work in the afternoon. I will cherish this always.

A Glimpse Into the Future?

Sometimes when you look at her, you can get a glimpse of what she's going to look like when she grows up.




That is if she doesn't dye her hair, get multiple pearcings and tattoos.