Laughing

Way back, long long ago (last month) when I was avoiding my blog, my sister Mary and her family came alllllll the way across the ocean to visit us in Hawaii.

It was so fun. Mary has posted up a lot of awesome pictures of the grand time we had.

And it was fun.

We swam

and snorkeled

and hiked

and pigged out on shave ice

and hula'd

and paddled

and had an all around wonderful time.

And though swimming with the humuhumunukunukuapua'a was amazing (that's not actually a humu. I think it's a triggerfish. maybe.)

and the sunsets on the beach were beautiful...



...the best part of having them here was just hanging out with my sister.

She is so fun. And funny.

Mary, you crack me up!

10 Tricky Things that made Halloween a real Treat!

#1 - the cutest fireman around

#2 - The cutest fireman around in the easiest Halloween costume in the history of my mom-hood.

Hi Fireman John!



#3 - Fun neighbors to trick or treat with

Don't forget #4 - one coolio dad to take the kids around the neighborhood so I could read hand out candy to ghosts and goblins

#5 - cutie pie flapper girl in the dress that worked just fine.

# 6 - Bollywood

#7 - Henna Tattoos


#8 - more cool neighbors of the tween variety to trick out with!

#9 - one white sheet = costume happiness

#10 - two white sheets and two adorable girls too cool to trick or treat this year.

It was a fun night of dress up here in our little neighborhood. If giving out lots of candy = success, then I think we deserve a gold star. I gave away 4 giant bags and 16 smaller bags of chocolate and skittles.



Has anyone else around here eaten way way way too much Halloween Candy?

uggg.

Thanks for the idea, Amanda. I think I'll try that no-sugar thing...tomorrow....

Boooo!

Suddenly, Halloween has arrived! Boo!

How exciting!

John's class has a costume parade today. I didn't know schools even allowed that any more, but John's fireman hat and boots are in a bag in his backpack waiting for this afternoon.

Here's a spooky Halloween story:

Ever the Halloweeen procrastinator, I still need to finish up Emily's dress. Last year Hannah wore a red flapper dress. All year Emily has loved that dress, trying it on to see if she was tall enough to wear it. It made her feel fancy. When we were talking about costumes earlier this month, Emily said she wanted to be a fashion girl, with the long read dress and a pair of high heel boots. Eeeek! Even though Emily felt fancy, the dress was just too long and a little silly on her. This week I showed her some flapper-girl pictures and talked her into letting me cut down the dress to fit her.

That red sparkly fabric is the worst stuff I have ever tried to sew. I forgot how much I hated it last year. It has little glitter pieces that are glued on, and the glue gums up the needle and the thread breaks after only about 10 stitches. Grrrr.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a solution to that problem. A little cooking oil! I put some oil on a dish cloth and wiped down the needle. That allowed me to sew about 2 feet of fabric before I needed to un-gum the needle with a fresh coat of oil. Problem solved, but I still need to do a few more adjustments to make the dress fit just right. It's going to be so cute!

Sydney is keeping her costume a secret. Shhh! I'll post photos tonight.

Hannah says she is too old to trick or treat, but she and her friend are dressing up in Toga's and will pass out candy to the "little kids." Too old to trick or treat? scarrrrrry!

I hope your Halloween is a fright!


ps -

Dear Blogger,

Sorry I've been avoiding you. I hope you don't take it personally! I'll try to keep in better contact.

From your old friend,
W.

Spooky

Every night while Nathan was gone, I left two lights on. One little light in the kitchen, and one light in the little bathroom.

At bedtime I had this whole routine. I would turn off the lights in the front room and turn on the light in the kitchen. I would turn on all my bedroom lights and then go out and turn off the hallway lights and stair lights. I would make sure the light was on in the little bathroom and that the door was only about an inch open, then I would make my way to bed, turning off lights until my bedside lamp was the only light on (besides the kitchen light and the little bathroom light which I left on all night every night.) Then I would read until I was ready to sleep and I'd switch off the lamp by my bed.

The light from the little bathroom let me feel safe, but wasn't so bright that it interupted my dreams.

With Nathan home now, I don't leave any lights on. I feel safe. Isn't that the best?

Here's the spooky part. The other night I stayed up reading while Nathan went to bed. Everyone was asleep but me. When I was ready to go to bed I turned off all the lights, even the little one in the kitchen and the one in the little bathroom. I remember pausing to ask myself if I needed to leave that light on to light my way to bed, but then I decided I didn't need it and I turned it off and went to bed. That's not the scary part, yet.

In the morning I woke up at 5:24am, as usual, unfortunately, and got up to make a little breakfast for Hannah before seminary. I found my glasses and brushed my teeth and headed out of my room.

And then I noticed something spooky. The light in the little bathroom was on, and the door was open just so.

I know I didn't leave it on. I am 99.5 percent sure I didn't. I asked Hannah if she had come downstairs before I got up and she said no. Later in the morning I asked Sydney, Emily, and John if they had gotten up in the middle of the night and used the little downstairs bathroom. They said no. Nathan said no.

How did the light get turned on?

I'm sure I didn't leave it on.

I think.

Spooky!

Aloha Friday

It's Aloha Friday!



Time to eat some Mango.



Mango is my favorite new fruit. I love it. I could eat mango every day!

It is mango season in Hawaii. You can buy mango all over the place. I like to stop and buy mango from a car that parks along California Avenue in Wahiawa. I also buy local mango at the Commisary or at fruit stands along the North Shore. If you are not lucky enough to live in Hawaii, you can buy mango in your local grocery store. I hope...


I don't think I ever ate fresh mango before we moved here, and I had no idea how to cut one. Luckily, my friend Myrna is a mango expert. Her mango tree gives her way too much fruit. She freezes mango for mango smoothies and mango cake. Myrna showed me how to cut a mango to get the most out of the fruit.

You have to let mango ripen, just like peaches or pears. When you are able to press the fruit in a little, like a pear or a peach, then it is ready.

Some people are very allergic to Mango. It is usually the skin that causes the irritation. So be sure to wash your mango and peal it first thing. Myrna says to peal your mango in long strips from the top down. Don't cut too deep and waste that good fruit.



A ripe mango is slippery and juicy. I usually peal and cut mangos (mangoes?) right over the sink. Once your mango is pealed, you can start slicing off the meat in long strips.



A mango has a large furry pit. You know you have reached the pit when it gets difficult to slice. I think it feels kind of icy when I am cutting close to the seed. After you have removed all of the mango from the pit, you are ready to enjoy.





Mmmmmmango!

September 11th

It must have happened 7 years ago. Emily is seven years old, now, and she was just a tiny baby that day.

We had lived in Pensacola, Florida for just over 6 months. It was our first ever military station. Nathan had just entered the Air Force and was in Pensacola for a year or so of flight training. Pensacola NAS is a beautiful base with some lovely historic buildings and homes. I loved seeing all the young sailors in their white hats waving cars onto the base. At that time we would drive up to the gate in our awesome brown Dodge Grand Caravan with the gold running boards, and the gate guards would see the stickers, snap out a salute, and we'd just coast on through without stopping. Easy peasy.

Things have changed.

On September 11, 2001, we were up stairs doing school work (I was home schooling Hannah) when Nathan showed up in the middle of the day. Very unusual. He came upstairs to find us and he couldn't even speak. He ended up writing it down. I still have that little paper telling me that two buildings had been hit...

Life on base changed immediately. Getting over the bridge and onto the base took hours while each car was searched. No more cute sailors in white. Guys in camo with big guns started doing the ID checks. One day that week, we took a little hike on the base out to look at the bayou, and as we were strolling along looking for wildlife, we saw a young marine staked out, watching for intruders. That scared me.

Today, I am typing this as soldiers are gathering for PT in the field behind our home. In a few minutes they will start shouting and counting. And in a few months 75% of the soldiers on our post will be deployed to one place or another.

We have not forgotten.

Hmmmm....

With John starting school a month ago, and Nathan back to work, I suddenly find that I have a large chunk of time to myself. And I like it.

I haven't had "my own time" like this since I was a teenager....

Monday I cleaned cleaned cleaned, then I took Hannah to an ortho appointment, then went grocery shopping, and before I had time to put away all the groceries, it was time to pick up the kids.

Tuesday I was lazier and did a little online shopping (I hope my new Landsend overstock swimsuit fits. More importantly, I hope Hannah loves her new swimsuit. fingers crossed.), read the news, whipped up a batch of pizza dough, washed sheets, and read until school was out.

Now it's Wednesday. Wednesday is a short school day. I'm not sure why, or if I like it, but that's the way it is. I stayed at the school this morning and helped in John's class. I heart kindergarten!

And now I have 1.5 hours to get all my jobs done before the afternoon crazies. I need to go to the exchange to buy some envelopes. Then I need to go to the post office where I will use one of those envelopes to send a letter. While I'm at the post office I will send a little package to Kira! Hi Kira! Sorry it's taken me such a long time to send those photos...

After the post office I may buy myself some lunch. Or maybe I'll come home and make myself a BLT. I'm not sure. Then I'll walk back to the school and start an afternoon of fun.

sidenote: Once I saw a book at the library called No One Cares What You Had For Lunch - a book for bloggers. (or something like that) I didn't check out the book. Obviously. Maybe I should have.

Anywho. This isn't supposed to be a To Do List post. This is supposed to be me writing about how I'm not sure if it's okay for me to still be just a stay-at-home-mom now that all my kids are in school full time. I've been thinking maybe I should think about finding a little job. I don't know.

Here's why I don't think it will happen:

I don't really need a job. And, frankly, I work really hard between the hours of
5:30am-8:00am and 2:00pm-8:00pm. That is 8.5 hours of wild work, not including
any time spent on laundry or dishes or
sweeping while everyone is gone. Also, I love volunteering at the school and if
I was working (at say, the school) I wouldn't really have the time to volunteer. And don't forget blogging. Hello!
I have hardly had a chance to sit at the computer all month. If I had a job, my
blog would seriously suffer.

Here's why it could be fun:

I've never really had an actual real job. Maybe working would be a good thing.
And the school is hiring.

I don't want to start the whole working verses stay at home conversation, okay? I stay at home. Whatever. That's fine. When I was younger I felt more religiously zealous about staying home. And I'm glad I've been able to, but I don't think it's the only right or good or perfect way to be a mom. And also I think things are different as babies get older. That said, what would you do?

Real Life

Nathan has been home from Iraq now for just over a month. And it has been mostly smooth sailing so far (knock on wood). There was some initial angst, but that was due to some overachievers in the Flight Records office, not me!

We've all had to make some adjustments - Nathan was a little unprepared for the afternoon rush around here, and the laundry staged a coup. But things seem to be slipping back into real life and it feels good.

Yesterday was my day to drive Hannah and co. to seminary at 5:45am. I jogged while they were studying and it was nice to have a moment to reflect on the last few weeks. It is kind of weird to be in that place that I was waiting waiting waiting for, you know? I have spent most of the last year worrying and waiting and worrying some more and it feels great to have broken out of that cycle. But it is so easy to start taking regular life for granted. So I spent a little time thinking about me and taking stock of whether or not I'm doing all those things that I said I would do when Nathan got home.

On my way back home after dropping the kids off at the high school, I drove past our elementary school, and saw Nathan and the kids walking down the sidewalk with backpacks on and hair slicked down.

It was a beautiful morning!

=

All I want for Christmas

Emily lost both of her top two teeth this week.



She lost the first one about an hour before school pictures. I cannot wait to see how cute that little snaggle tooth smile turned out! She lost the second one this morning.

She is having a hard time saying words like sister and sweet. She also says she can drink without opening her mouth!


John wishes he had a loose tooth, too.




ps - I hope the toothfairy remembers to come tonight...

.

5 Years Old

Please, everybody, look at me! Today I'm five years old you see! And after this, I won't be four, Not ever, ever, anymore! I won't be three-or two-or one, For that was when I'd first begun. Now I'll be five a while, and then I'll soon be something else again! (Marie Louise Allen) John's Olympic Birthday party was a Gold Medal event! We competed in the long jump, the high jump, the discus, the shot-put, a sponge relay, gymnastics, a water balloon free throw, and a marathon. Sydney and her buddy Olivia were the official judges. They demonstrated the events and kept the little kids in order! I wasn't sure if the kids would enjoy it, but they were totally in to it, and wanted to do each event over and over! The most popular was the gymnastics.
Happy Birthday John!

Turtles at Ali'i Beach

Last weekend (or was it the weekend before last?) Hannah and Nathan went scuba diving at The Trench.


They saw turtles.


Lots of turtles.


Here's Hannah with a turtle.


Hey, Hannah! Stop harassing that turtle - that's illegal!


The other kids and I snorkeled closer to the beach. We also saw several turtles. Two came up on the sand and sun-bathed with me.

Emily and Sydney were snorkeling together a ways out. It is really shallow for a long way, and the ocean was calm, so I let them get out a little farther than usual. They were having a good time together, until I heard screaming. And they both scrambled back to the shore, splashing and hollering all the way.

Sydney told me that they were snorkeling along, looking for fish, minding their own business, when all of the sudden a huge turtle came over to check them out. His head was right by theirs! Scary! After that they stayed closer to shore...

Yeah for turtles!

.

P.S. I want to make sure it's clear that Nathan is home now. He had two weeks of leave and will head back to his regular Air Force job tomorrow (although I think he may take another 10 days off.) He's not going back to Iraq any time soon. I hope.

.

Bowled over

Nathan's two weeks of official leave is over tomorrow. Can you believe it's been two weeks? We have been partying hard over here at the Tiki Hut. It has been so fun to have Nathan home! and I have been avoiding the computer. I just haven't wanted to waste any time! But now it's time to catch up....


Bowling with John:






John has kept a list of fun things to do with his dad, and bowling was right at the top. Each and every phone call from Nathan, John would run down his list: bowling, snorkeling, wrestling, and the water park... so far they are 3 for 4.

John's score wasn't as good this time as the last time we went bowling, but his form was awesome! Here's a funny from John: the kids and I went bowling the weekend before Nathan came home. That makes it sound like we bowl a lot. Not so. Thank goodness for the bumpers! That night John said in his prayer "...and thank you that I got one strike and two spares at bowling..."

He totally beat me...

coming soon - scuba-ing. glider rides. a jam session. and a Lost casting call.

.

Home Again

John and Dad

Sydney and Dad

Dad and Emily

Hannah and Dad

What a great week!

The night Nathan came home seemed rather unreal. We tidied up the house, hung the welcome home banner, and I started a movie for the kids while I headed to the airport. Nathan wasn't coming home with a big group. His group came home a few days earlier, so it was just him. No big ceremony or parade. Perfect!

There was construction at the airport, and I missed the parking garage and ended up leaving the airport and having to drive into Honolulu to turn around! I was plenty early, so I just kept calm and tried again.

At the airport I went to the USO and filled out paperwork so that I could pass through security and go to the arrival gate to meet Nathan. Then I had to hike from one end of the airport to the other (twice) in my cute red sandals. That airport is bigger than it looks.

Just after I found gate 22, an airplane pulled in. They were about a half hour early. Yipes! I saw a few other families waiting for their dads, too. I felt like I had electricity in my skin while I was standing there, waiting.

It was fun to see Nathan before he saw me. He is so cute!

We broke the "no PDA in uniform" rule! Then found his baggage, said "Hi" to his commander who had come to welcome him home, and headed home.

The kids hung a Happy Birthday banner for Nathan, and taped paper over the door for him to break through, since he missed his birthday while he was gone. That was totally fun. John thought that was great.

It is so sweet to have our family together again.

Welcome Home, Nathan!

Note From Nate

Hey Everyone!

Thanks to all of you for making Wendy's blog so much fun over the last seven months. I've been able to read it from time to time and it's really kept my spirits up. I'm at the Atlanta USO waiting for my flight! I'm on my way home...Wendy, you are completely HAWT!...and you always exceed my expectations. I love you.

Mary C., I would have loved to see you guys in Balt-more. I can't wait for your visit. See you soon!

-Nate





(Nathan just sent this comment to yesterday's post. I hope he doesn't mind if I make it today's blog post.)

Checking My List

I worked hard last week so that I wouldn't have any big projects to do if Nathan got home earlier than expected, so my to do list for tomorrow is easy-peasy:

get hannah to her first day of seminary(!)
get the kids to school
do my regular Monday Clean-o-Rama
hope for a phone call from Atlanta
wash sheets
and go to the commissary


Not bad.

I just love lists, don't you? As a special treat I have an old list to review. I thought I'd revisit my list of deployment goals/New Year's resolutions to see how I did. Here it is, copied and pasted from January 3rd - slashes added:

This year I want to:

1 Spend less $

2 Save more $$$

3 Pay off the big red 'burb

4 Stay home more

5 Write

6 Read good books

7 Take a class (hula)

8Learn to surf for reals

9 Plan and Survive (and hopefully even enjoy) Girls Camp

10 Run 5x a weekmostly

11 Do the Great Aloha Run

12 Hang curtains and pictures in my bedroom

13 Look Hawt when Nathan gets home in September

In Review:

I am most proud of #3. That was my main big goal for this deployment. And it was tough, but we did it! It was an exciting day when I got a little notice from the bank, stating me that that giant gas guzzling car taking up two parking spots at the grocery store is mine! All Mine! Which makes it easier to do more of #1 an #2!

All year I have done a great job at #10...until last week...in which I ran just once. Yikes. I hope that doesn't affect my chance at #13.

Did you notice I wrote "September" on #13. All along Nathan was saying July. I was saying September. It is better to be pleasantly surprised with an earlier return date, don't you think?

Unfortunately, I still can't surf. I will learn to surf. I will... I will... hey Mary, wanna take a surfing lesson with me when you come visit? Let's try to leave the guys at home so there won't be any more of those embarrassing photo's...

I wish I had been better at #4 so I would have had more time for #5. It seems like I got busy busy busy as soon as Hannah started rehearsals for her play, and I haven't had a chance to slow down since. I have a feeling things will change a little when there's more than one driver around here, and me with just one car.

And here's me, way back in December, working on goal #6:




That's all!

Waiting

Maybe it's a good thing Nathan didn't make it home from Iraq this weekend.


I gotsta read!





Bella: "Should I be afraid?"
Edward: "Terrified."

Soon

Earlier this week I got a note from Nathan saying "I'm making my way home."

I spent all week trying to decipher those 5 words... what does that mean exactly? coming home when? this week? next week? I worked through the tension by cleaning out closets and getting my hair done. I finally got to talk to him this morning.

Just a few more days until he comes home!

Yippeee!




Here is some reunion advice for myself from the ghost of reunion past.

Deployment #1. John was a baby, I was a new Primary President, and I shovelled a lot of snow while Nathan was sitting easy in a tropical location. I had crazy expectations when he got home, and I was easily disappointed.

Reunion #1 lesson learned - have less expectations. and relax.


Deployment #2 The kids were a little bigger and a lot busier. I spent a lot of time with the snow shovel, again, while Nathan was (again) in a tropical location. Nathan came home at the intersection of track and soccer seasons. We also had piano lessons, preschool, and lots of Primary responsibilities and activities. I tried hard to remember deployment lesson #1. But I think I disappointed Nathan by all our busy activities. My favorite thing about that reunion is that I made arrangements for Nathan and I to escape for a night about a week after he got home.

Reunion #2 lesson learned - don't be so busy, and take the time to escape.


Deployment #3 - I'm in the tropical location this time! Ha! And already this week I've been fighting the expectation game.....but I'm working on it! What I'm really worried about is lesson #2 - don't be so busy.

The kids are getting settled into the school routine, and our calendar next week is looking full. Today I am going to call and find a replacement for myself for YW and cancel piano lessons. I'm skipping the PTO meeting and I'm also going to email the band director and let him know that I won't be able to make it to the band parent orientation meeting.

Luckily I already arranged a carpool for cross country, but but there's still the 5th grade pizza social and the Kindergarten orientation... arrrg.




I know some of you have been through bigger and badder deployments than I have, and I know you've got some great advice, so let me have it. Give me have your best reunion tip!





*I wonder if my favorite babysitter is available for a weekend later this month...