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...

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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...

School's In

After just 6 short weeks of summer, we are walking back to School.


We were excited to find that both Sydney and Emily ended up with our #1 top teacher picks!


Sydney was not so excited about the photo-shoot. Mom. Please, this is embarrassing me... Notice the star lei she is wearing? She learned how to make those last week, and gave that one to her teacher. Sydney is so crafty!


Emily, on the other hand, wasn't afraid to smile for me.


John doesn't start school 'til late next week, but he's got the morning routine down!


Happy Back to School Day!


Most of the Hawaii schools do a year round kind of thing. We get about 2 weeks off for fall break, 3 weeks off at Christmas, 2 weeks off for Spring Break, and 6 weeks in the summer. I guess that works, especially since it is always beautiful and summer-like in Hawaii, so why not take a few weeks off throughout the year?

Even though our summer felt way too short, back to school time is still totally exciting. Walking down to check out the class lists + sharpening pencils + buying new slippah's for school = Fun!

High School

Wait a minute. Did you say high school?


Are you sure?


You can't be old enough to be in high school already.


Oh. I guess you are!

Have a great day!


Get to class!

Monday Random

I have a cold. My nose is stuffy and my ear aches. And I keep sneezing. Blech.

School starts tomorrow. Eeeek! This short summer thing isn't my favorite.

Remember when I couldn't decide about John and school? We did decide to go ahead and register him for Kindergarten, and he's so excited. He has a backpack and new shoes and he's ready to go.

Did I ever tell you I had a sea urchin spine in my foot? Back when Hannah was doing her dive class in early July, I kicked a sea urchin at the beach (accidentally) and one of it's pokies ended up in my toe. It was like the size of a piece of broken pencil led, and I couldn't get it out. I was told to leave it alone as it would soon just dissolve, but it's been almost a month and it wasn't dissolving. Is this grossing you out? It's gone now. Last night I got it out with a needle. I'm so glad to have my toe back. I was afraid it would sprout and I would start looking like a character from Pirates of the Caribbean with sea urchins and crustaceans growing on me....

That was gross.

I don't know when Nathan's coming home from Iraq and I'm not really allowed to ask, but I started cleaning out closets this weekend! The pantry looks fabulous! Now if I could just find a dress....

I told John he had to eat 4 bites of his chicken before he could have more bread, since he is 4 years old. He told me, "Wow, you are going to have to eat an hundred bites, mom!" ouch....

Bad Dream

It's been a while since I had a bad dream about Nathan.

But, early this morning I had one of those bad bad dreams. I don't remember the whole dream, and I don't wanna write about all of it and jinx myself or something, but it ended with me trying to decide if it would be better to move with the kids to California near his family, or Oregon near mine. (which is a tiny bit odd since I don't have a whole lotta family in Oregon)

and then I heard a knock on the door.

The knock woke me up from my bad dream and I stayed in bed until I heard another knock to be sure I wasn't still dreaming.

at 5:45am.

That's just the kind of thing to stop my heart.

and make me wish I wore attractive jammies to bed last night.

But I scrambled to find my glasses and my robe. I made it to the door and looked out the peep hole......

...and it was just a neighbor kid offering Hannah a ride to cross country practice, not a few men in uniform. Whew!


note to Nathan: come home soon!

Happy Birthday Nathan!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly at Camp

I really had a wonderful time at camp. I loved it. Even though I was stressed right up through the drive there, that feeling of angst went away as soon as we got to camp and started setting up. I had a great time, and I think most of the girls did, too.

This year's camp was different than anything I have ever experienced, either as a leader or as a girl myself. It was a ward YW camp, not a stake camp. So all the planning and set up and cooking and activities and supplies and equipment was up to us. With just two of us really doing the work, it was tough. It didn't help that one of us was out of town for half the summer and the other of us' husband is gone. But we did great, if I do say so myself.

The Good:

Bellows was the perfect place to stay. The beach was beautiful, the camp area was shady and grassy, and it felt very safe. Some beach areas in Hawaii don't feel as safe, but I was able to sleep well - and that is extremely rare and important to me. Remember me yelling for dad to save my life in the middle of the night on Mt. Adams? yeah. that kind of thing still happens to me... but not this year!

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay was so fun. You should go there if you come visit Oahu. But if you are coming with a group, do yourself a favor and don't mention that little fact to the ticket people. They have crazy rules about groups there. I should add that to my bad list, but it turned out good in the end.

The hike to Maunawili Falls gets an A+. A week before camp, we set up a compass treasure hunt along the trail to the falls. The girls followed the clues along the trail, collecting little star beads in the YW colors. Brilliant. Swimming in the pool at the foot of the falls was cool. The girls jumped off the rocks into the water. I did not. The hike seemed to be the girls' favorite thing about camp.
Watching the sun rise in the East. Wow.

Catching crabs on the beach after dark.

Singing silly songs around the campfire. This is a secret that I have wanted to save as a surprise for when Nathan comes home, but I have to write it here, so if you are reading this, Nathan, cover your eyes. For fun this summer, Hannah's piano teacher taught her how to play the guitar and she took a little break from piano. Hannah is a genius and picked up chords in like a day. Watching Hannah play guitar by the campfire with all the girls singing along was so cool. (The day we got home from camp we had to rush over to the Haleiwa Arts Festival so Hannah could perform with a girl band. She played guitar and sang her little heart out. I'm hoping someone will email me some photos of that so I can blog about it properly.) Anywho, the campfire songs were great. You never know if the girls will go along with your ideas, and I was a little nervous that there would be some 'tude about singing, but I was wrong....the singing was fun!

Having the best babysitter ever taking care of my little kids. Cammie was a dream come true. She doesn't believe in television, and my kids were in craft heaven all week. They love her and are dreaming of the next time she gets to babysit.

The Bad:

Bellows is a military area and to stay there with a bunch of non-military people was complicated. I had to gather a load of information and fax it to the security people a few days before camp. Unfortunately my fax was lost and it took 4 trips to the gate (15 minutes from camp) to sponsor people on, and 4 more trips to the security office to get it all taken care of. Grrrr.

Planning and buying and organizing all the food is a daunting task. It is so hard to know how much food to buy. This year was easier than last year, as I made an awesome spreadsheet last year, but it was still hard. And though we did a better job this year splitting up the cooking between years, I had a hard time letting that task go. It didn't help that I seemed to be the only person who was capable of looking through the coolers and boxes to find the different ingredients.

A giant centipede in the middle of the night. Eeek!


The Ugly:

One of our leaders was a little bit left-over happy. She just could not let the leftovers go. That made for some ice chest challenges. Peach cobbler rewarmed and served for 3 days...Gha.

Girl trouble on the mini-golf coarse. I was having a fabulous time swinging the club when all H.E. Double Hockey Sticks broke loose. One girl called another girl a mean name, that girl started to have a panic attack, no one would take the blame or apologize....oh the drama. All the drama made our YW leader have a bit of a break down, too, which was surprising. What would camp be without the drama, though?

The bites on my belly. On about day two of camp I started to notice a couple of bites on my belly. When we got home and I saw myself in the mirror I almost started crying. I look like I have a bad case of the chicken pox. I'm told to keep cortisone cream handy and they should go away in a week to ten days (I hope it's gone before Nathan comes home...maybe you shouldn't read that part, either, Nathan.)

I heart YW camp!

Girls Camp

Confession: I don't actually want to go to camp.

We are heading out tomorrow and I am already feeling frazzled.

But, I'm sure it will be great fun.

Here's our schedule:

Day One:

Set up at Bellows at about 3pm.

Go swim at the beach until dinner and campfire.

Walk back to the beach and look at the stars. Find the Big Dipper and the North Star. Hunt for crabs.

Day Two:

Watch the sunrise.

Go to Hanauma Bay to snorkel. Identify some fish.

Go back to camp and play at the beach. Maybe some noodle surfing!

After dinner, play miniature golf.

Day Three:

Hike to Maunawili Falls. Jump off the rocks and swim in the pool.

Go back to camp and swim some more at the beach.

Roast marshmallows over the campfire.

Day Four:

Pack up.

Go home.

Hug and Kiss Sydney, Emily, and John.

Shower.

See ya Saturday!

SCUBA

Last week Hannah took a SCUBA class. Now she is an actual certified PADI diver. Go Hannah!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday wish:





I have a feeling that wish will come true in the next month or so.

la la la!

happy birthday to me...

Busy Week

I am having pretty much the busiest week of my life. I need a list to get me through Thursday:

Make a list
Get up early
Run
Hannah to Cross Country
Start washing all the sheets
Hannah picked up
Get addresses of deployed guys in our ward
Mail packages to those guys
Call Bro Lee about the t-shirts for camp
Keep washing sheets
Make car appointment
Gather library stuff
Go to the library
Don't forget to take reading program pages
Go to the Commisary
Go to my afternoon class
Make beds
Make sure my babysitter is still coming
Fix a good dinner
Tidy up
Take Hannah to her SCUBA class
Take pictures of Hannah in her gear
Get home late and hope the little kids are already in bed
whew!