Shay's Baptism!

I'm so tired, I have two little girls sitting here with me and I can't concentrate on what I'm writing to save my life. Last night I totally even forgot to blog. I didn't realize it until I got up this morning. We have been keeping so busy that by the end of the day I'm just so tired that my brain doesn't want to function and my body just wants to shut down for the night.

Church service this morning was fabulous, as always. Since it's Memorial weekend they focused a lot on the military and sacrifices they make. I really should have remembered my tissues. I knew what was coming before I walked out the door this morning, but totally forgot to stash tissues in my purse. I'm the girl that tears up every time I hear the National Anthem, whether my husband is deployed or not. It's much worse when he's gone though. I think I did pretty well under the circumstances this morning. It really helped that I had a good friend sitting next to me that is also going through this deployment. I was just really touched at how appreciative our church is of our military. This mornings service was beautiful!

After church we had our annual Splash Bash! It started out with water baptism. My Shay was one of the many who were immersed in water to emerge as a new creation in Christ! I'm so proud of her and I'm excited to see what God has planned for her life. I didn't know it beforehand but my sister and her daughter were also signed up to be baptized this morning. Shay got in line with her cousin and they decided to get into the pool and be baptized together. It was great!

After the baptisms we enjoyed the afternoon eatting and playing in the water. Well, the kids played in the water anyhow. They had a blow up water slide and a blow up slip and slide along with the pools. It was a fun afternoon. If you're my friend on facebook you can see more pics there!

We spent the rest of the day with friends. We picked up a crib, put it together, took the kids to the splash park, ate dinner together, watched a movie, started a fire in the oven...oops, did I really just admit that?! I guess I did and I'll also admit it was all my fault and that the hot dog bun didn't look so good after being saved from the flame. HeHe Just call me clumsy! That wasn't the first time I started a fire in an oven. In middle school I dropped the oven mit into the oven while we were cooking in class and it caught on fire. I should probably stay away from ovens, but I haven't burnt down a house, or a school, yet... On that note let me ask for prayers so that never happens! Nighty Night!

Running!

I'm a little nervous about waking up in the morning after all the walking and running I did today. My legs are sore now and I can only imagine what they will feel like after being relaxed in one position all night. This morning the kids and I decided to take Tibbles for a walk. My oldest and youngest were on skateboards and Shay held Tibbles leash. We didn't get far when I had a brilliant idea. My friend borrowed my truck for a couple days while her van was getting worked on. She called yesterday to say it was fixed, so I decided we could walk across post to pick it up. We came back home to get some water and headed out to her house. I'm not really good at guessing distance, but I'd say it was over a mile. That's not really very far in reality, but most of the way I was practically speed walking to keep up with the skateboards.

This afternoon was pretty uneventful. We played some games and picked up around the house a little and watched some tv. My husband called on skype this afternoon which was fabulous! I love talking to him and seeing him on the computer screen. I'm so ready to see him in person, but he'll be home in God's time. What a fabulous day that will be. I can just see him now, walking off the plane and running towards me. I can hardly wait! Until then Skype will have to do... I love you baby!

Tristan had his babysitters course today through the edge program here on post. When I went to pick him up, he said he had a good time, but it was a little awkward. He ended up being the only boy there. Luckily he knew one of the girls so he had someone to sit with. He's not a shy kid by any means and he really doesn't care what other people think about him (he gets that from his dad) so I'm sure he was just fine.

This evening I had the bright idea of going for a short run. My legs were already sore from running last night and then all the walking this morning. If I keep it up though, my legs will get use to it and stop hurting. I just have to convince myself to stay motivated. I just keep telling myself that if my husband can do what he's doing than the least I can do is start running again so when he gets back I'll be able to go the distance with him. He loves it when I go running with him and since we've been here in Hawaii I haven't done much of that with him. When he gets home I'll be in shape and ready to keep him company on his runs... All for you baby!

 I loved spending so much time with my kids today. If this is any indication of how the whole summer will be, it will be a great one! The only thing missing is Trint, but you can be sure we'll be spending as much time as possible on skype with him... We can't wait to see you again baby! We love you so much!

Last Day of School

I thrive on busy days when my husband is away. It passes time so much faster than sitting at home doing nothing. As you can tell after reading all my posts, I'm definately not lacking in things to do. Today was no exception. I got a text from a friend this morning asking if I'd like to play kickball at the school with our girls 5th grade class. I admit I was a little hesitant at first, simply because I had just sat down after taking the kids to school and wasn't planning on going anywhere. It didn't take long to decide I shouldn't sit at home, and my daughter would appreciate that I took the time to spend with her. I ran upstairs to change and put my hair up and headed to the school. I'm really glad I did. My friend and I ended up spending the whole day with the class. We played kick ball, dodge ball, minute to win it, ate hot dogs and other treats, played a game that involved basketball and math, and had ice cream. During first recess I found Syd and stayed with her for a little while too. It was a good day!

After school we came home and skyped with my mom for a little while, then went to the park so the girls could play with their friends. To top off the day I went for a run while Syd rode her bike. My run was cut a little short when Syd's bike pedal fell off. I tried to put it back on, but the screw was stripped so I ended up walking a little more than I had planned. We were already on our way back home so it wasn't cut too short. That really doesn't matter anyhow. I just had fun spending a little one on one time with her.

I'm excited to see what adventures God has in store for us this summer. I know one thing for sure, my alarm will not be set to 5:30 every weekday during the summer. In fact, it will not be set at all unless something comes up on occasion. I'm looking forward to sleeping in a little. Another good thing about summer is that it always flies by so fast and before we know it school will be starting up for another year. That means my husband will be home for r&r before we know it because once school starts we'll be so busy with that, that time will continue to move forward quickly. As I said before, I don't wish time to just slip away from us, I just pray for time to go quickly while my husband is away so we have him back home and our family can be together again. All in God's perfect timing though. He's always so good to us and I trust He will always do the right thing for our family. What I want isn't always for the best so I leave it all to God.

Nonstop Day

Holy toledo! Today was the busiest day yet. I was doing something from the time I woke up until now. It was a good kind of busy though. It started this morning with getting myself ready (to include shower, hair, and makeup), while making a pizza (homemade I might add, not one of those frozen ones) for one of Tristan's classes, while doing Shay's hair, while keeping Syd focused (that's the most challenging task) on getting ready. All this in just one hour and 20 minutes.

I got the middle school kids dropped off and stayed at the girls school with them for Shay's aloha ceremony. They still have one day of school left, but she has her certificate and is off to middle school with her brother next year. After the ceremony we made our way to the library for a literacy program. The kids got a copy of Charlotte's Web and we did a project after reading the first chapter with our child. I signed Shay out after that so I could take her to lunch. As we were leaving the school we noticed Syd outside with her class playing in the sprinklers. Shay wanted to go say hi to her so we did. Then we were off to Taco Bell. It was a short day at school, as it is every Wednesday, so after lunch we had to head back to the school to pick up Syd.

When we got home, we had just enough time to clean up the house a little before we had to go to Syd's theater class. Unfortunately I was so frazzled today that I got times mixed up and Syd was an hour late to class. Her teacher let her stay for the next class with the older kids. I felt terrible, but Syd didn't care and she had fun. I guess we all mess up at some point and this isn't something that is life changing so it is what it is. While she was in class I went to the office to enroll them in their classes for the summer. Syd is sticking with theater, Tristan is sticking with rock band, and Shay has decided to not only stick with cooking but to add hula. I'm so excited that Shay is finally coming out of her shell and participating in more things. She's definately growing up right before my eyes.

We came home from theater just in time for Shay and I to make blueberry struesel coffee cake and muffins for sgo. Before they were even done baking the ladies were here! YAY! We had great conversation and just a fabulous time praying and processing life together. There were only three of us tonight, but it was very productive and although I missed those that couldn't make it, God has a funny way of putting us just where we need to be at just the right moment. To top off the evening, Shay has decided to be baptized this Sunday at our church splash bash. The only reason she didn't do it in the past was her fear of going under water. After she talked with us tonight, she has decided she's ready! I can't wait for Sunday to get here! 

After my busy day, I'm now ready for bed. Nighty Night everyone!

Good night Trinity! Sweet Dreams! I love you more than all the circles! Muah! Muah! Muah! 

God's Peace

I'm going to bed tonight with sadness in my heart. It's breaking for our army families who recently lost their loved ones. I just can't even imagine what they must be going through right now. I just pray that I never have to find out first hand.

My mind is blank tonight, though somehow God is continueing to put this peace in my heart that is beyond my understanding. I would expect the recent circumstances would bring more worry to me, yet it hasn't. God is reassuring me that He's in control of everything in my life, in my families life, and that no matter what we will be okay. We have Him and that's ultimately all we need.

It's been a busy evening so I'm going to go to bed to rest up for the busy day I have tomorrow.

Note: My wireless internet stopped working last night when I was posting this and I was too tired to come down to fix it so that's why it wasn't posted last night.

Beautiful Moments

Headaches are no fun at all. Since we've been in Hawaii I get them regularly. I've heard a lot of people complain about headaches here and I'm told it's the barometric pressure. I really have no idea, but the one thing I do know is that it's annoying. I went to bed last night with a slight headache but after taking some tylenol I figured it would be gone by morning. My husband woke me up on skype around midnight and I felt fine. Perhaps that was simply because I was happy to talk to him. When I woke up this morning, it was worse. If I didn't have to get kids to school I would not have gotten out of bed when the alarm went off. However, I did have kids that needed to be at school on time so I somehow managed to get them all out the door on time. I had planned to go back to bed when I got home, but I was so wide awake that was not happening.

Despite the headache I went into Syd's room and got started cleaning. She usually does it herself, after several days of being stuck in there until it's done, but occasionally I go in and thoroughly clean it. I do that with all the kids, but expecially Syd. She's my child that keeps absolutely everything. Nothing gets thrown away, including small pieces of scrap paper. She claims that she may use it later. That's probably true with all the writing, cutting, and glueing she does, but it drives me nuts to walk in her room and see so many projects that she's started and never finished. When she walked into her room after school she was so excited. She said thank you many times and she promised to keep it clean since mommy spent her day cleaning just for her. I can't even begin to tell you how appreciative she was. It was definately worth my time to do this for her.

As slow as I was moving today, that was pretty much all I got accomplished, aside from the laundry that needed catching up. By afternoon my headache was finally completely gone, but by then I was tired. Too bad I couldn't have been tired when I had the headache. Of course then I wouldn't have gotten Syd's room done. Everything always seems to work out for the best in the end.

Tonight as I was sitting on the chair watching tv with the girls, Shay came up to me and wanted a hug. Apparently she got very comfortable because she fell asleep on my lap. Syd got the cam and snapped a picture. That's definately a moment to remember.

Today was the first time I missed a call from my husband. Not a good feeling. Regardless of the fact that he understands and it doesn't bother him, it does bother me. There isn't a whole lot I can do for him from this far away, but being here when he calls is one thing I can do. Fortunately, he called me back just a short while ago. Yay! I feel much better now!... I hope you have a good day baby! I'll talk to you again soon! I love you! Oh, and here's a picture of the roses you bought me. I waited a little too long to take the picture so they aren't at their best, but they have been beautiful and they just keep blooming! I LOVE YOU!

Kid's Church

I really don't know what to write about today. I have so many thoughts going through my head and there's so much going on in the world. Not even all of it affects me directly, but it still touches my heart. Last night and then again today, tornados have reaked havok on my home state. Last night a town south of where I grew up was devasted. Many homes were completely destroyed, businesses gone, peoples lives have been turned upside down. Then today another town was hit. I don't personally know anyone from either of these places, but I know people that do. My very best friend was born in the town that was destroyed today. She knows people that are still living there and has strong ties to the town.Relatives on my husbands side of the family lived there for several years and they also have friends that are still living there. To see the devastation in pictures and to wonder what they must be going through just breaks my heart. If you're reading this please say a prayer for everyone that has been affected by these storms.

Church this morning was great as always. We concluded the series "Heaven is for Real". It was a great one. I can't wait to see what the next series will bring. It seems that every Sunday there is something in it that I can relate to or something I need to work on. It's great how God always finds a way to get through to us. Sometimes there are things we don't even realize we need to work on or we just haven't ever thought about until it's brought up and it's like a lightbulb goes off over your head. Today is the last Sunday I have my amazing group of kids until after summer academy. During the summer we do something different with the kids. We offer them a choice between 5 classes that they can do during our summer. This year we have basketball, hula, praise and worship, water color painting, and photography. It's not grouped by age, just by catagory. At the end of summer academy we have a big family day where the kids can display their talents they have been working on. This was something new to me last year, but it was great. The kids loved it, as well as the teachers. After summer academy I'll still have my 2nd graders who will then be 3rd graders, but I'll be losing my 3rd graders because they'll be moving up to the next class. I will however be gaining some new kids that are moving up from the 1st grade. I'm excited to have new kids and to see what God has in store for them and me. One of my kids stopped me before class today and really made my day. He came to the earlier service today so he wasn't in my class, but usually I have him. He asked why I didn't teach him today. I told him it's only because he was at the earlier service and I teach later. He said, "But you're the fun teacher". What a sweet kid. I guess I must be doing something right for the kids to want to be with me. I love them all so much so that really made me happy to know I'm making a difference. The other day I had a mom tell me that her daughter didn't want to go to the early service because she wanted to be in my class. She argued with her mom about it, but she had a performance later in the day so the early service worked out better for them that Sunday. My kids are amazing and so sweet! I can't even begin to tell you how much I love teaching them!

Tonight I went back for the evening service to fill in because our co director had her son's high school graduation to attend. It was so much different in the evening. It's a relatively new thing becasue we just opened up an earlier evening service with kid's church provided. Most of the kids were newer and I had never met them before. It was a very small class of just 8 kids I think. I can't remember because I didn't actually count but it was small. They range in age from K-6th. I thought that would be a challenge in itself to keep everyone interested, but it went so smoothly. They all listened and participated and it was really a lot of fun for them and for me.

After all the busyness from the day, I'm tired so I'm going to cut this short and get myself some sleep. No more late nights for me. Yea right, we'll see how that goes with summer just around the corner. hehe Nighty Night!

Patiently Waiting

After last nights sleepover, I think it's safe to say we will not be doing that again any time soon. I spent the better part of my morning and early afternoon cleaning downstairs. I still have no idea how it happened, but there was wax and green gooey putty all over the place. The wax came from my scentsy warmer, but it's sitting in the corner of my computer desk completely out of the way. The girls shouldn't have been anywhere near it. It was splattered all over the desk and Tristans school binder is completely covered. Good thing they only have a few days left of school. I can say for sure that it is not all going to come off, but on the up side he will have the best smelling binder in school. They did try to wipe it up, but of course it dried quick so they didn't get much of it at all. Then they took the towel they tried using and put it on the island in the kitchen. There was wax shavings on the floor from point a to point b and it came off of the towel onto the island. What a mess. It took me a while to figure out what the green goo was. I asked them but didn't get a straight answer, or just didn't understand what they were trying to say. I found the container and realized it was that glow in the dark oozy stuff that for whatever reason kids love to smoosh between their fingers. It reminded me of the green ooze from teenage mutant ninja turtles toys. Don't ask why I came up with that. I never played with the turtles and I have no idea why that popped into my mind. They had rolled it up in little balls and I found the balls all over, even in Shay's hair. She had fallen asleep earlier than her friend and sister so they threw it at her. Some of it came out of her hair, but apparently just throwing it wasn't enough and someone, her sister uhhum, decided to take it a step further and smash a piece in her hair to turn it green. Not such a great idea. They had fun, or not so much, helping me clean this morning. I was not a happy momma.

Other than that I just stayed home today and did laundry. In between loads I sat around being lazy. Well, when I wasn't getting the kids meals, or running upstairs to bring my puppy, who was for some reason being very crazy today, back down the stairs, or running Shay and her friend back and forth between houses. Oh, and Shay had cooking class this afternoon and I had to run to the commissary to get some hygiene things to send my husband. Okay, so maybe I wasn't being lazy at all. I was able to watch a whole movie on lifetime this afternoon while the kids were all out playing though. I guess that's really all the time I had to be lazy. Even then I was folding clothes while I watched. I'm tired just after writing all of that. HeHe

I got to skype with my husband today. I'm so grateful that he gets ahold of me every chance he gets, if even for just a few minutes as he's passing through his room. My husband truly is the best of the best. He's the best husband, daddy and soldier. I'm so blessed to be married to such an amazing man. I love you baby and I'm so proud of what you stand for. You mean the world to me. I can't wait to have you back home with me and our kids. Just keep looking up and God will guide you through this deployment. You will be back home before you know it. I'll be waiting with my arms wide open, ready to close them around you! I love you soooo much! Muah! Muah! Muah!

Muscle Spasm! LOL

Tristan..."Why did the man fall off the cliff?"  Answer..."Because he had a muscle spasm!" I know what you're thinking, "That's dumb". I thought the same thing, but we were already laughing so hard as we drove home from youth service tonight, that the caramel McCafe I was drinking ended up all over the dash. Gross! Looks like I'll be cleaning the truck tomorrow. Yes baby, I did just admit on my public blog that everyone can see that I spit out my McCafe all over the dash after hearing a completely not funny joke. Hey, at least I didn't snort like a pig. LOL Not to mention, the kids thought it was hilarious and laughed harder at what I did than at the joke itself. Now I can call myself the funny mom. Okay, I won't go that far.

This morning the girls had their may day performance at school. The weather was nice, aside from the on and off rain, but it wasn't hot. Last year it was so hot I thought we all might just melt like wax. The rain was annoying because it kept coming and going, but I'll take the rain over the heat. The kids all did such a great job. I was so impressed with Shay's hula that I'm trying to talk her into taking a hula class. She was so graceful with her hands and she wasn't timid at all like she usually is in front of people. She's decided to take hula at kid's church during summer academy and hopefully she'll like it enough that she will want to continue with it after that. I can't even express how proud I was of her in particular because she's like me when it comes to getting up in front of people. She's gradually getting better though which I'm so happy about. Syd, on the other hand, isn't afraid of anything. She's a go getter and she'll get up in front of anyone to sing a song or dance. She likes the attention. She looked over at me several times to make sure I had my eyes on her. A friend of mine that also had kids at the school recorded the kids performances and I took photos of them. I'm so glad she was there to do that especially since Trint wasn't here to see them. Thanks again, you know who you are!

My friend had an appointment this afternoon so after the program I got my girls and her boys and we all come to our house. I figured I could rescue her boys from school for the day too. They are great kids and I enjoy having them around. It was still morning time but they all thought they were going to starve so I made them orange julius and pizza rolls. That seemed to satisfy them all and then they went out to play.

My fabulous husband called me twice today! YAY! I could seriously just sit in front of the computer and watch him literally all day long. He was pretty tired when we talked, both times, but still he took time out to call me. You're the best baby! The very best! I love you so much!

I have to say that skype is the best invention since...well, since I don't know what, but it's great! When I was growing up and my dad, who was in the Air Force, was away on trips we didn't have skype. He would call us of course, but we couldn't see him on the other end. We survived obviously, but skype has made it so much easier to stay connected in a more personal way. I can't imagine not seeing my husbands face, aside from still photos, for an entire year. I know we'd survive, but it just makes it so much easier, and more interesting too. Like the time this week when we got to have him in the kitchen with us for breakfast.

This evening we finally had a chance to start going back to youth service. Things just kept popping up in the past couple months and we weren't able to make it. Now that Shay is going into the middle school soon she can start getting active in it too. Her best friend came with her tonight. They kind of stayed in the back and observed more than anything, but in time I'm sure they will be right in there with the rest of the kids. Tristan of course, already knowing a lot of the kids, went straight up to the front, the very front, and started jumping up and down and worshiping God.

I met with a friend during service, who is helping me to start an sgo here on post. I had a good talk with her and she's going to come next week to help us get started. I'm excited for this new adventure God has in store for us!

I'm so excited for the kids that it's almost time for church summer camp. Tristan went last year and had the best time ever. I asked Shay if she was interested in going and I really expected her to say no because it's one of those things she would be nervous about and scared to just jump in to. She isn't so quick to start something new, especially when it means being away from home for a few days and with people she doesn't really know all that well. However, she instantly said yes without any hesitation. I'm so happy about that. I know she will have the time of her life. Hopefully her best friend will be able to join her and that will make it just that much better for her. I'm sure it helps too that she knows her big brother will be there so she won't be alone. Not that they will hang around with each other, but just the fact he's there will be comforting to her. You can bet I'll be more nervous than her when the day comes to drop her off. I wasn't nervous at all about dropping Tristan off last year because he's more outgoing and can hold his own. Shay on the other hand is more timid in new situations. She's very clingy to me and likes the reassurance that I'm always there to safe the day, or ruin it as the case may be. hehe At camp she won't have me for a few days and will be on her own. I know she'll do just fine though. God will guide her through it and she'll have so much fun she won't even know I'm not there.

Today was another busy day and the girls are all finally quieting down, a little anyhow, so I'm going to try to get some sleep. I'm betting that before long they'll start giggling again and wake me up, but as long as they're having a good time it's okay for one night. Plus we don't have a lot of plans tomorrow so maybe I can catch a quick nap if necessary. Yea right, a nap on a Saturday with all the kids home. That could be a stretch. Anythings possible though! Nighty Night!

Productive Day

A lot was accomplished today and I even had time for a short nap. This morning I went to school with Shay because she was having trouble with her friend. It was just preteen drama, but she was miserable at school for the past couple days so I wanted to get it resolved. I know the other girls mom and I also knew that she had no idea what was going on because she would have contacted me to get it straightened out. I told Shay yesterday that she needed to try to work it out with her friend because if possible that would be the best solution. They've been really close all year so I figured it would blow over. Little did I know it had gotten as far as it did and this morning Shay was in tears. I was not going to make her go to school and face what she was dealing with after she spilled it this morning and told me what exactly was going on. I decided to go with her and meet with the counselor. I found my friend at the school as she was dropping off her kids and we took our girls to the counselor to work it all out. They are back to being friends and all is right in their world once again. Mission accomplished!

My friend and I got to talking after the meeting and got on the subject of middle school. We decided to hop in my car and go over there to have a few questions answered before our girls start 6th grade. I got a list of all the afterschool activities which even after being here for over a year I had no idea even existed. Tristan never brought home anything about it. Of course he wouldn't be interested anyhow because they don't involve drums or skateboarding. Shay on the other hand could benefit from some of the programs. The only downfall is that they can only choose one. That is going to be a tough decision. She would likely choose something fun, but I would love to see her do something productive that could help her out in school. My first choice would be a writing club. She's not bad at writing, but she doesn't focus on what she's doing and could benefit from learning the do's and don'ts. It would really help her when it comes time to write reports. Anyhow, we got a tour of the school and they were really helpful. Of course I had already been on campus, but I didn't know where all the 6th grade rooms were or other places like the library and media centers. The campus is pretty big and I had only been to the office and the theater. It was nice to see that the 6th grade rooms are all grouped together so they don't have to go far and won't get lost when switching classes at the start of the year.

This afternoon I got some housework done and after getting the girls from school I made Trint some  people puppy chow. Some call it muddy buddy mix. He loves that stuff so I made three batches of it and will send it off tomorrow. By the way baby, you may consider sharing it because I don't want you to get an upset stomach like you did last deployment from eatting it all in a day. hehe Unfortunately I ran out of packing tape so I'll have to go get some tomorrow afternoon. The kids sat down and made daddy some pictures to decorate his room with while I made the snack mix. His room looks pretty bare so since I'm not there to decorate we're sending him homemade decorations and tape. Before long your room will be bright and cheery baby. The kids did a wonderful job!

My Baby Loves Me

Today flew by in superspeed. That's a good thing and just one more thing I count as a blessing. I don't want time to slip out from under us because every day is a gift with new experiences and new blessings. However, I do want it to be time for my husband to come home so we can share our days together. It isn't really any fun to wake up in the morning without getting a kiss on my forehead before he leaves for pt or to go to bed every night without my three goodnight kisses. It's no fun eatting my lunch without his company. The tv shows we watch together just aren't the same without his arms around me. Nothing is really the same when he's on the other side of the world. When a day goes by fast it's a blessing because although we are miles apart, it's one more roadblock that we conquered together on our year long journey. It's one day closer to being back together.

Trint called us on skype this morning just as I was getting the kids up. They only have an hour to get ready for school so I sat the computer on the island while I got their breakfast ready. It was kinda great because Trint got to spend a little time with us doing what we do every morning. It probably was more of a comfort for me than him since I was here going about my morning and he could only watch. For me though, it was a comfort to have him in the room with me and to carry on a conversation with him like we usually would if he were here. It was so much like a typical morning with him home that I had this strong desire to just fill up a plate and hand it to him. If only that were possible. I feel for him having to be away from us and watching us from a distance. I know it's a good thing for him to be able to see us, but just as I wanted to make him a plate, I know even more so he wanted to be able to take that plate and sit down at the table to eat with us.     

I think I kinda irriated my husband later on in the day, although he'll never admit to it and I didn't do it intentionally. I'm blessed with a husband that does his best to hide it when he's irritated with me, and he never lets it get to the point where he's mad. He just lets it roll off his shoulders and does whatever it takes to show me he loves me. He's always thinking of me and just wants me to be happy. He's pretty amazing! He knows I wasn't trying to irritate him anyhow and that I just miss him terribly. However, I could tell in his voice and demeaner that he was irritated. Whenever he turns his computer on Skype automatically logs him in so it pops up on my computer that he's online. I happened to be on the computer this afternoon when he logged on so I instantly called him. I just wanted to see him again and hear his voice. He answered of course, but I'm sure only so as not to upset me and as usual to make me happy. He was just stopping by his room for a few minutes before he had to be somewhere, and that somewhere is a place I made him promise me he'd go. I'll get to that later. We talked for short while, longer than he really wanted to I could tell since he hung up so quickly, but I was happy with just seeing him for a few minutes. I know he was happy to see me too, he just hadn't planned for a phone call. I'll do my best from now on not to call him everytime I see he's logged in. It's just hard not to talk to him every chance I get, but I understand that he has other things to do and I know he will call me every chance he has time to. I think I'm just at that point where he's been gone long enough and I miss our ordinary routine more and more everyday.

After I picked the girls and my friends two boys up from school today we had to go straight over to Syd's theater class. Usually Wednesdays are short days so we aren't in a hurry and they have time to do their homework before theater. Today however was a regular day and they get out 5 minutes after theater has already started. We quickly made our way there and Syd was about 15 minutes late, but it wasn't a big deal. I took the opportunity to sit and relax until class was over while the boys and Shay ran around outside. Earlier in the day I had to go to the commissary which is never any fun and always crowded. I did run into a woman from church in the parking lot as I was loading up my groceries. I have her daughter in my Sunday school class. Very sweet girl. It was great running into her and chatting for a while. Anyways, back on subject. So anyhow, relaxing outside for a bit was great.

After class we came home and I started getting things ready for my friends to come over for dinner. I have decided to start an sgo here on post. There are several military families at our church and I know some of them are here on Schofield. Having the military life in common I think it would be great for all of us to come together, pray with each other, study God's word, and be here to support each other. Plus, we have to drive a little ways to get to most of the groups so with one on post we also have the added advantage of staying close to home. Tonight was just to kind of see how many ladies would want to get involved and if we could make it work. There were just 4 of us tonight, but that's enough to get started. After all they are small groups. Next week the woman I ran into at the commissary is also wanting to start coming. Hopefully my friend who is my leader connection will be able to come next week to better get us organized. I'm really excited about how God is working it all out and I can't wait to see where He takes it from here.

Technology

Technology is a wonderful thing. Well, most of the time. When it's operating the way we had planned for it too. My husband finally has his internet up and running. Anyone who has to be separated from a loved one for an extended period of time will know what I'm talking about when I say that Skype is the best invention ever!

Around midnight last night, I was startled awake by a sound I hadn't heard before. It was loud and quite frankly scared me out of my mind. My eyes instantly opened and I searched around my dark room for the cause of the noise. It only took seconds for me to completely wake up and realize it was my phone. It wasn't my normal ring tone or even the alarm noise. It was different. I grabbed it to make it shut up and realized it was a call coming in from skype. It took a second to focus my eyes enough to see that it was... my husband! YAY! Finally the internet is all hooked up. I had a stow away in my bed so I didn't want to turn the light on and wake him up, so I grabbed my computer and ran down the stairs. I finally at long last was able to see my husband in real time and talk to him like he was sitting in front of me. Okay so he was on my lap because I was in my comfy recliner with the computer on my lap. hehe Good thing it wasn't really him or I might have been crushed. hehe Just kidding baby! It was so wonderful to actually see for myself that he is really okay. Not that I didn't believe him, but still.

This afternoon after school we went to a birthday party for my friend's 1 year old. We were there for about an hour when Trint called me on skype again. My crazy phone was going dead so I left the party to run and get my charger. It was kinda hilarious because Trint stayed on the phone the whole time. For some reason my sound wasn't working so we couldn't hear each other, but I put my phone up on the dash and he watched me drive home. I didn't know if he could hear me or not, just knew I couldn't hear him, so he probably thought I was a crazy person as I chatted away to him while I was driving. When I go a couple blocks from my house I noticed a person standing in the middle of the street. He was directing traffic to detour because of an accident. I can't imagine what my face looked like to Trint as I was trying to rush home to turn my computer on so we could actually have a conversation. I just wanted to get there quick and now I had to detour. I was a little frustrated at this point. It was only a short detour, but I wanted to talk with my husband. I really didn't even know if he was still there or not for sure until I got home and turned my phone around. The cam is on the backside and screen on the front. How convenient. Note the sarcasm. He stayed with me the whole time and I finally made it home. We didn't talk for too long because he had to go to work, but even the short time we talked was great.

I got back to the party just in time to pick Tristan up and drive him to his rock band class. The accident wasn't cleared out so I got to detour again plus I had to sit at the stop sign and wait for traffic. The cops had part of the non accident street blocked off with their cars parked all crooked to make it even more inconvenient. I hurried back after dropping him off so I could help them clean up and get everything back to my friends car. She asked me if we would like to watch a movie with them at their house. It's a school night, but the kids didn't have any homework and with it being the end of the year they aren't really doing much so we said yes. Shay went with her so she could help get the kids and everything else back in her house and I went to pick up Tristan. When we got back to her house her son opened his presents, he totally loved his train we got him, and we watched a movie.

Back home we came to get the kids in bed. I started to post on my blog and only had one paragraph when the bubble popped up on my screen that my husband was back online so I immediately called him. HeHe Turns out he was just turning on his computer and it automatically signs him in. He had a couple things to do so he said he'd call back as soon as he was done. Sure enough, 5 minutes later he was back! What a fabulous day.

Before I go to sleep myself I want to tell you about one more thing. I've been...well, not so happy that my husband has been put in so many positions over there that he doesn't have time to sleep and last night I prayed that God could find a way for him to get some relief. I asked that he could have some time to sleep or at least relax a little. It turns out that God answered that prayer for me quickly.Trint was told he was taken off of guard duty. On top of that it just so happens he didn't have to go on the next mission. God answered above and beyond what I had expected. That is also why I got to talk to him so much today. You can't tell me that was a coincidence, it was definately a Godincidence. I heard that saying on the radio and I love it! It had to be God, there's no other explanation. What an awesome God we serve!  

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I think I've experienced it all today, the good, the bad and the ugly. Thankfully I can say most of it was good. However I had to be the bad mommy at one point and one of my kids missed out on McDonalds. It all started after school when Tristan got home. I told him yesterday that the yard needed mowed and we decided together that it would be his responsibility while daddy is gone. He didn't have any homework so he got to it right away. I pulled out the weed eatter and did that part of the job. I'm a little hesitant about that part because I'm worried I'll cut my toes off and I certainly don't want my son to cut his off, so I'd rather do it myself. That's just one of those irrational fears I have. Overprotective, maybe, but my son isn't going to lose his toes to a weed eatter. hehe I was happy to have the help with the yard and he did a good job aside from me having to remind him that he wasn't done every time he came in for a drink and ended up on the couch. Nice try Tristan, but not happening. When the back yard was done I went out front to trim my hibiscus. The yard maintenance people have learned not to cut them without asking, I use to keep a sign on them, but that's no longer necessary. Anyhow, they were getting way to tall and out of control so it was time for a trimming. Syd grabbed a rake and raked up all the trimmings. Then she helped me pile them into a trashbag. Shay had a lot of homework so she spent her time doing that.

Since they were all getting along and being so helpful I decided they deserved a treat. I told them to all get ready to go. Right away I got the "where are we going" feedback. That would be okay if it were simply a question and my answer of, "it's a surprise" was sufficient enough. I let it slide and finally got them to understand I was not telling them until we got there. As we walked to the car I noticed the lawn mower was still out so I told Tristan he needed to put it away. I got the annoying loud sigh along with the, "why do I always have to do everything". I explained that he used the mower so it's his responsibility to put it away. It's not like it was that big of a deal to push it into the garage anyways. He got mad because he had to move a couple bikes over for it to fit back in. He pushed them out of the way with the mower and knocked them all over. I was not happy that his bad attitude made all our new bikes crash over. I told him to pick them up and lose the attitude which only elevated his attitude. Long story short, he was told to get back in the house to stay home. I was not taking Mr. Attitude anywhere. I wanted to have a good time and was not dealing with all of that. The girls and I headed to McDonalds for dinner and ice cream. We weren't gone long, but apparently it was long enough for Tristan to get himself in check. Also long enough for him to make quesadillas for himself so he didn't starve. I brought him home apple pies because I was proud of him for helping me in the yard, and he at least deserved something for helping. I do believe I got my point across. I doubt there's any fussing next time I say we're going out for a surprise.

I have to admit that it's partly my fault that they think they can get by with acting ugly. I'm the mom that acts in the heat of the moment and blurts out punishment that I know good and well isn't going to happen. I mean it when I say it, but it's not realistic so I don't follow through. That's changing and they don't like it. It's working though and they're finally starting to realize that even if I blurt out a punishment I'm going to follow through, even if it's not very realistic. I too am learning to keep my cool a little better so my punishments are more realistic, most of the time anyways. It sure would have been nice for God to include a manual with each child, pertaining to that child specifically. HeHe

I haven't had much chance to talk with my husband lately so this morning I decided to take my chances of his phone being on and I called him. I didn't care what the cost would be. I've wanted to talk to him for several days and rationalized the huge phonebill that it would incur and decided against the call. I was done waiting by this morning and called anyways. After two rings he answered the phone. What a great sound. I really wasn't expecting him to answer. It turns out that two of the phone cards he bought only had a few minutes on them when they were suppose to have 40 minutes each and they had been on blackout for the past couple days. He couldn't have called if he wanted to. There was no way to do anything about the cards because the people selling them weren't allowed inside the wire because of recent happenings. They did however get the internet hooked up in their rooms finally. All but the people that were on a mission while they were running the wires. Of course that would include my husband. When I called he was working on getting ahold of the people to run his wires, but he'd been trying to catch them for two hours with no luck. I really hope they get it done soon because he's already paid for the month and it's not cheap so we will not be happy if he paid for the month and didn't even get his money's worth. I just don't get why they even have to pay for the internet. They have a place they can go and use it for free, however the line is 2 hours long and they don't have cams. When they don't get much time to sleep as it is, 2 hours to wait in line just isn't doable. Plus what's the point when the advantage of internet is so that we can see each other and they don't even have cams. We'll all pay the price because seeing each other and having that kind of contact and communication is worth it, but it sure would be nice if they could be so kind as to provide something so important to our soldiers moral without the high cost. Such is life I suppose.

There will always be those things that we just don't understand and that don't make sense to us. We just have to remember that there's always some sort of lesson that can come from every experience. God just wants to make us stronger so He allows trials in our lives to push us to be stronger. If everything was ribbons and roses we would have no need to seek God's guidance. Let me tell you, I've been seeking a lot lately. But let me also add that the more I seek the closer I feel to God. He always reassures me that things will work out in the end and that He's always on my side. Whether it's a good day, a bad day, or an ugly day, in the end it all turns out for the good. As Dawn O'brien on 95.5 The Fish says, "Tough times don't last, tough people do".

Sleepy Day

I seriously feel like I'm about to fall asleep just sitting here writing this. I've pretty much felt that way all day. I tried to take a nap this afternoon, but that wasn't happening. Everytime I dozed off someone would get loud so I just gave up. I was doing okay this morning at kid's church, but after that it was all down hill. I covered for a friend who had to work this morning so I taught both services. The kids were great this morning, not they are ever not great. I had more kids than I'm use to for the first service I taught. It was fun to have so much involvement in class. They were all willing to pitch in and had lots to say. It's amazing how much an adult can learn from listening to the stories of kids. My regular class was smaller than usual this morning. I'm always ready for active kids and I have active activities planned for them. This morning however I had to do some modification. My kids were calmer than usual and I even had one child fall asleep before class even started. He's one of my kids that is first to raise his hand with answers to my questions. It wasn't any better or worse than any other Sunday, just different. These kids are great whether they come in all hyped up or calm as can be. We always have a good time together.

The rest of the day isn't even really worth commenting on. The girls fought all the way home so they got to spend most of the afternoon in their rooms thinking about why it's not okay to fight. Tristan spent the day skateboarding with his friends. I spend an hour or so trying to catch a nap, which didn't happen so I just gave up. Now that the kids are getting ready for bed I'm going to go read some of my new book I picked up at Church this morning and then go to bed. I'm praying for a good nights sleep so I'm not sleepwalking through my day tomorrow. I have too much to get done.

Recap

I really don't even know what to talk about today. I guess the safest bet is to just recap the day and get my self to bed to hopefully wake up in the morning to much better thoughts. I know my amazing kids at church will make me forget all about everything for the short while I am blessed with being with them.

Not much happened this morning aside from my kids grumping around about doing their chores that should have been done yesterday. Of course we had to add in a lot of fighting about petty things on top of that. What a lovely morning in the Guyett household. I suppose if they would have just done what was asked of them they could have gone out to play, but they decided to make my morning miserable instead.

This afternoon I went to my friends baby shower. What a relief to the morning to be around friends and have laughter and fun. Syd went with me, as Shay was grounded to her room for talking back to me. You'd think she would learn her lesson after all the times she's been grounded for running her mouth, but nope. Tristan of course, being a teenage boy wasn't so thrilled with the idea of a baby shower so he stayed home to make sure Shay didn't leave her room. I know, she's already told me what a mean mommy I am. Maybe some day she'll listen to me without running her mouth and I can be a nice mommy again. Anyhow, Syd and I had a good time at the shower. We played shower games, ooed and awwed over all the adorable baby gifts, had food and cake. Syd had a blast just jumping on the trampoline. She didn't even come in for cake. If you know my daughter at all, she isn't known to miss out on cake, or any kind of food for that matter. She really must have been having a good time. I can't wait to see my friends beautiful little baby when she finally arrives.

This evening I took my computer over to another friends house so she could design invitations for her daughters birthday party. They turned out really cute by the way. Our other friend came over with food so we ate dinner together and just enjoyed each others company, while all the kids played.

There's the recap of my day and now I'm going to bed so I can wake up bright and early in the morning. I'll sure be glad when summer gets here and I don't have to set an alarm clock every morning. At least on weekdays and Saturdays anyhow. I'll be taking advantage of that for sure. Nighty Night!

It's Friday

Another busy day is coming to an end. I must say I'm glad it's Friday and I get to sleep in tomorrow. There will be no alarm going off and maybe just maybe I'll have breakfast waiting for me when I wake up. My kids seem to spoil me on the weekends. I think they have finally come to the conclusion, after years of trying to tell them, that when they go out of their way to be nice to others, others will in turn be nice to them. Others meaning their parents. Don't get me wrong, I just want them to get along and be respectful, but if they want to take it a step further and make breakfast, who am I to stop them. hehe

After getting the kids to school and getting myself ready for the day, my first stop was the post office. I had to get the goody bag boxes that we made at sgo last night sent on their way. When taking the kids to school it was decent out and finally not raining. However, when I opened the door to take the boxes to the car...you guessed it, it was once again raining. For a split second I thought that maybe it could wait till later, but quickly decided I better get it done now or it may not get done until next week. Take that rain, you can't get me down! The boxes were fairly heavy so I took two at a time. I was wondering the whole time how on earth I was going to get all four boxes out of the car at the same time when I got there. I figured I'd just somehow figure it out then. Luckily there was a parking spot left right by the stairs so I wouldn't have to go far. I stacked all 4 boxes on top of each other and got them to the shelf in line with no mishaps. I couldn't see in front of me too well, but I made it. There were only two people in line so I got to the window and back to the car in no time. I've never in my life had such a quick experience at this post office. I'm usually there for at least half an hour if not an hour. Yet another blessing to add to the many God has poured out on my family.

This afternoon I got to have lunch with another friend. When I went to meet her at her house I got the best greeting. Her little girl came running up to me and held on to me for dear life. It was like she hadn't seen me in years. What a warm welcome from such a sweet little girl. Her mommy asked her where she's like to eat after suggesting Taco Bell. She said no to that but wouldn't tell us where she wanted to go. She was sleepy from an earlier play date, but we finally got her talking and she said Taco Bell. Silly girl. So that's where we went. I really wanted their new shrimp taco's which they so still have on the menu in Mililani, but here in Wahiawa, no such luck. If you've heard my stories about places consistently not having what I really want than this wouldn't come as a surprise to you. It certainly didn't to me. I settled for a beefy crunch burrito. That's my second favorite.

We decided to run to Ross after dinner until we had to be back for me to pick up kids. I found Shay her Muu'muu that she needs for her May day program next week and birthday presents for a couple sweet little kids. One being the one I had lunch with. We were sneaky enough and she didn't even notice I got it. She did however enjoy the train that I got for another birthday. She held it in her lap while we finished shopping. I did good today and didn't buy anything for myself. I may end up going back though because I found a vase I really like for the stair landing. I'm pretty sure I really need it to brighten up the space. We'll see after all the bills get paid. hehe

I enrolled Tristan in the babysitter course that they hold through the edge here on post. Today was suppose to be the big day. It lasts 5 hours so they are told to bring dinner with them. I got his food packed and as soon as he walked in the door from school we headed to the class. We waiting and waited and walked around to all the rooms and we couldn't figure out where this class was suppose to be held. We finally found the other kids that were signed up. They were all in the office trying to find out the same info we were searching for. Come to find out the computer had a glitch and it printed out the wrong date on all of our papers, not to mention we were told the wrong date when we signed up. I double checked all the dates before I left the office when I enrolled the kids. I really doubt it was a computer glitch. I'm leaning towards a human error glitch. Whatever the case we were all sent home a little frustrated to return on a later date. That's the 4th error we've encountered with the skies/edge programs. None were this frustrating and they all worked for the best, so I shouldn't really complain. It was just frustrating rushing to get Tristan there on time only to find out he didn't need to be there at all. The other errors were that they had Syd signed up for cooking for a second month when she was only enrolled for the first month she attended. They didn't have Shay signed up at all for the first month of cooking, but I had the receipt so they took her anyways. Tristan was signed up for the rock band class that didn't even exist, but the instructor took him in anyhow and after a month of one on one practice, they now have a rock band forming again.

As for tonight, when we got back home we went to Starbucks for happy hour, only spending just over $7 for all four of us which can't be beat, and grabbed "Voyage of the Dawn Treader". We had pizza and watched a movie. I've been wanting to see this movie since it came out, but never got around to it. It was a great movie. I love the books and have loved all three of the movies. I can't wait for the next one. It was great watching it with Syd. She knows those movies have underlying meaning and she was asking questions. I was surprised at how much she could interpret on her own. I really believe God has special things in store for her life. He's already working in her little heart in big ways. I see it everyday in the little things she does. Her heart is definately in the right place. One of the small things is happening tomorrow. They are having a food drive where we can leave canned goods by the mailbox for the postal person to collect. Syd brought home the flyer from school and said she's going to leave food so someone can eat. We're going to put some cans in a sack tonight so they're ready to sit by the mailbox tomorrow. She always wants to help others. God has given her a servants heart.

I can't believe we're already 5 weeks into this deployment. I know 5 weeks probably doesn't sound like much when you take into consideration that this whole deployment is a year long, but it's gone by so fast for me. Summer is just two weeks away, we all know how fast summer slips away, and once school is back in session we will only have a few months until he's home for r&r. I'm already getting excited about that. All in God's timing though. Until then I'll just keep praying for him and continue to take care of everything back here. besides, God is taking care of my husband far better than I ever could. A friend reminded me of something the other night. Since God has this deployment is His plans for us, my husband is actually safer over there than he would be anywhere else. God tells us if we're faithful to Him, He will watch over us and shower us with His many blessings. As long as we simply embrace what God has in store for us we will be just fine. God's plan is the ultimate plan and it's always in our best interest and for our own good. It may not always seem like it, but there's always a greater purpose, whether it's to draw us closer to Him or to teach us a lesson in order to make us a better person or whatever else it may be. It's always for our own good. If we embrace it and use it to help us grow than we'll be better off for it and it won't seem so bad. Our God is a loving God and as long as we seek His guidance He will bring us through anything that crosses our path.

I almost forgot...I wanted to post this picture of my Tibbles after he went out to play in the yard this evening. He wasn't out for very long, but apparently it was long enough for him to be covered in some sort of weed. I know our yard is getting a little tall with all this rain, but I had no idea my puppy would get covered in weeds. Hopefully the rain can stay away tomorrow so Tristan and I can get the yard mowed and weeded to prevent this from happening again. It may not look all that terrible, but with all his hair, even after his bath and lots of pulling, it's still not completely out. He had fun running across the yard so I guess that's all that matters in the end.

Answered Prayer

It was all God last night when I tried to post and the blogger page said unavailable. It was only 9:30, but we had just gotten home and I was tired. As soon as I saw the notice it was obvious to me that I just needed to go to sleep, and sleep I did. I slept all night long and didn't wake up once. I feel so much better today after a good nights sleep. It came at the perfect time too, because today is again a busy day, but more on that tonight.

Yesterday was literacy day in Syd's class. The parents were invited to join their kids in the classroom for the morning to hear a story and work on a project with their student. Before we left we had a light snack. Afterwards the kids got a copy of the book to take home. I'll be honest and say that I don't remember what the name of the book was, but it was by Eric Carle and it was about a hermit crab that outgrew his shell. He then decided to decorate it with things such as a starfish and a snail who then became his friends. Every month he found a new "friend". At the end of the year he had outgrown his shell again so he gave it to a smaller crab who promised to be nice to his "friends" and he found a bigger one for himself. It was a cute story. I love childrens books. I should have stayed a child. hehe Just kidding mom. I wouldn't want to put you through that again. hehe They didn't have time to finish their project before we had to leave, but it was a stand up book report. They wrote the beginning, middle, and end on a worksheet, colored it, and glued it to a milk carton. Then they colored pictures of the characters, cut them out and glued them to sticks that pop out of the top of the carton. I can't wait to see Syd's finished product. Her teacher kept hers and one other girls as an example for another class she teaches outside of school.

I came home for an hour after that to pick up around the house a little, then headed to lunch with a friend. What a yummy lunch it was. We went to Maui Mike's. If you like chicken and you live here on Oahu, I recommend stopping in Wahiawa for some of their delicious chicken. Their seasoned fries are the best too. It's a very small restaurant with not a lot of seating, but they are always busy. Every time I've been in there, the place has been completely full and there's a constant stream of people picking up orders they've called in. So, there's my advertisement for Maui Mike's in Wahiawa, Hawaii! Along with the great food came great conversation. We sat in there long after we were done eatting just to talk. I know what you're thinking, women can always sit and talk forever. Let me just tell you (close your eyes for a few lines Trint) men can talk just as much if not more than women. It sometimes takes a prayer and a miracle from God to pull my husband away from a good converstion with his friends. (okay baby you can open your eyes now). LOL

After getting all the kids home from school, we headed to Mililani for Taco Bell and a little shopping. Not the kind of shopping you're thinking Trint. I didn't buy a single thing for me or the kids. It was all about your request dear. We went to Price Busters to pick up some candy to fill gift bags. I was invited to a new sgo group and told their leader about a request I had gotten from my husband. I'll explain all of that later after I talk to him to see if it's okay that I share the story on here. She instantly asked if they could help out. It was an answer to prayer for me. I was a little hesitant as to spend so much on my own for this and also the time it would take to make all these on my own would have been crazy. I also just wasn't sure how good of an idea it was. That statement will be better understood when you hear the reason behind all of this. As soon as she asked if they could help, I knew it would all be possible and that it was something I was suppose to pursue. God used her to answer my prayers. On top of that, God used me to answer my friends prayer at the same time. Her sgo is growing and some of the ladies are branching off to start their own sgo. She wanted some sort of project for the evening but couldn't come up with anything until she heard what I was doing. She texted all of her sgo friends and everyone was on board. God definately works everything out for good and He always answers our prayers in His perfect timing, even if that timing is at the last minute. It was a fabulous night full of friends, laughter, discussion, goody bag making, and of course we can't forget the food. We had already stopped for dinner at taco bell, so we weren't hungry, but the pot roast smelled so good. We did eat desert later however, red velvet cake and the yummiest sherbert type ice cream I'd ever tasted. It was pink and blue with the flavors of cake and cotton candy. It's hard to describe, but I could taste both of those things in it. It also had a smooth taste like that of creamsicle. It was like nothing I'd ever tasted, but very yummy!          

                                                          

We didn't get home till late so as soon as we got home I tucked the kids into bed, took Tibbles out to run around for a short while (he had been in his kennel most of the day poor puppy), and you know the rest from the first paragraph.

I did hear from Trint late last night and they are finally! starting to get their internet hooked up in their building. I can't wait to be able to skype with him. I know he's excited about it too because that's the only reason he called, to tell me that little bit of info. He was busy moving his stuff to their new building so he didn't have much time to talk other than to tell me that. He was in a good mood and sounded happy so that's all I needed to know. I'm ready to not only hear his voice again but to see with my own eyes that he's okay. Thank you Jesus for protecting my husband and for walking him through this deployment. That makes all the difference to him over there and to me over here. There's nothing to worry about when you know that God is on your side!  

My Smurf

Syd had so much fun at theater today. I enjoyed it because I had some quiet time just sitting outside watching her have fun. It was kinda like watching a little monkey in the zoo. hehe At the end of class the teacher brought out the body socks. It was hilarious watching the newer kids try to get them on. They didn't know what they were doing. Syd was the funniest to watch because the silly girl decided to wear a dress against her mommy's better judgement. Maybe next time she'll listen to her mommy who might just know a thing or two after all. By the way, my beautiful daughter is the one in the center in blue. She's my little smurf!

I had a nice visit with a friend after theater before coming in to make dinner. The kids were all happy with the same meal for once. That doesn't happen very often. We had loaded nachos with homemade peach shakes for desert. The shakes were Tristan's idea. Last night he experimented with it and they turned out pretty good. They weren't very thick, but very tasty. Tonight we added extra ice cream to make them thicker and they were yummy! Who needs ideas and recipes when you have Tristan?! HeHe.

After dinner Shay wanted to play a game so we played rummy-o while we finished our shakes. I thought that game was going to last forever. It seemed none of us could play for the first 10 rounds. In the end Tristan won, as usual. Now we're getting ready to have a small piece of cheesecake that Shay made earlier today, then we're going to bed. I'm finally getting to bed early, not that it means I'll sleep well all night, but it's worth a try. Say a prayer for me! Night Night friends! God Bless you all!

Must...Get...Sleep

I really wish I knew why I am having so much trouble sleeping lately. I'm so tired, but I just toss and turn. Some nights I totally get it. Like last night with two kids in my bed. Syd asked if she could sleep with me so I let her. I don't mind having one kid in my bed, but it's not big enough for any more. I like my space, unless of course my husband is home to snuggle. Sometime in the night Shay ended up on the other side of my bed. I was so squashed between the two of my wiggly little monsters. I made time for a nap this afternoon, but I only slept for a very short time before waking up. for some reason I just can't sleep. It's really weird because I love my sleep and usually have no trouble. It has nothing to do with the deployment because honestly I really and seriously don't worry. I know that's hard to grasp, even I don't know why those worry feelings aren't there this time, but they just aren't. I'm at peace with my husband being deployed and I know that God is watching over him. It's definately all God because the last two deployments I worried a lot more than I do now. Not that I didn't have God with me then, but I'm just closer to Him now. So really there's no need for me to be waking up all the time. I don't really get tired during the day though either, unless I'm at home with nothing much to do. By evening time I'm feeling exhaused though. Good thing it's time for bed by then. However, then I find myself sitting in bed playing around on the computer before I post on here. I guess it doesn't really matter how late I stay up because I'm just going to wake up off and on all night anyway. Oh well, this too shall pass!

There isn't really anything exciting about the day aside from our baby lizard encounter tonight. I went to tuck Shay in and noticed this tiny baby gecko on her wall. It was up too high for me to reach so I was trying to figure out how to get it down. I knew Shay wouldn't sleep at all knowing it was in her room. Luckily it started crawling across the wall and ended up falling on her chess set. I was able to pick up the box and carry the little critter outside to set him free. I was told by a lovely child of mine to get a shoe. HeHe. There's no way I could squash him. He was way too cute. He's safe and sound under the bushes in front of our house now.

I finally got another phone call this morning from my amazing husband! It's always great to hear his voice and this morning was no exception. We didn't talk for long, but he was laughing and sounded very upbeat. It always makes me feel good to hear that he's in good spirits. He was getting ready to get some sleep so I was happy about that too. He doesn't get as much sleep as he should with his days being so busy. I just want to hop on a plane and tell whoever I need to tell that my husband is an excellent soldier and he deserves his 8 hours of sleep, at least 6 anyhow. They all deserve their sleep. Not that me telling anyone would make a difference. hehe

I'm going to bed now and hopefully I can sleep all night long tonight. Nighty Night friends!

Boring Is Sometimes Nice

Nothing at all has happened today aside from me staying at home and being lazy. Okay, so lazy wouldn't be the right word since I got all the laundry caught up and picked up the house. It was a boring day, but also nice to not have to go anywhere or do anything. That doesn't happen all that often. I did leave the house to take the kids back and forth from school and I had to go out to get cash for the girls lunch accounts at school. While I was out I stopped at Starbucks for some yummy goodness. I haven't been to Starbucks in a long time. It was happy hour though so I didn't feel guilty about it. It's not very often a person can get a venti frap for $2.50. Unfortunately they aren't running happy hour for very long. I think the last day is the 15th. If they'd listen to their customers they'd continue to do it all week long all the time. HeHe

I'm having one of those days where I just want my husband home and nothing else matters. This is actually the first time I've felt that way. Of course I always want him home, but usually it's easier to push the thoughts away and concentrate on other things. Today, likely because I wasn't busy with anything, it was harder than usual to push the thoughts aside. Perhaps my husband just needed extra prayers today so God was reminding me to keep praying, which I did all day. I'm just going to lay down now and pray myself to sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be a better day with more to do. No matter what happens, God will be by our side and all will go according to His plan.

Lord, please watch over my soldier and keep him safe from all harm. Give him your wisdom to make the right decisions. Give him your strength to get him through his long days. Give him your courage to keep pushing through the storm. Give him your guidance to walk the path you have planned out for him. Give him your love to keep him happy. Please be with all of the soldiers that are near and dear to my heart, as well as those I don't personally know. Protect them all from harm and bring them all home to their families safely. Remind them that they have people back home that love them and are waiting for their safe return. Remind them that we are proud of them all. Pour your blessings out on them all, along with their families that are missing them and awaiting their safe return. I ask all this in the name of Jesus, Amen. 

Mothers Day!

Being a mom is such a blessing! It's not always an easy job, but it's so rewarding. I feel so blessed that God has given me the honor and priviledge of not only raising one of his children, but he's trusted me with three of them. I can only hope that I raise them to be what God has purposed them for.

Today started off with a great church service. We started a new series entitled, "Heaven Is For Real". Pastor read excerpts from the book, titled the same. It was an enlightening message about how we are to be humble like a child in order to enter the gates of heaven. "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Luke 18:17) "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...born to God." (John 1:12-13) At the end of service all the mom's were asked to stand and be recognized. As we stood up, some of our kids came in to pass out a little gift to all the moms while music played and some ladies performed a hula dance on stage.

After service I went out to stand in line to purchase a copy of the book "Heaven Is For Real". They had a special for moms to purchase it at half price today. Anyone else could buy it too of course. Unfortunately they ran out so I got a voucher to pick my copy up next week. I can't wait to start reading it. From what I've heard, once you start you can't put it down.  As soon as I'm done with it I will be shipping it to my husband. I do that often after reading a book. Last deployment I read "The Shack" and then sent it to him. I'm really curious where it has ended up. After Trint read it he wrote his name and address in it and handed it to the next person. Several people had read it and wrote their names in it by the time Trint redeployed. He left it there so they could continue to pass it around. I'm sure we'll never see it again since we live at a new address, but it would be interesting to see how many names are in it by now.

Kid's church was great today. The kids decorated cards and potholders for their moms. We didn't start a new lesson today because the fun dollar store was open too. Between the craft, the store and snack time, we didn't really have much time to start a new lesson and do the activities that go along with it. My class just reviewed last Sunday's lesson on forgiveness. It was great to hear their virtue in action stories from the past week. I love how my kids always find a way to put our virtue of the month into action during their busy lives throughout the week. I challenge them with something new every week and they always have a story to tell the following Sunday. These kids are only in 2nd and 3rd grade, but they are wholeheartedly following God and loving Him. I just love spending my Sunday mornings with them and connecting with them, as well as their families. Sometimes I think I'm learn more from them then they do from me.

After church I took my kids to McDonalds for lunch. I know what you're thinking, it's mothers day so why McDonalds and not something, well, not fast food. That's just me! Whether it's mothers day or my birthday, I'd much rather go somewhere that the kids enjoy. It's more of a gift to watch them be happy than to spend a lot of money somewhere that they don't all like the food. We still had a couple hours after we were done eatting before our movie started so we headed to Wal-Mart. I still owed Tristan a cookie monster hat that I had promised him a couple weeks ago, the kids needed new socks and I wanted to get some flowers for a friend. Her husband is also deployed and her kids are still young so they didn't have a chance to make anything for mommy like the school age kids do. I decided to brighten her day with flowers. We were done at the store way before the movie started, but I didn't want to end up spending any more money so we checked out and left. I'm glad it worked out that we got to the movie early because by the time it started the theater was packed. I've never been to a movie here where the theater was completely full. Usually we are only one of maybe 5 families, if not less. Rio was a good movie, but I have to admit that I was so tired I fell asleep for a short while. That's what happens when there's a holiday and my phone dings all night long with incoming texts. The 5 hour time difference is not always a good thing because people don't think about it. That's okay though because I love hearing from my family and friends. Anyhow, Shay was resting her head on my shoulder so I layed my head down on hers and I was out. I only slept for maybe 10 minutes, but I had to force myself to stay awake through much of the movie.

With our day out coming to an end, we headed home. On the way we stopped at my friends house to drop off her flowers. She was surprised and happy! Mission accomplished! We visited for a little while then the kids and I came home to eat a small dinner, pizza bagels and macaroni & cheese, compliments of Tristan and Shay. The kids cleaned their rooms up a bit like they promised me they would and we watched Paul Blart Mall Cop on the family channel.

All in all, mothers day was a great day that I could relive over and over. The kids got along better than usual and we all had a great time together. In fact, they got along so well that I wasn't sure if they were even my kids. hehe When Tristan went upstairs to go to bed he heard noise in Syd's room so he went to check on her. It was just her radio, but she was still awake. Tristan asked her why she wasn't sleeping and she told him it was because the lamp was on and the music was too loud. It was totally just an excuse because she usually gets mad at me for turning her music down and she always sleeps with the lamp on. Tristan asked why she didn't just turn the light off and she said she was comfortable and didn't want to move. So he went over and turned the light off and turned down her radio so she could sleep. What a sweet moment for a mom of kids who are normally fighting. I have to say that they do take care of each other when necessary and they always stick for each other if someone outside of our family is picking on them. Deep down I know that they really do love each other and I believe that love will shine through as they grow into young adults, if not sooner. I'm pushing for the sooner, but one never knows!

I hope everyone out there had as great of a mothers day as I did!

Not As Planned

I had entirely too much time to just sit and think today. That wasn't what I had in mind for a Saturday, but sometimes things don't work out as we hope. The girls and I woke up this morning to a yummy breakfast, compliments of Tristan. He made blueberry pancakes, cheesy eggs, cinnamon toast and orange juice. Not only was it the sweetest gesture for a 13 year old to do for his family, but it was super yummy! My kids never cease to amaze me. I'm so blessed to be their mom, even in those times when I feel like running away from it all like I did later in the day.

Tristan had band practice this afternoon and ended up spending most of the day at the teen center with his friends. His band practiced and they also watched the other band practice. He had a lot of fun. I can tell this is going to be his thing. He lights up when he talks about playing music. He gets really excited and wants to tell me all about it. Funny thing is that I sometimes have no idea what he's saying so I just nod my head and pretend I get it. Usually he'll say, "You really don't know what I'm talking about do you?". I'll admit my fault and he'll continue telling me all about it. It's just the fact that I'm willing to listen and take interest, that matters to him. He does try to explain things when he notices I don't get it, but even then I sometimes still have no idea what he's talking about. HeHe. I try though!

Shay had cooking class this afternoon. They made pancakes and a fruit bowl. The class was pretty full so they didn't have left overs like they did last month for the parents to try. There are a lot more kids signed up for class this month than there were last month. While she was doing that, Syd and I came home so she could play the wii. When we went to pick Shay up they started in with their bickering. I threatened them with not being able to go see Rio later on in the day if they didn't stop. Unfortunately that didn't work because by the time we got in the house, the bickering turned to fighting. I gave them one more chance because I really wanted to go see the movie, but apparently they didn't want to stop their fighting for a movie. That or they didn't think I'd really take it away from them. If that was the case, they thought wrong. We ended up staying home. All of us except Tristan anyhow. He asked if he could go see a movie here on post with the bands and some other friends. I let him go and he ended up having a great time.

After sitting around all evening while my mind ran all over the place, I think it needs some rest. I'm going to go read a book to Syd, as requested, and get my wondering mind to bed. Nighty Night!

Amazing Friends!

What a busy, but fun, day! We could have done without so much rain, however it did make for some fun memories and great stories. This morning I went to the commissary with a friend to pick up some things for a dinner we were going to. When we were ready to walk out the door after shopping, we noticed it was pouring again. Of course it would wait until we needed to get our things to the car. We stood there for a few minutes hoping it would stop just enough that we wouldn't get soaked. That's how it works here. It will pour for a few minutes then lighten up for a short while then pour again. This time the rain decided to stick around for longer than just a few minutes. My friend is the one who drove so jokingly, okay I looked serious but really I wasn't, I told her that since it was her car she could go out in the rain to get it. No sense in both of us and the groceries getting soaked. HeHe! What a great friend I have. She ended up running to the car in the pouring rain so I could stay somewhat dry. Here's the kicker of the story. When she got the car and was pulling up in front of the commissary, the rain let up. Had she waited just a few more minutes she wouldn't have gotten quite as soaked. Crazy weather anyhow, but what a nice friend!

After that we headed to the movies. We went to see "Something Borrowed". I was a little leary about how good it would be because the reviews weren't very good at all. I don't know who all those critics were, but it was a really good movie. It was a chic flick for sure, but funny.

We headed straight home after the movie so we could pick up our kids from school. My friend must have had a talk with God before dropping me off to walk to get my girls. As I was walking to the class it started pouring. Here in Hawaii the schools are just one building that you go into. We have a few long buildings where the classrooms open up to the outside. Towards the back of the school we just have portable. Of course that's where I had to be. There's no cover out there so you just have to stand in the rain. Syd's friends grandma had an umbrella with her so I stood under it with her, but our backs were still soaked by the time the bell rang. So, my friend got her revenge double time. I was twice as soaked as she got at the commissary.

After gathering up my kids, all except Syd who went home with her friend after I got her from her class, we went to another friends house for a little while to visit. After visiting we walked across the street to another friends house for dinner. They were throwing a Cinco De Mayo party but on the 6th since it's a Friday. That works better so we aren't having to get up early the next morning. We had a fun evening though I had to cut our time a little short to pick up Syd from her friends house. I was pretty tired from  all the running around today so it was nice to come home and just sit and relax.

I heard from my husband again this afternoon so that made my day even better! I don't usually get to talk to him in the afternoon so I guess it was my lucky day! Really luck has nothing to do with it, it's all God! Just hearing his voice makes the world seem brighter. To know he's doing okay and thinking about us is the best feeling. He didn't have a lot of time to talk, but just the few minutes he had was enough for me to know he's okay and to be able to tell him I love him. He did say he got some much needed sleep recently. A full 8 hours. Here's the amazing part...The day he got the sleep is the day I prayed for some sleep for him because he'd been up for a long time without any sleep. Praise God for answered prayers. That just proves that God is watching out for him and that He's hearing all the prayers that are being lifted up. Please keep praying for my husband and rest of our military. They need God's strength to sustain them throughout their deployments.

Trinity... Stay safe baby, we're praying for you! Good night my love! Sweet dreams! I love you to the heavens and back! XOXOXO