Our move to Michigan is getting closer!!! I have decided to ship some things there to make our 5 months more comfortable. The Navy won't pay to ship anything there because it is not our "next duty station". I think it is worth it to pay for it myself.

I am sending Joey's bunk-bed, his dresser, the master bedroom set and some bedding, towels, clothes and a few kitchen items. We will be living in the Farm House which is empty of ALL THINGS. The moving guys are here right now breaking down the furniture. I also wanted to send our sectional, but that would be toooo expensive. It's already going to cost about $2,500.00. But I think it's worth it

. I also listed our Van for sale on Craig's list. It's a good Van... I put all her information into Kelly Blue Bookwebsite and it told me the re-sale value was $7,400.00. HOWEVER, the the DRIVE light has been flashing now for about a year... which indicates an issue with the transmission. Basically she needs a new transmission... some days the transmission slips and days it doesn't . The good part about driving around the island is you never have to drive very far. Most days I probably drive 5-10 miles. A "long" drive would be 40 miles round trip for me. I would NOT feel safe driving the van on a road trip across the Main-Land, THAT's for sure!!!  Also, she has a dent in her side from when the telephone pole jumped out in-front of me last year.  Between the transmission and dent, I feel $3900.00 is a fair price to ask someone to pay for it.

I listed it last week at $5950.00. No one called. Chris and I talked and we thought about shipping it back to the mainland and trading it in for a newer van. The shipping back to the Mainland would cost $2300.00.  And it would have to be shipped like THIS WEEKEND to ensure it was there in time for us. Chris and I decided to lower the price to $3950.00 and that way if it sells it's out of our hair and we don't have to worry about shipping it back home, and we can use that money as a down payment on our new van (which is what we would get after you take into consideration the $2300 we would have to pay to ship it back!)   I edited my listing at around 10am and immediately my phone was ringing off the hook. I have 3 contenders.....

The first guy I spoke too have me the" willies". He wanted to come RIGHT THEN and look at it. I told him I wanted my husband to be home and to come at 6pm. He reluctantly agreed. The next guy I liked a lot better. He asked me a lot of questions and I was totally upfront about the drive light blinking AND the small little dent. He said he had $3500.00 Cash.... and he told me he was starting a "Handi-Van" service and that was what he would be using it for. (I interview these people, by the way,  I don't want my Van going to just ANYBODY!!)  He is coming at 5pm to drive the Van. I told him to come at 5 because I like him better than the 6pm guy. Then a few more people called and I told them to call back tomorrow to see if it was still here. Then a woman called. I could tell she was a military spouse and she was!  They just got to the island 3 weeks ago and have 2 small children. I told her the guy was coming at 5pm and paying $3500, but if she wanted to come at 4pm she could, and if she liked the van and could beat that offer than she could. She is going to talk to her husband and call me back.   So, if she and her husband come at 4, they can have the first look. Otherwise the Van will probably be departing this family at 5pm tonight.

It looks like Chris will be finding out our next duty station in a couple weeks. The anticipation is KILLING ME!!! We could be going ANYWHERE!  We should have new orders in hand by the new year and then we will be able to schedule out house to be packed out and our flights back home.

 

It’s 7am and I have been up for about an hour. I love this time of day… peace and quiet before the world really wakes up and things start to get crazy around here. Lucy is probably already awake… she is an early bird like her Mama.  When she gets tired at night she is a lot like me too, she just wants to get into her crib! She is not one for snuggling much at all… she just acts miserable until I lay in her the crib and she starts sucking on her blanket and rolls over.  In the mornings and after her naps she will lay in her crib and play with her toys… if she gets too tired of waiting she will start yelling for me.
 
Sophia loves to get Lucy up out of her crib and carry her downstairs. It’s something I don’t like her to do unless I am there to help (I have images of them both falling down the stairs). But most mornings I will be in the kitchen getting breakfast ready and hear the pitter-patter of little Lucy feet as she runs into the kitchen, Sophia walking in behind her… and I will know that Sophia probably heard her crying and got her out of bed.  She has always been such a little mommy to Lucy, so eager to help take care of her. Starting when she was just a couple weeks old and I walked into the living room to see that Sophia had picked Lucy up off the floor and was holding her!  Though there is a 6 year difference in their ages, I know they will always be close.

The kids are loving all the Christmas decorations being up. It’s pretty funny that our tree is missing all the ornaments from about 3 feet up and below. Lucy took them all off. She knows what she is doing and even tries to “sneak” them off the tree. I told Chris one of these days she is going to pull too hard on an ornament and the whole tree is going to come crashing down on her. We will hear the crash, and walk into the room to see the tree lying on the floor with Lucy’s little feet sticking out of the pile of evergreen and ornaments.

Yesterday I went to Target in the early evening. I was by myself and hoped the crowds has dissipated enough for me to get some shopping done. I filled up the cart.... but I was REALLY disappointed with the "deals!" Where were they?? I left with all my shopping done, but not feeling like I saved anything.  This morning I decided to get on kohls.com and I found the prices to be MUCH LOWER. AND I found a coupon code for 20% off.... PLUS Kohls cash....  I ended up buying THREE times as much for the SAME price.... score!!! Today included a trip t Target to RETURN everything I bought last night. I could live my whole life and never shop at Target again!!!

Yesterday we put all of our indoor decorations up. Chris and I both LOVE indoor decorations.... even living in tropical paradise it looks like Christmas in here! We put up our tree... and all the bulbs are hanging on the tree 3 feet from the floor and up. Ah, yes... Lucy likes to take them off so we had to move them all UP.... not sure how many ornaments will be left after Christmas with the rate Lucy likes to take them off!!


Also , our elf Candy showed up! He comes every year after Thanksgiving to spy on the kids during the day and fly off to report to Santa at Night. (oh, I LOVE my elf on the shelf!!!) He showed up this morning in Lucy's room... and I just KNOW that he is going come to life when we are downstairs and make sure the kids rooms are clean! (BAW HA HA HA HA HA!) This sent the kids scurrying to clean their rooms.

Can you see Candy in the picture above???


Chris tried to talk me into getting up at O'dark thirty to go Black Friday shopping. I just couldn't do it. I love my sleep toooo much. We ARE going shopping today at the NEX.... God give me stregth. I am a much better internet shopped. (I love you Cyber Monday!)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Today has been such a great, great day! Chris is HOME... he got home from duty this morning. I ran 7 miles on the treadmill , which was wonderful! And now I am cooking our Thanksgiving meal. I am thankful for SO MUCH this year! I am thankful my house is loud and crazy and full of life with FOUR beautiful, HEALTHY children! I am thankful that this year marks 10 YEARS married to my SOUL MATE. I am thankful for our home, for my husbands JOB....  which not only puts food on our table and clothes on our back, but I know he is doing much more, and fulfilling a much bigger purpose by serving our country.

This is our last ThanksGiving in Hawaii.... and I finally have it figured out. Holiday Scentsy smells... check! A/C turned down so I can wear sweat pants and slippers... check! Holiday Music playing.... check! I think I may feel a little bit festive this year! WOW!

We will be putting up the tree later today.... and I will update in a bit with pictures!

Yesterday I took the kids pictures. I called them all in from playing, made them change into dressy clothes... did their hair and threatened an early bedtime if everyone did not SMILE at the camera. Everyone cooperated. Joey did the most complaining as I GUESS he was in the middle of a game of something going on outside with his friends. The photo session only took a few minutes... that's all the time Lucy had before she "hit the wall" and was OVER getting her picture taken! 

 

Perspective: For all military wives this is for you!
 
Lots of moving... Moving... Moving... ... ... Moving far from home... Moving two cars, four kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course. Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house; Moving curtains that won't fit; Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours. Moving away from friends; Moving toward new friends; Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.
 
Often waiting... Waiting... Waiting... Waiting for housing. Waiting for orders. Waiting for deployments. Waiting for phone calls. Waiting for reunions. Waiting for the new curtains to arrive. Waiting for him to come home, For dinner...AGAIN!
 
They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better: She is fiercely In-Dependent. She can balance a check book; Handle the yard work; Fix a noisy toilet; Bury the family pet... She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts. She can file the taxes; Sell a house; Buy a car; Or set up a move... .....all with ONE Power of Attorney.
 
She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her. She reinvents her career with every PCS; Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, Or the deep south. And learns to call them all 'home'. She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty... They leap into: Decorating, Leadership, Volunteering, Career alternatives, Churches, And friendships. They don't have 15 years to get to know people. Their roots are short but flexible. They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them. Military Wives quickly learn to value each other: They connect over coffee, Rely on the spouse network, Accept offers of friendship and favors. Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond: The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is unique. He doesn't have a 'JOB' He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit... He's on-call for his country 24/7. But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town! His language is foreign TDY PCS OPR SOS ACC BDU ACU BAR CIB TAD EPR And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his. She is the long- distance link to keep them informed; the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments: She wants to wring his neck; Dye his uniform pink; Refuse to move to Siberia; But she pulls herself together. Give her a few days, A travel brochure, A long hot bath, A pledge to the flag, A wedding picture, And she goes. She packs. She moves. She follows. Why? What for? How come?

You may think it is because she has lost her mind. But actually it is because she has lost her heart. It was stolen from her by a man, Who puts duty first, Who longs to deploy, Who salutes the flag, And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband, She will remain his military wife. And would have it no other way..

This year is gonna be DIFFERENT.  I'm embarrassed to say, but the past couple years I have gotten "excessive" with the presents under the tree.  Sometimes I have gotten so many, I don't even wrap them all! I just get WORRIED that they won't have "enough" . How silly! My kids are happy with WHAT-EVER! And I know it doesn't matter to them the AMOUNT of things under the tree. Christmas will still be a special time. So THIS year I have decided to cut back on the amount and really just get them something QUALITY that I know they will really enjoy.  I am DONE shopping for the girls. I have gotten them all winter clothes and some accessories for their "American Girl" Dolls. Sophia and Evangeline each got an "American Girl" doll for their birthday this past September from Grandma and Grandpa Perkins. They LOVE them and play with them all the time. Lucy also loves the dolls and carries them around all the time, so I got Lucy an "American Girl" doll for Christmas. I got her
IVY:

I just love her short Black hair and Asian eyes. I think she looks like my little Lucy (except Lucy's hair is turning blond!  Sophia has "Julie" as her American Doll and Evangline has "Kanani"













(Julie)                                                                              (Kanani)

The only Child who I need to shop for some more is Joseph! I am sure Chris will think of something to get him! I love to do all my shopping on the INTERNET and Chris loves to shop in the stores. (probably because he spends all his time on the boat so going to a store is exciting to him!!)

Me: "Where is the camera?"

Chris" "In the basket on the bookshelf"

Me: "You should go get it so I can take a picture of Lucy for the website."

Chris: "But she is a MESS right now!"

Reality check! She is ALWAYS a mess! She is snotty and always has a trail of saliva dripping from her lip and swinging around, just waiting to drop onto what-ever or WHO-ever gets in her way! Lucy is a ball of Tasmanian devil. She is CONSTANTLY on the run... running her to there and back, ripping things off shelves and from in cupboards... yesterday she pulled out the box of zip-lock bags and there were 8,978 zip-lock bags all over the kitchen floor. Having Lucy around is a constant job of cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.

Most of the time she is just in her diaper because she always gets food all over herself. White trash Baby!

Today we taught her a new trick.. she can say "Ught-Ohhh". As in "Ught-Oh, here comes Lucy!!!"

YesterdaySophia sabotaged Joey's colored pencils.   A couple days ago I gave Joey a new set of colored pencils... lord knows we already have 8,976 colored pencils around here, but I had a new set so I let him have it.... the truth is I stumbled across some Christmas presents that I never gave out from LAST year.... included was a Barbie Movie... so I gave the Movie to the girls and the pencils to Joey. All was fair... or so I THOUGHT. 

I guess Sophia was not happy about Joey getting such nice, new, sharp pencils. Because when he was out playing yesterday she covered them with LOTION! Joey ran downstairs last night "mommy, Sophia put LOTION all over my pencils!"  Chris was home at the time and his first reaction was "no, no, I am sure it was an accident." Maybe because I used to BE a little sister MYSELF... but I knew it was no accident!!

Upon questioning Sophia tried to lie about how she "had lotion on her hands and it accidentallygot onto the pencils...." but the AMOUNT of extra lotion proved this to be a LIE. She cracked under the interrogation and was sent to bed early. I know she felt bad afterwards. I explained to her how that bead feeling inside her heart was GUILT. And It was God telling her she did something wrong. We prayed about it and she woke up in a great mood this morning.

WhileChris was upstairs putting Joey into bed he noticed Joey's hair felt oily and was smelly. Joey has been doing his own shower for a  couple years now.... but he is SO FAST in the shower.... is he even getting CLEAN??? Chris told him to re-shower, take his time and explained how to wash behind his ears and all his jangly bits. That is just a job for a Dad!! I can't get into the shower with him... well, I could, but I think he'd be embarrassed. But that's a perfect Job for a Dad!! So Joey is now re-showered and hopefully won't be the "smelly kid" at school.

I was sitting downstairs last-night listening to Chris lecture Joey at bedtime...  "Joey, do you want your life to be easy or hard? If you want a good life, be nice to people, and do things the RIGHT way the first time. Don't take short-cuts or do things half way, that will only make things harder in the long run.  Do you want a hard life? Then be mean and don't care about things.  You have to apply yourself 100% so you can do good in school. Your only job is to keep your room clean, be nice to people and do good in school. If you don't do good in school you won't get a good job. If you don't have a good job you won't make any money. If you want to get married to a pretty girl one day.... and trust me joey, you DO want a nice, pretty girl... you need to be CLEAN (I guess this is a throwback to the shower issue ) be NICE , and have  good job. Because pretty, nice girls want pretty nice things and that takes MONEY.

I am downstairs laughing my BUTT off at this!! But I guess it's true!! 

It's my favorite time of the YEAR!! And this being my 3rd holiday season spent in Hawaii, I think I am used to it..., sort of... or at least I know how to TRICK myself into being more festive despite the heat and sunshine. First, I bought one of those nifty sensy burners. They really DO smell very nice...  I find myself needing to replace the little wax pieces every couple days because they lose their scent, but fresh ones smell SO good. I am burning some maple cookie smell... very "thanksgiving-ish". I also turn my A/C a couple degrees lower so I can wear my slippers around the house and not be hot... it's hard to think "holidays" when I am sweating. 

I feel a lot more festive this year. Last year with a new-born I was just trying to survive, so I think this year will be lots more fun!  Also, it's our LAST holiday season in Hawaii... we will be moving soon after Christmas is over so I think that is also part of my festive mood. Knowing that the kids and I will get to experience winter this year is pretty exciting!!

I bought the kids some winter clothes on Kolhs.com I found TWO different coupon code that enables me to get 30% off my total!! PLUS free shipping... even to Hawaii! Why didn't I know about this sooner?? I had fun buying them warm Pajamas, and cozy outfits. I let them help me so I made sure to get stuff they will actully wear. The girls especially are VERY particular and like a DISTINCT style. They will tell me right away if they like something or not.  I even got them super warm winter coats!  I will have to do boots/hats/mittens later after Christmas when things go on sale again.

Lucy is feeling under the weather today, so it will just be a lzy day around the house.  I want to get my Thanksgiving decorations out... and put the Halloween away.... still haven't gotten to that yet.

Sophia has started tutoring twice a week with my friend Ms. Kate. Kate used to be a teacher and her husband works with Chris  on the boat. She offered to tutor Sophia for me and so far it has been working so great. Sophia has really started to absorb things much faster. I really think she just needed some one-on-one time.

I'm glad it's Saturday! I need a day to relax. And use the term "relax" loosely, as I realize that my "relax" is probably not really relaxing to most people. 

 I was able to clean the "downstairs" earlier this week... today I am going to tackle the UPSTAIRS. I also need to start thinking about what is going to Michigan... as well as buying some winter clothes for the kids... we will be arriving in Michigan at the end of January. I believe that is the COLDEST time of the year. Brrrrrrrrr.  I dusted off my "kolhs" card and have been looking at all the winter clothes/pajamas . Also Old Navy is having a sale on winter coats. HOW EXCITING!  The kids and I will get on the computer later and pick out some of their Christmas presents (winter clothes!)

I am also shipping some stuff back to Michigan, and that is a good thing. Originally I was coming home with just  our suitcases... because the Navy will not pay to move our things to Michigan since it is not our Next "duty station"... it is just a place I am coming while Chris is sailing to Guam. But after thinking about it, moving 4 kids for 4 months requires some THINGS.   I will be paying to ship around 400 cubic feet of stuff back.  Our Sectional couch, Beds , dressers and I will make sure to stuff the dressers full of clothes, towels, sheets, etc. All the stuff needed to LIVE with 4 kids !
 It will be an adventure for SURE.

I have this book about "de-cluttering" that I love. It is called "It's all too much". It is written by a guy who hosts the "clean sweep" show in TLC. He says in the book that it is 1) not functional or 2) not beautiful of 3) you have not used it in a year, it has GOT to GO. I HATE clutter so this book is perfect for me!

Trick or treating went well on Monday night. We had great weather (Umm... shorts and a tank top and flip-flops for me!) and the kids had a really great time. We walked with my friend Alison and her kids... her husband is also underway (different submarine) so we spent the evening together.


Don't we look like we have our hands full?? Don't worry... we are super women.

The kids got a boat load of candy and it was a success!! Today I need to take down all of our Halloween decorations and dig out THANKSGIVING! I like Thanksgiving a whole lot better, it is probably my almost favorite Holiday.