Happy New Year

Last night for New Years Eve we had our neighbor, Rebekah, and her children over to play. We played hide-n-go-seek in the dark and then when the grown-ups tired out the kids continued to play in the back yard until about 10:30pm.  That's a HUGE treat because we're really strict when it comes to bedtime. 

It was pretty chilly last night.  I was so cold that I wore a long sleeve shirt, then a jacket, then one of Howard's hoodies over everything.  But I was also not running around getting warmed up like everyone else.  I was Erin's partner because she was too scared to hide in the dark by herself, but the rule was that I couldn't be tagged since I can't out run the kids right now.  Erin had to run to home base for me.

Best friends, Erin and Genna.  They love each other to pieces, but also fight like they're sisters.

We capped off the night by watching the second Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, and munching on brownies and other delicious junk food.  At midnight we had some sparkling cider to ring in the New Year.  After the neighbors went home Howie, Erin, and Jack had a slumber party in the living room.  Howard slept on the couch for a little while to make sure the kids were good, but I enjoyed the comforts of my own bed last night.  

Stall tactics

This is what Jack does when he doesn't want to eat dinner.

He hugs and kisses Howard or I and gets all lovey dovey to distract us.

It's hard not to give in.

Scared Out of My Mind!

This morning I gathered up all my strength to go grocery shopping with all the kids.  I don't mind going with the kids, I mind going 8 months pregnant!  I'm miserable right now, but we were running out of some basic staples we always have on hand.  Howard has been going for me lately, but he has to work late tonight and it just couldn't wait any longer.  As I pulled into my "expectant mother" parking space at the commissary I just sat in the car for a couple of minutes to gather my strength (literally) and then all of a sudden this crazy lunatic runs up to my drivers side window and pounds on it!  I nearly peed my pants (not really, but you get the point).  IT WAS HOWARD!!  What a dirty trick.  We had a good laugh afterwards, but he sure scared me pretty good.  He was there this morning shopping for work.  (They give him some money and a shopping list to stock the snack bar.)  So he did his shopping and I did mine all the while Jack was calling for "Da-Da" throughout the store.  Coincidentally we checked out at the same time, so the kids could give Daddy one more kiss and hug before we went our separate ways.  

A day on the town

Today we had a lot of errands to run so we spent the day out and about.  One of our stops was Comprehensive park.  Normally I take the kids to the park by myself when Howard is working.  It's soooo much better when he comes.   He was able to play with the kids and keep track of Jack while I enjoyed taking pictures and sat on the bench.

Look what Erin and Howie can do!

They had fun in this rope concoction while Howard pushed them.

This is a view of the Pacific ocean (our east coast) from the parking lot at the park.  Since we see the ocean every day, we take it for granted.  I'm sure we'll miss it when we're land locked in Oklahoma City.

Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas!

For Howie's first Christmas we started a 3 gift limit and we're so glad we did!  Since Baby Jesus received 3 gifts, that's what we give our children.  The bigger our family gets, the more thankful we are that we started this tradition for ourselves.  Santa brings one additional gift and fills our stockings. They generally get 1 or 2 more from family, but it's definitely not overload on Christmas morning.

We try to keep things as calm as possible and stretch out the gift opening, so we start from the youngest and work our way up in age taking turns one at a time. It helps us enjoy it a little more. On Christmas Eve we laid some ground rules for the kids for Christmas morning. 1) We are not getting out of bed before 6:30am 2)We all go downstairs together as a family.  They did really good, except Howie came in at 5:30am and asked if it was time to wake up. "NO! Go back to bed!" was our reply.  Luckily he did and returned at 6:28am, we gave in and got up 2 minutes early.

Here's Erin showing off one of her presents.

Howie had been wanting a Razor Scooter for a very long time.

This was from Santa, what was he thinking?!  Actually this will be our sanity on our 12 hour flight back to the States, and our 3 days on the road getting to Oklahoma.  I'm actually kind of "anti-video game", but the peer pressure got the best of us (as well as the other reasons).

Howard and I don't have a 3 gift limit, we usually get our stockings filled and 1 or 2 presents.  Mine was the piano, or so I thought.  Santa put some pearls in my stocking!  I was really surprised!!  They are beautiful and I've wanted pearls for a few years now.  It was a pair of earrings,  a bracelet, and a necklace set.  I also received a small box of Godiva Chocolates and some perfume that I've also wanted for a few years.  I was really spoiled this Christmas!!!  Howard got his laptop and some accessories to go with it.  Santa also put a special Military coin in his stocking and some boy stuff (small tools). 

We spent the rest of the day playing with our toys, lounging around the house, and talking to family on the phone.  Another tradition we have that we started last year is that we eat our special dinner on Christmas Eve, and Christmas day we eat finger foods most of the day.  The past 2 years we've had shrimp, egg rolls, a fruit platter, a veggie tray, cream puffs,  and cheese & crackers.  Christmas evening we ventured off base and went out to our favorite sushi restaurant for dinner. Yes, I eat sushi while I'm pregnant, but so do the Japanese women.  It's amazing what you can do on your forth pregnancy :) !  Afterwards we drove around base and looked at Christmas lights, but it was a little disappointing this year.  There wasn't much to look at.  Oh well, there's always next year in the States.

Christmas Eve

I wanted to post a picture before Howard and I retire to bed this Christmas Eve, because in the morning there will be chaos and I won't be able to get it done.  The 3 gifts in the forefront are from Santa, as well as the stockings.  They're too heavy for their hooks, so Santa leaves them neatly on the floor.

We had a nice dinner tonight with our neighbors and a single airman.  Afterwards we watched "Joy to the World" which is about Christ's birth.  We had 6 kids in the house and it was pretty crazy, so we rushed through everything so we could get the kids in bed.  But right before bed we read the story of Christ's birth, sprinkled our reindeer food out on the grass, put out a plate of carrots for the reindeer, and of course put out some cookies and milk for Santa.

Last year Howard and I didn't get to bed until about midnight, so we're doing great.  It's not even 10pm yet and we're all done.  Yippie!

Howard's Talent

This year Howard and I volunteered to be on the decorations committee for his work Christmas party.  The theme was "The Roaring 20's".  Howard and I did not pick the theme, that's what work picked. (We were hoping for a Winter Wonderland.) Anyway...it turned into Howard and I being in charge and doing mostly everything ourselves.  A few other people helped, but essentially I was the brains and Howard made everything happen.  Howard worked so hard and did such a wonderful job of putting everything together, I'm so proud of him.  Since we were in charge of decorating, Howard spent the whole day running around tying up loose ends, while I directed all of the set-up volunteers as to what they needed to do before the party.  We were so busy that by the time the party started Howard and I were pooped.  So we forgot to take a bunch of pictures and only 1 turned out decent.  

2 days before the work Christmas party, doing some final touches on the bandstand he made.

Here's a shot of the bandstand Howard made.  It has 5 panels, 2 wrap around the table, but you can't see them.  The crates contain empty alcohol bottles.  Howard and a small crew of helpers made 18 crates, they were put around the room for our protest against Prohibition.  There was also a Model-T car, a beautiful mural backdrop, cute table decorations, a silent film playing on the TV screens, and tons of balloons everywhere.  I wish we could of had more pictures because it looked great, but the lighting was HORRIBLE!  

One big lesson we learned from this, if you want something done right you need to do it yourself.  Unfortunately we had a lot of people who volunteered to help on some of the larger projects, but at the last minute either flaked out or did a horrible job at their assignment.  I must add that we truly appreciated the volunteers who donated just 1-2 hours of their time on the day of the party.  They may not feel like they helped a lot, but it's because of their help that we were able to get everything set up in time.  

What happens when?

What happens when this cute little boy's daddy is napping, mommy is taking a shower, and his siblings are playing outside?

This!

He woke up from his nap while we were all busy and he quietly opened three presents. Howard found the mess and took care of discipline while I quickly hid the opened presents so that Howie and Erin wouldn't see them. Jack got a stern talking to and a time out (he cried the whole time so he understood what he did wrong). You should have seen the tears, you would have thought we beat him. Actually there was no yelling or spanking involved! I had to hold back my smile the whole time because I thought is was kind of cute.  I hope he's not scared to open presents on Christmas morning.

Can't forget Howie

Today was the kids last day of school before Christmas break.  Erin had a pajama party, drank hot cocoa, and watched the Polar Express.  Howie had a really nice party at the end of the day with his class also.  They decorated cookies, made a candy cane reindeer, made reindeer food, and of course made an ORNAMENT!  Because I gushed all about Erin's at home, I felt a little guilty today...so Howie's ornament made it on the tree also.  I think next year I will buy a small tree so the kids can decorate it however they want and put all of their homemade ornaments on THEIR tree.

Howard got off of work at noon today, so I was able to let Jack and Howard have some alone time at home while I surprised Erin and Howie at school.  I spent about an hour in each of their class rooms and it really made their day.  I wish I could go more often, but I hate getting sitters for Jack.  It seems like I have to so often as it is that I feel bad leaving him.  In all it was a great day!

P.S. Happy 20th Birthday Jody!  I love you!!!

Erin's Ornament

Yesterday Erin brought this "hand"made ornament home from school. I think this is one of the cutest ideas for an ornament craft project.  I almost cried when I read the poem.  I think it's the pregnancy hormones.  I'll be brutally honest...I hate homemade ornaments (unless they are made by Martha Stewart or someone equally talented).  I like my tree to match and this is the first ornament brought home from school that got on our tree.  Erin should also feel pretty special because it's the only blue ornament on our gold/burgundy colored tree.

Here's another shot of it, you can see a little more of her hand print.  This is what the poem says...

These aren't just 5 snowmen,

As anyone can see,

I have made them with my hand,

Which is a part of me.

Now each year when you trim your tree,

You'll look back and recall,

Christmas of 2008

When my hand was just this small!

Power Outage

This morning we had a power outage, so Jack and I headed outside for some fresh air.  We ate cookies, I ate my ice, Jack jumped on the trampoline, and colored in his book.  If you look closely at the open page on the book, it's colored in nicely...Howard did that.  Jack just colors (scribbles) over it.

Power outages are a frequent occurrence where we live.  It's not Okinawa, it's the base that has the messed up power lines.  We're used to it.  It's horrible in the summer because it's so hot, but in the winter the weather is so nice that it doesn't really matter.

Christmas Parties

Santa came all the way to Okinawa for a visit!

Here's Erin (with Howard and Jack) at one of the craft stations at the Children's Christmas Party.

Don't drop the ball of yarn.

On Saturday we went to the Children's Christmas Party for work.  The kids had a great time, but in my opinion we stayed way too long.  Howard likes to win prizes, so we had to stay the whole time, just in case one of the children's names were drawn from the raffle.  No one won a prize, but we came home with more than enough craft projects.  About half way through the party, I was too tired of standing and sitting around I went and layed down in the van. While resting I had plenty of time to notice how messy my van was, so when we got home Jack and Howard took a nap and Howie, Erin, and I cleaned the van.  Inside and out.  We did a wonderful job and the kids really helped out a lot.  Unfortunately shortly after we were done washing the outside of the van, the clouds rolled in unexpectedly and it rained most of the evening.  At least the inside stayed clean.

Saturday night we had our Branch Christmas party.  We had a potluck dinner and a talent show.  Erin sang, "Once There Was a Snowman", while I read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  It was a tiring day, but it made the kids happy.  

The Harlem Globetrotters

Tonight we went and saw the Harlem Globetrotters play (more like perform) against the "Washington Generals".  It was quite a funny show with many antics by the players.  There were not as many tricks as we originally thought that we would see, but it was funny nevertheless.  The "Generals" were a sorry bunch of players and were no match against the Globetrotters. It almost seemed like one big game of keep away!  Of course the whole game was a spoof, but we all enjoyed ourselves.  We had to remind the kids that this was not a normal basketball game.  We are very fortunate here because this was all free and we actually sat on the courtside.  We even had a Globetrotter go up to Howard and Jack and make funny faces at them.  Another time Howard almost got hit by the ball, but he blocked it in time.

At the beginning of the game, all of the team members showcased their talents.

Here's one of the opposing team members leaving the court after his uniform was "removed".

About halfway through the basketball game, the guys decided they wanted to play football.

This guy got caught with his pants down.  The kids thought this was the funniest part!

Here is #11, Sweet Pea, after he did a slam dunk.  Unfortunately he got stuck and his team mates had to take him down.

White Christmas Movie

White Christmas is my FAVORITE Christmas movie of all time and it just delights me that my children love it too!!!  They're watching it right now and even sing along to it.  It's too cute.

According to Erin...

Erin just told me that I look like a third grader, because I'm so short.  But she assured me that I'm really a grown-up.

I Want My Daddy

Just a few minutes ago I overheard Erin sobbing uncontrollably in her room (the kind that takes your breath away).  I wasn't sure what was wrong, but once I translated her words through all the crying she told me she wanted to go to work with Daddy.  Howard works in an office next to the aircraft hangers on the flightline.  No one has ever gone to work with Daddy, and I reminded her of  that.  We've seen his work a couple times on a Saturday, but unless I have an authorized escort (Howard) I can't even step foot on the flightline (the SP's are actually authorized to shoot me if they felt I was a threat!)  I don' t know where she got the idea that she could go with him to work?! 

 As a side note...the Army transferred quite a few Patriot Missiles here to Okinawa about 2 years ago and they took up residence right next to Howard's work.  He actually parks right next to the missiles for work (just outside one of the entrance gates to the flightline).  Whenever we drive that way it's weird to see them...they're HUGE! 

Baby Lucas

I realized that I haven't posted any ultrasound pictures of the baby.  These were done 2 months ago, but that's okay...better late than never!  He looks just like my other babies.  I love his little nose and lips.  

Our home teacher asked us recently if we were "sure" that it was a boy.  He said not all ultrasound pictures are accurate.  You be the judge!  

Looks like Lucas is pretty happy to have his picture taken if I don't say so myself!!!

Oh yeah...we are pretty sure that we're going to name him Lucas, but we'll call him Luke for short.  I honestly didn't think we would have any more boys after Jack and we ran out of boy names.  We've had to think this one over a lot more than the other names we've used.  If we ever have another girl, her name will definitely be Audrey.  

3rd trimester

28 weeks, 12 more to go (maybe less if I'm lucky).  I had Jack at 37 weeks, so that's what I'm praying for again.

Here I am in all of my pregnancy glory!  Ha Ha.  Honestly...I HATE being pregnant, but of course it's totally worth it because I get a perfect, cute, miraculous little bundle of joy in the end.  That's the ONLY reason why I keep having babies.  Here's how much I loathe pregnancy...I would rather give birth 10x over if I could avoid pregnancy.  I'm in constant pain and all this extra weight on a 5 foot frame really takes it's toll.  I'm truly grateful that I can bare my own children and it's so easy for me to get pregnant.  My heart goes out to those who are unable to have children biologically.

Current Stats...

Cravings - ICE, ICE, ICE!  I love it so much I just can't get enough of it!  Luckily there's no guilt involved if I over indulge, since there are no calories. :)

Weigh gain - Pathetic!  This is by far my fattest pregnancy with the most weight gain.  My Mid-Wife said it's because I'm getting older and my metabolism is slowing down.  I'm only 27!

Pain - Hips, legs, feet, back, ribs, varicose veins, and other unmentionable parts that the baby feels like kicking.

Thread

Yesterday I went to the local Japanese craft store to get some basic white thread.  I had to get 2 spools because I'm doing a special project for Howard's work Christmas party.  It cost me 1260 yen, which is about $12.60!!!  WOW!  I needed it right away, so that's why I didn't buy it Online.  CRAZY!

Turkey Tetrazzini

This was one of my favorite recipes growing up.  My Mom would make it after Thanksgiving to use up the extra turkey.  I make it periodically throughout the year, substituting chicken when I don't have leftover turkey.  I've made some modifications to it to suit our family, but I'll also give the original recipe just in case you want it also.

Tina's Version

2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, cut up

6 servings spaghetti, using a spaghetti dispenser (I think maybe 6 oz)

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

1 small can mushrooms, drained

about 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (more or less to taste)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (more or less to taste)

Cook spaghetti, drain.  Stir together remaining ingredients, except mozzarella cheese.  Fold in spaghetti noodles.  Put in greased 9x13 casserole dish.  Top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake uncovered 350 F until bubbly (about 30-40 minutes)

Original Recipe

4 oz spaghetti, broken into thirds

2 c. cooked turkey

1 c. shredded American cheese 

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 (4 oz) can mushrooms, drained

1/2 c. milk

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Follow the same direction above, except put in 2 quart greased casserole dish.  Top with Parmesan cheese.  Bake 35-40 minutes @ 350F