Gone Cruisin'

To celebrate the doctorate and our anniversary, we went on a cruise to 

The Bahamas!  

It was great fun and very relaxing.  

The first day was unseasonably cold.  The high was only 44 degrees.  Even with the clouds, the terrain was beautiful.

This day was much warmer--60's.  It was a very pleasant boat ride around Nassau.

Waiting on the pier for a boat to take us para-sailing.

Soaring high!  It was very peaceful up there.  We could see all the way to the edge of the earth. ;-)  The water was clear as glass, and it was amazing to be able to see so far down while sailing so far up!

The sun setting on Nassau.

The last day was spent snorkeling and sliding down a 40 foot water slide and getting sunburned.  We are anxious to get the pictures back that were taken with the waterproof disposable camera. 

The kids showing off their nifty gifties.

  

My mom kindly agreed to fly out to stay with the children.

And she brought my little brother and his wife, too.  Good times!

 What we learned:

• Cruises are indeed fun!
• The food is indeed abundant and fattening.
• So, Tums and Gas-X or Beano should be consumed regularly.
• Anti-motion-sickness medicine should be taken before embarking.

MARCH

March started off with three commemorations: my birthday, AM's birthday, and our house's birthday! Four years ago we moved to the east coast. We still aren't quite used to the climate. I wonder if this will be the year I figure out how to garden.

The birthday girls:On my birthday nine years ago, I was doing all I could to relax and keep that baby in, so she could have her own birthday. (Of course, at that time we thought she was a he. We never did get a Caleb--unless you count our little nephew.) She cooperated, and was born at one in the morning!

This year, our birthdays fell on a Friday and Saturday: perfect! My honey pampered me on Friday (even took the day off work!!), and we pampered AM on Saturday. We went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore in the morning. It was really fun. Then we came home and rested a bit before partying some more in the evening. (We had gotten up early and the birthday girl got car sick.) She requested lasagna, garlic bread and root beer for her birthday dinner. Quote from our nine-year-old: I really liked the presents. I loved my dinner. I especially liked the root beer. It was sooo good! I also went to the aquarium which I saw many animals, and I also got sick which that wasn't good."

Here are some photos of her day:




The professional photo at the top of this post was taken a week before her birthday. It is very appropriate--she's an avid reader!

Can I schedule this to post at a later date?
Just trying to figure out all my options...

The Saving of the Cookies

I like to cook.

I'm not the greatest, but most of what I make is edible. The kids don't usually complain. I'm not very adventurous, but I am adaptable. Recipes are guidelines. If I don't have half of the ingredients, I just throw in what I do have. Some of the greatest compliments come when I have modified a recipe. What this means, however, is that I can never recreate my best meals.

It also means that sometimes I really mess up.

Unfortunately, because I never keep track of what I've thrown in, I don't really know what the problem is. Mayhem really breaks loose when I venture into a world almost completely unknown to me, like Asian food, or baking from scratch.

Such was the case one evening when I decided to make my family homemade cookies. A little bit of this and a lot of that. I was following only a partial recipe. After the first batch came out of the oven, I knew we had a problem.

Two people instantly came to mind: a good friend who has finally perfected her own (somewhat secret) chocolate chip recipe, and my eldest sister-in-law who represents a good homemaker to me. My friend lives a mile away, and I knew exactly where she was at the moment, so I tried her first. She couldn't hear her phone over the bath water she was drawing for her children.

I was somewhat reluctant to call my S-I-L because it was around dinner time in her part of the world. But, I figured my options were to throw out the dough or interrupt their dinner. I chose the selfish option, which luckily turned out OK. B-I-L wasn't home from work, yet!

It took longer for me to explain the problem, than for her to fix it. More flour!!! Thank you, LaD!

Can you guess which is the before-the-saving, and which is after?

So, I've been tagged

Well, I've seen similar things on other people's blogs, but have always secretly been glad to have escaped being "tagged". My luck ran out. And because I can't think of a good reason to ignore it, I'll participate. Thanks, Janet...

Really, I'm not upset. :-)

Rules: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current goals, 3 current obsessions, and 3 random facts about yourself. Then tag at least 5 people at the end.

**Three Joys**
Being a mother.
Loving my husband.
Attending the temple.

**Three Fears**
Losing a child.
Not being "ready" when I die.
Forgetting something important.

**Three Current Goals**
Study the scriptures daily.
Get up 30 minutes before my children.
Eat healthily & exercise regularly.

**Three Current Obsessions**
Caressing my husband's ears. (not a surprise to some of you)
Rearranging the house.
Keeping the kitchen sink empty.

**Three Random Facts**
I do not like mushrooms.
We moved 18 times in 9 1/2 years.

I will tag Cara, Euroca, Marissa, Kelly and Kelly.
I climbed Mt. Sinai through the night to watch the sunrise from the top.

Firefox's Glubble

Hi. Just thought I'd spread the word about the free service we use to restrict access to the internet for our children.

They love it because they can just click on their user name and surf or play to their hearts' content. We love it because we have only allowed pre-approved sites that we trust, so we don't have to be looking over their shoulders at every turn.

Example: I am OK with most of the games on the (insert children's site here) website, but don't want my children trying to shop, so only the games portion of the site is enabled. We also like it because it is very user friendly and simple to set up. Check it out!

I Love America

I have added some patriotic songs to the playlist for your listening pleasure. They can be the background music for my feelings regarding Independence Day:

I am grateful to live in a free country. I am grateful to have the opportunity to worship, travel and learn how I please. I'm glad I've been able to spend time in many parts of this great country, experiencing the kindnesses of very different people. Most people are trying to be good. Most believe in God.

There are plenty of scary things about this world, but there are also plenty of things for which to be grateful. There isn't peace outside, but I feel inner peace. I am grateful I am not alone.

Twelve years ago I was in the Holy Land on the Fourth of July. A result of that study abroad trip that I hadn't anticipated was a greater appreciation for my country. You don't know what you've got until it's gone, right? I understood better how my oldest brother felt when he returned from living in Sweden for two years. I was only thirteen, and hadn't given much thought to the meaning of liberty. He got off the plane in New York and started crying. I'm sure some of those tears were because he was glad to see his family, but he spoke mostly about how glad he was to be back in the USA. I was taken aback. Here was my big brother crying about our country. With my limited experience, I didn't get it. I hope I have gained a deeper understanding as I've matured. I don't want to treat the blessing of freedom lightly.

I appreciate the servicemen and women in the military. What a marvelous experience to have been in that world for a time! Respect, Patriotism, Cleanliness, Duty, Order, Loyalty--just a few adjectives that come to mind. We met some of the greatest people we know while in the Army. We will cherish those friendships and memories all our lives.

It is neat living near Washington, DC. I want our family to tour as many sites as possible during our time here. Who knows if we'll ever be back? I got to be a chaperone for the second grade field trip to the Natural History Museum of the Smithsonian a couple months ago. (the Hope diamond, insects, mammoth, skeletons) I asked a bunch of the kids if they had ever been to this museum before. To any of the sites in Washington. To Washington at all. Surprisingly, most hadn't remembered ever traveling the hour north to see things that most of the population of our country will never see. I was talking with my little group of four kids about that very fact--trying to get them to slow down and really look at things. I said, "You know, you might not ever get the chance to come here again." One little boy replied, "Oh, I came last year with my other school class." So, obviously, he didn't believe me that he might not return; he comes every year! :-)

I love America! Happy Independence Day!

Least Favorite Pediatrician

I took my baby in to the pediatrician for her 12 month check-up this morning. The fact that she is actually 13 months need not be mentioned... I found out that the last time she was seen was seven months ago. I was surprised--didn't realize it had been that long, but oh well. The Dr. tried to give me a guilt trip, but I wouldn't take it this time. "So, what happened?", she asks. Looking her straight in the eye, (and with a sweet smile) I reply, "Oh, I have five children." I'm quite certain this isn't the response she was looking for. I'm sure she would have been more pleased if I said, "I'm an incompetent mother." As she is going down the list of milestones my child should have reached, she seemed to be begging me to reveal a delay or problem of some sort. "So, no concerns or illnesses to speak of?" I just couldn't resist: "Nope! That's why I haven't brought her in. If I thought there was a problem, I would have made an appointment earlier." Needless to say, this is my least favorite doctor of the three in the office.

It turns out my child is healthy and normal. But I didn't need a Dr. to figure that out. I do need a Dr. to give shots, though, and since we've decided to immunize, I really should have taken my child in sooner. Now I get to take her back next week to get the rest of the shots that she has missed. So, even though I put off taking my baby to the doctor, it can be fixed, and I refuse to believe that I'm an incompetent mother. There's my "stick-out-my-tongue" moment for the century. Usually I try to be nice and positive and give people the benefit of the doubt. But not when you accuse me of neglecting my children. Now I'll descend the soap box. Have a good day! :-)