Mom on Strike

I'm tired of hearing the accolades when my family is eating dinner, followed with complaining and whining when its time to clear the table and clean up the kitchen.

After this weekend, I'd had enough. When it came time for dinner, Savannah asked me what we were having. "I don't know" I replied.

"What do you mean? You haven't decided yet? I'm hungry," she whined, dramatically throwing herself onto the ottoman.

I shrugged my shoulders and waited until all the hungry mouths were in the kitchen.  "Until further notice, I will not be making dinner for you guys."

"WHAT??????" the kids cried out, "Do you mean you aren't making dinner ever again?"

I looked at them, waved my hand around the spotless kitchen that I'd spent the morning cleaning. "I am tired of hearing you thank me for dinner, yet grumble every step of the way to clear the table and clean the kitchen, and I'm done cleaning up when you don't do it."

I paused dramatically to let my words take effect. "When you can start cleaning up after dinner and leaving the kitchen the exact way I have it right now, then I will start cooking dinner for you guys. Until then, you're on your own."

Last night Chad came to the rescue made them Mac & Cheese, followed by a mad dash out the door to collect Halloween candy, so I don't think it had any effect on them--the pot and spoon greeted me this morning when I walked in to make breakfast.

Tonight Chad is on the ship, and the kids once again wanted to know what was for dinner. "I don't know; what are you making?"

"PIZZA!!!" screamed Savannah.

"WAIT--here are some rules. You must make something that you don't need my help with and you may NOT use the oven."

Out the door she ran, telling all of her friends that she was making dinner.

An hour later, Savannah was outside asking Jackson what he wanted for dinner and in they came, looking like hunters in search of their next meal.

"Can we have this?" Jackson was pointing to the freshly made batch of party mix.

"No you can't have that," I replied.

Next thing I knew, they were in the garage hovering over the freezer.

"Can we have bagels for dinner?"

"Can we have Mac & Cheese? We NEVER get Mac & Cheese!"

"You had Mac & Cheese last night for dinner."

"Oh."

"Mom can I use the toaster oven? I want to make waffles and french toast sticks!"

They proudly carried their selection inside, set up the toaster oven, argued about whether to put it on 'bake' or 'toast', and finally served themselves breakfast for dinner.

While upstairs I heard them discussing what they were going to make tomorrow night......

I've determined this strike is going one of two ways. The kids will either get sick of making their own dinner, or they'll love it and my kitchen will look like hoarders live here.

Iraq Round 2

April has been a busy month! Chad was selected to go work on the mess decks(galley) as the MDMAA(mess decks master at arms) aka restaurant manager. We were so excited because it is for 90 days and even though he gets up on average at 4:20am to go to work, Chad's home around 2 each day which means more time for us to spend with him! This schedule was to lead up to the ship's deployment this August.

Then came the BIG news....he texted me one morning as I was running errands for Liberty's birthday party and said he had not so good news. It looked like he might be headed back to Iraq. Surprisingly, I wasn't surprised, just thought in my head "huh...." We didn't know any details for a few days. The next week he received the official word--he was headed back to the sandbox and for longer than we were told. I think both of us were numb for a couple of days. He was underway (out to sea) when he got this information so we both had some time to let it sink in.

My first thoughts were

• He's leaving sooner(mid July) and going for twice as long as we prepared with the ship's deployment
• How are the kids going to handle the news?
• When do we tell the kids?
• The kids knew Chad would be home right before Christmas and we'd all go to Montana together and now we have to break that promise (heart started breaking for my kiddos)
• He's leaving earlier than expected
• ME....ALONE....THREE.....KIDS.....for double the time!
• How can I not go insane but be the best mom my kids need me to be?
• Can I afford a nanny??
• Maybe I'll get a housekeeper
• I think I'll get pedicures each month on the day he left to 'help' me countdown
• Who's going to bring me pizza when I'm having a rough day with the kids?
• Okay, God, obviously You wanted Chad to go to Iraq and You chose us to complete this mission....use me to let Your light shine through me during this time.
• Thank You Lord that even though you chose to have us be apart for longer that you placed us in Paradise with pools, beach, palm trees, sunshine, AND blue skies!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!

I'm sure I thought many more things but the past few weeks have been a blur. You might be thinking, why wasn't your thoughts more focused on Chad and his safety? I must say that the first time around we were scared with the unknown! We didn't know what to expect or how safe he'd be or how much contact with each other we'd have. Since this job is the same as last time, we know Chad will be in one of the safest and most heavily guarded places in Iraq, will be working in an office with alot of the brass(captains, generals, etc). If it is still the same as 2005/06, he will have 12hr shifts/7 days a week and will be able to call us daily, and get on Skype regularly. On a ship, we'd just have access to email and pay phones in port so this is much better.

We found out that the billet (job opening) was sent out to each ship in Pearl Harbor and Chad was the ONLY person who fit all 3 requirements so we have a peace knowing that God has His hand in this situation and wants Chad over there.

The hardest part is waiting to get the show on the road. Saying goodbye will be incredibly hard and even though I am not a mushy person and not prone to crying, I'm sure there will be tears but hopefully no ugly cry!!! After about a week of mourning, I'll start adjust to life as a single mom.

Just 3 weeks after Chad leaves, the kids start school at Hickam Elementary(on Air Force base)! We are super excited!! Savvy will be in 2nd grade and Jax will be in Junior Kindergarten! We have heard wonderful things about this school and they have great after school activities like art class :) God is so good!! Savannah did not get accepted to this school last year and we have been on the wait list since Feb 1 of this year!

Back to Chad.. haha He will be in Iraq in August. He is scheduled to spend 210 days "boots on the ground" in theatre before he can head home. He will have to wait for a replacement, hand in all his gear, and finish his post deployment check-in then he'll be headed home. Hopefully by next Easter we'll have him back.

We are planning on taking a little family vacation, hopefully to Kauai, after Chad's home to just get away from everything and something for the kids to look forward to while he's gone--a prize at the end of the tunnel! My dad also mentioned something about him and mom coming out for Grandpa and Grandma time and sending Chad and I on our own little getaway for a few days! An ideal way for them to "thaw out" from the bitter cold Montana weather haha

The biggest thing to getting through a deployment is your attitude and how busy you keep yourself and the kids. I don't pretend that everything is GREAT and WONDERFUL, but if I have a negative attitude about it, the kids will be affected and in turn will start acting the same way as me. Will there be random times when I tear up or my heart aches for my best friend? Sure, and it's okay for the kids to see that I miss their dad so much and lets them know it's okay for them to show emotion too. The hardest besides saying goodbye will be celebrating Christmas with him on Skype. Definitely bittersweet. We'll have to make sure to send him lots of presents and Christmas goodies--party mix, fudge, caramel corn, etc :)

This time will be a great opportunity to teach them that we are serving our country as a family and I have told the kids that Chad is going over there so some little girl and boy can have their daddy come home to play with them, read them bedtime stories and tuck them into bed at night. And for them to be proud to tell others that their dad is protecting our country and fighting for our continued freedom! When it gets rough Chad and I keep telling ourselves that by him going, some guy can come back home to his family. That's what the military is all about--protecting families and our country so all of you(and me) can tuck your kids in bed at night. We love serving our country and being a military family. It's not easy road, and my motto is "expect the unexpected", but Jesus never promised us an easy life.

If anyone wants to come visit, we'd love to have you! It makes the time go by faster(and I enjoy company)--a week to clean and prepare for guests, a week to entertain, and a week to re-couperate!! That's practically 1 month right there!

Also, if there are any teachers out there who would want to have their class sponsor a soldier next school year I know of one!

Happy Birthday Liberty!!!

Liberty celebrated her 1st birthday in April. We had so much fun :) It was pretty low key with a few of her little friends over to play and eat cupcakes (and lunch). Here are a few of the pictures from her special day:

February & March

These past 2+ months have been super busy. My dad came to visit for a week on Feb 19th and met Liberty for the first time! He only calls her Liberty Bell OR Wordy(how Jackson says her name if he's talking real fast). She loves her Grandpa especially since he introduced her to cookies, snicker bar ice cream, and donuts! And she loved eating the flowers on his lei. While he was here we went to the North Shore, Hanauma Bay, he and Chad spent a day at Pearl Harbor, and Savannah asked him to help her make her strawberry birthday cake! We were so sad to see him go but so thankful he came to see us :)

The day after he left, we had a tsunami warning and Chad had to ship out so the ship wouldn't get damaged pierside. Thanks to Christy (who was on her way here) we were up at 5:30am and off to fill up the cars with gas, and getting bottled water. Reminded me of hurricane evactuations. Thankfully the tsunami hadn't strengthened and there was no damage to the islands.

That evening Christy arrived from Jacksonville for 8 days! We also played tourist and spent alot of time at the beach and visited (what we like to do most)! It was so much fun to see her. I wish she lived here! The Wednesday before she left, Chad received 72hr notice to go to a 2 week school in San Diego. They both flew out on the same day, 6 hours apart.

While Chad was gone Liberty smashed her finger and it ended up getting infected so we had to take off the nail. It looked so painful. That night was her first experience with a popsicle :) She also got a double ear infection thanks to a VERY stubborn tooth that didn't want to push through the gum. Jackson got croup, but was a trooper and it wasn't as bad as he's had before.

Chad surprised us by switching his flight and coming home a day early :) He was home for a week, gone last, home for Easter weekend and to take Savannah to her first ever father-daughter dance, and left early Monday morning. Hopefully we'll see more of him in the next month or so.

We were so excited to find out Savannah made Student of the Quarter!! I surprised her with a monster cookie and was so tempted to eat it myself! We are so proud of her.

GRANDPA LARRY'S VISIT:

Liberty meet Grandpa!

Drinking the mouth-watering smoothies

Happy 7th birthday!

Barbie from Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam

Bible From Grandpa Larry and Grandma Mary

Waiting for more donuts

mint chocolate chip cookie

Grandpa trying to get Liberty to walk to the ice cream

She finally agreed to stand up for it

North Shore

TSUNAMI WATCH:

Hanging out at higher ground while the tsunami passes by

CHRISTY'S VISIT:

Aloha!!!

Yes, that's a smoothie :) and Diamond Head in the background

Christy and Liberty sharing pineapple ice cream

at the Dole plantation

Sunset Christy and I saw at the Tiki Bar and Grill Restaurant

in Waikiki

Liberty's smashed/infected finger

It looks worse than it actually was--the infection's

gone and now her new nail is growing in nicely

The kids thought it was funny that I accidentally

bought mini popsicles!!

Just her size!

Happy Birthday Chad!!!

This is where the kids get their humor from :)

Monster Cookie!!

Liberty's hair after taking a walk with the

trade winds blowing!

That's some WILD hair!!

Vanilla Bean Frappucino--she's hooked!

The love of my life and best friend!!

LOST Season Premiere After Party

Back on Jan 31st Chad and I had the opportunity to work the LOST Season Premiere After Party. Chad was ecstatic and I was excited to work it with him (no, before this I had not seen an episode of LOST--the background music annoyed me) BUT after seeing Chad have the time of his life at this party, I have watched every episode of this season. The party was in Waikiki at the Wolfgang Steakhouse restaurant. Here are the pictures capturing that night(I have some of the actors, but they are all blurry):