July 26, 2008

Silent Service


My husband works in the Silent Service.
That’s not just a way to
Describe what he does

Silence describes how we live.
As he readies to deploy,
Silently, my heart breaks.

As the sub drifts silently down the channel,
Silently and fervently I pray
Keep him safe, keep him safe.

The nights pass without him
I lie and listen each night for his breathing
Silently I cry for his touch again.

As the days march on
I try to be both mother and father
Silently I wonder if I am doing it right and if I am enough.

We gather together now and then
Other wives, as a kind of family
Silently and in so many ways, we support one another.

When the phone rings
I wonder is it him? is it about him?
Silently I seek strength to handle whatever may come.

When he’s coming home soon
I am thrilled and excited,
Silently I smile, but never say a word.

Honor, Duty and Commitment
Are written on his face and in his actions
Silently, I admire his integrity.

I live the life of a Navy wife
Whose husband works in the Silent Service
Silently I thank God for the blessings in my life.
And then, I say them aloud.

--Allicia Hubbs
August 12, 2005

Grandma's are magic

I love my Grandma's. I have lots of them and they have brought so much joy and learning and loving to my life. I am so excited that my kids have awesome grandparents too who think they are the best grand kids ever.

My Grandma Cozette came to visit this week. I hadn't seen her in since Feb. due to her busy travel schedule. Retirement is the busiest time of life I guess. She came to watch the kiddos for me while I was in Certified Ombudsman Training for the week becoming a trainer for the Ombudsman program here at NBK. Every morning I left before the kids were up and got home in the late afternoon. She had them fed and dressed and happy when I got home. Even the dishes were done. I can't tell you how that makes me happy. I think I really could get used to living in a multi-generational home. So here's our top 10 favorite things about Grandma being here this week:
1. Meg started eating again, but just for Grandma. Still wouldn't let mom feed her.
2. Adam got to have Tuna fish, which I refuse to make.
3. She helped me through the first hard nights of DH being gone.
4. Good books and good conversation, the type that doesn't involve a why.
5. The dishes getting done every day, sometime twice a day.
6. Cake decorating lessons. Wish she could have stayed longer.
7. Adam magically listened to her, but still gave me a hard time.
8. Meg got a new book, thanks to Grandma who then read it to her a dozen times and made her happy.
9. We ran errands in record time. It's amazing how much faster it goes if you can leave the kids in the car when you have a 2 minute return to make.
10. Memories of childhood and gossip about cousins. What a better way to keep the family together than through a grandma?

July 17, 2008

Family Photos

I have gotten a few comments about our new family photo and I am so pleased with them I thought I would do a post about them. My dear cousin Sarah from Portland took them for us. Her photography website is here. Her blog is here. As you can see, she is talented and creative. I appreciate her time and talents to take our photos. They turned out amazing. Thanks Sarah! And a special thanks to Lia for watching all of those kids while we tried to get some good shots. What great cousins and friends I have!

Here are some of the other shots we got that day.



July 15, 2008

Memory Tag

I got this off my friends blog and thought it might be fun, plus it gives me a chance to find out how many people actually read my blog :)

1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! (um, maybe I should say within reason...)

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

July 12, 2008

What adventures does the day hold?

This is it, again. The last day off before the big beast leaves. It's been delayed for more than a couple of weeks, so we have been taking advantage of each moment we can together. Finally the day has come, it's the last day off. You ask what you want to get done before he leaves for an extended period of time, what last minute house things you need to go over and have help with. What yard things you can't do on your own, what the car needs, and most of all what goods and products he still needs to be gone somewhere without access to a store for the rest of the summer. Then you have to ask, What adventures does the day hold?

While there is a long long to-do list, it's also our last chance as a family to have some fun together. It's our last chance to connect, take pictures, get a little video for the baby and just hang out together. Our last chance to play Monopoly, jump on the trampoline, go over first day of school stuff and have the "talks" we always have to have before he leaves. It will probably make for a very, very long day. We will look for the fun, the adventure and the opportunity to laugh today more than other days.

Just for fun, here's some of the Ta-Do list:
finish up the rock and edging placement in the yard, build some more steps in the back, shop for last minute items for the sea bag, get a load of bark and a load of rock, check the oil leak in the car, hem the uniform pants, finish up the laundry so the rest of his clothes can be packed, re-load the MP3 player, put together some new pictures for him to take, pack a pic-nic lunch so we can have some fun at the park for a while, take a video, go over the "patrol what-if" list again and don't forget to laugh and have fun! Good thing we can multi-task! Wish us luck!

July 10, 2008

Landscape Update

We are making progress, slowly but surely. Justin leaves very soon, so we are trying to get as much done as possible in the next couple of days. I have learned to set a flagstone path, something I never thought I would be doing. It looks nice and we are glad we settled on that. The rest of the plants will have to wait a while as money and time become available again. So far, so good. We have one more major pathway to put in that will go around the house and one more planting area and then the grass. I think the grass planting may have to wait until Sept, when it's not so hot and has a chance to grow a little better. For the most part though, it's just nice not having a big orange machine parked in my front yard.

July 9, 2008

Keeping the Baby Busy


We have been busy scrambling to get the front yard in some kind of order after the big septic system thing. The challenge is keeping the kids busy and out of harms way while trying to make real progress on restoring our yard. Fortunately, Meg found something to keep her busy and happy. She is having a grand time playing in the rock pile. She plays there for as long as we will let her, digging and throwing and not eating the rocks. We have found them in her shoes, in her onsie and in her diaper, but that was only because she put them there, not because she swallowed them. The joys of childhood. She's having a blast playing in these rocks and I am cursing the ones I am finding where I want to plant grass... Go figure.

July 8, 2008

Partners in Crime

For the past couple of days we have had an extra baby around in the mornings. It's been fun to watch the two girls play together. For the most part Meg wants whatever her friend has, including mom's lap and her friend's binky (even though she hasn't taken a binky for months). Today they decided they had a common goal, something both girls could enjoy and participate in. Emptying out the contents of the diaper bag, over and over again. It's fun to watch mom put everything back and then empty it all out again, together. They played that way for the better part of an hour, emptying the bag about 5 times. It's good to have a friend and do something you both enjoy, don't you think? Today it's diaper bags, tomorrow it's shopping at the mall, or worse yet, dating....


July 2, 2008

Am I really a photographer?

I have had several photo shoots in the past few weeks. It's been fun to get some new experience and I am always thrilled to show people their photos. I am gaining in confidence and have even started charging now. That's good, we need to make up some money lately. I am humbled people will actually pay for something I can do. One of my favorite parts is getting to know the families and getting what they want on film. Anyway, I have had enough people ask in the past few days, I made up a business card. I have an online gallery by permission at islandalli.winkflash.com. Email me for the password.


A Great Weekend


We had a great weekend. One of our favorite people came to visit and we enjoyed every second, well almost. Except for the part where Meg was running a fever and had to take a little ER trip. Other than that, it was marvelous. The Bremerton Stake Patriotic concert was Sunday night. I had been practicing for almost 6 months with them and the performance was great. Several people commented that they really enjoyed it. We went to Port Orchard and picked out more rock for our yard. It was good to have another opinion. It was really good to have help with the dishes at night and getting ready for church on Sunday. We went to the fun park here and played in the water and enjoyed the sunshine. Before she left Justin just had to ask why she couldn't stay another 2 weeks. Now that's love. We love our Grandma Ellen. Thanks for the visit!