tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12016337343261345512024-03-04T23:30:31.863-08:00Islandalli and FamilyThis blog is about the Life and Times of our Retired Navy Family.
We have been typical Navy Family, trying to make wonderful memories and meet life's challenges through moves, deployments, and making do. Now we are on to new adventures and trying to settle in one place and grow some roots. We learn new things, make new friends and make it up as we go along, hoping and praying for the best.Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.comBlogger339125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-2347701149576354892014-09-04T10:10:00.000-07:002014-09-04T10:19:28.671-07:00Our lazy summer of 2014
It's been almost a year since we moved into our forever house. We really do love living here and are so grateful to be back in the PNW. In some ways it's been an amazing year full of tender mercies and grace. In other ways it's been so hard. It's been hard for me to feel like journaling here just because everything would be so negative. Who wants to read that?
So, skipping all of that, Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-85401314901656161552013-11-25T09:31:00.000-08:002013-11-25T09:31:44.775-08:00It's a good thing he's cute
This darling, adorable third child of mine has given me a run for my money, or sanity as the case may be. While my other kids are admittedly brilliant, they were pretty laid back and mostly easy as young children. Not this one. High maintenance seems to be the new buzz word around here. Maybe it's because he's the baby or I have a zillion more other things going on now then when I had my Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-38620751476361680182013-10-31T08:16:00.003-07:002013-10-31T08:16:34.206-07:00Moving Day again
It's moving day again. We've had lots of transition the past few months and hopefully this move will help us be settled for a long time to come. Here are some pictures of our new house. Most are from the sale listing, so consider them the "before" shots. We have already done a lot of work. Like painting all of the trim outside and touching up the other areas that needed it. What a huge Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-84174389677164758872013-10-30T07:40:00.000-07:002013-10-30T12:37:00.493-07:00Our backyard visitorsYou know how sometimes you just kick yourself for not being as prepared as you want to be? I do that all of the time. The difference this time is that I learned from it and I got prepared for our backyard visitors.
When we first moved into this rental basement apartment my friend upstairs told me about the bear who came to visit her apple tree. She said "You will know when the apples are ready. Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-60245618850679925102013-10-25T07:59:00.002-07:002013-10-25T07:59:51.117-07:00House CrazinessWe are doing some fun things with our new house. Some are not so fun, but make it liveable for us. I guess that's fun. While Justin works on figuring out why the thermostat and heat pump won't talk to each other, calks and seals up the outside of the house, and correcting the horrible sulfur smell coming out of our well, I have been working on painting and pressure washing. And doing other Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-74219053373887434552013-10-14T20:39:00.001-07:002013-10-14T20:39:57.570-07:00New House
It's been a good day. We signed the papers for a very nice house. We can't wait to move in and get settled. If you need an agent in the Kitsap County area, Kathy Olsen is your girl! Moving chaos and pictures to come.
Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-30613478519087611742013-10-07T09:18:00.000-07:002013-10-07T10:17:11.753-07:00Still Here
{Artwork by the talented Suzanne Frie.}
A couple of weeks ago I attended a women's conference and was able to catch up with some long lost friends. It was so good to reconnect with old friends again. My good friend Diana mentioned to me she didn't have a clue what was going on in my life because I hadn't updated my blog in a really long time. While I have jumped on the Facebook bandwagon, notIslandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-16039883813783873372013-07-12T10:55:00.000-07:002013-07-12T10:55:20.341-07:00Cherry Sweet
In our little apartment here in Paradise, down the street from my mom, there is a golden raspberry bush outside the door. Baby has decided that it's his personal snack bar. Every time we go outside he either makes a beeline for the bush or the tractor if it's in sight. Baby paradise.
Over the past few days we have gotten just about all of the ripe berries off of the Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-8873719537416265672013-07-08T10:46:00.000-07:002013-07-12T10:40:01.095-07:00The Road Less TraveledSometimes in life you find yourself in a place you didn't expect. You might be just driving right along, paying attention to your GPS, thinking you programmed it correctly, when WHAMO, you are in the middle of a very rocky road with no way to turn around and no idea how long it will continue. Sometimes life is just like that.
When we saw on the GPS it was sending us to a place we had never been Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-58051638344552685102013-06-29T22:32:00.000-07:002013-06-29T22:32:29.796-07:00Roadtripping with Kids
A few days ago I asked for some advice on taking long road trips with kids. I got nothing except a conversation on the best doughnut places to stop at. The best road trip advice I have received came from my cousin Annalia who told me not to expect my kids to behave in a restaurant after being cooped up in the car all day. So true.
So here are my own tips after driving 792 miles in the pastIslandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-67786759524725004732013-05-29T11:03:00.002-07:002013-05-29T11:03:43.398-07:00happy feet
Look who is finally up on his happy little feet. Time seems to be flying by with this last baby especially. As exhausted as I am most days I already miss my kiddos being small. I am a lucky Mama.
Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-86752900537551406182013-02-26T08:30:00.000-08:002013-02-26T08:30:03.047-08:00my boysI may or may not have had a bad day at church yesterday. Between the return of vertigo and the loss of baby's morning naps things were not going well. My Big Kid is pretty amazing though and just as I was about to pack us all back home he convinced baby brother to read a book. They are so darn sweet.
So I was taking pictures during church. At least I ended up staying. I love these boys.Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-5672799298206445552013-02-25T09:58:00.000-08:002013-02-25T09:58:47.116-08:00baby Games
Love this little boy. Patty cake is his new favorite game and while he will clap his own hands all of the time when he wants to play he must be holding your hands. It's some kind of baby rule. I love his laugh.
Our favorite part of the day is right after Dad gets home from work and we go chat with him when he's done changing clothes. It's cuddle and tickle and relax time before the craziness Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-26262681742472579032012-11-18T06:00:00.000-08:002012-11-18T06:00:04.209-08:00Time Marches OnTime marches on. As difficult as it is sometimes in the thick of things with small kids, these are also the best of times. I open my eyes and they are crawling, walking, running and jumping away. Such sweet faces. Joey is growing fast and learning new things every day, except how to sleep well. (ughh).
9 months old and super cute
Meg is loving Kindergarten and learning lots of new things in Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-91723717249812260352012-11-17T06:30:00.000-08:002012-11-17T06:30:02.163-08:00An afternoon awayJustin is getting down to the last of his date cards from Christmas last year. This past weekend we spent the afternoon in Balboa parking taking a self-guided walking tour. We took the trolley without having to worry about wrestling strollers or kids jumping out the open windows and just took our time. We saw some fun new spots and visited a non-family friendly museum. We walked through the Rose Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-57601975040381005322012-11-15T15:04:00.000-08:002012-11-15T15:04:14.173-08:00It's the little things...It's the little things that bring a smile to your face. This last week I got a letter from my Mom with some birthday money in it. Not much, but it came with the admonition to spend it on myself because she knew I would likely spend it on some kid related thing. Coincidentally, the same day, I came across these darling, perfect red shoes. I have a secret thing for red shoes. Love them. It ended upIslandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-35545161405450090862012-11-01T07:49:00.000-07:002012-11-01T07:49:10.703-07:00Snow White, Super Brother and a Woodland Creature
I used to like holidays. All of the prep work, the cute decorations, fun food and people all working towards the same thing for a while. Now that some of my kids are bigger, and some smaller, I am just flat out exhausted. I didn't even find the box of decorations this year. I didn't sew, save for the Snow White head band and I didn't even bake cookies, except for the sad Pinterest Fail candy Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-23840599457514990692012-10-31T13:27:00.001-07:002012-10-31T13:27:42.412-07:00Baby milestonesIslandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-60649638068846137862012-10-10T11:41:00.001-07:002012-10-10T11:41:42.289-07:008 Months already
At 8 months old, our sweet Joey is still amazing us every day. We can't help but love every thing about him.
At 8 months old Joey:
crawls along pretty well
twists his way off of the couch into a standing position and is very proud of himself
loves to eat applesauce and broccoli, not carrots
lights up whenever his brother or sister walk into the room
plays peek-a-boo
laughs readily
is sleeping Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-55655458175449547522012-10-01T16:31:00.000-07:002012-10-01T16:31:33.705-07:00And now we know
You know that question every health care provider and pharmacist asks every time you are seen or present a prescription? Now I have a reason to answer yes, there is a known drug allergy.
A few days ago Baby got ill. Fever, cranky, sad sick. Not eating, not sleeping and not happy sick. It was especially sad since Dad was away on travel. The nights were sleepless, the days were sleepless and Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-85676172763317050762012-09-26T10:09:00.002-07:002012-09-26T10:09:24.641-07:00Sparkles make it all better
While thrift shopping with a good friend of mine recently I ran across these amazing little girls shoes, in my little Girl's exact size. They have sparkles on them. A pair of Converse in very good condition that have sparkles? Only $2.00? Sold.
Every day after school she asks me if I went anywhere and brought home anything, specifically anything for her. She doesn't much like to go Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-6649754612667953342012-09-13T07:00:00.000-07:002012-09-13T07:00:01.105-07:00Nexus 7
Our Big kid really wanted a tablet. He did his best to persuade us to get one for him. An Ipad, like Grandma. No go. Then he came up with a plan. And a PowerPoint presentation. It made us laugh and finally concur. We all came up with a way both big kiddos could participate in getting a tablet computer. They did chores, saved money, used up all of the Christmas a birthday savings and even Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-6143259277110552932012-09-12T11:42:00.001-07:002012-09-12T11:42:39.198-07:00On the moveThis video was taken recently and shows our Littlest Guy on the move. He's gotten more brave since this was taken and is moving all of those arms and legs. It tires him out though, so he still doesn't go far. It won't be long before I will need to make a real effort to find some baby gates.
Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-70488808581547918732012-09-04T21:50:00.001-07:002012-09-04T21:50:30.843-07:001st Day of School
Up until a little over a year ago when I thought of this day, I thought of peace and quiet and a trip to the bathroom by myself. I looked forward to not having to share my drink and having the living room stay clean for more than 3 minutes. That all changed with the wonderful surprise that is our 3rd child. I wouldn't trade him for anything, even if potty time on my own is still a few years Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1201633734326134551.post-56591228433084278872012-08-10T07:58:00.002-07:002012-08-10T07:58:46.450-07:00My Boys
Our shortest guy has turn 6 months old. He's a pretty amazing guy. He's picked up some new tricks lately. Like hair pulling. And almost sitting up by himself. He's so close. Eating a bit of solid foods here and there. Playing peek-a-boo and being delighted when his big brother comes close enough to play.
The Big Kid is a great help with Baby when he wants to be. And his favorite Islandallihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763717963820762756noreply@blogger.com1