We love you babe!

PLEASE CLICK ON PICTURE AND WATCH IF YOU KNOW ANYONE SERVING IN THE US MILITARY OR EVEN IF YOU JUST WANT TO SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.

My little elf

This isn't the greatest picture but I didn't take it so bear with me. Brandon my 14 year old is dressed as an elf. He is a teen center volunteer for the fun fair and that is what he has to wear. We took the kids over to the fair on Dec. 2 and boy what a great day it was. I filled out a few raffle tickets and then went home toward the end. I was home about an hour and Brandon called me to tell me I won a survival bag. A backpack filled with survival stuff. Then when I got home I got a call from the guy in the booth next to the survival bag guy and he told me I won a $50.00 gift certificate. Once I got home from picking this up my son Brandon called me again to say my son Jr. won a cake in the cake walk, but this was not the biggest news. The biggest news was Jr. also won the XBox 360. Brandon gave Jr. his ticket and when the winner was called Brandon thought it was this other guy who was walking toward the stage, but then he saw Jr. jumping up and down and coming toward the stage. Miss. Angie was handing Jr. the XBox 360 when Brandon came up to say his ticket won. Miss Angie said sorry Brandon it's the person holding the ticket who gets the prize. Anyway she was just messing with them. Jr. and Brandon decided they both won and that's great for them. They share this with my other kids so that makes it a gift for all. My hubby was glad since the next day he was leaving for Iraq and this took some of the focus off that.

Oh and how can I forget. The Dallas Cowboys beat the NY Giants. WooHoo!

Ramblings

My oldest daughter who lives in Washington with her family was complaining I don't put pictures on my blog anymore so here are some.

The first is my daughter Vanessa fooling around with the camera. Her friend Jennifer and her like to take wacky pictures. This is one of them.

Next my son Darrian, who is sick with a cold, is taking a swim in the Jacuzzi. The jacuzzi clears him right up so he can feel better for school.

My little village comes next. Since Darrian thinks they are toys there is no way to set them up except put them out and let him mess with them.

Last but not least is my tree. It's a real tree, bought here in Hawaii, for only $32.00. Can you believe this deal. I love it. You can smell it the moment you walk into the house. Boy am I going to miss this smell when Christmas is over.

Eve

Here is something interesting I read that I thought I would share with you all. Something to ponder:

Biochemists have shown that every man and woman on earth-past, present, and future-can be traced genetically to one human woman via mitochondrial DNA. To that one woman they gave the name "Eve," which means "mother of all the living."

The following post

I want to thank Barb for pointing me in the direction for the post below and to Susanne for e-mailing me instructions on how to paste it in my template. Also thanks to my son Brandon for helping me put Susanne's instructions into action. Thanks to these people you know what time of day I am.

By the way this one had me pegged. I can't believe how it was so much like me. Try it if you like.

Midnight-that's me

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

What Time Of Day Are You?

I love books

I found this one at Susannes blog and had to give it a try.

1. Where do you most often buy your books? Amazon.com

2. If you buy online, which do you prefer B&N or Amazon.com? Ebay? Christianbooks.com? or elsewhere? Amazon.com

3. Do you put your name in your books? No

4. How do you feel about loaning books to others? I don't mind since I never read a book more than once. Most of my friends who read also take great care of their books so I can trust them with mine. I usually don't lend though, just give them away.

5. Do you highlight or mark your books as your read? No. I only highlight in my Bible. Sometimes I might copy a quote down.

6. How often do you visit your local library? At least 2 times a month. Sometimes in the summer we go more often like once a week.

7. Do you collect any certain kind of book? No I don't collect books.

8. What do you do when you are done with a book and you no longer want it? I donate them. I sometimes do book crossings and release them, but not that often. I give them to my mom if she hasn't read them yet, especially if she is here in Hawaii visiting.

9. Do you keep a list or catalog of books you own? No

10. Any other book habits you'd like to share? I buy books all the time. I have over 500 in my so called library. I sometimes love the hunt for a book as much as the actual reading of the book.

Any one else want to join in on this one, be my guest.

Hawaii beats Purdue 42-35

Last night my son went to the Hawaii vs Purdue football game which wasn't supposed to be a win for us, but it was. We are very lucky to have a quarterback like Colt Brennen playing for us. My son and his friend were very excited when they got home. It was such a close game and Hawaii finally pulled it off. As you can see most of us here like football. We don't have an NFL team here in Hawaii but we have the college team. We live in walking distance from the stadium. In fact my son has walked to the last two pro bowls. That's about it for news today.

Today I will put up my lights for Christmas on the outside of my house and at the end of this week I will go buy a Christmas tree. They are in from the mainland and the parking lots of all the major stores are putting them out. The one store close to my house seems to have the freshest ones so I think I will try this. Soon it will be time to shop. I have to shop for Christmas presents and my son Dominic Jr.'s birthday which falls on Dec. 20. He will be 9 and is having a Mexican party. We are renting a water slide. We usually do something like this since how often will he get to have a water party when he is born in Dec. Only in Hawaii. We take advantage of this fact. He wants pinata and nachos and party bags with candy from Mexico thanks to my daughter Kira. Her hubby is Mexican and went with her to the Mexican store to pick out all sorts of authentic Mexican candies for the party bags. I will post pictures when the party is over. We will probably be having it on Dec. 16.

Have a great week everyone and I will try to post a little more often. With hubby getting ready to leave for Iraq on the 4th we are very busy getting his stuff ready and spending time with him. I'm sure though when he is gone and I don't have him to do things with when the kids are in bed I will be on the blogs quite often.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving before I need to go watch my Cowboys game. I was lazy and ordered my meal from Safeway so that me and hubby can enjoy and entire day of football. Go Cowboys! I will pick up dinner at 9:00 am and then eat after my game. Of course this leaves time for Pumpkin Pie and Greys Anatomy tonight. I hope all of you are enjoying your holiday meal.

Go Cowboys!!!!!

I JUST HAD TO SAY IT.

Hawaiian Waters

Yesterday me and my friend and her kids took a ride to Hawaiian Waters water park here on Oahu. My friend has season's passes and kept telling me how awesome the park was, but until yesterday I had never gone. I am so glad we did. The kids had a great time and so did their moms. My 16 year old daughter felt like lounging most of the day at the kiddie pools, the wave pool, and the lazy river, while me and my friend Tracey went on all the rides, several times. The park is not too big and was not crowded at all. My favorite ride was a slide that was enclosed in a tube and your rode little raft like tubes down it. It was pitch black all the way down so you had no idea if you were up or down or whatever. My daughter later told my hubby that we were like two kids running all over the place going on rides. We all really did have a blast. We packed a cooler and ate at the picnic area which is directly in front of the park and off of the parking lot. Not only is the walk short, but the area was clean and well kept. We spent from 10:30 opening time until 4:30 closing time. I am definitely going to grab some season's passes which with our military ID cards make them quite a deal. Only one event took place that was heart stopping. While in the kiddie pool all of a sudden the life guards started frantically blowing their whistles and yelling for everyone to get out of both kiddie pools, while they all started heading for one spot in front of one of the pools. My daughter said "Oh my God it's a baby." They seemed to be working frantically on this baby until some of the people realized it was a doll. Apparently for their drills a doll is thrown into the pool sometime during the day and they see how long it takes the lifeguards to spot it and rescue it. I told everyone that they were so quick at least we know if your going to need a rescue do it here. My daughter commented on it by saying that it was a little bit too realistic. Of course today we were all worn out so it was nice to just sit and watch my Cowboys beat the Colts.

Thursday 13-13 things that make me happy

I had to copy of Susanne and do this list since I thought it was a great one for today.

#1. My son Brandon (14) who was awarded the Excellence in Teen award at the Teen Center last night. Every year they pick a teen who strives to make a difference in community and attitude. This was a proud moment for me and his dad.

#2. My hubby who allows me to buy anything I want whenever I want it. I don't take advantage of this, but it's nice to know he works so hard so I can do this.

#3. The library

#4. Books

#5. coffee

#6 CoffeeMate french vanilla creamer

#7. So many new blog friends and so many great blogs.

#8. Reality tv, sitcom tv, drama tv, TV!

#8 The Dallas Cowboys (especially when they are trying to take the NY Giants #1 slot.

#9. Amazon.com

#10. strawberry shortcake

#11. My Jacuzzi

#12. Having a great church with a great youth pastor who gets the teens involved and helps them to find the joy in worshipping the Lord.

#13. Christmas. I love Christmas

Like I need more books

First mistake, I went to the library today to look for a book. Second mistake, checked out two books, walked over to the BXtra, air force term for store similar to Wal-Mart, and bought another book. For someone like me, who has at least 500 to be read books, why would I need more. I had to buy Beverly Lewis's book "The Brethren," because I just finished the first two of the series and just had to have the third. Picked up "One Tuesday Morning" by Karen Kingsbury on several recommendations from my blog friends, and then on the way out spotted "House" by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. House is a scary book, sometimes I need a little dose of fright. Last mistake, having three books and trying to figure out which to read first. Any suggestions. That my friends was basically what I did today. Of course this is after grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, homework, etc.

Last but not least I can't leave hubby out. Since he has been on leave we have been having a lot of fun. Today in fact I found a little tidbit in my magazine that stated Pluto is no longer a planet. Hubby pondered this for quite awhile. He says if it revolves around the sun it's supposed to be a planet. The International Astronomical Union says Pluto isn't a planet because its orbit overlaps with Neptune's-under new guidelines, orbits have to clear all 0ther objects. So now there are only 8 planets. What do you think hubby said when I showed him the article with proof of the official dumping of Pluto? He said "so what does that mean. Pluto is nothing. Non existent." To this I replied .................................."Who Cares." Apparently hubby cares. He thinks this is stupid and you can't just oust a planet. I think hubby is bored. He loves his job and now we all know why.

My 14 year old son was reading this over my shoulder and he says Pluto is a moon. I said no it's not. Brandon says yes it is. I say not according to the International Astronomical Union. Brandon says he doesn't care Pluto is a moon and someday we will all be enlightened to this fact. Hurry someone better let the Astronomical guys know. Why? Because Brandon says so, that's why.

Another favorite blog

Go on over and check out Jen's blog A good cup of coffee if you haven't already. Jen is another one of my favorite bloggers. I am a huge fan of coffee to begin with so the name of her blog is one of the things that drew me to her. Her new look, featuring, of course a cup of coffee is warm and inviting. Oh and I must not forget that Jen loves creamer, just like me. I can always count on the fact that Jen will let me know when a new flavor is out.

Jen's blog is full of energy, positive energy. She is an awesome person who always has something kind to say. It is no wonder that she will be in charge of hospitality for her new MOPS group. Jen is an upbeat person and an awesome mom to her daughter Madison who is 9, and her little boy Miller. She writes about her hubby Scott and her children frequently. I can always count on Jen's blog to give me a little pick me up. Jen can make just about anything sound interesting. So go on over and check her out and I promise you will feel welcome. Don't forget, while your there, to enjoy a good cup of coffee.

PS I almost forgot Jen can cook. Many of my bogs I read are by women who can cook and they post awesome recipes. Well Jen is one of those women. She sometimes posts the most delicious sounding recipes so check out her archives and I'm sure you will find some new one's to try.

Your five factor personality profile

I found this test over at Barb's blog and it caught my attention so here goes. This is what my answers had to say about me:

Extroversion

You have high extroversion.
You are outgoing and engaging with both strangers and friends.
You truly enjoy being with people and bring energy into any situation.
Enthusiastic and fun, you're the first to say "let's go!"

Conscientiousness

You have medium conscientiousness.
You're generally good at balancing work and play.
When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.
But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.

Agreeableness

You have high agreeableness.
You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly.
Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone.
You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance.

Neuroticism

You have low neuroticism
You are very emotionally stable and mentally together.
Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly.
Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed-making others feel secure.

Openness to experience

Your openness to new experiences is high.
In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas.
You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits.
A great connoisseur of art and beauty, you can find.

For the most part this was accurate except anyone that knows me will tell you I am totally neurotic, so where they came up with all that I don't know. If any of you want to try this you can go here.

New friends

Sorry it's been a few days in posting but my hubby is on leave and we are spending a lot of time together as a family before he leaves for Iraq. You can pack a lot of things into one day.

Yesterday me and my friend Tracey were standing outside watching all the kids play at the park. They were squirting each other with hoses, riding bikes, playing tag, etc. I remarked to Tracey that it is so weird here in Hawaii because it is like any summer evening you would spend on the mainland except it isn't summer. Sometimes I even forget it is winter for everyone else. It's a very unusual feeling to realize your mind actually tricked you into thinking it's summer when it's not. Anyway there was a lady watching her kids playing at the park and she walked up and introduced herself. Her name is Cherise and she has 4 kids. She just moved to Hawaii 4 months ago and was saying how she missed Virginia, where she came from, because she really hasn't met many friends yet. We told her she could hang with us and we all had a great time outside chatting for about 3 hours. I told her that we go out with the kids every afternoon once it is cooler. She said she would come by to see us. I told her she just had to give it a little time and then before she knows it she wouldn't want to leave Hawaii either. Sometimes when you are changing to a new duty station it takes a little while to get used to your surroundings and all of your new neighbors, but eventually you can't imagine being anywhere else. I am sure now that Cherise hangs out with us she will acquire many new friends. In fact we will all head up to the chapel on Tuesday for Praying Women of the Chapel. Many women attend this and she will surely find new friends here. Cherise is a really nice person and I am sure we will all become great friends.

prayer

This will be quick. I just wanted to let you all know of some prayers needed around blogland. First of all go on over and check out Amy's blog. It's the Wilhoite prayer blog and Amy is due to have her bone marrow transplant on Monday. Amy is an inspirations to us all. Her husband Brandon had written a very heart wrenching post recently about this experience. Please pray for Amy, Brandon, and Gary.

Also Liz from looneybin4sure has recently posted about a boy named Micah who is in need of our prayers. Micah is only 2 and has cancer. You can check for updates here. Micah is an adorable little boy who is going through a lot. Please keep their family in your prayers also.

I know our list is growing, but there is always room for more.

Holiday Traditions

Hop on over to Sandra's blog, Diary of a Stay at home mom, and check out Holiday Traditions. She is hosting a spot for us to share our traditions and read about other peoples traditions.. I hope you will all check this one out because the last time she hosted it many people had some great traditions that I myself am going to try.

My family moves around a lot because of being in the military so we don't really have any traditions we share with extended family. One thing we still do is open the kids gifts from their grandparents on Christmas eve. This way they can see what they got from their grandparents and we can also take pictures of them opening their gifts that come from far away. This leaves Christmas morning just for Santa.

Another think I do is serve crackers, cheeses,, and pepperoni, throughout the day so the kids can snack anytime they want before our big meal. I find they don't want to eat early because they are excited to open their presents so I just let them have cereal and then snack on the other stuff throughout the day. It's also nice to add some cut up veggies and dip. That way if anybody pops over, you can have a little something to share with them besides cookies.

We usually go to church the night before because I love the candlelight service. This always gets everyone excited and the kids usually perform in some kind of Christmas play. The church here usually has a living Christmas tree that is kind of fun to go see.

One other tradition we have is to go over to the Ft. Shafter Christmas Tree Lighting in early December. The kids love this because Santa comes on the fire truck and throws candy out at them on their way out. They also enjoy the Army band that plays Christmas carols. It's nice because it is warm here so they can play around in the big field behind us while the adults can enjoy the speeches.

I can't wait to see what others have written. Like I said hop on over because this will really get your Christmas spirit going. I hope you enjoy reading about all the other wonderful traditions out there. I know I will.

Favorite blogs

I am going to start from the top of my list and post once a week about my favorite blogs. This week I am going to start with Barb's blog A Chelsea morning. I love her blog because she is such a warm person and it shows through in her posts. I learn many things about being a Christian from her biblical posts. I also love her cooking. She posted about homemade burritos last week and I can't wait to try them. Barb posts some pretty cool crafts also. She had made these gourds that were sparkly, they were so pretty. I am going to actually give these a try. Barb also posts a lot about her husband and beautiful daughters. I love reading these posts. It's obvious she is a great mom. I can't forget that Barb has one handsome grandchild Cameron. He is a cutie and we get to see pictures of him enjoying his day with grandma from time to time.. Last but not least is Chelsea. Chelsea is Barb's cute little doggie. Her blog is named after Chelsea. If you get a chance go on over and check her out. She is one awesome lady with one awesome blog.

Random update

I saw the orthopedic doctor yesterday and he says my wrist bones are all healed. I still have soreness but not much. I am about 80% back to normal. The doctor says I can go ahead and skate next week, I will let you all know how that goes.

Darrian had a meeting at child psychology and he did well. Acted like his usual crazy self. The psychologist recommended they test his hearing. I told him he can hear, but he is ignoring you. Sure enough he passed hearing with flying colors. I am trying to get him ready for school since they start early here,age 4, and he just started preschool this summer. If he gets into this program here he will begin all day preschool so that he can be ready for Kindergarten.

Hubby is getting ready to leave, but he is going to get 14 days off so that is good news. Of course with the Army anything can change and that could be cut short, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Tonight is pizza night where I make homemade pizzas for the family. I use Sandra's recipe form her cooking blog. It is fast and easy and yumm-o. The kids love pizza night because we all watch something together and it gives us bonding time. Of course my 16 year old Vanessa is at youth group for church, but we do another night during the week so that she gets to enjoy it too. If we are really brave we stay up late and when she gets home we do it then. The kids loving staying up late.

Sandra did holiday traditions on her blog, but I missed it. I wanted to share one with you. At the end of Nov. we go to the library and get some Christmas themed books, then we pull out some old ones from home, and then we pick 24 that we will read. We will read one each night until Dec. 25 is here. I also read that one woman wraps the books in Christmas wrap so that they pick one every night, but they don't know which one it will be. It sounds kind of fun like this. Anyway go on over to Sandra's blog and check out Nov. 1st post for other peoples holiday traditions.

One more tip, for all your readers out there Sandra also has a book blog that I love, Reading Nook. Check it out here.

As for me I am going over to check out some of my favorite blogs right now. Over the next few weeks I will tell you all about my other favorite bloggers and why I love their blogs so stay tuned.