Family Adventures Family Adventures When my children are grown and gone, I hope that they will look back on their childhood and remember the sound of their mother's laughter. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Articles
Natchez, Mississippi
2008-03-22 15:53:00 We finally took our trip to see the mansions in Natchez which were built before the civil war. My understanding is that most of the southern mansions built before the civil war were destroyed during the war and seeing older homes is rare and special. I enjoyed spending the day with my family and the opportunity to see Natchez was lovely, but I don't think I would make the trip again.There are many houses open, and available for touring. We saw three, it cost us about $75. I thought that was a little pricey. The first one was in poor repair, I am thinking if you are charging me to see your home a fresh coat of paint is not too much to ask. The second house was in perfect condition but run by very stern tour guides who insisted that you listen to hours of commentary and only look at the rooms in the order you are told and after listening to a detailed description of every single piece of furniture, what wood it is made of, who made it, etc. It got old. Jeff and Lily about los... More About: Mississippi , Adventures
An Irish Blessing
2008-03-17 20:33:00 May the road rise to meet you.May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face,And the rains fall soft upon your fields.And until we meet againMay God hold you in the palm of his hand.Happy St. Patrick's DayI follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Irish , Blessing
You can find me at the mall
2008-03-17 14:47:00 It turns out that Lily and I did not have colds, because colds don't go away in a day, right? I think it must have been allergies. The pollen in so thick here you can cut it with a knife. We have been spending a lot of time outside too. A little clariton and our sore throats went away. The gnats here are so thick. Just walking from the house to the care causes us to get bit all over our faces, ankles and hands. I tried to clear off and sweep up our back porch yesterday and plant some grass seed in the bare patches, those little gnats were swarming my face and arms. It is so incredibly beautiful and the weather is amazing, but those bugs make me want to hide away and never leave the house.I lost two pounds this week, but this morning I had gained them back. I was disappointed I was hoping to lose more during this two week diet, tomorrow is Jeff's PT test and today is the last day of our diet. It will be nice on our pocket book to take a break from dieting. I am thinking o... More About: Daily , Find , Mall
Spring Break
2008-03-15 13:29:00 Lily and I have come down with sore throats. We are hoping to kick it by resting today. Let us hope the nutritious full of antioxidants works. We have so much planned next week. Mandy is on Spring Break , our play groups and the base have all kinds of Easter Egg hunts, and Jeff is taking a day off for us to take a little day trip to Natchez. It would not be fun to be sick for all that.Speaking of Spring Break more than 300 students from around the country are choosing to come here for Spring break , to build houses for Katrina victims. Instead of going to Florida, or laying around the house, they are building homes. Wow, that really touches my heart. Restores my faith in the world.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Daily
Busy, Busy Me
2008-03-12 23:25:00 I am finding that a nasty side effect to eating healthy foods is that I have a ton of happiness and energy. I don't seem to have time for sitting on the computer and blogging. Even yesterday on the way to the grocery store after voting when it started to pour down rain, instead of going home, we splashed our way through the puddles and enjoyed having the entire grocery store to ourselves. That is really not at all my personality.Today as I arrived home after driving Mandy to work, the Domino's pizza delivery truck was driving past my house. I almost threw myself on the ground in front of his truck. I think I would prefer to feel bad, play on the computer all day, and eat really delicious food. I have no will power. Tonight we are having beef Don Buri, a Japanese stir fry with thinly sliced beef, onion, garlic, ginger, in a sweetened soy sauce and saki sauce. One of my all time favorite foods, it is great with tofu subbed for the beef as well, anyways, we are having it with... More About: Family , Daily , Busy
My Day Off
2008-03-10 16:10:00 I saw Bill Clinton speak at Biloxi High School on Saturday. The event was not well publicized and if I hadn't read the paper from cover to cover that morning I would have missed that he came to town entirely. Saturday is my day off, my husband takes care of the girls and the house, the errands, the cooking, the dishes, etc. I have nearly every Saturday to myself to spend as I wish. I usually cannot come up with a thing to do. Mostly because, while I have the time I do not have the money, to shop or eat out, to get my nails done or a massage. This particular Saturday I had planned to spend the day shopping with Mandy's money for clothes for Mandy. You would not believe how hard it is to find a pair of pants that will fit a tall skinny girl. Especially when said girl does not like to show her butt crack. I read about President Clinton being in town and I looked at the clocked and thought if I get in the shower right now I can just make it.I showered and took off, Biloxi hig...
Thursday Playgroup
2008-03-06 21:16:00 I have been going to the library story time for about six months. It is every Thursday . It is free. It is fantastic and there are a lot of other children Lily's age. The teacher reads a story, and does games, and then we go outside and play at the playground. It took Lily a long time to get the routine and to be able to behave during this story time. Now she is a pro.But, today the other moms actually talked to me. They were really nice too. I guess it takes six months of seeing a person every week before they become one of you. Don't get me wrong there have been hellos and goodbyes. There have been nice weather we are having etc. But, an actual conversation, I have never really been included. 90% of that is probably due to my not having the opportunity to chat due to Lily's need for constant course correction. Today I was able to just sit over by the other moms and let her play. Yeah Lily and yeah to the other moms. Bonus points that they are all my age as well. U... More About: Daily
Giving Blood
2008-03-05 14:36:00 Yesterday, Mandy gave blood for the first time. She did it at school and was able to get some free junk food and get out of second period. After giving blood, she started to feel poorly. It got worse after lunch. Finally she called her work and told them that due to the fact that she gave blood and was feeling woozy, dizzy, nauseas...she wouldn't be able to work. They told her to get a dr.'s note. This really upsets me.It is rather difficult to get a dr.'s note at one in the afternoon. It is also a waste of a dr.'s time for us to come in for a note when Mandy is not in need of medical assistance. Luckily we have free health care and luckily Jeff works at the hospital. Otherwise we would have to go to an emergency care place and wait for hours to see a dr and get a note. Paying a lot more out of our pocket than Mandy would earn in a day of work. I cannot believe that they do this to minimum wage employees. They certainly aren't paying Mandy health care.I wonder if the... More About: Family , Blood , Giving
The Diet
2008-03-04 14:37:00 Jeff's PT test is coming up in about two and a half weeks. He has been trying to lose about 10 lbs for months and months. The same three pounds keep coming and going. For those of you not familiar with the military he has to take a physical training test annually to ascertain whether or not he is "fit to fight". The test includes running, sit-ups, push-ups, measuring the waist, etc. Each component of the test has points and you have to have a certain number of points to stay in the military (you get more than one chance). Each branch of the service has different standards and different tests, Jeff is Air Force. Anyways, he is in great physical shape. He did a marathon this past year, etc. But, keeping the waist within regulation is difficult for Jeff. Usually he is able to drop 10 lbs very easily and very quickly but this year he has struggled for months with no results. He was about to give up. While he would pass his test with a good score, he is on a quest for an exce... More About: Diet
Grandma Dorothy
2008-03-03 16:10:00 During our last move the boxes carrying all our loose pictures was destroyed. The movers were able to save the pictures but they are no longer separated into separate little boxes and envelopes. Instead every loose picture we own is in an enormous pile in a giant box. I should probably organize this mess...I wanted to find a picture of my grandma and I knew the picture was in this box. I had to sort through thousands of pictures one at a time to find the exact picture I was looking for. It was a little surreal to look at a picture of me as a kid, then one of Mandy as a baby, Lily as a baby, Jeff as a kid; in no particular order. I eventually found the photo. It was a picture of my grandma, my mom, me, and Mandy. The photo was taken shortly after grandma and my dad had gone sky diving. Grandma was around 70 I believe and decided that she wanted to go sky diving for her birthday. My dad and grandma tried to talk me into doing it too. They thought if they had three generatio... More About: Family , Dorothy
HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV)
2008-02-29 16:11:00 We recently got a letter in the mail from our health provider saying that they recommend Mandy get the new HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV) shot. HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV)causes 70% of cervical cancer and 90% of genital warts. The new vaccine prevents a person from getting HPV. Only this shot is only being given to girls. Why not boys too? Both sexes get this virus, but having the virus does not cause any harm to a boy, no cervix no cervical cancer. But if everyone were vaccinated wouldn't it help to prevent the spread of this disease more than if only young women are vaccinated. Does this bother anyone else?I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Human
The Birthday Party
2008-02-27 15:57:00 My mom passed down a birthday tradition to me that I continue in our family. On your birthday you get to pick your dinner and we as a family sit down and eat your favorite meal together. Mandy picked pasta carbinara this year, with warm and buttery buns, she wanted a white cake, with vanilla ice cream & chocolate sauce, and sprite. Lily and I decorated the house with black and white balloons and crept paper. It was a nice dinner, cake and presents.Later, Mandy got the remote control and we all watched American Idol. Haven't seen it in many years. We had a blast. Loved the 70's theme. We all sang along and then between performances we somehow started singing other songs that get stuck in our head. We are all awful singers so it is funny for us to belt it all out. I had a really great time.Mandy works most evenings, so all of us spending an evening together is rare. The last young man to sing was singing John Lennon's Imagine and it brought a tear to my eye. What in the w... More About: Family , Party , Birthday Party , Birthday , The Birthday Party
Happy Birthday Mandy
2008-02-26 13:46:00 Today my oldest daughter turns 17. What a journey we have had. She was born when I was 21 years old and probably about 14 in maturity. Having a baby changed me forever. Everyone told me I should have an abortion or give her up for adoption because I was unmarried and extremely poor. Having been adopted I knew that was not the right path for Amanda and I. The nay sayers got up my dander and I worked very hard to be the best mom I could be.During Mandy's early years most people would tell me that she and I were too close. It is funny how perfect strangers and acquaintances, family and friends feel the need to advise a young mother on exactly how close she should be with her daughter. I wish that I could gather them all up in a room, introduce them to my 17 year old daughter and stick out my tongue at each and every person whose personal commentary about my ability to be a mother and my ability to make decisions hurt me deeply over the years. Perhaps I should be satisfied to ... More About: Family , Parenting , Happy , Birthday , Happy Birthday
Passive Agressive
2008-02-24 16:44:00 I just checked our credit scores, mine is 6 points ahead of Jeff. I don't earn any money, haven't in years. Credit scores are curious. But, we both scored excellent with higher scores than 98.2% of the country. See you should listen to my money advise.I just finished the federal taxes, not fun. My head is spinning. I still have to do state. Yucky. I keep telling Jeff we should pay someone to do this. Does anyone else do their own taxes?The other day, Jeff and a co-worker were discussing having strong willed children. The co-worker asked which parent Lily's willfulness comes from Jeff or me. Jeff said both of us are very strong willed and Lily must have gotten a double dose.The co-worker remarked that Jeff and I must have some knock down drag out fights, being that we are both strong willed.Jeff responded, not really. We don't really fight.I thought that was curious, Jeff and I really don't fight. Even though we are both incredibly stubborn. I think we are stubborn... More About: Passive
How far would you drive for Target?
2008-02-19 14:45:00 Jeff had the day off from work yesterday, Mandy had to go to school. We never seem to have time together as a family anymore. Mandy works weekends, she will be seventeen at the end of this month. Gasp.Jeff, Lily and I went over to Mobile yesterday to the Target . Jeff was embarrassed that we would drive an hour to go to Target. He did not understand that there is a difference between Target and Walmart. It was fun. The Target we visited was in a Mall, much larger than the malls we have over here. We all had a great time. Would you drive an hour for Target?We are still discussing vacation ideas. I am more of an explorer. I want to go and see some of the pre-civil war mansions and some of the battle sites from the civil war. Or I would like to go and see the Mississippi river, maybe take a cruise. Jeff wants to go to Disney, or Jackson to see our capital, or to the Smokey Mountains for hiking and Dollywood. I am thinking we should take separate vacations. Just kidding, I ... More About: Family , Parenting , Drive , Adventures
Adventures
2008-02-18 14:12:00 I am really itching to go on an adventure. We haven't been on a trip in a very long time. Last year, we moved from Japan to Mississippi and we went to Virginia to visit Jeff's family. That was it. In previous years we did things like go to China, Egypt, Kenya, Alaska, Hawaii, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland ...I mentioned this to Jeff, he suggested we go to Disney World.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Adventures
Frozen
2008-02-17 18:17:00 I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Frozen
If You Don't Have Something Nice To Say
2008-02-17 17:21:00 I have been in a bit of a funk lately. Well, whatever...I started this blog when I was in a bit of a funk, my intention was to write something nice and good about my life everyday in order to feel a bit better. Lately I haven't really been writing about anything but what is bothering me. Something nice to say about my life . . . do you hear the crickets.Just kidding. I have a great life. I have been in pursuit of a photo of a great sunset over the Gulf. Several months ago, Jeff and I went for an evening walk. We arrived down at the pier by our house right at sunset. It was the most amazing sunset of my life. I wished I had my camera. I thought that a photo of that sunset would make the most beautiful blog header in the world. all those lovely horizontal layers. The sky, the water, the grass, the sand. I have been trying to re-capture that sunset every night since that night and it has never occurred again.We really don't live on the Gulf of Mexico, we live on the Mis... More About: Nice
A Battle of Wills
2008-02-14 13:27:00 Shouldn't have waited until the last day to try and find heart shaped cookie cutters. Might have to just cut them out freestyle. Lily and I are making heart cookies for dad and Mandy today. We got the idea from a magazine my parents got for Lily. We have been talking about this for weeks and she is so excited. Counting the days to Valentine's day. Too bad I didn't think to get all the stuff until the last moment.Lily and I have been having a battle of wills. Pretty much since she was born. Now she has gained the ability to manipulate me. It is no longer just that she refuses to do things she doesn't want to do. Now she pushes my buttons just to watch me squirm. She can make me go from happy to crazy insane mad in less than 30 seconds. She is very good at manipulating me. I have always tried to be very protective of the girls' feelings. I want them to grow up feeling that they are worthy of being treated well. I may go a bit overboard, but my husband constantly re... More About: Parenting , Wills , Battle
Who Am I?
2008-02-11 16:42:00 I recently decided that it might be a good idea for me to begin working again sooner rather than later. I took stock of the jobs I am qualified to perform and this really depressed me. Not having worked in a very long time and not having finished my degree, there really isn't a lot job options available to me. I am also the primary care giver of Lily and Mandy and any job I find I will have to find care for Lily and transportation for Mandy. I did apply for a few freelance jobs and a few local jobs. Then no one wanted me, not even for the peon jobs that I applied for.Jeff talks non-stop about the fact that as soon as Lily starts school, I am going back to work and we will have more money. He is counting the days. I feel like such a failure, because, other than lunch lady (Jeff's suggestion) or Wal-Mart Associate what can I do? I would have to be available for Lily before and after school, so a full time job is not an option.That lunch lady job really hurt my feelings. Som...
Golden Corral
2008-02-07 20:18:00 Some of you may remember the story of Jeff's warm and buttery buns. If not and you want a good laugh at my husband's expense go and read it now. I'll wait...This seems to be pick on Jeff week. Of course you all realize he was kidding about the streaking through the neighborhood, right? Sometimes you don't know how sarcasm plays via the written word.I have just received my first BlogHer paycheck, $30. I have had the ads on the blog since August 28, 2007. Which for me is pretty good. I had google ads on my blog for 2 years and never earned more than a nickel. Which I am still waiting to be sent. As soon as I received the check Jeff started getting ideas of how to spend the money. He was able to find a Golden Corral - his all time favorite restaurant only an hour and a half from our house. So guess where we are going to dinner tonight? For those of you not familar with the GC (Jeff speak for Golden Corral) it is an all you can eat buffet with all the free hot and butter... More About: Daily
Super Fat Tuesday
2008-02-05 19:31:00 I was up all night with a sick kid, Mandy throwing up until 3AM. So tired. We don't get to vote today, our vote isn't until March 28th, talk about being snubbed.Mandy, called in sick to work and they told her she had to have a doctor's note because it is Mardi Gras and they are busy. Jerks. Trying to intimidate a sick kid into coming into work. That is how I see it, too bad Jeff works at the hospital and knows people who know people. We were luckily able to get a doctor's note with a phone consult.I am so tired and would feel bad leaving Mandy who still hasn't kept anything down, so we are having a private home Mardi Gras, with cartoons and cookies. At least we got to go to our local parade. I was looking forward to going to the downtown Biloxi parades this afternoon. I guess it wasn't meant to be.So, how is your Super Fat Tuesday ?In other news...I was trying to convince Mandy and Jeff that we should make homemade gifts for Valentine's Day this year instead of buying...
Saturday Night Fun
2008-02-04 16:41:00 Thanks for all your advice about buying a new car. If we ever change our mind and decide to try it again I will be sure to follow all of your sage advice. On Saturday evening after the minivan saga and then a good nap, we decided to go to Chuck E Cheese. A Saturday night at Chuck E Cheese, am I not the coolest person you know?There happens to be a Barnes and Noble next to the Chuck E Cheese and Mandy still has quite a bit of Christmas Barnes and Noble gift certificate money. A quick stop was made at Barnes and Noble. Lily had not taken a nap and promptly fell to sleep on the 45 minute drive from our house to the Chuck E Cheese / Barnes and Noble. I don't know why we don't have anything closer to us, oh yeah we chose to live in the quiet neighborhood instead of the convenient one. I sat in the car with Lily, she slept I day dreamed. Jeff and Mandy did the book store and then it was off to Chuck E Cheese.We just love going there. We are all so competitive that we just have a... More About: Daily , Night
Buying a New Minivan
2008-02-03 12:19:00 Jeff and I decided to go ahead and buy a new mini-van. A big purchase to be sure, but we figure that he has four years until retirement, and we could have it paid off by then. We figured we travel a lot and this would make traveling more comfortable. So why not? We did a lot of shuffling but we thought to find the money we would take a bit from here and there, various savings plans, and tighten up our extra spending.I did a great deal of Internet research about which is the best minivan and how much they cost. We decided that Saturday we would look at our top ten choices, see what they have on the lots and narrow down our options to maybe one or two. OK, so you all see the humor there right.I have never bought a new car before. Jeff has. He kept telling me that we don't want to get out of our vehicle that we should just drive by slowly and see what they have and hope we can see the sticker price from our car. I was thinking, why not just ask someone? So we got to the first... More About: Buying
Sunshine Does Not Fix Cars
2008-01-29 22:12:00 Went to our play group today at the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center. It is about a 45 minute drive from my house but worth it. We had our play group. I am a bit of a regular now so we know people and have bits of conversations. Not like having friends but a step in the right direction. We sing, we dance, we play, we hear a story, we do a craft. Then we played indoors for awhile and then outdoors. As we were playing outdoors, it was a beautiful 65 degree sunny day. There are tree houses, trains, just the most beautiful play area you can imagine, and you can see the Gulf of Mexico just beyond the centuries old oak trees. I was thinking to myself, Lily has the most amazing childhood. She is a lucky little girl.Our plan was to stop and grab some lunch at McDonald's, return some books to the library, pick up a few things at the commissary and then head home. This McDonald's had an outside playground and Lily asked to play for just a minute. Just a minute I say, as we have a ... More About: Daily , Cars , Sunshine
Sunshine to Chase Away the Funk
2008-01-29 15:34:00 Yesterday was such a nice day. We spent the morning at the playground and the afternoon playing in the neighborhood with the kids. My street is filled with kids who play outside after school. We met a new neighbor, she just moved in and has a four year old boy. I am sure once school starts meeting people will be a little easier. I met a few nice ladies at the playground too.There is something so nice about having adult conversations mixed with playing in the sunshine. I think I even got a bit of a sunburn on my nose and cheeks. I think sunshine is the new drug. Even if the adult conversations were with strangers, I am working on making friends. Been almost a year and still no friends. Weird that I love it here so much but have no friends. The lady at the playground was a military spouse and moved here about the same time as me. She hates it here because she has no friends. I was thinking to myself, I don't have any friends here either I wonder why that doesn't bother m... More About: Daily , Parenting , Funk , Sunshine , Chase
Blog Village Carnival: Much Ado About Money
2008-01-28 16:15:00 Welcome to the January 28, 2008 edition of a blog village carnival. Without any further Ado, here are the submissions.Marshamlow presents Family Adventures: Much Ado About Money posted at Family Adventures. In this post I write about our family's decision to use the money we will be getting back from our taxes toward our home mortgage loan in order to reduce the amount of interest we will be paying over the life of our loan. We had a lively discussion within the comments about whether or not it is important to live for today or save for tomorrow. alicia presents "Peace, be still." posted at Get to Know Alicia: Christian Artist, Poet and Full-Time Mom Alicia writes a post about how she finds peace during the troubling financial times we are facing in our country. I found this to be a very moving post. It is sometimes necessary to look past the here and now and see the big picture.Hueina Su presents My Young Living Story and Exciting News posted at Intensive Care for the Nurtur... More About: Carnival , Blog , Blog Carnival , Village
On the List
2008-01-27 20:37:00 Drove husband to airport. Along the way we notice several police cars pulled to the side of the road, lights flashing, officers with machine guns. We then noticed a helicopter circling. As we drove past the prison we notice a news crew filming the prison.Using our incredibly nimble brains we deduced that there must have been a recent prison break. Which I later confirmed via the good ole Internet.So on the way to the airport we drove through a gantlet of machine guns.As I was driving home. I made it back threw the gauntlet, no escaped convicts tried to jump in my car while I was going 70 on the highway. It really should be illegal to drive after taking cold medicine. Phone rang, Jeff- come back to pick me up flight delayed 7 hours.Exit, enter the other way, back threw the gantlet of machine guns. Back to the airport. Jeff comes out to the car and informs me that he and his fellow travelers are going to drive instead of fly. Turns out driving the 10 hours to San Antonio take... More About: Daily , List , The List
My Day Off
2008-01-26 17:22:00 Long time readers will remember or not, that Saturday is my day off. Jeff works hard all week at his job and I work hard at mine. Saturday is my day off from taking care of Lily, cooking, cleaning, driving people around. I do what I want, no responsibility to the family. Sunday is Jeff's day off, on that day he can watch football or go hiking, do whatever he wants with no guilt. We started this when Lily was very small. She was such a difficult little one.Today, I woke up around 9AM. The entire family was gone. I didn't get to say good morning. I am lost. I have the hardest time disconnecting and finding my bliss on my day off. Instead of enjoying my day off I usually end up feeling left out and lonely. What a dork I am. What would you do if you had a day off from the family all to yourself.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Daily , Parenting
Cold Medicine and Kids
More articles from this author:2008-01-24 00:37:00 I have heard many a news report about cold medicine not being safe for children. Even the cold medicine specifically made for their age, the FDA has issued a warning that it is potentially unsafe for children to take these medicines. This is nothing new, when Mandy was suffering from her first cold more than 16 years ago, her pediatrician warned me not to give her over the counter medications for her cold. More than 10 years ago a friend of mine was in medical school studying to be a pediatrician and during a conversation told me that children's bodies react very differently too medications than adult bodies do. That children are not small adults, their systems and bodies are completely different than ours.But, I feel so guilty. I take cold medicine and it makes me feel better. My snuffling sneezing coughing aching stuffy head fever are reduced by my little pill. Every time Lily sneezes, coughs, needs her nose wiped, wakes up from coughing, I feel bad. I try to go without t... More About: Daily , Kids , Parenting , Medicine , Cold 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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