Here, There, And Easter

This is Mara jammin' on the neighbor's keyboard. I am sooo gonna teach this girl piano. She is mesmerized when I play at church. When she gets a chance to play, she bobs her head up and down and laughs and laughs. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

This stuffed animal is Mara's favorite. I wouldn't say she HAS to have it with her wherever she goes (she's too independent for that), but she certainly appreciates it when I remember to bring it with us places. And that appreciation is VERBAL. For instance, when I give it to her at bedtime and pull the string (it plays "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"), she says "thank you," and then starts sucking her thumb (aside: it hasn't reached the point yet where the thumb-sucking stops being cute and starts being a bad habit to break).

This is my first time cutting a lobster tail. I did not volunteer for this task. But I concede it was a good learning experience.

This crab was in the garage last night and it FREAKED me out. I walked out to put Jacob's new bag in the scuba room and I heard it scuttling around. I found it by the tire, took a picture, trapped it in the recycling bin, showed it to Tycho this morning, then Jacob set it free.

And here's some Easter stuffs:

Mara and Tycho after their Easter egg haul.

About to color eggs

Finished!

Aquatic Easter egg hunt

Fell asleep that night with his prizes. And he's waving?

In the morning (Easter bunny left a trail of jelly beans to their baskets). Tycho was too excited to eat the trail, just followed it straight to the basket.

Mara, however, stopped and ate each and every one (good thing it was a short trail--just from her room to the closet).

(Mara with her mouth full)

With the loot

And aren't we cute?

BFFs

This is Sara. She is Tycho's best friend. You might say it's unusual, that a three-year-old has a best friend, or maybe I'm just using the term lightly. I assure you, I'm not. He is his mother's son, after all.

It all started at a play group a few months ago. There are normally at least 10 kids that go to play group, and Tycho was equally friendly to all of them. Insert Sara. I'm not sure who took whose toy first, but it became a game. Sara would take whatever toy Tycho had, then run off, and Tycho would chase her (and vice versa). Also, I think maybe they pretend the toy is a football because, inevitably, the chasee would have to get tackled by the chaser.

One time, Jacob took Tycho for a "quick trip" to the NEX... and came back a couple hours later. Apparently, on the way to the store, Tycho saw Sara in the barber shop and he HAD to go keep her company while her dad got a hair cut.

Tycho gets to go to a little church class for twenty minutes (they read a bible story and then color a picture) and he always ALWAYS has to sit next to Sara.

Another place Tycho "has" to sit next to Sara: library story hour. And when we sing the good morning song, they like to put each other in the song:

Miss Kaneisha: Tycho, it's your turn for the good morning song. What would you like to put in the song?
Tycho: SARA!!
Everyone sings (as Tycho and Sara jump together): Good morning! Good morning! We like the little friend that you have. In fact we like her so much we're gonna put her in a song in a song... in a song. Put Tycho and his friend in a song. Hooray!

(note: normally when a kid gets to jump for the good morning song, he puts shoes, or clothes, or toys/stuffed animals in the song, so it goes "... we like the pretty shoes that you wear. in fact we like them so much... put so-and-so and her shoes in a song. hooray!" Get it? That's okay, neither do I, but I sing along anyway)

Sometimes we run into Sara when we're grocery shopping. One time Sara taught Tycho how to ballroom dance right there in the cereal aisle (I really wish I had my camera for that one).

Sometimes (okay, a lot of times) there are genuine tears when these two part company. I guess it's the toddler way of saying "I'll miss you."

Home, Sweet Home

This huge tree is next to our house. It's perfect for climbing, though Tycho is a bit too young for that (so I have to help him).

This is Windmill beach. It's about five minutes from our house. We go to a beach at least once a week.


(this picture is from the day that Jacob went spear fishing at Windmill and caught a barracuda!)

It's common to find frogs and such outside.

...Not so common to find them INSIDE (Tycho got pretty excited to find this frog next to the bathroom). How did it get there??

We went to a farewell party and this hammock was there. The kiddos spent a good hour in it.

In a hammock, next to the beach, in the land of summer. Pretty much paradise.

You Know You’re In GTMO When…

I realized I haven't really written anything about where we live. So here you are:

There is only one grocery store, gas station, internet service provider, major street (Sherman Avenue, where the maximum speed limit is a whopping 25 mph… this actually may be one of my favorite things about GTMO), salon, school, church/chapel (serves all religions), auto shop, hospital, radio station, dry cleaners, library, McDonalds (we don’t care ‘cause we go MAYBE once a month… seriously though, how many places do you know that have only ONE McDonalds?), you get the gist.

You have to order online anything out of the ordinary (although I'm proud to say I've only done this twice--plastic sheets and Jacob's favorite cake mix--and everything else we just go without). And when I say "out of the ordinary," think balloons, and stuff of that sort. So, pretty much everything you don't use on a daily or weekly basis. The NEX (Navy Exchange, the one grocery store) runs out of stuff at seemingly random times and it feels like forever before they restock. You think, "There are only four packages of chicken breasts left. They wouldn't really run out of chicken... would they?" Yes, yes they would. The kids haven't had their fruit-snacks-fix in about a month. But, you learn to adapt (which I take pride in being good at... adapting, that is... not learning. I stink at learning). And the fruit snacks thing is probably for the better.

You figure you need some exercise, so you take a walk outside and five different people pull over to ask if you need a ride.

One of the women at play group had to take her car to the shop because banana rats ATE HER SPARK PLUGS (which apparently is not uncommon)

Iguanas are protected animals, so if you see one in the road you have to stop until it crosses. Banana rats are not protected animals. Also, they're really dumb, so it's pretty easy to run them over (on accident, of course...) They're called banana rats because they poop bananas. No lie. But not real bananas. The poop just looks like rotten bananas. But still smells like poop. Mental picture: both iguanas and banana rats are about as big as a pillow, folded lengthwise. With a tail. Actual pictures:

(picture stolen from a photographer here on island)

This is actually one of the iguanas that hangs out by the chapel

(picture stolen from online)

How "I" Became "We"

Stoled from my long lost twin sister

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
Jacob would say, “2005, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12… so that’s eight years” … even though we started dating middle/end of 2005 and it’s only the beginning of 2012. But, if you wanna be a little more exact (like me), go with six and half years.

2. How did you meet? (what's your "love" story?)
Well, Jacob will tell you the LIE version of how we met. So it’s a good thing I’m writing the post. Short version:
Me: YAY COLLEGE
Roommate Rebecca: My pal, Seth, goes here and his brother, Jacob, who happens to be a total hottie, is coming to visit. YOU GUYS SHOULD TOTALLY GET MARRIED
Me: Well… alright.
Insert various soccer games, volleyball games, dinners at Aunt Marilyn’s house, trips to DI, temple walks, car rides, dollar movies, so many phase ten games, phone calls from my parents saying the phone bill shows I went over my minutes, dances, swimming pool work-outs, pizza, lots of pizza, billions of games of pool, one borrowed jacket, one dinner with his favorite uncle, one Guatemalan bracelet, one snowball fight, one pink belly, and one call to my papa, and BAM, we’re engaged.

3. If married, how long have you been married?
We have been married 5 years, 6 months, 17 days (2027 days total)!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?
The beautiful Ogden, Utah, temple. Small. And when I say small, I mean cheap. ‘Cause that’s how I roll. Just family at the ceremony in Utah, then two receptions for friends in Houston and Fort Worth. I’ve been to many a beautiful/extravagant wedding since, and to this day I still think mine was perfect for me!

5. Do you have any nicknames that you call one another? Share!
Not really. Of course, I always have my standard term-of-endearment in reserve: loser.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.
Gosh, this is probably the best exercise for a wife… kinda like remembering to be the thankful—once you start thinking of all the things you’ve been given, you realize the list is never-ending. Sitting here thinking about it, I’m realizing he has so many admirable qualities it’s hard to pick three! He is so generous, which is a divinely-inspired marital balance because I’m incredibly stingy (at least I can admit it, right?). He’s charming. Seriously, he can charm the pants off anyone! It’s probably one of those things you have to use sparingly, or you’ll-like-blind people or something, but once in awhile he chooses to turn on his charm and it baffles me every time. I can always count on him to do the right thing. He might complain about it, or even joke (very convincingly) suggesting he’ll do the opposite, but I know he’ll choose the right in the end. Other things I love (sorry, couldn’t contain it to three): he is committed, witty, calm, certain, faithful, simple, loyal, observant, and truly just a grown-up child (in a good way).

7. Tell us how he proposed!
He said, “so when are we gonna get married?” and I said, “psshh, you haven’t even proposed yet,” and he said, “fine, will you marry me?” and then I hung up on him.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
He is an all-of-the-above kind of guy (but change champagne to sparkling cider). He is a HUGE gift-giver. I have to be careful with what I say because I know the second I mention something I might want, he is out the door to go get it for me.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?
Depends. Did I have a busy day? Is the dinner free? What movie? Are the kids present? What’s the weather like? Sorry, too many unknowns to make that decision.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
Scuba diving. On a cruise. In Australia. Or world cup?

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.
We are making dinner together (chicken cordon bleu)… for somebody else (a couple that just had a baby). And going a Reef Raider’s meeting I think. And then who knows? Jacob knows.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's Day?
CANDY (I have a problem… admitting may be the first step, but I’m smart enough to know I’ll never get passed step one)... but not the gamble chocolate

13. Give us one piece of advice about keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
Don’t go to bed angry. Hahahahaha j/k. The real advice is: COMMUNICATE (you may go to bed angry, but at least you won’t go to bed confused about it). But, yeah, I’d say about 90% of the fights are because we’re doing too much assuming and not enough talking. Even if you think something is obvious, voice it anyway.

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

when he cleans for me (acts of service=my love language)