Category Archives: Tom
Jersey Kids
I wanted a picture of Katie in this outfit so I could hopefully post it with an old pic of Owen…but she refused to leave Tom’s side. 🙂
I finally got her alone.
And the best photo comparison I could manage (apparently I never took a picture of him when he was wearing the matching pants).
Three deployments, three tags, three ranks.
#thingsyoufindwhenpreparingtoPCS #amateurhoarders
This is what it looks like when you’ve waited three years to start sorting and organizing bins in the basement and now you only have months left. In an hour we got rid of one bag of recyclables and two boxes of garage sale/donation stuff. Now we only need to get rid of about 35x more stuff. 🙂
Saturday Night Dinner!
Pre-dinner selfie.
Pre-dinner family selfie.
We loved that the three of them all crammed together on one side even though they didn’t need to. The boys were at the other table. 🙂
And I forgot to take a pic of the food (Slow Cooker Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes, Tangy and Creamy Macaroni Salad, and KFC’s Cole Slaw) and our group!
Wait. What? Tom took selfies of us unprompted?
We took the kids to a somewhat local playground since the weather was so nice. We sat on a blanket while they played…
Cuddles!
Daddy was home early so Katie had to cuddle.
And then we had a family cuddle (well, minus Owen because he was at school).
Owen’s second Good Character Award this year!
From his teacher’s email:
I wanted to let you know that Owen is going to receive the good character award again this week at morning program. The character trait of the month is honesty and trustworthiness and Owen is one of the most honest and trustworthy kids I know!
Little sister looking all sassy in her outfit while we wait for the program to start:
She wrote the J on her own and then I suggested she do an E—which she also did on her own but needs a tiny bit of practice—and then I helped with the N. And then she did the K all by herself—which I was very proud of because she normally messes up the top diagonal line. 🙂
Can you find Owen? He is literally a half a head taller than all the kids in his grade.
He had no idea that he was going to get the award.
The noise the kids made when Owen’s name was called was the most enthusiastic. It’s customary to repeat the recipient’s name after it’s announced, but Owen’s was the loudest of the bunch. When we told him that later he was embarrassed and said no it wasn’t. We have the video to prove it was pretty loud (below). 🙂
Pokémon break
Home again, home again.
Me and Katie waiting for Tom and Owen to bring dinner to the gate in Atlanta. We weren’t able to get seats because we only had about 25 minutes until our flight started boarding.
We opted to board during the “people who may need extra time” call so we could have time to snarf our food before most people boarded. On the way down, we boarded during that time as well just because the kids were completely unfamiliar with the boarding process and we wanted it to go smoothly. On the way home we figured it had gone smoothly enough we didn’t need it so skipped it the first leg…but then decided why not on the second leg. 🙂
Everything went smoothly, and this is us walking to meet Tom with the car.
As soon as we got home, of course this happened:
A thank you dinner for the grandparents!
We always take the grandparents out to dinner to thank them for letting us stay with them…and this time, we went to McGuires Irish Pub just down the road in Destin. We happened to be sitting right at a Pokémon gym so of course we had to take it over. 🙂
The tradition at this place is to leave a signed/decorated $1 bill stapled to the wall. They have over $1 million hanging throughout the place (see lots of great pictures from RoadTrippers). This was the wall behind us (in the natural restaurant lighting):
And the same picture with a flash:
This is the bill we did. Gramma drew the heart with the year and signer her name; Owen wrote his name on the very left, going up from the O; Katie die her KAtie on three lines; Grandpa David did his GD between Owen and Katie; Major Tom left his mark; and since no one took good ol’ George, I did that plus left our JTOK.
Gramma stapled it to the wall.
Can you see it?
Look here!
Florida tradition: Fudpucker’s
Read about the last time we were there (2015).
Later when we checked the other pictures, we saw that Owen had his Halley shirt on again! Totally unplanned!
We had to visit Owen and Tom’s names on the wall…which happened to be right about where we were seated.
Katie adding her name!
Gramma Jean 2017
A quick playground break.
It was so damn good we went back again.
I mean, what is vacation for if not for splurging? 🙂
Time with Grauntie and Gruntie
Grauntie Rose and Gruntie Jim also stay down here during the winter, so they came over for lunch. We had hoped to be able to take the kids to the pool or the beach but it was cold and rainy…so there were a few games of Katie’s new favorite: Go Fish!
May the next 20 years be just as awesome!
It’s been 20 years since the night Tom and I met…
Our dinner splurge:
Tom in beer heaven:
Another day, another trip the ocean!
Today was a beach day in the morning as it was in the 60s by 9am! Owen LOVES playing in the waves and he won’t come to shore until you call him in! Katie would rather dig in the sand than be tossed around by waves. The water is fairly cold—to the adults! (Tom came down for a bit and jumped in with Owen but then came right back out!!) Gramma made Katie into a mermaid and then made a lobster for herself!
Hide & Seek Queen
This is where Owen found Katie. He thought it was so cool he made her hide again and had Gramma come find her. Then Gramma thought it was so clever she made her hide again and had mom and dad come look for her. Of course, she gave herself away with the giggle. 🙂
Then we had her pose for us. 🙂
Boys’ Air Force Armament Afternoon Out
Tired Katie and relaxed daddy.
Watching the Lady Gaga Super Bowl half-time show.
Beach Cuddle Now & Then
Quite different from two years ago:
Our Florida adventure begins!!
Tom parked at one of the Pentagon lots near the metro (but not at the metro) so the three of us walked to the metro station while he walked over to meet us. This is walking through the Pentagon bus depot.
On the metro!
Katie: “This is fuuuun!”
Since we had two hours to kill at the airport, I dropped a Lure. 🙂
This may look like a lot of stuff, but we normally drive and take four times as much stuff! This time? We each have a carry on and personal bag.
They’re more than ready!!
First plane ride selfies!
Our route! I liked this plane—it was newer so had touch screens, movies or TV to watch (free), and multiple USB charging outlets per seat!
Owen was amazed by the outside temperature (-74°F if you can’t see it).
Owen read all the way so he could do less homework at the condo (he finished two books!). 🙂
After snacks it was time for drawing!
Then we switched planes (and kids!) in Atlanta…so I got Katie.
Gum for takeoff. She was super excited as she rarely gets gum. 🙂
Katie, looking out the window as the plane was climbing: “I can see the world.” 🙂
Tom, to Katie: I’m glad you like flying.
Katie: Totally awesome.
Birthday shopping from Toys R Us
I belong to the birthday club for the kids so when mail came with Owen’s name on it, he was excited. It was a $3 coupon and a certificate for a crown and birthday balloon. When we turned it in, he also got a plush and a book!
He knew exactly what he wanted so it didn’t take long. He looked so grown up waiting in line…
Unfortunately we were one day early for the coupon (of course!) so daddy bought it for him and he lucks out with an extra birthday present.
Getting old sucks, part 27
I picked up Katie to put her in the cart while shopping and I tweaked my back. Thankfully I could still move and walking around helped loosen it up some. Earlier this week, while away for work, Tom bent over to get something and threw his back out bad enough he had to go to the ER.
Egads.
It’s official: we’re headed to Chicago!
Well, what can I say about the military other than you just never know what’s going to happen…?!
For the past few months we’ve been thinking we’ll be headed to California. Tom’s top two job choices were there and we haven’t been on that coast yet, so we thought it was all set. It was a catch-22 for me—I know I would love the weather but it was SOOO far from family. It’s hella expensive there…but when else are we going to get the chance to test living there for three years? But I had honestly just started to wrap my head around it and get kind of excited about it…when Tom got an URGENT email from the monitor with text that included “Ignore this message at your own peril.” Yeah, that’s never good.
Turns out they need recruiters AGAIN. And he fits the four-point requirements perfectly (correct rank, summer mover, previous excellent record in recruiting, etc.). And the positions are in the Chicago area, Pennsylvania, San Diego, and Parris Island, South Carolina.
Crap.
So long story short…after calling and talking to the monitor, they had eight people and six positions to fill. Which wasn’t quite the odds we were hoping for. But good news, Tom was the first to respond so he’d likely get his top choice (and at the very least, he wouldn’t get the place he did NOT want). So…our top choice was Chicago (to be closer to family), followed by Pennsylvania and California.
Of course, it wasn’t an immediate done deal. They had to check some other things and yada yada yada they told us we would know by the end of January if he would be doing recruiting or if we’d be back to waiting to hear on our previous California options. Then I think it was only like four days until they said he was officially tapped for the recruiting in Chicago (well, technically Great Lakes Naval Station).
And they already have his web orders completed so this is serious.
So, yuck for weather…but yay for being 7 hours from Papa and Grannie and 6 hours from Gramma Jean and Grandpa David.
She loves to do this.
The birth of F-It Fridays!
Friends invited us over for dinner tonight along with four other families we’re close to (for a total of 10 adults and 13 kids). There was lots of good food, wine, and stories (and all the kids get along) and it was all so much fun that one friend suggested we do this once a month at different houses (they’re also helping me get my friend fixes in before we leave this summer). So, we all decided then and there to do every third Friday…but we needed a fun name. They were suggesting tame things like FUN FRIDAYS or FUN FRIENDS FRIDAYS but I just went straight for F%@# IT FRIDAYS and they all loved it. (It also kind of fit our mood for the upcoming inauguration.)
I do not want to leave these people. 🙁
A cuddle couch
Off to bed in a basket!
Gander Mountain Escapades
Finally! Duck Donuts!!
They were SOOOO yummy. We will be back.
