Austin's 2nd Birthday

For Austins 2nd birthday we just had a small family celebration. Pasta, Presents and Cake. Once again I forgot to buy birthday wrapping paper and new tape so Anthony had to use Christmas paper and double sided tape. Austin was funny to watch unwrap presents;he removed one strip of paper at a time.

Grandma and Papa gave Austin a "Color me a Song" which he loved so much he was not interested in the other presents anymore. We actually had to carry him crying into the living room for his last present -a Big Wheel(he stopped crying immediately).




I wanted to use red and blue on Austins cake, Anthony insisted on just the red with white icing so it was Alabama colors (Go figure) but of course red icing is hard to make and I say that it is more pink than red. (Should have listened to me and just used the blue)

Christmas Parade

Carintha and the kids when to this years Christmas parade while I stayed at the house to make dinner and wrap Austin's birthday presents. They took hot cocoa and cookies, but Kaitlyn said it was shorter than last year. This was the first year Morgan got to watch the parade because she normally has to be in it. She decided not to do Girl Scouts this year, so she didn't get to be in the parade.

It snowed again...

Well, it's that time again. It snowed last night, and Kaitlyn and Morgan were both up early this morning to go play in it. I didn't let then go out right away though. I made them eat breakfast first.


Austin kept eating the snow, but I think he'll be okay.


Kaitlyn and Austin came in and had hot cocoa, but Morgan stayed out for a while and made a "snowgirl". I didn't think there was enough snow on the ground to make one, but she got some off the trucks and was able to make a small one.

Morgan got straight "A's"

Tonight, Morgan had her award ceremony, for getting the Principal's award, for getting straight "A's" in the first trimester of the year. When she first looked at her report card, she didn't thing she made it because it had some "S's" on it, for PE and behavior. I had to mess with her a little and make her think she didn't make straight "A's" because she had some "S's", but Carintha quickly explained what they meant.

Austin is a handful!

A couple of days ago, while Kaitlyn was taking a bath, Austin kept getting into the bathroom so he could play in the water. Carintha locked the bathroom door so he couldn't get in. After Kaitlyn was finished taking a bath, Carintha got her out and took her to her room to get dressed. The she heard a big SPLASH! When she went to see what it was......this is what she found.

Finally got my orders!

I got my orders a couple of days ago. I'm going to the USS Annapolis. It's out of Groton, so I'm not going to have to move. They are going out for 6 months next year though. At least I get it out of the way though. I know the Chief there and he is a really good guy, so I'm not that worried about it. And if I extend for a year onboard, I'll take it to the yards. Not sure about that one. I'll just worry about the next three years and see how it goes.

Halloween

This year I tried a different way of carving my pumpkin. I googled pumpkin carving and found a website with a bunch of different faces. I printed this one out and copied it. I didn't turn out too bad.





The girls made their pumpkins while Austin watched Charlie Brown. He kept putting all the seeds bad in the pumpkins, so he got destracted by cartoons while we finished. (From left to right) Morgan made a clown, then mine, then Kaitlyn's vampire girl, and then Carintha's dog with a pumpkin.

Austin couldn't stay still long enough to get pictures taken, so there aren't that many of him. Misty and her kids came over to go trick-or-treating. The neighborhood always does a pretty good job. It was supposed to rain, but it only sprinkled a little.

House Work

Winter Already?!?!

If this is what happens when everybody starts cutting down on their carbon-footprint, I'm going to go back to driving my Blazer everyday. It started snowing on my way home from work yesterday. I guess it wasn't really that much snow....but it's Oct. The leaves haven't even really started to fall yet. I think I might actually buy a snow blower this year if this is any sign of how the winter is going to be.



After the kids came in from playing in the snow, and warmed up a little, they started getting their Halloween stuff out. They painted ghosts....on a stick.

I'm going on a boat......maybe.

Just talked to the detailer today, (Friday), and I might be going on a boat.....in Nov. That was my transfer date, but wasn't sure if I was going to have to push it out a couple of months because of my rehab for my leg. I start physical therapy on Oct 7th for six weeks. That will take me out to the end of Nov. If I'm okay by then, I should technically be able to transfer. The good news is that the boat is in Groton. That's what I wanted. We wouldn't have to move, so that is a huge plus. The down side is that it is probably leaving around Nov or Dec for a six month deployment. I haven't confirmed that yet, but I looked up when they got back from their last one, and the rotation is about right. I haven't been on a boat in over 5 years, so everything is different. Oh well. At least it's a 688 and not a Virginia. Then I really wouldn't have a clue!