Welcome From Texas.

Today we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of my in-laws! I am really excited about seeing them, its been a while. They have been in our area, they have not been up here during our stay. We have some really cool things planned, The Big Squid is getting frocked while they are here. We have some great places to go eat, and it is beautiful outside during this season, and I am really hoping we all have a great time. The only thing that could possibly put a damper on all of this is..........we are all sick. Boo.

Holiday Recap....

Our Thanksgiving Holiday was Amazing! We had great food, and great friends around us. We had turkey and leftovers for 2 days after and enjoyed Thanksgiving pie while we put up our Christmas Tree! Let the Holidays Begin! WOOHOO!

On This Day.

To my family, for all you have and continue to give.
To my husband, my dream come true when I didn't know what that was.
To my kids, your unconditional love humbles me.
To the Navy, for opportunities otherwise not had.
To my friends, for your friendship and time.
To God for all the above and more.
Thanks.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday. 

Preparing for Launch.

Today is going to be a busy day, I have pies to bake, potatoes to cook, and a house to clean. I am so excited. Really I am, this is my favorite time of year, and I am feeling the season! Our Military Family Thanksgiving Feast Extraviganza has picked up steam and there are a couple more families that have been invited. We have added a game of bingo and perhaps I can initiate a stroll if it isn't raining. I am really looking forward to having all kinds of friends around us and hopfully making their family-less holiday a little less sucky.

My Pretty Poppy Knock-off Update.

I have finally finished the wreath for our house and I really love it. I'm afraid I'll have to do another next year. I have so many ideas for more. Maybe next year that will be my gift to everyone. Ill just spend Oct. and Nov. making wreaths.

Walking on Broken Glass.

Yesterday I was pouring myself some tea and I dropped the lid to my tea pot. It broke. I was not pleased at my clumsiness and The Big Squid was pretty upset seeing as how it was a gift from him and not a cheap one. He felt that it was ruined and we'd have to just get another. That made me a little sad, I had every intention to glue it back together and I think it will be all the better for it. Plus, it really isn't that bad of a break. I mean, how often do we just throw away things that mean something to us just because of a little cosmetic damage? I want my daughter to tell her daughter how it happened that the lid of grandmas tea pot is a cracked and glued mess. It has character, and I quite like it.

Tired of Being Tired

I admit that I was totally spoiled with my first born, at nine months she was sleeping through the night for 12 hours at a time. I was in heaven. I could put her down at 730, clean a bit, spend some quality time with The Big S, and still have time to read before I hit the sack. No longer is this the case and I am really starting to feel it. My youngest is closing in on a year old and last night got up every 2 hours to eat, or be comforted or whatever. Granted this many times a night is not normal, but he doesn't ever sleep throught the night. It's at least 2 times a night, and I am so very tired of it. I feel like such a heel of a mom for not wanting to co-sleep with him or even have him in the same room anymore, but not getting enough sleep really sucks. It's not easy sharing a queen sized bed with Paul Bunyan and a member of the lullaby league. The Big Squid let me know he felt the way to fix it was either go to bed when the kids do or suck it up and just let him cry. Niether one of those options are ideal for me, I have precious little "me" time as it is going to bed when I do, and seeing as that our kids share a room one always wakes up the other and then I have 2 to deal with. AAARRGGGHHH! I am so tired of being tired!!!

Back To Your Regularly Scheduled Program.

So, I have been pretty busy for the last couple of days. Specifically, running around trying to get ready for the coming holidays and to be quite honest I had begun to feel like Doogie Howser wrinting in my nightly journal reguarding my bizarre formative years. But, now we are back to our regularly scheduled program, starting with our MilSpouse Friday Fill-in. This week is, as always, brought to you by Wifey over at http://wifeofasailor.com/. Head over to check her out!

1. If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs – such as food and water – were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?................I would have to say that our nook and my sewing machine would be my must have items. I don’t think that I want to do without either.

2. If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you have?..................I'd have oil and vinegar dressing. I really love oil and vinegar dressing.

3. If you had to live on a ranch, what kind of animals would you raise/own?.............I would own and raise horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens. Just for fun I might raise some turkeys or rabbits, or maybe koi fish.

4. If your life was was portrayed as a movie, who would you choose to play you and your significant other?...............Oh Man, I know who would play The Big Squid: Ryan Reynolds for so many gorgeous reasons, but I have no idea who would play me. Probably, a chubby Janeane Garafolo or Christina Ricci.

5. What was the last thing you put a stamp on (envelope, duh, but what was in the envelope)?............................I sent my mom fabric to make pillows and such for our oldest squidlet.

Airing our dirty Laundry, Fitting the bill.

I have been experimenting with different diaper types lately, and I have to admit I have fallen in love with a couple of other diapers. I now realize how moms collect such a huge diaper stashes for one or two kids. I purchased some fitteds from my local consignment store to try out and I think they are amazing! Just as easy to use as inserts with a few differences, they are an entire diper that you snap, or velcro on, they hold in any messes really well and keep them off the cover, and they seriously reduce the smell getting on your covers so you can make them last a little while longer. I got mine for 3.20 a diaper, and with a good soak in Rockin Green they were good as new!! I have been using them on our only baby in diapers,(woohoo for potty training!) and I really love them. They are also really easy for The Big S to use which is nice. My other new fav is the all in one. I still think that fitteds/covers or inserts/covers are my favorites, but the all in ones are tops for convenience! Just putting on a diper, and then taking it off and sending it straight to the diaper pail is awesome. My only issue with those is still the need to have so many, and they aren't cheap. I'm really excited about a new product that has just come out from the awesome people at Rockin Green. It's called Funk Rock and its specifically made to combat the amonia smell that diapers often get. I ordering mine soon and I'll let everyone know how it goes!

Pretty Poppy Knock-off.

I really want to claim this as my own, but alas, I cannot. I can't even claim finding it because I didn't do that either. One of the Fort ladies found this lovely post on how to make a felt rose wreath and when I saw the progress she had made on hers I knew I had to do it. The Pretty Poppy is awesome and the wreath posted is beautiful! http://theprettypoppy1.blogspot.com/2010/07/pretty-little-rosie-wreath.html
Mine is below and I quite like it! I can't wait to make more. This particular wreath will be gracing the door of our MikeKilo! (Sans the anchor) My favorite thing about this.....total cost was a big $5!  I think that is pretty great for what I made! If you make one make sure you post it so I can see!!

Rerun, Retry, Repeat.

Last weeks TGIF was a no go due to some technical difficulties so we are at it again. See last fridays TGIF post for what it going on tonight. Hopefully it works.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in # 21

It's that time of week again guys! Thanks wifey for once again putting this all together.  Head on over to http://wifeofasailor.com/ and check it out. 



  1. Were you named after anyone?..............................Yep, my middle name was my great-grandmothers name. I also gave it to my daughter.


2. What color, if any, are your toenails usually painted?.....................Usually blue, although when I was pregnant with our youngest they were often green.

3. How do you flush a public toilet? Hands? Feet? Something else?.................I use my feet. It's kind of hilarious seeing my potty training 2yr old try it.

4. When you were a little kid, which TV character did you have a crush on?.......................The most vivid crush I can remember was watching never-ending story II and thinking Jonathan Brandis was soooo cute.

5. Let’s say you had to lose one of your five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell).  Which one would you choose? Why?..................So hard!! I'd say my sense of hearing. But, I really like all my senses so I hope I keep them all.lol.

A Toast to A Veteran.

Crystal is the goblet, clear, like the vision of our mission.
Red is the wine, dark, to remind us of those who have gone before us. Strong is the hand that holds it, yet tender, when the time is nigh. Tall is the Warrior, whatever stature they may be. We stand together brothers, comrades, and mates. We pause to respect the departed, and reflect, on the life we choose to follow. We lift these glasses high in honor, tribute and glory to all who may be called American Armed Forces Veteran


Thanks to The Goats Locker.
http://goatlocker.org/resources/nav/atoast.htm

Overwhelmed.

As I have said before I am doing a secret santa with other blogging milspouses. I have gotten my person and actually found what I consider to be a perfect gift! Hopefully they agree. Anyway, I purchased said gift and promptly paid the woman selling it. I was so jazzed to recieve the purchase when the Big Squid mentioned something about the woman emailing me about it. "Oh No! What did I forget now?" was my first thought. I was hoping that it was just to ask my address if I wrote it wrong or something, so I looked up the emails he had traded with her, and couldn't believe it. She had written about our address, to inquire whether or not it was military related. Because he is often asked about military life and all things related he simply wrote back that he was indeed active duty Navy and left it at that awaiting some sort of, "my son wants to join can I ask you some questions" reply. Instead he recieved a " I am refunding your money, thanks so much for your service to our country" reply. I was so surprised, what a nice thing to do! I quickly wrote her back thanking her, telling her the purpose and eventual home of the gift and asking for her address so that I could send her a person thank you. I got a reply yesterday,

Hi Katie,
You don't need to send me a thank you. I'm just happy I was able to do something for a military family. I come from a large military family. My dad and brother were marines. My sister and other brother were army and my husbands cousin is a pilot in the airforce. My daughter's boyfriend is at the air force academy in colorado. So my husband and I have a special place in our hearts for military men and women. Tell your husband thank you for his service and thank you too. Take care and God Bless.
Shirley

God Bless you too Shirley!

Airing our dirty Laundry, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.

I got a rather not frantic, but upset phone call recently from Momma W. Seems if you mix a manic morning and a groggy husband you get cloth diapers washed in regular detergent. After I got off the phone I couldn't help but giggle a bit. I by no means was laughing at her. I am sure in her situation I would have been equally as worried, but I was giggling at the thought of how many well intentioned cloth diapering daddies have done just that. Quite a few I imagine. So, I got to thinking that I should probably do a little more research just to make sure that I was giving her the right information and most of what I found was what I pretty much thought. If you happen to have a wonderful, well-intentioned loved one that washes your diapers in regular detergent, just make sure you don't use them on your tiny tush. Strip them, which in the case of inserts is boiling them for 30 mins. In the case of pockets or allinones do a really hot soak in your washer, and wash them with out any detergent 2 or 3 times drying in between to make sure you got rid of all the detergent. I told Momma W to finish up with a load using detergent, but I misspoke there and that is not necessary. Over all, washing your dipes once in the wrong stuff won't kill them, it's just a matter of fixing them once it's been done.

Joey.

I love that The Big Squid has such a big heart. He pretends to be a heartless douche bag(and sometimes he really is), but I know the truth, he saw a fellow squid in need and opened up our home to him. Although, I won't say the fact that a new XBox didn't come into play there. The Big Squid has this friend, let's call him MikeKilo. He is our Joey, I haven't talked about him while blogging to be respectful that he might not want to be included, but I have been informed that he might not feel that way.
Homeless upon return from deployment, MikeKilo called our couch home for a spell. He was the driving force in our oldests new SpiderMan infatuation, due to them playing his SpiderMan XBox game all the time. It was adorable how certain she was that her controller was doing all the brilliant moves she was seeing on the screen. He was at my birthday party embracing the Mustache theme by not only sporting a glorious blonde creation, but also talking in character all night. He delighted us with what is quite possibly the best sausage gravy I have ever had. From a full on Lady GaGa halloween costume to Call of Duty free for alls, trips to Cracker Barrel and Barnes&Nobles, fancy Light Saber fights and diaper laundry mishaps, Creepy "wolf" pelts and being an incredibly loud drunkard, he was something else. I won't lie, I have bitched my fair share about some of his..........single, guy behavior, but in all seriousness he is missed around our humble home. He has found a new place in the city to hang his hat and I quite feel like a proud mom whos oldest son has left the nest. Proud and somewhat relieved that he is gone, but slightly worried and missing him. I can't wait to see his new place and I do hope he comes back  for lunch, to play some Call Of Duty and make some brinner. We love you MikeKilo!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in #20

 So, here we are again, another Friday. Here are this weeks questions from Wifey at Wife of a Sailor for MilSpouse Friday Fill-in. Go on over and check it out. http://wifeofasailor.com/

A different twist on last week’s question. This week, the first question is: what’s the nicest thing a MILSPOUSE has ever done for you? (brought to you from navy_smurfette).....................The milspouses that I know have done so much for me I'm not sure where I should start. Specifically and most recently, the night of the Navy Day Ball the fine families that watched our Squidlets. Plus, Monday night when Webby and her buddy watched the Squidlets so that The Big Squid could take me out for Sushi! Thanks to everyone! You guys rock!

How often do you drive faster than the speed limit?....................Always, well, sort of. I drive 5 miles over the speed limit almost always, but I have a really hard time going over that. I may be an overcautious driver. Recently I was told that I talk much tougher than I drive.lol.

Did you have a nickname in school? If so, what was it?..................I didn't have a nickname ever. My mom tried to call me KC since those are my initials, but my dad would have none of it.  Wait, I do have a nickname. My mom and dad call me Kate, also a variation of Kate, Kate McGate. I have no idea why or what or who Kate McGate is.  I truly hate the name Kate, but somehow it doesn't bother me when they use it. It makes me think of Katherine Hepburn. I love her.

If your life was a book, what would the title be and how would it end?.............................I love this question, my book would be called, The Squid's Accomplice.lol. It would end happily, of course.

Look back (in your planner if you have one) to September 14th… what did you do that day?......................................I'm not absolutley positive, but I am pretty sure Momma of Messy Mermaid and I were out at the mall. The big fancy mall, not just the regular one. It was a Tuesday and The Big S was gone, so chances are we were out running amuck! Eating Panera Bread and looking at fancy party dresses.

This Week On TGIF: Some Kid Kicks Ass!

So, this week we are sticking with the Super Hero theme in the Squid houshold, and watching the movie "KickAss". I have never seen it, but The Big Squid thinks it's hilarious. On tap for food this week is probably some sort of take out or such. What kind of food goes with kick ass super heros? Maybe a hero sandwich.lol. We'll see, I am so in the mood for a Subway sandwich. WooHoo! Happy Friday all!

MilSpouse Secret Santa

From the creator of MilSpouse Friday Fill-in(Wifey from WifeofaSailor) , there comes, in my opionion, another great idea. MilSpouse Secret Santa, it is what is says, a Secret Santa involving any and all MilSpouse Bloggers that wish to sign up. I signed up and recieve the person I am to buy for and am really excited to be participating.  There is a 20 limit excluding shipping and some other rules. I filled out a questionaire which was cool and hopefully helpful, and got some really good ideas from the form I recieved. I am so psyched about this, and I hope that the person I am buying for gets a kick out of what I find for them. Way to go Wifey!

Heartattacks, Heartbreaks, and I Heart My Life.

Recently I got a phone call from The Big Squid while he was at work and while I love hearing from him during the day, I hate phone calls that start with...."Are you sitting down?" The reason for the call was quite a doozy if I do say so myself, the jist of it was...."I thought we would be here for 3 years, turns out we are only here for 2. We have two options, 1. Stay here until 2012, a year longer than we thought, or 2. Leave sometime in the next couple of months for what would be an overseas tour and deployments galore, and we need to figure it out sooner rather than later." Easy choice right? Wrong. I was really excited about only being here one more year, I don't hate it here, but I fear I'm a gypsy at heart. We both really want to move overseas and while he would have to deploy, we would go where we really want to go. Through literally more than an hour total of discussion it was decided that we will be residing here 2 more years. I am a smidge bummed, but it is absolutely for the best. Career, Family, and Marriage wise. I know that we'll live overseas soon enough and our sacrifice now will be rewarded in the end! For now, we will try to enjoy the places and people we have grown to love while living here just a bit longer than we thought.

SpiderMan, SpiderMan!

This is a quasi update on the "Regression" post. I am so very happy to say that my oldest squidlet has done a complete 180! She hasn't had an accident since The Big Squid got home and is in panties full time aside from over night. I can hardly believe it's the same girl from a little over a month ago! In celebration and out of necessity, we went to our friendly neighborhood Target to allow her to pick her own brand new panties. I was pretty excited and almost certain I knew what she would pick as we walked toward the panties section for wee ones, but after about 15 mins she had made her pick.............
Marvel Comic Super Hero Boys Underpants.
Specifically due to her recent infatuation with SpiderMan and IronMan both of which are included in our new variety pack along with Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine! I have to say I the coolest 2 year old girl ever! I can't take any credit though, this is all her daddy!

By The Light Of A LightSaber.

My family always dressed up and had fun for Halloween when I was growing up, but The Big Squids Family never really did. He has never been in to Halloween and for the past two years it has just been me and our oldest squidlet and me, so it didn't really matter. I dressed her up both years, but there wasn't much trick or treating to be done. This year, since it was both the boys first time with the family I was really hoping it would be fun and The Big Squid would get into it. I let The Big Squid pick out the boys costume and my mom came up with the girls so that she would match. It was so much fun! We had a blast at the pre-trick or treat party at Josie's house and then just as much, although much colder fun, out trick or treating. The kids had a great time and everyone loved the costumes. My favorite part was walking with a freezing Squid and him saying..."I am so cold, I want to go home right now! But then I see how much fun our oldest is having and remember that I missed it last year, and I have to stop at another house."