Keeping up with our Navy Family

November already??

2009-11-08T20:17:00.002-05:00

Gosh, time is moving way to fast!! I have been really bad about keeping up with this blog.

Some updates...

*Meghan is doing great...she turned 6 in September and is doing very well in first grade. She loves her teacher:) She is still taking ballet and tap classes and she is a Daisy scout:) She is loving Sunday school as well.

*Tyler is 2 1/2. He is finally starting to talk more and he is quite a character:) He still goes to Gymboree for play and music classes and has alot of fun there. His hair is starting to really grow as well...he is getting super curly hair (finally a gene/trait from mommy!)

*Mark is doing well. He has been busy with inspections on the ship. Keeping busy and loving the job. Still on track to deploy early spring of next year.

* I am doing well too. Keeping super busy with the kids getting them here and there. I recently went to a scrapbook retreat and it was great. I got so many pages completed. I won a great raffle prize too:) Looking forward to another retreat in February!

*Bailey & Brandy (doggies) are doing well. They just turned 1 just before Halloween. We got them some dog cupcakes at the local dog bakery to celebrate their Birthday:)

That is about all for now...

I'm Back....been a busy summer

2009-08-04T14:07:00.004-04:00

Its been a busy summer so far.

Just after school got out in June, me and the kids went up for a visit to Massachusetts to to visit family and friends. We were there about 2 weeks. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible. From what I have heard, the whole summer has been pretty much a washout. Mark was out to sea during that time so it was me, the kids and 2 puppies on the road trip:) While up in MA we went to Storyland in Glen, NH. We all had a great time up in the White Mountains area of NH. We spent a day in Storyland and the next day we took a train ride in North Conway.

Mark got home in time for the 4th of July. At the last minute, we decided to drive to Virginia Beach and see the fireworks. Well, it was a good thought, but not on parking spot to be found! So we moved on to the Dam Neck base, just south of VA Beach and got some Dairy Queen Blizzards and sat on the beach at the base. There were alot of other folks there too. The kids had fun sitting on the beach at night, having ice cream and seeing fireworks.

The next weekend we rented a cottage at Cape Henry over on the Ft. Story base. We got a really nice cottage with a beautiful view of the Chesapeake Bay. Although Cape Henry is only 45 minutes away, it was a great mini-vacation:)

Mark's parents came to visit third week in July. The weather was very pleasant and we had a great visit. They helped me with some projects around the house and had fun with the kids. Of course we went to Chuck E. Cheese one day for games and pizza too.

Now we are in the beginning of August...starting to do some school shopping and working on some of the schoolwork that Meghan's teacher sent home to practice with. Its good to keep things fresh in their minds. I signed Meghan up for Day Camp over at My Gym in Chesapeake. Its only 3 mornings a week from 9-12 but so far she really likes it.

This weekend we are heading up to Williamsburg to get some school shopping done at the outlets...is Virginia's tax free holiday this weekend so we are taking advantage of the sales.

That is about all I can think of...here are some pics from the summer so far.

Busy weekend here

2009-06-07T21:16:00.002-04:00

We had nothing planned this weekend, but there were lots of little projects around the house that finally got finished.

Yesterday we ran to Lowe's for a few things. My towel rack completely fell apart into pieces the other day so we picked up some new towel racks for the master bathroom. We got some a/c filters since its been about 3 months since the last change out. I was pleased at the check out that Lowe's offeres a 10% military discount:) On the way home, we got some chinese food.

Today was busy. I got the towel racks installed and I ran to Walmart just up the road to get the much needed mulch for the front yard. 10 bags later, the garden beds look awesome. I have been putting off this task for a while but I am thrilled its done.

Mark kept busy, washing the cars, keeping the kids busy. When Tyler was napping he took Meghan for a bike ride.

The kids were really clingy today...it always happens just before Mark leaves to go to sea. This time its just a few weeks so it won't be too bad.

This week is the last week of school....all kinds of activities this week for the kids.

:)

Geez, its been almost 6 months since my last post!

2009-06-07T21:15:00.000-04:00

Yikes, I need to get cracking on this again.;)

Looks like we are getting some snow!!

2009-01-19T21:44:00.002-05:00

Some of you know that I grew up in New England. Lots of snow in the winter...but you always got used to it. After I married Mark we moved alot. We started off in Newport, RI. We did get quite a bit of snow there. Then when we moved to Virginia we got snow maybe two times in the 2 1/2 years we lived there. When we were in Japan, we got dustings. FINALLY when we moved to Woodbridge, VA (Northern VA) when Mark was stationed in Quantico VA we got TONS of snow and Meghan absolutely loved it. We are back in the Hampton Roads area of VA (aka Southern VA) and well, we have seen a few flurries...that is it.

Well, it looks like we are going to get some snow tomorrow. Somewhere between 2-6 inches...perfect play snow! Tyler has only seen light snowflakes and Meghan is very excited to finally play in the snow again. I am going to have to bundle the kids up...I never bothered getting them boots or snowpants since we never get snow;) Oh well, I honestly don't think it will bother them at all!

We'll see what tomorrow will bring!!

A new look!

2009-01-19T21:42:00.002-05:00

I was reading another blog today (Becki's :)) and I saw a little advertisement for free backgrounds. After looking at a good amount of them, I settled on this one.

:)

Back to school, back to work...

2009-01-10T08:20:00.002-05:00

This week Meghan went back to school and Mark had to go to a school for a week in Virginia Beach. So it was me, Tyler and the puppies during the day.

Meghan was SO excited to go back to school and see her teacher and friends. 2 weeks off from school is a long time even though we had family in a good part of that time. Meghan is a routine kid...and she was so excited to get back to her classroom!

She had a really good week...and she was happy to get a prize out of the "treasure chest" on Friday. Her teacher has a behavior reward system using the "treasure chest". If you get all "green" days (instead of yellow or red...apparentlly yellow and red is for bad behavior) you get a prize. She got a set of colored pencils this week. Honestly I only expect green days from Meg, and I think she has had all green days since she started school...yeah! She also has perfect attendance too!

Mark had to go to a school at the Dam Neck base in Virgina Beach. The base is nice...we usually go to the beach there in the summer. The only downer was that every night there was some traffic issue that it was taking him 90+ minutes to get home. I think it was 38 miles each way. That class is now complete....next week he has some conferences to attend and February 1st he reports to his new ship.

Tyler started up with his Gymboree play class this week. He loves it there. Meghan went from 18months to 4 years old. Tyler loves the kids and loves to run and climb and play under the parachute:)

The puppies are doing well. We are still working on the housebreaking...but we only get 1 accident or so every few days so I think they are doing really well. They are starting to get big! I will snap some pics this weekend and post. They are both very lovable little girls that do very well with the kids. The pups go for a check up on Monday.

Thats about all from here...dancing school this morning and a trip to Home Depot, exciting day...lol!

Thinking of a new name for this blog....

2009-01-10T08:18:00.002-05:00

I am thinking of changing the name of this blog...I want to think of something catchy and the current one is not cutting it.

Any Suggestions?

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T05:10:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! 2009...let's hope its a good year for everyone!

I barely made it to see the ball drop last night. The past few years, I am usually so tired on NYE that I usually go to bed before the ball drop. However this year, I managed to fall asleep in the recliner and wake up at 11:30..lol.

:)

Not doing so well at blogging...and an update

2008-12-22T08:51:00.003-05:00

I just realized that it has been over a month since I posted. I have to try to keep up with this.

Its been crazy busy here! The Christmas is a few days away and the kids are very excited to see what Santa got them. I am still working on wrapping presents and trying to stay organized! My Inlaws just came in from Florida...I feel bad for them, its so dang cold here. They are used to such warm weather in South Florida! It should be a good week. On Friday my brother and his wife are coming in for a few days. My In-laws leave on Saturday and my parents are flying in on Saturday afternoon! Its very busy here in the Grob house;)

On top of that...we recently adopted two new puppies. We adopted them from the Suffolk Animal Shelter. We have 2 beagle/dauchsaund/god knows what else mixes. They are sisters from the same litter and they are now 9 weeks old. Our house was just so sad with the passing of Daisy and it was just too quiet and sad without her. We wanted to wait until after the holidays, but I was in touch with a foster mom that was taking care of the pups. Needless to say after a few pictures, we knew we wanted one. We got to the shelter last week to see them (We got there 1/2 hour before the shelter opened...purely my OCD kicking in...hhah!) We got to play with the pups and the long and short of it was...we took the two sisters. Brandy and Bailey. They are doing very well and they recently got a clean bill of health with the vet.:)

Well, have a Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope to post again this week, but with all the company and controlled chaos, I am not sure I will.;)

Friday happenings....

2008-11-21T10:23:00.004-05:00

It was very exciting here to wake up to snow flurries! Being a New England gal with growing up with snow...it was great to see. I am sure New Englanders now would think I am crazy for welcoming snow. My morning started with Meghan charging into my room yelling "mommy its snowing!!". Unfortunately, it changed over to rain because it got too warm.

Hampton Roads area of VA (Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach) rarely get snow.

When we lived in Woodbridge, VA (up near DC) we got tons of it and Meggie had a blast playing in it!

Maybe we'll get another chance soon:)

Locks and trees....

2008-11-17T20:05:00.003-05:00

Today was all over the place. Mark is away in Dhalgren VA and will be home Friday night. So a typical Monday is hectic around here.

Meghan got off to school no problem. I had our babysitter Megan come over to watch Tyler so I could get some errands done. That went smoothly too. I got a great deal on an artificial christmas tree at Garden Ridge. It was a $299 tree that I got for $99. Its a pre lit one that is 7 1/2 ft tall and I think there are 800 lights on it.

I walked up to the school to get Meghan and when we got back, took Tyler out of the stroller and put the stroller in the car. Shut the car and rummaged for my keys.....yea, the keys that were still in the baby stroller. The car was locked. So I panicked for a brief moment. Called my girlfriend (she has a key to my house) but of course her cell phone was off and I did not have her husbands new cell number. So I called a locksmith....I waited 90 minutes for this guy to get here. He got the car open but charged me $80....ridiculous. But I got the keys. What ever I saved on the Christmas tree went right into the pocket of the lock smith. Meghan had a dentist appt that I had to cancel because we were still waiting for the locksmith. The dentist office was wonderful and rescheduled it for next week.

I really hope tomorrow is better....I still can't believe I did that!!

Goodbye, my friend.....

2008-11-17T19:30:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted in a while...had some sad happenings going on here. I feel like I posted it everywhere (facebook, storknet, and now here). I guess I am thinking if I get it typed out, then it won't hurt so much.

Thursday, November 13th...my dog Daisy had to be put to sleep. In a short period of time she went from peppy and happy to lethargic and in liver failure. I am still shaking my head on how fast this transpired. Daisy was being treated for ear infection and an urinary tract infection. When her urine was tested it showed high levels (3x the normal amount) of sugar. We thought we were looking at diabetes. The vet decided to look at her liver enzymes too...that test came back high. He was really perplexed to what was causing her enzymes to go up because we carefully monitor her medications. A few days later, Daisy stopped eating. HUGE red flag. This pup loved to eat...I tried chicken, roast beef and turkey, but she was not interested. On the 3rd day, I called the vet and we brought her in. I left her for the morning so he could re-run the blood work. I got a call that afternoon and that is when I got the bad news. Her sugar levels were in the 400's and her enzymes were very very high. Daisy was in complete liver failure. Unfortunately there was nothing more we could do for her.

We decided to put Daisy to sleep...it was the humane thing to do. She was suffering and deteriorating quickly. We picked up Meghan at school and had to explain to her that Daisy was going to become an angel. Meghan kinda understood, but then got upset. We all went to the vet to say goodbye. They brought her in and she jumped up and gave me kisses and then collapsed in my arms. She was so weak. We spent an hour or so with her to say our goodbyes. Mark did not want to see her put to sleep so he took the kids to the large waiting room. I stayed with her and the vet. It was quick and peaceful. I had been crying all day...but I really lost it when he checked her heartbeat and could not find one...she was gone.

Daisy was my wonderful companion. She was also our "practice baby" we got her before we had kids. She kept me company when Mark was at sea and she was absolutely wonderful with the kids. The house is very quiet without here here.

I picked up her ashes today...we had her cremated. She was in a little tin with daisies all over it. So fitting. They also had her paw imprinted in clay with her name on it. Its such a nice memory that I have of her.

So Daisy, this post is for you. You will always be in our hears forever. We miss you so much.

Halloween '08

2008-11-02T09:08:00.002-05:00

It was another fun year for Halloween! Unfortunatly, Mark was away in RI and missed it:(

My friend Sharon came over for a quick pizza supper and then she came TOT-ing with us.

This year it seemed like less people were giving out candy....maybe its the economy, who knows. Meghan had the routine down pat..."Tick or Treat"..."Thank-you". Tyler was happy as a lark in the stroller. I am sure next year he will get it.

Well, here they are!

Japan pics

2008-10-30T12:16:00.003-04:00

We lived in Japan for a little over a year back in 2004-2005. Mark got stationed in Yokosuka Japan. It was an interesting tour...unfortunately he was not home much.

I wanted to post a few pics (for you Alexis!..lol) to give you an idea on how beautiful it is especially during cherry blossom season:)

Oh Tyler....

2008-10-29T13:15:00.002-04:00

Seriously, it takes this little guy about 2 seconds to wreck a room.

Enough said.

$198 ear infection

2008-10-29T09:27:00.003-04:00

Daisy, my dog got her 2nd ear infection in the 6 1/2 years she has been alive. I just so happened to notice it when she was sitting on my lap one night. She never itched or rubbed her read (the usual signs of something going on in the ears) So I made an appointment at her vet and took her in. He doctor is wonderful. For some reason Daisy has made quite an impression on him. I am sure he has read her file inside and out.

When we got Daisy almost 7 years ago, Mark and I were married about 2 years. We did not have kids then. Mark was going on deployment and he thought a dog would be a great companion for me while he was gone for the 6 months. Well, we did a big no-no...we went to the local pet store. I know..I know...petstores help puppy mills stay in business...trust me, we now know never to get a pet at a pet store again. We fell in love with Daisy, she is a Maltese. She was a pound and a half when we got her. Cute little fur ball:). THree days after we got her, she was back at the vet because she was not herself. This was a different vet from what we have now. She dismissed anything was wrong. That night Mark and I had to take Daisy to the emergency vet. Doctors told me she was very sick (respiratory issues and low blood sugar). So Daisy had to be monitored for a week there...to a tune of a $1000. We called the petstore demanding compensation and all they told us was go to their vet and they will cover the cost. Luckily we saw a different dr than the one that dismissed earlier. He ended up keeping Daisy at his clinic and at home for 6 weeks while she recovered. She made a full recovery...tough start for a pup!

Right around the time she turned 1, she started having seizures. There is no cause the drs can find to why she has them. Idiopathic is the term It was very scary. She was starting to have them way too much...her worst was right after Meghan was born. She was having multiple seizures in a day. Our vet at the time decided to start medicating her. Phenobarbital. Yep, the same that humans take. She did great...she only had maybe 1 seizure a month. A few dosage adjustments had to be made, but then she hit a plateau with her meds. We decided to add a new med to her regime..KBr (Potassium Bromide). This combo has done wonders. Daisy maybe has 4 seizures a year at most.

Back to the ear infection....the Vet looked at her ears and her ear canal was completely shut. SO the vet techs had to go out back and clean out her ears. So the ear cleaning, the lab test to see if the EI was bacterial or not, the vet visit, ear cleaner, 2 medications...the bill was $198. I am glad to report she is feeling much better...:)

Storytelling....

2008-10-29T08:17:00.002-04:00

So now that Meghan is in Kindergarten all day, when she sees me at pick up (3:15pm) she shares her whole day with me;)

So today she was going on and on that she "kinda" threw up, then in another sentence she said she was sent to the office, and a few minutes later she told me she she spilled her drink at lunch and cried. OK, its quite a day with some drama, but I went ahead and emailed her teacher to see if any of this was true. As I mentioned before her teacher is a sweetheart and has a great sense of humor. Well, her response was "if all that happened, its complete news to me". OMG, I feel like an idiot. This lady must think I am a nut!

The email went on to say that Meghan was upset today because her friend Peyton was moving away. Yesterday was her last day. They sat together in the classroom and at lunch and played together with the other kids too. Meg was so sad her friend was leaving. I talked to her about it and explained that as a Navy family there is always the chance of moving away. She immediately thought we were moving and cried. After settling her down, I assured her that were were not moving right now...at least for not another 2 years.

Finally after a LONG 6 1/2 months.....

2008-10-28T22:29:00.000-04:00

MARK IS HOME:) Mark came home a few weeks ago from deployment. This was one of the most stressful deployments we have endured. Let me begin...

Mark left in April on his ship. The ship was changing Homeports from Norfolk, VA to Yokosuka Japan. They had some nice port visits...Rio de Janiero and Chile to name a few. After they left Chile...something very wrong happened. Fire broke out. Not good when you are in the middle of the ocean! Back here in the USA, my parents were visitng and I was out getting an errand done. I had no idea what was going on. When I got home, there was a message on the voice mail. It was our friend Dave...he is retired from the Navy, but works for the Navy and has all the clearances. He sounded very anxious to talk to me and asked me if I knew about the fire on board. UM.....NO?!?!? I totally started freaking out....thinking of all the worse case scenarios....the fact is, Mark was on an Aircraft Carrrier--its big and holds lots of jet fuel. Thank goodness my parents were here...they kept me focused. Later that night I got a call from another spouse that Mark worked with her husband. She told me that she got a text message from her husband and he was ok, and he told her to call me to let me know Mark was ok. It was wonderful news....but I just wanted to hear it from Mark that he was ok...KWIM? Then my phone started ringing...it was a text from Mark. All communications were shut down...but some had some internet connections. Mark's friend went to the T-Mobile website and sent a text message via the website....pretty resourceful, huh?

Mark spent over 2 months in San Diego while the ship was being repaired...and the investigations started. It was very stressful for the whole crew. The CO & the Xo were fired and there were rumors that more people were going to get fired. Mark came home once for a few days. I had wanted to go visit him in San Diego, but the air fare was insane and so was the hotel rates. It was an OK visit, but he was beyond stressed out. He told me some stuff about the fire. Its all public knowledge now, but at the time I was sworn to secrecy since there was an ongoing investigation. If you could believe it...it looks like smoking was the start of the snowball that rolled down the hill. There was some illegal smoking and somehow it connected with lube oil and that started the fire. He told me that there were sailors that were trapped for a few hours....THANK GOODNESS they were saved. No one was killed, but a few were hurt fighting the fire. Mark returned to the ship after his short visit. The ship finished the repairs and then ventured off to Japan. There were a few more folks that got fired...but Mark was fine and finished his tour.

It may sound strange, but up until now, I never thought of the ship catching fire. But I have such an imagination...that I am constantly (even now) thinking of all the what ifs and what if he was killed. Scares the crap out of me.

He was home for 2 1/2 weeks on much needed leave. It was a wonderful leave period. The kids were just all over him. :) We did not go anywhere, just hung out at home....just doing day to day stuff (taking Meg to school, errands, taking Tyler to Gymboree).

Mark now has started his courses for his next job. He is up in Newport, RI until next week. I would have loved to go back up there...we lived there when we were first married. Its a great little town...and only an hour away from my family!

First Day of Kindergarten

2008-10-28T16:16:00.000-04:00

Meghan started Kindergarten this year. Here in our city, Kindy is all day. We walk up at 8:40am and then I pick her up at 3:15! She loves it though. Her teacher is WONDERFUL. She is a veteran teacher and I am still in awe what the kids are doing in class. Its amazing. Meg's school is very warm and caring. The staff is awesome!

I have conferences in a few weeks so I am looking forward to sitting down with the teacher:)

Every September I get the "itch" to go back into teaching again. My first class I taught is in College...getting ready to graduate! When Tyler is of school age, I will really think about going back to the classroom.

Meghan turns 5!

2008-10-28T13:14:00.000-04:00

So I realized that I have not posted anything since August. *sigh*

In September Meghan turned 5:) She was so excited for her birthday. On her actual day she got to bring in some cupcakes for special snack. It was very exciting. Her teacher is really funny. There is a rule about only healthy snacks being brought in for parties, etc. I understand the rule fully, but its a birthday. I talked to her teacher and she was cool about bringing in the cupcakes. I called Farm Fresh (supermarket) and spoke to our buddy "Patrick" in the bakery. Let me digress for a bit...Patrick has taken so many of our orders for birthday cakes, christening cakes, etc that he always comes over to say hello if he sees us in the store. He is always getting the kids a cookie as we pass by the bakery. ANYWAYS, we ordered "rainbow" colored cupcakes. They came out great. Meghan's teacher told me to put the box in Tyler's stroller so the "sugar police" would not stop us;) She then hid them in her supply closet. Anyways, the kids fully enjoyed their "contraband" cupcakes!

Meghan had a birthday party here at the house that next weekend. There were no kids from her class since her birthday was the first week of school and she really did not know them. We had some neighbors, friends, Navy family friends and friends from Gymboree days, and friends from preschool. There were about 12 kids total with moms and dads. Of course it was a Barbie princess party! We had pizza for dinner, had some arts and crafts, played games, played in the yard and had the pinata. We had some tired little people leaving at the end of the party. Meghan melted my heart at the end of the night....she said "mommy thank you for the great party...you make good parties;)"

I still can't believe that my daughter is 5. I clearly remember the day she entered the world--3 weeks early! I went to the hospital that morning because I was having a reaction Amoxicillin and felt like crap. Mark had duty...I called him and told him that I was heading to the Naval Hospital. I got there first...the doctors confirmed that I was having a bad allergic reaction. Since I was there, they checked me because apparently the fetal monitor that I was hooked up to was showing I was having some good contractions. Well, they checked....and I was in Labor. I was 4 cm dilated and they told me that I was going to have Meghan that day! I was crying (happy...yet scared!). Mark walked in and saw me crying and thought something was wrong--I told him Meghan was going to be born that day. Meghan was born at 8:18pm that night. :)

Just got back from Boston...

2008-08-28T14:14:00.001-04:00

Me and the kids took a trip up to Boston last week. I grew up in the 'burbs' and we went up there to visit my parents and see some friends and family.

I did the drive in 2 days...300 miles each day. It made it very easy. Once we got there the kids were so excited to see Gaga and Papa. We kept very busy playing in the yard watching the fire trucks go out for a call (my folks live down the street from a fire house).

During the week I got to see 2 of my closest girlfriends. We have known eachother since 6th grade. Melissa just had her first baby not too long ago and we had a wonderful visit with her. Then I met up with Ellen and had a nice (child free;)) dinner with her at Bertucci's. YUM! It was wonderful catching up with them. Even though we don't see one another alot, we just chat and chat and chat as if we live down the street from each other.

I also got to get some Me time. My parents were wonderful on babysitting for me. My babysitter here in VA goes home for the summer so it was hard without one. I made a few appointments at the local day spa and got a pedicure and a facial. It was heavenly. Hec, I deserve it...Mark has been gone on deployment since April!

We took a trip to the outlets and got some school shopping for Meghan. She is starting Kindergarten just after Labor Day. She had a lot of fun picking out her new clothes.

We also had a nice lunch with my Grandma. She lives on Cape Cod. We met her at the Friendly's by the Sagamore Bridge and had a very relaxing lunch....although Tyler puked all over the place;) He recovered once he was cleaned up...lol.

On the last day we took the Commuter Rail into Boston to have lunch with my mom. Meg was very important eating lunch in the Board Room. After lunch we took a walk to the Boston Public Gardens and we went on the Swan Boats. We also took pictures at the Make Way for Ducklings bronze statues that was in the Public Gardens. We stopped at a farmers market and then took the train home.

The drive home to VA wasn't too bad. We spent the night at Mike and Robyn's house. It was great to see them and they were amazed at how big the kids got. We went to a park in their neighborhood and played around for a while. Tyler was a bit of a cranky, but I think the whole trip was catching up to him. Mike and Robyn had a picture of our family from their wedding professionally framed for me. It was beautiful. I know exactly where its going on my wall, but I have to move another picture on the wall.

Getting started....

2008-08-28T09:17:00.000-04:00

I've had this blog for a bit, but I realized I never posted;)

So I need to think of a starting point.