For my Grandpa

If you want to hear The Bean singing, just click on the little play button in the lower left hand corner of the video twice...to re-play, just click it once again.

This one is for my Grandpa Matt!

(Gma Rose, if these don't play for you, let me know....)

This second one starts out as BM of KY but ends up in a lament over not being able to ride the swings at the festival. This is how all of Bean's songs go- she's what I call a free-form vocalist.

The NC Seafood Festival

Yesterday we travelled to Morehead City ,NC for the NC Seafood Festival. The drive there was longer than expected but we are a well travelled family so that was no big deal, Ev has logged many, many miles in that little Neon, a few more was alright with her. The festival was alot of fun for the three of us, it could have been more "sea-foody" in our opinion but it was fun none the less. As soon as Evelyn spotted the Ferris Well, she was all about it, she asked right away if she could go on it. Her stunned parents readily agreed, I mean this is a kid that had a complete mental breakdown last year at this time when we were at Tweetsy and tried to put her on a little boat ride. I fully expected her to back down but she never did, she and I rode the FW and the whole time she was relaxed and chatty, keeping an eye on her stroller and her Papa from above. After that, the world was her oyster, she rode several of the kiddie rides, some were a definite "no" and we could never really figure out her criteria for exclusion but, she knows what she wants and we didn't push her. The cotton candy was a big hit as was all of the fresh lemonade about, she chowed on a few scallops and fries for lunch too. We left the festival in the evening and headed on home, stopping off at an Outback for dinner. During dinner Evelyn was all smiles and chatter about the day, that is until she decided to color.... then we had several minutes of silence and adult conversation as Evelyn meticulously colored on her children's menu. The drive home was thru patchy fog and a starry sky. Les had great music loaded up and picked out for the ride ( The Boss is the absolute best choice for a night time road trip - Tunnel of Love) and we talked all of the way home while our tired ,tiny muffin dozed in her car seat. Some days are just hard to beat.

Bento TV

I thought I might talk a little about a mini-obsession of Evelyn's. Bento TV. Bento is the very Japanese way of packing food for lunches, or small meals or road snacks. There is a whole line of Bento containers, side dish containers, paper liners, egg molds, rice molds- it's all very artistic and creative and Bento is usually just as appealing visually as it is taste-wise. We found this site -http://www.bentotv.com/index.html , it's run by a very nice lady named Sarah. She has a daily Bento show, it's all about packing Bento, different recipes and such, each episode is just a couple of minutes. Evelyn loves to watch Bento TV- she always has ( we have watched since nearly the beginning), she especailly loves any episode that Sarah is wearing a purple shirt. We have a Bento TV dvd, Ev plays Bento TV in her kitchen, she has her own Bento Box, she just loves it.

A few examples of Bento....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkoceres/269573203/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitsa_sakurako/1258839152/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitsa_sakurako/431406778/

We are NOT that advanced! It's something to aim for, it seems like fun.

Battle of Wounded Knee

At some point today, either when she was jumping from the coffee table to the couch, or when she was jumping from the bottom stair into the foyer OR as she was clambering around on the dining room chairs, Evelyn managed to twist her knee. I swear one minute she was fine and then the next minute she was limping, the limp was un-accompanied by any whining or crying so I realized that she must be hurt (yes, she's that perverse). A quick exam revealed nothing more than a twisted knee/muscle sort of thing but she was limping and there was a little swelling. I felt the situation called for some rest and an ace wrap. First of all, rest, right, she would sit still long enough for it to start to feel better, then she would be up and about and limping again in no time. Second of all, her leg is so tiny that the ace wrap went from thigh to ankle! Well, after the initial ice pack and then some struggle with trying to keep her down (with Billy on a close medical watch), I decided it was time for some art work. That would keep her still, busy but still.It worked!

We ended up having a great night together, just chit chatting and drawing. She was talking the whole time about Halloween, Christmas, our upcoming trip to Savannah, mosquitoes,Billy, her Baby, her Panda, Pony, Papa, the Coast Guard... she pretty much kept me in stitches. I was a bit amazed at the art work she came up with too. I will say though that the session did begin with a comprehensive organizational overhaul of the supplies, that done, she was ready to roll. Out of the gate we had your garden variety scribbling and major color blocking, then it was on to bigger and better things. She noticed that I was doodling some witches, she wanted to do that too, but was despondent over not knowing how to do it. I broke it down for her in simple shapes and terms, she watched intently and then she was off. She drew several witches tonight and they were all cute and original. We had a witch with crazy eyes, a witch wearing gloves (in case it gets cold) and even a witch with a belly button. There were also some self portraits and some me and Les. This is all amazing to me because as hard as I have tried, I thought that she would never get interested in drawing.

I was sorry to see bedtime come tonight. There was one final ice pack, motrin and then off to bed for her. I realized at one point tonight that all of the sudden we are back on track, and have been for a couple of days. I love nights/days like today but you know? I have found that the tough times are okay too. It all adds up to being family and being a Mom and having a smart, sassy toddler.

Decisions,Decisions....

Well, we just got word today. The CG detailer list is out for 2008 and we are indeed slated to move. This is always such an interesting time in the military lifestyle, the anxiety, the excitement, the relief, the dread. To make things even more interesting, Les is on the list to make Chief and that will probably happen next year, so that will mean another move when he advances. So , yes , we are going thru this just to do it again in a year! sigh. The thing is that coming out of a stateside, station billet, our priority is low and we have NO idea how we will be placed. We get to submit our dreamsheet but as to how the nameless, faceless, CG Detailer will sort us all out is any body's guess. another sigh. I know how we are gong to flesh out our list, what will be first in our eyes but only time will tell if we will get anything that we put on the list. We try to remain optimistic, open minded and ready for anything- this will get exhausting over the next few weeks. To add to the tension we also know that our families would really like for us to get close to home for awhile, there is alot going on , on the Ohio home front with both families and being close would mean that we could lend a hand , also Ev is at an age that being close to family is really important., AND I am tired of being so far away from my friends and family.
We are going to list the open Ohio billets first, then NY , then MI and then IL. So let me add this disclaimer to potentially murderous Grandmothers and the like, " IF we end up in California or Alaska or some other far off state, we did not pick it, we are not happy and there is nothing that we can do about it. Just remember that this move is only for a year and try not to hate the Coastie for it, as he is a good egg and Evelyn is quite fond of him"

New and Improved Nap Time

Evelyn is in that strange phase between needing a nap every day and growing out of naps( woe be unto the Mama). We have just decided to allow for some quiet time around nap time and she can either play quietly or help herself to a nap. One thing that Les started and I really like, is that she is allowed to pick her nap location, she can choose her bed, one of the couches, any of the guest beds or even our bed, so far she has chosen a different place all week and she usually takes a nap instead of playing. I took this picture the day before yesterday, she was laying in what she calls The Grandparents Room and she was just about asleep. I love to catch her in these quiet moods as she is usually go, go , go until she is asleep.

A Day at the Aquarium

Evelyn has been wanting to go to the aquarium since we let her watch an ocean episode of Planet Earth. Today we took her up to the small NC state aquarium in Manteo. She had alot of fun and was as ever, enthralled by the reptiles and snakes. I was hoping that she would be all into the otters this visit but, no, she dashed off to see the alligators and then back for a second look at the snakes. The big shark tank was a bit freaky for her but she was interested. She had to see us touch the glass at each tank though, just to verify that the fish would not be coming out after her. She did put her hand in the stingray tank , though she did not touch any. She was full of questions and dashing about , ahead of us to see what was next and then back to tell us what it was and to encourage us to hurry up. She kept doing alot of talking about our trip to the St Louis Zoo , which was last Thanksgiving and she was remembering things that I forgot. She kept asking if Chris and Faith J. were going to be at the aquarium and was disappointed that they were not. ( The J family are our good friends that we met in Alaska and now they live in St Louis -far far away). It was a great day and we are all tired out and ready for bed....