Fight for Kisses

A friend of mine had this on her site and I thought it was pretty funny. Enjoy.

Where should Rob go?

Rob meets with the all powerful Detailer on Thursday at 1pm. The Detailer decides where we will spend the next 3 years and we have little imput into the matter. For the past few years we have wanted to go to Japan and we've been told that no one wants to go there so it is a pretty sure thing. Just ask and it's ours. I'm not sure why people don't want to go there because it's basically the Asian version of Hawaii. Well, we've heard through the grapevine that all the Okinawa billets are taken and we are soooo bummed. On top of that our second choice, a ship out of San Diego, is also all filled. So, we've set up a poll to the left. Vote on where we should go! Our other choices are to be assigned a ship out of the states (either Norfolk or Portsmith, probably). The advantage of being stateside is that when Rob is deployed I can more easily go visit family and friends. The disadvantage is that we aren't being adventurous and seeing the world (which is one of the main reasons we signed up for this gig in the first place). There are also ships out of Japan, but then I am by myself with absolutly NO family around when he is deployed. Or, he could go with the Marines which means he will go to Iraq for one or more deployments. Marine base choices are Paris Island or Camp LeJune, NC or we could just stay here at Camp Pendleton. This is my last choice because I am not very happy here. I think I just miss Cleveland. Anyway, I am eager to move on. Plus, he'll be in Iraq and the idea of being a widow doesn't appeal to me. So, help us out! What do we ask the detailer for? Answer our poll to the right---------->

Our backyard

We have a playground literally in our backyard. The nicest 8-10 year old girls are there all the time. It's their hangout (better than the next playground over where there are 10 year old boys that use potty mouths). The girls are in LOVE with Isabella. Once we get out there she becomes their own personal doll. They place her in the swing, help her down the slide and play chase. Today, Noah had his bike out there and she kept wanting to go for a ride. They helped her on and she was having a blast. Sometimes their attention becomes a bit too much and she comes running for me, but generally she loves all the attention that a 3rd child lacks.

Pumpkin Patch/Pig Racin' with Miles Family

Fun With Shaving Cream

So, I don't consider myself one of those moms that does lots of "at home" projects with their kids. I take them places that do that. However, I heard this fun idea somewhere and I was desperate for an activity after being cooped up indoors all last week (due to the fires). We spread some shaving cream on the table and let the kids at it. They had a pretty good time getting messy and drawing in the goo. Off to the bathtub after that (at least they smelled like Rob afterwards.

Frustrating

As you can see I found a fun site where you can use different templates. However, as I was pasting it in it told me that something was going to be deleted if I used it. I didn't know what it was and thought it would be no big deal. After I got it pasted in place and saved I realized what I deleted was my contact list for Friends/Family blogs. So frustrating! Now I have to figure out everyone's blog address again and enter them all in again. Augh!

Helicopters

I decided that the world needed to go on and ventured out to the grocery store tonight. As I passed Lake O'Neill by our house I saw helicopters picking up water to spread on the fires. Here are some photos that I snapped (click on each photo to see more detail).

Safe and Sound

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. It is very appreciated. We are doing fine. Other than the air quality being horrible, we are in no danger. Officials almost evacuated our housing area, but decided to wait just a few extra hours and by that point the winds shifted and we weren't in danger anymore. Most of the people in our ward are evacuated, but their homes were spared. There were 500 homes destroyed in Fallbrook...many members lost homes in the 1st ward. I'm still waiting to hear more information about the members in our ward. Residents are not allowed back yet.

There is a fire aboard Camp Pendleton, but it isn't near us. It is threatening the communication system, but of course the Marines are on it working to get it under control. They actually just started a control burn fire to kill the area that the fire is heading toward so that it can get under control.

We are bored, but glad we have a home! We can't play outside because the sky is falling soot. I haven't attempted going anywhere because I'm sure traffic is a nightmare off base. They are still evacuating lots of people. Anyway, that's us.

Fire Update

We are still in our house at Camp Pendleton, but we still have our car packed up and are ready to go at a moment's notice. Our housing area is still on "possible evacuation", but I don't think we are going to have to leave. The fire is still 0% contained, but I guess the winds shifted to the east and we are southwest of Fallbrook. Only essential personnel reports to work today...apparently dental is essential personal because Rob has to go in from 12-6 today. Anyway, I'll keep you updated later.

California Fires

So, many of you have probably heard that there are some crazy fires going on in Southern California. In particular, there is a nasty fire in Fallbrook. Our church is the Fallbrook 5th ward and has been evacuated. The news just told us that Camp Pendleton is under "possible evacuation" so we are starting to prepare to go. We'll be heading up to our sister, Amy's, house in Newport Beach if that happens. Here are some pics that I took outside our house around 4pm today. I'll post more later...

Recent photos Oct 07

We've been out and about lately...and toting my camera along so I can post blogger photos. Here are some pictures from our Navy Birthday Ball this past weekend, the Camp Pendleton Mud Run (which we didn't run, but want to next year), Legoland (we have yearly passes..it's about 1/2 hour away), a fire safety day in town, and other misc stuff. Enjoy!

Chef Benjamin

They have a place here called "Ready, Set, Go" where the kids can go and play. It's funded by the Fallbrook school district and is in one of the elementary schools. Anyway, they have brand new toys...mostly developmental stuff like a dress up area, kitchen area, reading area, baby area, puppet show area, etc. They always have a craft and a letter of the day. The craft today was to make a chef's hat which was perfect because after we went there we went to preschool for a pizza making day. The kids got to smash the dough, spread the sauce and put toppings on. After that we came home and made brownies for an enrichment that night. So, we had a very "in the kitchen" day. Here is a picture of Ben enjoying licking the brownie beaters.

Computer addict

Does anyone else have a preschool computer addict? Noah started using the computer about 1 1/2 years ago....just 5-10 minutes here and there while on our lap. Somehow, lately, he's learned how to navigate his way around several sites. If I let him, he would stay on the computer for 3 hours! Ridiculous. Does anyone know the recommended guidelines for computer use for a 4 year old? He can even get to the sites he wants in my bookmarks so I have to shut down Safari (or Explorer for the PC users out there). If I just leave my email up on the computer, he'll sneak onto it and get to noggin or pbskids or whatever. I don't know how someone who doesn't even read can do this. I must admit that I am slightly computer obsessed so I understand his desire to be "online", but now I'm competing with my child over computer time. Anyone else have this same issue?

Earthquake

I knew moving to sunny Southern California meant that I would feel some earthquakes while I am here and last night I felt my first "real" one. I was lying in bed around midnight and Rob had just walked in the door from a late night dental emergency at the hospital. I felt like I was in a waterbed, or on a cruise ship and thought that I was just dizzy. Then I remembered I was in California. I quick grabbed my glasses and looked up at our ceiling fan. I could see the strings waving around and realized that everything was moving. Yeah, my first earthquake! It was kinda scary, but kinda fun. So, I was all excited to look online today and see what the magnitude was...thinking it must have been of some significance since I felt it. Nothing. I couldn't find any website noting that it had even happened. Maybe I just imagined it, but in my mind I survived my first California earthquake last night.

Mr. Roboto

I love my family. Rob cut eyes out of boxes for the kids to pretend they are robots. Then, we cranked the Mr. Roboto song and they all pretended they were robots. It was too cute. I think Rob had more fun than the kids...I always think that. He's such a great, involved Daddy. Today we met Rob for dinner at the hospital and before we even got out of the car, Issy was yelping "DA DA" because she was sooo excited to see him. He has all the energy and enthusiasm that someone who isn't with them all day long has. It's fun to see how much they love their Daddy.

Big Brother Noah

Okay, so I had to post these adorable pictures of Issy and Noah. She kept walking up to him and giving him these big hugs and he just kept thinking he was SUCH a kind big brother. So, I grabbed the camera and he hammed it up. Ever since she was born Noah has been the protector to her, mostly from Ben. She ususally wakes up from her nap before Ben does and her and Noah get some play time alone without the "middle child" bothering them.

Oh, and thanks Kathyrn for letting me look through the clothes before I give them to Jane (Rob said it was okay). I had fun picking out some new outfits and Issy is so cute in that little scarf. I'll give them back to Jane before Madeline is old enough to wear them. Noah sure misses Claire. We need to come up to Cedar City soon!

October 2007

Photobucket Album

Click on the picture to see more pictures from our trip to Utah, Noah's birthday and other misc pictures. After you get to the photobucket page, click on view as a slideshow.

5:30am

We just came back from a blissful few days in Utah where my kids were so worn out that they slept in until 8am everyday. Now that we are home and they are back with boring ol' mamma, they have been waking up at the crack of dawn. What's the deal? Today it was 5:30am. It's hard not to start out in a bad mood at that time of day. Augh! I generally throw in a Baby Einstein at that hour in the hopes that they will be quiet for just 25 more minutes. It lasted until 6:15 today.

The passing of a great man

Grandpa Driggs passed away on Wednesday, October 3, 2007. Grandpa was Rob's maternal grandfather and since I never got to meet my own grandfathers he was definitly a grandpa to me. He worked with Boy Scouts for over 50 years and I am certainly a little prouder of my calling as a Weebalos leader since his passing. We were able to drive back to Utah for the funeral and we were glad we did. It turned out to be a really awesome trip and it was so nice to see everyone. The boys had a blast playing with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents too. While it was a sad time, family was always important to Grandpa and it was nice to all gather together in remembrance of him. To read his full obituary click here:

http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=LS000095646088X

A proud day in the Kiser household...

Noah wore his first REAL bowtie. A proud day in the Kiser household. Rob helped him tie it and he was as happy as could be. He truly is his father's son.

We've moved...in cyberspace

So, I'm going to try out blogger since I'm not very happy with how easy the mac account has been for me. I LOVE macs in every way, but for some reason using the mac blog has been difficult for me. I'm hoping this will be easier and allow me to update more regularly. Stay tuned...