Port Call!

We've known for a few months that the boys were going to make a port call during this underway. I'd been begging my husband the whole time to let me drive down....he said it wasn't worth it since he wouldn't be getting off the boat.

Fast-forward to the day they pull in. He calls at 3 and says he is being forced to get off the boat for a few days but still doesn't want us to drive down since it's so far and it would only be for 2 1/2 days. I was bummed but I understood. L and I went home and ate dinner and were getting ready for bed when a strange number came up on my phone(at 9 PM). I answered and it was a sailor from the boat "I have a message from your husband(who was standing watch and couldn't call), he's requesting your presence in Annapolis tomorrow morning." I got a few more details and told L to start packing. At 10 PM we were on the road(after calling and booking a room to make sure I knew where we were going).

The drive went great! I've never driven that far by myself! L slept almost the whole time just waking up to tell me he loved me and fall back asleep. We didn't stop at all until we got to the hotel and we made great time!

J showed up to the room at about 11(which was nice since we didn't get in till just after 4 AM) and we headed out with two other couples that were there. We headed to downtown Baltimore where we ate lunch and went to the Aquarium!

Baltimore. It was such a neat city. I always love going to new places!

The bottom right picture is L sleeping with his elephant. That 2ft guy goes EVERYWHERE with us. To the left is the boys in front of the Aquarium, the next is L running to the Aquarium and the one above that is the Hard Rock Baltimore!

The big picture is a piece of the Twin Towers. Its a memorial for all the people from Maryland who's lives were taken on 9/11.

Baltimore Aquarium. This was the most amazing aquarium I've ever been to(it was kinda like a mini zoo!)! While they didn't have a lot of the big animals(like penguins, seals, otters and such) they had more than most do of other things! They had a ton of fish(all different kinds and sizes in TONS of tanks!), Dolphins, monkeys, a sloth, alligators, bats, turtles, sharks and Jelly's! They had hundreds if not thousands of Jelly fish! It was so amazing!  L's favorite was Bob the fish(we named him) He was almost as big as him!

Washington DC. We've always said we were going to go to Washington DC while we lived over here, but we said we were going to wait till L was 7 so he could do everything with us since we don't like leaving him behind.....he turns 7 in 4 months so I think this counts! Since we were so close(only about 30 min) we decided to head down the next day!

We spent the day in DC walking around(we walked 7 miles and never once got a cab!). We went with a list of things we wanted to see. The Smithsonian, the Holocaust Museum, Washington Monument, Big Abe and the White house. And we did it all! AND we even went and ate at the Hard Rock to get L a shirt for his collection!

The Smithsonian Museum was amazing! We spent about 2 hours in there and while we saw everything we didn't stop and look at everything. My favorites(in the top left of the pictures)....were Julia Child's kitchen, the original Muppet's and the ruby red slippers! J liked everything about all of the wars and L LOVED the trains! The big pictures on the right were us before going in at the start of our day!

The Holocaust museum was nothing like I imagined. You aren't aloud to take any pictures in there so I don't have any to share, but if you ever go, check out Daniels story first. It's a beautiful exhibit and really paints the picture of what happened and feels nothing like a real museum but gives you the feel like you were walking through someones life. Everything there didn't hold a candle to it after we were done, we couldn't stop thinking about Daniels story.

After the museums we walked to all of the monuments. It was neat seeing them and I'm so glad we did it! But it was a TON of walking! Haha. L was perfect and J only had to carry him for about 3 blocks at the end! I was so proud!

It was so hard saying goodbye again the next morning but I'm so glad I drove down! I asked J the first night we were together what changed his mind and his answer melted my heart...he said that he was standing watch after we talked and all he could think about was how much he missed me and wanted to see us. He said it would have been sad to see tons of other guys with their wives, knowing I could be there to but he told me not to come.

I'm officially that crazy wife that drives to all of the ports. lol.

Morals.

I'm having a hard time lately with friends and morals. Being LDS we have a high standard when it comes to morals. I've never had a problem being around people who's morals were different because I'm a big girl and I can make my own choices. But, as Little is getting older, I'm having to rethink a few friendships(or how quick I make friends). We don't say OMG in our home(but oh-my-Santa is a new addition) we also don't say I hate you or shut up...we choose not to. I've noticed that my sponge like minded 6 year old picks things up when we hang out with people who use those words or cuss often(he's never cussed with the exception of A-hole once and trust me that will never happen again. lol).

I also don't like having to explain drinking and smoking to him at 6! I feel bad when I have to say what they are doing and why it's "bad", then he asks if mommy and daddy do it, then doesn't understand why so-and-so does if they know its bad to. He looks up to a lot of my friends and I would hate for that to change.

I don't mind hanging out with people who have different morals(gosh, I sound like a broken record!) but at what point is there too much of a divide? I don't mind having a BBQ and most of the people are having a beer but when it's just Little and I and we have someone over, it's awkward when they want to bring a bottle of wine. Maybe they think I secretly want to drink? But it makes me uncomfortable and I don't always feel comfortable enough to really say no(though I will kind of hint about it as much as I can without being rude....because I think it's rude to tell them what they should and shouldn't be doing. Even if it's my home, THEY choose what they do with their body, not me)

Language gets me to. There is a time and place for the F-bomb(it's your right!) but i get embarrassed when I'm out with someone and they say it in a really inappropriate place.(IE. In front of our church missionaries, in a nice restaurant, at Little's school when they are there with me picking him up....ect.). It makes me cringe. I REALLY hate reading it on FB.  I've deleted people for the foul things they were posting, but it was no one I truly care about.

I'm just at a strange place when it comes to this. I often feel like the 'odd man out' for choosing not to do the things that most of society does.

Fall leaves me happy!

I love Fall. I really think it's my most favorite time of year. It's the end of the too hot summer and getting you set for the holiday! I love the weather and the changing of colors! Ahhhh, I just love it!

J came home from underway with just enough time for us to be a family. Then he left again.

We were able to do all of the great fall things while he was home since he will be gone for a while this time. The highlights were apple picking, pumpkin picking, hayrides & corn mazes, carving pumpkins and the Jack-o-lantern spectacular!

I made a few collages since we took SO MANY PICTURES! Enjoy!

I love going to this orchard. It's been my favorite for a few years now and I love that not a ton of people go to it(it's popular, but not as much as some...I think no one really knows about it and it's greatness yet....so shhhhhh). We always go and pick apples, then jump on the horse drawn "hay" ride to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins, then we ride back up and walk to the corn maze.

Landon LOVES this corn maze! Even on a weekend it wasn't packed and we had a great time running in the maze trying to find all of the stamps. This was J's first year being home to go with us and he really enjoyed it also.

That night we got home and got to carving! All I cared about was the seeds! YUM! Landon carved Frankenstein, J's was a vampire and mine was just a "lady pumpkin" in Landon's words. Haha.

The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at the Roger Williams Zoo in RI is one of the most amazing this we've been to. We were told that the wait time on the weekends was bad, so we went on a Tuesday night and had NO wait time to get in! It just took us over a hour to see everything, but it was so worth it! They had a trail with 5,000 carved pumpkins! They were amazing! If you live in New England I recommend you go!

We had the best time walking around. It was the night before J left so we just soaked up every minute we could together. There is something about holding hands in the dark that just gets me.

Does anyone have any fun traditions that they only do during the fall?

Taco Pumpkin Seeds!

I love the fall! I love anything pumpkin flavored also! BUT most of all, I love me some pumpkin seeds! Last year I made 4 different kinds of seeds. They were so yummy, but one was the best....so that's all I made this year! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Ingredients

1 cup seeds from freshly cut pumpkin, washed and dried
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions

In a skillet, saute pumpkin seeds in oil for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer seeds to an ungreased baking sheet (if you have extra oil try to get as little of it as you can). Sprinkle with taco seasoning and garlic salt; stir/toss to coat. Spread into a single layer. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until crisp. Remove to paper towels to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Funk.

I'm in a funk this month. I've tried to pull myself out of it...which leads to me just doing things for me. So, I've caught up on my shutterfly books and read a ton, but my poor blog got the shaft.

J is constantly coming and going with the boat which means we are trying to in squeeze every ounce of family time that we can.

As a result of all that running, I've had the migraine from hell for the past week that I can't seem to shake and to top it all off, it was my sisters birthday this week and I miss her more now then ever. I wish I could go lay flowers on her site like the rest of the family, but being 3500 miles away makes that a little hard. I wonder if missing her will always hurt this bad. Will I be better when its been 5 years? Or 10? Or will it always hurt this much? I've had some great talks with Taylor(her daughter) this month. Shes growing into such a lady. She's 13 now and in the 8th grade and at that point where she could really use her mom. I'm glad she has my mom and my other sister there to help her and she knows I'm just a call away. My heart just hurts for her.

Now that I've gotten that all of my chest I feel a little better. Sorry it's so 'all over the place'. I will be back to normal writing this week, I promise.

The winner is......

CASEY!

Looks like those extra entries helped! Send me a message and we will work out getting the stuff to you and what scents you want!!!!

End of the Giveaway!

I'm giving everyone until tomorrow afternoon(4 eastern time) to enter the giveaway! Go HERE to see the post and have your chance to win some Scentsy stuff!!!!

Movie Review: Dolphin Tale

Our base has been doing free movie previews all summer(a week before the movie is released in theaters). We've seen some great movies! We saw Transformers 3, the new Harry Potter and now Dolphin Tale.

The movie is about a boy who finds a dolphin on the beach who has it's tail caught in the rope of a crab trap. The dolphin soon loses it's tail and it doesn't look good for the dolphin.....

We loved this movie! It was a great family movie(beware the time! 2 hours! enough to make the best child antsy) and it was not one of those movies where you don't believe what is happening, it's real.

I highly recommend seeing it(if you're into those feel good, family movies).

10 Years....

"They tried to break us, but all they did was remind us that freedom is never free."

Today I won't talk about cleaning, or what I'm having for dinner. I will be silent and remember those who were lost. Today I will pray for those who are fighting to keep me safe in hopes that a tragedy such as that will never be repeated.

I remember.....

Show Us Your life - How do you scrapbook/keep kids art work?

I love reading Kelly's Korner and I've been reading since she was pregnant with her first baby! I love when she started SUYL and I jump in sometimes.....when I feel like it's something I can add to.

Today it's all about memories!

I have two big things that I do to keep things(art and pictures).

The first is framing! I love picking my favorite pieces of art that Little brings home and putting them on the wall. Not only is he super proud of them being up there, but because they are in the office above my workplace, I get to look at them when I'm trying to be creative! It's win/win!

The canvas is from preschool, the bus from his first day of kindergarten and the rainbow is from the end of kindergarten is by far my FAVORITE piece he's brought home(mainly due to the "blurple" is has written on the purple part!)

(I also have a box full of all the other art that I loved but didn't make it to the wall along with all of the random papers I just can't let go of yet)

I'm also a HUGE fan of photo books! I use Shutterfly and if you haven't been to their site, you need to! I make a book for each year. I feel like I can add words to the pictures so we can really remember everything. They are one of my most prized possessions and I hope I can keep up with making them each year!

If you have a neat way that you keep memories/pictures go to Kelly's blog and join in the fun!

Giveaway!!!!

I said I was going to wait till I hit 250......but my Scentsy lady(who is providing the goods for this giveaway) is moving and I want to make sure everything is taken care of before she goes!

So here it goes!!

One lucky winner will get

A plug in warmer with their choice of three of the flowing scents...
Pumpkin Marshmallow
Just Breathe
Happy Birthday
Amber Road
Jumpin' Jelly Bean
Flutter
Autumn Stroll

To get entries in the giveaway you can:(each much be in a separate comment)

1. Go to https://brittanyhatley.scentsy.us/Home (click on Kim's party) then leave me a comment on here telling me what your favorite product is! (1 entry)

2. Let me know if you are a follower or become one! (1 entry)

3. Post about this giveaway on your blog! (2 entries)

4. If you go to the site and you order anything before this giveaway ends, let me know and you will get 6 extra entries!

That's a total for 10 possible entries!

The giveaway will end 2 weeks from tomorrow on September 23rd!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Wall art!

As everyone knows, Littles room is all Hungry Caterpillar. He LOVES it(and I do to). After the paint, wall decals and his shelf went up, I was lost to what "art" to put on his walls that would finish the room. We had a few canvases lying around from when my MIL was here visiting and I knew I wanted to use them...I just didn't know how.

Then I saw something like this and knew it would be perfect!!!! I used the color of paint that would match his walls(and I honestly thought that brown feet would be a little blah).

We painted his hand and fingers(not the thumb...and make sure you put more on the palm so it goes down!). Then went to town! For the red head, I painted a circle on his palm and that was it! The eyes and such were added after it dried.

I love how it turned out! I'm planning on doing the butterfly here soon to see if I can get it how I see it in my head!

Dear Landon,

Dear Landon,

Today you started first grade. For some reason this was much harder on mommy then the past few years have been. You went to bed early last night and woke up to a gift from your daddy. I hope one day you will remember that he tried his best to be there for all of your special days, but when he couldn't be there in person, he did his best to let you know he was thinking about you and that he is SO proud of you.

When the rain was falling this morning in what you still say "cats and dogs" you didn't bat an eye! You picked out a new outfit and got your rain gear out of the closet. You are still the easiest kid I've ever met and nothing ever stops you from going on. My hope for you is that you never lose this. Stay strong and move on, even when things don't go the way you expected them to.

You stood in line a little too easy for me today. You don't need me quite as much as you used to. But, while you didn't need to hold my hand, you made sure I waited and waved to you many times before you were led to your new classroom.  I drove home in a slight daze. Walking into the cold house was so different with you not in it. I've really enjoyed our summer together and I wish we had a little more time to enjoy it.

I will end this letter by telling you that I'm so proud of you and the little boy that you have become. I couldn't ask for a more amazing son. You are my world and watching you grow and learn has been the greatest joy I've ever been given. I love you.

Mom

Yesterday I took Little on our last day out of summer. We got breakfast at Friendly's(his FAVORITE place to eat). Then we went over to Mystic Village to his favorite toy store and to the pond to feed the ducks. It was one of the most special days we've ever had and I will remember it forever.

First day! It was raining so he had to chose a new outfit....but he looked adorable still! And he always loves a reason to wear his rain gear.

On the night of the first day of school I let Little pick anything he wants to eat. This year he wanted parm chicken and pasta with broccoli! I also let him eat on our "special" plate and made him a crown with all the goals I have for him.....the crown says "I WILL: do my best, be a good friend, always try, work hard and help others".....as a mom, thats all I can ask.

A day out....

With Thomas The Train!

On Friday we went to RI to ride Tomas the train. Little has been talking about doing this for years! So when I saw he was "in town" we asked some friends if they wanted to drive up with us.

We had a ton of fun and I'm so glad we went! I just wish J could have been there with us.

They had a few fun things to do.....story time, building tracks, playing with trains.....

and Little's favorite...TATTOOS!

After all the playing, we went and stood in line to wait for Thomas to come.

Little & I on the train! He loved it!

Hurricane Irene

 I'm posting this from my neighbors house.....we still don't have internet.(which is better then having no power at all!)

Irene has come and gone. We are fine and had no damage to our home or cars. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but we did get hit pretty hard. At times I honestly thought a few of the windows weren't going to make it! Thank goodness they did! Our power went out early on sunday morning before we were awake but thankfully we were one of the first ones to get it back. A week later, and most of the state is still out of power. We have an amazing ombudsman for our boat who has been feeding all of the families who are still without power(along with letting them do their wash and take showers). I hope that the power comes back on soon and that we don't get hit again anytime soon!(stay away Katia!)

The night before the storm hit, I moved Landon into my room just to be safe. He loves sleeping in there so he didn't mind one bit. 

This was my "storm stash". I had water, flashlights, blankets, towels and all my food in there just in case we needed it.

My neighbors here are amazing! After the storm died down, we went over there for a hot dinner(since power was out). Landon loves my neighbors husband(who he calls Uncle Tommy) so he was out there helping him cook!

I hope everyone is doing well! I hope to have internet back at some point!