All the good names were taken.

Hannah's Been Canned

2012-01-24T18:29:00.001-06:00

Saturday, the kids were playing in the house and make believing as usual when all of a sudden, Hannah cries out. This is not unusual, sometimes a simple thing like someone shutting the door, can provoke a blood curdling scream of terror from her, so I didn't freak out. I asked her what was wrong and she told me Grant had thrown a cup at her foot. I thought, "Ok, not big deal, even if it was full of milk, a sippy cup can't do that much damage." I told her to sit down and it would feel better in a minute. Within an hour, her big toenail had turned completely purple and she was complaining about the pain. Wherever she moved, she walked on the side of her foot to avoid discomfort. Sunday morning she woke up and told me how her foot hurt still. I took one look at it and realized this was no little boo boo. I asked her to show me what "cup" Grant threw at her, and she said, "come here, I'll show you." I replied," why don't you just go get it and bring it to me?"

She walks away and returns with a 16 oz can of Boston Baked Beans and states, "THIS is the cup he threw at me!"

Um, wow, go ahead and give me my 2012-Mom of the Year award. I felt terrible! I didn't take her seriously at all. Though she is similar to the boy who cried wolf, she obviously has a high pain tolerance as well!

We've debated taking her in as the toenail has now begun to lift off (I know; gag), but today, the pressure decided to relieve itself so there's no need for the doctor to do anything with it.

I will save the faint at heart from having to look at the pictures I took this morning, however, since I know some people in my family are weird...check them out at our flickr sight if you're curious. (the link is on the left)

I couldn't post it here, as I can't even make it through a Lamisol commercial without changing the channel.

I'll post some more info as things progress and we'll definitely keep you on your toes!

see what I did there...? ;)

ABK

Food wars

2012-01-22T14:04:00.001-06:00

This is how grant "eats" lunch.

Hannah's Birthday!

2012-01-20T17:35:00.000-06:00

We can not believe our little girl turned 4 already!!! It seemed like just yesterday Paul was getting called into duty for the day and I was yelling at him telling him I'd surely go into labor if he did!!! (and I did!)

She is becoming a real princess every day. She loves to play dress up in beautiful dresses, crowns and shoes. She says words like "interesting" and "complicated", though I'm still not certain she knows what they mean. She's BFF with Louie and she's already started asking us if she could get a pet that's all hers. (she wants a cat though and since there would be a risk of me basically dying if one entered our home, it won't be happening)

She loves her pasta, playing school and she changes her name every day to something like "Shoktee" or "Kydoo". She calls me beautiful and her daddy handsome multiple times a day. Even though times are very tough for the average 4 yr old, she's learning how to manage a little better each day. For instance, when she lost her "very special rock" last week, she only cried for 30 minutes as opposed to the usual 3 hour melt down.

She is certainly a blessing to our family and we are so thankful for her.

Happy Fourth Birthday Hanna Banana Grandma!!!!!

These are the amazing cake pops my friend made for her birthday!!

A little posing...

Her new crown and scepter, now she's official!

Wave to your adoring fans...

I've never seen a bigger smile from the Happy Birthday song!

Her favoritest dress that she waited so long for!

Daddy even made it home early for her special day :)

Her friend admiring her crown while H colors in her princess books

Nearly every gift got this reaction, I kid you not.

She made ME smile so much that day!

I'm pretty darn sure she had a wonderful birthday!

ABK

New Beds for Boys!

2012-01-18T18:54:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, most of you are thinking, "BOUT DANG TIME!!!" (or other mean thoughts) and to that I say, if you would like to come volunteer to do my dishes and laundry for me, I will post things in a timely manner. That's the deal. Any takers? Any??!! yeah, didn't think so... :)

Ok so! Exciting! We finally got the beds painted! However, only one of them is done (both coats), so that's what I've got pictures of. The main reason Grant's bed isn't finished is 1. he's still a little too small for a twin size bed and 2. We don't technically have a twin size mattress to go in his new bed, so it wouldn't matter much if we got it in there anyway.

Again, a HUGE shout out to my dad for helping me execute this design and turn an inspiration from a $1200 bed into a $300 DIY memory!!!

Enjoy!

Grant really likes his little secret sleeping area :)

ABK

My little man

2012-01-13T08:44:00.001-06:00

Big boy!!!

2011-12-30T21:10:00.001-06:00

New hair cut+ grant = mini Paul

Three crazies

2011-12-23T10:54:00.001-06:00

It figures I only get a good picture of them when they're all in crappy clothes... :)

Ethan's stairway to Lego heaven

2011-12-18T10:49:00.001-06:00

Fashion

2011-12-12T22:49:00.000-06:00

Yes, My kids dress themselves...

Big Month!

2011-11-29T23:22:00.001-06:00

The original title of the post was going to be "The 236th Marine Corps Ball, Thanksgiving and Dad's First visit to Cali" but I couldn't fit it all in, so I just went with the above.

November 19th we had our first Ball with 9th Comm at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical, but it was an amazing evening! FOLLOWED by an amazing nights sleep in a hotel without our kids and a wake up with out having to throw waffles at them. Thank you so much to Aunt Ashley for helping out, it was huge!

Us at the Ball!

The Man in the sword detail...again.

My dad came out for the week of Thanksgiving for his "First Retiree Vacation". We had a blast!

This amazingly was caught out the backseat window while driving through San Clemente

Caspers National Park

(don't be alarmed, a small cut on the forehead after falling on Thanksgiving day never stops Grant)

Watch out! Cacti Bite!!!

Seriously good photography work dad! Thanks for the great pic of us!

mmmmmmmmmm.

I know there's one that matches this of me on his shoulders :)

Grandpa catching Ethan being silly!

He really enjoyed the beautiful 80 degree weather IN NOVEMBER!!!!!!

Gramps and E

Hannah had so much fun in the sand

I'm telling you, I don't know why this man lives in MI, he's in love with the ocean!!!

Got a Fabulous sunset on Sunday night.

This is Dana Point at night from the San Clemente pier. (I assume it's dana point, don't quote me on that)

Us on the pier

Thanksgiving went awesome as well! We had originally planned on Ashley and my dad for dinner, but when I heard my good friend Susan and her family (of five) were just gonna be home by themselves, I invited them over and we had a HUGE Family Thanksgiving!!!!

OK, most of you know we try and build something when he visits every time, but this time, we went big! I'm so impressed we got as much accomplished as we did AND had time to enjoy the scenery of southern Cali and some relaxation as well!

I am so excited to show what we worked on the whole week, and even more excited that it turned out so awesome!!!! I know my dad does great work, but I did not have high demands for this and he went above and beyond what I could have ever dreamed!

We built beds for the boys!!!!!!!!

Thanks to AnaWhite and her "Simple Bed" plans, with a few modifications, we made 2 twin beds and one of them converts into a low loft bed for Ethan!

I still need to add a few finishing touches (guard rails, paint, etc) but here's some pics of the progress!

He tested the comfort level...a TEN!!!

This is Ethan's in the Loft setup. Grandpa's putting the ladder on here. He is so excited!!!!

Thank you Grandpa!!!!!

Overall it was a wonderful week and we're sad to see him go, but now that he's retired, we don't think it will be too long till we see him again!

ABK

Hard to Stay Mad...

2011-11-29T22:42:00.001-06:00

After a very difficult day with Hannah (I know, big surprise that my daughter is a drama queen), I was going through our photos from last week and came to this one. Needless to say it wiped the frustration away completely and I busted out laughing! Love you Hannah Banana!!!

ABK

San Clemente Pier

2011-11-25T18:59:00.000-06:00

Having a great visit with my Dad so far, just taking a drive before dinner tonight to look at the scenery. Took this from the car while driving by the pier...

Hannah's store

2011-11-18T09:41:00.001-06:00

She told me to come look at all the things I could buy, I'm very impressed with her display.

Best friends

2011-11-16T13:50:00.000-06:00

Caspers Regional Park

2011-11-13T21:35:00.001-06:00

We took a trip to Caspers Regional Park today. I's about 25 minutes north of our house and a little inland. After the rainy day we had saturday, we were blessed with a gorgeous day today so we took advantage.
Here's a few shots we took while we were there!
Hope everyone is well!

www.bertolone.net

Ethan's Early Birthday

2011-07-17T19:22:00.000-05:00

We're having Ethan's birthday party a little early this year because of our move, and I thought I'd share his invitations I made. I made a simple address label with all our event info on it and stuck it on the back of the invite. He told me a few weeks back he wanted a Star Wars party. And then 2 days ago I was informed that it is a Star Wars / Marine party. He wants a half star wars-half marine cake. I'm not really sure how I'm going to pull that off so let's just hope it changes before the weekend.

He's really excited about all his friends being able to come to his party before we leave for California. We're doing a garage sale on Friday and Saturday, and then his party will be Sunday. It'll be a busy weekend but I'll be sure to post pics of the party as well.

Hope all is well.

Hannah's world

2011-06-01T18:22:00.001-05:00

Dedicated to Grandpa Bertolone:

"are you guys excited for water day at school tomorrow?"
"yeah!"
"what do they do for water day?"
(Hannah), "get the allergies outta the pool!!!!!"

-posted from my ipad

WingBack Chair Re-Do

2011-05-21T23:14:00.000-05:00

A few weeks back my neighbor had a garage sale to benefit their adoption fund and I nabbed this {ugly} chair and ottoman from it for a mere $25!! I knew I was gonna recover it someday and it took a while to find the right fabric (which I also nabbed for a steal of $4/yard!!).
It took me a month to get it done, but today I finally completed it!!! I'm so happy it's done, because it's one less thing out of the garage, and because it looks awesome!!!!

Music City Marathon

2011-05-17T23:28:00.000-05:00

Music City Marathon and Half Marathon

April 29, 2011

My First Half Marathon is DONE!!! I can not believe it, I stopped training 2 weeks into training. I got pneumonia, or the flu, (they never really gave me a clear diagnoses). I never really started training again since it took me 4 weeks from start to finish to feel better. It was a rough go. However I was still determined to do the half marathon. (And so was Paul as he paid for registration at that point).

Here's Paul and I before we started. This was at sunrise.

I was pretty good up till the 6 mile point, and I had to go pee really bad. Anyone who runs can probably tell you how uncomfortable it is when you have to pee. Once I stopped at the "rest stop" I never got my mojo back. Around mile 8 my right foot got a cramp. Pretty bad. By mile 10 I was favoring it and then my left knee started to act up. THrough all of this, my (God bless him) motivating husband was right next to me pushing me to keep going. "He kept saying annoying things like "It will al be worth it", and "you can do this", and the real zinger, "it's better than being home with the kids". Around mile 11, he said, "If you finish, there's a prize for a month's worth of free childcare", it made me laugh and run a little faster at the same time. :)

The feeling of crossing the finish line was an overwhelming surge of emotions. I could not believe I did it. When I put that medal around my neck I can't tell you how filled with pride I was. It was amazing. My finish time was 3:00:20.

Now let me finish by telling you I AM NOT A RUNNER. In fact I haven't been "running" since the race. But I want to start again. Since the news about moving, I haven't used any of my free time on me or fitness, but I will try and start soon. I honestly can't believe I did this. I heard about the race and thought, I want to do that, and before I knew it, I was at the start line thinking "what have I gotten myself into?!"

In the end, it was all worth it, I did do it, and it was great to spend that time with my man (sans kids). So it looks like he was right.
The only thing I'm waiting on is my coupon for childcare...hmm...

Custom Desk

2011-05-13T16:51:00.001-05:00

For a while now, I've been wanting a desk. I knew exactly what I was looking for, but I needed it to fit our printer (with a pretty big footprint) and my sewing machine, and a lot of other "crafting" accessories that little hands seem to find themselves in everyday. I found the overall "look" I was going for.

Walmart

Sauder

But I didn't want a flimsy pressboard POS that I had to put together and replace after one move with the military. So then I explored buying a real hardwood desk but I saw the price tags grow, and that just wasn't an option.

That's where my amazing father comes in. I drew him up some pretty rickety plans and along with these pics, he was pretty confident we could build it.

We started the project back in December, but since I don't have a table saw (**birthday's coming up, Paul...just sayin**) the cuts weren't square and he wasn't going to "make it work" and have it turn out crappy, so we waited for his next visit when he could bring his saw down and do it correctly.

For a mere $150 in materials, here's what we did...

I'm so happy with the results I can't even tell you. It fits everything perfectly!

Thanks again for all the help dad!

It's Official!!

2011-05-09T11:50:00.000-05:00

...no I'm not pregnant.
But it is life changing...
We're moving a little earlier than expected!

Our original PCS (permanent change of station) day was around the May 2012 time, but they've made some changes with the recruiting station and our move date has moved up because of it. Paul has a check in date of Sept 30th at Camp Pendleton in SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA!!!!! Woot Woot!!!!!

I can not tell you how excited I am for this move!!! Moving sucks, yes, but we were wanting Camp Pendleton for our next duty station anyway and now it's just earlier than expected!!!
We are going to try and have a major garage sale, sell the house and visit with family in MI within the next 4 months and hope to have enough time to enjoy a road trip of our drive to CA.
The best part of this is Paul's brother got the same duty station!!! We'll be by family out there and
my new SIL will be introduced to military lifestyle in Southern Cali!
I know a lot of people who have been there, are there and have just gotten there so I look forward to sharing the experience with them!!!
Tennessee has been good to us the short time we've been here, and I'll definitely miss some great friends I've made, but I can't say I'll miss the weather. And as someone who grew up in MI, I'm very much looking forward to sunny days the majority of the year!
Hannah's already running around saying "me and mommy are going to be California Girls!" And Ethan was VERY excited to learn about Lego Land right outside base!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the next few months, it'll be a busy, stressful time, but we know it will be worth it in the end.

(I pray an earthquake doesn't hit the day after we get there.)

2 Years in TN

2011-04-23T08:22:00.000-05:00

(I wrote this yesterday, but it didn't post)

Well, it's been an interesting 2 years. Today marks the anniversary (being that it's Good Friday) of the Deadly Tornado that ripped through Murfreesboro in 2009, 3 days after our arrival to the states. As you can imagine, I'm delighted to see blue skies this afternoon.
We've had eventful weather since then, to say the least. It seems like whenever we get to a new duty station, we bring the "worst case scenario" weather with us. Okinawa used to get tropical storms that would shut down the base for days...before we got there. After we arrived, typhoons came few and far between and when they did hit, it was always on a Friday afternoon. They also didn't have any real catastrophic winds...before we got there. 2 years in, we had a record Typhoon that flooded some areas and required weeks of cleanup.
Then, TN.
Ahh, good ole Tennessee. "Oh, the weather's beautiful!" and "Snow!? It HARDLY snows in Middle TN!" were amongst many of the rave reviews we got about Tennessee's climate before and upon our arrival. Two years in and we've had "The most humid summer", "The 100 Year Flood", and an ice storm that was "The worst middle Tennessee's seen in a LONG TIME!"

Really!? What is it about the Bertolone family that brings the bad weather out? Don't get me wrong, there's been a lot of GREAT weather too. It just seems like when it's bad, it's as bad as it can get.
The last few weeks have been stressful to say the least. Paul's been out of town a lot and it seems like every other day we're getting severe thunderstorms, 50MPH Gusts of winds, or Tornado warnings. With the only safe area in the house being the half bath off the kitchen, it's safe to assume things get pretty tight, and I'm definitely waiting until the last possible moment to get 3 kids and a dog in there and hunkered down.
My plants have been "flooded out" and all the petals have been blown off my tulips where they lay drearily on my concrete front walk.

Now it might sound off that I'm even typing this today, what with the sun shining and birds singing away outside my window. But that's the strange thing about TN, just this morning, it was overcast and rainy. I really thought we'd be inside all day.
Also, the weather affects not only my sinuses but my mood. I've been less productive lately. Usually I find myself knee deep in 4-5 crafts/home improvements at any given moment. I've had zero motivation and have watched more tv than I care to admit.
While out with a friend during a surprise thunderstorm I told her, "I can't take this anymore!", she replied, "This is April in Tennessee, remember?!"

It's all perspective though, here's the Top Ten in Ten worst weather happenings in TN. And I'm really glad I wasn't around for this one.

Well, I hope this all clears up soon, so I can start complaining about the hot and humid weather!

He's definitely got me wrapped.

2011-04-04T21:06:00.001-05:00

He's definitely got me wrapped., originally uploaded by abbeybertolone.

This kid has got me. Grant's been giving the best hugs, but now he's giving kisses! He walked up to me tonight, laid down on my belly and then planted one on me! I'm smitten! I never want him to grow up. Seriously. What do I have to do to make sure that doesn't happen??

Ethan, Ethan, Ethan...

2011-04-01T15:55:00.000-05:00

Ok, so we're just sitting here...and out of nowhere...

Ethan - "When will I have to find a girlfriend?"

Mom - "a girlfriend!?"

Ethan - "Yeah, a girlfriend so I can marry her and get babies."

Mom - "Hold on, I gotta write this down, why do you want a girlfriend??"

Ethan - "Because when I grow up I don't know what to do without a girlfriend!"

Another Repurpose

2011-03-30T15:49:00.002-05:00

This will be the third use this thing has had. First it was a stamp pad holder, then I gave that up for sewing, so I modified it into a thread holder with storage. Now, since I lost my sewing room a few months back, it's been sitting unused. Poor thing. So now I need a "mail organizer" for my landing zone inside the door. With a few modifications, a new coat of paint and some picture hangers,
Ta da!!

A new Mail station and bonus sunglasses holder! Hehe!

I'm thinking of sewing some canvas pouches for those "sunglass" dowels and making little bins to hold the glasses...not sure yet...

Thanks Dad for this little nugget of ever changing possibilities! Wonder what it will become next?!?!

Kitchen Lighting

2011-03-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

In our ongoing efforts to "update" and "maximize return on investment" for our house, we've updated the kitchen lighting. For a total of 60 dollars, we grabbed this system at Ikea on our way back from MI. It's newly hung, so you'll have to excuse the "kinky" cords. They'll straighten out over time...we hope.

Before...

I can not tell you how much I despised this lamp in here...however, I moved it to the "dining room" which we made a sitting room and it looks FAB!

After...

I love the new look it gives the kitchen!

Walkin' in Memphis

2011-03-16T12:58:00.001-05:00

One of the perks to this duty station (Officer Selection Officer) is all the traveling Paul gets to do. Last year it wasn't very feasible for us to go with him anywhere, what with a newborn and all. But now the kids are a bit older and a bit more mobile so we decided to tag along with Paul on his latest trip to Memphis.
We stayed at the legendary Peabody Hotel and got to see the march of the ducks!

The kids were so excited to be a part of it!

We went up to the roof afterwards, where the duck's Grand Palace is located. Ethan even got to see two ducks "wrestling"...and he still talks about it to this day...very embarrassing when he brings it up in public, actually.

I {heart} my goofy family!

A view from the roof of the Peabody

We hit the streets the next day to do some sight seeing. Not a lot going on at 11am in Memphis on Beal Street. Thank goodness.

Beal Street

JOHN!

at the FedEx Forum

psst...apparently this is where sports are played...i have no clue about these things...

you can see here i'm wondering why he's making me stand here freezing to get a picture...

A view up Beal Street

Purple Haze Theater?? No idea, but thought it was cool looking!

It was a short trip but we said goodbye to the ducks before we headed home...

A trip to Memphis wouldn't be complete without at least seeing Graceland. I heard a rumor kids under 5 weren't aloud in...that's what we told the kids anyway. But here's a snapshot of the Presley home:

the wall outside the property is covered in "I heart Elvis" graffiti

Overall, it was a memorable trip, both in photos and in the bank account. Eating in a fancy hotel with 3 children gets VERY pricey. :) We had fun though and the kids are STILL talking about the ducks!

KITCHEN CABINETS!!!

2011-03-14T11:15:00.000-05:00

Well it's only taken me 2 shorts years to get up the guts to paint these kitchen cabinets. The Standard Builders Oak color wasn't cutting it for me but I was apprehensive of the undertaking. After reading blogs and getting google help, I finally decided I could do it.
I labeled everything, set up shop in the garage and after 2 weeks (off and on) they were completed. One coat oil based primer and 2 coats paint. Swiss Coffee was the paint color, doesn't that sound yummy??

So here's the before...

Bear in mind this is the DAY we moved in...notice the lack of refrigeration...(and lack of cleanliness)

And here's the after!!!

Now, we want to get a new darker countertop and sink...we'll see when that happens...

I love it though! It's so bright and NOT dated looking!!! YAY!
...and I get to leave it to someone else in a year...*tear*

Paul is Beef

2011-03-12T06:42:00.001-06:00

This post is dedicated to my brother who turns {age undisclosed to protect the elderly} today!!!!
Happy Birthday PAULY WALLY DOODLE ALL THE DAY!!!

A few memories about my brother!

1. The time he break danced on a piece of plywood for my fifth birthday party. Rad. Totally rad.

2. The time he planted a stereo speaker under my bed and ran wires to a nine volt he had by his bed so he could scare me at night with clicky scratchy sounds...ahh, older brothers rock.

3. The time he told me the back yard neighbors had run a driveway through the back of our garage so they had easier access to the main road. And I believed him.

4. Playing keyboard and singing while he played the drums to Steve Miller Band cds.

5. Stealing his Jerky Boys cds and having him SEARCH my room and NEVER find them! heheheh

6. Making REALLY lame home videos with his sweet camera!

7. Realizing Jon Candy didn't die by getting stabbed in the leg.

8. "what's going on? what's going on?"

9. Who could forget the home movie of when dad dug the basement under the house? Put to a complete Beatles Soundtrack.

10. Riding bikes and wiping out on Maple St because I had to try and eat my skittles while biking. He walked me home to safety.

Thanks, Beef, you're the best brother a girl could ask for!!!
Happy Birthday, I hope your day is filled with awesome events that make radical memories!
LOVE YOU!!!!
Abber-cadabber

Light Saber Holder

2011-03-11T10:52:00.000-06:00

I don't know a cooler name...do you? I'm taking suggestions... :)

Ethan was in need of somewhere to "store" his light sabers. We have four now, and every few months, we seem to accumulate one so we needed a holder. Some sort of a display case. I thought I knew what would look nice, but Paul (the Star Wars expert) instructed me EXACTLY how it should look. Diagram and all.
I took Ethan with me to the Big Orange and we got our supplies.
I didn't take pictures throughout the process, but here's what I did...

3-1X4, 1-1X3, and 2-1X2

I took my big ole circle hole drill bit (pretty sure that's the technical name) and drilled 4 holes in one of the 1X4's. I glued and nailed that to the other 1X4 and clamped and let dry. This made the base of the unit.

I used the 2-1X2's in the back as the stands and attached the last 1X4 to that for the "holster" part. The holsters are made out of some plumbing attachment. They were $4 a piece and I cute them in half, so $8 total. Then I cut them vertical so they open but will wrap around the base of the light saber to hold it in place.I lined them up with the holes on the bottom and attached them with small nails.

Then I glued and nailed the 1X3 to the front to "finish" the look.

I spray painted the whole thing black before I attached the "holsters", as they are rubber and were already black.

Now he's equipped anytime Darth Vader makes a surprise appearance!

Step Ladder Stool

2011-03-10T10:00:00.001-06:00

I got the plans for this off www.anawhite.com and when I saw "tricky" in the title, I knew I had to do it. And it was, very tricky. I might have done it easier with two sets of hands, but never the less, it turned out good. It still needs a coat of paint, and maybe some distressing...but I love it!!! I've already used it numerous times around the house. Being 5'3", a step stool comes in handy often!

If you want to build one too...go here...
http://ana-white.com/2010/04/furniture-plans-super-easy-but-a-little-tricky-ladder-table.html
it could even be used as a sawhorse for a table if you built two!

The Force is with us...

2011-03-09T10:41:00.001-06:00

I took Ethan to a friend's birthday party on Saturday. It was Star Wars themed. In retrospect, I should of had Paul take him, I think Paul would have liked it a lot.
The mom made a Star Wars cake. It was AWESOME.

The kids chased each other with light sabers and the little brother was even dressed as Yoda. It was really fun!
But, probably the most exciting part of the day was when Darth Vader knocked on the front door. Immediately, shocked and excited, Ethan and the birthday boy ran to the back of the house. I think most of us thought they might have been startled, however that was not the case. They promptly returned, light sabers in hand, ready to battle it out with Vader! Two little jedis, ready for action! The video pretty much sums it up!

He had a really fun time.

Abbey

Ride Ethan Ride!

2011-02-12T21:26:00.001-06:00

Ethan bike, originally uploaded by abbeybertolone.

Check out Ethan on his "new bike" (sans training wheels)!!! He's been asking for awhile now for us to take them off, and it's not been nice enough to do it yet, until today!! The dude took off down the cul-de-sac on the second try, turned around and came back!!! I must say I didn't think he was ready, but he did great!

There's a few other videos at www.flickr.com/photos/pinkchi

Or click the link on the left sidebar!

Ethan...

2011-02-09T08:52:00.000-06:00

Ethan and Hannah eating breakfast.

Ethan says, "Hey! This yogurt is white, just like my Storm Shadow (gi joe)!"
I say, "yeah, they are."
Ethan exclaims, "Two White things at the table!!!!"

Ethan: "What do rats eat?"
Me: "Anything; garbage, food..."
E: "It's a good thing there's no rats around here, cause we love food!"
Me: "yeah, that's a good thing"
Ethan: "`Cept Louie, he's a rat, cause he'll eat anything..."

Preperation...

2011-01-19T19:06:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, we only have a little over a year left here in our first home. And if you know me, that means I'm already preparing for the move. Because I'm crazy. And I know that. I'm ok with it. I think. No I am. really.
Ok, so what's first, you may ask? First, I had to clean out the cupboards in the kitchen. We've simplified over the last year, and with a few trips to Good Will and a big garage sale, we've pretty much gotten rid of anything that isn't necessity. My cupboards are so organized, it makes me happy to put dishes away. I know, right? I just mentioned happy and housework in the same sentence...I told you I was crazy.
So next stop for me was the laundry. But let's rewind. We moved into this house in May of 2009. For almost 2 years I've dealt with storing my vacuum in plain sight due to TOTAL lack of storage space. The only closet it could have been stored in, I of course ripped out to make and entryway for all our coats and shoes. Though I do love my vacuum (It's a purple dyson, who couldn't love it), it's usually filled with dirt and dust, so I don't like leaving it on display. SO fast forward to now, and I needed to find a spot to put this thing. What more logical spot than the laundry room. It's located upstairs, right off the bedrooms, and would be very convenient. Hmm, problem was, there was wasted space. It's a long narrow room; closet, washing machine, and dryer right in a row with a small space on the floor for a basket. That just wasn't working for me. SO here's the before:

Atrocity!

What I did was:
Moved the washer and dryer under the window. (Had to run to the big orange to get longer intake hoses that would reach, like 14 dollars total) Still side by side but I've freed up room next to the closet to put the vacuum! I used my new circular saw! to cut down the counter top (which is really just a cheap luan door painted white) to the new width of the room, and Voila! A new and improved "walk in" laundry room.

Glorious!

LtoR- Basket of outgrown clothes for consignment, rags and old towels for quick cleanups, baskets of Laundry supplies, batteries, lightbulbs, etc., hangers for kids clothes, best sign ever, (not pictured)hangers for Adult clothes

(LtoR-Basket on floor to ensure proper dirty clothes placement~yeah right, Colored bins for each child's clothes, small wastebasket to collect lint/dryer sheets, and there's a small basket to collect coins and toys found in pockets, not pictured is my vacuum, the reason for all this chaos, but it's right next to the laundry basket!)

(I think there might be room for a small chair and book in the corner, if I could only find time to sneak away)

Next up! The garage!

Twenty Eleven!!!

2011-01-05T14:07:00.001-06:00

2011?!?!?!?!

seriously. is that what we're calling it?

I think I like two thousand eleven better, just seems like better grammar. And you's all knows me takes on great gramma.

So here we are. Another year. We were truly lame this year and were in bed before midnight. And not like, "oh, it's 9:30, let's go to bed" lame, like, "it's 11:50, wanna stay up? No? K, let's hit the rack." L.A.M.E.

It's sad really. Paul and I kinda partied ourselves out in MI. The night before we left to drive home, we attended the annual dinner that all his friends put together and stayed up until...wait for it...12:30!!!!! We're so fun!

Well, this year brings a little change, but not much. Ethan will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were talking about hopping on the TBS (The Basic School)or what we called it-(the baby school) bandwagon and trying to get pregnant! I can not believe he is already 5. He'll be 6 when school starts, and it's just amazing to me that time went by that fast!

Hannah just turned 3 at the end of December and was moved up to the "big Girl/Boy" room at preschool. She is really excited to be in a new class with new teachers. I also can't believe she's already 3. She's as tall as Ethan now and refuses to stop growing! The nice thing is she can stand up for herself now, though. :)

Grant turned 1 in August. Ugh. No more babies. No more bottles. No more midnight wakeups. (well not for him, anyway) He's running after his bro and sis and trying so hard to get a word in at every opportunity. He's grown so much and we enjoy his belly laughs and joyful smiles everyday.

(louie is still fat and lazy)

The changes that are in store for us this year are on more of a personal list, and not so much a transitional list. We won't be moving, starting new jobs, buying new cars, or having new babies (fingers crossed). Instead we've set some personal goals for ourselves that we really want to stick to.

Paul and I are going to run the Music City Marathon in April. (Please pray for me, since I don't normally run. Ever.)

Other than that, nothing's really new for 2011. I turn thirty. But we really don't even need to mention that to anyone. That can just stay between you and me. Deal?

ok, well, here are some pics...

G discovered the cowboy hat on the lamp!

This is their "pose" for Christmas Morning.

We took a trip to Historic Bell Buckle with my dad. It's always a fun time! Antiques, an old soda shop and home of the RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival!

The uniqueness of this town is just beautiful!

This is how cool this small town is. It just screams early 50's!

i hate that H is blurry, but what a cute pic!

Just me and my dad.

So while we were there...

Hannah started her modeling career...

apparently so did Ethan...

My dad realized his arch nemesis follows him everywhere...
(he works for State Farm)

And Paul enjoyed a wonderful cup of Hot Cocoa.
It was good. I tried it.

Hope everyone else did something fun and exciting for their new year. You can pick up my slack...
Here's to a wonderful 2011!

Salute`!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-26T14:32:00.000-06:00

As I post this, Hannah is screaming while in time out, Grant is throwing his cup on the ground repeatedly and Ethan is running nonstop!

Oh the joys of the holiday season.

Oh my Ethan

2010-12-16T08:52:00.001-06:00

Driving to school and I hear this from Ethan.

"geico, 15 minutes could save you one hundred and nine percent."

(sorry dad, don't tell state farm)

- Posted from my iPhone

The world according to Hannah...

2010-12-11T20:55:00.001-06:00

According to Hannah:

You can't have a party at a house, you have to GO to a party.

When anyone falls down on tv, they're dead.

When you say a name or place that she doesn't remember, she'll repeat it and then tell you "I don't know that word."

Louie doesn't eat grapes, he eats dog food, cause he's a fat dog.

All ornaments on the tree are called jingle bells.

When she grows into a boy, she'll be able to pee standing up.

When she grows down, she'll be able to play with grant's toys.

When you're six years old, you can go to karate.

Her poopies are sometimes "hard...to understand."

Hannah's going to turn 3 this month, and she knows that, she is very excited to be "bigger"!
She's growing up so fast, she's got her own little personality, and with that comes attitude, but someday that will come in handy. She says so many hilarious things we can't keep up, but we'll try, cause I can't wait to read these to her when she graduates!!!

- Posted from my iPhone

MTSU takes home the Sunbelt Championship 2010!!!!!

2010-11-25T13:14:00.000-06:00

In case anyone missed it...
The Ladies Volleyball team over at MTSU took home the Championship title on Saturday Nov 19. (Well, really they accepted it at home! THe first team to do that in over a decade actually!)
The game was pretty intense, I had no idea that volleyball was that action packed! Those are some girls I would not want to mess with!
I was honored to have the privilege to sing the National Anthem at the game, and really felt amazing to be a part of that. Those girls will remember that game for the rest of their lives! And I was there!
If you haven't seen the video yet, here it is...

And let me just say how thankful I am for all my friends and family that have showered me with compliments and encouraging words. You have no idea how much that helps when I'm standing in front of 1000 people hoping I don't forget the words. SO thank you to YOU!
Have a great Thanksgiving and be safe!

Another Tamron Lens Giveaway!!!

2010-11-25T13:07:00.000-06:00

Head on over to Pinch My Salt and enter to win that new awesome Tamron "all in one" lens!!!
(or don't, which will really up my chances!)

Click here to enter!!!!!!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!!!!!!

Shark!!!!

2010-11-22T10:05:00.000-06:00

Ethan and his shark. (complete with eyebrows)

MTSU vs USF Women's Basketball...

2010-11-15T10:26:00.000-06:00

I was invited back by MTSU Marketing to sing at another game! THis one was MUCH bigger and a little more intimidating than the last...
I had so much fun though!!!!

Ethanisms

2010-10-28T06:57:00.001-05:00

Ethan- "mom, God made this world so kids would listen to their mom and dads right??"
Mom- "uh, well....."
Ethan- "Yeah, that's right, that's what Hulk Hogan said too."

- Posted from my iPhone

Abbey Sings National Anthem

2010-10-24T18:53:00.000-05:00

It's a Party!

2010-10-22T07:49:00.000-05:00

The invites are out! Ethan is very excited! He has made some great friends at his school and he's really looking forward to having them come for a birthday party next weekend! It'll be a small get together at the park, but huge fun!

The Rocket's Red Glare!

2010-10-19T11:43:00.002-05:00

AGH! I'm so nervous!!! Paul is awesome and he got me a gig to sing the national anthem at a MTSU soccer game! THIS SUNDAY!!!! I think i may need to sarah palin it with the words...

Pray for me!!!!!

Finisher!!!!

2010-10-16T20:12:00.001-05:00

Give it up for Paul! Today he did an amazing thing! Paul ran the Murfreesboro Half Marathon! A.K.A. "The Middle Half" (did you see what they did there??!!) :)
Now I know the athletes out there are about to say, "13.1 miles, pffft! I could do that in my sleep!" BUT considering I don't run unless someone is chasing me, this is a huge accomplishment in my book!
The race started at 7am, and Paul handed me the paper with all the stop points of good places to take pictures, where to park, and the finish line location...
Without fail, our children slept in, the ONE day I needed to get out the door at a specific time. ugh.
Nevertheless, we made it to the race and got to the 13th mile hoping we hadn't already missed his big finish! We cheered some others on, yelled "Go State!" to some guy with a sparty shirt on and clapped for lots of runners! (When I say "we", I mean "me", my children just stared and looked at me like I was crazy.)
Then we saw him! Woot Woot!!! You can see by this grin that 13.1 was NOTHING for him! HAHAHAHA!

We got to see him run his last .1 miles and it was pretty exciting to hear all the motivating cheers inside the stadium!

How exhilarating!!!!

I couldn't be more proud of him! Let me just say, he did NOT have time to train for this and still pulled off a run time, 2:14:02. AND (in case the boss reads this) he advertised for the Marines the whole way, so he's a true recruiter! How about a round of applause!?

Check out what I did!

2010-10-08T18:40:00.001-05:00

I made an extension for my sewing table and saved Paul 89.99!!!!! I was really about to order one!!!!

Click on the pic for the tutorial!

Welcome Autumn!

2010-10-04T17:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Fall to everyone! Hope you're staying nice and toasty with all these cool breezes! I am LOVING this weather! Sure, my sinuses are outta whack, and I can barely breath without wheezing, but it's so worth it to have that crisp air! YAY!
Well, Autumn wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Cider Mill. Apple Orchards are all over in MI, so I pretty much assumed that was the case everywhere else. Well, I was wrong. I told my friend we were gonna try to get to the Apple Orchard this weekend and she just looked at me, "What's that?" HAHAHA! Wait, you mean you don't have those here? I totally had a Robin moment from HIMYM, "You don't have a Danby's Here?! Where do you get your Grizzly Bear Ice Cream Sandwiches!!!???"- only less Canadian.
So, we figured out they're called pumpkin patches (go fig!) and we found a great one to take the kids to this past Saturday! Walden Farms is up in Almaville. (Smyrna area)

Paul and the Kids

"Wait a minute..."

I can't believe I got her to look!!!

Awesome pic! Thanks babe!

My Granty Wanty!

Stuck in the Corn Maze!!!

I Heart this photo.

Ethan being Ethan

What you may not see here is the "bones" long sleeve pajama top under 2 additional t-shirts, paired with red running shorts, soccer socks pulled ALL the way up, dinosaur socks ON TOP of those and Sandals. Oh yeah, and the sunglasses on his head, which would have been goggles if we had brought them with us.

(and yes, my child dresses himself)

Generation Differences

2010-09-26T15:02:00.000-05:00

Sitting here playing with Ethan and he asked, how many cousins do you have? Wow. Great question. Let's compare shall we?

I Have

Aunts/Uncles Cousins

26 37

Ethan Has

Aunts/Uncles Cousins

4 4 (so far)

Isn't that amazing? I have such a hard time keeping in touch with my extended family, and now I can see why! Ethan will probably be able to stay in touch with all his family when he grows up. It's gonna be such a different dynamic for him than I had. I remember family Christmas get togethers and it was SO noisy and chaotic! Good thing he won't have to put up with that! :) HAHAHAHAHA!

But seriously! How families have changed is amazing! It was never so odd to have 6 plus kids! Now, if you have more than 2 you're deemed crazy! (which I can attest that you somewhat are) But I just thought it was an interesting tidbit to share with everyone...

My Model

2010-08-20T08:35:00.000-05:00

...works for food.

isn't she just darling?! If Hannah's ever having a rough day, I know how to cheer her up, put her in a dress and do a photo shoot! YAY!

Saying, "Thank you for my pretty dress!"

Dress Shirt Shirt Dress

2010-08-19T20:19:00.001-05:00

Ok, I've been eyeing THIS TUTORIAL for a while now and I finally got the guts to try it. I think it turned out really well! She went to bed before I could finish but I will definitely be getting a "princess picture" tomorrow.

The only thing I changed was (obviously) the cinching at the waistline, which I may still put in, just have to try it on her first... and the cap sleeves, instead of making another casing for elastic (which I hate BTW and don't understand why anyone would use it if they can get elastic thread!) I just shirred the hem so it made a puff. I used one of my old shirts and I like the pleats it already had in the front and back!

Well, hopefully she likes it, but given the fact that any dress makes her act like a princess, I think I'm golden.

Typical Monday

2010-08-16T15:00:00.001-05:00

I have been waiting for it to cool down so I could tackle some of my outside projects that have been on hold for a month. Today I got lucky and it was a breezy 82 degrees! (which compared to a straight full week of 100 degree weather and high humidity to boot, it felt like a cool spring day!)
So here's how my day panned out.
6:20-woke and showered
7:00-breakfast for kids/myself
7:30-stripped all beds, uncluttered all rooms, emptied trash, vacuumed all rooms, washed all sheets and kids blankets.

9:00-took garage bookcase outside to wash and wipe down in prep for painting.
9:30-waiting for bookcase to dry, trimmed and pruned entire front flower bed, including large over grown tree with "snow" flowers. Ugh, hate that thing!

10:00-remade all beds, laid G down to sleep and took E&H outside to play with the hose.
10:15-cleaned up H's pee off garage floor, gave her a treat anyway so she doesn't develop a complex.
10:30-cleaned up all cut branches, shrubs, etc.
11:00-wiped two booties. ( why does everyone poo at the same time??)
11:15-reorganized garage sale stuff ( yes, somehow we have more stuff to sell!!!)
12:00-lunch with kids, put them down for quiet time, reinforced old bookshelf with 1by2's and used my miter saw for the first time!!! Agh!!!! Love it!!!

1:30-hopped in for my second shower of the day, ate a chocolate square (ok maybe 2) and now I'm sitting here writing this and thinking about what to do for din din.
This is all between chatting on the phone, refilling milk cups, snacks, and checking on mischievous children...
Ahhhhhhhhh, feels so good to be productive!!!

Btw, if anyone else out there is stuck in "survival mode" like we were the past 11 months, and would love some sort of a schedule, you should really check out flylady.com!

I'll admit, some of her stuff is kinda corny, but the overall weekly routine and zone cleaning schedule are amazing!!! I love having a list to look at so I can just check it off and know I've done the housework. It's brainless, and so quick! It even sounds stupid, but my mood and spirits have been so much better since I started flying!
Now I'm gonna sit and enjoy an iced tea...

Hope you all have a great and productive week!!

Abbey K <3

- Posted from my iPhone

Walker, Grant Ranger

2010-08-07T00:34:00.001-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen! We are pleased to announce Grant's first three steps! Tonight before bed he took completely independent steps from the ottoman to mommy and then again to daddy!!! He can take about three before losing his balance and plopping down to his booty, but we are hopeful that without the weekend we can raise that number to at least 7!!!! We can do it!!! Go Grant Go!!!!

- Posted from my iPhone

To Buy? Or not to Buy?

2010-07-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

So most of you know we are trying to get out of debt. We are VERY close but it is a slow process. Unless the government can start paying us every day, we will be done in less than a year!
We are trying the Dave Ramsey plan and it's going very well. It's really motivating to pay off the smallest debt first (regardless of interest rate) so that you can see progress quickly, and then roll over that months payment into the next debt. We have started our emergency fund and have paid off one card already. We look forward to 6 months from now when we will be on our last card and working towards paying off our cars and Student Loans.
What a great feeling it will be when we can up and leave for a vacation and not have to worry about how we will pay the bills when we get home.
Have you struggled with paying off debt? What are some motivating things that help you stay on track?

The Mother of All.....

2010-07-16T19:26:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, we will have our very first "independent" garage sale. I say independent because the first (and only) one we had was headed up by my mother and Paul's father. That's when Rich coined the term "mother of all garage sales." I am hoping by writing this post the night before, it doesn't leave him enough time to pack his car full of stuff and drive down to participate! (Love ya Rich!)
It's a little nerve racking, though, I must say. Our only experience with selling things by ourselves was in Okinawa at the Flea Markets. I REALLY hope it doesn't end up like this!

While I know there's not many Japanese in the area, southerners have been known to LOVE a good sale!

So, pray for us while we embark on this journey, with three kids who will want desperately to be a part of it, and hope we don't lose our minds in the process!

Overheard

2010-07-02T17:16:00.000-05:00

Ethan- "Don't look at me! I'm dead!"

Hannah- "yeeeeaaahhh, me too."

- Posted from my iPhone

What kind of dog?!?!

2010-06-19T19:25:00.000-05:00

I can NOT believe I have forgotten to make a post about this! Back a few weeks ago, I came downstairs to a startling surprise. Where normally "surprises" would elicit yells and timeouts from me, I could not help but almost pee my pants laughing, especially after seeing the expression on Louie's face...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

(Hannah washes the dog)

When this story is told, it is met with reactions like "what kind of dog would just stand there and let this happen???"
Well, now we know. Louie is THAT dog.

Um, how do you know him??!!

2010-06-14T16:31:00.001-05:00

Tonight at dinner, Ethan asked if we would all like to hear his story.
He says, "it's a story about boy named Michael Jackson. He wanted to play baseball with his kids, but then he decided to come home and play and the sprinkler."
"really, cool, um, who were his kids?"
"um, I can't tell you what the kids names are because it's a secret message."

Um. How do you know who Michael Jackson is????!!!!
- Posted from my iPhone

Spring has Sprung!

2010-05-20T13:46:00.001-05:00

Lalalalalalala! I could sing like a Disney princess! My grass is growing in full, my flowers are bursting with buds and now we have a little mama bird in our tree that's about to start her family! Quick! Someone make up a snappy little tune for that!
Grant and I were enjoying some time on the swing today and we noticed her sitting in her cozy little nest. She flew away before I could snap pics of her, but I tried to get some nest pics without disrupting the eco-balance of her home. Doesn't look like there's any eggs yet, but maybe soon!!!!!

Here's Mama Bird! Can't tell here, but she's a bit hefty looking!

Oh Yeah, and my hydrangeas started blooming!!! Aren't they scrumptious?!?!

Patio update

2010-05-19T15:02:00.002-05:00

Well, looks like babies aren't my only strong suit, apparently I can grow grass too! I laid this patio just one short month ago and it's filled in rather nicely!

The House of Skank

2010-05-13T21:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, it's nasty here. For the past few days every single one of us has had some form of the flu. Head flu and stomach flu have been circulating around our house like it's cool. Well, guess what. It's not. After being com.plete.ly miserable on Tuesday, I had to summon up the strength to get Ethan to school on Wednesday so I could at least have some resting time. This would be the day Hannah woke up with a fever. A fever that escalated to 102.4 throughout the day. This is good and bad. The good part is that she laid around all day falling in and out of deep sleep. The bad part is that she wanted to this right next to me, so as if my hot flashes weren't enough, I had my very own personal heating pad drooling on the pillow next to me. Grant, through all this, was bubbly, smily and playful, and oh how I wish I could have played with him, but really all he wanted to do was grab at my glasses while I lay comatose on the floor.
My biggest fear was that Ethan would arrive home sick from school, since that's the way this all hit me on Monday. I was perfectly fine in the morning, and by 2pm I was a wreck. Thankfully, though, when Paul brought him home (p.s., thank you SO much!), Ethan was still his lively self. With no energy to grocery shop, or clean my kitchen, Paul planned to run to Panera (mmm) and grab us all dinner. 10 minutes later he arrived back, Ethan in tow, and ran right up to the tub. No, NO, NOOOO! Yup. He threw up all over himself in the very back seat of the van. All I have to say is leather cleans up fairly easy.
Let's not fail to mention that The Man of the house is also sick through all of this, but seems to maintain composure for the benefit of his family. You amaze me with your ability to hold it together for the sake of us. You truly are stoic.
I finally made it to the Dr today and, with the same treatment as last time, have some how started to feel a bit better. I still am a little queasy and light headed, however nothing to the extent of Tuesday's "worst day ever" (in my book at least). And all this happens the DAY after Paul and I sit down and come up with daily, weekly and monthly schedules and routines to get our lives back in some sort of a "non-survival mode".
Well wasn't that a nice how do you do!? We'll try this schedule thing again next week.

Um, awesome.

2010-05-10T11:46:00.001-05:00

Hey Marines! Can you make french fries with your multi-purpose tool?!?!?!?!?!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

2010-05-08T17:49:00.000-05:00

Since I will be sleeping in, getting breakfast in bed and then shopping all day without children (right, Paul???), I figured I would wish all the mommies out there a Happy Mother's Day a little early. We are all so blessed to have children that fill our lives with love every day and don't forget, our home would fall apart without us :). Even if you're not a biological mom, I know you have children around you that are blessed to have you in their life, even if one of them might be your husband!!! ;)

I want to share a few of my blessings with you...

Mommy's boy Ethan, always making me laugh with his sense of humor!

My little Hannah, always enjoying gardening with mommy.

Grant fills mommy's day with smiles and laughter!

And let's not forgot the women who made this all possible... :)

Me and my mommy (do you love my 80's sweater??)

4 Generations of love right here folks!

Thank you mom, and Grandma, for all the mothering you did. There is not a "right" or "wrong" way, you do what you can with love in your heart and everything ends up just as it should have.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!!!!!!

XOXO-

Abbey

Flooding

2010-05-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, when I said interesting, I guess I said a mouthful. I had no idea that the day would come to this.
Currently I am watching a Mayor's press conference about the flooding here in Middle TN. We have had over 12 inches of rain in some areas and there is one confirmed drowning. The current is picking up buildings and floating them away and then destroying them due to the amount of pressure built up by the water.
For those who know the area, 1-24 and Bell Rd (Hickory Hollow area) was COMPLETELY flooded. This is about 20 minutes north west from us.

Please keep all the folks in our area in your prayers. We've had 3 tornado warnings and several watches. They still expect MORE rain (up to 5 inches) for tonight and tomorrow.

So far, our neighborhood is still above water, but it could all change over night.

Ok, and the news just now issued a new tornado watch.

Please keep us in your thoughts.

Thank you!

Rainy Days

2010-05-01T09:26:00.002-05:00

It's been fabulous here weather wise, sun shining and breezy all week long. And then. The weekend comes. This is the second soccer game that has been cancelled due to rain. And I'm not talking about "showers". It's severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings across middle Tennessee. It's been tough to find stuff to keep the kids busy and out of our hair all weekend. We hope to get some much needed indoor house work done while we're stuck indoors, though. Hopefully we can get all our garage sale things organized and start our master bath re-do. I've also decided that I absolutely despise the color in my kitchen and I can't take it anymore. So we're going to repaint it as well (and by "we", I mean I'm going to try my hardest to convince Paul he needs to do it since his painting skills are far superior to mine!). My friend who's an interior designer gave me a free mini consult the other day and we think the best value for resale would be to paint these ugly orange oak cabinets and it would look 10 times better. A lot of work, but low cost for high impact.
That's about all that's going on here. We're getting ready for my parents visit at the end of May and we hope to get away for our anniversary. 6 years! Can you believe it!? And we haven't had that much time away from the kids so I told Paul don't even buy me anything, just take me away and make me forget I have children for a night. That's a gift in itself.
Hope everything is well with everyone and we'll update soon! If anything interesting happens that is.

Don't cry...

2010-04-15T08:44:00.000-05:00

Cleaning up pools of milk in each button hole of the couch is not fun. Just letting you know. ANd it all happened in the time it took to take Grant to bed. NOT EVEN 5 minutes. I love you, Hannah.

PINK!

2010-04-13T13:59:00.002-05:00

I don't consider myself much of a green thumb. In fact, I usually kill anything that crosses my path, plant wise. However, the previous residents of this home planted some amazing pink flowers. I have tulips, lilies, a beautiful tree in the back yard and some flowering bushes out front, all pink! I love it! They are all so pretty and intricate with detail. Which is what keeps me motivated to keep them alive. The detail is picture worthy so I have to keep watering and weeding in order to get great pics! Here's a few that I had to share...

2010-04-13T08:46:00.001-05:00

Who wouldn't want to win a new lens!??!?! This is a pretty cool one!!
MCP Actions Tamron Lense Giveaway!

Ode to my brother

2010-04-09T14:16:00.003-05:00

Here is my post. I had a great day.

Have a great day.

This girl is Bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!!

2010-03-12T11:41:00.001-06:00

I love me some Hannah! Especially when she's eating something. She dances and really "experiences" the food. SO I couldn't pass up this opportunity to get some good shots of her enjoying her lollipop the other day.

Have a great day!

little updates

2010-03-04T16:56:00.003-06:00

here's some updates on the kiddos. Well, updated pics. Nothing is really new.

potty training, starting solids and registering for PreSchool...can you guess who?

Love is in the Air

2010-02-15T12:28:00.002-06:00

We had a wonderful Valentines Day. Paul came home from traveling all week, but he really pulled out all the stops! I thought for sure we would stay in, usually he's exhausted from his trips. But we got a sitter and headed out for my big surprise. I *honestly* didn't know where we were going. (Usually I prod enough and break him down into giving me a hint where I can come to the conclusion on my own), but not this time.
First, he took me to Kay (Every Kiss Begins with Kay...) Jewelers to get my new Eco-Drive (ambient light powered) watch to get sized! It's so sleek! He made an excellent choice!

Then we went out to eat. Or should I say, we went to the restaurant, walked in the door, heard "2 1/2 hours" and walked out. So we decided to eat later.

The drive began. Every turn knocked one of the options out of the running. I had no idea. We headed for Nashville, then towards Knoxville! I was stumped!
But just then we turned of the highway on to Opry Land Drive!!! Woot Woot!!!!
He took me to Opry Land!!!
If you haven't heard of it...check this out...

The whole night reminded me of every cool place we had ever been together! It had the History of D.C., the quaint cafes reminded me of Jamaica, the tropical feeling of Hawaii was there, and they even had a sushi bar which brought back memories of Okinawa! He joked that that was exactly what he had planned all along! :) Well, he did a great job in my book! And it was a well needed night out for the two of us. We ended the night with an authentic Irish meal at a pub (with live fiddle players!, Oh Cleary's how I miss you!) and a stop at the Godiva Chocolate store for some truffles and chocolate covered oreos.
We didn't staty the night, but we were planning our next visit before we left!

{Pic1-Outside view of OpryLand; Pic2-One of many waterfalls inside;Pic3-1 of 5 Atriums they have in the world of awesomeness!}

Thank you, Paul, for everything you do! You are the best man a girl could ask for! I love you with all my heart!

I GET IT!!!

2010-02-07T21:52:00.002-06:00

Steve Jobs is laughing at me, but I finally get the iPad.
It's not for me. It's not for Paul. It's not even for Ethan or Hannah. No, it's for my Grandma.
Yep. You heard me. Grandma.
Grandma, who doesn't want all the bells and whistles (nor price tag) of a computer. Grandma who wants to share pictures of the grandkids with the girls over coffee at the Y after her swim aerobics class using their free Wi-Fi. Grandma who doesn't need another utility bill when, let's face it, she would only be checking this blog, and maybe her Facebook page that her great-grandkids talked her into joining. Grandma who can't type anything on those tiny iPhone keys let alone see them (because she gets an external keyboard with the Pad)! And Grandma, who is cool, but thinks that having something new and gadget-esk makes her cooler.
So, it all makes sense to me now.
What doesn't make sense is why they didn't call it the iDepend?

An Apple a day...

2010-01-30T21:13:00.000-06:00

Seriously! Stop creating new products! We're drowning! We don't know what is necessary, unnecessary, must have, too cool, or a flop anymore!!! I love my iPhone. I do. I was skeptical, I'll admit. I thought, why not just get a cheaper phone that does somewhat the same thing? But now I don't know what I would do without it. It's gotten me around my new hometown, looked up drs phone numbers on the run, made appts with calendar in hand (knowing what Paul's schedule is as well), and even given me some time-killers (sudoku) when I'm waiting for an appointment.
Now, I also love my Mac. It just works. (ha!) I've never had a virus. I've never had it freeze up on me. And I have over 10,000 pictures that don't take 20 minutes each to load. I can check my email, view my facebook, upload pictures, all while creating a new blog header in photoshop, and I never have to worry about the blue screen of death that I hear so many Vista users talk about.
So, Abbey, why the heck do you think we care about this??!!
Well, I'll tell you. Apple just launched it's new product called the iPad. Besides it's unfortunate name, it has a few other downers as well.
To Paul, me and MANY Many others, it's a glorified iPod Touch.
Now let me go back. Two nights ago. When my nerdy husband and I sat in bed excitedly watching the Apple Keynote presentation, I admit I got really pumped and told Paul I wanted one. He wasn't sold yet. In Fact, his words were "underwhelmed".
"But look at everything it can do! Full internet pages! Great quality videos! A Book Store!!!"
"It's what it can't do."
WH-WH-WHAT!?!??!
Dare you say that Apple will be launching a product in a mere 90 days that doesn't go above and beyond their last product??? I SAY! Dare you!??!?! Blasphemy!!!
...hmm, then I started thinking. I'll prove him wrong. It's because he has a laptop and an iPhone that he thinks there is no need for such thing. Ah ha! That's it! I need one because I don't have a laptop.
"But you can't run Snow Leopard on it." (for all you windows users, that's what mac calls it ever dominating operating system)

huh?

wait. Let me get this straight. You can't run OS-X, which means you can't multi-task. There's no phone. There's no cd-drive. There's not even Flash. The one thing they could have done right was to make it Flash compatible! And they didn't. WHY!??!!?

Because then, they couldn't get you to buy the iPad-Overnight with Wings.
THAT'S when it'll be the laptop with no keyboard, instead of the iPod Touch on steroids.

Little Helpers

2010-01-26T22:50:00.000-06:00

I constantly wonder how I can make helping mommy look or sound fun. Apparently I haven't found it yet. Everything I say (even bribery with chocolate or lollipops) has not seemed to work. Ethan's stock answer is , "I can't right now because I'm __________." [to tired, sick, wearing a shirt] pretty much anything that would sound like an excuse to a four year old.
Hannah eagerly answers with a "YEAH!" and then gets distracted the second she leaves to do the "chore".
Grant and Louie are useless. I'm done trying with them.

So this topic brings me to todays post. We've been trying the whole have-to-clean-up-before-we-start-something-new routine. And I guess you could say it's going pretty well. It takes A LOT of help on our part to get them to actually do it, but it's teaching them something (i hope). So today, I'm loading the dishwasher while the kids are playing upstairs. Both come down and Ethan says, "puh! ewww, yuck, I can smell Hannah's poopy diaper!" (This would be the third one of the day. She's obviously sick).
"Hannah did you poop?"
"ya, i poop." (can you tell we need to start potty training!?)
"ok, mommy has a few more dishes to go, can you go get your diaper and the wipes for me and I'll be right there to change you?"
"YEAH!"
Off they go into the living room.
Then. It happens.
Ethan decides right then that this would be the perfect time to be mommy's little helper.
Right then. My hands are wet and soapy. Louie's scratching at the door. Grant needs a bottle. Ethan wants to change Hannah's diaper. yeah. ok. you get what I'm saying here?
He comes in the kitchen with a poopy wipe in his hand saying, "eww..this stinks!" (I can't control my laughter while typing this)
I freak!
I enter the living room to find 3 wipes (dirty) on the floor next to a filled diaper and hannah staring up at me, with NOTHING but carpet underneath her butt. (Did I mention she was sick!?)

So, you can't clean up the legos cause you "have to get underwear on". You can't put your clothes away because you're "wearing socks". You can't even eat your food, because you're "seeing what that noise is". But you WANT to change a nasty diarrhea poop of your sister's because you're 4 and you know how to do it!??!?!

I need the number to the nearest mental hospital.

Chittlins

2010-01-21T09:59:00.002-06:00

So I can't help but wonder if I'm in for a lifetime of stress.
Part of the joy of having three kids under 5 is that we'll be "getting it out of the way" all at once. Not like I don't enjoy it, but you know, that's just what they say. You raise them all at once and then you're done. You're not starting over in 5 years with another bottles bibs and burpies. Stupidly, I thought that would mean this would be somewhat easy? What was I drinking when I had that epiphany?
I just gave thanks to the Lord that Ethan has moved beyond the stage of screaming/crying over food. As in, every morning, no matter how careful we were, something about breakfast was not prepared correctly. And we all know that "Actually mom, I didn't want syrup on the pancakes, I wanted it in a bowl so I could dip it, but that's ok, thank you so much for a great breakfast even though it's 5 am and I know you'd rather be sleeping, etc..." is not a part of a 2-3 year old's vocabulary. I guess they just know that crying over it will make us do anything to make it right. Nevertheless, the kid has moved on. Moved on to pleases and thank you's, excuse me's and may I's. It was wonderful...for the 1 day it lasted. Then it was like something in Hannah's brain clicked. "Wait a minute, polite? what's that? I want what I want right now and I'm gonna get it no matter what!". She has decided to pick up right where E left off. I dealt with it for 2 years, stressful mornings of walking on eggshells, and now it's Hannah's turn. So 2 more years of this, seriously? I don't know if I can handle that. Because now I'm thinking, when she stops, Grant will start, and then when he's done, it will be Ethan's turn to start the "I hate you's and you're the worst mother ever!" phase... And then is that all gonna repeat, and then Hannah will hit the "boy crazy" phase, and my sons will have girlfriends, and fights, and school issues, and Oh my, I don't know if I can even deal with this!
I guess I'll just have to take it "One Day At a Time", like the AA members say. Because let's face it, being a SAHM is almost like recovering from an addiction. An addiction to thinking it's all about me.

Jersey Shore Names

2010-01-19T19:05:00.001-06:00

So we've determined aliases for the fam:

Abbey = AWoww
Paul = Pauly B
Ethan = YouJohn
Hannah = The Experience
Grant = Grizzle
Louie = L-Lazy

And special guest, Uncle Mark as Lunchbox.

Holy Cow...Was That 2009?

2010-01-01T00:22:00.000-06:00

by Paul

As 2009 draws to a close, I am looking back on the past twelve months and wondering how we managed to squeeze so much into a calendar year. Abbey and I have jokingly labeled the last few years with an appropriate title; 2006 was the "year that wouldn't end," as a littany of events and changes made the year stretch on and on. 2007 was the "year of fun," as I finished my post as an aide and we hosted both sets of grandparents in Okinawa and got out to see a lot of the island. 2008 we dubbed "the year of sickness" due to both kids being in pre-school and life on that tiny island bringing every manner of germ and bacteria home...it seemed like at least one or all of us was consistently down with something or other for the entire twelve months. 2009 had to be the year of transition, or maybe activity, as we have been running non-stop.

The year began for us back in Oki. Just after the new year, we were enjoying the warm breeze on our back porch one night and I said to Abbey, "you watch...it will be 2010 before we know what's hit us." Not that I looked in a crystal ball, but I suspected that the moving process, starting a new job, recovering from surgery, a new baby, setting up house back in the States, and multiple family visits would make the year fly. And so it did.

Here's a quick recap of what went down, in no particular order...

Michigan

We managed to all make it back to our home state twice in 2009. Abbey & I had each visited once separately but it had been our first collective visit since 2005. I had been really missing the ol' mitten but a properly-timed trip in the throes of winter made me again thankful for living in the South.

Grant

We added another boy to our family with Grant's arrival in August. The bonus of living relatively close to home (well, compared to Japan) allowed both Grandmas to come and assist with the first weeks of his life.

Mark

My brother, Mark, earned his commission as a second lieutenant and was able to move to Tennessee temporarily to work with me. This was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm so thankful we were able to make it happen. His presence in Middle Tennessee has allowed us to pursue the "Pizza Quest," where we sample all of the local pizzerias and see how they stack up. So far, so good. We also got to take a family road trip to our old stomping grounds in Virginia to see him graduate OCS.

Sports

I've admittedly never been a huge sports fan, but being in Okinawa and having little or no access to such things most of the time leant itself to rekindling my interest in hockey and college sports. Plus, my duties require me to talk collegiate football a lot so it's really "researching," right? I hadn't been to a pro sports event in years but I managed to squeeze in the following in 2009: a couple NHL games, a Texas Rangers game, in Arlington, a Memphis Grizzlies game, and something like 10 NCAA football and baseball games. And Ethan got to go with me to see a minor league baseball game (Nashville Sounds) and watch the Predators lose to the Flames.

Family Thanksgiving

Abbey and I decided over a year ago that, when we returned to the States, we would love to host our families to a Thanksgiving dinner. We were really excited about doing it but, honestly in the back of our minds we didn't think our families would ultimately be able to make the trip. To our delight and their credit, everyone made it down and it was easily one of the most memorable holidays ever.

Officer Selection Duty

My new job has been stimulating and rewarding. It keeps me on the road a little better than half the month on average, but I love what I'm doing and enjoy being out in the civilian community. I think we all miss being near a lot of other Marines, though.

There's so many other things but those are the big ones. We have a lot of goals in 2010 and are hoping it turns out to be as amazing as 2009 was...although hopefully a little more stable and less busy. :)

Happy Birthday

2009-12-22T11:25:00.001-06:00

Hannah is 2!!!! It's hard to believe that time has flown by this quick! Take a look...

- Posted from my iPhone

I'll be home for Christmas

2009-12-21T19:17:00.001-06:00

And I'm not dreaming! We will be in MI for the holidays for the first time since 2005. We're really excited to see all the family and especially our friends that we missed for our southern style thanksgiving. We were originally planning on staying at home to celebrate our first Christmas as home owners, but then it clicked, the kids don't know what "day" Christmas is so we celebrated on the 20th and had the kids open presents then. They loved it and have no idea what they're in for when the 25th comes! We are enjoying a super nice hotel room courtesy of the reward points Paul has earned from his constant travels. We'll be rolling in tomorrow on HANNAH'S 2ND BIRTHDAY!!! It's also grandma's birthday so what a gift for each of them!!!
Can't wait to get there!!!

- Posted from my iPhone

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-15T14:40:00.000-06:00

Kids grow up so fast...

2009-12-14T23:07:00.001-06:00

So we get home from school today and Ethan goes in the door before me, stops at the stairs, looks around and says, "Well well well, you cleaned the house today."
As a matter of fact, E, no I didn't. But thanks for the compliment!

Hannah's talking up a storm lately and it seems she learns a new word each day. Saturday was, "itsa oval!". Yesterday was "itsa clock!" today was "no! I donwannit, mommy!!!" Ah, can't wait for the teenage years.

Grant's been really fussy for the last couple weeks and went almost a week (again) without pooping. I've been supplementing with formula since my milk supply is dwindling (I know, irony, eh?). So I tried switching formulas and apparently it worked. I had to light a candle.

While I was out getting E from school, Louie decided to get my starbucks cup (with gingerbread latte in it) down from the computer desk and drink the rest. I realized this after he darted from one side of the room to the other and jumped in my lap. He smelled delicious, I knew something was up.

- Posted from my iPhone

TOYS!

2009-12-13T10:22:00.000-06:00

I got a new toy the other day!!!!! Thank you Santa!!!Singer SES-1000 Sewing/Embroidery/Serger!!!

He packed it with a toy for everyone else!!!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-01T12:54:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful and you all got to see your families. We had our families down from each side for a few days and it was great to spend time with all of them. Our (first) turkey turned out fabulous, and we found some good deals on Friday that I just never could find at the PX on Oki. We're looking forward to coming up for Christmas but we're still finalizing the dates. Hope to see most of you again soon, and if we haven't seen you yet, perhaps we can catch each other in the north! Have a great December!

I knew this would come

2009-11-04T18:37:00.000-06:00

But I had no idea that a 4 year old would think of it!

Tonight (much like every other night) we had to bribe Ethan to eat his food. If he wanted Halloween candy then he had to eat his (small) bowl of macaroni. And seriously, what kid doesn't like macaroni??
So after he sat there for 15 minutes and fiddled with the fork and talked to me about what he was going to get out of his special treat bag, he hadn't taken even one bite.
Then, I walk into the kitchen to great Paul and I catch E dumping the last of his mac and cheese into the trash and he turns around(not knowing I've caught him) and says, "I ate all my macaroni." and shows me his empty bowl. Wow. Really? You're 4. Seriously? I didn't know you had it in ya.

Got Poop?

2009-10-14T13:29:00.000-05:00

Uh, yeah, you know you're a mom when you stick a thermometer into your baby's rectum and actually get excited when poop comes out. 2 diapers full. Yeah.

GO GRANT!

1 Month!

2009-09-23T09:29:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that Grant is already a month old. We are just settling into some sort of a routine, but I'm sure he'll change that soon enough. We're looking for preschools for Ethan as he's asking on a daily basis when he's going to see his friends at school with his new teacher. Hannah is getting used to her new "mother hen" roll, whenever she finds a pacifier, she needs to stick it into Grant's mouth. So things are good, just looking forward to more sleep soon. Cross your fingers.

Announcing Grant Bertolone

2009-09-12T21:54:00.004-05:00

We added a beautiful baby boy to our family on August 25th named

Grant Benjamin Bertolone.

Weighing in at 8lbs 10oz, and measuring 21 inches long, he is adorable!

Dark brown hair, blue eyes and a little dimple like his daddy. We can't get enough of him!

Brother and Sister are already smitten as well. It took a few days of warming up, but now we have 2 wonderful helpers on our hands that are ready and willing whenever we need them.

We've had so much help from family, it's overwhelming. We are not used to being this spoiled when a new Bertolone arrives, we may have to have more! (TOTALLY JOKING)

We've had pictures taken already, birth announcements printed and they'll be posted and mailed out soon. We hope everyone is doing well. Abbey bounced back the quickest with this one so things are going very good.

We're just hoping someday we can have some alone time again.

Even my Son Knows I'm a Nerd

2009-08-18T08:26:00.002-05:00

by Paul

When I left for the gym this morning, the family was still asleep. After my workout, I came home to find them all eating breakfast. Ethan greeted me at the door, and with the logic only a three-year-old has, he asked, "Daddy, you were out all night?"

"Yeah," I joked, "I didn't even get any sleep." Then, thinking I could make a clever joke that would go over the kids' heads and make Abbey laugh, I said "I was out all night clubbin'."

Then, Ethan gave me the following response..."Yeah, you were at a book club."

Gee, thanks.

Still Pregnant

2009-08-08T10:09:00.002-05:00

In case you were wondering.

Still here, still pregnant, and it's looking like I will be pregnant right up until the due date or a week over, just like the other 2.

I'll keep you updated, but as of right now there isn't anything new to report.

Hang in there, the little guy will be here soon!

TGIF

2009-07-31T19:50:00.002-05:00

Bedtime.

Sweet silence.

Glass of wine (hey let's face it, he's done baking in there).

Dark chocolate.

maybe some jello, later on.

These are a few of my favorite things. Today.

Paul is on his way back from the happiest place on earth and I am ready to welcome him with open arms. It's really hard when you know he's out to dinner and seeing neat things, and not just miserable at a conference all day long. Plus, I think if the head of my next child wasn't using my bladder for his pillow, I could have made it through the week with no complaints. But, well, we can't have it all can we?

So, here it is, day 5. Hm, 5 days. wow. That's it. 5 whole days. If I was in Oki, this would not be a big deal AT ALL. I had connections, friends, events, routine. I knew where stuff was, how to get around. Here, I have nothing yet. If by any chance you are reading this and live in the Murfreesboro area, you can be my friend!!! We could hang out, get coffee, look for schools to ship our kids off to and then go shopping together!!!! It would be so much fun!!! It's times like this I miss Okinawa and a military base all together. Yeah, there I said it, I miss Okinawa. But not the island, the people, the friendships, the community that looked out for one another. Hmmm. I'll stop now before I starting sobbing on my keyboard.

Anywho, he's gonna be home soon, and maybe I'll even get to sleep in tomorrow. Thanks for putting up with me, facebook fans, and all my stupid updates with how misery and I spent the last week. Now I'm off to watch some trash on tv, and wait for my one and only...

(Man, if you made it through this post, you are truly a dedicated reader. Can anyone say HORMONES?!?!)

Back Online

2009-07-26T19:13:00.002-05:00

For the last week we've been unable to get online. Paul was very disappointed when he got home to find no internet connection, which also means no home phone since we use vonage. I had to use my cell ($$$$$) for every call I made. Checking email on my phone is fine, but replying is a pain, and account management for bill paying sucks on a 3 inch screen, so we're glad to be back on.

However, what I'm not happy about is the reason we were offline to begin with.

Sunday I was vacuuming the kids rooms and had to move some furniture around as always. We have the modem hooked up in Ethan's closet but the cable runs from his wall in through the closet door. I don't know what I did, but I must have bumped the cable just enough to disconnect it and then Paul's parents got in that night and I didn't even think to check email until Monday morning.

I'm just ranting, I feel so stupid that I didn't check the physical connection first and just assumed it was comcast's fault. AND I feel even worse that I just now thought to check the connection and Paul leaves again in the morning. I hate stupid things like this.

In other news, Paul's family just left after a week of visiting (helping) me and kids. For the first time in my life, I can honestly say there are no projects that need to be done. No organizing, lawn care, home maintenance, nothing. I really forgot how nice it is to have the help of family. Living on Okinawa for 3 years taught me to suck it up and deal or to do it myself, and being this pregnant just doesn't work when you're trying to dig up weeds and landscape the mailbox area. SO I was so happy to have the help of my FIL and BIL with all the manual labor and SO thankful to my MIL to play with the kids while I supervised the men (my favorite job).

All around this has been a great 3 weeks, tough, but great to have the help of others. To all my milwives out there that have done ANY amount of deployment without the aid of family and friends, or hell, even with the help! I commend you. You have my utmost respect for getting through the LONG months without your husband. I still have one more week to go, and this one will be on my own, so cross your fingers for me.

What gets accomplished...

2009-07-18T20:34:00.005-05:00

So my mom and her friend Kim just left this afternoon after a week stay with me and the kids while Paul was away. I have to admit, after driving to DC, I thought the last thing I wanted were house guests. But they were anything but that. Worker bees more like it. After the first night they arrived, did my dishes, all my laundry and picked up my house, I knew this was going to be a tough goodbye today. I had a list of things that I have been wanting to accomplish since we moved in, typical stuff such as organizing rooms, getting some curtains hung and straightening up the yard a bit, but what got accomplished in these last 7 days is unbelievable. E and H make it difficult to do anything (seriously, I get interupted while I'm peeing) so the list was more of a To Do [if i get a chance] list.

Get a load of what we did.

>Sewed new curtain pockets on all my japanese drapes

>Hung curtain rod and new curtains in H's room and mine

>Fixed E's curtain as it was falling out of the wall

>Moved my bedroom around

>Organized my garage (even the screws/nails/nuts and bolts)

>Layed a peel and stick floor and grouted it in the new closet

>Painted the new closet

>Measured/ Shopped for/ and hung all new cabinets and cozies in closet

>Mowed and trimmed lawn

>Weeded all the flower beds

>Organized kitchen cabinets

All this while keeping the 2 kiddos and the dog on somewhat of a normal schedule, and trying to go into labor, AND having all my everyday household chores caught up on. I know I'm forgetting things that we did (give me a break, I'm exhausted).

I am so thankful that they came to help, and it was very much appreciated!!!!! You two are welcome back anytime!!!!

Take a look at the pic of before/after of the closet project. {click to enlarge}

Thanks to Kim and my Dad for all your help with this, I am more than pleased with the outcome!!!

Off to bed now as I prepare for more visitors in 2 days.

Paul...hurry home...we miss you.

Continuing a Legacy...

2009-07-05T12:20:00.009-05:00

by Paul

Well, two legacies actually, if you want to label them as such. The past few days saw events that I will count among my most treasured memories. The recent months have been very turbulent and busy for the family; we've faced a good bit of uncertainty and nervous excitement between an overseas move, a new assignment, and various other factors. But the Independence Day holiday period brought two very exciting milestones that I must proudly share with you.

First, my brother, Mark, ended one chapter in his life as he graduated from the University of Michigan. Remarkably, he did this in under three years, despite the challenging and reading intense concentrations of two majors: Political Science and Ancient Civilizations & Religious Studies. And all while participating in Naval ROTC and completing the extra Naval Science classes that came with it. As if that weren't impressive enough, on 2 July he culminated his three years of training and preparation and, after six weeks of intense screening and evaluation, graduated from Marine Officer Candidates School.

This new chapter of Mark's life begins as he starts a career as a commissioned officer of the US military. I was humbled that he chose me to officiate his commissioning ceremony, and doing so was without question the proudest moment of my ten-plus years as a Marine. Other than one great uncle, I was the first person in the extended Bertolone or Merciez families to enlist in the Marine Corps. Abbey's family carries a very strong Army lineage and I have a grandfather and four uncles who served as soldiers, but I began what may perhaps be a new tradition of Marine Corps service. Little did I know.

{click to enlarge}

It seems like not too long ago when "little" Mark was running through the woods behind our parents' home in a set of my old utilities. I wasn't very surprised when he professed a desire to serve. At his OCS graduation I was thinking that it was remarkable how he and I have maybe created a new legacy. The picture above depicts Mark and me at my own commissioning, in Ann Arbor, Michigan and, six years later, at his ceremony at the foot of the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

On the way home to Tennessee I somehow convinced Abbey to allow a stop in Charlottesville to again visit one of my favorite places in the world: Monticello. Although the kids may not be quite old enough to fully appreciate the cultural value of Thomas Jefferson's home, it was emotional for me to be able to sit on the steps of our third President's home with my son, whose middle name is sake to the author of the Declaration of Independence.

{click to enlarge}

I sat on those same steps a little over four years ago, before we had any children, and I wanted to capture a similar shot with Ethan. Thanks to Abbey for the great pictures! Ethan and Hannah may not have realized the historical value of their location, but they immediately recognized the true value of Monticello, i.e. it's natural beauty. They had great fun running around Mr. Jefferson's walking trails and his backyard. It reminded me of a historical footnote...

For those who don't know, in his eighties and having accomplished so much, Jefferson spent his last few years sitting in the back and watching his grandchildren run and play, often joining them and abstaining from his routine of devoted reading indoors. He described it in his writings as one of the happiest times of his life. It made me truly happy to watch my own kids frolic on the same grounds and I'll always hold that memory dear.

Congratulations, Mark! And Ethan Jefferson, never forget the best qualities of your name's honoree. Happy Independence Day to everyone and God Bless the United States of America!

To read more about Monticello, click here.

SUMMER!

2009-06-05T13:11:00.002-05:00

Well, June at least.

This year is almost half over and I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. We have done so much in preparation for our PCS to Tennessee we thought it would never get here.

We have finally arrived and settled in. We accepted 3 different shipments of boxes, 2 from Okinawa and 1 from VA that had been in storage for the last 3 years. That one was like Christmas. We had forgotten about a few things we had before we left, as well as things we thought we had coming that strangely never showed up, only for us to remember that we had sold it or trashed it before we left for Japan.

We have finally gotten all the cardboard out of our new house and are making ourselves at home. The next big event for us is the arrival of our 3rd child in late August (or early Sept if he decides to follow suit of his bro and sis). We are very excited though, to finally have family down to visit us without them having to take an 18 hour flight! It's hard to believe that just 3 months ago we were living in Okinawa and now we are on the other side of the world.

Paul's job is going great so far. Though it's a little weird to be on the recruiting end of the Marine Corps now. We were trained and conditioned in Oki to not advertise at all that we were affiliated with the military, and now we're being told we need to get more paraphernalia that screams MARINES! so as to ignite conversation with future candidates! Guess I need to break out those old t-shirts!

Well, it looks like that's about all we've got going right now, ya know, normal everyday stuff, moving across the globe, buying a house, having a baby, starting a new job...nothing out of the ordinary...

Here's some pics of the new house!

back yard

front of the house

When you're not looking...

2009-05-30T12:41:00.004-05:00

Ethan did some quiet time today. I was happy to take the hour and a half to sit and watch some tv. I could hear him up there rooting around and knew he was obviously not staying in his own room. So I went to check on him. He has a thing lately of locking the doors. I snuck upstairs, noticed the screwdriver was missing off the ledge and expected to walk in on him disassembling something. Um, no. Instead, I open the door to his room to him standing there in Transformer underwear and my knee high Ugg boots. I just started laughing, and his only comment was,

"Don't just open my door, that's rude."

I will now always be armed with a camera upon entering his room.

Bertolones in the `Boro

2009-05-19T13:28:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, it's been a while, but we are finally moved in and we have a house!! We are so excited to be stationary for a while and not living out of suitcases anymore!

Here's some ultrasound pictures that I promised, and check out our dropshots.com/abbeybertolone page to see all our "transitioning" photos.

Hope everyone is well, and we'll update some more soon!!

Yee Haw!

2009-04-09T09:42:00.002-05:00

We are here! And so far we love it!

Everyone is super nice and the weather, though we just got through a cold snap, is beautiful. We are getting things done very quickly to the credit of Grandma being here to stay (be trapped) with the kids. They are still trying to get used to the time difference, but if the sleeping until 9:30 continues, I won't complain too bad. We have found cars and are working on negotiating a deal, and we've gone to contract on a house. We both got iPhones, which are AWESOME, and we are looking to visit MI in the next few weeks if everything goes smoothly.

We are already loving it, however the last thing to get done is finding a new name for the blog. I've done a contest already, but I need some new names, people. So fire away.

Here's the facts.

We live in Murfreesboro, TN. We're south of the Mason-Dixen line. East of the Mississippi. Never lived here before. An hour south of Nashville, and living here for a few years.

Good luck!