Thanksgiving

I had ordered a 25 lb. turkey from a local organic farm so I was super excited to cook and taste the difference of a fresh turkey. I got really sick so CJ had to cook the entire Thanksgiving dinner by himself after working a 24hr shift on the sub!!!
Talk about having something to be thankful for; I have a husband that can take care of the kids and cook!!(He deserves an award for doing everything and not complaining once about it)
I must say that the turkey was fabulous and it was 90% white meat. We will definitely buy another organic turkey next year. We had so many leftovers that we had Thanksgiving "Take 2" a few days later and it was great because I was feeling better so was able to taste the food this time but I have no Thanksgiving pictures!!! And I didn't think to take any pictures from 'Take 2", O'well.


A very cool thing that happened was Alex loosing his tooth and swallowing it!!!



If you look close enough you can see his other middle tooth getting ready to fall out.

USS Memphis Homecoming Nov.2009

It has been at least 3 years since CJ has gone underway so the kids and I were so excited to see the sub come in.



The submarine is going through the Thames River

The loud band music made it all more excitting.

Star Wars In Concert-Nov 2009

This concert was awesome!!!











There was a full orchestra and the person that played C3PO in the movies was the narrator.
At one point there was a choir; just phenomenal!
I highly recommend this to all the Star Wars fans out there.

Happy Haunting!

Jango our "honey bee"



G.I. JOE was big this year for Isaiah and Alex



Isaiah AKA "Duke"



Alex AKA "Snake Eyes"



Trick or treak smell my feet, give me something good to eat!!!

Alex conquered the bike!

Cj had a goal of teaching Alex how to ride his bike without training wheels this summer but nobody told us hot and humid it would be when it didn't rain in CT. Needless to say we didn't get that many practices in but Alex made huge progress each time.
The seasons are changing and CJ is gone now but we had a gorgouse fall day so I took Alex out for a practice and he got it! He knows how to start and stop without help. It was awesome to see his face when he knew he conquered the bike.

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

My baby is 10!!!




Since CJ was gone I gave Isaiah the choice to have a party(I didn't know how well I would manage by myself since at this age they just get dropped off) OR get $150 and have a friend sleep over and still get cake. Isaiah picked the $$$$, he took a while to decide but he did and he had a blast.

Dino's- Xing!

The Dinosaur Place At Natures Art
Montville, CT



First we started on the trail. We encountered 25 life sized dinosaurs along a one mile trail.





Within the trail they had a maze!!!




At the end of the trail we had a picnic lunch
and we got to watch a volcano errupt!!!














After the boys played at the playground for a little while we headed inside for the indoor activities.













They learned how to pan for "Fools Gold" in Thunder Creek!!
They also got their very own pan and map showing where they can look for gold in the US.




Next was "the Bone Zone". They got to be junior paleontologist!!
They were given some fossils and a fossil card.















Last but not least they went to "Jackpot Mine" to look for crystals and polished rocks.
They got their very own miner's helemt to use and take home!


Ummmm.... my camera died at this point from the hours and hours of activites but I did get this when we got home.....


You would think that this would embarrass Alex but you would be wrong!

We had such an amazing time.I knew the boys would have a great time but I have to admit that I had just as much fun.

Change is good

While CJ was deployed (late Sept - late Nov.) my goal was to take the boys to interesting and fun places. This might not seem like a big deal to you but we have always waited to do these type of things as a family. Once I realized how crazy and demanding his schedule will be for next couple of years I knew that I was going to have to start planning things without him. CJ feels bad that he won't be there but he's looking forward in hearing about our new adventures.
Thank goodness for GPS!! I've always been scared of getting lost with the boys and ending up in not so safe places; now I can travel and have peace of mind. I know that this will make the boys and I bond in different ways than before and I'm pretty excitted about it.

Whittle's Willow Spring Farm

Try saying that 3X's without getting your tongue tied :)




Isaiah apple picking the right way; notice Alex in the background climbing the tree to pick apples the old fashioned way.



We couldn't tell which apples were ready so we started sampling them. Isaiah really liked eating them instead of picking them.



Alex finally got the hang of the stick and had to have his proud moment captured.



Alex likes to show how strong and big he is by carrying the bag of apples for mommy. (Well, at least for a few feet) We ended up with 11lbs. Now we have to make some apple pie, mmmmmm....

The sound of music......well,kind of

In North Stonington 4th and 5th graders have to take band unless they plan to take choir in 6th grade. I don't know why but I think it's a good thing because I honestly don't think Isaiah would have gotten this experience until junior or high school.



Isaiah is so excitted to learn and practice.
(I'm not to sure about everyone else's ears including poor jango :)