Saying goodbye

Having to say goodbye to one's child is not easy. While it is not that they passed away or that they are taking a right of passage like going to college. No, I am saying goodbye as we prepare to head back to Okinawa for Shawn to return to duty. 30 days of leave never seems like enough time. However, I don't think that all the leave in the world would make any difference.

Our last day together was filled with mixed emotions. Jenaya woke up rather ornery and Elle was quiet. She was in her thinking mode. Ian and Marni constantly picked at each other. I knew that it had to do with being torn. They were ready to go home. They were excited to see their dad and mommy number 2-Kelly. They wanted to see how much their little kitty, Pippa, had grown. However, all of these things meant that Mom, Shawn and MacKenna were leaving... again.


We filled the day with packing and searching Papaa's house for forgotten items and lost treasures. The kids filled their suitcases to overflowing and packed the back of the van. Already, the house seemed less full of life.

We did have one last hurray. Nay-Nay wanted to have a whipped cream fight and I had told her yes. To be honest, I didn't really want to. I was tired and depressed and struggling through my own emotions. However, she must have known something that I did not. She must have known that we all needed to laugh one more time together. That, as a family, we needed to be silly.

Shawn bought 7 cans of redi-whip and we all dressed in 55 gallon drum garbage bags. Those bags were huge! Poor Kenna had to wear a garbage sack instead. Less to cut off and less around the middle. However, all the rest of us wore one. Ian had to tie his on the side so that he had room to run and move. He looked like he was dressed back when it was in fashion to tie your shirt in a knot on the side of your outfit. Nay-Nay figured out that you could tie two of the corners between your knees and you would look like you had on knickers of sorts.

Flying handfuls of whipped cream and screams of laughter erupted from Papaa's backyard. Somehow the kids and I were more covered than Shawn. Must be some military tactics that he used. It may have only lasted for 15 minutes, but it was worth the memories and the laughter it created on such a yucky day.

While saying goodbye is never easy for me, I have strength in knowing that this road is the road that God wanted for me. I find comfort in knowing that He is in charge and has blessed me.

Oreo race

Did anyone else know that Oreo's were good for other things besides eating???

I had read somewhere that you could race with them. So Shawn, all the kids, and myself tried it. We split the cookies in half. Getting all the cream filling to stick to one side. Then we licked the frosting and stuck it to our foreheads. The loser was the one whose cookie fell off their face first.



Marni, Shawn, and I managed to break our cookies in the process of sticking them to our foreheads. Kenna didn't really understand what we were doing and proceeded to stick her cookie to her check, hand, and anywhere else that would make us laugh.



Elle, in all her wisdom of 13, decided that we were too silly and did not partake any further than being the photographer of us goofballs.



It took so long for the cookies to fall off (our body heat was supposed to melt the frosting, but I think I remember it needing to be double stuffed-oops) that we had to resort to helping them. We tried jumping jacks, but that only made us out of breath. We tried wrinkling our foreheads, but that only felt weird and maybe only loosen their position.



Finally out of frustration, Shawn pulled his cookie off and ate it. Winner or not, I was left looking like a dork all by myself!

Queen of three letter words

The kids and I have been playing Boogle like it is going out of style. It is amazing to me that even Marni and Ian can play. And since when did Jenaya get smarter than me??

There is something about sitting around the kitchen table with all of us searching for words, that has filled me with a sense of peace and greatfulness.

Peace, because I can see all four of my kids and know that they are healthy and happy. I can see how they have grown and the changes that they have made.

Greatfulness, because all seven of us are under one roof. I get to be mom, even if it is only for 30 days. This past year has had its moments when I questioned if we were going to be OK. God has shown me that he keeps His promises no matter what. He never forgets and always remembers.

And so I am off to be the Queen of three letter words!

Beauty Parlor

Kenna played beauty parlor with her big sisters, Miss Elle and Nay-nay!

She also did her own make up!! Isn't she beautiful?

Here she is putting "lips" on her client.

Nay-nay doesn't like how her "eye lash polish" went on.

Miss Elle let the new nail technican paint her nails

(Thank God for soap and water)

A good day to re-enlist

Today dawned hot and humid, but that didn't matter. Today my marine re-enlisted! I love you and am so proud of you!

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the Presidant of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me,

according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

.

Happy Birthday to Ian

So my only puppy dog tail turned 9 on the 14 of June (ok, I am a few days late). I found myself that day watching the clock and thinking about the day that he was born. Do all moms do this? With time some of the details have become fuzzy, but some are still so fresh and new that it was like it happened yesterday.

I remember going to the hospital the night before he was born. Contractions were not strong, but were regular. However, the doctors had told me to not mess around since this was baby number 3 and my last labor only took three and half hours. I also had the pleasure of being dilated to a 3 and almost completely effaced without any help of contractions. So, needless to say, I was scared of having a baby in the car.

The hospital would not let me go home once the contractions stopped (I guess they too were afraid of him being born in the car) and I had to spend the night listening to my then husband snore and praying to God for the contractions to start. They never did.

The doc showed up oh so early the next morning (9am) and broke my water. Contractions started quickly there after with unbelievable pain. Thank God for the creation of morphine shots in the spine.

Three and half hours later, I was the proud mommy of her first and only son. It took me a moment to understand that God wanted me to have a boy (I really wanted a house full of girls. I know, I was totally crazy) and ever since that moment he has been the apple of my eye.

We named him Ian Braham T. I didn't realize then how special his name would really come to mean. Ian means beloved and it is the truth about him. He is loved by everyone. Those who have the joy of knowing him know that laughter and silliness are who he is. His sense of humor is very refreshing and his giggles contagious. His middle name, Braham, is my mothers maiden name. My grandfather, an only boy himself, is a serious, but deeply loving man. I see this in Ian now, unknown then how much he would reflect this.

Nine years have past and everyday I am so blessed to have had God gift me this child.

The Hughes Family

It seems that there is never enough time. I am struck by the reality of the military life and how it changes you so completely.. You enter a world of unknowns and learned flexibility. You may get orders before you finish your original orders. Leaving is a quality all military men and women and families know well. As I write, I think about all those families that are moving on and going where God's wants them next... However, it is one family that has touched us so completely, that I will never be the same!

The Hughes Family

Even though you are family, it is still hard to see you go. You are the reason we have a church and Shawn found salvation. You are the place where Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter always takes place (unless we are geo caching). You are the ones who take us to the beach when it is raining and managed to get stranded while on your second honeymoon! You are the place where a house became a home!

David, you are the brother Shawn never had.

Leta, you are the sister I never got!

Em, Cole and Becca, you are the kids that helped me miss mine just a little bit less.

We thank God for you every day!! We love you!