Our Valentine's/St. Patty's day project

The drying almost finished stone

Helpful Daddy
How do you tell a 20 month old not to grab a handful of cement?

You know the weekend thing......

• A rainy, windy Friday that Kendall and I spent at home playing with toys!
• Benny getting home early on a Friday afternoon.
• "Ma, MEATLOAF!!" dinner on Friday night.
• Ben making one of his yummy breakfasts on Saturday morning. Pancakes and bacon sure hit the spot.
• Getting some projects out of the way at the house. Caulking sinks and tubs isn't much fun but needed to be done!
• Saturday afternoon naps for the girls and a 8 mile run for Ben. (yeah I said 8 miles!!)
• Visiting with some friends over the phone that we haven't talked to in awhile.
• PIZZA BURGERS..........
• An awesome service at church from the youth pastor. (We are still praying for a new pastor at church.)
• Finally completing our "Valentine" craft project on Sunday afternoon. It was turning into a St. Patty's day project so we finally got it under motion. We got our stepping stone finished so I will post pics on that later on.

Ummmm.....runaway naked cowgirl?

The things you see when coming up to see your husband getting your daughter ready for a bath!

Great Company and Yummy Food

Last night, we took a break from my cooking to meet a few friends at Mi Cabana. (a local Mexican resturant) We were mainly getting together to wish a friend of ours good luck as he is set to leave soon for another deployment. It seems that is what we do around here....say hello and goodbye! Anyway, I guess I didn't realize how much I have been craving mexiacn food as I chowed down & so did Ben! Thanks for the great company Len, Linda, Natalie, & Aaron!! (Of course Kennedy too even though she behaved much better than Kendall!! LOL)

God Bless & Good Luck to Cody, Len, and Ryan. We'll wait for your safe return and a "hello" dinner!

Early wake-up call

Now I have to admit recently I can sleep like nobody's business, even when Ben is up at 0500 to get ready for work....I barely hear him. The past few days Kendall has been up to no good and getting up at 0530. As much as I try to ignore her pleadings, "momma, daddy, ba-ba, pleeeeeezzzeeeee"she tends to get louder as she waits in her toddler bed. (See I told you guys she is doing fabulous in it!) So I get up this morning and grumpily take her down stairs so that she can see her daddy & to take the stubborn dogs out. (They stay with me in the bedroom even though Ben is downstairs and could let them out or play with them!) Not that I don't like seeing my hubby in the mornings its just well....I need SLEEP!!!
Ben surprised me this morning and made scrambled eggs and homemade fried potatoes. YUM! Just what I needed to kick my butt into a better mood this morning. I was able to get Kendall and I out the door on time for PMO & made it to Walmart early enough to get front row parking for my grocery shopping!
As our spring-like weather continues, I am set & ready to enjoy the day! Esp. after Kendall's nap when we will be going out to our new "sanctuary" a.k.a. the back porch to lounge on the swing under the gazebo!

Hi Ho...off from work

Today I actually stayed the entire time that I was scheduled to work. Shocking I know! It is amazing how much chemo's have picked up. I am at the point that I am trying very hard to get my CEU's completed for my upcoming licensure renewl in August. It is hard to get in study mode and makes me feel like everything I know is falling by the wayside with all of the new drugs and regimens! I guess that is for the best and what continuing ed is for :-)

I wanted to include our little bugs pic on today in her homemade outfit from Gma Beach. She makes coming home so worth it!!

Zoo slide show

Another weekend bites the dust....

So we have been having a pretty good weekend minus one snafu.......

• Friday night we finished off our day by renting "In the valley of Elah." Ben wasn't overly fond of it but I thought that it was pretty good in the sense that it was very sobering and interesting to me. Not Tommy Lee Jones' best performance but hey......
• Saturday we had big plans of getting things done at the house until midmorning I had an episode on the stairs. I just turned around at the top of our stairs and the next thing I knew I had fallen flat on my back and head & was halfway down the stairs. I had some abdominal cramps so I ended up watching Ben & Kendall from the couch. I am 6,000 times more sore today. My left shoulder and hip are hurting horribly along with my neck, back, and tailbone. What a way to celebrate getting into the 2nd trimester of the pregnancy!
• We also went to my friend Jennifer's on Saturday. She bought a new patio set & had an old set that was in great condition so she gave it to us. The porch is looking so good minus not having plants yet. I am excited for warmer weather so that we can get out and use it!
• Today we of course went to church. It is pretty interesting having a different speaker each week. Today's pastor was a little old and dry but that is ok. We got to sit with Natalie and Aaron so it was good to get caught up with them.
• Last but not least.....we just made some home made pizzas for early supper. YUM! We each made our own pizza (thank goodness!) so it was good to have it how I liked it. Tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, broccoli, pepperoni, and lots of extra cheese! Ben got to have his crazy olives, mushrooms and whatever else went on there!

Congratulations Ray and Jennifer! We can't wait to see the new married couple.

Happy Birthday Geronimo!!

This is the month of our dear, sweet Momo's birth. I can't remember the exact day right now and I am feeling too lazy to go up and find his papers. It's hard to believe that he is going to be 4 this month! Time flies I guess. I still VIVIDLY remember house-breaking and working on commands. He has healed very well from his surgery last summer and is good as new as far as playing & running. Now if we could get his ears fixed!!

Happy Birthday Mo!

Lynnwood Park Zoo

Benny took the day off of work for his "birthday day." The guys get the opportunity to take a day off in honor of their bday if they want to so we decided to do something fun. There is a little zoo here in good ol' Jacksonville that we have never visited so we took a few hours to explore there today. Now it is not the typical city zoo but the owner was super friendly and there was some cool animals to look at and feed. It was a little run down but all of the animals looked well taken care of and the owner pulled us aside at one point to let Kendall pet 2 birds, a prairie dog, and a turtle. All in all, we had a great time there. I must say that I think that all of our favorite animal today was the pygmy goats. They were pretty funny with their crazy playing and head butting. Afterwards, we got to go to Smithfield's. Now I love Texas BBQ but I also have a very special place in my stomach & heart for NC BBQ. Smithfield's has the best BBQ sandwiches and I was really craving them today! Well stay tuned later on this weekend for some pictures of our adventures today!

Sneak Peek......

...of the new decor for Kendall's new big girl room. I am sure it comes as no surprise since we call her "bug" all the time & that she was a lady "bug" for Halloween that this is what her new room will entail.

Thoughts about brand vs. generic products

So here I am finally sitting down after a massive grocery trip to the local Walmart.....those of you that have visited me know how very much I like to be there around payday but we were running super short on everything.

Anyway to get to my point, I started thinking about grocery shopping with my parents when I was younger and in my teenage years. I HATED getting generic vs. brand name products. It embarrassed me to have any of my friends see those products and no matter what my parents did to try to convince me.....it just didn't taste the same! I now find myself cutting coupons and studying the shelves to see what the best bargain is the same way that my dad did. Kind of crazy to think that we come full circle and turn into our parents right? I figured out in all of my rambling time through Walmart today that I probably ended up saving between $50-$100 just by getting the "generic" products. I guess it takes having your own family to understand why saving .05-$1.00 on each product is really worth it!

In my reminiscing trip, I also began to think about the many different products that I was buying that never in a million years did I think would be in my cart. For example, mushrooms, refried beans, olives, and some other funny things for Ben. My how times change a person and their perspective on how the way the world works!!

Semper Gumby

Tonight I am just here to update you on our current situation with Ben's orders. Johnstown, PA is now completely out due to the person that was supposed to be leaving is now staying. Both jobs at Cherry Point, NC are out. The depot job because it requires someone with a little more experience than what Ben has and it looks like the monitor doesn't want to work on 467 (the new squadron that they are putting together) because right now it is not a priority.

Ben emailed him before he left today about a possible FAC tour. (Forward air control.....for those that are civilian. It would mean that Ben would be on the ground side calling the air strikes in where they are needed.) I guess there is also a possibilty of going back to Pensacola, FL for flight school. Far, far, far in the WORST CASE Scenario, we could be headed back to CA for the training squadron. So back to my title, in other words we are trying to be very flexible. Your prayers in getting us where we are meant to be would be much appreciated.

I think that what we are leaning towards (if we can get it is) the FAC. One because it will be good for Ben's career. Two because it keeps us in the house for longer which is desirable for us. The only drawback is keeping Ben here for the baby's delivery and another deployment. I guess for whatever reason I feel safe with him in the sky but when you are talking about the ground.....I will have to color my grey hair! Like I have said, I will keep ya'll updated as we find out information!
Love you guys

Update on Kendall

Thanks for the inquiries on Kendall.....
she is doing GREAT on staying in her big girl bed. Most of the time we still have to get her out of it since she waits there for us. She has her own step stool to get in and out but has only done so twice since she has been in it.
Potty training is going ok. Sh seems to like Ben more than me about it. She tells him "potty" and "poop" but doesn't mention anything to me. She loves to sit on the "big girl potty" not hers but ours. We are just encouraging her interest not really full swing potty training.
Her vocabulary has EXPLODED and she says something funny nearly every single day!

Here is my help in the kitchen!

Better late than never!!

Ok, ok so now that we are at the end of Feburary.....I am finally posting the pics from Ben's bday present and Valentine's day! Hope you guys enjoy.

Surprise BeeGee!!
I made a card from all of us :-)

Valentine Day traditions from our family and some of Kendall's loot from her V-day party at PMO.

Kendall before her party

Relaxation

My BeeGee sure knows that right now I need lots of down time and has been good about providing that even while encouraging me to do some other things!
That being said......let's see our weekend consisted of.....

• Tokyo Express Japanese food that I was craving on Friday night then relaxing on the couch with my 2 favorite people in the world.
• Saturday we put together our gazebo for the back porch. I am excited that we will have a little shade in the hot months (If we are here in NC!) and it has tons of places for some plant life so I have some gardening projects in mind once the weather is steady with no more cold!
• Ben also got the grill fixed on Saturday so that was a plus.
• Benny tried to be sweet and make supper on Saturday night but the smell of fresh garlic sent me to the bathroom then to the couch with my saltines.
• Sunday was a good service at church, again with a guest speaker. We got to hang out with a few friends before picking Kendall up from the nursery.
• We finally made our Valentine's cake too. I had bought all of the ingredients with the intent of surprising Ben on V-day only to forget that I had all of the stuff until I was cleaning out the pantry the other day.....gotta love pregnancy hormones.
• To complete the evening, we rented 3:10 to Yuma. It was ok but nothing to really light your fire. The last one that we rented was The Kingdom and it was awesome so I guess it can't really compare to that!
• Alas, Ben had to go to work today but he is going to take his bday leave day on Friday so I am praying for good health and weather so that we can do something fun together!!

Rundown of our busy week!

So for our faithful readers, I am sorry that I was a big slacker this week but time just got away from me! Let's see some highlights......

• Yesterday, I went kicking, screaming, and not very willingly to a class called L.I.N.K.S. (which is a class on the Marine Corp and how it works) It actually turned out really AWESOME and I am so thankful that it was "mandatory" for us to go. I got so much new info that I wish that I would have had 4 years ago when we first got married. Lots of tips that will turn out to be so helpful. Ben got the day off to provide "childcare" and I think that he and Kendall had a great time! He also got a lot of errands done like grocery shopping, the dog's grooming, post office etc. Weird to switch roles for the day!
• Thursday, I worked. Very strange since I am so used to my Tuesday patients. Chemo's have really picked up and are averaging between 15-20 per day. I feel bad for Janice who is the full time nurse on the days that either myself or the other nurse who works one day per week isn't there!
• Wednesday, we had Laptime at the library and then the Rec center. I invited a friend to the Rec to see if she and her son would like it so it was fun to get to visit with Alyson.
• Tuesday, we got to hang out as a family since Ben still had off for Presidents day 96. We got some errands done and work at the house.

Other than that.....Ben has still been talking to the monitor (who helps make his career decisions) We are still not 100% sure that we will be staying here or if we will be moving. I guess that Johnstown, PA is still in the mix for us. I will try to keep ya'll updated as we know more....please keep praying that we will end up where God needs us to be!

Pizza Night

Tonight was pizza night in the Beach household. As you can see, Kendall had a blast eating and wearing hers! We had a nice relaxing, rainy day here at the house. It's been so nice to have Ben off on his President's Day leave. I think that tomorrow we will complete our Valentine's Day project!

First Successful night in the toddler bed

Kendall was super excited to play in her big girl bed when Ben put it up yesterday but we were leery of how she was going to do in it to sleep. She was a big helper yesterday and kept trying to get Ben's tools to fix the bed up her way. She only got up once about 1 am and that was because she was hungry for a bottle. Once she had her bottle she went back to sleep and didn't get up until this morning! Let's keep our fingers crossed....some pictures from yesterday.