Happy Halloween Everyone!

You have no idea how hard I tried to get a good picture of both of them before we left. This was as good as it got, sorry Bri!


Hiding in the bounce house! Ash sans costume.

Bri was taking a juice break, it was just not a good night for pictures with her.

Tattoos and Face Painting!

Here's Ash getting ready to swing at the Pinata. She had a reversible dress and decided to be Cinderella instead of Sleeping Beauty halfway through the night.

Brielle playing the ring toss game.

A family shot, now you see why I take the pictures:)

Getting loads of treats

Brielle had the cutest "trick or treat" ever. I should of recorded it. I would've given her the world if she looked at me like that!

And this was the end of a fun night with friends!

We don't belong here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The enormous Navy flag. My batterries went dead after this so there's only three pics...

I was trying to get a picture of the color guard. They brought them down, at attention, on the elevator. It was pretty impressive.

A mural on one of the hanger bay doors.

Last night's escapade...a story for Grandpa

So the USS George Washington is in town for the first time ever and to foster relations they hosted a reception onboard their vessel. Now, let me say that this was for the bigwigs. We didn't get an invite until their 400 people maximum ended up with just over 200 reservations, or so I was told. At any rate, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to smell diesel fuel and enjoy the gentle sway that only a Navy grey ship can bring so we took up the offer. We started off at Fenwick Pier on Hong Kong Island and they ferried us out about 45 minutes to the ship. Now, let me stop at this point to say that Hoss got an important phone call just as we were getting ready to board and so I enjoyed a bit of people watching while he took it. There were sailors (with the pale skin that comes from working below decks, out to sea for too long) coming off and an endless stream of black clothed, fancy-dressed diplomats climbing on. The best was when I saw two Brits with a full jug of Carlsberg and two full mugs trekking it to the ferry. Now, if this were sailors they would have gotten a small smile and a "I don't think so..." but as the were diplomats the officer on deck simply looked at them with a generous smile and said "Ahhhhh a booze cruise." Anyways we ended up on the last ferry going out and took our seats in the closest row to the door. The ride out was uneventful, but once I stepped off the ferry I knew I was truly out of my element. I will try to describe to the civilian side what I saw. We landed on the aft, lower portion of the ship and had to walk up a series of stairs. Now if you've ever been on a Navy ship you are used to the dull, grey interior. I would have to say that this wasn't it. Every landing had a different mural and the floors were a spotless blue. Even the railings on the ladderwells were covered with blue canvas. Yes, I am describing what felt like Officer-country to me! And as I mentioned we were the closest ones to the door, hence we were the first ones off and onto the ship...So as we stepped up from the last ladderwell onto the quarterdeck I saw the red carpet rolled out and lined, on both sides, with sailors. When they saw us the Boatsman's Mate at the end started piping us on board and the minute his whistle sounded the seaman lining the carpet (In dress whites) went into a full salute. Now, as a former enlisted sailor I have lots of experience with the red carpet and officer-country and I can tell you I stayed FAR away from both with full fear of a reprimand at the hands of some grumpy officer looking to take it out on me. The only time I touched the red carpet was when I was the one on the side saluting, we never walked on it. So, as I heard the piping and stepped up I felt like running, trying to enjoy the moment was the farthest thing from my mind. But I got the nudge and full-grin from Hoss and I stepped onto the red carpet. However, that's not the last of it...As I stepped onto the carpet of death, guess who stepped onto the other side?! The Captain of the ship himself. He was waiting to personally welcome each and every guest. All I could think was wow and I shook his hand, glad to have the shocking experience over with. But, it wasn't over...as we stepped into the first hangerbay I saw an even longer red carpet. This one stretched the entire length of the hanger bay and was lined with every State flag. It was a very cool sight to behold, but again Hoss and I looked at each other and took a deep breath to keep us from walking around. This was the grand entrance that lead us to the reception in hanger bay two. It was incredible. The food was delicious and had roast carving stations, fresh rolls, vegi and fruit tables and fabulous trays of hors d'oeuvres being carried around by poor sailors in tux tops. Now, I say poor because when I was in it was mandatory for newbies to spend 90 days of "cranking" on the messdecks. It meant 12 hour days of stinking like food, washing dirty dishes and every once in a while throwing on the tux tops while the stressed out cooks took their anger out on your petty mistakes. As you can tell just walking onto the decks was bringing back all kinds of memories. Memories of a life that felt a hundred years past. I even had to stand at the opening, where the elevator comes down, and just feel the moments pass. I remembered so many mornings when I would stand in that same area and watch the sunrise while the horizon rocked up and down. Those moments, before I started my day, were some of the most peaceful minutes I have ever experienced. There is nothing so beautiful as watching the sun come out of the sea with not a single other thing to get in the way. Anyhow we socialized for about an hour and then they held the ceremony. It started with an introduction from the CO who greeted us and welcomed the Admiral in charge of the group. Then the Consular General spoke. It was fairly boring. After this they took people up the elevator to the flight deck to see the aircraft and others were escorted on tours. We left early without seeing anymore as we were trying out a babysitter and had already been gone a few hours. Anyhow, just thought you'd appreciate the memories...Oh yeah one more. Looking at the pad eyes in the deck (the recessed dents in the deck that have a cross over the top so you can tie down the aircraft) brought back all kinds of memories from my Shellback ceremony. At one point they brought us "pollywogs" topside and there was a guy with a fire hose washing down the decks...The decks were filthy from the aircraft fuel, engine grease, and all kinds of other nasty stuff and the worst of it had collected in the pad eyes. Well, our job at that time was to dry out the padeyes, with our mouths. They aimed us one facing the other and we blew as hard as we could to empty the water out and got drenched and gross in the process...crazy, but the certificate and feeling at the end was well worth it. Hope everyone is well!

Happy Halloween Playgroup!

Here's another playgroup pic. They are listening to scary stories from our guest reader, she even brought stickers and spiders!

Ash was really into it she kept getting excited and standing up to get closer:)

I just thought this was a cute Brielle face.

This was after Brielle took off the Snow White costume and decided to be a stool...hmmm

Here's Ash playing with friends.

Ash colored this and unfortunately by the end of playgroup it was missing...oh well she had fun!

This girl still LOVES Elmo!

Decorating sugar cookies, these ladies go all out when they host playgroup. I'm scared to even try!

Here we are all dressed up and ready for action before it all began.
(The pictures always load backwards...I need to remember this and upload them in the opposite order)

These are the pics from playgroup this week. The girls really look forward to it every week and I'm starting to too. Tonight I had a fun girl's night out at a baby shower for one of the ladies here. It was too much fun. I miss the Girl's Night Out/Lady's Bunko in Tunis. I think I'll have to start one up here. This is a great crowd and we could really have fun. Anyhow, Happy Halloween everyone! We're going to have a work-wide Halloween party this weekend so I'll try to remember to take pics from that too. Bye for now!

This is mushy, don't read if you're not feeling sentimental...

This is just something I wrote, don't read it if you don't like mush. There's the disclaimer...now the fault is yours if you don't like it:)



Just a Mom
By Kasey Paquette

Sometimes I look at my children
In the innocence of their eyes
As they smile at me and say,
“You’re just a mom.”

“Just a mom” I think
Maybe I am, but maybe I’m not;
And just maybe I’ve been where you are before.

I’ve lived and loved
Hated and felt
Laughed and cried

I once had a job
I’ve been through more school
And teachers than you can imagine,
And once I looked at my mom with those eyes too.

Then I had you.

You changed my life
You gave it new meaning
You filled my soul until it was ringing

I counted your breaths and felt your heart beating
My child to me you are my reason for being.

Please know that I love you
I’ll always be here.
And if I am just a mom to you
Then I am glad.

Dedicated to my Ashlynn who loves me “like a sweet, red cherry.”

Tunisian Couscous

I was writing this recipe down for a friend and figured somebody might be curious about one of the Tunisian's popular dishes so I figured I'd post it here. It's something different to try if you are feeling adventurous...The picture is one I "borrowed" from the internet.

Needed:

2 pounds of Meat (I like chicken legs, they used lamb, beef cubes, fish or plain vegetable)

2 cups Couscous (medium grain has the best texture for the dish)

Olive oil

Onion cut up into small pieces

2 Green Peppers (washed and quartered)

2 Potatoes (Peeled, washed and quartered)

2 Large Carrots (peeled and cut in half)

1 can of chickpeas (drained)

4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder or more to taste (They use Harissa or Piment Doux)

½ Tablespoon Paprika

½ Tablespoon Cinnamon

½ Tablespoon Cumin (although I asked a Tunisian while I was there and she uses coriander instead)

Salt to taste

Wash chicken and place in a big pot with a splash of olive oil and the onions. Cook until the onions are getting transparent and the outside of the chicken is starting to brown. Then you add the chickpeas, tomato paste and a cup of water. This simmers for about 15 minutes, you can add more water if you need to just add a bit more tomato paste as well if you do. Then you put in 4 ½ cups of water and the vegetables and bring it to a boil. While it is coming to a boil you prepare the couscous.

The couscous needs to end up in a large colander. I have a big metal one with smaller holes, but this recipe has also worked in my smaller, plastic one. I say it needs to end up there because if you pour it in before wetting it, it seeps through and makes a big mess, so you take a cup of hot water and a small bowl and pour the couscous into the water, stir it up and let it sit for a minute to absorb the water and make it stick together. Then you pour it into the colander. The colander then gets placed over the hot mixture where it can steam and get soft while the vegetables cook. This takes about 30 minutes, it depends on how you like the veggies.

This is where it gets a bit messy. You then take off the colander and pour the sauce in the pan over the couscous. Some people place the couscous in the serving dish, gently pull out the veggies and meat and then pour the sauce over the couscous and mix the two together and let it sit. I like to put the couscous in the sink and stir as I pour so all the excess sauce goes down the drain and the couscous gets the perfect amount of flavor without a bunch of extra sauce. You can do it either way. Anyhow, at the end you take the veggies and meat and arrange it over the top of the couscous, with the chickpeas piled up in the center (if you are really going for the presentation aspect) and enjoy.

Ashlynn the Karate Kid

Here's the pic of Ashlynn in her Karate gee. She is throwing one of the punches and said "KEA". She told me "it's like saying Ikea without the I" the day she learned it. Cute kid. Tells you where we did all our move in shopping:)

A couple pictures from around town...

Here is a Halloween exhibit we saw. It looks a little odd, but cute....then you realize that someone had a ton of time on their hands and lots of chopsticks and zip ties...You have to hail the effort and creativity!

This is the close up.

Hmmm...I wouldn't think they'd need the sign, but then there's always that one person who is the reason for the sign;)

Hope everyone is having a good day. We spent the morning watching fire safety videos on youtube and talking about our exits and taking the stairs and what not. Our building is doing a mock firedrill for it's residents soon and I wanted the girls to get the most out of it. Other than that, life is normal. There's no rain and life is happy. Ash has karate tonight and received her little gee last week, so I'll post pictures of her in her "uniform" this weekend. That's what her teacher calls it, I'm not sure why. Here's a funny story from last week's class:

I was sitting on the sidelines watching her interact and she starts telling some little Asian girl "My uncle is a superhero, but he can't fly. And I have another uncle and he's a rockstar, and I have another uncle and he eats Bambi...yep, BAMBI!" (she forgot to talk about her uncle that lives "with" the queen, that's what she thinks of when we talk about London) too funny! The girl was just staring at her like she was speaking Farsi and turning green. Then we were relaying the story to Kelly on Skype and she tells him "Yep, I said that to two girls, but they both are brown and look the same." Wow, we really have a bit to talk to her about, but she's learning to socially interact in this culture and this at least is good, even if we do have a couple things to teach her.

Bye for now...

Max

I just had to post a couple pictures of our absent pooch, Max. We were able to Skype him this weekend and he seems to be doing very well. He's the same big, cuddly monster he always was and he should be joining us sometime next month. We miss you buddy!!!! This is him with my brother, Kelly.

Posing with Ash, his bestest playmate.

This is our most recent picture taken by Devon when she went to visit him.

He is staying with our friend Bill...a huge Michigan fan!

Our Urban Picnic!

People constantly stop the girls to take pictures with them...so I took a picture this time as well. Ash was being a good sport and throwing their infamous peace sign, but I missed it...

Ash wanted to take one of us.

Little cuties!

Pictures of the urban picnic...

Alright, so this weekend we decided to go have a family picnic; and we figured that the best place for this was one of the parks we've been going to, to play at. Besides, the girls wanted to show it to their dad so he can see one of the places we frequent while he is at work. This place is amazing. It is built on the old British Garrison and has been completely converted for the public. The play area has five different levels of playgrounds, there's an avairy, a pond, a museum and a resturant along with miles of walkways, tons of benches and beautiful landscape. What it doesn't have is grass. There are a couple patches of it, but they are completely fenced off and you are not allowed to touch it. So we threw our blanket down in a benched cement alcove and had a fabulous picnic. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by some rude, non-English speaking guards who insisted we get up before we were finished (they wouldn't leave until we got up and left). From what we could gather...you are allowed to sit on the benches and eat, but you are not allowed to eat on the ground in front of them...I don't know. But we did have a great day of exploring and I have included some of the pictures of our adventure.

Rain boots!

Boy were the girls excited to get rain boots this weekend! They've been begging for them since we got to this soggy island. You know, the rain never really affected us much in Okinawa because we had a car, but when you take public transportation or walk everywhere it really does make a difference in your quality of life. Anyhow, I just thought I'd take this picture of their first time out in them. They were so excited to see the rain that day and know they were going to get to use not only the boots but the umbrellas as well. Miss you all!

Also, just wanted to say thanks to Shauna for the cute little red outfit...Can you believe it is the one you bought for Ashlynn so long ago? Those were good days and too much time has passed!

Funny Roach Story!

OK, so I got used to spiders in Okinawa and ants in Tunis, but I absolutely refuse to get used to the roach situation we moved into. You see from the moment we walked into the new flat we were greeted by a welcoming committee of bugs. There were flying bugs, crawling bugs, striped bugs, all different colored bugs and of course roaches of every size and shape. They were so prevalent that we even got rid of the dishwasher because we opened it up and found a gang of them and figured with the problem we were having we'd have to run it every meal to make sure it didn't attract anymore. Anyhow, last week they FINALLY decided to come spray and that's where the adventure began. Every morning since, the girls and I (or dad) wake up with the flashlight and go dead bug hunting. We find them on their backs (sometimes still flailing)...can I take this moment to question why they have to come out to die?????...and then we scoop them up so no one comes upon them unexpectedly (they blend into the wood floors) or (like Bri) finds them interesting to look at and/or touch. Well, the second morning after the spraying we woke up to the most. They were everywhere, and yes, at this point we wash every dish and pot before we use it......At any rate Hoss was in the kitchen cooking one of his tasty egg breakfasts when we heard a crunch and he made a face of disgust. It was at this moment that he was scared to lift up his foot and proceeded to tell me the crunch had given way to a wet sensation...so we both looked as he lifted it up and we discovered that one of the girls had dropped a grape...How funny...see there's humor even in the tragedy of this dirty (but being cleaned up) house.

The Park and Playgroup

Just thought it was cool to have another different flag picture.

This are the mascots for the East Asian Games that are coming soon. They are everywhere.


It was nice to get away from the city and see the bay for a bit.




The park and playgroup, the girls have managed to find a few friends they enjoy, yeah!

Popsicle time! It was hot...

This is a strange action shot...

Boy does she look like her daddy!

So these are pics from when we went to playgroup. It runs every week and is the one sponsored by his work so the girls are finally starting to feel comfortable and make a few friends. I'm very glad. The wives are nice too and it is something we look forward to during the week. Then we went out to one of the bays around here that evening. One of his coworker's mom flew in for his birhday so we went with them to see that side of the island. It was very enjoyable. Well, Ash is calling for attention. I'll write more later.