Little fishies

This little one LOVES to be under water, she counts 1 - 2 - 3 and then dives under and kicks around for a bit before coming up!

Boats

Vessels of freedom

Harbors of healing

yes ladies and gentleman, she is sound asleep, on a speedboat, on her feet.

the only picture of the 5 of us on the boat!

Boats

(Boats by Kenny Chesney from Lucky Old Sun, good song!)

I love Lucy

Bits and Pieces

A few weeks ago I was reading a favorite blog of mine and she wrote about her childhood growing up with a parent in the military.  She talked about how her children would not know of that lifestyle, how they get to live on the same street for the duration of their childhood and that their friends would remain constant....none of the gaining and losing and gaining friendships.  As I read this post, I sobbed.  I'm not sure who I was crying for....for Brady, Lucy and baby Girl, for myself, for all of us?  I grew up in the same town, the same house and neighborhood (mostly).  My best friends I met in the 2nd grade and to this day, those girls are still some of my closest friends.  What am I doing to my children?  Making them move and change and make new friends frequently?  Will they ever have roots?  Will they ever have a constant?  A true north? 

I can't answer those question right now for I cannot predict the future but I know that it is my job as their Mama to make sure that I do my best to help them maintain friendships, flourish and thrive in this military lifestyle...to make the most of it, to adapt, to cherish the memories, to relish in new experiences, new places.  I will do my best to find time to visit friends and family no matter where they are so that my littles will have roots...their roots will spread over a country but you know what, that won't matter.  They will still be strong roots.  We will experience the changes together and we will be a stronger family because of it. 

Strong roots.  Strong family.  Strong friendships.

Friendships like these.

A friendship like Brady and Grace's, even at this young age, cannot be forced.  It is something special, something that Sarah and I have always seen.  They love each other and I think they always will even as they grow. 

It doesn't matter where your friends are.  What matters is that you love them and that you are a better person for knowing them. 

We are made up of bits and pieces of all those that have touched our life.  And in the military, we just happen to be made up of more bits and pieces than most.

Bits and pieces that will make our heart's stronger.  Bits and pieces that I am eternally grateful for.

"Pray that you accept the bits and pieces in humility and wonder.  And never question. 
And never regret"

Shaving Cream round 2

When I did this post about playing with shaving cream, Lucy was taking a nap.  So I decided that she needed to have her turn too.

Hmmmm, not too sure about this Mama.....

Oh wait, is this what you do?

Oh ok ok, I get it!

Mama, why aren't you playing in the shaving cream?  Here, I'll put some on your feet!

Obviously big brother knows how to have fun with shaving cream!

Here Mama, you needed more than just your feet covered in shaving cream!

I love playing with shaving cream!!!

You should try it too!

Plebes

This post is mostly for my photography friend Donna , (who's son is in his first year at the Academy) and for the Mom's of the three Plebe's we are sponsoring!
Every time we are at The Yard, I usually have my camera because you just never know when you are going to see something unique or encounter a beautiful spot to take a picture.  The Naval Academy is just that beautiful.

Since the Plebe's (Freshman) arrived at The Academy I have tried to snap a few pictures of them here and there with my friend Donna's son in mind.  My guess is that the chances of him being in any of these pictures are slim since there are 30 platoons of Plebes adding up to 1200 all together but I thought it might be a nice glimpse of what they've been up to....

This isn't the best picture, but they are doing some kind of PT workout, I took this with our little camera while Mike was driving a speed boat, we were boating on the bay.

And here they are, our three "Plebes", if they'll continue to let me, you might see their faces around this blog a bit more as we spend Saturday's with them at our house and around town.  We are excited to get to know them and open our home to them.

Here's Tom from a small town North of Orlando!

Nick from outside of Pittsburgh!

And Matt from Philadelphia! 

And here they are listening to Lucy babble at them about something!

Congratulations to all of these kids, they are almost done with "Plebe Summer", just a few more weeks!!