I have been too busy to post or update my album! Sorry 🙂 Mom took some cute pictures, so check out www.skeneclan.com to see what’s up here 🙂 Hopefully I’ll get caught up a bit this weekend.

Here is Sammy at “Learn with Me” on base. It’s a program sponsored by the Armed Services YMCA. Three days a week they have structured play and circle time for $1/visit. We try to go on Fridays. Here is Sammy on his second visit. He wanted to help with singing by playing his guitar. His favorite spots are the tool area and the kitchen (just like daddy!). He has also been making me create silly new songs. Like the “mayonnaise” song – “mayonnaise, mayonnaise, I like it with my turkey and cheese; mayonnaise, mayonnaise, can I have some more please?” He recently started making one up himself in celebration of Pig and Bear’s forthcoming visit for Thanksgiving – “Tita Bear, Tita Bear, I love your long hair; Tito Pig, Tito Pig, how did you get so big?”

We’re busy busy busy this week. We secured a loan to remodel our kitchen. Now we’re steeped in the tedium of design and sourcing appliances. That’s no easy feat – many many items are not available on island and you have to wait 6-8 wks usually, or 8-10 wks when near holiday season. We found a local cabinetmaker, so that is all set. My task these past few days is finding appliances that are on island AND meet Dave’s specs. I am a tad burnt out on all the phone calls to Home Depot and Lowes, on top of doing my own work, playing with Sam, trying to fit in some exercise, redesigning Doug and Mary’s wedding announcements and staying on top of their wedding details. Oh, and continuing to manage some issues with our homeowner’s association. Thankfully the insurance issue is resolved – we found a new carrier and saved over $2000 a year! Wow. I wrote a letter to all the owners to accompany this month’s bill detailing where their fees are allocated as well as the accomplishments the board has achieved in the short 6 months we’ve been “on duty.”

Sammy was a fierce pirate, thanks to a costume Tito Pig sent months ago 🙂 My brother has several (SEVERAL) pirate outfits that he takes on vacation with him. One never knows when such a guise might come in handy 🙂 He has funny stories of getting into mischief as a pirate. So Sammy’s outfit has special meaning. We went to my friend Leo’s neighborhood for a block party and trick or treating. It was fun. Turns out our neighborhood goes all out for Halloween, so next year we’ll have to host a bonfire and trick or treating to check it out! The carports on one street are turned into great Halloween scenes, all lit up and festive. Click on the photo above to see more pictures.

Sammy is delighted to have his most fun toy back! Mom is here for a few months again. We are all excited to have her back. Click on the picture above to see how much fun Sammy had in his bath last night 🙂

Here’s my dear friend, Dana, and Schnuky (spelled correctly?) all set for Halloween. Sam and I get to dress Dana up for Halloween, and she is dressing me up. I definitely got the better deal. Sam chose to dress Dana as a baby flamingo, so we found some hot pink duds for her and some feathery top, plus a bright pink afro. Dana, on the other hand, is SEWING me a costume. She’s making me a kangaroo outfit, complete with ears and a big, full tail! I tried some of the pieces on tonight – she is quite crafty! I am lucky to have such a nutty friend. It’s definitely more fun to dress each other up – I get performance anxiety dressing myself up. I have never been able to come up with cool ideas for costumes.  Sam will no doubt be a pirate…

We’re 10 weeks and 4 days into this pregnancy and all is going well! Thank you to all those who have kept us in their prayers. Sammy got to see the little baby’s heartbeat again today, and even a little wave! Dave missed this ultrasound, but I’m hoping he can join in the fun we we go next on 11/8. We’re getting a lot of them due to our involvement in the infertility program, but after 11/8 we “graduate” and get to go to the routine OB clinic. (Not sure that’s a “get to” sorta thing but it’s nice to be “normal” this time.)

Sammy and I are goofing off while Dave pulls the kayak up from the canal. He said we couldn’t help and would just get in the way… so it was time to play! Sammy pinched my lips closed – not sure what he’s doing, perhaps thinking “enough talking mommy!” because he likes some peace and quiet just like his daddy? (Click on the picture above to see shots from Aug.)

We had a good two weeks off and got a chance to do some things we often don’t make time to do – kayaking, snorkeling and just plain relaxing. I also managed to get strep the last couple days so I slowed down enough to — drum roll — paint my toenails. I’m feeling nearly 100% better after 24 hrs of antibiotics, and am almost back to my old self, probably to Dave’s chagrin.

When Dave is on leave, he likes to lounge around the house because (as most guys and certainly all service members can attest) they don’t get to do that much. Since I’m a stay-outside-mom, I enjoy adventures while on leave. It’s a difficult balancing act. I try to get Dave out of the house in the morning, then compromise in the afternoon and hang out during naptime and in the evening.

This guy moves so fast he’s hard to catch on film…I finally got him today. This is Papa Jack. He and his guys did our deck and built-in CD shelves in the hallway when we first moved in. We were talking to him and his carpenters today about remodeling the kitchen – building some custom cedar cabinets but somehow staying within a very small budget 🙂 I am convinced it can be done!

This is how Sam responded when a sweet older couple asked him how old he was on the trail today. We hiked the Lanikai Pillbox trail and this time I let Sam go as far as he wanted, then choose the turnaround point depending on how he was feeling. He made it almost all the way to the third bunker – past the point even most casual/tourist hikers venture. We talked all the way about what we saw, and a ladybug landed on his neck to give him a kiss. We decided we’d study ladybugs for “freeschool” later. I don’t know much about ladybugs, I just know I’m happy to see them patrolling my plants to ward off (or eat!) the bad bugs that grow so readily here.

Tonight I was reflecting on the great health care we’ve had through the military over the past couple weeks. Sammy has had two ear infection bouts that were pretty painful – affecting both inner and outer ear on both sides. He handled it all very well and enjoyed getting lots of yummy pink syrups (antibiotics and Tylenol). He slept through most nights (surprisingly), even with a pretty good fever during the second round of earaches. Needless to say, I was a tiny bit concerned about the recurrence given that he has none of the usual risk factors for ear infection, certainly not recurrent within a week.

here’s sammy making me some “coffee” this morning while we were on base. a quick trip to the beach is always a good idea 🙂

tonight i learned why it’s important not to run at the marsh with a headlamp on at night…see video below of toad eating bugs swarming to light to understand fully what i experienced…sammy thought all the spitting sounds were funny 🙂

We had some nice family time this weekend. On Saturday we went to base after dinner for a walk – treats in hand for dessert 🙂 We walked down to a little bridge over a stream feeding the fish ponds. The stream flows pretty fast, so I thought it would be fun to try playing “Pooh Sticks” – seeing which stick crosses under quickest (one of Pooh’s games). Sam and I had been looking forward to bringing Daddy to this particular bridge to play Pooh sticks, so it was neat to sit on the bridge, watch the fish (and sticks) cross under, and munch on our cookies. We even had a celebrity guest visit us! The huge puffer fish we found while running on this trail came by! I think he swims upstream along the edge looking for food, then he seems to float out into the middle where the current is fast and floats backward back down the stream to start his “route” all over again. Dave finally got to see this huge fish and knows that I’m not crazy. We actually saw several different puffers while we walked along the trail.

Then the adventures continued…Sam and I saw a huge toad lumber in front of us while we were looking at a large bulldozer on base. The toad spooked me because it lumbered like a rat, it didn’t hop. Sam was like “I want mommy to come!” meaning to come away from the toad. I tried to tell him it was fine, just funny. He was not convinced. Then yesterday I was transplanting some ferns and was clearing away some mulch. With my last stroke of the garden tool, the ground shook like a bowl of Jello, then lurched! YOW! You should have seen ME hop away! Dave likes to exaggerate my “toad dance” a bit, saying I was even shaking out my hair (huh?!) and prancing and dancing all around shrieking, and pointing dumbly at the ground. Then I brought Dave over to see and he still could NOT see it even with me pointing 24″ away. I think he was trying to get me to touch it or something. Those toads are really camouflaged! And they’re huge. I couldn’t believe he was hiding an inch under the ground, almost like he was hibernating. If you don’t believe me, and how fascinating they are, check out these links 🙂

inside a cane toad’s head – pretty funny computer graphics

this documentary can be rented on netflix! (I already moved it up to #1 in our queue!)