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Christmas 2009
Mele Kalikimaka!!
Aloha to all and a Mele Kalikimaka! I just love saying that but sadly this will be our last Hawaiian Christmas. My how the year has flown by, but doesn’t it always! So this year has been busy as usual with a touch of wild and crazy at times for our family, surprise, surprise! Kenny and I can hardly believe how much our children have changed and grown over this last year. Once again, God has truly blessed our family. So here’s our scoop:
Analysse really is our big girl; she will be 8 yrs old in just 1 week. WOW! She still has such a free, loving and caring spirit (ok, with everyone but her sister) but at times she surprises us how responsible she can be for her age! She is half way through the 2nd grade and doing great-although she has told me she doesn’t care much for math-she gets that honestly from me. She loves reading chapter books and art of any kind. She was able to join the after school art club this year and truly enjoys every second of it. Art is her “happy place.” She bridged up from Daisy Girl Scouts to Brownies, making this her 3rd year as a Girl Scout. She was quite the cookie salesman this last year too! She competed in her first Triathlon and also a Biathlon; doing extremely well in both. She is our very independent “go getter” that’s for sure!
We can hardly believe our little Kennedy is now 6. She graduated Kindergarten in June. She was chosen to be one of the speakers in the graduation program and she did a wonderful job! Now that she is in the 1st grade, she has proven to be very good at math and a budding artist like her sister but her style is totally different which is so neat to see. She is still a wonderful story teller as well as our little actress at times. We can always count on her for a good laugh or a show! Her latest tall tale was that it was written in the Ten Commandments that daddies are to be older than mommies-hysterical! She too is an active Girl Scout and in May she earned the last of her Daisy petals. She lost her first two teeth earlier in July and was thrilled to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Her latest big accomplishment was learning to ride her bike without training wheels. We weren’t sure if she would ever give them up but now she wants to go for long bike rides everyday and has begin to try and do “tricks” on her bike! It is so wonderful to see her finding a place of her very own in this world.
Our little Benjamin has probably changed the most-turning 2 in June. He is still our cuddly little boy, but he truly is all boy! He loves anything that has wheels, wings or water related. He went from a boy of few words to complete sentences over night it seems. He surprises us on a daily basis with what he says and understands. He is a lot like Kennedy, as in he is already a storyteller. He loves acting things out and of course sound effects! He can ride his tricycle like a pro and of all things he truly enjoys being in the kitchen with me. Who knows, maybe he have a little chef on our hands. He also got his first true hair cut just a few weeks ago. What started out as a tiny trim, turned into a big boy haircut. All of his red curls gone, Kenny and I were both a little sad and so we are letting them grow back!
As for Kenny, he has had a very busy year. In January he took a new position as the Executive Officer for the 15th Operations Group here at Hickam. It has been a wonderful position for his career and although at times it is long hours we feel very blessed for him to have gotten the opportunity. When he isn’t behind the desk or studying he is usually in the air. He went on his first Deployment from February-May and then a second mini Deployment in July. He was upgraded to Aircraft Commander in August and is set to go back to Altus, OK in January 2010 for Instructor Pilot School. Perhaps, our biggest news is that he decided that he wanted change aircraft and was chosen to fly the U-28 which is in special operations. We will be moving to Hurlburt Field, FL for his next assignment in May of 2010. When Kenny is not flying or working he is either spending time with us or pumping iron at the gym. While he was deployed he became very interested in weight lifting and has been able to keep it up since.
I have been busy as usual this year although recently I decided to slow down my pace just a bit. I coordinated a spring fling as well as the VBS at our church again earlier this year. I still enjoy volunteering at the girl’s school from time to time, helping out with our base squadron events and have continued to be a Girl Scout leader for Analysse’s Brownie troop but I am trying not to be so busy that I am stressed out. I suddenly realized my baby wasn’t a baby anymore and that my girls were growing up right before my eyes. The last few months I have really tried to focus more on family and what is truly important. It has been good for our family especially with Kenny’s busy schedule. In the midst of a busy schedule I did manage to find a new hobby though. I got a new bicycle for my birthday and I absolutely love riding it! I try to ride down to the harbor everyday if I can. It is something I can do with Benjamin with me which is a big plus and we enjoy feeding the fish and watching the boats and submarines coming in and out of the harbor together. I think of all the things Hawaii has to offer it is the simple things like riding to the harbor I will miss the most when we move, which brings me to my closing thoughts.
As soon as we move we will try to send out a card with our new address. Living in Hawaii has been a wonderful experience that we will never forget but we are thrilled to be moving back to the mainland so close to home for a few years. We are currently looking at buying our first house in the Fort Walton Beach area. Our email addresses will continue to remain the same (amanda@hamletthouse.com or kenny@hamletthouse.com) although I admit that I am completely horrible at updating our family website www.hamletthouse.com. I am going to continue to add pictures from time to time and post our Christmas letter but I am actually using Facebook to keep in touch with people these days. It is very easy to update and use on a daily basis so if you are on FB look me up and I can add you to my friend list. You have all been in our thoughts and prayers though out the year. We truly hope that all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a Blessed New Year!
- Love,
- Amanda, Kenny, Analysse, Kennedy & Benjamin
Jan/Feb
2/10/09
This year started off with all the craziness that generally accompanies our family. We arrived back in Hawaii on Dec. 29. Like any other plane trip half way across the world you kind of expect some “tubulance”, well two hours before we had to leave for the airport our little Benjamin started throwing up. As a skilled professional in this area I managed to dodge the mess pretty well at first. No kidding, he threw up at every check point. We were the crazy sick people that normally we ourselves are trying to avoid. Needless to say it was horrible. Like I was saying, with me being a skilled professional and all I did manage to get by without actually wearing any throw up until we got on the first plane when a strange kid ran up to me and proceeded to throw up all down my leg. What?! Yes, throw up is horrible but even more horrible when it isn’t even your own kid’s. After that the rest of the day was a free for all. To cut to the chase by the end of the day I couldn’t remember how many times I had been thrown up on, Kenny couldn’t either for that matter. Oh, did I forget to mention that the diarrhea had also begun and was in full swing as well. After it was all said and done, everyone except Analysse did get that terrible stomach virus. Poor Benjamin was so bad off that he and I spent New Years Eve and New Years Day in the hospital. We also found out that red heads have terrible veins, especially when they are dehydrated. It took the nurses 14 times to get his IV in. Eventually they used an ultrasound machine to find a tiny little vein in his arm. It was not how we envisioned bringing in the New Year that was for sure-thank goodness for military health insurance though! Now that it is over I can look back and chuckle, as horrible as it all was we were certainly a sight I’m sure. But now that all of that is behind us we can say that this year has gotten off to a pretty good start. School is going well for both Analysse & Kennedy. Just today, Ken Ken was awarded Student of the Quarter for her Kindergarden class. We are very proud of her. Analysse is eating us out of house and home (literally, she has been chewing on the furniture) as she keeps growing taller. Analysse and Kenny have been working hard to break her nail-bitting habit and we are doing OK with that - bad day and they all come off. She is reading small chapter books and has become so excited about writing that she is teaching herself to write in cursive. Benjamin is having a great time staying home with Mommy but we did have a scare - we gave him his first real haircut and his curls went away. Kenny was probably more worried than me but they are starting to come back. Kenny has no problem letting him run around with a bush on his head. Curls are good; bush is bad. He is such a smart little boy, he really knows how things work and if he doesn’t than he figures them out. He loves tools of all kinds and cars and trains-all boy. He is starting to say many words, all of them very important to him-car, truck, football, airplane, popcorn, chocolate, and I can’t forget Elmo! He still doesn’t call Kenny Da Da. I think Kenny has just given up on that. He is just so adorable and unfortunately, he already knows it. I am in full swing as one of the leaders of my Daisy Troop. In January we had a camping excursion with the troop to Hickam Beach and it was fun; there were over 200 girls at the campout. In Feb, the girls sold girl scout cookies and they were quite good at it. Together they sold over 160 boxes. I am in charge of the cookie campaign so I have my work cut out for me. We are going camping this weekend at Bellows-another beach (I know !?! - my decision) over Valentine’s Weekend. Well, our last babysitting episode left me at the emergency room all day with three kids all by myself. Let me explain...the young babysitter was doing “cheerleading” moves in our living room and didn’t quite fully catch Analysse and she landed on her nose. The next morning it was very swollen and she was still very sleepy. She turned out to be fine a week or so later but we aren’t ready to have a babysitter again yet. We also had a great time taking the kids down to Chinatown for Chinese New Year a couple of weeks ago. They thought it was great especially since they are very interested in Asian culture these days. Kenny is about to deploy and leave us for three months. We pray that the time passes quickly and that he is safe while he is away from home. Of course I can’t enter any blog without saying how good God has been to us. He is taking care of us beyond our expectations even when we may not think so at the moment and we give Him all the praise! Till next time - Amanda
Our 2008 Christmas Letter
Aloha to all and Mele Kalikimaka! My how the years continue to go by faster and faster. We hope that this letter finds all of you well this Christmas season and that the year has blessed all of you as it has blessed our family. This has been such an exciting year for our family. Like any year we have had our trials and tribulations but God is so good and our blessings have been far more plentiful than we could have expected!
Our three little munchkins continue to grow and amaze us on a daily basis. I look at them and I often think I can learn so many lessons from them. Analysse, such a beautiful name for a beautiful daughter. She has truly amazed and inspired me this year. She doesn’t sweat the small stuff. She loves life and wants to enjoy almost every second of it. If she is eating a cupcake she is going to enjoy it with no worries or cares, every morsel and her face literally will speak for itself. At the same time she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. She truly has the gift of compassion, except when it comes to her sister, but that’s another story. I believe she may just save the world one cause at a time. She has the determination to do so many great things. This past year she finished Kindergarten and is currently in First grade. She is doing well. She is still very active with her Daisy Girl Scout troop. Just this month she has earned her last petal to complete her uniform and will be ready to bridge up to Brownies in the spring. She absolutely loves the program, not just because I am her leader but she truly believes in the Girl Scout Promise. I am so proud of her. She is also proving to be an extremely talented artist. She has done some really wonderful work this year. This year she has also become completely mesmerized by Asian culture. From the Olympics this summer to all the trips Kenny takes to Japan, she is just fascinated to the point that she is going to be having an Asian inspired Birthday party later this month.
Kennedy, our little Ken-Ken, is so full of life and spontaneity. Looking back she really has been this way all of her life, we never truly know what she may surprise us with next. She has had some major ups and downs this year but she has been such a trooper through it all. In February of this year I finally figured out that she wasn’t in fact ignoring me all the time but that she literally could not hear me. After many visits to Tripler Army Medical Center or the “big pink hospital” as Kennedy calls it, and two ear surgeries later she can now hear. Her tonsils and adenoids were also taken out at the same time, a week before she started Kindergarten. I wasn’t sure how she would do after all that but she pulled right through. She loves her new teacher and is really finding her own way. For the first time in her life she has her very own special friends and isn’t completely dependent on Analysse. As a matter of fact her teacher did tell me that everyone in her class just loves Kennedy-kids fight to sit next to her! We hope she doesn’t get a big head from all of this, but on a positive note we have seen her confidence soar in the past few months. Like her big sister, she is also a Daisy Girl Scout this year. She is doing well and earning her petals but I think her favorite thing about it is the crafting. In general, she has had a major growth spurt this past year. My baby girl isn’t a baby anymore but at least she is still my little cuddle bug and I can always count on a good laugh from time to time with all the little crazy things she likes to say.
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin…he has changed so much! Where do I begin? He has gotten 12 teeth. He walks or should I say runs, talks and just plain gets into everything. The girls have lovingly nicknamed him “The Destructor” but, hey, at least he doesn’t eat all their Barbie shoes and little Polly Pocket pieces he just likes to scatter them everywhere or carry them around. He is such a happy little boy, full of energy, and he just adores his family. Watch out though he has a very serious side too. He is very cautious of strangers which many people mistake as unfriendly. I think he just gets tired of all the strange people trying to touch him-his red curls make him irresistible. He is a cutie! He is very smart too. He already wants to figure out how everything works-so curious. He loves working with Kenny and his tools and is totally mesmerized by cars and planes, pretty much all boy-but he does love his Mommy! We have also started to teach him sign language. This is new for us, we didn’t do it with either of the girls, but he is catching on quite quickly. He just melts all of our hearts. He is growing up way to fast. They all are.
Kenny is still flying the C-17 although he is not flying as much as he would like. He is still waiting for a deployment. Yes, that does sound strange, someone who wants to deploy, but that’s just Kenny. He has been in the Air Force now for 7 years and never once deployed. He is ready to serve his country in that way and I truly respect him for his passion. He has been told though, that he will get his opportunity sometime at the beginning of this next year and we will all miss him very much when he goes. In the mean time he has been hard at work getting much needed school things done. He went to Squadron Officer School at Maxwell AFB, AL back in February and graduated as a Distinguished Graduate. Upon returning to Hawaii he finished up his Master’s Degree in Military Studies with distinction as well. He and I both are very thankful for this long awaited completion. When Kenny isn’t working or flying he is definitely spending time with me and the kids. We did happen to finally pick up some boogie boards this summer and Kenny and Analysse have decided they really enjoy catching the waves! He has also been teaching himself to play the guitar. He started early in the year with Christmas songs. When I asked him why he started with Christmas songs he said “hopefully by then I will be able to play them.” How clever! He can now pick through about 5 songs.
As for me, I guess you could some me up with just one word-BUSY! I always seem to have something going on although I constantly say that I am going to slow down. I don’t know what it is about Hawaii that makes me feel the need to constantly be doing something. I need to work on my tan! This past year I have turned in a new direction and for some reason I have taken on more leadership roles than just service roles. I had the opportunity to organize a Spring Fling for the children of our church back in March. Then I had the privilege to coordinate the VBS for our church in July. It was only a Super Saturday but at the Hamletthouse it was a four month affair. Although it was a good bit of work I did enjoy it very much. We were also blessed to be able to take a trip back to the mainland in June to see family. While we were there I ditched my long locks-12 inches to be exact-for a new shorter do. The jury is still out on which I like better. Now that school for the girls is in full swing I also stay busy with volunteering in their classrooms, Girl Scouts, and let’s not forget birthday parties. We have been to so many that I felt it only appropriate for them to have their own category. In September, I started a Cradle Roll Bible Class for all of the babies at our Church, including Benjamin. It has been a great deal of fun to see the babies learn and respond to the teaching so quickly. I have also enjoyed getting to know some of the other spouses from Kenny’s squadron over this year and so I help with many squadron functions as well. This next year I really do hope to slow down a bit so that I can really enjoy my time with Benjamin and also truly enjoy everything the island has to offer before we leave in 2010.
Well, I hope every one of you have a magical Christmas season filled with all that is truly important-Christ, family and friends. Our love to all of you!
Love,
Amanda, Kenny, Analysse, Kennedy & Benjamin
Halloween Happenings 2008
So what a whirlwind of a past few months it has been. I don’t feel like we have slowed down for a second. This past month was especially busy. I started out very excited about “Fall” and Halloween. Last year at this time Benjamin was still pretty small and I really hadn’t gotten myself truly back on track with our normal traditions and such. This year I was determined to give the kids a good holiday, they really do love dressing up for Halloween. From the moment we got home last year from trick-or-treating they were talking about what everyone was going to be next year. So we were going to try and be a “Star Wars Family” but we couldn’t find the baby Yoda costume so we decided to improvise. The girls luckily became very fascinated with Asian cultures with the Olympics this summer as well as Kenny’s many trips to Japan and decided they wanted to be Asian Princesses like Mulan. This worked out great b/c Kenny just picked up some little kimonos in Japan and that is what they wore. Of course we couldn’t have blond Asian princesses so I found some black hairspray at Wal-Mart and they really did look great. Benjamin ended up being the cutest little pumpkin ever! It’s official now, everyone of our little munchkins wore the same pumpkin outfit, so now I feel like I should save it. As for Kenny and I, Kenny was Indiana Jones along with the whip that made cracking sounds and played the theme song from the movie-very nice, and I was a cat. The girls loved me being a cat for some reason and it was super easy. A little bit of make up, ears, a tail and a black outfit-so simple. Everyone had a really good time. Benjamin was a little unsure at first but after he figured out that people would give him candy he was all for it. Half way through the neighborhood Kenny, Benjamin and Analysse decided to go home and pass out the candy we had bought for trick-or-treaters. Analysse did a great job, she complimented everyone’s costume and when we ran out of candy she decided to pass out all of her candy that she had just gotten. It was very sweet of her and secretly I was happy that half of the candy was already gone! Too bad we still had way too much candy with just Kennedy’s bag. This year I did a little educational project with the girls and all the candy the next day. We sorted all of the candy into groups and then counted each group. We did some math word problems with the numbers and then tried to make a graph. The girls really enjoyed the activity and it was great practice for them since it is similar to may of the first grade math concepts. I also decided to let the girls have a little bit of independence with their candy this year too. So they each get a Ziploc bag with their name on it and each day the get to pick 3 pieces of candy out. They get to eat it when ever they want- all at once or throughout the day. I did tell them a little story about the kids down the street who got upset stomachs from too much candy and so far they have done really well and spaced it out throughout the day. I don’t know how many more days we will do the candy thing but at least they are enjoying it for now. In addition to Halloween night we did have quiet a few other Halloween events, most of which I played a big part in helping with-hence the exhaustion. We had a squadron party and school parties, a church event and I had also signed up for volunteering at the girls school for Rockin’ Reader for both of their classes. We also had all kinds of Girls Scouts stuff mixed in there and so by the time Halloween had gotten here I was all Halloweened out! But the kids all had a great time and that’s really what matters. I am looking forward to a less busy month in November and a wonderful relaxing Thanksgiving. Hopefully Kenny will get to be home and not on a trip for Thanksgiving, but if he isn’t we are still having a traditional Thanksgiving meal b/c I have already got my bird!
As far as normal kid stuff both of the girls are doing well in school. Analysse is really beginning to read on her own although she would rather have you read it to her any day. She is also proving herself to be a very talented artist. She has always loved art and drawing and such but she is really producing some truly beautiful work. Kennedy started out a little shaky with the whole “school thing”. She had her tonsils and adenoids taken out just a week before school had started and then with the overload of kindergarteners at the school she ended up moving to a new class. She is not our most easy going child so this was a little difficult for her. But all is now well and God truly did put her in a place to thrive. She is doing great in class and has her first best friend (besides her sister) that just so happens to live right across the street from us. She is learning to write and her drawings are improving daily. Her class also has a pet guinea pig which she adores, so much that we are going to babysit the pig over the holiday breaks. Benjamin is growing by leaps and bounds. He is all boy and such a joy, but watch out he has a temper! He is running everywhere and is quite the little monkey. He loves to try and go up and down the stairs which scares me terribly. He loves balls and cars and makes all the appropriate sound effects. He as gotten 12 teeth in and is finally starting to eat better-he is already a junk food junkie if you let him. He loves the water and the beach and he is fearless about it. He is really enjoying the new cradle roll bible class I started teaching for his age at chuch. He also has the most wonderful red curls and his newest party trick is sleeping through the night! It took him 17 months but it such a blessing. I didn’t think I would ever sleep more than 3 or 4 hours at a time again.
Kenny is staying busy with work and flying and when he isn’t doing either of those two things then he is spending time with us. I am busy with kid stuff mostly. From Girls Scouts, to volunteering at the school, to teaching bible class, and lets not forget homework with the girls and playing with Benjamin. I feel like I am always a woman on a mission even if it is just trying to keep up with all the daily duties around the house. I know I don’t update this thing as often as I should but I know I am doing the best that I can. Hope everyone has a blest day!!
3 Aug 08 Catching Up
All right...I’m writing the “Hamlett Happenings” because Mom stinks at this blog thing. Tomorrow Kennedy starts her first day of Kindergarten at Hickam Elementary and she is very excited. We just finished reading The Night before Kindergarten and you could just see the anticipation in her eyes. Analysse is excited about 1st Grade and she started last week. She loves to play with boys and I can already feel my heartburn as a Dad coming on. Most recently I had my first checkride since my formal C-17 training in Altus, OK. God continues to truly bless me in my career and profession and its wonderful. Amanda and I ( ok mostly Amanda) worked hard recently on Vacation Bible School at church which took place on July 19th. We did not know what to expect and we were overjoyed. It was a significant amount of work because all of the material we ordered was based on a week and Amanda condensed it down to a single day. She did great at it and there were no logistical problems. We had over 60 kids from 5 churches on the island and over 40 adults volunteered to help. I led singing and it helped me to remember the joy kids have when they get together. Amanda wrote a puppet show about “Suzy” who had never been to a VBS before and I spoke with Suzy about her fears and then we spoke again after VBS and saw how her fear changed to excitement. The theme revolved around ways to live for God (Growing, Giving, Sharing, Praising, Loving) and living in the rainforest. The kids really enjoyed it and take a look in the the pictures in the other section. I believe we have already been signed up for next year.
So before VBS was our trip to GA. We spent two weeks visiting with my parents and hers and it was refreshing since we had not seen them in over a year. Benjamin had his first B-day there and Kennedy celebrated her 5th Bday. We took plenty of pictures so you can take a look at those as well. Of course the kids enjoyed seeing their grandparents and great parents but they had a great surprise that they will never forget. A cat that had been hanging around my parents had kittens and Analysse, Kennedy and Ben were there to see it and hold them. Being the animal lovers they are they simply could not put them down nor stop talking about them. My parents have almost finished their retirement home and it looks great. Amanda and I actually pursued buying some property that was for sale on the same street but it simply did not work out. The sellers and we didn’t see eye to eye on the price. We traveled back to our old stompin’ grounds of Warner Robins, GA and it is growing up. We were able to go to a few days of the church’s VBS and the girls got to see some of their friends from when we lived there. We were able to see Amanda’s mom and brother and that was great as well. It was very worth going but we were happy to come home as the time change and need for schedule was showing through in their behavior. One wonderful thing started happening and that was that Benjamin has starting walking. He, along with girls bring us so much happiness with their smiles. He loves to be with me especially when we are using tools or working outside. Well I’ll push Amanda to update after the girls get going back to school next week. Thanks for reading!
Sometime long ago...
Okay-so I stink at this blog thing!! I say I will update and I think about it and then when it actually comes time to do it I don’t. I have good reasons though. I should actually be cleaning the kitchen and well normally I do the sensible thing and you guessed it-clean the kitchen! But tonight I don’t care about the kitchen, okay so really I do care but I am trying to get this blog train back on track. So let me start with the good stuff first.
Analysse is doing great in school. I can’t believe how much she is learning. Sometimes I don’t see how with some of the craziness that goes on in her classroom, but somehow she manages to pull it off. She is reading. Can you believe it?! She is really reading and writing. Yesterday she got in big trouble(I say big but I can’t really remember what it was for now-all moms know this syndrome) and she wrote me a note saying she was sorry and she loved me. It was very sweet. She is still enjoying her Daisy Girl Scouts. This last week we went to a big annual scout event called Thinking Day. The girls get to go around to other troop’s displays and learn about different countries around the world. In Analysse’s case she “ate” her way around the world. As thin as she is, that girl can put away some food. I do have to toot my own horn a bit(persistence in the food trying department has finally paid off), she was one of the only girls who would try the dried fish from the country Iceland. Not only did she try it but she had 3 servings. General tidbits-she has lost 5 teeth so far and she claims to have several other wiggly ones. She is getting very tall and has also decided to grow her bangs out (as she says like mine) and I have to say she is getting prettier and prettier all the time. I can’t believe how much she has grown up. She is a wonderful help with Benjamin. She just adores him and she can hardly keep her hands off of him. She thinks it is so cool that I let her pick him up and carry him sometimes.
Our little Kennedy isn’t so little any more either. She is really blossoming. Putting her in pre-school has been such a blessing and has really helped her to grow. She is now writing her name. Before preschool it was a hopeless battle with getting her to write anything. She started out writing the craziest K’s I have ever seen but here recently she has really come around and is writing beautiful K’s. She is so proud of herself too and that has made all the difference. Tomorrow she is having a PJ party at school. She has been looking forward to this all month and I know she will have a blast. Between preschool and her Friday playgroup she has her own little set of friends and isn’t just a tag-a-long with her big sister anymore. She really enjoys having her own special friends and it has really helped build her confidence. She is also riding a big girl bike. Analysse gave her the “rainbow racer” bike that she had gotten too big for and now Kennedy is riding great. We ride to school with Analysse a couple of times a week and really enjoy the time together. Kennedy is also a big help with Benjamin, although she is still pretty rough(she is completely oblivious to this fact). Never the less Ben loves the attention he gets from her anyway.
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin! He is growing up so fast. First it was sitting, then crawling and now he is starting to pull up on everything and is trying to cruise. His first word was Mama and he has three teeth. He is the happiest baby ever and we are so blessed but he still isn’t a good sleeper. I have given up on him sleeping through the night while I am nursing him. I thought about giving it up but with Kenny gone on so many trips and now for 5 weeks to SOS I decided that nursing was a whole lot easier than fixing bottles in the middle of the night. Plus he doesn’t really care too much for the bottle anyway. Only a little more than 3 months left to my goal of one year. I have made it this long without sleep, what’s 3 more months?! Also his hair is coming in the most gorgeous shade of red. He really is a beautiful baby. I met a mother of two red-headed children and she asked me if it took me longer to get through the grocery store or Wal-mart than it did before. Now that I think of it, it does. When you have a red-headed child everyone wants to look at and unfortunately touch your baby. Benjamin used to eat it up and smile at everyone, but here recently he has started to be a “mama’s boy” and isn’t so fond of strangers, but hey, it makes me feel loved. One last thing-I didn’t believe it possible until I had my very own little boy-Benjamin already knows how to drive cars and trains and anything with wheels for that fact around on the ground. Eight months old and pushing cars and making noises-it is so a boy thing and I love it! It is so adorable.
So I said good stuff first, now for not so great news. Many of you know that for months now our family has endured many a sickness. Myself especially has been sick off and mostly on for a while now. I was trying to avoid a trip to the doctor for many reasons but a few weeks ago I surrendered to sever ear pain and went to the doctor. It seems that I have severe allergies. So sadly we had to give our family cat, Lizzie, (really she was my cat for nearly 10 good years) away. I have to say that it was gut wrenching and heartbreaking for me. I love that cat dearly but I can’t live like this anymore. The girls have been great about the whole thing and have actually been a big comfort to me. They know how much I love Lizzie. Kenny had to leave right after we gave her away and so I have been pretty sad and lonely. I miss my cat. Kennedy has also been having some issues with her ears and hasn’t been hearing well for sometime. We are going to the doctor yet again on Friday. I hope we don’t have to have tubes put in, but if they say she needs them then we will. I thought for a while that she was just ignoring me and it was actually infuriating me. I felt terrible when I figured out she wasn’t hearing. The test that I did was pretty funny. She had her back to me and I told her in a normal volume level that she could go get some chocolate to eat and she just sat there. I knew immediately that she couldn’t hear me. She has actually gotten pretty good at reading lips, funny, huh?!
Well I think I have gotten up to speed and I am going to try to do very short blogs from now on. I think I will be able to manage that better than these massive updates anyway. We miss you all and think of you more than you know!
March 19, 2008 Easter
Wow! What a week it has been. Things have been kind of crazy, aren’t they always?! So I have been dealing with the aftermath of the AC unit flood. It has been a total pain in the neck but at least we got our entire downstairs carpet cleaned out of the deal. I did have to move all of the contents of the entire carpeted area to the dining area of our house though. That was no easy task, but somehow I managed to do it. What a mess! It felt like we had just moved in the house again. It was very disorderly for about 3 days, any longer than that then I would have been a little nutty, but it’s all fixed now- hallelujah! I also had to drag all three of the kiddos to my allergy skin testing appointment. It was very unpleasant to say the least. The kids were pretty decent because we had the talk before the appointment and Benjamin actually sat in his stroller nearly the whole time. Unfortunately I am not allergic to anything except cockle burs which don’t even grow here in Hawaii. So I still have no answers as to why I have sinus problems all the time. It makes me sad because after all the nonsense I really wasn’t even allergic to Lizzie, our cat that we got rid of
So Easter came and went here. It was our first holiday away from Daddy. Saturday we all went over to Kailua to the egg hunt/spring fling that I was organizing for the kids at our church. It turned out really well and all of the kids had a wonderful time. We had 25 kids and 18 adults show up so I thought that was a pretty big turn out. We had a few game/contests, a devo and song session as well as the egg hunt and refreshments. Of course we came home with way too much candy and trinkets but I am glad that the girls had a good time. Even Benjamin got to hunt eggs. He found or should I say picked up 2 eggs and Analysse gave him 2 more. He had a great time just shaking them.
Later Saturday night we were all getting ready for bed and getting our clothes ready for the morning and Analysse decided she wanted me to help her find some “Easter” stuffed animals to sleep with. Like most houses with little ones we are over run with stuffed animals or critters as I like to call them. I was searching through the many beanie babies and such and found a few bunnies, ducks and a baby chick. The baby chick is actually very cute because when you squeeze it, it cheeps. So she wanted to sleep with one of the bunnies and she had to pick one out for Benjamin. It was very cute. She looked at me and very seriously she says “boys like chicks, right?” I couldn’t help but giggle a little and of course say “they sure do, honey”! I just love it when my children say cute little things like that. I hope I never forget sweet moments like that one.
Well I put them all to bed and that was the end of sweet moments. The next morning Analysse and Kennedy were at it first thing. I had gotten up very early to shower and try to get ready before anyone woke-wrong! I was enjoying my shower when the screaming and hollering and tattle tale nonsense began. After quickly finishing I got out and told the girls I would go ahead and take them downstairs and get them breakfast before I got ready. The Easter bunny had come and left a trail of eggs down the stairs to the baskets. He had left them each a Webkinz and a chocolate bunny and a small pack of peeps. I thought that they would just love their surprise, well not so much. Kennedy could care less and Analysse was like “is this it?” I couldn’t believe it. Where were my sweet children was all I could think. So I got their breakfast ready and sat them down at the table. I told them I was just going to go upstairs and start to get dressed. I had just made it to the bathroom to brush my teeth when Analysse ran upstairs to you guessed it-tattle tale. In literally less than 30 sec. they had completely trashed the dining room. Food fight! After all it was said and done, Analysse made a mean face at Kennedy, Kennedy decided to punch Analysse and somehow mysteriously a bowl of cheerios and a bowl of mini-wheats were everywhere but in their bowls. I was furious of course and when the girls complained that they were hungry I told them too bad, we didn’t have time for 2 breakfasts today. I did manage to finally get everyone ready including myself, although I didn’t get to dry my hair with the blow dryer so it was kind of frizzy. Not the look I was going for, but that’s what Hawaiian humidity will do to you. We were only 10 minutes late. The actual bible class and worship service was very nice and everyone was well behaved. After service the girls turned back into the lunatics of earlier that morning and somehow Analysse managed to stomp on my toe and rip my toe nail off. It was very painful but I managed to keep my composure. So I guess you could say that I was pretty mentally and physically exhausted before we even got to lunch. I had planned on making us a nice lunch-grilled pork tenderloin(upon the girls request), rice and veggies but by the time we got home I had lost my zeal. So our Easter dinner consisted of PB & J (I got a little crazy and put honey on mine), pretzels and juice boxes. For supper I fixed cereal. I figured that since they didn’t get a chance to eat it earlier that morning it wouldn’t be bad to give it to them twice in one day. Needless to say, it wasn’t quite the same without Daddy around. But I don’t feel bad, I have just accepted the philosophy of some days you just do the best you can to get by and this day just happened to be Easter.
This is our last week of spring break and honestly I am thankful. It is a lot of work with all three of them here all day. The girls want to be entertained the whole day and I can’t really do that with Benjamin’s needs as well as just trying to keep up with all of the daily chores that need to be done. I had really wanted to have a few really fun days for the kids but it’s tough taking them places all by myself. Especially if they aren’t on their very best behavior, which seems to be never lately. At least now that all of these crazy things have come and gone I can chuckle a little as I write about them. Life with three kids, who would have thought it would have been so much more chaotic. Someone once said to me when we found out we were going to have a third child “so you decided to go for zone defense rather than one on one?” So true… One last thing. So Benjamin has discovered the potty. No not to use it, just play in it. Tonight before I put him in the tub I found him with one of the girls’ play spatulas stirring the toilet water. Yikes!!! I am going to have to really watch him and for the first time ever we might have to child proof a few things. Neither of the girls ever did anything like that. We never had to have child locks on any cabinets. He is only 9 months old and he likes to drag a
ll of my pots and pans out and he rearranges the bottom shelf of our pantry 2-3 times a day. That’s my boy!
March 14
What a week. I felt like the week would never come to an end and finally it is here. The girls are sleeping over at a friend’s house and Benjamin is sleeping peacefully upstairs. Everything is quiet except my brain. Oh how I long for the simple days. Days without school and homework, days without commitment. I miss our tea parties and dressing up. I miss waking up not knowing what adventure the kids and I would have that day. I love watching the children grow and with each new accomplishment I am more and more proud of them but a little part of me is sad. I am sad that the days of pure simplicity are fading away. I miss Kenny terribly.
March 7
So it is Friday night and I should be trying to get some rest. I have been running around all week like a chicken with my head cut off. It has been drop off, pick up, do this, do that, clean, clean, clean...but instead I decide to be the cool mom and have a slumber party for the girls. Back since Sept. Analysse has wanted to have her best friend spend the night. With Benjamin’s sleeping habits or I guess I should say lack of sleeping habits as well as Kenny’s busy schedule I haven’t really been up for the task. I finally decided that I would never really be up to the task and there is never really going to be a good weekend to do it when Kenny is home so I decided to just go for it. So we don’t just have one house guest but 3 additional little giggly girls. As we speak they’re all downstairs still not sleeping but instead having a “pooting” contest-I know this because I can hear them. At least I can’t smell them. Who would have thought?! So why am I writing this? Because like everything I do there always seems to be a hitch of some sorts. So what hitch am I refering to? Oh well right after I had gotten the girls settled down enough to finally go to sleep I realized that something was wrong with the air conditioner. A broken air conditioner would have been fabulous; but no, the air is working fine, it’s just that the unit seems to be flooding the downstairs!! So I call maintenace and they say that they may be able to send someone tomorrow. Notice the key word “may.” In other words fat chance! Things like this always seem to happen when Kenny is gone and while I am trying to do something nice and fun. Stupid air conditioner! Other than that the girls have had a great time. It will be a wonderful memory for them. We had pizza, ice cream sundaes, pop corn, played outside, watched a movie, played dress up (they even dressed Benjamin up), and I painted all of their nails and put cute little flowers and jewels on them. It really has been fun.
March 3
Well I am pleased to say that this weekend was pretty nice. Since Kenny is gone I decided to try and make things fun around the house and we had a PJ party starting Friday night running through Saturday night. I also decided that Saturday would be backwards day and the girls loved the idea. We at spaghetti for breakfast and had chocolate chip pancakes for dinner. Since dinner was actually breakfast and dessert all in one I told the girls that if the really wanted “dessert” they could have a piece of bacon. I didn’t have any takers on that one. Then it was back to just another manic Monday....yes I do love 80’s music for all of you wondering. Mondays have become my least fav of all of the days of the week. It is drop off here drop off there, pick up here pick up there, rush, rush, rush, pick up and drop off all day long. Benjamin hates Mondays too. He sees the car seat and starts to cry. I know in his little mind he is thinking “in and out, in and out....” I feel bad for the little guy, but I guess that is what he gets for being number 3. I was in charge of the girl scout meeting this week and we did have alot of fun. We went to the park and we talked about being healthy and doing exercise and stuff. They all had a really good time.
So what has been on my mind lately, well I still miss Lizzie. That little fur ball was such a big part of our family. I never really thought about it but for the past nearly ten years I have done many things certain ways just because of the cat. I guess it is just going to take time. We have also lost two fish this week. I feel like such a terrible pet person. I can’t even keep the fish alive! At least Kennedy(they are technically really her fish) didn’t seem to be too traumatized by the loss. I let her bury the first one and then she thought she needed to check on it so she tried to dig it back up. She was more upset that she couldn’t find it when she was trying to dig it back up-go figure. The second fish died today and rather than burying this one I suggested we just send him surfing down the porcelain express to his resting place and she had no gripes about it.
So I thought I would end on a funny note and tell you some things the girls have said recently that have made me laugh. So Analysse is working hard in school and every week she brings home a few words to study that they call sight words. She is supposed to memorize them and so we were in the kitchen practicing her sight word cards when she looked puzzled. She said “I don’t know this one.” so I told her to sound it out. She looked at the card and sounded out o-p and said “mom, what does op mean?” I told her to flip the card around and try again. With her cute little grin she said “oops, I guess it’s do” I love kindergartners. Then Kennedy cracked me up. The other day she said "you know (pause) if you stick your finger in your ear (pause) and then well stick it in your mouth (pause) it kinda tastes funny"-well you think! Gotta love her.
February 29
So what’s going on with me? Besides being busy 24/7. I am pleased to say that I went on the Spouse Flight the squadron does every year. I can honestly say that I didn’t get “sick” although I was nauseous the entire 3.5 hours I was on the C-17. I am glad I did it though. I got to see what Kenny does on a regular basis and I have a real respect for someone who can hold all of their cookies on the plane on a daily basis. I would so stink at his job! But then again he would stink at mine.
I have American Idol fever once again. It’s sad to say but yes I am an AI junkie. This year is really cool though. My good friend Amanda from college knows the contestant Michael Johns. Her husband, Shannon, went to college with Michael and they were very good friends. Michael sang at Amanda and Shannon’s wedding. I was in Amanda and Shannon’s wedding. Do you see where I am going with this....I think Michael is going to win, so potentially I have met a super star! Anyway I thought it was pretty cool.
Okay so I have to throw in a funny story that happened a little over a month ago. I would like to title this one the “Most Ridiculous Item” So we had a yard sale about a month ago. I decided that the house needed yet another purge and I wanted to organize everything in the entire house from top to bottom. I even went into the attic and organized and decided it was time to get rid of a ton of the girls clothes. So we are at the yard sale and I will be honest, clothes usually are not the best sellers so I decided to go for cheap and every piece of clothing was a quarter. Well I don’t know about you but I thought that was a pretty good deal, especially since most of the clothes were nice clothes. For most of you who know me well you will also get a kick out of the fact that in spite of all of my organizing I just threw all of the clothes into big tubs and it was just a complete and total mess(it was a little hard for me to do but I restrained and didn’t organize the mess). So at 7:00 I was ambushed and literally everything was being ravished. You would think people had never been to a yard sale before and of course I was by myself b/c Kenny had taken the kids back to our house for something. So back to the clothes. Women and men alike were going crazy over the clothes-who would have thought-I guess it was the thrill of the hunt. Everyone was so excited that the clothes were only a quarter. Now here is the ridiculous part. So a lady asks me about the price and once again I say all pieces are a quarter. Then she holds up a little white sweater and says “well what about this one?” Of course I simply say that yes that was a quarter too and she says “well it does have a small stain on it.” What?!! Are you for real lady? It’s a yard sale not a free sale! So that is my Most Ridiculous Item story. I hope you got a good laugh, I know I did!!
Our Christmas Letter (2007) to bring everyone up to speed since our last Hamlett News Update...
Aloha friends and family! Mele Kalikimaka! Once again the year is coming to an end and I can hardly believe how quickly it has past. This year has been a very exciting year for our family with many changes and I am very eager to share our fondest memories of the year with all of you.
Here are the Hamlett Highlights of 2007:
We started the 2007 year in Altus, Oklahoma. Kenny was sent to Altus to do his final training for the C-17 and so we decided to make it a family trip. We spent four chilly and at times very snowy months in OK. The girls absolutely loved the snow-it was probably their favorite thing about OK. It definitely wasn’t the most exciting place we have ever lived, but as always we did meet some really wonderful people while we were there.
In April we left OK and headed for our new home sweet home-Hawaii. Of course like any Hamlett adventure the trip had it’s “moments”. The short version-we almost missed our flight because our vehicle almost didn’t get shipped, I had a pregnant melt down, Analysse’s hand got smashed in the taxi cab’s door and then that same cab ride cost us $80.00 only to find out our flight had been delayed for two hours. The flight itself was 8 hours long and the airline decided that it wasn’t going to serve any food that day. Good thing I threw in a box of granola bars and a bag of goldfish for good measure before we left! All in all we did finally make it to Hawaii, Kenny, me (eight months pregnant), the two kids and our family cat I insisted on dragging halfway across the world.
A few days after arriving in HI, Kenny had to leave us to finish one last course he needed to complete-survival training. While he was in Washington State learning to live in the woods we did our own survival here on the island. Kenny and I had tried to plan ahead as much as we could before the move, but with any military move and especially one that is considered overseas many things are left a mystery until you actually reach your destination. I spent the next few weeks with the kids trying to get us housing and all the other moving details taken care of-it was no easy task especially being so pregnant but with the Lord’s help we were finally blessed with a wonderful home. Kenny was able to come home and we started to set up house. We were able to get everything unpacked; the girls’ room and the nursery decorated, and feel very settled before the baby was born.
In fact, the Lord really knows what we need, because our bouncing baby boy decided to make his first appearance into this world a week later than expected. Looking back it is such a relief, many nights I thought the stress of the move would bring him early and I would have no one to help me. Instead everything was just as it should have been. Our son, Benjamin Will Hamlett was born on June 9, 2007 at 6:37am. He weighed 8 lb. and 1 oz. and was 19 inches long. The delivery was very easy and smooth, a wonderful reward for such a hard pregnancy.
As far as the rest of the year, everything has just been falling into place for us and we have been establishing our everyday rhythms. Kenny is working hard and has been flying many missions. He loves flying and I love supporting him while he is doing such a great service to our country. He is also finishing up his last two courses for his Master’s Degree. The Lord has truly blessed him and we are so proud of him for all that he has been able to accomplish with the Lord’s help over this past year.
Analysse is growing up right before our eyes. In just a few short weeks she will be turning six years old. She is such a wonderful big sister to Kennedy and now to Benjamin as well. She is so helpful and has such a loving and giving heart. She started Kindergarten this year and is proving to be an excellent student. She was just given the Student of the Quarter award; we are so proud of her. She is also our budding artist. When ever she is inside she is either writing a story (with my help of course) or drawing a picture for someone. Just two months ago she joined the Daisy Girl Scouts and is working hard to earn all of her patches. She is already able to recite the Girl Scout promise and has become a junior rescuer. Her latest accomplishment has been to ride her bicycle without the training wheels. Watch out world here she comes!
What can I say about Kennedy; well she is definitely not the baby anymore! She has started to attend a local Christian preschool two days a week and she is so excited. She loves her teacher and is doing very well. She is beginning to write and be very creative. I am so thrilled for her. Of course she is still our little comedian and loves to amuse us with her silly stories. One of her favorite past times is to catch all of the geckos in our back yard and she is very quick and good at it too. She has also really taken to the role of being a big sister. She is very helpful and Benjamin just adores her even when she “loves” him a little too rough. She is also turned into a Star Wars junkie thanks to Kenny. At four years old she can tell you the entire story line with details! She is really something!
Benjamin has been such a wonderful blessing to our family. He really is a great baby. He is always happy and let’s not forget hungry-he’s a growing boy! When he was born the first thing the doctor asked was “who in the family has red hair?” So Benjamin was born with a head full of red hair. Most of his hair fell out but it is coming back in and yes, it is still red. We all think he’s the cutest little man you ever did see! He is growing so fast and is doing everything a six month old should be doing. He loves to be tickled and he has a very infectious laugh. When you hear him, you can’t help but to smile.
As for me I am busy as usual but enjoying my life as a wife and a mom of three wonderful children. I am making new friends daily and beginning to feel settled in our community as well as our new church home. I still enjoy reading a good book now and then and over this past year have really taken up a passion for cooking. I also just got a bicycle for my birthday and look forward to riding with the kids. Who knows what other new adventures this next year has in store me?! Could it be surfing?!!
As a family we have really tried to acquaint ourselves with the beautiful island of Oahu and all of the wonders it has to offer. We are making our way through a very long list of “things to do”. We also want welcome anyone who would like to come visit us with open arms and an open house. If you ever thought you might want to vacation in Hawaii then the next two and a half years is the time to do it!
As exciting as this year has been for us we do want all of you to know how much we miss you. This is the first year we have truly been away from home or as they say here the “mainland” and so this holiday will be a little different. Just know that each and every one of you hold a special place in our hearts and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed year in 2008!
- Kenny, Amanda, Analysse, Kennedy, & Benjamin
With all of the changes over the past year we weren’t able to keep up with our website like we had hoped but we plan on reorganizing it and keeping it current at the first of the year now that we are settled. Mahalo for you patience and understanding!
5/27/07
This was a partial update from Amanda before arriving in HI...
Surprise! I am actually updating this page in a timely manner. Ok, so I started this update over a month ago. As usual I started the update and then got side tracked with something else. As you know we are here in Altus, OK and everything is going very well. It was starting to feel like “home” as much as our apartment possible could and now I can hardly believe that we are about to be leaving in 2 weeks. The girls and I have been filling our days with school, trips to the park (when the weather isn’t so crazy), appointments, and shopping for stuff for the baby, and traveling. Unlike most people who come to Altus, I can not say that I am bored. There is always something for me to be doing with the girls or around the apartment and I believe that I will feel that way no matter where I am in this world. With two children with you 24 hours a day there is never a dull moment.
My Feb. Doctors Appointments
I had a very good doctor’s visit a few weeks back. I got to see the nurse practitioner this time and she was very nice and took her time at answering all of my questions. She said it looked like I had my blood sugar under control but that we would check it again at my next appointment. My weight looked good and of course the baby’s heart beat sounded great. She told me not to stress myself out about exercise so much and to just rest when I felt tired. That is a hard concept for me to grasp-rest that is, but I have been taking it easy and I have honestly been feeling great. It was so nice to leave the office with a smile on my face instead of a handful of prescriptions! I also had my teeth cleaned a few days ago. I used the hygienist at Dr. Goodman’s office right down from our apartment complex. It was extremely clean, the staff was very friendly as well as the doctor himself, and I thought they just all around did a good job. I highly recommend that dental practice to anyone coming into the Altus area that needs dental care.
Valentine’s Day
On February 14th we all woke up to a white snow covered world. The girls are just so amazed with the snow. We have been told that the weather has been somewhat out of the ordinary since we have been here. “It doesn’t usually snow so much” is what everyone has been telling us. I don’t particularly care about getting out and going places when it is so snowy/icy but it has been nice for the girls. They won’t get to see snow like this for many years and so we have tried our best to let them enjoy it as much as possible. Valentine’s Day was great! Kenny and I surprised the each of the girls with a giant Hershey’s kiss and a little silver heart shaped locket. Then Kenny also surprised them each with a balloon and a rose. He surprised me with a dozen red roses and a wonderful card. He had hid them in his car the night before and so he had to go out in the snow first thing in the morning to get the flowers. Of course the girls watched from the window and gave me a play by play update about what Daddy was carrying to the door. I thought it was very sweet of him to surprise me. He is so good at doing that. I didn’t surprise him with flowers or candy but I did sit down and write him a long love letter like I used to do when we were dating. I know he enjoyed it very much. Later that evening he took us out to an Italian restaurant that I had been wanting to try-Roma’s. I thought it was very good and it reminded me of a place I used to work at when I first started college. It was really the first restaurant that I have enjoyed going to while we have been in Altus. We have gone to several different places and well, the food just hasn’t been that good. I really love to cook and so when I go out I like to get things that I wouldn’t normally fix at home. When the food is less than average or if I know that I could have made it better myself I always feel like it is such a waste. Since then I have also had lunch at a small place down town called the Grapevine Café. It was excellent! I didn’t feel like I was in Altus, OK. It is only open for lunch and serves soup and sandwich type stuff. The food and atmosphere were great and recommend it to anyone coming to Altus.
The Girl’s
The girls have been getting very excited about the move, the baby and everything that is to come in the next month and a half. Actually we all are. Time has really gone by fast for us while we have been here. Kenny has stayed busy with his schooling as well as SOS and his master’s course. The girls have been helping me to pick out things for Benjamin and they have a great time doing it. He is going to be so spoiled by his big sisters. I feel much better now that we have some baby things and won’t have to go out and search at the last minute when I know I won’t exactly feel like it.
As you know I always like to tell a few funny stories that happen through out the month and well once again Kennedy is quite our little comedian. Kenny didn’t really want me to share this story but I got so tickled when it happened I couldn’t resist. For all of you who know her personality she is incredibly sweet but she is also my more negative child. She has always been a hard cookie to crack in this area, even as an infant. Mostly we just try to encourage her often; Analysse is a very good encourager to her too. All of the encouraging has helped and now she is becoming quite the encourager herself. One day I was fixing dinner and the girls were playing. Kenny came home just before we were all about to sit down. As soon as dinner was on the table, the girls were washed up and everyone was sitting to say the prayer, Kennedy announces she has to go to the bathroom. This is very typical for her and is one of the things that she does that absolutely drives me nuts. So we all sat patiently waiting for Kennedy and sure enough she yells for help. So I slowly start to get up and say that I will be there in just a minute. Very nonchalantly she yells back “you know Mom, you are the best cooker and well Daddy, he’s the best wiper, so could you ask him to come and help me!” As a mother that stays home and deals with potty issues all day I was just ecstatic. I looked at Kenny and said “well you heard it straight from the horses mouth” and so now when he is home he is on potty duty (no pun intended, ha ha!!). It is so funny what comes out of our children’s mouths sometimes. I have a second funny story about Kennedy for this update. Last Sunday we went to church and it was extremely hot in the auditorium. I really started to feel bad due to the heat and so I decided to go outside and sit in the car and get some fresh air. While I was in the car Kennedy of course announces she has to go to the bathroom-surprise, surprise. Kenny decided to let Analysse stay in her seat because she was coloring quietly. He took Kennedy downstairs to where the ladies bathroom was and told her to go in and do her business. He was standing outside the door waiting for her when several other ladies came down to use the restroom. He didn’t want to make any of the ladies uncomfortable by standing around the bathroom door so he moved over by the stairs. While Kenny was waiting for Kennedy to come out of the bathroom a visiting couple came downstairs and asked him where the nursery was. After the couple left and all of the ladies had come out of the bathroom Kenny went back to the door and called for Kennedy. All he heard was silence. He called again, this time stating he was very serious; still no Kennedy. Finally he decided to go in the ladies bathroom and check for her. He checked all the stalls and no Kennedy. At this point he said he knew he was in trouble; in his own words “only this would happen on my watch.” So he decided to go back upstairs and see if she was back in the auditorium. When he went upstairs sure enough she was sitting there with Analysse as well as another family that we have befriended while we have been here in Altus. Come to find out, Kennedy had snuck upstairs while Kenny was talking with the visiting couple and instead of going directly back to her seat to sit with Analysse she ran all the way to the front of the auditorium right in the middle of the sermon. Our friends (as well as everyone else) noticed her and went up front to get her and brought her back to sit with Analysse and wait for Kenny to return. After church began to let out our friend saw me in the car and told me to ask Kenny about how he lost our child. I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s true stuff like that only happens to Kenny.
Surprise trip to GA
At the end of February I decide to make a trip home to Georgia. I was finally starting to feel better and felt confident that I could make the trip with the girls. I set out and took three days to get there. We stayed at Barksdale AFB in LA the first night. It wasn’t the best experience I have ever had. We had booked a room that had a pull out couch and a full size bed for me. The first room they tried to put me in had one tiny bed and so they had to change my room. The next room they put us in was an upstairs room. I toted all of the bags up the steps and coaxed two tired children all the way. We got in the room and realized that it wasn’t clean. Back downstairs with all the bags and the kids to get another room. The third room they put us in was, you guessed it, back upstairs. We got in that room and well it was clean but it was literally 85 degrees. The air conditioners were not turned on (they are on a system that runs from May-Sept) and the windows in our room had been painted shut. Having already been moved so many times I tried to stick it out, but at 1:00am when we were all soaked with sweat and Kennedy began to cry I had had enough. I checked the thermostat and literally it was 90 degrees in our room. I called back down to the front desk and they told me that they didn’t have any more rooms but that a single woman had just checked and they had put her in a suite and that they would call her and see if she would be willing to change to a single room.
30 Jan 07
Well most everyone probably thinks that I have fell off of the earth or something by now. At times it felt as if I might any second but no, I am still here. The past couple of months have been very busy, very crazy and just down right hectic. Several times I have thought about doing my update. I even started it a couple of times and then just abandoned it. Some times I really wanted to write one but then just didn’t actually want to sit down and do it. Needless to say I have a lot to catch up on. I am going to break this update down into sections for easier reading. It probably won’t be as detailed as some of my past updates but hopefully it will give some insights and be entertaining at times too.
Kenny’s Graduation (Nov 17 2006)
I could hardly believe it was really time. The whole week before graduation was jam packed with stuff to do (non related to graduation) and with me still not feeling so well I barely had time to think about it until that Thursday when family was supposed to arrive. I actually wasn’t too worried about family coming because I didn’t have to do any cooking and so it was a pretty stress free time as far as graduation goes. Many student spouses are worried about all the graduation events and decorations and such but all the students in the class took care of everything and all I had to do was help Kenny with his duty and that was to get the shadow boxes taken care of so it was a piece of cake. It is very unusual for any of the students to take charge and deal with graduation stuff but I thought it was great! Less work and stress for all of the spouses and we got to enjoy the day rather than run around and do things when there was a small break in between activities. All of Kenny’s family got to our house right after dinner time on Thursday and so we got to visit a little before bedtime. The next morning we all got ready and headed out to the graduation breakfast. Breakfast was good and then there were some briefs. Kenny and I kept the girls outside in the lobby area because I knew they would get bored and I didn’t want them to be frustrated with having to be quiet even before the actual graduation ceremony began. This worked out great. Kenny and I had already heard the same briefs before and that way his family could enjoy them without the distraction of the girls. After the breakfast a bus came to take us to the theater where we had the actual graduation ceremony. The bus ride was the most anticipated thing of the day for the girls. It was a short trip but they enjoyed it no less and once the ceremony actually began they were super. We were thrilled and very proud of Kenny when he was awarded the Commander’s Trophy during the ceremony. It was a really funny feeling, almost like a dream, when Kenny’s name was called. I knew he had studied hard, prepared daily, done well on tests but it was kind of a surprise when they called his name because everyone worked so hard and everyone in the class had really done great. Needless to say we felt very blessed and honored for him to receive such honors. After the ceremony we did the various red carpet activities: breaking of the wings, static displays, seeing the flight room, sim time, ect. After all the activities the rest of the family went back to our house and Kenny and I with the help of a few other students got the shadow boxes and set them up for display at the Officer’s Club for the graduation dinner. Then Kenny and I went home and got ready for the dinner. I have to say that the dinner was the most fun part of the entire day. I was really excited about getting all dressed up and had been waiting to wear my dress for a very long time. I actually bought it for the cruise Kenny and I took on our honeymoon and never wore it. Luckily it was a loose flowing kind of dress and it still fit even with my changing pregnant body. Actually it showed my little “baby bump” off quite well, but I felt great standing next to Kenny. It was a lot of fun and we had a good time sitting with Vic and his family during the dinner. The dinner was actually my first formal military event and I look forward to many more to come over the years.
Thanksgiving
Right after graduation Kenny and I started to prepare for the move and also get ready for our holiday travel plans. Kenny’s parents volunteered to take the girls to GA with them on their way home and so Kenny and I had a few days to ourselves. This made things much easier. We had put up our Christmas decorations right after assignment night and so all of that had to be taken down, sorted and put away. Kenny and I also decided to have an impromptu yard sale too in the midst of everything else that was going on so we started our usual purging effort that we do before every move. Every cabinet, drawer, closet, storage tub, and of course nook and cranny had to be gone through and sorted. I try to do this a couple of time a year anyway so it wasn’t really so bad. About a month prior we had donated a whole bunch of stuff to the thrift shop on base and also the Ukraine ministry at our church but we still ended up with a fair share of things to get rid of. Our neighbors also decided to join in the effort as well as a few of Kenny’s class mates. Of course the weather was absolutely terrible the Saturday we had the yard sale, but that didn’t stop the masses from coming. We had ladies trying to get in our garage at 5:00am (although the ad said it wasn’t supposed to start until 7:00am, but who reads that part right?) and when I wouldn’t sell them anything they left in a tizzy saying “well fine I guess we won’t come back!” I honestly don’t remember if they came back or not but it didn’t matter, like I said the masses just kept coming and coming. Everyone did surprisingly well as far as selling stuff. We sold nearly everything! It was well worth the chaos. Kenny and I also got to go on a date before traveling to GA, our third date in well I guess you could say 2 years or so--sad I know. We went to a nice restaurant and a movie. It really felt strange not having the girls around. I was tempted to call and check on them a few times but I refrained and I think I only called once. Then that Tuesday before Thanksgiving I had a check up and then we would be off to GA for the holiday. The trip was fine although being pregnant made the car ride far more uncomfortable than past trips. I think an hour into the drive I was ready to be there. The big Hamlett Thanksgiving for the extended family was to be at Kenny’s parents’ house this year so it was nice only to have to travel once. I got to help with the cooking (something that I don’t normally do) so it was nice. I cooked the ham and made a cranberry and apple stuffing side dish and both were quite tasty if you ask me and then later that night we went over to my mom’s house for another Thanksgiving meal with my family. The day was relaxing and we got to see a bunch of people the only thing that wasn’t great was that half of all of the people were sick! I am not normally a freak about these type things but having just gotten past most of my morning sickness/ metal taste in the mouth stuff I was not wanting to partake of anyone’s cold germs. We had planned a family vacation to take right after Thanksgiving-Santa Claus had brought us tickets to go to Disney World (a few weeks early of course) and so I was hoping that everyone would be healthy for the trip.
Disney World and Sea World
We were supposed to leave GA on Monday morning and get to Disney World that afternoon. Everything went according to schedule, the drive wasn’t bad, the kids were great and well of course my sniffles arrived somewhere in between GA and FL right on cue just as I suspected they would. At least it wasn’t the full blown thing, only the sniffles and at least I had come prepared-I think I brought the entire medicine cabinet from home. We settled into our room and it really nice. We stayed in the Disney All Star Movie resort. I thought it would be neat for the girls to see all of the character decorations around the buildings. We had a huge Jack-in the-Box outside our building as well as a ballerina and some toy soldiers. I think the decorations were characters from Mickey’s Fantasia (which we haven’t really watched before) but the girls quickly named the ballerina and soldiers as characters from the Nutcracker and so nutcrackers they were! We had dinner that night in the food court and then went to bed kind of early so we could get a jump start and the next day. We woke up Tuesday and started to get ready and low and behold it was raining. We took our time finishing up and by a little after 9:00 am it had pretty much passed. We headed towards the buses and grabbed the first bus to the Magic Kingdom and we were off and running. Once again the girls enjoyed the bus ride but we even more amazed when we got to the Magic Kingdom. It truly was magic for them both. There was so much to look at and things to do. Of course they both wanted to see Cinderella’s castle so we made our way to the back of the park. After seeing the castle we went on the Carousel and the Dumbo ride. They especially liked the Dumbo ride because you get to control how high or low your elephant gets to go. Of course both of the girls wanted to go as high as they could almost the entire time. After we got done with the Dumbo ride we started to make our way back to the Crystal Palace restaurant where we had reservations to eat with Pooh and Friends. While we were on our way we got to meet Sleeping Beauty, which happens to be Kennedy’s favorite princess. The girls got to have their picture made with her and Prince Philip and they both thought that was great. While they were standing with her I told Kennedy to tell Sleeping Beauty her special secret and so she whispered (well ok, a pretty loud 3 year old’s whisper) into Sleeping Beauty’s ear “You’re my favorite princess” and then Sleeping Beauty said “Well that deserves a special kiss” and she kissed Kennedy’s cheek. Kennedy was so proud and we let her walk around the rest of the day with Sleeping Beauty’s lip print on her cheek! Then we were off to have lunch with Pooh. We got to the Crystal Palace and right before we were taken to our table Kennedy had a little melt down about something. The lady taking us to our table wasn’t fazed a bit and as a matter of fact had probably taken the class Kranky Kids 101 and therefore she quickly whipped out a handful of Mickey Mouse confetti. Of course it was the cure for whatever was bothering Kennedy and so Kennedy asked the lady “what is this stuff?” and the lady answered “well Pixie dust of course” and from that time on it was known as in the words of Kennedy as “picky dust.” Although Kennedy is my more difficult child sometimes I am never left with out a smile on my face from the cute faces she makes and the cute things she says. Once we were sat at our table we were told to wait for the characters to come to us (they have a specific pattern they go by so they do not miss any table) but we were free to help ourselves to the buffet. The food was great and shortly after we were seated we were greeted by Tigger. Both girls are very intrigued by the characters, but in very different ways. Analysse is at an age where she wants to know everything and so the questions began “is that the real Tigger mommy?” “Is there a person inside?” “How come they don’t say anything?” and so on and so on... In spite of all of Analysse’s questions I still managed to convince her that they were “real”. I asked her if she wanted them to be real and she said yes. So I told her that if she believed that they were real then they were. She went along with it, but she is very quick to say “they are the real characters”. In Kennedy’s mind there is no question-it’s the real thing and that is all there is too it. Now you know that I always have to have some kind of a funny little part to my update and this one is now exception. Just thinking about it makes me chuckle as I am writing. We were all finishing up our lunch. Kennedy and Analysse were getting anxious to see Pooh Bear who had not made his appearance yet. Finally we saw him enter our side of the restaurant and so I told the girls it would not be long before he came to see them. Suddenly I turned my head and Kennedy was gone. I looked at Kenny and he shrugged his shoulders and had that “I don’t know look” so I looked towards the front of the restaurant which just so happened to also be where Pooh Bear was and of course there she was. As you remember me saying, we were given strict rules to stay at our table until the characters came to us. I quickly jumped up and ran towards her only to find her hanging on to Pooh’s leg for dear life and Pooh looking quite confused. As I reached the table I also saw a little boy with a party hat on, a birthday cake and one very irritated father with a video camera in his hand saying “who the heck is that?” Of course I apologized immediately to the people at the table and tried to get Kennedy away from Pooh-which wasn’t that easy by the way-and as suspected it all happened to be on video. At the time I did feel kind of bad but also at the same time I couldn’t help but laugh once I was back at our table. Kennedy was just so excited she couldn’t contain herself and hey, that little boy will never forget that birthday! After our crazy character lunch we spent most of our time on rides until the parade at 3:00pm. The girls loved the rides and couldn’t take their eyes off of the floats during the parade. It was so great getting to experience the magic of Disney World with the girls; I felt just like a child myself and the more excited they got the more excited I became as well. After the parade I changed the girls into their princess costumes. Analysse was Cinderella and Kennedy was Snow White. They looked very cute and were so proud of their dresses. I should have let them wear the costumes all day but I wasn’t sure how well the costumes would actually hold up the entire day, but everything worked out fine. The girls definitely got a lot more attention from the park cast members while they were wearing them and they seem to eat it up. We finished our day by riding yet more rides, having dinner in the park and watching the evening firework show. By the time we reached the bus to go back to our resort the girls were zonked out! Surprise, surprise!! The next day we had big plans. We were going to eat breakfast with Lilo and Stitch, and then do some park hopping and ending up back at the magic kingdom to have dinner with Cinderella in the castle. Well we had big plans is the key. We woke up to rain, which it was not supposed to do the week we were there, and a Hamlett adventure couldn’t be complete with out the stomach virus. Poor Analysse was so sick and I felt terrible for her. She couldn’t keep anything down and I was starting to get desperate, luckily for us I brought our entire medicine cabinet including all the anti-nausea meds known to man. I gave her a small dose and prayed it would work. She and Kennedy desperately wanted to eat at the castle, it was practically the only thing they really wanted to do. So at about 5:00pm Analysse appeared to be much better and we decided to take our chances and head out to the magic kingdom for a parade and dinner with Cinderella. We watched the evening parade which was beautiful. The girls had a front row seat and could see everything. I let them wear their princess dresses again and of course they got a lot of attention. When Snow White came by she saw Kennedy in her costume and said “oh look a little me” and she gave Kennedy a hug. Kennedy was just thrilled and thank goodness we got it on video before we dropped the camera and it broke. After the parade we raced to the castle to make our reservation time of 8:00pm. Just a side note for those interested in ever dining at Cinderella’s castle: reservations are very hard to get. When you call the people tell you that reservations are booked up at least 6 months in advance and at times are not really very nice about it. We finally got some useful advice from one cast member. Most reservations to the castle are not cancelled because if you cancel within 24 hours you are still charged for everyone in your party so it is very costly (it was about $160 for a family of 4). If the reservations are cancelled they are made available at 7:00am the morning of the next day. That is how we got our reservation. We called first thing in the morning (before we knew Analysse was sick) and made them for 8:00pm that evening and it was the only reservation available. I thought it was a little strange since the park actually closed at 8:00pm but they take reservations at the castle right up until closing. So anyway, we raced to the castle for our reservation and checked in about 15 minutes early. Once we were checked in we got the girls’ picture taken with Cinderella (a 5x7 and 4 4x6 pictures are included in the dinner package). Cinderella was very sweet to the girls and especially to Analysse because she was wearing her cinderella dress. Analysse whispered to Cinderella that she was her favorite princess and of course Cinderella hugged her extra tight. Then we were off to be seated upstairs in the dining room. We were seated at a great table right next to the window. Just after we received our drinks and ordered our food the fireworks show outside started. We were able to see it all right from our table out the window. The girls thought it was great and I have to admit it was amazing. During our dinner the Fairy Godmother and two of Cinderella’s mouse friends put on a show for us. The girls had a great time dancing with the two mice, although Kennedy kept asking where Jaq and Gus-Gus were. I think we told her that it was their bedtime and they were sleeping. Dinner was pretty good. I had the pork tenderloin and Kenny had prime rib. Mine was the better of the two. I wouldn’t say that the food was worth the money but the experience definitely was. The girls will never forget it and we have wonderful pictures to show them over the years. After dinner we left the park and it was truly magical. I didn’t think about it when we made the reservations but we couldn’t have picked a better time. Analysse was over her sickness, we got to see the fireworks from inside the castle, the girls got to meet Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother, and the mice and lastly we got to walk through Walt Disney World at night with all the lights and music going but with no one else around! What a day, I can’t express how magical it all felt. The girls were amazed and so were we at how the place looked in all its splendor, Christmas decorations everywhere, and we were the only ones walking through, free to see it all and take everything in. I know I keep saying this but, it was amazing.
The next day we headed off to Sea World. We all enjoyed Sea World. We watched the Shamu show, the dolphin show, and also a cirque du soleil type circus show and we all agreed that the dolphin show was our fav. Just as we were getting ready to leave the park the dreaded stomach virus attacked Kenny. I had brought the meds with us to the park just in case and so I did my best to doctor him up and get us back to the resort. I became the hand washing/sanitizing Nazi the rest of the trip and it did pay off. Kennedy and I escaped the awful virus and made it home germ free. Our ride home felt like the never ending drive but we made it safely.
Analysse’s 5th Birthday
We got home from our vacation on a Friday. Analysse’s birthday party was planned for Sunday, so that meant I had Saturday to make the cake. I was going to just go the easy way out and buy a cake, but store cakes aren’t really that good and I really wanted her to have a special cake. Normally I like to have birthday parties at our home but with the movers possibly coming on Monday and the place already halfway in boxes I thought we would try something different. I didn’t want anything too extravagant because we just took that huge vacation to Disney so I asked Analysse how she felt about having her party at McDonald’s. Her answer was “I guess that would be pretty fun!” I guess this was kind of a double treat for her because we don’t normally go to McDonald’s. I checked into it and the price seemed right and I thought it would be really neat for her to have a “hamburger” cake. If you read the Aug update, you may remember that I made Kenny a “hot dog and fries” cake and the girls thought it was so cool. Everyone on Kenny’s side of the family has had a hamburger cake at some point (I thought this was a little strange at first but when I was looking through pics of Kenny as a kid all of the relatives have had one even his Granny) so I thought this would be the perfect time for Analysse to have her hamburger cake and eat it too-at McDonald’s of all places. Plus Kenny thinks all kids should have at least one birthday at McDonald’s in his words “it’s classic!” So the cake turned out great and by Sat. night I was exhausted. We woke up and went to church and since it was also going to be our last Sunday at church we went out to eat with a bunch of friends. The girls and I laid down for a nap and Kenny was doing some work on the computer and was supposed to wake us up to get ready to go to the party at 3:00pm. The party was to start at 4:00pm. I woke up at 3:40pm and started freaking out. Kenny had gotten so busy that he forgot to wake us up and so I had to race to get everyone to the party. We got there right at 4:00pm and luckily no one had gotten there yet. I decided to have her party at McDonald’s because I thought it would be super easy and a piece of cake-wrong!! It was the craziest thing. Once we got there it was like pulling teeth to get the right number of treat bags. The kids could only get a hamburger or a cheeseburger-no nuggets allowed. We were told that it no longer came with fries. The person who brought the drinks out started to sing happy birthday in a very half heartedly kind of way and all of the kids just looked at him very confused-who sings happy birthday while serving orange soda? Then the lady told us we would have to leave because our hour was up and she wanted to clean up so she could go home. It was so weird, luckily the 4 and 5 year olds had no real clue what was really happening. As far as Analysse was concerned she got to sit on the birthday throne, play with her friends, open presents, eat a really cool cake and have all the people she love the most sing “Happy Birthday” to her. Overall it was a great birthday party for her but I have to say I don’t highly recommend a McDonald’s party unless you know the management!
Our Move
Well like anything that we Hamletts do our move was no different-always something crazy happens. So Analysse’s party was Sunday, we had dinner with some friends from church on Monday, we finally got orders on Tuesday and had dinner with more friends and the packers got to our house on Wednesday. I felt pretty good about the whole thing-at first. I promised myself I would not stress out about “stuff” meaning all of our material possessions. I had enough on my mind trying to get the things that we might need over the next 5 months packed and out of the way. I had to get winter clothes packed for Altus. I had to have summer clothes packed for Hawaii. I needed to have essential living items such as kitchen items, linens and towels, entertainment for the kids and even stuff for our baby in case anything was to happen and the baby was to come early or we were stuck somewhere longer than expected or if worse case scenario they lost all of our stuff. This was no easy task and I had very little time to accomplish it. Kenny’s job was to get all of the necessary paper work taken care of. I knew this was going to be a big move and that it wasn’t going to be easy. I didn’t want to stress especially being pregnant and so I really had to sike myself up for everything. So Wed. the movers packed a good bit of our stuff. I really didn’t want to get in the way too much so I just watched and tried to be as nice about particular things as possible. The packers really do not like too much instruction. They take it very offensive. Because we have had previous moves I felt like I kind of knew what was going to happen but moving to Hawaii (which is considered an overseas move) has proven me wrong. Overseas moves are much and let me stress much harder than state side moves. The little things inside the house are done pretty much the same so I didn’t worry too much and I tried to have the attitude of “if it breaks, it breaks and the military will pay to replace it” attitude. Big items like furniture and a lot of stuff out in our garage was done very differently. Instead of being wrapped in blankets, which is nice and padded, it was wrapped in brown paper. I was still ok with everything going on until Thursday. Kenny was taking care of yet more paper work for the move and so I was left to watch all three packers, wrap and do our inventory. It was impossible to watch everyone wrap and watch the inventory guy all at the same time. It is very important to make sure that you have a good inventory because they can list whatever damage they want to each piece of your furniture and they do it with codes so it is very hard to get things replaced if they list something as already “damaged”. It is also important that everything is on the inventory or you can not prove that the item actually belongs to you if it doesn’t have an inventory sticker on it or if it “goes missing” for it to be replaced. At the same time it is important for you to watch your items go on the truck, in our case since this is an overseas move into the wooden crates, so that they are not too rough with your stuff. I chose to watch our stuff going into the crate because I didn’t want them being rough and as I say “rammy” with our stuff and I checked on the inventory guy ever so often. With Kenny gone, at this point I started to stress out a bit, well ok- A LOT! Once our stuff was wrapped in brown paper it was impossible to tell what each item was going into the crate. Rough doesn’t even begin to describe how our things were handled. I tried several times very nicely by the way to get the guys to be less rough and I think it just made the situation worse. I know that the crates need to be packed tightly so things don’t shift and break while on the boat, but I will truly be surprised if our stuff wasn’t broken by the packers. Finally I called Kenny and told him to come home right away. The packers seemed to listen to him much better than me, but I could tell the attitude was there to stay. Kenny told me to go back to TLF (temporary lodging facilities) and take a nap and then get the kids and he would finish up. I don’t think I could have taken one more second there. I know it is just stuff, but come on, be respectful. Friday the packers were to finish up and we would be on our way to GA for the holiday break. Then Friday morning I woke up feeling very strange. I was dizzy and somewhat nauseas. At this point I had just really gotten over the whole morning sickness thing so I thought maybe I was just a little hungry. I got up and ate some cereal and got the girls clothes laid out. Kenny got ready and left to go to the house and meet the packers and told me to take my time and drop the girls off at the CDC and then I could meet him at the house. I tried to take a shower and started to feel even dizzier so I got out and laid down. By this time the girls were up and so I told them to get dressed and I called Kenny. I told him that I still felt strange and that I would call the doctor because I didn’t feel like I could drive at this point. Kenny couldn’t leave the packers by themselves so I told him I would figure something out. I called the doctor and as I was on the phone with the nurse I began to get extremely sick. Every time I moved my head I would vomit. I know the girls were a little scared but I just said “mommy is going to be fine, sometimes mommy gets sick when there is a baby in my tummy” and they were fine with that. The nurse told me to go to the emergency room immediately so I called my friend Julie desperate for help. She called her husband to come and get the girls and take them to the CDC and she came and got me and took me to the hospital. She had 3 of her children with her so I had her just drop me off. Of course she went back to our house and politely ordered Kenny go to the hospital to be with me while she stayed with the movers. When it rains it definitely pours and well it just so happened that while Julie and I were on the way to the hospital several cops passed us going about 80mph through town. Evidently there were 4 ambulances on their way to the hospital at the same time with gun shot wounds and so the poor sick pregnant girl had to wait, and wait and wait for a room. I spent almost the entire day in the hospital. I sent Kenny back to the house because there was nothing he could do. I finally got a room and the doctor said I most definitely had vertigo. A very common thing that affects the inner ear and that will make you very dizzy and nauseas. He loaded me down with pills and sent me on my dizzy way. Kenny finished up with the move and all of the paperwork just as I was being released from the hospital. The meds they gave me did nothing for me and so I had to lie on my back completely still with my head looking toward the ceiling and then I wouldn’t be sick. To make matters more complicated we were told that we couldn’t stay an extra day in TLF because someone else had made reservations and they didn’t have anymore rooms. Our neighbors had to go out of town suddenly because of a death in the family so they gave us a key to their house, but we were really hoping to get to GA for the Hamlett Christmas the next day and so the race to get there began. Kenny dropped me off at the neighbors to rest while he picked the kids up from daycare, got a tow dolly to pull our car behind the van (no driving for me), picked up pizza to feed the kids, and then had to do a complete cleaning on our house. While Kenny was running around I was resting on the neighbor’s sofa. My neighbor, Barbara didn’t tell her mom and dad that she gave us a key. Her parents came over to check on the cat and she freaked out when she saw me. She thought I was a burglar and at one point I didn’t know if she was going to hurt me or not. I tried to explain that I was the neighbor and that Barbara gave us a key but I guess because I looked so terrible and it was dark in the room she didn’t recognize me. Finally I convinced them of my story and they left. After Kenny finished cleaning the house he asked if I wanted to take a look around and tell it good bye, but I was so sick I said no. I think about it now and it makes me a little sad. I really miss that house and our neighbors and just the feeling of “settledness” and the kids miss it too, especially Kennedy. It is the first home that she truly remembers and she still asks daily when we are going home. It really breaks my heart. I didn’t let the girls see the house once it was in boxes because with our last move they really freaked out and thought that they would never see their stuff again. It was a good idea and it worked out because we haven’t had an issue with them feeling like someone took their toys away but this move just made me realize how hard it is going to be over the years for them every time we move. We left MS that Friday night, car in tow and everything we thought we would need for 5 months with us but we didn’t get far before I couldn’t stand it anymore. Only and hour and a half into the trip I really needed to lay down and so we stopped at a hotel for the night. The next morning we got up and managed to finally get to the Hamlett Family Christmas about 3 hours late. I just laid on one of the sofas and rested while Kenny and the girls visited with some of the extended family. I know it is crazy that we went to the Christmas thing but I really wanted Kenny to be able to see some of his family before we left. We may not get to come to a large family gathering for the next 3-4 years. Later that evening we traveled another hour and a half to WR where we would stay for the next 3 ½ weeks during Christmas before we traveled to Altus, OK.
Christmas
Well I have to say that having vertigo really slowed me down not too mention that the cold I got over Thanksgiving was still hanging around and developing into the major crud. I was hoping to see a lot of people and spend time with friends that I may not see for many years while we were in GA. I didn’t do much of anything for the first week we were there. I stayed very still on Kenny’s parents’ couch so that I wouldn’t feel sick and watched TV (something I rarely do). As a matter of fact I got hooked on the Food Network. Kenny had to go to water survival training that week and so it was just me the girls and as they call it “the cooking show.” While Kenny was gone I decided to call my doc in MS and see if I could get some meds for my crud. The doc said he would call in a prescription for some stuff and I could pick it up the next day. I normally use the Walgreens but because of the vertigo I was having a hard time reading the words on the page of the phone book so when I saw the Wal-mart number I just gave him that number. Word of warning: Do not use the Wal-mart Pharmacy unless absolutely necessary. You know what comes next right-a crazy story of course. The doc called in the meds that night; I called Wal-mart the next day. They said that they had a small problem with the prescription and would have to call the doctor to confirm something before it could be filled and that it should be ready that afternoon. OKAY. I called back that afternoon to check and it was still not ready. HUH? So I asked if they had gotten in touch with the doc and they said “yes” so I asked what the problem was. They said that they didn’t know one of the medicines he was actually prescribing for me, but that the other prescription was ready for me to pick up. WELL. So I call my doc to tell them what the problem was and asked if they could please call the pharmacy again so I could get my medicine. They called Wal-mart back and so did I just to confirm everything and boy did I get an ear full. The pharmacist was just short of cussing me out-I guess I was being too pesky. Evidently the problem was that the doc and the nurse from my doc’s office both spelled the medicine wrong by one letter and the Wal-mart was thrown for a loop. The pharmacist said that they had no idea what medicine it was supposed to be and couldn’t find it anywhere in the system and blah, blah blah. I find this a little hard to believe because you can type just about anything in Google and most everything will pop up including: did you mean... with alternate spellings. When I kindly asked the lady to stop shouting at me she got even madder and what was so crazy was that I never once raised my voice or accused anyone of anything she just automatically went on the defensive. So finally I just asked “well when will it be ready once everything was all said and done?” She told me that they would have to special order it and that they didn’t use that crazy medicine in these parts so it would be two more days. JUST GREAT and real professional. So I told her that I would send my father-in-law to pick it up because of I was not able to drive at this time and so she said fine and she would make a note of it. Progress finally. Well two days later I was feeling a little better and decided to have Kenny’s mom take me to the Wal-mart. I went to pick up my meds which I called to confirm if they were in fact ready and eventually that afternoon they were. I went to pay for them and the tech charged me for both. Okay that’s right. I looked in the bag and there was only one prescription. When I asked where the other one was the tech looked kind of confused. The tech asked the pharmacist and she came over to me (it was the same one that I had talked to on the phone) and she said I couldn’t have the other one. WHAT? She said that there was a note on it that my father-in-law would pick it up and that I couldn’t have it. I told her the med was for me and that I was the one who had said that he would pick it up but I was here now and I wanted the medicine because the tech already charged me for it. She refused to give it to me. She insisted that my father-in-law would have to pick it up. Ridiculous!! Well I refused to leave until I got it and the battle began and I wasn’t backing down. Finally the pharmacist asked to look at my ID again and then when she gave it back to me she asked me how old I was. What? Do I look like a kid? At this point I was thinking “and this lady gives drugs or I guess in my case doesn’t give drugs to people every day?” I wanted to say quite a mouthful but I restrained and I simply told the lady that I was 31 years old, pregnant and it was just some stupid cough syrup so give me the medicine already. I won the battle of the cough syrup but it was not easy. The whole thing was absurd and so back to my original statement-don’t use the Wal-mart pharmacy unless it is absolutely necessary. Why do these things always happen when Kenny is gone? This is going to be the story of my life I fear, but at least it makes for good writing, right? When Kenny came home I was feeling better, well enough to walk around without getting sick but the dizziness was still there. I think I just kind of got used to it. As a matter of fact it persisted for over 5 weeks. It was one of the strangest sensations I had ever felt, I felt as if I were in the twilight zone or something. I really feel bad for anyone who says they have had or are experiencing vertigo, it is really bad stuff. Once Kenny was back from training he helped his dad with various projects and I had to finish Christmas shopping. With all that was going on, the move, being sick, feeling unsettled, ect. I guess you could say I felt kind of “grinchy.” This wasn’t how Christmas was supposed to feel. I had a really hard time and what made it harder was that I didn’t want the girls to know how I truly felt so I had to do a lot of acting happy for them which was not always easy to do. Everyone except Kenny had the crud of some kind and sickness tends to make it harder for me to deal with in a positive manner. This was also our third Christmas in a row away from our home and what made this one so different was that we didn’t even have a home to go home to. Christmas with our family was good though. I am glad that we were able to be them this year because we do not know what the years to come will bring. Richard, Jennifer and the kids got to come to WR and spend a few days for Christmas. The girls had a good time playing with their cousins and had a great time opening all of their presents. We had our annual Christmas Eve with Kenny’s Granny (this year the day before the 24th since Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday). We spent Christmas morning with Kenny’s parents and then went to my mom’s house that afternoon and had Christmas with my side of the family. I got my first piece of real Christmas jewelry from Kenny. He really surprised me. He gave me a diamond journey necklace that is so beautiful. I was less creative than him and didn’t surprise him a bit; I just got him the new James Bond Ultimate DVD collection. I thought it was only appropriate since I insisted on him getting rid of the VHS recorded off of the TBS James Bond Marathon commercials included collection that he recorded the first year we got married. Shortly after Christmas it was time for us to once again pack everything back in the van, or should I say stuff to the gills, and head off to our new 4 month home away from home-Altus, OK.
To Altus we will go, to Altus we will go, hi-ho the dairy-o to Altus we will go…
We left GA on Dec. 27th with the first stop listed at Amory, MS so that I could have my monthly doctor’s visit. This was also the visit in which I would have my ultrasound that would tell if the baby was developing normally and the much anticipated gender of the baby. So we were on our way like I said, stuffed to the gills even more so than before Christmas (if that was even possible), and we were riding through Atlanta GA. Kenny was driving and we noticed at car approaching us from behind at an extremely fast speed. We didn’t really have time to get over or change lanes (for you all familiar with Atl traffic you understand) and so the car just whipped around us and nearly rear-ended another car in the lane next to us. It was really crazy and both Kenny and I were like “so where are the police when you need them?” Well just as we thought that we heard the siren and also the helicopters. It was a little scary but also intriguing all at the same time. Finally the car got off on an exit and the police car and the helicopter continued to follow it but it was out of our site. The next day when we were talking to Kenny’s Granny she asked if we had heard about the bank robbery and police chase that happened in Atl yesterday-heard about it?-well not really but we were right in the middle of it! Leave it to the Hamletts to always have something exciting going on even if we are unaware of it at the time. Of course we did get to Amory safely and we spent the night at a hotel right down the street from my doctor’s office. The next morning we woke up and went to the appointment all eager to see what was in store for our family. Well first we found out that we have a very healthy baby. Everything is developing normally and the baby was about 6 inches long and about 14 ounces. Next we found out that we are going to have a bouncing baby boy! Yes I said BOY! I am very excited and Kenny is overjoyed. Even the girls are ecstatic although every once in a while Kennedy will say she was hoping for a baby sister. After we left the doctor’s office with all of my prescriptions in hand (I think he wrote me 6 different ones and recommended that I pick up 4 other over the counter vitamin supplements) we were back on the road. That Saturday we arrived in Altus, Oklahoma. Kenny was hoping to go straight to the apartment and check it out but I really wanted to reward the girls for there excellent traveling behavior and so we stopped at the McDonalds on the way into town. It was the best McD’s I have ever been in as far as for kids goes. The girls had a great time and so I felt a little better knowing that they got to get some of their energy out before we had to start unloading the van. We had prearranged being able to get into the furnished apartment that we would be renting and so it made everything very convenient, especially with it being a holiday weekend. This apartment complex has been so nice to us. We called some other complexes and they weren’t even pleasant on the phone. God has really taken good care of us. We have a two bedroom/two bath, furnished and the furniture is pretty decent, with a washer and dryer and it even has a fireplace. We unloaded and unfortunately for Kenny because it is located on the second floor he had to do most of the work. It only took us one day and we were pretty much settled in. We went and got some food and then spent the New Years in our new temporary home. The only draw back so far is that because it is on the second floor, the kids have a hard time not jumping and running through the house. I went to the office and asked politely about our down stairs neighbor because I really didn’t want to bother anyone and the manager told me it was a single IP that was from NY and that he was gone a lot. Now I just look out of the window and if I see the car with a NY tag then I know he is home and we have a stricter “not so loud” policy. If he isn’t home well-no big deal! Altus is definitely not a very exciting place as far as things to do for most people but it suits us just fine. Right after we got here we had two big ice/snow storms here and the girls were so excited. Kenny took them out the first time and then the second time I went out too and we all made a big snowman. They were so proud of Frosty. He didn’t last long though. He didn’t melt, unfortunately some mean person kicked him over, but of course we didn’t tell the girls that. They think it was so windy that he just fell over and well that suits me just fine. We have been going to church here and the people are sooooo friendly. Kenny and I were not sure what we would encounter knowing that we would only be here for a little over 3 months and well those people have just taken us right in. I feel very at ease and right at home and so do the girls. It has really helped our transition, especially with Kennedy. Kennedy has had somewhat of a hard time adjusting to the move. Mississippi is the first place she really remembers and so she is constantly asking when we will be going home. She really misses the people and her friends from church, well we all do. We also decided on a name for our new baby boy. We are about 99.9% sure that his name will be Benjamin Will Hamlett. We went through thousands of names and kept coming back to Benjamin. Will is also Kenny’s middle name so that is special and we just found out that Benjamin is a family name on Kenny’s side so I think it’s a keeper. The girls love to call him Baby Ben or Baby Benjamin. They are really excited and between his big sisters and his daddy he is going to be one spoiled little boy! I have also started to kind of go through the nesting phase (not so much cleaning because this isn’t where he will be born) just trying to feel prepared. Over the past few weeks I have been doing research on baby stuff and so we have picked out a nursery set and picked up a few things that we didn’t have. I am starting to feel better about things and really connect with this new baby.
Funny Kid Stories
I always like to include a few things that the kids say or do to give everyone a good chuckle and also for me to be able to remember them. Kennedy usually gets most of the attention in this section but Analysse gets the top award this time. I mentioned that we have been going to church; well Analysse doesn’t know a stranger and makes herself right at home where ever she is. In bible class they were studying the story of Lazarus and when the teacher was saying that he came out of the tomb Analysse asked “well was he naked?’ I wasn’t there but I can imagine the other kids giggling at the mention of the word “naked” and the teacher somewhat shocked at first. The teacher told me that she then explained to them about the shroud he would have been wearing and everything was fine, but by that night when we went back to church I had a couple of people say “hello” and that they had heard about the “question” Analysse had asked in class. I guess we are already making a name for our selves. I also have just a short little tale of something Kennedy did that was very cute. As mentioned earlier, I have been watching the food network a lot lately and well Kennedy really enjoys watching it with me, especially Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals. She can spot Rachel Ray anytime and she even knows her voice without actually seeing her on TV. If you have never watched Rachel Ray she likes to abbreviate Extra Virgin Olive Oil to just EVOO. She usually says EVOO at least a couple of times each program. Well one day Kennedy was walking through the apartment and was singing to herself. I stopped what I was doing and listened and discovered that she was singing E-V-O-O to the tune of Bingo. I just cracked up laughing. My three year old has been watching too much cooking show as she calls it! I wonder what Rachel Ray would say if she heard this story!
Pregnant Thoughts
I have had a lot of people ask how I have been and I didn’t want to write about it too much through out the update because I didn’t really want to sound too negative. It hasn’t been all bad and I try to keep a positive outlook on things but this pregnancy has been really hard on me. I have been pretty sick through out most of the pregnancy. I was just getting over all of the first trimester junk and then the terrible never ending cold/sinus stuff hit me (I am still having issues and it has been literally since Thanksgiving) then the vertigo. I have had other female issues going on that I won’t go into detail with and now I am really beginning to hurt a lot. My hip really hurts by the end of the day and if I do any amount of walking/work it is almost unbearable as well as my sciatica. I failed my glucose test and then they had to do a more extensive one and I passed that one so now I am in limbo. They will continue to watch me over then next few months. I had gestational diabetes with my first two pregnancies so I know this will probably be no different. My new doctor here is also recommending me to have a C-section which I do not really want to have at all. I also have low iron. So having said all of that at one point I was taking literally 15 pills a day and still feeling terrible. I felt and some days still do like a 90 year old woman. This pregnancy has definitely not been what I had envisioned. I had thought this was going to be my last pregnancy and so it was going to be great, by the way my first pregnancy was great so I have had both ends of the spectrum. I went into this thinking mind over matter and that it was going to be great and glamorous and that I was going to look so cute, ect., ect., blah, blah, blah. The move along with all the feelings of being unsettled and stress of the unknown hasn’t helped I’m sure. But there is a bright side to all of this madness. I truly believe God is in control. I am here in “Altus USA where everything closes and the sidewalks are rolled up at 6:00pm” (this is a quote from someone here in Altus when I asked where the 24 hour pharmacy was-true story) where I have very little responsibility other than taking care of myself and the girls and so I have really been able to take it easy. I don’t have any commitments or obligations that I feel like I need to fulfill. This is a blessing. Some days are better than others and I get more done, but I don’t feel bad when I don’t do so much. I have really had time to concentrate on the girls and we have gone back to home schooling, which has been going great-even Kennedy has really taken to it. It has been easy to do with out a lot of outside distractions. So on the days where we all have three healthy meals, do a little school, play and the laundry and dishes aren’t piled sky high I feel pretty good about the day. This is totally out of character for me. Most people who know me would probably describe me as over organized and somewhat of a control freak. I wasn’t always like this but moving so much has made me this way. I haven’t been able to be for lack of a better word such a freak! I do have my moments when I do freak out and I am going to blame some of the “freakiness” on pregnancy hormones. Ultimately I will just have to trust in God with so many unknowns a head of me. When I say unknowns I mean how things will flow from being here in Altus to actually getting to HI. It is going to be very difficult and I wont’ know how many things will turn out until we are actually standing with two feet on the island. I feel like I have a lot on my plate with preparing for the move to HI but I am just trying to take things one day at a time. I know that we put HI down as our first choice, and I am still very glad that God answered our prayers, but like it has been said many times before sometimes we don’t always know what we are truly asking for. In the end I will look back at this time and probably chuckle, but if I am being honest this is and probably will be the hardest moves of our career. Going through this experience pregnant has really made things challenging. So pray for us especially for me. God hasn’t let us down yet and I don’t expect him too, I just hope that everything works out smoothly.
Closing
Well if you have read this far thanks for taking the time to read what I have written. All of this has been from my heart and I hope that it has benefited you in some way. I do apologize again for the delay in my update and hopefully now that we are settled I can do a better job at keeping up. I didn’t go into great detail about Altus because I know that I will probably have more to say in following updates but if anyone has any specific questions just send us an email. Thanks again for reading and God Bless!!
The Blessings Overflow….
11/6/06
Wow! What a month. This past month has been somewhat of a whirlwind almost. We have been looking forward to this month since we moved here to Columbus in August 2005. At moments it felt as time was standing still and yet flying by all at the same time. Our first huge answered prayer was that we found out that our family is now expecting baby number 3! One morning I was dropping Analysse off at preschool and Kennedy and I were running around doing errands. We stopped at the Dollar Tree and while we were walking to check out I noticed that the dollar store had pregnancy tests so I bought one almost as a joke. When we got home and Kennedy was settled playing at the kitchen table I decided to take the test. I really didn’t think much of it. I actually didn’t think I was pregnant. I hadn’t been sick at all and as a matter of fact I had been feeling great. The month before I had taken 6 pregnancy tests (and no they weren’t the ones that only cost a dollar each!) and they all were negative. I would sit and watch each test and as they all said negative I slowly began to feel more and more disappointed, so I decided to take my dollar test and just walk away from it and that’s exactly what I did. I took the test and left the room and I got sidetracked and forgot all about the test. Sometime later, probably close to thirty minutes or so I walked by the bathroom and suddenly remembered the test. I was really expecting it to be negative, like I said I really wasn’t “feeling pregnant” at all and with the first two I knew right away that something was going on. Well of course it was positive. I was extremely excited but then I got to thinking “what if I waited too long to check it, what if it was just wrong because it was a dollar store test, what if…” so I called the base clinic and they said they would do a blood test. After picking up Analysse from school we went to the clinic and I had my blood tested and later that day they called to tell me congratulations. I wanted to try and surprise Kenny with the news but of course before I could even get the words out he said “Are you pregnant?” So much for surprise. The girls are thrilled about the new baby too. Analysse wants a brother very badly and when you ask Kennedy 90% of the time she says sister. I had a great first doctor’s visit and the ultrasound they did showed us a heartbeat and gave us a due date of June 4, 2007. June 4th is also Kennedy’s birthday. Right now she thinks that is pretty neat but I can see it not being as fun when she is a teenager. I suspect the baby will probably just come when ever he/she wants to, because Analysse and Kennedy both sure did. We are so very excited about this new baby. We have been praying for this for some time and God has answered our prayers and truly blessed us. As far as the feeling great part of the story goes, that ended shortly after finding out I was pregnant. The past month has been filled with the roller coaster of first trimester pregnancy ailments. To be honest this has probably been the worst sickness of all of my pregnancies. Of course I have had the all day “morning sickness”, the extremely sensitive nose to certain smells, cooking and eating are the biggest turnoffs ever, I am exhausted all of the time but yet I don’t sleep well, and this time I even have the horrible metal taste in my mouth that some women experience during pregnancy. Of all of the things the horrible taste has been the worst. I feel like I brush my teeth a hundred times a day but nothing helps. My doctor assured me it was normal and that it would pass, “not quick enough” was my only thought. Through all of the sickness though Kenny and especially the girls have been great. Kenny has helped as often as possible with things that I normally am able to take care of by myself and the girls have been very sweet and let me rest when I am not feeling well. It is so funny to watch them play and they pick up on so much. They love to play baby dolls and so this past month I have heard them say “I am not feeling well right now because I have a baby growing in my tummy” while they are pretending to play baby dolls. Analysse especially, is very “in” to babies and already very mothering even to Kennedy who thinks she doesn’t need any mothering at all most of the time. This baby is probably going to think it has two moms. Analysse tells me she wants to help to do everything for the baby; she even wants to learn how to change diapers, but not the stinky ones of course. Besides baby fever we have just had a very busy month around here. Kennedy and I have continued to make our monthly nursing home visits (Analysse is in school now so she hasn’t been able to go and she terribly misses it). We had our life group over to the house for bible study at the beginning of the month and the following week we had the C4C Fall Festival at our house. Kenny and I are the leaders over the youngest age group of the C4C group-ages 3yrs through Kindergarten. We were going to do a little fall festival type of event for just our age group but when we started to plan it we decided to just invite the whole C4C group of kids ages 3yrs-6th grade. The festival was a lot of fun for all ages. A friend from church let us borrow a whole bunch of fall decorations and so the backyard looked great. We had games, a bouncy house, crafts for the kids, face painting, a cookout dinner of hot dogs and chili, a camp fire singing and devotional and later we roasted marshmallows and Kenny gave the kids hayrides on his trailer. We had about 40 people sign up so we thought it was going to be a really good turn out. As a matter of fact it had a great turn out. At one point, we counted 63 people around the campfire devotional. Our friends who own the house we are renting were even able to come over for a quick visit and they got to visit with everyone at the Fall Festival too. It was a really fun time. After the Fall Festival Kenny’s schedule was in full swing. His class was behind as far as rides/check rides go so he pretty much flew everyday and studied like crazy for the last few weeks. The end was in site, but at the same time so much going on, it was a little stressful some days. The girls were getting excited about trick-or-treating but I felt terrible because my heart just wasn’t in it this year. The sickness from the pregnancy definitely wasn’t helping either. I didn’t do my usual baking or crafts with the girls. I bought all of the stuff to make candy apples with them like we did last year and it still hasn’t been used. After searching high and low for pumpkins that were decent (due to the drought this year it was slim pickin’s on the pumpkins) we didn’t even carve them. They are still sitting outside on the front porch. In the end they still had a good time trick-or-treating though. Analysse was the most beautiful Cinderella and Kennedy was the cute as a button Snow White. When they started to complain that their baskets of candy were too heavy to carry we called it quits. I don’t know how they will ever eat all that candy. This past month a hard lesson for me to learn has been: its okay to slow down a little every once in a while. Honestly it doesn’t take much to please 3 and 4 year olds and some times I forget that. Kenny has to remind me that I can’t be Super Mom all the time and that the girls love me and think I am the greatest no matter if don’t always do everything. They are never going to think “I can’t believe we didn’t carve pumpkins that year.” My little girls really are amazing and I learn so much from them. In the middle of those two weeks our washing machine suddenly broke too. Needless to say it only added to the craziness around the house. Once I surrendered to the madness everything was fine. For everyone that truly knows me, it is not a surprise that I am pretty particular about things around the house and “surrendering to the madness” was no easy task for me either. The girls are pretty good most of the time and some of my particulars have rubbed off on them too, but when the washing machine broke and it took a week and a half to fix(it would have taken much longer if I had not been so persistent) things around the house seemed to be a lost cause. It finally hit me when I told Kennedy to put her dirty clothes in the hamper and she said “Mommy I can’t there is no room, there are too many clothes in there.” All I could do was laugh and say “Yes Honey, you are exactly right.” I still haven’t caught up on the laundry but oh-well. The Thursday before assignment night I took Kennedy with me to a brunch in honor of all of those who serve in the Nursing Home ministry. Everything was going great, the food was good and we were visiting with the other ladies and all of the sudden Kennedy gave me the “look”. When I say the “look” I mean the “I’m not feeling so good and I need to get to the bathroom right away look.” I acted quickly just as any mom who has seen the look before would do. I scooped her up but, the bathroom was a long way away and I knew we wouldn’t make it so I did the next best thing. I covered mouth and ran to the kitchen sink. Of course one of the ladies had given her too much orange punch and it didn’t settle well on her little tummy. I was completely embarrassed but at least I saved the floor. What is funny is that, that is the second time that Kennedy has done that in the last month. The first time it happened at Wal-mart of all places. I was wearing the exact same outfit and she had drunk too much orange drink. At least at Wal-mart I didn’t have to clean it up. God knows what we can handle and I think on that day it would have been too much for my stomach to take. So I think I will retire the outfit and keep her away from the orange type drinks for a while. On a lighter note the girls also had their first real hair cut this past month. I cut Analysse’s hair into a short bob. Everyone says it’s the “school girl” hair cut. She is absolutely adorable although it does make her look older. Kennedy was next up but after she saw Analysse’s hair she took off running and hid from me so I wouldn’t cut her hair. It took me two weeks to convince her but she finally let me cut it. Her hair is a constant tangle and she cries every time she even looks at a brush. Not to mention all of the food she gets in her hair because she can’t stand to wear her hair back. I finally convinced her to let me trim it and so when she sat down and I made the first cut she said “Mommy I think I want my hair like Analysse’s” so before she could change her mind I snipped it right off. She too looks just adorable although now Kenny and I both have a hard time picking her out now that she has short hair because her hair has been so long, for so long. Well with all of our crazy Hamlett happening going on it didn’t give me much time to worry too much about Kenny’s assignment night. Everyone would say “so are you nervous?” To be completely honest the answer was no. It was truly weird, I normally do stress out about things like that and especially since we have been looking forward to that day for so long but with everything going on around the house and me praying that God would lead us to where he thought would be best for our family I wasn’t nervous one bit. We had been doing research all month on all of the different C-17 bases because we knew that that was the plane Kenny wanted to fly when there were no C-130s in his class’s drop. God made that decision easy for us. After all of the research and all of our discussions I really felt that Hawaii would be a great place to live. Kenny and I both agreed and so he put Hickam AFB as his first choice on his dream sheet. I think this shocked some of our family but after talking with each one of them individually and explaining our choice everyone seemed to agree that it would be an opportunity of a life time. We even asked the girls what they thought about living where Lilo and Stitch live. They were very excited. So on assignment night our neighbors’ little boy was having a birthday party at the same time at Jumpers (the hottest place in town to have a kid party) so they took the girls to that and they had a great time there and I didn’t have to worry about keeping track of them and so I really enjoyed myself. I sat with my friend Julie and some of the other spouses of the class. A few military couples from our church also came to support Kenny and me. When Kenny’s turn to sit on the throne came up I still wasn’t nervous really, I think I was more worried that the pictures I wanted to take of him would turn out. When his assignment was put up on the screen I was just thrilled. God really answered our prayers and truly do feel blessed that we were able to get our first choice. I feel such a calmness about me. I have always known that God will take care of us, He always has. Kenny and I and our family have come such a long way and we have grown so much over the years and especially in this past year. Before we came to Columbus we heard some encouraging stories about pilot training but we also heard many discouraging stories as well. Most of the discouraging stories being that students with a family usually wash out of pilot training or do not do very well. This year has been anything but discouraging for our family and I feel like it has been a true success. I feel we are closer than ever as a family and have shown great ability to adapt to a changing lifestyle. There have been some trying moments but with the help of God those moments were just that-moments! This year has been an amazing adventure and truly the blessings are overflowing for our family!
Hello Everyone!
10/2/06
Hello everyone! It’s about that time again so I will start off by saying that this past month has been pretty low key, well at least until this last week. The month started out with us traveling to GA for the annual Fish Fry. We had a lot of fun, but it was a really quick trip. We arrived Friday night and the next morning I was able to squeeze in a quick hair appointment. After all of my time away from WR I still haven’t been able to sike myself up enough to find a local hair stylist. I don’t know what I will do if we move out west somewhere. So far we have been “home” at least once every 3-4 months so I scoot over to see Heather my stylist and I have no worries about getting a bad cut or color. It’s silly but it is such a relief! Later that evening we had a cookout to celebrate my birthday at Kenny’s parents’ house. Then Sunday we got to go to church and see quite a few people and then for lunch we went to my mom’s for another cookout to celebrate my birthday with her. My brother got to come and the girls always enjoy seeing him. Finally on Monday we went to the Fish Fry. Kenny got up early with his dad so they could go clean and fry up the fish and I was left to pack up. I don’t mind trips but I do have to say that I think packing to go and come home are my least favorite parts. I always over or under pack (usually it’s over) and then I usually forget one or two things when we come home. You would think with all of the traveling we do I would be really good at it with so much practice but I guess my heart’s just not in to the whole packing thing-oh well I guess it’s just a minor character flaw. The Fish Fry was fun. I got to visit with several people that I don’t normally get to spend too much time with. Richard, Jennifer, Maelee, Max and Robby got to come. It was good to see them and to especially meet Robby. He seemed very nice and also very quite. The girls had a great time and I am so relieved that I finally do not have to watch them every second. They were able to go out to the play ground and play with some of their friends so I was really able to socialize myself. In the past few months we have really come a long way with the girls. It seems like they get more and more independent literally every day. It’s great and I really love it. Especially now that Analysse is in Pre-school she wants to be so independent. She has even made up a secret hand shake that means “I love you and will miss you” so she doesn’t have to give me a hug and kiss in front of everyone at school. We also moved her up to “big girl” booster seat and so she can even get herself in and out of the van with out much help. It has really made things a lot easier for me to take them places. I know that when we do have a third child they are going to be a great help with a new baby and it won’t be so difficult. Well, back to our monthly happenings. Once we got back to MS it was pretty much business as usual. Later that week Kenny and I got to go out on a real date to celebrate my birthday, just the two of us. This year has been the most I have ever celebrated one birthday! The date was really great. Some friends of ours, Julie and Jim, offered to watch the girls and so we said sure. We went to a nice restaurant in town and then to see a movie. We both enjoyed the date very much-it’s only the second one we have been on in the past year-yeah pretty sad, huh?! Well that was about the most exciting things that had gone on until last week. Last week was pretty crazy and it was one of those “if I can just make it through the day everything will be okay” kind of weeks. Last Tuesday I took Analysse to school an I saw my friend Julie again who did I mention was very pregnant and I asked her how she had been because I hadn’t really seen her since my birthday when she watched the girls. She said she was tired and cranky and just ready to have the baby and that she was on her way to the doctor’s office for her weekly check up. Julie and her husband Jim already have three children and so Kenny and I had offered to keep her two youngest children, Emily and Jimmy, for her while she was in the hospital if her parents were not able to come to MS for the birth. So jokingly I said “Well just don’t have the baby tomorrow okay, because I have to take Analysse to the dentist”. If you are any good at figuring out how most of my stories usually go you know what happened next. I got home and sure enough Julie called and said that the doctor was going to admit her into the hospital later that night because her blood pressure was high. So we had 4 kids on Tues. night, Wed. and also on Thursday. Needless to say it was a little crazy around the house. Before the kids came to say we had already told Analysse and Kennedy that we would take them to the local fair that night so at 7:00pm Tues. Kenny and I took all four kids to the Columbus Fair. It wasn’t a very big fair but it was just the right size for the kids. It had a lot of rides for their age group so we bought them each a hand stamp so they could ride as many rides as they wanted and the kids had a blast. The ride operator would ask to see their stamp and so they got very good at holding up their hand stamp. At one point Analysse and Emily went up to the lady selling funnel cakes and just whipped their hand stamps out and stood there like “I have a stamp so let us have some food”. They were very disappointed that the hand stamp didn’t get them a funnel cake but it was soon forgotten when they were back on the rides. Later that night we did let them get their very first taste of some cotton candy and they all seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. We put some really good pics of our trip to the fair in the family pic section for all of those who want to seem them riding the rides. Then we came home and I put them all to bed because Kenny and his partner had to do some mission planning for their ride the next day. It was a lot different putting 4 kids to bed verses 2; actually it was quite exhausting in itself. After those few days Kenny and I definitely decided that we are definitely a three kid kind of family max! Then later that night I had a hard time sleeping. I was a little nervous about taking all of the kids to the dentist office. I think I was a little nervous about getting all 4 kids out of the house so early in the morning. We are not early risers here at this house. Needless to say I didn’t sleep well and I heard a lot of noises all night long. I got up three times to check on the kids and thought that it was Emily falling out of bed. The next morning when Kenny got up to go to work (I had asked him to wake me so I could start getting ready to go to the dentist) he said “Amanda, a wild animal got into our garage last night.” I said “So what.” I was a little tired and cranky from not sleeping well, but he repeated himself and asked me to come look and so I got out of bed to look. I went out to the garage but it didn’t look too bad but of course I hadn’t put my glasses on either. He saw I wasn’t wearing my glasses and so he told me to put my glasses on and come back. I put the glasses on and I almost didn’t believe what I saw. A raccoon had gotten trapped inside the garage all night long and he wrecked the whole place, it was an absolute disaster! He had knocked over all of the kids bikes and toys, he had pulled out all of the drawers on a dresser we have stored outside, he tore open a bag of cat food we have out there for a little black stray kitten we have recently kind of adopted named Winn-Dixie, and he completely ripped the plastic window panes right off of the door trying to get out. But as if all of that wasn’t enough, the raccoon got into a plastic container of old motor oil Kenny was saving to recycle. He poked holes all in the container and then eventually knocked the container over and the lid came off. There was used motor oil all over the floor and the raccoon then proceeded to what I call wallow-preferably pronounced “waller”a good southern way to say rolled all around in it- and then he decided to use our van as a slip-n-slide. There were oily, hairy raccoon streaks all over the van as well as the walls of the garage and half of the stuff we have stored out there (including my nice double jogging stroller I use to take the girls on walks). I was extremely upset when I saw all of the mess but Kenny and I were even more mad when we realized that the crazy coon thought that the oil wasn’t enough either. That crazy coon pooped, yes I said pooped all over our van, Kenny’s wheel barrow, in the middle of the girls’ toys and also behind some of the stored furniture! All I could think was what a mess Satan is really trying to bring me down today and then I prayed that the kids would all sleep long enough for me to clean up some of the mess. As the saying goes “when it rains it pours.” To complicate matters my next door neighbor had asked me the day before if she could borrow the van after my dentist appointment so I really needed to get it cleaned before I could let her use it. My first thought usually would have been to panic but then I thought just take things one at a time. I cleaned up as much oil as I could so the “troops” could all get in the van with out slipping and sliding. I cleaned up as much poop as I could and also straighten as much as I could before the kids got up 30 min later. After everyone was awake the rat race of trying to get out of the house and to the dentist office began. We were out of the door by 9:00am and off to the automatic car wash. I know Kenny can’t stand automatic car washes but I was desperate. I even let it clean that nasty old coon poop right off the top of the van and I have to say that the car wash was the highlight of the kids’ day. They are still talking about it and asking to do it again. Then we raced to the dentist office only to find out that they were a solid hour behind schedule. UUGGHH!!!! I’ll just say the equation of a doctor’s waiting room + 4 kids + one hour wait time = one crazy mom!! I finally politely said something to the lady at the front desk, I don’t know if she saw the crazy part in my eyes or what but Analysse was called right back to have her tooth filled. While we were waiting for her to finish the dental assistant came out to ask me what color filling I wanted Analysse to have. When I had made the appointment they told me that their office only did the tooth colored fillings so I thought this question was a little strange. So I asked her what she meant and she said “oh we do all kinds of colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue , purple, pink or sparkly silver” in a way too perky kind of voice for me. Can you believe that?! I told her to “please put the white one in because if I wanted for her filling to be noticed I would have taken her somewhere where they did metal fillings and my insurance would pay for it.” Boy, some of the crazy things we have in this world! Then we raced home and played pass the van and had a “numb mouth friendly” lunch. While the kids were eating Jim called and said that Julie was going to have a C-section shortly so the kids were all very excited that the baby was going to be here soon. After lunch I was beat from all of the day’s activities so I put them all to bed for a nap and surprisingly with very little resistance. After nap we went to the hospital to see the baby and then I had to rush off to a C4C meeting. It was one crazy day! Needless to say things have been much calmer since last week. I switched out summer and fall clothes which took a day to do. I also found a new project to help out with at church so I have been doing some light sewing for the Ukraine mission. Kenny and I finally watched the Lord of the Rings DVD set over the weekend. And we are beginning to prepare for a busy October. I am getting really excited about Kenny’s assignment night and graduation. I can hardly believe that it is only about 4 weeks away. I remember back to when we first moved here thinking about the time frame of things and here we are almost to the end. It is a great feeling. A lot of people said it was going to be so hard going through pilot school with a family and I think it had been difficult at times but over all it hasn’t been too bad for me and the kids. Kenny has had to really balance his time and prioritize his schedule but he is really great at that already. The master’s courses he was taking prior to pilot school really helped to prepare him and me both for this past year. I’m so excited and anxious to know where we will be headed off to next. It will be so nice to finally get somewhere and be there for 3 years. But, I will miss Columbus. This has been a really good place for us. I will miss our church and our neighbors the most though. I will also miss this house. It has been a good place to live and our family has had some good times here. I feel like this is the place where my babies really started to grow up into little girls. We will all miss Winn-Dixie. I will close this month’s entry with his story. So here’s Winn-Dixie’s story. I think I have mentioned before that I like to check out movies for the girls to watch from the base library. Well we checked out the movie “Because of Winn-Dixie”. It’s a great kid’s movie by the way. The movie is about a girl who finds a dog in a grocery store (the Winn-Dixie) and names it Winn-Dixie and all of their adventures that summer. The girls loved the movie and wanted to watch it over and over. Well one night shortly after they had saw the movie we were all on a walk around the neighborhood and we saw a little skinny black kitten. He followed us home and Kenny said we should keep him. I told him I didn’t want any more cats, pets, etc. Especially since I am the one who would have to take care of it-you know the speech everyone’s mom has said or now that you’re a mom you say “pet speech”. So I didn’t feed him for a week and he was still hanging around. Come to find out our neighbors were feeding him so he was still hanging around but for some reason he has kind of taken up home at our house so now we feed him too. The girls adore him and proceeded to name him Winn-Dixie after the movie, but mostly we have just shortened it to Dixie. He acts more like a puppy most of the time, following them around the yard or where ever they go. They think he is great and we will all miss him when we eventually move, but we have decided it is best for him to stay here with the neighbors who also adore him. Well that’s about it for now, but I’ll keep you posted. God Bless!
Hamlett Weekend and the ending of summer
8/21/06
Well another month has gone by for the Hamlett family and as usual it has had a lot of happenings. This past month has gone by so fast. I didn’t really talk about the fourth of July in my last update (considering that it was over five pages long already and Kenny always makes fun of me for my lengthy updates-he thinks no one reads them). Well he is wrong about the no one reading them. I have gotten many nice emails from a lot of people and I would like to just take a minute to say thanks for all of the encouragement. So back to the fourth of July… we (the girls and I) were actually in GA for the end part of June and then Kenny drove over to spend the 4th with us in GA. It was a really nice visit and I actually got to spend time with many of my friends. The girls were able to attend the VBS at our old home church and they had an absolute blast. It was by far probably the best VBS I have ever been too. I had a great time just being able to jump right in and help in the kitchen with snacks. At the end of the week Analysse said she wished we could have VBS every night-so what more can you ask for! As far as the 4th of July it was pretty low key. We just spent a lot of time traveling that weekend to see family in GA. On the 3rd we went to Thomaston to visit with both Great Gran and Great Grandmother and also check out the land that Kenny’s parents are going to be building their home on over the next few years. Looking at the property was fun and Kenny has wanted to do it for some time now, but it sure was hot! Not to mention that I got bit by a tick-YIKES! Kenny had also brought some fire works over from Mississippi and we going to light them at Great Gran’s house. Everything was going really well and everyone was enjoying the show, especially Great Gran (which really surprised me by the way) and then of course it wouldn’t be a Hamlett story without something exciting, right? Well, we had a run away roman candle. Kenny stuck it into the ground and lit it and the first couple of fire balls went up in the air and then it fell over and started going crazy. No one seemed bothered by this but me (why I don’t know or understand). I of course being an overprotective mother and wife made a big spectacle of myself by screaming like a crazy woman. I think the screaming scared everyone more than the roman candle. Luckily the water hose was near by and Kenny put it out. I was later informed that you are supposed to hold the roman candles in your hand and light them. Are people crazy or what! A majority of the instructions on the other fireworks stated and I quote “light and get away” so I can safely say I don’t feel too bad about not knowing you are supposed to hold those things. After all of the fireworks excitement was over we had to get ready to come back to MS. Kenny left on the 4th so he could be back in time for class the next day and the girls and I left on the 5th and got in late that night. As always I have to throw in a few funny stories so hear goes. When Kenny got home after the 4th he called me to let me know he made it safely and of course I asked him if everything around the house was ok (mostly meaning our cat). He said everything was fine and that the only thing that was a little unusual was that he found a lizard’s tale in the house. I think I mentioned in a previous update that we have lots of frogs and lizards around the house so I really wasn’t too surprised that one might have gotten in while we were gone. I asked him if he had found the rest of it and he said he looked and couldn’t find anything so we figured that the cat had gotten him. Well when we came home the next day it was pretty late so we all just went straight to bed. The next morning the girls and I got up (Kenny had already gone to school) and I started trying to get the house back into order. I was vacuuming and all of the sudden Kennedy and Analysse come running and screaming into where I was working. I turned the vacuum off and said “what’s going on?” Kennedy could barely get the words out “Mom, there’s a HUGE (pronounced hooge) bug in our room!” This kind of surprised me because both of them usually love to get all of the bugs that come into our house (which is nice for me). First they squish them and then they flush them, quick and painless-well except for the bug. So I just naturally told them to just squish it and flush it. Analysse said “No Mom, you don’t understand there’s really a HUGE (hooge) bug in our room.” So I said “well what kind of bug is it?” and in unison the both said “we don’t know. We have never seen one like this before.” So I left the vacuum and the whole time I’m thinking it’s probably a roach and I really don’t like roaches. So when we got to their room I asked them where it was and they told me it was behind their door. I pulled the door back and I screamed like crazy. The girls didn’t know what to think because I don’t normally get worked up about bugs. That’s probably why they don’t really get worked up about bugs either. Well needless to say it was a very flat, very dead lizard that just happened to be missing a tail. When I told them what it was immediately they both yelled “Cool! Can we keep it and show Daddy?” Of course I let them keep it and so we put it in a zip lock bag and showed it to Daddy when he got home. I guess Lizzie (our cat) had chased it around the house and it finally got stuck up under the door and got squished between the door and the carpet and we didn’t see it the night before (thank goodness) because it was dark. The girls love to tell everyone that I was scared of a lizard. Mystery of the tailless lizard/HOOGE bug solved! Also after we got back to Mississippi we got to see our new neighbor for the first time. Our next door neighbor that was pregnant had her baby a few days before we got home from our trip so we got to see Kenzie after we got home. She is a sweet little baby and we have had some good practice at having a third in the house. It has been fun taking care of her from time to time and the girls are always excited when they think she is going to come over. If we are blessed with a third it will definitely be a change but in a good way. The girls absolutely love babies, even Kennedy these days. Then at the end of the July we had our annual Hamlett Weekend. Kenny, his Dad and his brother Richard all have birthdays in August and so we try to get together every beginning of August or end of July to celebrate with the whole family. Everyone came over to Mississippi and we had a great time. Grannie and Papa came in on Friday night and so the girls got to spend some time with just them and then Richard, Jennifer, Maelee and Max got in on Saturday morning. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins, especially Maelee. They played dress up and Grannie dressed up as the Fairy Godmother and read them stories. We took a ton of pictures and Jennifer video recorded the girls’ show. Jennifer had also made a home movie staring Maelee and Max for us to watch and we all got a good laugh. As far as entertainment for the adults, Grannie and Papa brought a huge plastic tub of pictures over for us to look at. It was the first time I had gotten to see Kenny’s baby pictures and also pictures of when he was a young boy. It was great. Analysse really favors Kenny when he was her age. I also made my very first caramel cake for the Hamlett weekend. Ever since Kenny and I have been married, even when we were dating, I have always heard about his mom’s famous caramel cake and I have eaten it many times but never made one. On Thursday afternoon before the everyone was to arrive I still hadn’t decided what kind of cake I wanted to make for the weekend. I had asked Kenny what he wanted and of course the answer was a white cake-I thought how original another white birthday cake. I wanted something special because it was the first time the Hamlett weekend was at our house. So after I decided to make the caramel cake I didn’t tell anyone because I wanted it to be a surprise. The only catch was I didn’t have his Mom’s recipe so I found one in my Cake Doctor cook book and it turned out great. Everyone enjoyed the cake; it was a nice touch to the weekend. We all had a wonderful time visiting together and we were so glad we got to spend time with Maelee and Max too. They are both growing up too fast. As for August, it has just been HOT! My garden just couldn’t make it through the heat even with watering. Everything just quit producing fruits and veggies, well everything except my cherry tomatoes. I was so tired of eating them that we just pulled them up too. Even though the garden didn’t make it through the summer it was a lot of fun and we did get quite a bit of produce. I still have 4 very nice looking pumpkins that I will be using to make pumpkin bread as well as roasting the seeds. Kennedy loves the bread and both of the girls like to snack on the seeds. The heat paired with Kenny’s long schedule has also made for some very long and not so pleasant days for me and the girls. We have all been cooped up inside because the heat has been almost unbearable and well needless to say we have all had our share of disagreements and shouting. I was just about at my wits end when things started to turn around. Ironically it all started with Analysse’s dance class fizzling out. Then a friend from church recommended a Mother’s Day Out Program at another local church. She said she had sent her son there and that he loved it and also that the teacher for the four year olds was one of her neighbors. I thought about the idea and struggled a little bit too. We did school at home last year and that seemed to be really good, but Analysse desperately wanted to go to “real school” with other kids and truthfully she was/is ready. Our family is probably one of the last families that I know that haven’t sent our children to preschool. Many people think it is odd that we haven’t sent either one of them to pre-K. I decided to check into the facility and see if there was even an open spot for her. I also decided that if there was an available spot then we would try it out because the price was reasonable compared to all of the other quotes I had gotten last year before we decided to do school at home. Well, the place was fabulous and the teacher was extremely nice and when I asked if there were any open spots the director told me that she had one available spot in the four year old class so we took it! It’s official, Analysse now goes to “real school” as she calls it on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am-2pm. We went out and bought her school supplies and she was very excited. The children have group time everyday where they are taught bible stories, letters, numbers, colors, ect… all of the stuff that they learn in Kindergarten. The best part is that her teacher is a retired Kindergarten teacher and so she has a ton of experience working with kids and Analysse really likes her too. The first day I took her was a little hard. My baby was going off to school, well kind of. I think this is going to be a great stepping stone for her to prepare her for Kindergarten five days a week. I think it is also going to be good for me and Kennedy too. When we dropped Analysse off Kennedy was actually the one crying because her big sissy was leaving her. It didn’t last too long though because when we got home she thought it was really cool getting to play with just mommy. Analysse’s first day was great for everyone. Kenny was off work that morning so he got to come with us when we dropped her off. Kennedy got to play by herself and she is actually very content to do so. I got peace and quiet, no fighting, yelling or screaming, I got to play with my youngest daughter just us two but I also got a lot of things done around the house. It was an all together awesome day. Both girls even took a two hour nap after we picked Analysse up. I had so much spare time I didn’t know what to do-it was great! And there has even been less fighting going on around the house too! The week before last we went to a birthday party for one of Analysse and Kennedy’s friends and they had a blast. It was a choo-choo party and now Kennedy has already planned that her next birthday (which is now 10 months away) is going to be a choo-choo party too. Last Thursday we went to the family fun night/magic show on base. The girls had a pretty good time. They were pretty shy at first but by the end of the show Analysse was up front with the rest of the kids desperately wanting to be Baluni the magicians assistant. Last weekend we helped organize a C4C movie night at our church building for the younger kids and a lock in for the 1st-6th graders. The girls took two friends with them and they had an absolute blast. They watched a Hermie movie, ate lots of good food, played games and then we had a singing and devo time. It really was a fun time for everyone. Everyone (kids and adults) especially enjoyed it when Kenny played red light/green light with the kids. When the kids got close to him, he took off running and well so did the kids. All of the adults said “there goes the running of the bulls…” I got a really great video of it. At 8pm I rounded up my crew and took them home but Kenny stayed for most of the lock in. We are now getting ready to celebrate Kenny’s birthday this week. I have made him a crazy cake this year so it will be really fun to see his reaction. If you want know what it is you will have to go to family pics to see a picture of it. At the end of this week he is going cross country so the girls and I will be flying solo this weekend. I think we will probably have a big pajama party like we did the last time daddy was out of town. We will have a blast! We are also planning on coming over to GA for a quick visit on Labor Day for the annual WRCOC Fish Fry which Kenny’s dad organizes. This is going to be the last year that he is going to be in charge it may even be the last fish fry so we definitely do not want to miss it. We also want to meet Richard and Jennifer’s new addition to the family. For all of you who know them, no it’s not another baby-although they had us going pretty good when they were telling us about him. This year they are hosting an exchange student from Germany named Robbie and they are bringing him to the fish fry so we are really excited to meet him. Well, I guess it is about time to wrap this up. There isn’t anything else too exciting going on this way but I’ll keep you posted if something changes!
Long Overdue!
7/10/06
Well I know this is long over due and many of my readers have been asking me when I am going to do an update. I guess it is safe to say I wouldn’t make a very good living at being a writer! The truth is that I have actually written a partial update and have added to it here and there but I just haven’t posted it because the words just didn’t feel right when I was writing them. The last few months we have had some ups and downs, but mostly ups. It’s hard to believe but I feel like we are really coming to the end of pilot training. When we first started this adventure I felt like it was going to take forever (and some weeks did feel like that) but here we are with only 3 ½ months left and we will know where we will be going and what plane Kenny will actually get to fly. Yeah!! I know these last few months are going to fly by and we will be on our way to start a new adventure some where else in this wonderful country we live in. I don’t normally talk too much about pilot school stuff in my updates but I thought it was important to say a few words because I have been thinking about it quite a bit. As far as what have the girls and I have been up to it’s a bunch of this, that and the other. I have taken the girls to GA twice since I updated last as a matter of fact we just got back last week. I took them to GA the day after Father’s day so that they could attend the vacation bible school at our home town church. We spent two and a half weeks there and got to spend time with many family members and friends. The trip itself was great but also very tiring for me. Kenny was able to come to GA for the 4th of July weekend but time flew by. Now we are at home trying to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. As far as the time prior to our trip I will hit some of the highlights and throw in a few funny stories.
Back in April we did go to GA for a visit. It was short but a good visit. The girls got to see their cousins Maelee and Max. Maelee was celebrating her second birthday and the girls had a good time at her party. I think between the two of them they ate more cake (ok so I should really say icing) than anyone else. We then traveled down to Warner Robins and popped in for a quick visit with Meemaw (my mom) and Chuck. Then we traveled back up to Thomaston for our traditional Easter Sunday with Great Gran White at her church and then on to the Hamlett Easter Dinner and Egg Hunt at Great Grandmother Hamlett’s house. A very busy weekend as you can see. All of this in mind Kennedy decided it was time to get serious about potty training-YIKES! I was a little skeptical considering all of the traveling and thinking back to training Analysse (which was no walk in the park) but then I thought I shouldn’t discourage her because who knows when she would decide she wanted to do it again and I could be changing diapers for what seemed like forever, so having said all of that we went for it. Well she did great! Only two accidents and they weren’t in the car thank goodness! I was so proud of her. She has continued to do well and has had very few accidents and requires very little help. We have been diaper free for almost 3 months now-YEAH!! After we got back I decided that I wanted to try to do something for myself, that didn’t relate to children, and that I had never really done before-so I planted a vegetable garden. We rented a tiller and Kenny went to town. It was really hard work, much harder than we had anticipated but we got everything tilled and planted in just one day. We planted lettuce, carrots, strawberries, broccoli, egg plant, cucumber, squash, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, basil, pumpkin, corn and well of course tomatoes. The girls helped to put the corn seeds in the ground and I pretty much did the rest of the planting. It all seemed to be doing pretty well until I went on my trip. Mental note for future gardening: don’t go on a 2 ½ week trip and leave husband to tend to your garden. You may not have a garden when you return. Ok, so it wasn’t that bad but a lot of the plants died and had to be taken out of the garden. We no longer have corn but a really big rabbit liked to eat the tops of the corn plants even before our trip. Analysse started to notice that the corn wasn’t growing so well so I told her about the rabbit. So when we would go out to look at the garden she would always check the corn to make sure it was ok. If some plants seemed to be nibbled she would say “mom, that pesky rabbit is eating our corn again!” Both of the girls really like to go out to the garden and look at it with me just about every day. They know what all of the plants are now and love to go down the rows and tell me what plants we have. If you ask Kennedy to name them she will tell you we have squash, bikini (zucchini), and beesil (basil). I love it when she calls the zucchini “bikini”-it’s so cute! Our strawberries have done pretty good, they taste good they are just smaller and we only get a few at a time. Mostly the girls just eat them right after they pick them. My squash died and I only have one zucchini left but is doing well and I have made zucchini bread and the girls love to eat it stir fry. We have lots of watermelons and 4 cantaloupes growing. I have had so many cucumbers I don’t know what to do with and just this week I have had a good many eggplants. I made eggplant parmesan. Kenny wouldn’t touch it but the girls did try it. We have the three bite rule and after three bites they decided that they didn’t really like it but hey, at least they tried it, right? We also have a bunch of pumpkins and some are starting to turn yellowish orange. The girls are really fascinated by the garden and love to tell people about it. If Kennedy thinks it is growing in our yard then she wants to try it, so gardening has definitely been a good experience. It started out mostly for me but, has turned out to be great for the whole family and it really does feel good when you can eat something you actually took time to grow yourself. We also put up a hummingbird feeder and voila we can watch hummingbirds anytime we want. The girls love to watch them while we are sitting at the table having our breakfast or lunch. We also have many frogs and lizards that hang around and so we tend to catch quite a few of them. I am so glad that even though the girls love to play dress up and girly stuff they really like the outdoors too and they are not afraid of bugs or worms or frogs. We also have a great frog story that happened over the last months. In one of my other entries I mentioned a frog named Hoppy that kept coming back to the same spot in the girls’ toy box. Well, Hoppy came back again and the girls wanted to catch him of course. So we caught him and put him in the new bug cage I had gotten them from the dollar store that day. They begged to keep him inside, so finally I gave in and said just for one night. Well sometime time during the night the frog was able to get the container to fall off of the kitchen counter (probably with the help from our pet cat Lizzie no doubt). When the cage fell to the floor it popped open (so much for the dollar store quality) and Hoppy was free. He somehow made to our room in the middle of the night and found his way to our big picture window in our bedroom. All night long I could hear the sound of the blinds being knocked around. It was driving me crazy and every time I would say “Lizzie quit!” thinking it was the cat getting into the blinds. At about 3am I realized that Lizzie was sound asleep at the foot of the bed. I sat up in bed for a minute trying to figure out what was going on when I realized that it had to be Hoppy. The next morning we searched and searched for him but didn’t have any luck until about a week later. Well needless to say Hoppy won’t be coming back for any more visits. He had crawled under some boxes Kenny was saving and well he didn’t make it. We decided not to tell the girls; instead we just told them that Hoppy was so clever that he just escaped so he could be with his family again. That was good enough for them so it was good enough for me. In May we went to Jam Fest that our church put on for the youth group and the girls had a great time. They got to bounce around on the jumpers and the highlight for them was the gigantic pile of slightly wet sand. Everyone kept asking me if I ever let them play and get dirty. We could barely tear them away from the sand to eat. Kennedy started a trend for the kids to slide down the sand pile on their bottoms race style. By the end of the day most of the kids had orangey bottoms from the sand. Thank goodness I brought plenty of extra clothes. The next weekend in May was Kenny’s track select. It was exciting for many reasons but mostly because Kenny’s parents were able to come for a quick visit and we would finally know which direction our family would be going-T-1s or 38’s. The track select breakfast went very well and the rest of the day just seemed to fly by. It was nice being able to hang out as a big family and see all things Kenny got to do on a daily basis. It was also nice to meet some of the other students’ families-especially the people that we have gotten very nice emails from. Then it was time for Track Select. I have to say I was a little nervous. It was a very big mile stone, in some ways bigger than actual graduation or even assignment night. When Kenny took his turn and spun the prop it was a bunch of different emotions all at the same time. When it said that we would be going in the T-1 direction it wasn’t a total surprise but at the same time there was still the chance that Kenny would get to fly the fighters that he has always thought he wanted to fly. Now that all of it is said and done I am totally relieved and feel like a tremendous pressure has been lifted. He really likes flying the T-1 and what’s even better is that his schedule has been great which is good for the family. God knows what he is doing, even when we don’t. Also in May we were very blessed to have a family that we were neighbors with in NJ to move into the area. Since May we have become good friends and so now the kids have other children to play with and I have someone to have adult conversations with. Analysse and their daughter are now taking jazz class together and they have a blast. We ended the month of May with a bang this year. May 27th was Kenny and I’s 6 year anniversary. I thought since it was going to be on a three day weekend that it would be fun to do something together as a family and also because I figured it would be hard to find a babysitter on that weekend. So I suggested that we go camping as a family. Kenny has wanted to go camping for a long time and now that the girls were a little bit older I thought it would be the perfect weekend for it. In theory it was a good idea, really it was. We packed up and started to the campground (which is only 10 minutes from the house) but we got a late start because Kenny wanted to rest a little before going. He had to stay up late the night before studying and had to get up very early that morning so he was really tired. We got to the camp ground around 5:15pm and we were the only ones camping in the primitive area, everyone else was in RVs and pop up campers. The camp site was a good walk from where we had to park and needless to say well, we packed way to much stuff. Everyone was looking at us while we made multiple trips unloading and probably thought we were the craziest people that they had ever seen bringing so much stuff-but better over packed than under packed I say especially since we were going to stay for 3 days. It also could have been that we still have our NJ tags on the van and that we are truly in the south-who knows?! We finally got the last stuff down to the site and began to set up. When we began to set up I noticed that there were ants everywhere. Well the one thing we didn’t bring from home besides the kitchen sink was bug killer. So I used the next best thing-409. I should have known this was going to be a trip to remember when I started using cleaner to kill the ants. After that we got the tent done and I started cooking dinner. The whole time the girls kept asking “when are we going to camp?” I would say “this is camping” and Analysse would say “no, mommy I mean when are we going to camp? You know, the kind where you have a fire and eat marshmallows.” My thoughts were “just great we could have had a little fire in the pit in our backyard and they would have been perfectly happy!” Like I was saying I started to cook dinner. Kenny had wanted French fries so I started the oil and got some other things ready for the hot dogs. I put the fries in the pot and literally in 10 seconds they were black as coal and sent so much smoke up that everyone probably thought we were burning the place down. How was I to know that it heated up so fast?! After I let the oil cool for about 30 minutes it was finally at a good temp to cook the fries and even then it only took about a minute to do so. So lets just say I am not the Martha Stewart of camping-oh and did I mention that it was like 95 degrees. It was hot! By the time we finished dinner Kenny was too tired to set up the dining tent over all the cooking stuff so we just decided to lay down and try to sleep. The girls did good and fell asleep fairly quickly but Kenny and I weren’t as lucky. Our campsite was right along the Columbus River and the boats ran nearly all night long. They were so loud but what was even worse was the wake of the boat that hit the shore about a minute after the boats past. Then we had a visitor. A raccoon decided that he was going to have a good meal and tried to get into all of our food. We ended up bringing some of the food that wasn’t in coolers into our tent but he still tried and tried to open the coolers all night long. Needless to say, Kenny and I got about 2 hours of sleep. We woke the next morning to raccoon tracks on everything and also Kenny and Kennedy were eaten alive with mosquito bites. Analysse and I didn’t get a one. Oh and I forgot to mention that the raccoon even ate the burnt to a crisp french fries. Breakfast at camp went much better-blueberry pancakes and juice-and then we decided to go out on the boat that we had rented from the base. We got loaded in the van and took the boat to the ramp to put it in the water. We got all suited up in the required life jackets (which was no small task for the girls) and jumped in the boat. Kenny started the boat but it didn’t sound right. “I said you did get them to show you how to work this thing, right?” He said “yeah they made me watch a video” my thoughts “just great, what have we gotten ourselves into!” We pushed off the side of the dock but the boat wasn’t really going anywhere. A guy drove by in his boat and said “I know it’s probably none of my business but you’re gonna burn that motor up like that” once again my thoughts “just great!” Kenny thought it would be best if we just paddle back to shore and he would call the base and ask the guy there what we should do. We all got out and Kenny called but the boat guy wasn’t in so Kenny decided he would look at it and try to fix it. The girls and I took our life vests off and started to walk up the hill to sit in the shade when Kenny yelled “I fixed it!” So we got suited back up climbed in the boat and I asked Kenny what was wrong with it. He said that it was in neutral the whole time. Ok so everyone laugh and then take a deep breath. After we got in the boat and Kenny got it running he started to switch it from neutral into forward while I was screaming “we are facing the dock” but because his back was turned towards me and the motor was so loud he didn’t hear me so we rammed the dock! Luckily no one was hurt, not even the boat or the dock for that matter. I sit here now and am laughing to myself. What a disaster trip but by the end of the day we had the boating thing down, but we had also decided that we had had enough and so we were going home after just one night. Kenny packed up all of our stuff and loaded it up while I took the girls to the spray ground water play area for kids. When we got home we celebrated our anniversary with the steaks we had bought and we made some homemade chocolate ice cream. That was probably one of our craziest trips yet but hey, at least we got some really good laughs! At the beginning of June our church had its VBS and the girls had a good time there and then the next weekend we had a big birthday party for Kennedy. We had a Hawaiian Luau party for Kennedy. Kenny’s parents and my mom, Chuck and my brother Jarrod were all able to come and stay the weekend of the party. Kennedy had a blast. We played games with water balloons and hula hoops, ate Hawaiian style food, but the most fun part was the Tiki Craft Hut. I took our outdoor screened eating tent and turned it into a Tiki Hut by covering it with shredded brown paper bags (to look like grass). I also made some palm trees out of pool noodles spray painted brown with construction paper palm leaves and paper mache coconuts. It looked really cute. Inside I had a table set up for the kids to make their very own Hawaii in a bottle. They layered different colored sands and all kinds of colored sea shells in little jars so they could have something to take home and remember Ken-Ken’s party. I had also made a paper mache volcano, so after everyone finished their sand craft we got to see the volcano erupt. Before I put the vinegar in the top to make it erupt I asked the kids what came out of volcanoes. Kennedy was so excited that she stood on her chair and screamed “hot lava”! This was the hit of the party. All of the kids screamed “do it again, do it again” over and over and over. After the volcano we had cake and ice cream. Kennedy wanted a chocolate cake in the shape of a butterfly and Kenny insisted on making homemade chocolate ice cream. I have had many people asked about recipes and craft ideas so soon I will put a link for Amanda’s Recipes & Creations to share ideas and recipes with my readers. Feel free to send me ideas and recipes and if I try and like them I will post them too! Well five pages later I think we are back up to speed as far as Hamlett family news goes. The only other thing that I thought that we might want to share is that Kenny and I have decided to expand our family and try for baby # 3 very soon. I guess when your three year old tells you her birthday wish is to have a baby brother or sister (without any prompting from anyone) you know it is time. I hope everyone has enjoyed this update I’ve enjoyed writing it and hopefully I will get the new link and other updates posted soon! Take care!
Hello to everyone!
4/14/06
It’s about that time again so here goes. We have had once again a busy month, but in a good way. The weather here has been great (when it isn’t raining) and so I have tried to get the girls out and about as much as I can to burn up all of their extra energy. The girls both love to play outside and we go to feed the ducks at the small lake by our house quite a bit. Analysse is has really enjoyed riding the bike she got for her fourth birthday and Kennedy likes to ride her tricycle. Just this week she has finally learned to pedal the thing instead of using the Flintstone method-I’m so proud of her! We have also had a frequent visitor to our back yard over the past couple of weeks. I guess you could call him an unlucky frog. The girls found Hoppy in their outside toy box a few weeks back. They asked if we could keep him so we put him in a large plastic container along with grass and water and such. We kept him for a couple of days and then I told the girls it would be best if we let Hoppy go so he could go back and be with his family. They were fine with this because they didn’t want him to miss his mommy and daddy. Well a day or two later he was back in the toy box. I heard shouts of joy coming from Analysse. She said “mom, you’re not going to believe this… Hoppy came back to see us..he must have missed us!” This has gone on at least four times and now they are convinced that Hoppy will be back at any time. Who knows? Maybe Hoppy really does like all of the attention. We have also stayed busy with going to different kid friendly events out at the base as well as C4C (Children’s ministries - Champions for Christ) activities. We have enjoyed the family fun nights at the officers club. I don’t have to cook that night and the girls have a blast getting to jump around in the big jumper as well as making crafts. We also took them to the Spring Fling egg hunt on base. There were games with prizes, a jumper (of course!), the play ground, egg hunts and also the Easter Bunny was there. Analysse and Kennedy were both intrigued by the Easter Bunny. Analysse wanted to hug him to death and Kennedy wasn’t so sure about getting too close. She wanted to make sure that she knew where he was at all times though. As soon as Kennedy would see him she would shout “Hi Easter Bunny” or “Bye Easter Bunny” over and over again depending on which direction we were going. I did manage to get one picture of her with him. Last week I took the girls to a new bakery that opened up downtown to get a cookie. A spouse from Kenny’s class is working there and we were going to see her and the owner said she would give us a tour of the bakery. The girls thought this was going to be great because they pretend “bakery” all of the time. When we got there as serious as can be Analysse said “I have a question. Do you have any oompa loompas making all of your chocolate?” She was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to see one but she understood that the bakery wasn’t that big and didn’t have room for all of the oompa loompas (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie). Moments like that I truly treasure because they only happen every once in a while. It is amazing what a child’s mind is capable of imagining. This past weekend we went to another egg hunt out at Lake Lowndes. It was the C4C egg hunt and I have to say it was fabulous! The kids had a wonderful time. They sang bible songs and then had a short devo before the hunt began. Kennedy was very selective about the eggs she picked up and put in her bucket. She didn’t want to pick up the eggs in plain sight; she went for the ones hiding in the tall grass and around the bushes and trees. She would shake each one before putting them in her bucket too. It was really quite funny to watch her. Analysse insisted that she didn’t need any help so we just let her go on her own merry way. When it was all said and done we got way too many eggs, way to much candy, and all together the girls found 7 out of 100 prize eggs-not too bad! After the hunt there was a big hamburger and hot dog cook out. Analysse ended up eating at a table with 5th and 6th grade boys. When I went to check on her all of the boys said it was fine that she was sitting with them. Kenny and I both looked at each other and made mental notes that we would probably have our hands full a few years down the road. There was also a real live bunny there to hold and pet. Kennedy was in love with the bunny. She sat by it for the longest time (even when it was in its cage) just to make sure it was ok. She is a real animal lover and Analysse is definitely my flower child. After the egg hunt we rushed off to a birthday party for a little boy from church. The girls had a good time there too. He had a Lego cake and I think Kennedy successfully had a piece of each color of Lego (red, yellow, green and blue)! Finally Sunday we took the girls to the air show. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! It was by far the best air show I have ever been to. The girls had a great time too. We took a picnic lunch and just sat and ate while some of the planes performed their stunts. Then we walked around and looked at the planes and finally found a spot to sit and watched the Thunderbirds perform. Kennedy learned some new phrases. She would say “the planes fly in formation and then they break out!” She would use her hands to show what the planes were doing. It was really very cute and she was so proud of herself. It was a very relaxing day. As for myself, this month I have started going to the ladies bible class on Wed. nights. We are reading a book called Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. I have really enjoyed it so far and it has really helped me to focus more on my daily bible reading and praying. I highly recommend it. I have also read several short books for enjoyment and exercised like crazy (with little success might I add). We have had a few days of school here and there but with the nice weather the girls really rather be outside. So we have turned our lessons towards bugs and weather and stuff relating to spring. Now we are getting ready to travel over to GA for Easter weekend for a very quick visit with family and to celebrate cousin Maelee’s second birthday. Hopefully Kenny will have his check ride tomorrow leaving us with just the weekend to enjoy!
Just a side note: we have had quite a few responses and questions about the Columbus area and how we like it and also what is pilot school like for students with families. Kenny usually answers all of the emails about the questions but I feel since many of the questions are phrased “my spouse would like to know” that I would give a short response so that everyone could have a spouse’s perspective.
Just some thoughts on Columbus, MS and CAFB
and also Pilot training and their families
Columbus, Mississippi to me has been a great place to be so far. Keep in mind, I am from the south (for the most part) and call it home. I didn’t think it was possible, but there is a place that is more southern than our home state of GA and it is right here in Columbus, MS. All of the people I have met here are extremely friendly-even the fast food drive through workers. We have found a wonderful church and so I have made many friends. Columbus isn’t a very big town with a lot of “exciting” things to do according to most people, but it suits our family’s lifestyle just fine. There are a few restaurants here. I think Applebee’s is the only well known chain restaurant and some local owned places. Columbus has a small mall, and Old Navy and a Goodies, and a Wal-mart. For the avid shopper it is probably a real let down. My philosophy on it is this: shop where you can in town, if you really want something from say for example from Target, buy it online and if that doesn’t work then you probably really don’t need it. Most of the time in our family we decide we really don’t need it. Our family doesn’t live on base. We were offered a really great deal from a couple we were friends with in Warner Robins, GA. They own a house here and it just so happens that it came available to rent the month before we were moving here so we took it. It is in a nice neighborhood only 3 miles from the base so really we live just as close to where Kenny needs to go to school as all of the families that live on base. I really like our neighborhood. It is quiet, mostly, and we don’t have quite as much noise from all of the jets although they do fly over our house too. We have also made really good friends with our next door neighbors. Our children play together about every other day. So I guess you could say that as a spouse I feel very comfortable and have found a nice little niche here in Columbus. As far as CAFB, it is the smallest base I have ever been to, but it is also the nicest. The people are great. The medical clinic is the best you will find in the AF. We really like our doctor and we actually get to see him when we call for an appt. I haven’t had trouble getting appts either like I have at other bases. The commissary is small but the baggers all know me and so they put everything in the bags just the way I like and then even put it into my car the exactly the way I like. We like to go to the library on base a lot so they also know us by name. It is really nice to have people know you; it’s a real small home town kind of feeling. The BX isn’t that great, but you can always order things online. As far as base housing goes, students do not get the new houses-those go to the permanent party (IP’s). The student housing is older and much smaller than what our family has been accustomed to although we were told that because we had two kids we could possibly get a 4 bedroom place which probably would have worked out fine. Possibly is one of the things I don’t like to take a chance with so we took the sure thing of living off base. When the offer for the house off base came up we decided to take it for two reasons: #1 the space and #2 we could do a direct delivery for our household goods. For anyone who doesn’t know what that means it is simply our stuff was loaded on a truck and dropped directly at our new house. If you don’t have a direct delivery your stuff is loaded up and brought to your area and unloaded into a warehouse and then when you get your house on base loaded back up and then brought to your house to be unloaded. I have always heard that your furniture fares better if it can be delivered directly. If our family didn’t have kids we would have lived on base. For the students that have just recently been married or new to the military living on base is a good way for spouses to get to know the military lifestyle and make friends easily. This is our third base and we have been part of the military going on 5 years now so I wasn’t as worried about living on base. Also just a little note: they are going to be privatizing the student housing so it will be getting bigger and better-exactly when I don’t know. As far as pilot training and families there so many things that I could write about. A lot of people’s experience is based on which class they end up in. Kenny is in class 07-02 and we are the only family in the class that has children. I really like all of the other spouses but we are really at different places in our lives right now so I tend to spend more time with my friends from church that have children. Sometimes I feel a little disconnected from the other spouses because they see each other more because everyone else from the class lives on base but it is something that doesn’t really bother me enough to really worry about. Having said that though, every class is different and you won’t know what it will be like until you get here. I have heard some classes are mostly families with children and not as many singles or newly married couples. The best advice I have is to just find someone to fit in with whether it be on base or off base. As far as Kenny’s days go, I think that is the most challenging thing our family faces. He wants to do really well, so he studies a lot. Phase one wasn’t so bad. It was 8-10 hr days and it was a fairly consistent schedule. Phase II has been a different story. Every two weeks his schedule will rotate between early weeks and late weeks. Earlies are good because he is up and out of the house so early that he gets to come home in time to eat supper, but when he has to study and go to bed really early he still doesn’t get to spend much time with me or the girls. Usually he does make time for the girls even if it is only 10-15 minutes but mostly if we don’t talk right when he comes home there is too much to do before bed to really sit down and talk. Late weeks are good for me because I get to spend more time talking with him because he doesn’t have to go to bed so early, but he doesn’t get to eat dinner with us and he usually gets home right when I am trying to get the girls to bed. Having said all of that-he doesn’t get much time to do anything other than school and when he does get some spare time he usually has flying jets on his brain. For our family it has been hard because I really pretty much have to do everything for the house and the children with little help. Before pilot school Kenny was able to really help me out around the house and with the kids to give me a break. I don’t get too many breaks these days. We have our good days and well we have our really bad ones too. It is stressful but every family gets its own rhythm and adjusts. I could not hold a job outside of the home and be able to take care of the kids and the house too during this time that is for sure. I am so thankful that I am able to stay home. I try to stay positive and remind myself this is only a phase and the end outcome will be all worth it in the end. I have definitely learned to pray more because I can’t do this all on my own. God has really helped me through some tough days as well as my friends from church. Time really does pass quickly though. I can hardly believe that Track Select is less than a month away! I hope some of this has been helpful. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email me and I will try my best to answer them. Pilot school is a big deal not only for the students but the spouses as well.
Spring is here
3/14/06
Well it is that time again to tell the world what the girls and I have been up to. I haven’t written in some time and to be honest I have just been in a funk. I have thought about writing several times and just haven’t done it. I guess I am finally getting out of whatever funk I was in and I am trying to get back into my groove. Here’s what we have been up to: A few weeks back the girls and I went to GA to see our newest nephew-Max. On Feb. 15 we left MS and headed for Lawrenceville, GA to see Richard, Jennifer, Maelee and Baby Max. The trip itself was uneventful and the traffic wasn’t very bad at all considering we hit Atl during rush hour. Thank goodness for HOV lanes!! I sure don’t miss the Atl traffic. We arrived at the hospital and Jennifer was getting some much needed rest but we were able to see Richard and Max. He was a very pretty baby. He weighed 9 lb and 3 oz so he was nice and filled out. Analysse even got to hold him for a little bit and you could tell she was very proud. She just loves babies and I know she will be such a great help when we have another baby of our own-Lord willing. Kennedy liked Max but really only at a distance. She likes baby dolls but when it comes to real babies she isn’t quite sure. She really likes to be the one getting held and getting all of the attention and so babies aren’t exactly on her favorite list right now. I wasn’t surprised. After we left the Atl area we went to Warner Robins to stay and visit family and friends. We were there for just over a week. We were able to spend time with Meemaw(my mom) and also Grannie and Papa(Kenny’s parents). We went to see the movie Curious George while we were there and they loved it. Analysse sat through the entire thing and Kennedy did pretty well too. I was really proud of them. It was only the second movie they had ever been to. We also painted pottery with Michelle, Scott, and Jack while we were there. The girls each painted their own penguin. When the lady asked what colors they wanted to use Analysse told her “pink and purple of course and well black and also yellow for the beak” surprise, surprise! Everything has got to be pink and purple. I don’t know exactly how they turned out because they weren’t finished before we had to leave GA. I just let them paint them however they wanted and Michelle said she would pick them up for us. I guess we will see them the next time we visit GA. The girls also got kites to fly while we were there. Papa did a good job of helping them and surprisingly Kennedy is very good at flying her kite all by herself. On the way home we stopped back by Atl to visit with Richard, Jennifer, Maelee and Max again. I was able to hold Max again and the girls had a great time playing with Maelee. It was really great watching the girls play and have so much fun. It reminded me of when I was little and used to play with my cousins. We also got to visit our friends the Finchers who live in Lilburn. Overall the trip was very good. I don’t think the girls got a nap the entire time we were there but they didn’t let that slow them down. The trip home wasn’t bad, but I think that was when my funk settled in. It seemed to take forever to get home and I felt like I had a million things to do. The past couple of weeks have been really hard for me. Kenny was on lates and so he wasn’t home until late almost every night and so our days have been extremely long. I felt like I couldn’t get back in to the swing of things around the house and the girls seemed to be going crazy all at the same time. The girls caught colds and housework was out of control. I needed to do so many things and the littlest tasks seemed to take forever. Trips are great and I always expect a little chaos after one, but this last one really threw us for a loop. Finally I had to tell myself to get a grip. I really hate feeling like a negative person all of the time. So after much praying, and a few major milestones behind us things are finally getting back to normal. Over this weekend we had alot of fun. Friday night Kenny went to his solo party and the girls and I stayed home and had our own very first “pajama party”. Kenny had a good time at his solo party but I would have to say I think the girls had more fun at home. They were so excited that they didn’t even mind that they hadn’t seen Daddy all day. First we watched a movie we picked up from the library-Monster’s Inc-Analysse’s choice. Along with the movie they got to have popcorn and orange soda-what a real treat! Next we played with make-up. Both girls are crazy about make-up so this was also a real treat. Then we played the board game Candyland. Surprisingly we made it through the entire game and imagine this-according to Analysse we all won because we all made it to the candy castle-YEAH! Finally we watched another movie-Kennedy’s choice-Tarzan and Jane. Just to let you know-that movie was terrible so any serious Disney fans will be totally disappointed. At 10:30pm Kennedy was asking to go to bed which is rare at our house and so our pajama party ended, but the girls and I had a great time just sacking out and spending some real quality time together. They keep asking when the next pajama party is going to be-who knows?!. On Saturday afternoon we had our first group activity for the new youth group I am helping with at our church-Champions for Christ aka C4C. Kenny and I sponsored a bowling party for the kids at the base bowling alley. We had about 60 people show up and the kids had a blast! For the average adult walking into the bowling alley it would have seemed like mass chaos, but to the kids it was the best time. I am so thrilled it was a success and that so many people want the very best for their children. It is going to be so fun to be a part of this ministry. Hopefully this week the girls and I can get back into our school and really start learning again. We have only done our school work very sporadic since we have been home. I think it has been hard on them not having it as well as for me. It had become such an important part of our day and we all have truly missed the structure we gain from it. I am also trying to get the family back into a health eating pattern. We always eat out way too much on trips and also eat too many hotdogs, chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese because everyone thinks that they are the kids’ favorites. I myself am seriously trying to get back into the habit of exercising regularly too. It is really hard to spend quality time with the kids, have school time, manage everything around the house, and do everything else that needs to be done and squeeze in exercising. This past week has been pretty good though so hopefully we can keep it up. Just some final notes. I always like to put in at least one thing that the girls do or say that is really pretty cute. This time Analysse surprised me with something she said. Saturday we woke up and at a breakfast/brunch and while we were at the table she asked if she could go outside and play. Kenny told her that she could but she had to wait until he changed into some old clothes so he could do some work while he was out there. She told him she really didn’t want to wait and could she just go ahead and go outside by herself. He said no, because no one will be outside to watch you. So Analysse said “Daddy, God will be watching me, and you know he’s a pretty good watcher too” I thought it was so cute! Kennedy also got her first freckle on her nose.
Into February...
2/8/06
Well the rest of January just seemed to fly by. The girls and I had a busy month. It is amazing how fast an empty calendar can fill up. We had some good school times in the past few weeks. We studied the letter B and we did a lot of neat things. For one of our projects I decided to make homemade butter with the girls. It sounds kind of complicated but it was actually quite easy. We used an empty peanut butter jar, a few marbles and a pint of heavy whipping cream and voila!! The girls had a good time taking turns shaking the jar. Kennedy had an even better time doing the taste tests. She can not resist tasting anything that we are fixing in the kitchen. She liked the butter quite a bit and Analysse and I decided that we liked the kind from the store much better, but hey it was fun! We also wore a lot of tutus and danced like ballerinas to classical music the week we studied the letter B. Analysse is very intrigued by ballet. She loves everything about it. The music, the tutus, and especially the dancing. Hopefully we will be able to let her take some lessons soon. I also took them bowling out on the base as our final letter B activity. They had a great time and Analysse insists on doing everything her self. She didn’t do half bad (with the bumper and bowling ramp) she bowled a 99. Kennedy bowled a 104 with a little help from mommy. The next week we started on the letter C. Unfortunately the letter C wasn’t quite as fun as the letter A and B but we still had fun. We did a lot of cutting and pasting and yes my two year old loves to cut paper. She pitched such a fit that I finally gave in and let her try to use scissors (with help from mommy of course). She is actually quite good at it if you help her guide the paper. After the last week in Jan. we have taken a small break from learning our letters and have been staying busy with nursing home visits, errands, lunches with friends, story time and library trips. For the month of February I am reading story time every Wed. out at the base library. I have to admit I was a little nervous. I have never done anything like that except for my own girls but I had a great time. The thing I was most nervous about was if Kennedy would actually sit and listen while I read but as I suspected she didn’t do so well. She was up and getting into everything, I think she dumped my purse out 3 times and ate a half of my chap stick, but I read on and did all of the voices and all of the other kids really enjoyed it. Analysse was a complete angel and only ruined the ending to one of our stories so I considered the experience an over all success. The first day I read story time was also the day Kenny soloed, sooooo as soon as story time was over we rushed over to his building to meet him after he landed. I had made the girls matching shirts that said “my daddy soloed 02/01/06” The shirts turned out really cute and everyone seemed to like them, it was a nice touch and really made the girls feel like a part of their daddy’s special day. They were so excited to see their daddy get thrown in the tank although Kennedy did not want him anywhere near her while he was wet. Then on Friday we took Analysse to her well doctor’s appt. She got a clean bill of health and according to her measurements she is in the 90% for her height. Who would have thought that any of my children would be tall!! Yesterday I took the girls to the nursing home for a good visit. Analysse wanted to be independent and walk with Miss Barbara and visit residents instead of walking with me. She is really growing up. Kennedy stayed with me and of course she really turned on the charm like she usually does. She gave many hugs and I let them pass out some of their art work to the residents. The residents really enjoy the pictures and I don’t feel bad when we give them so it’s a win-win situation. When we had completed our visiting we all met in the parlor area where some of the residents had gathered and Miss Barbara asked the girls to sing songs like we did at Christmas. I do have to say that Kennedy really stole the show. They sang Jesus Loves Me first and when everyone clapped Kennedy started to sing the ABC song and Analysse chimed in. When they finished that song and everyone started clapping Kennedy immediately started to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with a little help from Analysse. Miss Barbara said that was all and of course Kennedy couldn’t resist and broke out in a solo of the Itsy, Bitsy Spider. It was great because Kennedy has her own version of the song. Her version is the Icky, Icky Spider and she never remembers the part about the sun coming out so she just repeats the icky, icky spider and rain parts. We finally helped her wrap the song up and distracted her with candy to end her recital. This is a great memory that I will love to share for years to come. Kennedy has also been very creative in her excuses for not eating her vegetables. Last week she told me she could not eat her carrots. When I asked her why she said “because they have dirt and leaves on them” which was really pepper and parsley. I couldn’t help but laugh! As for myself, and my spare time I am back to exercising and American Idol has started back up so I do enjoy a few hours of laughs watching it. We are all waiting “patiently” for the arrival of baby Max (for those who do not know my sister-in-law Jennifer is due this month). Analysse has said many times “can’t he just be born” she is very ready to come to GA and see him when he is born. We will also try to stay a week to visit friends and family. That’s it for now. I would have updated sooner, but I just wasn’t in the mood to write. Hopefully I will get in another update as soon as Max is born and put pictures up for all who want to see!
Back to School!
1/18/06
Well the girls and I have had a great start to the New Year. We started our school and have been going at it strong for the last two and a half weeks. The first week we studied dinosaurs. Kids seem to go crazy about dinosaurs-boys or girls-and my girls were no different! I had plastic dinosaurs for them to touch and play with and they got a great dinosaur book for Christmas from Grannie and Papa that we used for all of our information. It is a great book called Dinosaurs Unleashed and it is a Christian based book. If anyone is interested in the details email me. They learned about five different dinosaurs. By the end of the week even Kennedy could tell me all of their names, what kind of food they ate, and what made each dinosaur different and special. I was pretty impressed. We did lots of crafts to go with that section as well. They really enjoyed making the dinosaur diorama and it is still in their room. Their favorite craft, as well as mine, was the fossils made from coffee grounds. They had a great time exploring the yard for things we could make fossils with and the dough, with a few of my own modifications, turned out great. The fossils really looked like stones and the girls were extremely proud of them. Last week we started our letters and numbers section. Kennedy is very into this and Analysse on the other hand could take it or leave it. She rather paint, draw or color than write her letters so I had to change my approach with her. We are reading a lot of books about letters and doing puzzles and playing with learning toys that are ABC centered and she seems to like this a little better. I think she gets frustrated when she is trying to write the letters so maybe that will have to be secondary to just actually learning to recognize the letters and the sounds they make-we will just have to see. Everyone always says that every child is different and it is really amazing to see just how different my two girls really are especially in their learning processes. I think we will stick with the letters and numbers for a while until Analysse can at least spell her name and we will also focus on our bible and character building lessons too. Last week we learned about what it meant to be tenderhearted. As for myself I have really enjoyed having a very empty calendar, although it seems to be filling up again. I want to make a goal this year to really focus on teaching the girls and being a good example of being a servant for God. We will definitely continue to visit the nursing homes as often as we can, at least once a month but hopefully twice a month. Our church is wanting to get a children’s ministry started and I also hope to be extremely involved with this process because I know it will benefit so many kids especially my two girls. Everything around the home front has been going pretty well too. Kenny has been very busy with his school but I feel like I pretty much have everything around here under control. I have a great routine set up for myself and the girls and so I feel like I have gotten more done this New Year than ever before. It is such a great feeling to feel organized and on top of things instead of always one step behind. The first week of the New Year I went through the house from top to bottom and just got rid of things and cleaned everything out. It felt great! Everything just feels more manageable, it is amazing what a little bit of organization can do for the spirit. I’m also starting back on my healthy diet and exercise kick so Kenny and the kids better watch out because veggies are back in full force. Well that’s about it for now I’ll update again at the end of the month.
Christmas and New Years
1/2/06
I can hardly believe it but Christmas has come and gone and the New Year is here. Our family had a good Christmas. I traveled with the girls to Georgia early this year without Kenny and we were able to visit with many friends and family. Santa even came to visit us at Great Granny’s house on Christmas Eve. Analysse made sure to remind Santa that she really wanted the Barbie Pegasus DVD and that she had been very good. Thank goodness Santa came through for us on that order or I don’t think we would hear the end of it. Only now we don’t hear any thing but Barbie. It is her new favorite movie and so we watch it quite a bit along with Cinderella which is Kennedy’s new favorite. Our girls are definitely pretty girly but Santa also knew they would like a John Deere Tractor just as much. It has been very warm since we have gotten back to MS (almost 77 degrees today) so they have gotten to ride their new tractor quite a bit. We stayed home for New Years, not much of a surprise when you have little ones, but we all still had a good time. We had a family game night. Analysse and Kennedy got several games this year from friends and family for Christmas and so we all had fun playing them. Kennedy won her first game of Candyland (no cheating) and Analysse won when we played Chutes and Ladders. New Years day we had some friends from church over for a traditional New Years dinner. We got to eat hog jowl for the first time. It was a lot like really thick and crunchy bacon. Kenny goes back to school tomorrow and so the girls and I are ready to get back on track and back to school it is for us too! We are going to study Dinosaurs this week and really concentrate on learning our letters so that Analysse will be able to write her name soon. They both have really missed our school time during the holiday season. Analysse has been begging to do crafts for the last few days. We are going to build a dinosaur diorama and make our own fossils from coffee grounds-I’ll have to let everyone know how that one turns out. As for myself I’m ready to get back into the swing of things and stop eating so many sweets! Holidays are great but what can I say-in this house we all thrive on consistency!!
Analysse’s Birthday and the Holiday Season
12/14/05
Well once again I have fallen behind on my updates. The girls and I have been super busy the past few weeks. We have been making all kinds of Christmas crafts and homemade gifts for this years Christmas presents. Our homemade theme Christmas has been a lot of fun (especially for the girls) but boy has it been a lot of work. We had a very good Thanksgiving a few weeks back. We traveled to GA to see all of our family. It was a really good visit except for the colds that the girls and I had. It never fails, no matter how hard we try, one or all of us get sick right before we need to travel. But like I said it was a very good visit in spite of the sickness. We always enjoy seeing family we do not get to see very often and catching up on family news. Kenny’s cousin Brian had some exciting news for everyone this year. He and his girlfriend will be getting married next October. Congratulations Brian and Lauren!! Other news- my brother has gotten a new job-yeah Jarrod! Although our trip was fairly short it was power packed. Upon arriving home we set out to get more Christmas crafting done. We have crafted so much I think my creative juices will stop flowing. We haven’t done too many school days in the past few weeks but all of the ones we have had were pretty good. We have been focusing on the concept of generosity and giving to go along with theme of Christmas. In addition to all of our Christmas preparations I also had been preparing for Analysse’s birthday party. She had never had a birthday party with a lot of kids so this year we did her party a week earlier and in the morning so that she could invite some of her friends from church and the timing wouldn’t interfere with too many Christmas party plans. Because she is going to be four, we allowed her to invite four friends. Luckily her Meemaw (my mother) and her Grannie and Papa (Kenny’s mother and father) were able to come as well. It was a royal princess party. All of the children dressed as princesses. Analysse was Cinderella (her new favorite) and Kennedy claimed to be Sleeping beauty. Grannie and Meemaw were even dressed to the nines. The children had a great time playing and then we had a light lunch with birthday cake and ice cream for dessert. This year I made Analysse a pink heart cake with purple flowers and a small Cinderella figurine topper and also mini heart cupcakes decorated with pink and purple icing. She is very into pink, purple and hearts so this was her dream cake. She likes pink and purple so much if you ask her what her baby doll’s name is she will say “pink and purple”. Today we went to another nursing home in town for a visit to pass out some fruit and Christmas cards to all of the residents. I also allowed the girls to bring some of their artwork to pass out to the residents. We have so much artwork and I hate to throw it away so I thought this would be a perfect idea. The residents all seem to enjoy their pictures just as much as I do. After the girls passed out the pictures they sung Jesus Loves Me to all of the residents in the common sitting area. It was really very sweet. The next few days are going to be very busy as well. I am going to try to finish up all of my Christmas baking and cards and get the girls and I packed for a good two week visit to GA for the holidays. We had debated on going for one verses two weeks, but with Kenny’s long days I thought why not take two. I will have a longer time to visit with friends. So if I’m headed your way-we’ll see you soon!
Busy, Busy ,Busy...
11/20/05
It’s been a month since my last update and boy what a busy month it has been! I had hoped to keep this section updated at least every two weeks and it just kept getting put off. Well like I said everyone has been extremely busy but in a very good way. Kenny started pilot school and so our family had a big adjustment period. His first week of school was the hardest for the girls. They were very used to their daddy spending a lot of time with them and then all of the sudden that changed, but they are really good girls and have adjusted very well over the last three weeks. Our homeschooling is going well although I haven’t been able to do quite as much as I had originally hoped in the beginning. We only have 2-3 really good classes every week but I seem to make all of our trips and appointments into learning sessions so I don’t feel so bad. We all had appointments to have our teeth cleaned last month and so we had a small lesson on good hygiene. Kennedy got to sit in the chair and practice getting her teeth cleaned(they won’t actually do it until she turns 3) and she had a great time. Everyone got a clean bill of dental health from the dentist but he recommended we get the girls spin brushes so now we have princess spin brushes and the girls love to brush their teeth. Now Analysse says “thanks Cinderella” before she puts her tooth brush away(it’s pretty cute). We all have also had eye exams. Analysse did great and once again Kennedy got to take a ride in the chair and practice. All of our appointments have been great opportunities for me to teach them how to have good manners in public(which doesn’t always seem to be a strong suit in family right now). It is a hard task for me to convince Kennedy because sometimes she has a pretty stubborn side(gee, I wonder who she gets that from). I never know how she is going to act when we go out in public, but surprisingly she and Analysse both have done very well--all the school lessons on obedience have really been paying off! We have also have been staying busy with trips to the library and story time. The Columbus Library has a really good story time once a week with Mother Goose and the girls just love it. Mother Goose gets a little crazy sometimes if you ask me but she handles all of the kids wonderfully and the girls seem to have a good time when we go. Over the past month we have also gone to several of Kenny’s classes get together dinners and the girls have had a great time there too(they love all of the attention they seem to get). I was a little worried about how the class dinners, etc. would go with the girls especially since no one else in the class has children here, but everyone has been great with the girls. I feel very comfortable and all of the other spouses I have met are super nice. Compared to other stories I have heard from different classes we seem to have a really good group. God has really blessed us with that. We have also been staying busy at church. I have decided to join the nursing home ministry at the church. It is a great opportunity to serve and to have the girls serve with me. We go with a group of other ladies from the church to various nursing homes in town and just go from room to room and visit with all of the elderly people. We went two weeks ago and the girls had a good time and all of the residents really enjoyed seeing the girls. It’s funny because I say I never really know how they are going to act when we go out and I was a little nervous taking them but I do have to say sometimes those two really know how to turn on the charm. They went right in and just smiled and waved and hugged everyone. It was great to see. They weren’t scared a bit. Like I said I was a little nervous because I had never served in that type of ministry before but it is good knowing that God is working with me and I look forward to the next time we get to go. And lastly we are trying to gear up for the holidays. It’s corny but, this is the most wonderful time of the year. I love the holiday season and seeing family. We are getting ready to travel to GA over Thanksgiving so if you’re in GA maybe we will see you soon!
Settled At Last!
10/17/05
Well we are finally settled into our new home and getting a good routine. Kenny goes into check into the base and do his PT in the mornings while the girls and I do our homeschooling. The girls really love school. We have turned our extra bedroom/office into the classroom and they think it is so cool. We have bulletin boards, writing boards, an easel for drawing, a little table with little chairs and lots of school decorations. For fall I have little leaves that hang from the ceiling and Kennedy likes to turn on the ceiling fan and watch the leaves blow in the “wind.” The best part is that I have really enjoyed doing this. I thought it might stress me out and that the girls would not listen to me, but that hasn’t been the case at all. We have some really great days and some not so good ones but overall I think it has been a positive choice for our family. The girls seem to get along really well and Analysse really enjoys being a big sister and showing Kennedy new things. So far in school we have had a unit on animals, nutrition and healthy life choices, safety, and now we are learning new songs and nursery rhymes. Each week I have also had Analysse practice writing letters and we all do a bible lesson with a section on character building. The girls favorite part is definitely the crafts we do. Kennedy is very independent and wants to do hers all by herself and I have surrendered to letting her. It doesn’t always turn out like it is supposed to look but she sure is proud of her work either way! We have also had a lot of fun time as a family since we have been here. We tried to go camping in our back yard. It was really fun until the girls decided that they didn’t want to sleep in their sleeping bags and the temperature was in the lower 50’s. We decided to pack it up and go inside about 12:30 am after we decided it would be bad if the entire family came down with colds right before Kenny started class. The girls did enjoy the bonfire we had and we have had another since then and hope to have a few more before it gets really cold. We also took the girls to a really cool farm called Country Pumpkins that is right down the road from our house(only about 10 minutes away). They had a blast! They got to go through a hay maze, play in a corn box, ride a John Deer petal tractor, jump around in cotton and pick out lots of pumpkins-what could be more fun to a 3 and 2 year old! We also have found a really great church. We love the people. It has been really great finding new friends so fast. We also have really nice new neighbors and look forward to getting to know them better. We are really liking our new home and our new town.
Our Move to Mississippi
9/13/05
First of all we made it to Mississippi. It seemed that we would never get here and we had a lot of things working against us but we are finally here and are safe. Here is our story titled: How the Hamlett's escaped Jersey and survived Katrina. Our move from Jersey went as well as a move can go, I guess, since this was our first move having a moving company doing the work. I worked for about 3 weeks straight getting everything organized and cleaned before the movers came. I don't know if it helped the movers too much, but I felt pretty good about all of the work. I was finishing up packing our bags for the trip itself and Kenny came in and asked if I heard the sounds coming from our neighbors house (we were living in a duplex for those of ya'll who had never seen our house). I said "what noise?" and went into our bedroom where the two houses adjoin walls and listened. Sure enough their fire alarm was going off. Just great!!! was my first thought. All of our stuff was going to burn up before we even got out of New Jersey. We went outside and of course the neighbors were not home. There wasn't any smoke coming out of the house but to be safe we had to call 911. The fire dept. and police got there right away but with us being in NJ and not in the friendly south they didn't let us know anything that was going on even though we made the call. All of our other neighbors were standing outside and asking us what was going on, but we didn't know. Then the fire dept got another call and raced off so we were all just left to wonder what was going on. Come to find out the neighbors had left their dryer running and hadn't cleaned the lint trap out and fumes were coming into the house and set the carbon monoxide detector off--what a big fiasco right before our move. Then the movers came on Monday and took about a day and a half to pack everything up and we were pretty impressed (until we unpacked a few of the boxes, but that's a different story). Wednesday--then the loaders came. Things are always better in the mornings is what I learned from this experience. Things started out great. Everything was being handled very gently and was being wrapped extremely well...until about 3:00. Kenny and I kept the food, water and gatorade coming but the guys just started pooping out and things just got put on the truck any which way. I was a little tired myself by then especially since our babysitter had to cancel at last minute and Kenny and I had both girls(who did not get a nap) to deal with as well as the movers. But, they finally finished up a few minutes before 6:00. It is pretty weird to see all of your stuff drive off in a big semi especially when you are not the one driving, but that was the least of my worries at that moment. I still had a house to clean from top to bottom before our move out inspection the next morning, bright and early. Thankfully the inspection and checking out of the base was pretty painless. We left the base and started out on what we thought would be our 15 hour journey to Lawrenceville, GA to stay with Richard and Jennifer. I was driving Kenny's car--the newest edition to our family a 1994 Toyota Camry(we got rid of the motorcycle for all of those who didn't know)--loaded with me, the girls, the cat and everything else we could stuff in there. Kenny was driving our Honda Odyssey stuffed to the gills and pulling the trailer which was loaded down with 3500 lbs of stuff. Well unfortunately we just couldn't drive over 55 mph or the trailer would sway side to side. The trip was a pretty slow go but we only had one semi truck try to hit us so I consider the trip an over all success. We made it to Richard and Jennifer's late Friday night(thanks again guys for letting us stay) and we were going to go to a Hamlett family reunion Sat. morning. We all got up and got ready to go and no sooner as Richard said "I'm just glad you guys made it all that way without any car problems" Kenny's car began to over heat. We stopped to put some stuff in it but it wasn't helping so we ended up not going to the reunion. Sunday after we put some more stuff in the radiator of the car we headed for Mississippi. The car seem to be doing fine so we were very thankful. With all of the traveling and the move we really didn't have time to watch too much TV so we knew there was bad weather coming towards MS but how bad we were not sure. The closer we got to MS we started to realize we were one of the only cars going into MS and most everyone else was leaving. Kenny had made us reservations at the base hotel and it was a good thing because everyone evacuating the coast was coming our way thinking Columbus was far enough north of the storm to be safe. The storm hit land early Monday morning--our household goods were delivered Monday morning to our new home as well. It was crazy. Kenny had to go to the realtor's office and sign the lease and get the keys first thing. The girls and I stayed in the car at the new house because we had no keys and it was raining and waited for the big truck to get here. Of course the truck got to the house before Kenny did. But, as soon as Kenny got here they started taking stuff off of the truck and bringing it inside I hadn't even gotten to see the inside of the house yet. Because of the rain from the storm stuff was being put any and everywhere and mud and grass were everywhere in the house. It was a big mess, but thankfully they finished unloading early afternoon before the storm got worse. We only had two things break so I guess that's not so bad. Shortly after the movers left the storm got pretty strong--winds as strong as a category 2 hurricane in our area. We drove back to the base to stay the night and all of the power was out, luckily we had a flashlight in our car. The next day power was still out in most all areas of Columbus, except where our new house is. We were very fortunate. What was unfortunate was that because so many people were without power and phone and all other stuff and we were wanting to start new service we were last on the list to be helped. It felt really weird not having phone, TV, and internet for almost 2 weeks, we felt very disconnected. We were right in the middle of all the mess and had no idea what was going on. Most businesses were closed for 2 days after the storm and we had no groceries. We ate alot out of the snack counter from the base hotel and the shopette those two days(the kids loved it!). I think this is the longest time period that we have gone with out eating real fruits and vegetables--the kids were in heaven especially Kennedy who refuses to touch anything green. We didn't know anything about the gas shortage and went into town to go to Wal-mart and didn't know why everyone was lining up at the gas stations. It was crazy and felt kind of like one of those weird movies. We didn't have much gas in our car either because we had not filled up since before we had gotten to MS so we waited in line to get gas too. A few days after that the radiator in Kenny's car went completely out and so he had to get some parts to replace it. The next day after he had fixed it a semi-truck backed up into the hood and did about $1000.00 worth of damage. Then we got a new refrigerator and the entry way into the house is at such a weird angle it was almost impossible to get it inside. We finally got it in but, unfortunately the linoleum was completely tore up so we are going to have to replace it. But today was a good day and now things are pretty much back to normal and business is as usual around here. We finally got phones, internet and cable all on the same day-last Friday. The house was completely unpacked and decorated in 7 days flat because we had nothing to distract us and we love it. The kids are doing great. We have started our pre-school at home and they love the new house especially their new room. Kenny's parents as well as my mom(which was a surprise) came this past weekend for a visit and to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was a good visit. We have also visited the Columbus Church of Christ and we really like it. We met some really nice people and only one word can describe them-FRIENDLY! So what I am saying is "I guess we have had one crazy power packed couple of weeks!!"
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