Stream of Consciousness

Monkey Doodle started school this week, and I was really apprehensive about his teacher since it was her 2nd year teaching and the first impression wasn't very good.  On the 3rd day, she told me that he was advanced in his reading and will be starting on a 3rd grade reading level with him! She is going to cater to his advancement, so that makes me feel so much better!  He is loving school already, but he is not happy about getting up earlier.  He has told us almost everyday that he wanted to stay in bed and go to school later! LOL! I hope he has a wonderful and successful school year.

Miss Priss had her testing for Kindergarten this week, and she did well.  The teacher that tested her told me that she was definitely ready for Kindergarten. We really wanted one teacher that we had heard so many good things about, but it was a 1 in 9 chance of getting her.  Well, she got her!  We are so excited that she received such an amazing teacher, and I love her already.  Since Miss Priss will not be 5 until the end of September, she will be one of the youngest in her class.  The age cutoff for Hawaii in December 31st, so it is has a much wider window than most states,  She is so mature for her age, and we are not worried about her at all. She goes to school 3 days next week, and then starts full time the week after.

I have been sick with a cold all week and not sleeping well.  By the end of the week, I was done.  Chief came home at lunch on Friday, and he saw my pain.  He sent me to bed to take a nap, and he took Miss Priss to lunch and picked Monkey Doodle up from school.  I felt so much better after having an almost 2 hour nap!

We have pizza night almost every Friday night, and last night was a special one.  Our friends at, www.chelseamckinleyphotography.com , are part of our Hawaii Family and are moving off the island on Tuesday.  We are so sad to see them go!  We had their going away pizza night last night, and it was a blast as always.  Thank goodness that I already has my homemade sauce made, and I only had to make pizza dough and prep the toppings.  You can find the recipe for both right Here ! This is our 2nd duty station with them, and we hope our paths cross again really soon.

We bought a shed yesterday, so we can make our storage room in to a bedroom like it should be.  My dad is coming to visit in September, so we want to have an actual guestroom. I am hoping that I have a lot of people come to visit us while Jeremy is in Iraq.  It sure would help the time go by faster!

Where did the time go?

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted!  I am really slacking off on this blog thing, and I will try to be better.  A lot has gone on in the last few weeks, so I will try to catch everyone up.

We had a terrific vacation in Texas, and we were sad to go.  We THOUGHT we were moving there in November for a year while Chief is in Iraq, but the Army had different plans for us.  The kids and I will be staying in Hawaii while Chief is gone, and we are OK with that.  The kids will have stability for school, stay in their current home, and keep their current friends.  We will make it back to Texas for Christmas though!  This does make the year a little harder on us, but we have fantastic friends here that will make it easier on us.  I hope everyone will come and visit us to make the time go by quicker though! We should be here until June 2012, and then we will hopefully be moving to Wiesbaden, Germany for 3 years.  I am excited to be able to live in 1 house for the next 2 years, and then I am very excited to move to Germany!  What a great adventure for us and the kids!  The places we will see and the culture we will experience will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I dream of the day that I can tell Jeremy that I want to go to Paris for lunch, and off we go!

We had a terrific 4th of July that we spent with friends and had a huge BBQ at our house.  Schofield had a celebration right here on post, and it was fantastic!  We sat around and listen to the band, Smash Mouth (think of the theme song from Shrek, and that is what they sing),  chatted with lots of friends, danced, and watched the fireworks display. It was really really good!

We have been spending quite a bit of time at the beach since we got home, and we are loving it!  We went to Shark's Cove last week, and me and some friends snorkeled all the way from Shark's Cove to 3 Tables Beach and back.  It took us about 1.5 hours, and it was a beautiful trip!  Monkey Doodle has really taken off with snorkeling as well, and he goes out really far with us while not even holding on to us.  I hold his hand about 50% of the time, even though he doesn't need me to.  That is the helicopter parent in me, I guess.

Miss Priss had an accident on the trampoline a few days ago.  She hit her mouth on Monkey Doodle's head, and she has a fat lip, some bruised and cut gums, and 2 loose teeth!  Chief took her Urgent Care, and they said she should be fine and not lose the teeth. It has been a few days now, and they are definitely tightening up, PRAISE GOD!  I would have hated to see her lose one of her 2 front teeth along with the one next to it.

We also added a 12 week old kitten to our family!  Isabella Claire is a Blue Point/Snowshoe Siamese, and is absolutely beautiful!  She is exactly the kind of kitty we wanted, and is a great addition to the family.  She took to us right away and already sleeps with Chief and I.  Her and Lucy are already the best of friends, and Lucy treats her as her baby.

Chief's niece is here visiting along with her girlfriend, and we are having a great time!  We will get to enjoy them until July 22nd!  Then, BOTH kids start back to school on August 2nd!  I cannot believe the summer is more than half over!  I already bought a lot of the kids' school supplies, and it was bittersweet.  I cannot believe we will have both kids in school!  What in the world will I do with my free time?  Gym, running, beach, yoga, cooking??  The possibilities are endless, at least until 2:00 PM everyday!

I will work on getting up another post on our Texas trip along with pictures soon.  I also need to post pictures of our house all finished and decorated!  That post is a few months late, but my friend at www.chelseamckinleyphotography.com took some pictures for me on 4th of July, so I hope to post them soon.

I want to bottle this smell!

I was sitting in my living room watching Glee (I LOVE THIS SHOW), and the wind brought in the most fragrant, sweetest, and amazing smell that just enveloped in to the room.  I have noticed it before, but it only appears at night.  So of course, I went on the hunt, outside, in the dark, with camera in hand, in my PJ's, to find this mesmerizing smell!  Here is what I found at the end of our hedge....

Then, I had to come in and turn to Mr. Google for more answers.  Here is what I found.

ORANGE JASMINE

Overview:

Filling the air with a sweet smell like orange blossoms, orange jasmine is a welcome addition to any garden. The year-round white flowers are very attractive to bees, and the fruits are favored by birds.

Latin Name:

Murraya paniculata

Common Names:

Orange jasmine, orange jessamine, chalcas

Preferred USDA Hardiness Zones:

Zones 9-11

Size & Shape of Orange Jasmine:

Grows 8-12' tall and is a round shrub.

Exposure:

Plant orange jasmine in full sun or light shade.

Foliage/ Flowers/Fruit of Orange Jasmine:

The leaves are up to 2.75" long, oval, and a glossy green.
The flowers are very fragrant and smell like orange blossoms. Flowering will occur year-round.
The fruit is .5-1" long and red. It is prized by birds.

Orange Jasmine Design Tips:

Good for attracting bees and birds to the garden.
Orange jasmine can be trained into a small tree.
It can be used as a hedge, which will require pruning often when young since it grows rapidly.

Orange Jasmine Growing Tips:

Plant in well-drained soil. Make sure it is free of nematodes.
Propagation is through seeds and cuttings.

Maintenance/Pruning:

The orange jasmine grows very quickly while young and may need several prunings to keep its shape.

Pests & Diseases:

Pests:

• soil nematodes
• scales
• sooty mold
• whiteflies

Usually has no problems with diseases.

Now, if only Google can figure out how to make smells to come out of the computer........