Introducing Ens. David Cleary..........

It's OVER!!!!!!

The ceremony was just beautiful and everyone was so happy to be there honoring David. The kids did awesome during their part and the whole thing went so smoothly.

Zachary removed David's Chief jacket.

The girls removed David's chief shoulder boards and the boys replaced them with the officer shoulder boards.

Then Zach put on David's officer jacket.

I put on his officer cover and of course planted a kiss on him!

We were all given plaques and gifts during David's speech.

David honored a few of his friends who have been influential in his life.

And then the photographer spent a half hour with us getting family shots.

(David and his mom)

( me and my mom)

(My mom, David's mom, my grandma, me and David)

You know how something can seem so bad and then suddenly work out perfectly? For weeks I have dreaded the end of the commissioning ceremony celebrations because it meant that I would have to fend for myself on one leg in a three story house with four busy kids. David was supposed to start his school on Monday. It is a five week school where he would live on base and not be able to return home until the forth weekend of the school. We were beginning to make provisions for how I was going to cope here at home. A local grocery store delivers groceries and my mom was going to make a bunch of casseroles before she left for the kids to heat up. I was having a ton of anxiety over how I was going to do all the things that a mom is supposed to do like get Michael to his orthodontist appointment in February and how I was going to keep up with the household chores and moving preparations so that we'd be able to move the day of David's graduation on March 7th.

I was prepared to just do whatever it took to make it work, but God had other plans. After talking with his detailer, the instructors at the school and his commander, it was decided that it would be in David's best interest to start school on March 10th instead of February 4th! This means that David will be able to stay home with me to make sure I have every opportunity to heal and to make sure that the kids and the house are taken care of while that happens.

I'm overwhelmed with gratitude over this! I feel like I can finally exhale and rest my body and mind knowing that everything is being taken care of.

This means that we will be leaving Rhode Island for Everett, Washington on April 11th, 2008!

Commissioning Day!!!!

Today is the day!!! All of the preparations have been made, family and friends are here, the new uniform is freshly pressed and ready for it's debut....Let the celebrations begin!!!!!

David will be commissioned as a Submarine Electronics Officer through the LDO program this morning at 10:00 am. We have a meaningful ceremony planned where my husband will be honored and will in turn honor all of those who helped him get here.

I am so proud of him! He has worked so hard and has made a big difference at every command he's been a part of. He truly deserves this selection for his leadership and administrative skills and his ability to inspire others. He's an amazing man and I am so blessed to call him mine!

While he still takes great pride in his selection as chief, David will be a Mustang now!
Not only will being a part of the "Officer World" be a big change for us as a family, but temporarily being a part of the "surface world" onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in Everett, Washington is sure to present new and exciting challenges.

On behalf of our entire family, we want to thank those of you who have played a role in our lives over the last 15 years. Some of you have encouraged us to new adventures, others have supported us during disappointing times, still others have taken us in like family when our own family was miles and miles away. All of you have shone your light in our lives and have helped us to realize our potential as individuals, as a couple and as a family. For that we are forever greatful!

Congratulations, Sweetheart!!!!

I love you!

The Pizza that made Julia Roberts famous......

Also happens to be in our top three all time favorite pizza's!

Located on Main street in Mystic Connecticutt, this pizza joint is really worth the trip!

The atmosphere is fun too with photos of the movie and other hollywood memorabilia hung all over the walls.

My Grandmother loves the pizza and whenever she comes to visit us, we make a point to drive the 50 minutes south she can get her fill!

If you are ever in New England, put this place on your list of places to visit!

Lollipop, Lollipop, oooo lolli-lolli-lolli, lollipop!!!!

Thought you could use a little sweetness this morning!!

Potatoes for Eight

When you are used to cooking for two, the thought of planning meals for eight can be quite challenging! For the past two days, I've been watching my mom kind of re-live parts of her life. Gone are the days when she was responsible for the nutritional needs of growing teenagers and pre-schoolers. Planning pleasing meals for a big family has become foreign territory and the days of cutting up 5 pounds of potatoes for a single meal are but a distant memory for her.

In her day, she could do it better than anyone I knew. Perhaps if we lived closer and were in each other's company regularly, these skills would not have gotten so rusty. But, check her out! She's hit a home run every night and we have been so blessed to have her here to help us. I guess it's just like riding a bike! Familiar smells and sights of my growing up years are teasing my senses as I see my mom running things in the kitchen. She is amazing! She always has been.

If I close my eyes, I can almost transport myself back in time to the days when I was the self absorbed teen in the house completely unaware of what it takes to run a home and care for a family. Thinking that I knew it all and was the enlightened one. Completely taking for granted the love and care that went into everything my mom did to make sure that we were all happy and comfortable. There were some things I could always count on. Mom would be home when I came home from school and we'd have a great dinner at the table as a family almost every night.

That is a gift she gave me and one that I try to give my own family. Family dinners are very important to us.

My sweet grandmother has been right in there helping things run as smoothly as possible. My children are so blessed to say that they know their great grandmother as well as they know her.

Now, I'm not usually so proud of my tomatoe slicing skills....but since this is my first real contribution to any meal in almost a month, I'm gonna brag on them!!

I think my kids are really enjoying having Nana and "Great" Nana here. They lend a bit of security and a nuturing quality that we really need right now.

Check out how much Michael has grown in the past 4 months! I think he's aquired an extra two inches just out of the blue!

And of course Bren is in Nana Heaven!!! She came home with "Blade" after a shopping trip out with Nana and Great Nana.

Tonight is family fun night. We've had this tradition for the past 4 years. Every Friday we order pizza and watch a movie together. Tonight we lose two regulars. Zachary and Michael are going on a retreat with the youth group and wont be home until Sunday. But we also gain two. I'm sure my mom and grandma will welcome the night off of kitchen duty!

Grounded..........

Sigh....so we are supposed to be in the air right now. All excited over what awaits us for the week ahead in Seattle. Full of wonder over all of the possibilities that we'd be faced with as we view a long list of rentals all over the area. We should be holding hands, giddy, feeling like we are on the honeymoon we never had....delighted to be away together to spend some one on one time before a seven month deployment.

We should be just about in Chicago right now for our three hour lay-over where we'd have deep dish pizza for lunch. We'd have fun just being together while waiting to board our second flight to Seattle where we'd pick up our rental car and make our way to our hotel. After dinner in Seattle, we'd spend lots of time going over our list of possible rentals and neighborhoods we wanted to check out.

That is where we should be, what should be happening...but here I am still sitting in my room dealing with day 23 of ankle injury/surgery recovery! I had a doctors appointment today and got to see where my scar will be once the surgical site heals. It isn't really that bad, but my swollen black and blue foot is pretty sad looking. I was fitted with a boot today and given the instructions to do as many foot flexes as I can to work on my range of motion. It is painful to flex my foot, but the more I do it, the more range of motion I will get.

I am allowed to rest my foot on the ground now for balance, but I'm still non-weight bearing. The Doctor wants me to be non-weight bearing for four more weeks and then I can gradually start putting more and more weight on it.

Right now, when I am up and around I'll need to wear the boot, but just sitting around in bed or on the couch, I wont need the boot and can work on flexes. The best news is that I wont need the boot to shower so the days of wrapping my foot up in a trash bag are over!

We cancelled our trip to Seattle yesterday. It was my choice. I just knew. Even if the doctor said I was cleared to go, I knew that I would be in too much pain and discomfort to enjoy it. I knew I would not be able to view the top floors of any of the 2-story houses we had chosen and that it would just be way too much hassel to crutch my way every where we went. I'm not one of those champion crutchers. I'm not graceful in them and I always look like I'm just one mistep away from wiping out on them.

It was my choice. But that doesn't make it any easier.

My mom and grandma are here. We booked their flights here to watch the kids while we were away. Now they are here to be my extra foot for the next two weeks as my mom put it and to take some of the burden off of David. I'm so thankful for their help. It is super, super hard to just sit here and watch them do all the things that I should be doing, but I know they are here because they love me, and I keep reminding myself that it's important to let them care for the family in my place. It's important that I heal and heal well. I've got a count down until David deploys and I need to be well by then.

I'll post some pics of the new "dork" boot soon! :)

For Nana......

A package arrived today!!!

A very special one!

One that has been the motivation behind the dozens of phone calls placed to Nana by a curious little girl driven crazy by anticipation.

One that Nana said would be here soon.

One that we counted down the days for.

One that was worth the wait and Bren just absolutely loves!!!!

"Thank you for my baby, Nana!!!

I'm naming her Rosie because her cheeks turn pink when she feels sick".

I love you!

Daddy's Princess

It's been so heart warming watching these two bond over the past 19 days.

Today was another errand day and Bren needed her hair blow dried before she could leave for an exciting day with Daddy.

She so loves these errand days and David says that she is always such a joy to take along. She enjoys shopping and being out on the town, so with me being down, it's so nice that David looks forward to bringing her with him.

It just melts my heart watching David be so gentle and attentive with Bren. She sat there for him way longer than she ever sits for me. She just sat there content and unmoving except for her feet which she playfully swung back and forth.


I think she felt special, paid attention to, cherished and just down right loved by the most important man in her world right now, and that is what being daddy's princess is all about.

That kind of sense of being loved causes an unmistakeable glimmer in the eyes and glow on the skin. Happiness that bubbles up from within and just explodes with sparkling giggles that dance around in the air lending their giddiness to the weariest of souls.

Lucky. Lucky, Girl!

Busy work for bored hands....

Ok, it's Day 18 since my injury and I am soooooo done with this bed! I mean really, really done! I need something to do to keep my mind busy besides reading e-mails and blogs and searching craigslist for houses in the Everett, Washington area.

So, today David brings me a huge bin of bows and hair accessories to sort. I am trying to make the donate pile bigger than the keep pile. We'll be moving across country soon and so it is very necessary to downsize.

It was fun going through all of those millions and millions of bows! Funny thing is, the bigger Bren's head gets the smaller her bow size of choice is.

Coming from the south and being deeply rooted in the e-bay custom boutique world, Bren has definitely been a big bow girl for most of her life!! When people would comment on them we would always say that it was a great way to keep from loosing her in a crowd. Those bows are hard to overlook!

Walk down memory lane with me......

These days Bren's all about clippes, hair flowers, cool headbands and smaller bows.

Speaking of fun accessories, my friend Beki from Pampering Beki makes some adorable clippies and hair flowers along with some beautiful jewelry for little girls and moms too. Check out her etsy store and she's got a fun contest on her blog right now!

In other news.....

I'm Sooooo Happy that American Idol has made it's return! One can only watch so much FOX News, HGTV and re-runs before one snaps!!! It has been entertaining so far, hasn't it? Do you have your favorites yet? I've got a few!

Since Greys Anatomy is a re-run tonight, I'll be looking forward to watching Celebrity Apprentice. I've enjoyed that so far. I'm really rooting for Stephen Baldwin since he has a ministry that I think is awesome. Having two teenage boys, I'm so appreciative that there are things out there like this!

Apples, Bananas & Sushi!

So David and Bren went out to run errands today and they came back with goodies!!!

They stuffed a basket with lots of snacky things and brought it up to sit beside my bed. awwwww!


And they brought me sushi for lunch! Yum!!!

And a few days ago, David brought home this cushy seat back to try to help me fight the never ending "pillow to brick" syndrome that seems to plague me!
And of course a few time spenders for Bren! She LOVES to do workbooks and it's something that she can sit here and do beside me.

I. am. blessed.