In the weeds

Small Packages

2009-06-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

I just can't take it anymore. This is my baby. My angel...certainly not my favorite but the last of the Cole boys. As my "not favorite" he has tugged at my heart strings from the very beginning. He was so sweet but even the sweetest boy has his own personality. He has always been obsessed with guns. He LOVES weapons of any kind. He even eats his pop tarts into the shape of PP7, 007's gun (apparently, I don't watch that show).

(You lookin'at me? You talkin' ta me?) that's his Scarface impression...not that he's ever seen that movie.

I mean, come on! Even when he was 2yrs old he was obsessed with all things military. GI Joe was his hero. He couldn't stop staring at his Dad when he was in his flight suit. Khaki Green was his favorite color. I have a sneakin suspicion that the military will be in this boy's future.

But I"ll not linger on thoughts of him as a soldier. I'll just enjoy today when he's like many other 13 yr old boys in America. Dreaming of being a sports star. It's ok baby...You can do whatever you want in your life. (inside I'm terrified that every bone in his scrumptious little body will be pulverized on Thursday...FULL CONTACT DAY!!) I have a special bottle of Pinot Grigio for Thursday. Seriously though the boy only weighs like 85lbs. He's the smallest on the team...but he's the fastest and most determined as well. He's earning the respect of his peers. Well...not if they read this blogspot!

Now on to more perplexing subjects. What the hell is going on with these kids? Every picture below they are doing the same thing. I mean seriously do you have to check your package every 10min?

Are you kidding me? I don't know maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill....Boys will be boys I guess.

I'm learning ALOT about boys these days...not little boys but teenage boys. They are menacing too! I love it, mostly. Sometimes though I cringe...I'm gonna need botox sooner than expected I suspect!

We love and miss you Jeff.

Fun in the sun

2009-05-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all, we had a great weekend at the river. I'll post more later but I just wanted to let you all know we survived! We met lots of people and had a grand old time!

Neighbors...

2009-05-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hey! We got us some dang new neighbors. They're not very friendly either.

We've been here almost one year. It's eaked by ever so slowly and apparently we have one more to go. On either side of the house we are renting, we have pastures. Until now, both pastures have been empty. As of one week ago we have some big ol' bovines grazing on the fresh tall grass.

They aren't the most attractive creatures in the world. But these big huge things aren't the only inhabitants of the pasture. Nope. We also have these...

These are entirely different. They are wittle bitty baby calves! So cute!! I want one...but I know babies grow up to be teenagers. I don't want any of those. I have a few that I'd like to put out to pasture. When baby calves grow up they turn into teenagers (shudder)...

and sometimes if you drop them on their heads they may turn out like this:

then you think "3 times the charm"...nature bites you in the @$$ one more time and you wind up with:

So with the help of good friends, wise elders and birth control you learn from your past and try not to repeat it. Except when teenage calves grow up to be adult stock they go to slaughter...

Our teenagers grow up and continue to torment and test and push the limit...and eventually want to DRIVE YOUR CAR!!! A big ol ugly cow looks mighty good right about now.

Growing up too fast...

2009-05-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

Ahh, camping. I hate it. My youngest boy however, loves the heck out of it. It was that reason and that reason alone that I took my baby camping. Just like his dad, he promised to do everything, I wouldn't have to lift a finger. His daddy taught him well. I hate camping. Really, I hate it, I hate the sleeping outside, I hate the ground, I hate the bugs, I hate the sun in your eyes in the morning...I can't think of anything to love about it. Except when I camp with my baby. He wasn't lying. He did everything. He set the tent up, he caught the fish, he did EVERYTHING. Bless his heart. He's so independent and wanted to show his mamma that he's getting older now. I don't want to believe it but I'm willing to listen. Look at him cast his line. It took every ounce of self control not to run over and pinch his tushy and squeeze him. EVERY OUNCE. Why can't we stop time whenever we want? Why? Yep...that's right. There are 12 trout there. Can you believe it?? Between 3 adults and 3 children we didn't do too bad. That's alot of dead fish. Now...what is a mother to do with a child who has ALWAYS been obsessed with knives, guns, weapons of any kind? She puts his mental illness to good use. Yep. Channel the crazy knife lover's energy into gutting fish. (secretly I'm praying that he won't become a serial killer)But I push my thoughts way way way back in my mind, back with the secret crush I've always had on Christopher Walken and it's probably further back in my mind than the fact that pudding makes me gag. Love Christopher W...Hate pudding. There I've said it, move on people. Anyway back to my big strong sweet little baby boy.

There he is. Growing up. If he gave a crap about me he'd stop it. Sigh. The hardest part about it all is that he reminds me of Jeff. He looks like him, acts like him...I think he smelled like him in this picture. Just kidding. He's growing up no matter what and I'd just better accept it. He did everything while camping. I had to wait until he was asleep before I could get a snuggle though. He still doesn't know I took this picture. Thank God he doesn't read my blog, I might end up like the fish. He's so sweet when he's asleep. Aren't they all???

Missin' our guy!

2009-05-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

GLOOM DESPAIR AND AGONY ON ME...DEEP DARK DEPRESSION EXCESSIVE MISORY...

We're feeling a little low these days. Sort of sad thinking about all the stuff that Jeff is missing while he's on deployment. He's missing some good stuff, wrestling matches, soccer games and watching the boys grow. He's also missing some not so great stuff....puberty, snow shoveling, leaky roofs, flat tires, clogged toilets, 16yr olds with attitudes who thing they know every damn thing in the world and you a 39yr old college educated adult knows absolutely squat and he's missing scooping the poop. We all miss him but no one misses him more than Reese our 5yr old Rottweiler. Poor baby...if someone says "Is that daddy???" or "where's daddy"...she immediately runs to the window and whines and cries. Poor baby

WEll girl...momma's luvins are going to have to do until daddy gets home. Geez, who's the one that feeds you EVERY day and gives you all those treats..and cleans that black gunky crap from your ears every so often (with Jon Jon's favorite socks shhhh...don't tell) It's me that's who. So you'd better perk up when I walk into the room sometimes. I mean seriously, show me some love!Guess not. Jeff, you need to get home toot sweet lest our girl here goes on a hunger strike or the vet puts her on antidepressants. She misses you. You're the only one that lets her lick your toes and runs around the yard...and you're the best pooper scooper God ever put on this planet. I miss how you shovel the poop and toss it ever so carelessly into our neighbor's yard. I really miss that. He doesn't but I really really do. When you get home Jon's going to be so excited. You see he's the resident pooper scooper right now...and he's lacking like no body's bidness. He really doesn't care about it like you do. Plus I think he's making reese feel guilty about the amount of poop she leaves him. She just walks in the other direction when he's scooping...Yep...he's going to be overjoyed to ceremoniously hand over the golden shovel to Jeff. I can just imagine his face when he sees Jeff for the first time after 7 crappy months(pun intended). He misses daddy too. We all do. We miss him so bad it hurts.

Did someone say daddy??? Easy girl he'll be home in no time...I'm sure he misses us too.

Back from heaven!

2009-05-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

WEll, I met my bestest friend in the world in the most beautiful place in the world! I met Jeff in Singapore. It was a magical time too. This picture is of the two of us on a "treetop walk" through the rainforest of Singapore. The suspension bridge is hung high above the trees and has the most spectacular views. I can't even put into words how beautiful this city is. We went to the upscale shopping centers as well as the more less posh shopping areas. It was all amazing.

We stayed at St. Regis, Singapore. I felt like royalty the entire time.

I hope we can visit Singapore again. Now I have another wonderful reason to return. I have a new friend. Her name is Hwei Ming and she lives in Singapore. I was researching St. Regis hotel on google and her blog site came up. Apparently she had eaten dinner there and was writing about it and there you have it! Her blog site is great, she gives her friends and family a glimpse into her everyday life. She thinks it's nothing special but I beg to differ. I find it sooo interesting to see how another family lives their life...where do they eat, what do they eat? What do they think of the new swine flu epidemic??? She has inspired me to update my boring old site and keep up with posting often. So here's to you Hwei Ming!

Now on to other new happenings. Jeff FINALLY crossed the equator as an active duty military member. This can mean only one thing, the polywog ceremony. In Navy tradition sailors that haven't yet crossed the equator are known as polywogs, once you cross over you are now a shellback. (why can't they be more sweet about it and be caterpillars that change into beautiful butterflies? Don't ask Don't tell right?) Anyway back in the old days those polywogs died going through the ceremony as the "hazing" was quite severe, they were whipped with hoses, made to eat rotten foods, even thrown overboard. Needless to say a few even died.

Today...not so much. With current hazing laws and political correctness let's just say it's a bit tamer.

No, this isn't Easter dinner at the Cole house. It's part of the "ceremony".

Hands of ladies....he's all mine.

Up Up and Away!

2009-04-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hi all. I'm leaving for Seattle today then for Singapore tomorrow. I hope the boys will manage well without me. Grandma and Linda (Jeff's mom) will be checking in on them.

I'm so excited as it's been 3 1/2 months since I"ve seen my husband. We will be staying at the St Regis hotel and I've heard it is very nice. I will try to post while I'm away but can't make promises!

Abby

Productive weekend

2009-02-09T08:51:00.001-08:00

215 pound Central Washington Athletic Conference Champion!!

Josh won the CWAC district tournament. Now he'll have to place in the top 5 at the Regional tournament next weekend to earn a chance to compete at the state level. He's not celebrating yet. There is some pretty good competition coming up. The high school he attends also won the district title! It's been a very good year for the wrestling team. Good job guys!!

Back here at home is a different story. With all the wrestling matches and tournaments going on, we've had to leave our youngest home alone. It's ok she's a self feeder. She's pretty good on her own. We've taught her the rules and she's followed them thus far. Oh sure at 5yrs old she does occasionally jump out of line, but we quickly pull the reigns in and make sure she knows who's boss. I'll make sure I pay more attention to her this week and give her some love and affection. Although she thinks she's the bomb already!

She never gets tired of this activity. Man I love this girl. She's gonna get lots of love and attention this week, poor thing. She thinks this is her only friend. She's in awe of the beauty that stares back at her in the window. This friend is a good listener offering only a sympathetic eye and whines in unison. Yep, my baby will get lots of love this week because this weekend we'll leave her alone with her friend again to talk about how cruel momma is for only giving her 3 or 4 treats a day and taking up half of the queen size bed. Oh the humanity!!!!

Wrestling with each day...

2009-01-26T11:15:00.000-08:00

Look at our baby Jeff! He's plum tuckered out from "wraslin" with some of the local cow pokes. He lost his first match but won his last match! Woo Hoo Jason! He's 1-1 on his first wrestling day of middle school.

Well, the day has come. My baby boy started wrestling in middle school. See this picture??? He's so sweet and lovable, WHY does he want to roll around and fight another boy? Geez, he's supposed to be a doctor and take care of me when I'm old. How can he do this to me? I feel so betrayed.

But don't let the spindly arms and the bones showing through his skin on his chest fool you. He's nimble, He's fierce and just don't you EVER call him "baby" in public. That's all I know. He's MY baby but he's YOUR worst nightmare. He's the fighting tiger of MMS and don't you ever forget it. ....Note to self, pick up protein drinks, protein bars, oh yeah and some more protein for that skinny thang.

We went to a tournament this weekend. Only the younger wrestlers went from the highschool. Jon wrestled up 10 pounds to the 140 weight class. He wrestled juniors and seniors. As a sophmore he did very well. He placed 3rd overall and had some very good competion. Good job Jon-Jon. What's up with the "fresh prince of Bel-Aire" style hat home boy? Here are some action shots from his matches. Don't be blinded by his massive muscles...he is totally ripped!

HE WON!! You're boys are doing you proud baby, but we may need to widen the doors when you get home so they can get their heads through. LOL

Westberg Tournament 09

2009-01-17T22:21:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures I took at the Westberg Wrestling Tournament. Josh and Jon Wrestled, Jason and the other middle school wrestlers worked the tables helping keep the time. They were all very tired at the end of the day, we were there from 7am-9pm

I wanted to put some pictures up. It's so funny, these kids can sleep ANYWHERE, ANYTIME. As soon as they are done with the match, they go sleep on the floor somewhere for about 20min to an hour depending on when the next match is. They wake up, eat, drink, pee and go wrestle again. This goes on continually all day until they lose twice or until the day is done and they've placed 1st thru 5th.

It's very grueling.

I especially love how close the wrestlers become. They are like brothers. They cheer each other on, they coach eah other on the sidelines, they give each other space when they've lost a match. Josh apparently needs ALOT of space. Josh is pretty close with the heavyweight and the 145 pounder. They are all three seniors and all three are captains on the team. Most interestling to mis is, all three are very good wrestlers and all three are ranked in the state. Birds of a feather...

I love and miss you Jeff. You would have been proud of our boys today. They did well.

Josh placed 2nd in the 215lb bracket against the #1 kid in the state!

Stay well and write soon.

Love, Abby and your boys

2009-01-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

Jon stays busy, this kid doesn't know how to sit still. He found this 1983 ski do snow mobile on the side of the road by a salvage yard. He and Josh brought it home and in 2 days he had it running! We don't let him take it out in the woods or anywhere for that matter. It stays in the yard or side pasture and he plays with it there. He and his brothers have fun on it and he's learning how to fix snow mobiles in the mean time! That's Jon on top, Josh is second and Jason in the third picture. Way to go Jon!!!

This is Jon with his friend Tyler, he wrestles 152, Jon wrestles 135. I can't believe he wrestles 135lbs. He must have weighed in with iron shoe on. I'll try to get action photos for wrestling at the next tournament tomorrow. You can hardly tell Jon lost his match, he bounces back pretty quickly...expecially if there are "ladays" around.

Here is Jon after the wrestling match...Hey! Shouldn't he be on the mat? just kidding this was well after the match was finished. Jon Jon, ever the ladies man.

Well, here we are. We took this picture early December. Quite a motley crew don't you think?

While Jeff's away I have a few chores to do. Josh will be off to college next year. That'll save 200.00/month in groceries alone! Jon and Jason will keep us busy I'm sure. I'm going to post some pictures of last night's wrestling event. You'll have to forgive my boring post today. I have a crushing headache and really would rather be sleeping right now.

I'll post again tomorrow night if time permits.

Testing 1, 2, 3...

2009-01-13T07:49:00.000-08:00

Hi all. OK, I'm back. After 6months of getting settled and trying to acclimate to this place called "Pacific Northwest", we're back.

The boys and I gave Jeff a send off last night. We said our goodbyes and drove off sobbing into the night. Now this website will be our link to him. Hopefully he will be able to access this site to see video and updates. This site along with emails and care packages will help us to feel close to my honey as the days and months trickle by. Please bear with me as I upload test photos and video to see if he is able to access them. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes. We will get through this deployment as all Navy families do and hopefully be better and stronger because of it.

Anyway, thanks for everything. I miss you Jeff and we are counting the days until you come home.

Abby

If this video shows up it's a test video of the boys at a cabin in Tacoma. Jeff taped them.

Frugal Recipe Swap

2008-07-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

Over at The Grocery Cart Challenge, Gayle is having a Frugal Recipe Swap. I loves my money and would like to hang on to some of it, so I thought I'd join! Thanks Gayle! And Thanks Becky aka wundermom for pointing me in her direction.

Hmm, cheap vittles...One recipe comes to mind from my childhood:

Tomato and Macaroni

For this recipe you'll need

6 strips of bacon(I use bacon drippings from previously cooked bacon..That's frugal!)

1/2 large onion or one whole medium onion (I like vidalia) chopped

2 cans of diced tomatoes (or home canned if you're,like, wonderwoman and stuff)

1 16oz box elbow macaroni cooked al dente

salt

pepper

crushed red pepper (optional)

cook the bacon to render the fat, once bacon is done, add chopped onion, cook until the onion is translucent. (I love the smell of onion cooking in bacon fat, sick, I know) pour in 2 cans of tomatoes stir around, cook for 4-5min to let flavors marry. I add a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. You can add crushed red pepper to taste. Mix in the macaroni and stir well. Voila! Very simple, Very southern. Note: if you're watching calorie intake, don't eat this because if you try to use oil or margarine it's just WRONG, don't do it!!

I serve this with cornbread.

Please always remember and never forget...

IF IT AIN'T GOT BACON IT AIN'T WORTH MAKIN'

Gloom, despair and agony on me...

2008-07-15T00:12:00.001-07:00

I'm so sad. I miss my mom and my sisters so bad it hurts. I think we all have such a good relationship together and apart. Sure we have our problems, our past hurdles we are all still trying to overcome. I can't sleep so I'm going to let you all meet them...through my eyes. In the order of their births... Becky:Beck Beck Beck Becky! (say it like a chicken clucks) I remember when we were kids in Pace, Florida. We had NOTHING, we shared clothes, beds, dinner you get the point. We would fight like nobody's business. We were both skinny pitiful beings neither of which weighed more than 80lbs in our teens. I was probably mad at her for wearing my Gloria Vanderbuilts and leaving the big diaper pins with the ducks on them still cinched in the waist on both sides. I hated that! She was much thinner than I and she would still wear my clothes not caring that you could see the gathered edges and when the light hit just so, you could see the shiny illuminated diaper pin. She was always under my feet. One Monday I was feeling particularly generous so I let her visit my lunch table. (warned her earlier while gritting my teeth that she had better not embarrass me by bringing her bible or "last chance pamphlets" with her) 1210 came and there she was just waiting for a moment with her big sis to show her an ounce of attention. She didn't embarrass me, she was fine. Last chance pamphlets, by the way, were comics on a pamphlet or flyer that showed an ordinary person or teen in a life circumstance. They made a wrong decision such as asking a younger sibling not to bring their bible to lunch so as not to embarrass them in front of the school, then moments later that ordinary person would be hit by a bus, die then go to hell. Vivid pictures of flesh eating demons, faces of anguish and misery would be the ending. The point of all of it was to scare you into being a Christian at Pace Assembly of God- or die and go to HELL. Well, that's how I took it. It was probably harmless but like I said earlier some of us are still trying to overcome hurdles from our past. (I still have nightmares of the high pitched song ending with ''there's no time to change your mind, the son has come and you''ve been left behind...) Nevertheless, Becky grew up and is no longer my annoying little sister. I love just being with her. I love her wit, her sweetness. I love drinking Earl Grey with a slice of lemon NOT MILK and talking about our families. Laughing at our children's antics and our past. Ours has been a rough life, but I thank God for it. If we hadn't had such difficulties we may not be as close as we are. Tracy: This is our typical middle child. I miss her so bad. She's so busy these days raising 3 beautiful girls that I don't get to talk to her as much as I'd like. I think I have a special place in my heart for her because my middle child "El Diablo" reminds me of her. She too has an irreverence, a mischievousness. She was a very spirited child. Bright red flaming hair and beautiful! She starved for attention and in a family with 5 kids, no money, an alcoholic stepfather and a working mother attention is hard to come by. This girl could fight like nobody's bidness. She was scrappy. She and Becky would fight all the time. Tracy could fight seriously...but she lacked the essential weapons that Becky possessed. Fingernails. Tracy could throw a punch, kick the crap out of you and plan the most evil tricks to get you into trouble. But she could never emerge victorious with Becky. They would begin to fight, Becky would grab Tracy's arms and squeeze. The fingernails would of course dig in and leave awful scratches. By the time the session was complete, they would climb up from the floor. Becky sweaty...shaking from the event, not from fear but probably because she lacked the muscle building proteins one needs daily. Tracy on the other hand looked like she stuck her arms through a lawn mower. Mother of course would come home from work and Becky would be in trouble because she left the evidence. Tracy was so clever that when Mother told Becky that if she saw marks on Tracy's arms one more time she would get the beating of her life. That's all Tracy needed, she grew out her nails for the sole purpose of attacking herself. She marked her arms up good. Becky was helpless against her evil ways. Mom got home, saw the evidence and Becky got hers. Tracy has provided our family with plenty of side splitting memories through the years. She's mellow these days. Of course having 3 beauties to raise of your own will do that to a person. I miss her laugh. I miss her rebellion. She doesn't care what anyone thinks about her. She marches to the beat of her own drum. I love that, I envy that. I miss her. Jillian: The baby. I look back on her baby days like I do my own boys. I miss changing her diapers, getting her dressed. I miss picking her up after kindergarten. I loved doing that, I'd get so excited to hear of her events of the day. That kid gave me my maternal instinct. She's grown up now. She is the glue that holds us all together. She's the historian, the finder of facts. I love talking with her on the phone. I don't know if I feel like she's my daughter, my sister or my best friend. She is so sweet and so kind. She's very sensitive. Those artsy fartsy types are like that. She's the smart one. She's on her way to the University of Arizona after being accepted into the art's program there. She's friggin brilliant. I must have rubbed off on her...NOT. I don't know where she gets her vitality from. Jillian has the life anyone would envy. That anyone is ME! I still love hearing about her day's events. She'll call just to tell me about a strange dream she had. I LOVE THAT. I remember when she was around 5yrs old and fell off a slide at the local elementary school and broke her face. Literally she broke it. We were going to sue the pants off the city. My mother took her up to the Sears to have photos taken for the court case. Lordy, you should have seen her. 2 black eyes, rotten front teeth (wee didn't have a dentist or toothpaste, we used baking soda) it was pathetic. I don't think the poor girl knew what she looked like. We went to a parade in town that week, Jillian was running with a sucker in her mouth. Mother called after her "Jillian, don't run with that in your mouth!" a passerby added "yeah, I reckon' she cain't take another licken" If they only knew how our family worshipped that kid. Anyway, long story short, we didn't sue the city because we were on the school grounds without permission. We were trespassers. And the worst of it all...we've lost those pictures. God, I would give $100.00 for one of those right now. I'd probably pee myself laughing. It was great. The weirdest...we didn't even take the child to the hospital. We couldn't afford such luxuries. Sister Glass, Brother Zepp, an ornate glass bottle of cheap olive oil and the almighty would handle her recovery. (side note: we used to devilishly refer to the olive oil as "the Lard"as in The Lard is watching over us today, Here comes the Lard, and Patrick was anointed by the Lard almighty and that's why he has a ring of zits on his forehead) It must have worked the girl turned out amazingly well...minus the thousands of dollars of dentistry and frequent headaches. I love that girl Jill-Jill. Those are my gals. We're all strange, funny, worried and wonder what could have been. I'm just thankful of all the doo doo we had to wade through. If not for that where would we be? Probably at each other's throats like many other families. I love our family as quirky as we are. So here's to you sistas. Aren't you glad I wrote this instead of the impromptu 2am phone call? That reminds me of a very blasphemous story. I apologize if this offends anyone out there, but I HAVE to inform. The church we belonged to was Pentecostal. They believed in speaking in tongues. In other words during prayer one might be moved by the Lard to deliver a message to the faithful. They would speak in some type of foreign language or mumbo jumbo. Another follower would, in turn, interpret the message in English. it would go something like this: The pastor would be having an alter call. Telling us all that we need to repent of our sins now and be anointed with oil just in case we died on the way home and went to hell. Then all of the sudden someone would stand up, hold their arms up, palms to the ceiling and say "shomalee, shom, shomahomalomalee, cooba dooba wallabooba" all while sobbing and talking very very loud. A hush fell over the congregation. A few uncomfortable minutes passed. Someone HAD to interpret otherwise the tongue talker might be faking... "Verily I say unto thee. Do not follow the wicked. Repent unto me lest you fall into the lake of fire for an eternity" The pastor would say something like "see? I told you that's what God wanted" Anyway, that's not word for word, don't quote me or anything...it just gives you a taste of our experience. So the rebellious teens sitting in the back dangerously close to the doors leading to the parking lot would make fun... "see my tie, tie my tie...see my tie, tie my tie" or "c-o-c-a-c-o-l-a...c-o-c-a-c-o-l-a" We were so bad. Then we would go out to the parking lot and score some scope. It did after all have .1% alcohol content. We were REAL BAD. You could tell the Pace Assembly teens from the Pace Southern Baptist teens. We were the ones with a ring of zits on our foreheads and the freshest breath in town. Abby

Carpe Diem

2008-07-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here's my honey. Taking the plunge, it's what he does. He can't just sit back and let others screw up and learn from their mistakes. Nope. He goes first, then adjusts later. It annoys me to no end! Only because I always feel like a slug around him. I don't climb Mountains, I don't ride my bike for 36miles, I don't fly helocopters.

I bake. I read. Occasionally I clean toilets.

I'M THE ONE THAT SITS BACK AND WATCHES! I want to see what all the idiots do and try like hell to do the opp0site. I do love his adventurous side. He's always busy. Never just sits and vegitates. I love to veg. That's probably the thing I'm most good at. Well, that and solving the U.S. fuel crisis. But mostly vegitating is my thang.

Gotcha!

2008-06-30T21:07:00.001-07:00

Ha Ha Ha. shame on me, that was so mean.

Anyway let me fill you in. Jeff came home on Friday. We stayed with his Dad in Tacoma Fri night and came home on Saturday evening. While in Tacoma, Rosalee (Jeff's stepmom) had a yard sale. We had fun, sitting in the hot sun, sweating, watching people come and go, sweating, etc. She had some choice goods at the sale...I was the first shopper there and ended with some great second hand items. I LOVE YARD SALES.

Anyway we had a great time with Jeff's family once again and they are very gracious hosts. I'm glad Jeff will be so close to them while he's away from home. He'll have somewhere familiar to stay/visit and he'll be with family that loves him. It comforts me somehow. And it's way better than some skanky strip joint just outside the base gates...I am at peace. (joking of course)

Today, after unpacking the 1millionth, 17othousandth and third box, we took the boys to the Canyon. They jumped off cliffs into the Columbia River. The current was quite strong. We had a blast.

Up and Running!

2008-06-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Woo-Hoo! I'm connected to a computer that lets me upload pictures. I just don't feel like it right now, maybe tomorrow. Later, Abby

Home Sweat Home

2008-06-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Man, it's hard work making a home! Our belongings finally arrived yesterday. All in all it turned out ok. Our dearly beloved futon didn't make it through the move. He lost an arm. Jeff's wardrobe also got gashed up, My 15yr old's surf board sustained some pretty bad puncture wounds as well. There are some other damages..my dresser is scratched up. We haven't unpacked everything yet so there's more to come no doubt. But so far, it's not too bad. Jeff left for San Diego on Tues. Since then our dog, Reese has taken refuge in his closet. He left his suitcase and some shoes so she goes in there to remember him I guess. Then she sits at the front window looks out and cries. (I know how you feel girl...sometimes I do that and remember my youth) Anyway, we unpacked her beds and she immediately pounced on them. She slept through the night too! Mind you she's 4 friggin years old..that's what, 28 in people years? She should be married and have her own apt by now! But she does seem less agitated. This move has taken it's toll on my girl. Plus my mother in law's dog (Sadie) stole her dignity the other day, she humped my puppy! I guess they were trying to figure out who the dominate dog was. Well, we know now. The boys make fun of her all the time now. I hope to God dogs can't understand humiliation. For instance, when she started sleeping in Jeff's closet...they joked that Reese was "in the closet"...and when she would come "out of the closet"...the jokes ensued. Also since we've moved in the house, Reese has seemed depressed. The boys say it's because she blames herself for "the humping episode". They think she should sue for sexual harrassment. Anway, I have to go find a place for all of our crap today. I promised Jeff that when he returned everything would have it's place and the house would be a home. Apparently I'm a damned liar.

Seriously...I get it.

2008-06-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I made this site for my family and friends to join in on our cross country trip. It's been awesome to get comments from people we don't know!! Thanks to all of you for your wonderful but undeserving comments. Basically, this blog is my therapist. It allows me to vent, complain and brag about my situation at hand and/or my life. I want to keep the blog up for as long as possible. Thanks to all who have given their warm thoughts to Jeff as he serves in the Navy. Hopefully this blog will help him stay connected as much as possible while he's away at sea. He's sitting beside me reading the older posts as I write this. He's probably going to save it as evidence for the sanity hearing. As I write this we are visiting Jeff's Dad and his wonderful wife for the weekend. It's been so fun. I actually got to cook a full dinner this evening. Here was the menu: The Best Ever Lasagna (I got this recipe from my way fav website and heroine...www.thepioneerwoman.com ) Garden Salad with ranch dressing. Garlic Bread It was awesome. Last night Jeff and "El Diablo" played fastpitch softball with Jeff's Dad, and Two Brothers. We had a blast. Oldest son and I enjoyed watching and tried not to make fun of them too much. It was great to see Jeff and his brothers together. Jeff's dad is great, he's so full of life and the kids love to visit with him. He always has a quick witted comment to say to keep us laughing. It's going to be fun living near family...or will it?? I hope it doesn't bother any of the viewers but I won't be giving out our city or other personal info. With my hubby going over seas it's important to try and stay as anonymous as possible. I've got a splitting headache right now, so I'll close until another day. abby

Almost home

2008-06-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Ellensburg, Washington on June 7th at about 9pm. With nowhere to go, Jeff's Uncle Dave generously allowed us to stay in his vacant home. It's wonderful! Washer and dryer, Bathroom (indoors even)and a kitchen. Thank God for benevolent relatives that take pity on our gypsy selves. Today we went to Port Orchard WA to try and find a house in which to live. The saga continues. back to looking at overpriced under-equipped shacks. LITERALLY!! We did meet a wonderful woman named Jill. She's a real estate agent. Very cool lady. She showed us many adequate homes. I'm still leary though, the market here is ridiculous. I don't want to buy a home for 250K when in 2yrs it'll be worth 175K and we lose money. We have much to think about. On the bright side...we ain't campin!! abby

Yellowstone....Yellow snow

2008-06-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hi all!! We're in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming. We arrived yesterday, June 5th around 1pm. We traveled 76miles over the park...it's HUGE. We drove through rain, fog, snow..you name it. This place is magical. We just found out they closed the road that we drove in on due to snow! We are staying at Mammoth Springs. It's an enormous, stinky thermosite...Pictures to come. I can't upload them onto this computer and the others don't get service up here. We are lodging at Mammoth Springs cabins. I found my old friend electricity here...man I missed you so bad! We can walk to the dining hall, general store and bathrooms from our cabin. Jeff cooked last night. He grilled a huge pork loin and potatoes. It was awesome. Then we walked to the general store, bought the kids some ice cream and we got some huckleberry brandy. YUMMY. We've seen bison on the road, stopping traffic of course. We've seen elk in our campsite, coyotes and pups, deer. We're going tonight to see if we can find some wolves. My baby boy won't rest until he sees a dang wolf. His nickname as a small child was "grey wolf". He requested that we call him that for approx 1yr, he was around 3-4yrs old. Even now he loves wolves. Middle guy,"El Diablo" is fighting depression from the move. He comes in and out of it. It's hard to watch. I feel awful for him, but he's going to have to adapt and overcome. Big Boy "lunchbox" is very content. He thinks this trip has been "righteous" and threatens to "drop the elbow" on the bison if they keep blocking the road. Jeff's pulled middle guy out of his depression some by letting him drive the back roads. He's probably racked up 3-4hrs of driving thus far. My anti-anxiety meds are getting low...so the trip must be coming to an end. (JUST KIDDING, I'm not taking any meds....yet) We have lots of pics...I promise I'll post them as soon as we reach civilization. I'm hoping to make reservations at the dining hall tonight...rumor around camp is they just received a fresh stock of bison steaks! Later tater! Abby

Hard to say goodbye.

2008-06-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time to leave this place. This lovely utopia called hotel. We're off toward the west chasing the sun. Our goal today is Cheyenne, Wyoming. What lies ahead? Who knows. All I know is I have to leave my sacred electricity. Why? Can't we just live here? Live in this place of hot food, nonleaking roofs, hot running water and NO BUGS... Goodbye my sweet. Until we meet again...maybe in Wyoming. I'll work on Jeff. Abby + Electricity=happiness

2gether+4ever=success

Dang, it's time to go load the cars. I wrote a poem for you electricity. ODE TO THE LIGHT You're there for me whenever I call Whether flipping the switch in the bath or the hall I never knew how much my love for you would grow Until you weren't here I knew camping would blow Remember the good times I know I sure will I'll treat you with care whenever water does spill I know you hate the wet weather just like me Please don't leave me alone electricity. Goodbye for now, my love.

You found a tick WHERE???

2008-06-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

So, we survived a bear siting, a tornado...now it's infestation. We arrived at Graham Cave State Park just outside St. Louis Missouri. (or as I like to call it...misory) Just as we drove in to announce our presence to the Park Ranger, The sky let out a loud crack and soon after the bottom fell out. That's campin' Cole style. Believe me it ain't campin unless it's soggy.(hence the name of the blog. keep up now) Jeff and the boys put up the tent, toot sweet. I was trying to sort out pillows, sleeping bags etc. It was about 5pm when we finally settled in and we still hadn't eaten yet. I picked up some MRE's at the airforce commisary the day before so that's what we had. It wasn't bad either! I have one question. Why don't they make waterproof tents? Good Grief! It's not too much to ask is it? You'd think that would be one of the foremost check offs on the tent maker's list. I swear, if I could be left alone for 10minutes with Mr. Coleman I'd give him a piece of my soggy mind. That's just the dumbest thing in the world! As I sat in a lawnchair inside the tent holding my umbrella over me and eating chili with beans from a plastic bag, I wondered what my friends and family were doing...Oh wait I know. Their having a wonderful birthday party for my mom. Hot dogs, Hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, electricity, running water... I can hear the calming sound of the toilet flushing letting you know that all is right in the world. Ahhh, serenity, really there's nothing better than air conditioning and fully operational toilets. (unless you count good health and happiness, but that's not the issue at hand) As my youngest boy floated past me, he declared that the current predicament is all my fault. Apparently if you kill a daddy longlegs you are cursed with torential downpours of biblical proportions. Who knew? Still though, have you seen those spiders??? Dear God, they are hideous. Like something from a horror film. Go get the life raft baby, cause if I see another one we'll need a boat...I HATE SPIDERS, almost as much as camping. Speaking of insects... Early the next morning we all woke up(them in the tent, me in the car) and went to "bathe" ourselves. My baby boy ran back immediately. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. "I thought I had a freckle on a very important part of my body, but it's NOT A FRECKLE! it's a tick" Let the gagging begin: He proceded to point to his umm...nether regions. Yep, sure enough a little tick had found a new home on my baby. Poor little guy (my baby boy, not the tick). Now it gets interesting. We stood around discussing the best way to remove said tick. None of which sounded particularly good to my baby. The two older boys offered their solutions.. "You're supposed to light a match then stick it to the tick" Jason went into full body convultions at that suggestion, exclaiming "You want to put a burning hot match down there??!, I can live with the tick man" "Aren't you supposed to pee on it?" another suggestion... uh NO that's for jellyfish stings, I swear if you pee on me I'll slap you. Jeff saved the day and rid my baby of the pest by pulling it off with tweezers. Poor baby, how humiliating. We all did a tick check after that, everyone found a tick but none of them had latched on yet. WHEW. After a breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we went to Mica Falls, a 2.5mile hike. It was a little daunting but gasping for breath and dodging slick rocks made me forget the tick episode. When we arrived at the falls it was really beautiful. We sat in the water, even our dog Reese got in. Then we hiked back up to the camp site. By that time we were hungry for supper. The guys snacked on "chicken salad" and crackers. Here's the recipe: 1 can of chicken 1/4 cup ranch dressing mix and eat. It sounds gross but it's really good! I made Chicken and rice for supper then we had smores. After everything that had happened it was so nice sitting around the fire with my guys. This is the only reason I agree to go stinkin camping anyway, because they LOVE it and I love them. The only thing that keeps me going is thinking of the next hotel we get to stay in... That's where I'm writing right now. We're in Hays, Kansas at an AWESOME hotel. Holiday Inn. They have internet, tv, air conditioning and an indoor pool with a 100ft slide. The kids are in heaven. Oh, and get this. The hotel makers made the roof and walls waterproof. friggin geniouses.

Tornados, highpoints and rootbeer floats

2008-05-31T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hi all! We're leaving Dayton, Ohio today. We stayed on Wright Patterson Air Force Base for 2 days. This must be what heaven is like. Being a Navy family, we've stayed at many Navy Lodges in our time. They do it differently in the Air Force. We received our keys and headed off for the lodging facility. It's actual housing! 2bedrooms, 1 bath, cable, hot running water, full sized fridge, pots, pans, plates etc. It was wonderful! The first night was uneventful. The next day we visited Ohio's highpoint and neighboring Indiana's highpoint. It was fun. The boys loved when Jeff drove fast over the rolling hills/highway. It really was like a roller coaster. It definately was a great family outing. At Ohio's highest point, our dog reese offered fertilizer to the neighboring tilled field. Remember to thank her as you eat your corn on the cob!! (gag) It got a little more interesting last night. I made a nice dinner, then we had rootbeer floats for dessert. It was a great ending to a great day. We all went to bed around 11pm. We were awakened by a loud siren from the base's intercom system. And an anouncement to take appropriate shelter a Tornado Warning has been issued. We turned on the weather channel and sure enough a tornado warning was issued for Wright Patterson Air Force Base. No other cities or towns were named, only the one place the Cole Family happened to be staying!!! Murphy's Law people!!! I got up at 7am and made breakfast so we could use up the last of the milk. I made biscuits and gravy, bacon and used the frozen peaches that were now thawed for 2days. They were quite tasty with cinnamon and sugar mixed in. Anyway, we're off to Missouri today. Keep us in your thoughts we're smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley. LOve to all. Abby

From Here to Kingdom Come

2008-05-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

I'll add pics later...We're on the road right now and can't do it. Arrived at Kingdom Come State Park in Cumberland, Kentucky. Just before arriving to our tent site, we visited Kentucky's highest point, Black Mountain elev 4,145ft. It was pretty much a drive up, we only had to walk about 100ft both ways. It was very foggy so we couldn't see the escape convicts and/or bears in the woods ready to plunder our persons. We ate Nathan's hotdogs roasted over a fire and commiserated about how moist the fog would make our sleeping bags. Ok, I was the one complaining but let's not get bogged down in details. We set the tent up and got ready for bed. As we were making our way around the campsite, my youngest "beautiful boy" announced that he found "a dang big pile of crap". We assumed it was our Rottweiler Reese that was the culprit. Ever the scientific pioneer, my husband Jeff dissected the poo. This here is bear scat he said. It was at that moment I moved my sleeping bag and pillow to the Land Rover. Middle child (el diablo) and I were quite comfortable by the way. Jeff and the dog made rounds around the campsite hoping that the dog collar would make enough noise to scare away any nosy bear. He thinks now it only acted as a dinner bell of sorts. Ok people, this is wear it gets interesting. Apparently one of the boys saw on a nature show that if you urinate a circle around your site, it will mark your territory, theoretically holding off any animals. They were only too happy to oblige, anything to protect the family. I didn't take pictures of that so I"ll let you use your imagination. I guess they couldn't provide enough umm...territory marking fluid so they all turned to me. I started questioning my decisions in life as I dropped trow and shimmied my way sideways along the east side of the tent, as I wiped my tears and pulled up my levis Jeff said he never loved me more than right then. HMMPH! Again, no pictures, sorry. Ok, Ok, I didn't urinate around the tent, but they did try and talk me into it. I guess the look on my face was enough to squelch the idea. But I did have to relieve myself outside. I tell you right now, as God is my witness. If this is how it's going to be I'll stop eating and drinking right now. I'll suck on ice for 2 weeks if I have to. Is it too much to ask the state of Kentucky to plumb their campsites? I mean really how hard can that be??? Sorry people, if you don't want the whole experience stop reading now cause it'll get much worse, that I"m sure of. In the middle of the night, Jeff heard something loud. As he moved toward the sound he stopped immediately. (this was told to me by jeff since I was safe tucked away inside the car). Anyway he SAW A BEAR!!! It was 20yards from our tent. It was about that time a truck pulled up, a "bear watcher" who had followed the bear down the hill to our site. The bear, named Goliath, was an attraction for the local townspeople. The bear watchers come out every single night to see the bears, and they all converge right where our tent was staked. Apparently the urine was only effective on wild animals and not bored mountain families who don't have cable. Goliath, name by the townfolk, is approx 700 pounds with a head the size of a 5gallon bucket. Long story short, we packed up and got the hell out of there by 8am sharp. We're on our way to Dayton, Ohio to a HOTEL!!!!! We'll be staying on an Air Force Base, with ELECTRICITY. I love electricity. It's a beautiful thing. Oh, one more thing, I hate camping.

The rollercoaster called life.

2008-05-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

That's Jeff and our beautiful boy. See the look on my baby's face? Really look close. See the terror in his eyes as if he can't believe what he's about to face? His mouth is hanging open cause the fits about the hit the shan.

That was me yesterday.

Ok so here's the latest scoop. Our "real estate agent" called and told Jeff that no one knows how to work the deal with the siding problem. Not sure what she's talking about. Either the seller pays 4,000 dollars to fix it OR the 2 agents each give up some money from their commissions to fix it. The 2 agents would rather get $0 than $6-8,000 each. So the deal is off. The seller would rather let his house sit another year, let the siding further deteriorate and let some other shmuck get all hopped up on buying this house only to find out it won't pass inspection. WHATEVER.

We're leaving in 2 days having no idea where we'll be living in 2 weeks. We are officially homeless.

Now I'll have to start wearing head bandanas, rub some dirt on my face, get lice and dig some cabbage and bread crusts out of the garbage bins behind the Piggly Wiggly.

JUST KIDDING

We're not that bad off but I'm still dry heaving over the whole process.

Back to looking at overpriced under modeled homes in the great northwest.

Don't you worry about us, we'll be fine. I'll try to keep looking at the bright side of things. Like...gastric ulcers make you lose weight! Yep, we'll be just fine

rewinding in my mind.

2008-05-24T19:44:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah, I thought I'd let you peek into my childhood.

Here are a few pics of me and my crew. yes, a face only a mother could love.The boy and girl is me and my brother patrick.

The 3 girls are Me, Becky and Tracy with our father, Tommy. The 13yr old holding the baby is me and the baby is Jillian!! We could never get enough of each other. I love her guts.

Looking at these pics and putting together this scrapbook for mother made me wish I had a daughter as good as me.**sigh**

Jeff says he doesn't have any sissy sperms so that's that. I can only live vicariously through my sister Tracy and hope Jill-Jill has a girly girl. When all else fails I can go snuggle with my baby girl Reese, our 4yr old Rottwieller. Atleast I know she won't get pregnant, smoke cigs or drink Peach wine coolers under the gas station sign on Fri nights instead of going to Super Church.

mo fatta

2008-05-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

oops I forgot to post the dessert pics. It looks much better in the picture than the cellulite on my butt. But anyhoo...It was a great weekend all in all. I'm gonna miss my sis when I move. But We'll get together soon for another oinkfest.

Sorry I couldn't have all my friends and family here. It was a blast. I'm going to drive home in the morning. Back to the bare walls, no tv, no good food, that is my life. I'll try to post again soon. By ya'll I'm going to purge now.

dinner with Jill part 2

2008-05-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

We didn't make the dessert. I could lie and say I made it...but those of you reading this know me and know that I can't cook very well...I'm not capable of anything that fancy.

the pictures are in sequence so you see them as they happened.

By the way, Jillian is fake gagging. She's a brat and is trying to make me look bad.

Getting fat with baby sister Jill part 1

2008-05-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

After looking a pictures, and cutting them to size, and pasting them to construction paper etc...

we were sooo hungry. We decided to make a yummy dinner. We made a childhood dinner of

pasta with tomatoes, onions and bacon. YES BACON, get off it! And a salad to balance out the bacon that will soon be dimples on my thighs.

Don't be jealous of my weekend.

2008-05-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

I went to visit my baby sister, Jillian in North Carolina this weekend. We're

working on a birthday gift for our mother's 60th b'day. We were sorting through hundreds of her childhood photos, our childhood photos...it was very taxing. We're making a scrapbook, a sort of "this is your life" photo album. It was very tedious. You'd better like this mother!! Here we are cutting and pasting pictures...everything had to be just so. Jillian is a friggin slave driver. But she told me I had fun, so I guess I did.

It was fun sister time. I'm moving to Washington next week and she is moving to Pheonix Arizona in July. She's going to Art School. I hope they don't view this blog before you get there sis....

just kidding they'll love you and if anyone gives you trouble tell me and I'll take care 0' bid-ness.

NOBODY BETTER SAY NUTTIN BAD BOUT MY JILLIAN.

yet another snag...

2008-05-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

We just heard from the appraisor/inspector re:home in Gig Harbor. Apparently the siding on the back of the house is "failing". The siding, LP-inner seal siding, was the subject of a class action lawsuit in 2002 but has since been closed to any further claims. According to our loan officer, who is awesome by the way, our loan will not go through unless a)the seller agrees to pay for the replacement of the siding or b)we pay for the siding. At this point only the affected portion of the siding needs to be replaced. UGH! If it weren't for bad luck we'd have no luck at all. On the upside, my family is healthy and relatively happy. More to come as updates come in.

It's getting close!!

2008-05-20T05:51:00.000-07:00

Well, we're down to the wire folks! The house is empty of all furniture. Most of what we own is packed inside a moving truck headed for the great Northwest. In exactly one week we will be following that moving truck.
I'm a little frazzled at this point. The boys are taking their final exams this week, cramming 3weeks worth of studying into 7days. Hopefully the teachers will have mercy. Jeff is taking a few classes to prepare him for his new position on a carrier group. And me, I'm cleaning the wall behind the garbage can. It's rather disgusting too. I wish someone had told me to periodically go through the junk drawer. It's amazing what can accumulate in a few years. So that's where my Sally Hansen acrylic thumb nail french manicure style was...
Yep, we're ready to move now. Well almost. I just need to find the paint scraper. It's time to clean under the fridge and hopefully neutralize that odor.

REESE'S PIECES

2008-05-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

We're a military family recently stationed to Bremerton, Washington. We are making our way west and camping most of the time. I'm trying to be brave and adventurous but DANG it's scaring the crap out of me. I HATE CAMPING. I hate bugs, I hate sleeping on the ground, I hate cooking outdoors but mostly I hate the basic lack of toilet facilities.
Despite my disdain of mother nature, I've been a pretty good sport in my 17yr marriage. Here are a few of our past adventures.

Here we are, enjoying NATURE. It is here that I will introduce the family. No names though in case some freak tries to stalk us. #1 son a.k.a LUNCHBOX (6'5" 225lb) is astounded at the beauty of our mother land. He may have even yodeled. #2 son, we like to call him EL DIABLO is making sure we are capturing the moment...he's such a ham. Word to the wise, don't look at him for any length of time or he'll jack you up. He hates being stared at...Lunchbox just loves that about El Diablo...it became a fun, family friendly game the 1700miles we drove that summer NOT. And last but not least is #3 son his name shall be BEAUTIFUL BOY WHO MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT MY FAVORITE. I literally could bite his face everyday and squeeze him eternally. Except of course when he wakes up. His breath is kickin! and BEAUTIFUL BOY and I are...umm...eyeing a different king of natural event. Ewww, Why are we watching??? That's Reese our 4yr old Rottweiler. The title of this post shall be REESE'S PIECES. Nice intro to my blog huh? Please don't judge me.

In this next picture I will demonstrate the talents of my family. We are so good!! Here we are

simultaneously lowering our core body temperature!! Can you see the love in my face for my husband? He's the one all the way to the right. Good thing for him El Diablo and Beautiful Boy were between us. We were on our way to New York's highest point, Mt. Marcy. I renamed it Mt. Sux cuz it did.