This House Protected By...

Beware! This house is protected by Nerf N-Strike! (or a cheap knock-off)

(note: that is a half-eaten dog bone at the bottom of the picture--not a phallic symbol)

Oh, thank you so much Santa for bringing our rowdy boys these weapons of mass destruction...we now find foam bullets stuck to our windows, pictures, fireplace, light fixtures, and hiding in places we never knew we had. One boy has almost shot the eye out of another, and we have to dodge bullets just to cross from the living room into the kitchen.

I know there are a lot of other parents out there who feel the same way. Still, I can't help but grab one of their guns and get in on the action. Before long we'll have mafia wars right here in our own home!

My Man Can COOK!

There is nothing sexier than a man who can cook. And my man can COOK! Our Christmas Eve dinner was one of the best dinners I've ever had--at home or at a restaurant! I was a little wary of the lobster tails he got "at a great price"--there's got to be a reason why they were so "on sale". He had a backup plan, though. Bone-in prime rib. Again, I underestimated him when he said he didn't have to start cooking it in the oven until early afternoon. I was under the impression that prime rib took all day at a very low temperature. Then again, I am a merely a master of macaroni & cheese and Spaghetti-Os.


So we feasted on the best prime rib, the best lobster tails, the best green beans I've ever made from scratch (yes, they were fresh green beans), and some of Bryan's signature seasoned potatoes. Do I have a picture?--no. Why?--because it smelled SO GOOD that I wasn't about to waste a few seconds grabbing the camera and snapping a few pics. Bryan got a few of the lobster tails before he cooked them--but it just doesn't do the meal justice. I've even DREAMED about how good it was, and I can't wait for him to make it all again! BRING BACK CHRISTMAS--I WANNA DO IT AGAIN!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

This year's Christmas has been completely out-of-whack for us. Yes, we got the tree and decorations up way early, but the early effort stopped there. Now at the last minute we are doing all our shopping, wrapping, and baking--and finally got around to seeing Santa.

Instead of standing in line at the mall with three rowdy boys, we decided to do something way better this year, thanks to Busch Gardens. We went to Christmas Town, where the boys could enjoy rides, see the park dressed up in Christmas lights, listen to holiday music (primarily the Polar Express soundtrack--which we love!), and meet Santa and Mrs. Claus in Santa's Workshop. It was the best Santa experience we've ever had--even though it was 35-degrees outside (thus we are all bundled up in the picture!)



Merry Christmas!

Annual Holiday Letter

This is our annual holiday letter that we usually send out with the Christmas cards (which I sent out extremely late this year--oops!) The best part about posting it here is that I can link to the "story" if I blogged about it.

If you have been regularly following our blog, you already know that 2009 has been a whirlwind for us!

Bryan celebrated this year’s historic Presidential Inauguration by selling his Honda and buying a brand new Volkswagon Jetta turbodiesel (his own economic stimulus.) For a while, he put down his guitars to tweak his beloved new car. And then he promptly wrecked it…twice. He continues to slave away work on the USS Enterprise, and if you would like to get in on our lottery of when the old ship is finally going to leave the shipyard, send your guess along with a contribution to the money pot!

Speaking of making bets, Jen finally, finally earned her Master’s degree in May! Her family flew in to DC for the pomp & circumstance and some sight-seeing. She has spent this year hopping from project to project at work, beginning with SOCOM’s ASDS, then to Bryan’s ship for several months, and is wrapping up the year on the refueling and overhaul of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Brandon graduated from his racecar bed into a bunk-bed, and his very own room. He entered into second grade, where he is earning straight-As and not giving his teacher as many fits as last school year. He chose soccer over football for the fall season and became one of his team’s best players.

Tyler graduated from preschool, started kindergarten and loves it! He is just starting to read, and plays spelling games with his older brother (who is a little jealous of his little brother’s new smarts.) He took over Brandon’s old racecar bed and now shares a room with Nick.

Nick graduated out of diapers and into underwear! We’re still working on night-time training, but the hard part is over with. He also moved out of his crib and into Tyler’s old fire truck bed. He has become obsessed with all things Scooby-Doo and Shaggy—he even found Scooby Snacks at the store.

We did have a major loss to the family this year. Loki was euthanized mid-August due to the pains of extreme old age. He was cremated and sits in his urn at Jen’s bedside table. Maggie was immediately allowed to come back into the house to help alleviate our loss, and seems to be doing okay without him. Brandon is asking Santa for a cat this year (so we’re in trouble.)

We hope you all have had a good start to a great holiday season. Ours started with a trip to Jen’s hometown of Hereford, Texas, for Thanksgiving. She was very happy to go “home” for the first time in 5 years, and to see her grandparents and some of her cousins. The boys loved being spoiled by Granny and PaPa, and Nick keeps asking to get back on the airplane to go see them. So we hope you are surrounded by your family and friends this Christmas!

Love, Bryan, Jennifer, Brandon, Tyler, Nick, Maggie, and Loki (in spirit)

P.S. We are sorry for the lack of a family Christmas photo this year. With our work schedules, we have a hard time just going to the grocery store and getting the laundry done! However, you can view us in our Halloween disguise here, or see Jen & Bryan painted up for the KISS concert here.

The Magician's Assistant

I'm still alive (yes, I know I say that every time I have a "long" absence compared to my much chattier blogging friends.) I am working on a new "project" that my VP and Program Director have taken on. The VP specifically chose me to be on this team because of my unique experience working with various other shipyards outside our fence, and because my particular Master's degree has educated me in the concepts they are trying to implement. I have to change the culture of a bunch of crusty, grumpy, headstrong, old-school shipyard workers who have been doing things the same way for a hundred years. Despite what some might think, I am not confrontational--really. I cannot stand getting into arguments with these guys. And it's even tougher when I'm not 100% convinced that this is the right thing to do at this particular time.

We are already a few months into the nuclear refueling and overhaul of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The government invests millions of dollars in advance for us to plan this job because it is so complex that it takes almost 3 years to buy all the long-lead material, engineer all the details and fit everything into a schedule. And now I am heading an effort that kind of throws a lot of those detailed plans out the window. Scary.

Our government customer is somewhat patiently waiting to see some positive results. I am holding my breath and hoping for a miracle. On of the guys I'm working with is much more outgoing and direct--I am more like his sidekick. I joked the other day that I was his "magician's assistant" because I feel like we're trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat. He looked at me sideways and said, "Don't say that!"

Have you ever tried to Google "magician's assistant" in search of an image? Try it for yourself and see what you mostly get. It seems that I might actually be a bit naive about this phrase...I'll need to quit saying it at work.

Things People Do for Homemade Cookies

I've had cookies on the brain--don't know if it's because of the holiday season, or a womanly craving, (TMI?) but I am in the process of making my third batch in two days. It's funny all the attention I get from friends when I'm making cookies. I just updated my Facebook status to read "Jennifer is making more cookies today...this is what it takes to get people to visit! LOL!" And then I received a funny e-mail from our friend Scott:

A very old man lay dying in his bed. In death's doorway, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookie wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands.

With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven.

There, spread out on newspapers on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table. The aged and withered hand, shaking, made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when he was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.

"Stay out of those," she said. "They're for the funeral."

A Christmas Carol

Growing up in a small town and going to a Catholic elementary school, I grew accustomed to the big annual school Christmas play. I'm not sure if public schools also had these Christmas plays back then (listen to me--as if I'm old. Remember, I'm only 29!) Now that we've got two boys in public elementary school, I feel the heartache of not going to see them in a Christmas play. (Go ahead and read between the lines--we are not church-goers.) However, this year the second grade class had a book fair at Barnes & Noble, complete with caroling! Brandon has been singing Christmas songs around the house for a while now, and he did a great job tonight in front of a packed store--we are so proud of him! Notice the lack of pictures...yeah. We are probably the only parents who forgot to bring a camera or camcorder.