October 3 = Tattoo Day

So Liam has been in a terrible mood for... a while now.  My wonderful mother-in-law sensed that I needed a break like nobody's business so she offered to come up and watch the kids so that Zachary and I could get away.  We were planning on going to the Navy football game but it was raining so we had breakfast at my favorite, favorite place, The Breakfast Shoppe, where I had a delicious ham, sausage, bacon and cheddar omelet.  And then Zachary had to do some stuff at work but I got to take a nap.  And then we did some shopping and went to dinner and then... Zachary got a tattoo!  This was the before picture... probably would have been better with short sleeves but it was cold!

And the after!

These are the Gaelic astrological signs for me, Liam and Malia- Zachary read that it is common for family members' signs to be joined by the one long center line consistent in each one so that's what he did!  He says it's like carrying his family with him which will be even more significant when we go back on sea duty and he has to leave us from time to time.

September 10 = Get Caught in the Rain Day

Today was a "Liam goes to the CDC" day.  So Malia and I spent some quality time together and I got some of my chores done and then we went to the Academy to have lunch with Zachary.  We had a little time to kill before picking up Liam so I stopped by the exchange to pick up a few things and while we were checking out, I heard what I was praying was not rain.  Oh but it was.  Hopefully, by looking at the sidewalk in this first picture, you can tell how hard it was raining.

We got to the CDC and the rain had slowed down a little bit so we walked very quickly in and got Liam and walked very quickly out.  As we were going home, though, the rain kept pouring down heavier and heavier.  When we got in the driveway, it was really bad.  It didn't seem like it was going to let up anytime soon so I went ahead and ran out, unlocked the door, got Liam, carried him inside, ran back out and got Malia, and then ran back out to get the groceries.  Liam got the least wet of the three of us, I definitely got the worst of it.  The water at the end of our driveway (where the drain is located for the street), was up to my knees.  So I snapped this real quick to show Liam found my being soaked, so very funny.

December 6 = Get in the Christmas Spirit Day!

Zachary and I have spent most of our Christmases traveling to NC.  Having recently gotten back from a trip to NC during which Liam nor Malia slept very well and Liam did not eat very well... and the ride back was nightmarish... we decided- after making sure our families would still come see us- to stay in Maryland for Christmas.  So not only did this mean no packing and better sleeping and eating but it also meant there was a legitimate reason to get a Christmas tree!  We've never really had to have the artificial tree vs. real tree conversation but I grew up with artificial trees and he grew up with real trees.  But marriage is all about compromise ;) and he knew I would love the way the tree would make our house smell so we headed out to Target (of course) and got lights and a tree stand and a few other things and then headed to the tree lot.  I was hoping to make a huge spectacle of choosing a tree- letting Liam walk around and see if he gravitated towards one... taking lots of pictures... but it was cold and when we left Target it started raining so Zachary let me pick one and we headed home to decorate!

They are such a pair.

We got a few battery powered stars to put in the window- they were a hit with Liam.

Missy Mae supervising.

Reaching for the button to turn the lights on...

Success!

Liam telling us what color each of the lights were- he loved them so much!

Santa's helper relaxing after all her hard work.

2/3rds of our family- just missing Marley & me.