More busy summer days at the Greene's! And HOT too! For the third straight day in a row, WA has broken past records for heat (this same time in previous years!), with the temps into the mid 90'S! WOW! Needless to say, we spend evenings at the lake cooling off! Although, with Mark telling Shelby there was an octopus in the lake, I'm not so sure she'll jump in as eagerly! hahaha. (For those of you from the 'inland' states who don't know already, Octopi do NOT live in lakes!).

In the top picture, you can see our finished patio, complete with stairs! The retaining wall now has flowers planted in it, and the tiki torches are ready to light! We can't wait for Mom and Terri to get here (TOMORROW!!!) so that we can all sit out on the patio and enjoy the great outdoors!

Just in time for the heat wave, the kids (Shelby,Paige and Ben) started their summer swim lessons! Paige and Ben are in level 1 (they finished the previous level in April), and Shelby is in level 5. Shelby has concerns about the requirements for completing level 5, as there are alot of things that she hasn't done before it seems! But Mark told her that we'd go to public swimming and he would catch her up on all the skills she needs to master. Shelby is such a smart kid, and SUCH a GREAT swimmer, we have no doubt that she will master and pass level 5 with no problems! One of the neat things about this level though, is that Shelby has made a couple of really nice friends! With swimming and Youth group (starting next week!) at Church, Shelby will make a nice little group of friends that she will be able to keep in touch with when she goes back to WI and look forward to seeing whenever she comes out here next (spring break and summer 2007)!

You can see in the two bottom pictures, the kids in their various lessons. The two monkeys in pink and blue (respectively) goggles are Paige and Ben....

We head to the airport tomorrow to pick up Mom and Terri! We are soooo excited about their visit! Once we are home, we head straight to swim lessons (every monday and wednesday!) and then out for dinner at a local Chinese restaurant! (I said that I just CAN'T cook after such a busy day! hehehe).....

We will keep you up to date on all the trouble we get into over the next week!

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Yesterday brought another adventure for the Greene's! What a fun summer we are having! We started out running around doing a few errands (that's what happens when you have a big family, always an errand to run!)...then we met our very good friends Paul and Lillybug (Lilly and Paige were 'wombmates', as Ami and I were pregnant with the two of them when we met!) at McDonalds for lunch. Remember, we also had my other girlfriends two kids with us, so we were quite the group going from place to place! After lunch, we headed out to Port Orchard to the Kistap Steamer Trains. A bunch of train enthusiasts have built a miniature train track through the South Kitsap State Park for the trains that they have built (see an example of one of the trains in the picture above!). They have over 5000 feet of track through the park, so a ride takes about 15 minutes. It is SUCH a lovely little ride through the forest. Yesterday was a perfect day for it too as the sun was out and the air was warm. As the train moved through the forest, the cool shade was a welcome respite from the sun and the beauty of the sundappled forest was just what a soul needed to find a bit of 'calm' in an otherwise hectic day! :)

After the trains, Mark and I and the kids headed to Walmart to pick up all the flowers we would need to plant behind the retaining wall that Mark built on our back patio. Once home, Mark dashed back into town to pick up the lumber to build stairs from the house out onto the back patio as we hadn't yet done that. With Mom and Terri coming out on Wednesday - YAY - we thought it prudent to have stairs for them! The kids played out in the park while I planted all the things in the garden and then Paul and Mark started to build the stairs (Mark is finishing them up today and once they are done, I'll take a few pictures of the finished back patio!). Paul and his wife Ami, and lillybug stayed for dinner and a visit. Once we had all the kids (five in total!) washed, teeth brushed and tucked into bed, Mark and I sat out on our back patio...it is so lovely and peaceful out there. No sounds of traffic or people, just the soft wind whispering through the forest. We had put tiki torches into the flower bed and had them lit, so the atmosphere was just like sitting out on a balcony in Hawaii! We just love our new little piece of paradise, and how handy to have it right outside our back door! Once the stairs are done, we won't have to take a giant leap from the house to get there either! hahaha.

This afternoon, I am off to take a much deserved (if I do say so myself!) break, and so am headed to see "The Lake House" with Ami! I'll let you know how it is!

Have a wonderful weekend! We have a BUSY week ahead of us, and I'll try to keep you all up to date with what is going on around here through this blog!

Hugs

Mark, Jaye and Gang

Wow time flies when you are having fun! The past few days have been quite busy now that school is out! Wednesday was the last day of school for both Paige and Sam....Paige is now looking forward to starting grade two, while Sam is headed up to the high school! (And Ben of course, will be headed to Kindergarden!). For a bit of a celebration, I took the kids to see 'Curious George' at the theatre on base after the half day of school on Wednesday (Sam was already at a buddy's house and so escaped the torture of a 'little kids movie'!). Shelby had never seen Curious George, and while Paige and Ben both had, they all LOVED it (sometimes a movie is even better the second time around!). Mark was able to come home early on Thursday, so we all went grocery shopping and ran errands, thrilling I know!
Today started out fun, and became rather eventful! The boat (USS Alabama) was volunteering to build a split rail fence at Scenic Beach State Park ( the same park I blogged about where Shelby held crabs!), and so the kids and I all went too! While at the beach, Paige unfortunately cut her baby toe QUITE badly on an oyster shell! It bled pretty profusely and required a trip to the ER for Paige and I! Yikes! We no longer go to Naval Hospital (yay for us!!) and so it was quite a treat to go to a civilian hospital and be whisked in and out of the ER (instead of waiting FIVE hours, yup, you read that right, FIVE hours at Naval Hospital!) and treated like royalty! Paige was given alot of attention and fuss and came out with quite the bandaged toe (no stitches as ocean water is quite yucky they said and IF it DID become infected, they want it to be able to drain out and not be held in with stitches!) and a nice big teddy bear to add to her collection! Not the way to start the summer holidays, but hey...it was an adventure! The picture above is Paige in the ER...at this point, it had become 'fun'! lolol...

Tomorrow, my good friend Bobbi and her hubby and headed to the Kenny Chesney concert and so I have her two kids as well as my four (am I completely nuts?!)...and we are headed to the steamer trains in Port Orchard, so will have nice pics and another adventure for you all tomorrow!

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

I've been so busy the past few days, I haven't had time to post, and this is going to have to be short and sweet as well!
Fathers Day was fun! The morning started out with Mark getting breakast in bed from Paige! She brought him a glass of orange juice, a croissant and a red potato! While eating, Mark got to open his gifts and cards! We all bought him an automatic tape measure....that way, when he needs to measure something, none of us has to hold the other end! hahaha...We also got him a strap wrench (look it up online if you don't know what it is!) and two new shirts for Church and dressing up. Paige also made him the cutest place mat at school which matches the one she made for me for Mothers Day! After breakfast we all headed to church. I sat in the van as I all of a sudden got horribly sick. Mark and the kids left services early so they could bring me home, and I was tucked into bed. UGH. What a way for Mark to celebrate fathers day! I didn't want to stay in bed while he looked after the kids so I got up and after much puking (lovely I know!) I felt 100% again. It seems I ate something that just didn't agree with me! (NO, I am NOT pregnant!!)
Mark took the kids to Wild Cat Lake while I made an Angel Food cake and chocolate covered strawberries!

When Mark got home, he fired up the grill and made the most wonderful pork ribs! He is definately the Grill KING! Yummers!

Yesterday (Monday June 19) was Paiges 'field day' at school (in Canada we called this Sports Day!). Ben was able to join her class and I think he earned her class a whole lot of points as he was kept busy busy running races! The weather was perfect, not too sunny and not raining like last year. Although, if you ask the principal, Mr. Corsetti, I'm sure it was WAY too cold for him. He volunteered for the dunk tank- Silly Rabbit! Shelby and Ben and I were able to have lunch with Paige as they had a school bbq, and then we just brought Paige home for the afternoon as there wasn't a whole lot going on in her class after that.

The girls have found a 'cave' on our property and some neat trees. I believe they are making their own little 'kingdom' as they are busy out in the forest every day and talk about 'clearing branches' and 'climbing'. I remember playing outside in the forest as a kid, what a way to spend a summer! Fun fun fun! I am jealous! I may have to go out and join them! hehehe.

I will post more later, and maybe I'll have a picture or two!

Hugs

Mark, Jaye and Gang

What a busy day we had today! We got up fairly early (not sure this would be an easy task as Paige and Shelby giggled late into the night!) and packed a picnic lunch and headed to Point No Point beach and lighthouse! The lighthouse itself was small but full of factiods (it was built in the 1800's). One of the funniest facts (we thought!) was that the first lighthouse keepers wife was pregnant when they moved to the lighthouse. For the first 40 years there was no road to the lighthouse so everything came by barge. Well, it seems they needed to have milk for when the baby came, so they had a cow brought out to them. It was sent out on a barge, dropped over the side and it swam to shore! Viola! Fresh milk! You can see the lighthouse itself in the first picture. In the second picture, we were teasing Shelby about the sign and asking if she should be allowed to go in (notice the no pets part! hehe). She thought that was pretty funny.

We then went to the beach and the kids found some really neat sea creatures and shells. There seemed to be quite a few sea snails today! We all played flatball (a frisbee that turns into a ball when you throw it!) and football, built sand castles and ate a yummy lunch.

On the way home, we saw what is literally a 'boathouse'! You can see it in the third picture, someone made a house out of an old boat wheelhouse! How cool is that? We also stopped on the way home at Kountry Korners store, bought ice-cream bars, and saw the neatest carvings, all done with a chainsaw! Someone has alot of talent and patience!

Once home,we all quickly changed clothes and headed to the neighbors for a high school graduation party. Now, the girl who graduated isn't just ANY girl, she is the worlds BEST babysitter! And we all love her to pieces. Congrats on Graduation Charley!

After the graduation party, Mark took the kids to Wildcat Lake for a quick cool-down swim! I had to stay home and do laundry (my excuse to have some quiet time around here! haha). The kids all had so much fun that they want to go again tomorrow! So after Church and lunch we will head back (maybe we'll take our lunch there!)

To all of you who are fathers, Happy Fathers Day! We will post pictures tomorrow of our celebration! We have a nice day planned for Mark, and I am sure we will have yet another fun filled day!

Hugs and love to all...
Mark, Jaye and Gang

We've been busy busy the past few days. Yesterday, Ben, Shelby and I did all our grocery shopping and errands (like getting crickets for the lizard!). We also went shopping for Fathers Day! Shelby was quite thrilled to be able to buy a card and pick out a present for her Dad. She has only been able to do this one other time (she was with us for Fathers Day a few years ago), as she isn't able to do this when she isn't with us. The kids all played outside last night, some sort of dinosaur game that they've made up, and they played till almost dark!

Today we are taking it easy as we ran around almost all day yesterday....Shelby and I have played several games of Yahtzee, and when Mark came home, he joined us. After we picked Sam and Paige up from school, we went to blockbuster to pick out some movies for our 'Family Movie Night' . The kids picked out two movies for themselves (Duma, The Pink Panther) and we picked out two for us (Munich, An Unfinished Life) so we'll make popcorn and drink root beer and have fun! We are also going to do an experiment! Mark and Shelby both heard on the same day (Mark from work and Shelby from her mother) about this trick, apparently when you take a 2 litre bottle of diet coke and put some mentos in it, it explodes! Mark said that a bunch of guys actually did this at work today and it was pretty cool! I'll take pictures to show you what happens! Shelby asked us what would happen if you put some mentos in your mouth and drank the soda? We said "DON'T try it!"...silly rabbit! :)

Tomorrow we are going hiking to Point No Point beach. It has the only lighthouse in Kitsap County on it and is apparently miles of sandy beach. I will take pictures and post those!

Hope you all have a great weekend! I know we are going to be busy busy busy. Hiking on Saturday and Church and Fathers Day on Sunday! YAY!

Hugs to you all

Mark, Jaye and Gang

Today after Mark got home from work, we all went
to Scenic Beach State Park. Shelby had an absolute ball looking for and finding crabs! She has two hermit crabs at her moms house in WI and was fascinated to find small ones on the beach and learn that her big ones started out this small! We taught her how to tell the difference between a male and female crab, she saw a beach full of oysters, and found really neat rocks and shells.
We then went into the park itself and saw an old log cabin built in 1936.
Shelby commented how this home for an entire family was a third the size of her bedroom! Amazing how we didn't used to 'need' so much 'stuff' all those years ago.
We were content to simply have our families around us healthy and happy!
We then went to the playground in the park and the kids
were doing wonderful impressions of being Monkeys!

In this series of pictures, Shelby is looking for a crab, shows off the crab she finds, and then when she and Mark get ready to have a picture taken together, she starts to lose the crab! Once we lost the crab, we were able to get a nice shot of Shelby and her Dad!

Tonight we attended Sams Junior High graduation ceremony! He is no longer a Freshman, and will be moving up to the high school in September. As with most commencement ceremonies, the speakers were a bit long winded and the gym was too hot, but the enthusiasm in the air could be felt. It was wonderful to see these young adults go from being 'little kids' fresh out of elementary school just a few years ago, to being young adults ready to face the challenges and joys of high school! I know that Sam has sure changed alot in the past few years. He has honed his humor into a well crafted skill, and his heart is as big as it can be. He handles the ups and downs of teenagedom with grace...and when grace fails him every now and then, he takes responsibility for his words and actions and does his best to set things right. He is growing into a young man that any parent would be proud of! We love you Sammo!! Have fun in High School!!

Mark, Mom and Gang

Sisters are forever the saying goes. It sure is true with Shelby and Paige! It doesn't seem to matter how long (or short) the time has been since they last saw each other, or that they don't communicate with each other while they are apart, or even how many miles seperate them, once they are together again, they pick up right where they left off! We picked Shelby up at the airport last night around 8pm and got home about 10:30....Mark and I were in bed by 11:30 and the girls could still be heard giggling and laughing from the other side of the house. Not sure what time they eventually fell asleep but they sure sounded like they were having a ball!

We got up this morning and headed to Church. While Paige and Ben each have a program they go to, Shelby is too old for either one so we have connected with a wonderful gal who runs a youth group on Thursday nights. Shelby and her talked and Shelby seems quite excited about going to this youth group. It will be nice for her to meet and make friends with kids her own age here.

The sun is out and it is a beautiful day, so we are going to head outside after lunch. The kids will play in the park that Mark built for them and I will continue to tackle this yard of ours! With two and a half acres, this could be a 20 year battle! ;)

As stated in my last post, we went to see 'Over The Hedge'. What a GREAT movie it was. This was the first time the kids sat through a movie without having to take a bathroom break! So either they are just growing up or it was a really great movie! Even the adults in the audience were laughing! The Greene Family consensus is Go See It! You'll love it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mark,Jaye and Gang

Ben and I got busy this morning and made 'cinnamon rolls'. The recipe is actually a twist on the old standard raised bread recipe in that you make a buttermilk biscuit dough (therefore no need to rise!) and make cinnamon buns out of that. Ben LOVES to bake, and is a great help. He actually knows our banana bread recipe by heart! Here he is with the finished product!

Kids often take you by surprise, and Sam is no exception. With so many different age levels in our home (15,12,7,4) we often need to do separate activities based on the different interests. So we have instituted a 'once a month' movie outing specifically for Sam. He gets to pick a movie he wants to see(usually sci-fi, or something the smaller ones can't see), and either Mark or I takes him while the other stays home with or does some other activity with the smaller kids. So this week when we looked at the movies for Sam to choose from, he surprised us by choosing 'Over The Hedge'! So tonight we ALL are going to the movie! I'll let you know what each of the kids thought of it! I have heard from various friends and family members who have seen it that it is really cute so I'll let you know the Official Greene Family Consensus!

We have ONE more sleep left and we get Shelby!! We have all been really excited about her coming. This summer we have her for nine whole weeks (usually we have her for five) so we are just so thrilled to have this extended time with her. Having such an extended time will allow us to really get into a routine as a 'family' with her....it would be nice if we lived closer to her and could have more routine time, but until they get submarines in the lakes in WI we are here for another four years....so until then, we look forward to our nice long summers with Shelby! She is getting so big (taller than ME now, which as Mark says "isn't difficult to do"! What a brat he is!) and is now officially finished with 6th grade, putting her into middle school next year (and turning 13 in the spring!! WOW!).

Ben and I have planted herbs, pumpkins, zuchini, tomatoes, jalepenos, banana peppers, and nasturtiums and they have sprouted up and doing quite well. Ben still thinks we've planted 'watermelons' (that's what he calls the pumpkins!) so won't HE get a surprise this fall!

Paige and Sam have one full week and a few days left of school. They are both looking forward to summer break. September brings some changes in our house. Sam goes to high school! (Where DID the time go?), Paige is in second grade, and Ben goes to KINDERGARDEN! This extra 'alone' time during the day will allow me to really hustle with my homework and I should be finished with my Legal Sciences Degree by the end of the year! While I am going to miss being at home all day, I am actually really looking forward to going to work....especially in my chosen new profession: Law! Long term plans are to head to law school once the kids are all in school full time, and then hopefully get into the political side of things in this state to make some changes in Family Law. There is a GREAT need for the antiquated, slow moving family law system in the states to make some changes and updates and I hope to be able to be a part of that!

Don't forget to post a comment if you want! It's a great way for us all to keep in touch!

Hugs
Mark, Jaye and Gang

This is the first post of our new "Family" blog! We decided to do one as we have so many friends and family scattered all over (Canada, U.S, Australia) that we thought this would be the best way to keep everyone up to date on what we are up to!
This past weekend, Paige and I went to Girl Scout Camp for the weekend and we had a blast! We went canoeing and swimming, did lots of crafts and learned alot of fun things! This picture is one I took from the back of the canoe of Paige and her lifelong friend Lilly..they are wonderful canoeists!

We are eagerly awaiting Shelby's arrival this Saturday! We are so excited to have her here for nine weeks! We plan on doing lots of fun things and will post about all our summer fun right here!

Feel free to post comments, and check back frequently! We plan on making this a regular thing (especially now that I have figured out how to do this whole 'blog' thing!)....

Hugs
Mark and Jaye and Gang