Our First Space A Adventure

The kids and I decided to journey to Okinawa to see friends last week. Instead of purchasing tickets, we flew under the Space Available system, which allows military members, dependents and others under varying category priority levels to take the remaining seats on missions the military is already flying. Actually getting on the flights requires patience and a ton of flexibility, but it's free (or near free in some cases) and that's for me. :)!

This flexibility and fluidness means that the kids and I are still in Okinawa for at least the next few days, we weren't a high enough category to make it on the flight home today and the flight schedule (which only goes out 72 hours) shows no flights to Guam. I can't say I'm complaining, we're staying with amazing friends and having a blast! As soon as I get home I'll put up a full post with pictures of all we've doing.

big families

I have 5 kids, and of all the things it comes with, the one that annoys me the most is the rude comments I get about the number of children I have. It's bad enough when the kids aren't there, but when they are it's so much worse (both in how many comments I get and how I have to control myself in my responses). One thing that has struck me since leaving the States is the number of comments I HAVEN'T gotten. It's been a great change.

It's not just the comments, but actions too. Even in Japan where big families are rare, I wasn't pushed to the side for having so many. It's been such a nice change. I get that there are a ton of little brats out there, and my kids have their days, but more often than not they're well behaved in public settings. I know that you've seen small families let their spoiled little brat run around between the tables in a restaurant, that doesn't mean my 5 will be 5 copies of that one kid. Quite the opposite. My kids know that their actions have consequences. The behavior of others' children also doesn't mean that the instant I walk in you need to walk away (I'm talking to you directly Mr Skycap at LAX). I tip well, and I don't go out without being prepared to thank those who take the time to do their jobs (again Mr Skycap)....go even the slightest bit beyond your job and it will totally be worth your while. 

Along this line, I've come up with a list of things NOT to say to a big family:

-You do know what causes this, right?

   If you say something like this, at least to me, be prepared for a smart and extremely off color remark (especially when my kids aren't in earshot). I can still speak like a sailor, and I will not hesitate to do it.

   I think what bothers me most about this comment is the implication that I should be doing all I can to prevent kids, and not having so many. I don't understand this at all under any format. If you are pro-life, then you should be celebrating life with me. If you are pro-choice, you should be celebrating my right to choose to  have more kids. Either way, I shouldn't hear this as a comment.

- You're _____ short of a _______ team

   "Oh crap! where did the last one go?" while I frantically look around is a popular response to this - thanks to our former sitter for that idea!

- Are all these yours? <while pointing back and forth between my husband and I>

 I get that we live in an age of "yours, mine, and ours", but, even if we did have kids from separate relationships and came together later they would still be ours (just in a much more complex format). My kids do all look alike and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they're all very closely related. 

  It's really tempting to respond in a really uncomfortable way to this, by pointing to each of my kids one at a time and saying, "Well, this one is ours, that next one is his, the one after that is ours again, that one, well, we're not exactly sure who the father is....."

I'm sure there are others, but these ones definitely get to me the most, and from talking to the other parents of many, them as well.

Connected again! and an update

I know it's been suite a while since I last posted, and I sincerely apologize. Our computer broke and I refused to buy an ultra gamer (read: expensive) one from the exchange and therefore ordered one and had to await it's arrival. When I say it's broke, it's not like a virus I can override by formatting the drive or something  (yes, I am a nerd). The hard drive is fried. Good times. Luckily I was able to rig it to my new one and get most of the files off before it completely went kaputz.

At the same time (almost the same day) Adam's phone died. I guess since we've had the phones for over 2 years I shouldn't complain too much, but it seriously threw a wrench in our ability to communicate with each other at all. Ah well, practice for when he submerges again right?

A silver lining is that I was now driven to figure out why the Wii hasn't connected to the internet in about 2 years so that I could use the "Internet Channel" to do some very basic tasks.

Other than that: here's a recap of what's gone on over the last few weeks:
1) The kids went to VBS at the base chapel and made a bunch of friends. I did as well :)! Only downside: the baby was lost without all the other kids and would crawl through the house crying looking for them.

2) Spent a good portion of a Saturday at Gab-Gab beach with new friends. AMAZING day, there were so many fish out and the kids even saw an octopus! I realized that day that I need to purchase a paddle board and a waterproof camera while we are here.

3) The kids went to swimming lessons and made more friends (again, as did I). However, I decided I need to hire a private swim instructor. I'm a bit picky after my time in RI at "the pond" as a kid over how they are taught.

4) I bought me first fresh, whole, tuna the other day at $4 a lb. It wasn't even gutted. After prepping it myself, I figured out that it was really a lot easier than I imagined it would be and I'll probably just stick to cleaning them myself from now on. In a related note: handing my oldest daughter a whole tuna in the car and telling her to hold it was priceless.

5) I've realized that I can't buy "reef fish" to eat. I'm too used to seeing them in pet stores for aquariums.

I also don't have the guts yet to try the jellyfish that's offered at a local restaurant.

I'm sure I'll get over both issues eventually. Just not yet.

6) The baby has decided that it is unacceptable for anyone else to feed him. He must feed himself. (I think this is related to him now having 3 teeth). This venture has led to me just deciding to pull him from his high chair and put him directly in the sink for a bath after dinner. It's much easier than dragging him all the way up the stairs.