National Night Out 2011!!

Day 38-
On day 38, Tuesday, my morning started with Kelly services giving me my final training and "activating" me in the system.  Activation means that Duval school board has approved me as a sub, all background checks came in and I am ready to roll.  That went fine and I headed home about 11.  Jasper was to have his shots at 2 but when we got there we were informed that he was supposed to go to their other office up on Kinglsey, ten minutes away, the scheduler had put us in the wrong place.  I did not want to go to that office or that side of town so I asked if we could stay here and reschedule.  This office is less than a minutes from our house...and is beautiful and in a beautiful neighborhood!  She was so accommodating and kind and put us in as the first appointment of the day for today (Wednesday).  I decided on the way home to call the CDC to find out the status of the kids on the wait list.  It was then I became very discouraged to find out the kids have been moved down even further on the wait list.  A large group of military just came in and a lot were single parents which take priority of course.  Ahh well, at least Linda got that job right!?  Speaking of Linda we had quite a great time at NNO last night.
So here is some background on National night out if your interested in reading. 
is National Night Out?
It's America's Night Out Against Crime!
The "28th Annual National Night Out" (NNO), a unique crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 2, 2011 (Texas will celebrate on October 4th, 2011). We cordially invite you and your community to be a part of our NIGHT OUT 2011 team.
Last year's National Night Out campaign involved citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations and local officials from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide. In all, over 37 million people participated in National Night Out 2010.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT is designed to:

• Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
• Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs;
• Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and
• Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

OK so there you go taken from the source and no one is grading this paper but should I cite my source anyway?   It is from,  http://nno.org/nno/about.html

So apart from a great night of swimming in the pool on base later than normal, there was free food (excellent too!) music, the crime dog whom my children adore and the opportunity to meet all the NAS JAX police and mingle with other military and DOD families.  It was so great to hang out with my husband and have Linda there to help with the kids and just be awesome company!  I have to say the highlight for myself and both girls, was all the attention they received while getting fingerprinted and their photos taken for the national data base.  They now have a CD each with all their info pictures fingerprints,  and a DNA kit on the way to the government!  I have an ID card to print for each.  Jasper was especially funny with his tiny little fingers.  We only did his thumbs.   Part of me feels like they have been violated and I pray they don't do anything wrong as teens because Big brother has you under his thumb now kiddos!  The men that ran this are free masons and were just so kind.  They all commented how amazingly gorgeous Pip's picture came out...she is looking slightly to the left ( a little Mitch Hedburg quote there for ya).  We swam, we ate, we mingled, we played bounce house, we went home and passed out!  I am pretty sure Linda got hit on by a single (Tiger Woodsy lookin) father with his 4 year old.  Advances were ignored however, but hey you can't help but feel flattered right?  GO Linda! :)  Girls had a great time seeing daddy in his uniform and meeting his work buddies.  And apparently daddy knew who was in the McGruff crime dog costume and encouraged the girls to tackle and harass him....and of course they always listen to daddy!

Colors

Bay enthralled with the fingerprinter

Taking a pic for her ID

Pip's turn!

So pretty

Daddy to the rescue

Attack!

I see DADDY!

Krysten knew a friend there!

Linda supervising chow time

Kudos to the chef!

Daddy feeding Jas in his uniform!

So shots attempt #2 for Jasper on Wednesday!  Nothing else planned.  Waiting for the school year to start...and the work to start rolling in, until then, Happy Summer.

More Job STUFF & Mom and Dad Frolic....Rated G!

Day 37-
 Hard to imagine we have been here this long already!!  Time flies...and yes we are having fun!  So a little background info first.  We have been on the waiting list for the Child care Center on base since we got here.  We are way down on the waiting list, both physically and based on priority.  The girls are in the 40's and Jasper somewhere in high 20's.  We are looking at October before we can get care...which would mean no work for me.  HOWEVER!   My dear friend Linda has kindly offered to watch all three children here in our home for a much lower rate than even the base!   Quid pro quo, she needed to score this new job with a freight company I believe it is.  Well...the text of the morning came in.. " I GOT THE JOB!"  She will be doing billing, scheduling and general bookkeeping and the hours coincide with me working as a teacher or sub.  She will be there from about 4 or 5 -10 and I need her 7-2.  Beautiful!  So the day started out great!  And got even better with a fantastic workout!  We ended up doing a ridiculous amount of kettle bell swings and a more sane amount of other things like lunges.  I am bound and determined to look damn good down here if I am to wear this bikini with pride!  We are both doing great...I am super proud of her.  While she was here I received a call from Clay County schools District.  They said my application was accepted to apply for teaching positions.  HOWEVER, given the qualifications they were wondering if I would also apply to sub.  WELL YEAH!  So I did what they required of me online to get the ball rolling and now I am signed up for my training and paperwork etc on Aug 24th; the day before my immigration services exam!  I already work for Kelly services and will be offered more than enough hours...basically a full work week.  But have to keep doors open and keep applying for stability right?
 Anyway we swam today as she had the day off, what else is new...poooool pooool poool I know.  It gets old.  But tomorrow is a fun new activity.  National Night Out.  I am sure to have pics to post etc.  But as for today...Josh and I got a little alone time when the children all passed out at 7 pm.  We decided to have a dip in the pool alone...and alone we were!  As you can see from the pics...nothing frisky, we are kids at heart ourselves!

THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT!

St. Augustine Ice Cream Stop!

Day 36-
Ok so as thought, we went to St. Augustine Sunday.  Quick trip, no further than Newport to Providence time wise yet double the miles.  These highways work wonders its amazing how everything is 30 minutes away but its 30 miles...whereas in RI its 13 miles away and 45 minutes.  So funny how that works!   St. Augustine was beautiful, lots of old buildings and very Spanish looking.  It is the oldest city in the nation which is amazing in itself.  I wish we had more time, and children that were a tad older so we could really stop and read all the info on every building.  Unfortunately when you tell a child your going to get ice cream....well it becomes a priority!  I was hoping to find some quaint little ice cream place that makes there own.  We found ice cream but it was in the pedestrian mall and served just BlueBell ice cream.  I found it so humorous because the woman behind the counter had fire engine red hair, makeup done like she was a burlesque dancer although in her late 50's early 60's, and wouldn't stop talking to us about how she keeps her prices low ( 2.83 for one scoop, 3 $ even with tax).  I just figured this woman, who claimed she owned the shop for 20 years, would be whippin out her own ice cream!  Oh well!  I am sure in future trips we can find something else.  The pedestrian mall was very cool, indoor shops kept us air conditioned and you could look through everything from pirate treasures ( yay!) to hand made jewelry pieces.   The signs in here said no photography....WHOOPS.
 I didn't take too many pictures anyway.  Just a few to remember that we went!  Another time we will come down and go to the beaches.  They have gorgeous white sand beaches in St. Augustine that are  Caribbean style, which means MY style. :)  As for walking around St. Augustine, most people were in bathing suits, even saw a few in just their bikinis walking around with a purse and a camera.  Seriously?  Why did I have to be driving, I SO wanted a picture of that.  This place reminds Josh and I of a little bit Newport, with a touch of the Cape, a dash of Martha's Vineyard and a smidge of the BVI ( only in beaches).  It was cute but just too hot to be walking around for us with three babies.  It was great to see though and put out the feelers.  When my friends or family come to visit ( if and when...sniff) I would bring them here to explore further. 

Feels like spain!

Pedestrian Mall

Ice Cream Store With Crazy lady

YUMMMM

Our evening ended with a gorgeous thundah storm and some London Broil with boiled cabbage and salad.  Delish.  We Skyped Mimi and Papa to wish him a  Happy Birthday and then the house was asleep by 7!  Tomorrow Linda has the day off and I think I am taking her and both her girls to the base for the water slide.  We shall see what the day brings.