And so it goes..

Well, the Rhode Island said time's up and that they need Dave more than we do. We lucked out & got an extra day with him rather than him leaving Saturday, but the boat got underway yesterday. So here we go again - round five. Such is life as a Navy family. We miss him already, but we've made it through four, we'll make it through this one too. Everyone knows that I can't specify when we think he'll be home, or anything along those lines, but I'll make sure to let everyone know when the information becomes unclassified.

To continue with the Navy news, Dave has decided to re-up. He's going to make a go of it & do the full twenty - or at least that's the plan as of right now. He will be reenlisting while underway. This leaves us on the RI for at least another two years, & then he'll be on shore duty. We're hoping for shore duty here, or in Jacksonville if not Kings Bay, so that we don't have to sell the house or change Shelbye's school. Of course, trying to plan anything with the Navy is about as productive as nailing Jello the wall, so we'll see what happens.

Shelbye is, as always, doing great in school. She's looking forward to Halloween, especially since she'll be using her little brother's cuteness to score extra candy. She has a plan, & she's already made it known. As you can tell from the pictures, she's still the same little bookworm. We should be getting her report card here soon. She's growing like a weed & has almost caught up to me in height, as if that's a big surpise! :)

Chase is getting bigger by the day. He now has a whopping eight teeth & is working on another. He's a little over 20 pounds now & is in 18 month clothes at 13 months. He's doing lots of "big boy" things, & even went so far as to give up his bottle just after his first birthday. He's been on the big boy sippy cups ever since. He's figured out how to use his spoons & forks, but sometimes still prefers his hands. As of right now he still isn't walking, but he did stand up on his own for any significant amount of time yesterday - almost a minute! It figures, the day Dave got underway, bless his heart. Chop will be walking before we know it & then it'll be game on. I'll never be able to catch him.

Everything else is still the same ol'. School is.. well.. time consuming to say the least. One of my four classes will end next week. I have my final Thursday night. I've only gotten one B so far, so I'm pretty darn tickled. Then I'll be down to three classes. Oh what will I do with all that free time? LOL I've started *trying* to quilt again. Thanks to Grandpa Jack telling me Grandma Ruth's secret of sewing it inside out, I might actually make some headway this time! Shelbye & I will be working on lots of fun winter crafts this patrol to keep us busy. The baking has already begun with the cute pumpkin & ghost Halloween cookies we sent underway with Dave.

That's pretty much all the newness with the Gladdens. Hope everyone is having a good Coumbus day!

And it begins..

The latest in the exciting world of us..


Things are going surprisingly well, all things considered. Dave is adjusting well to being home, & the rest of us are getting used to him being home. Sleep deprivation aside, things are pretty darn good.

Shelbye got A-B Honor Roll again. This isn't the first time, but we still act as if it is. We're pretty stoked. She struck up a deal with us: if she makes A Honor Roll next 9 weeks, she gets low country boil from Lucky Dawgs. I'm not above bribing my child. :)



Chase has taken to Dave like a duck to water. You'd think Dave had never left. He's giving lots of smiles, although I can never seem to catch a picture of it. He's cooing quite a bit. It's adorable, really. It never fails to bring a smile to our faces. He loves to talk to Shelbye most, of course. He's finally decided his swing is not the enemy, & has even taken his love for it so far that that's the only place he'll sleep. At this point, we don't really care where he sleeps, as long as he sleeps. He's started sleeping for pretty good chunks of time here lately, which we're all thankful for.

The kids had a pretty good Halloween. They enjoyed their presents from Aunt Kristy & Grandma & Grandpa Gladden. Shelbye was a witch (& looked pretty cute in the costume I made her, if I do say so myself) & Chase was a mummy. Or a mummyish baby. Or a baby wearing a shirt (& matching socks!) with a mummy on it. Either way, he was the cutest thing ever. Shelbye made out pretty good with the candy. She fared well with the exception of a guy dressed in a Jason mask, holding a running chainsaw scaring the daylights out of her at the first house we stopped at. Bless her heart, the poor kid wouldn't get out of the Jeep for the rest of the night!





We had quite a scare with Boomer over the last few weeks. She's been pretty sick, but she's almost over it, thank goodness. Coon is still being Coon, prowling the nieghborhood & coming home only to eat, sleep, & get a little lovin'. We had a new addition wander into the carport two weeks ago. A tiny little bobtailed kitten that resembles what Frankenstien would look like if he were a cat. She has long hair, short hair, & everything in between. She has stripes, spots, & is about five different colors. We needed another animal like a hole in the head, but I didn't have the heart to turn her away. So now we have the Roxy cat. She & Boomer have become best buddies, much to our surprise. Coon.. Well, Coon could probably stand to be the only animal in the house.

With Dave in offcrew, Halloween passed, & the weather cooling off, we're definitely looking forward to some down time, maybe a little fishing, just in time to gear up for the holidays.