Category — helicopter

This week has been full of all that makes the Holiday Season fly by. I’ve been to 2 gift exchanges, one for the school’s Ladies’ Club and one for my neighborhood, my preschoolers have had their Christmas program and today we’re on our way to the squadron’s Children’s Party. This is a party that they always look forward to. How could kids NOT be excited about Santa arriving by helicopter?! So this morning we are pulling out Christmas sweaters and the kids are discussing what Santa might be bringing them.

Tomorrow is St. Nicholas’ feast day, so tonight the kiddos will put their shoes out (I better remember to buy candy canes!) and tomorrow, after Liturgy, St. Nick will make a special appearance at the church. Every year we have a pot luck and celebration in honor of St. Nick. I like that the kids get to identify that Santa’s character was derived from a REAL man who lived and became a saint.

Now, the real challenge is to get this house decorated for the season. I’m running horribly behind this year!

But before I worry too much about the importance of the Christmas decor and after the Children’s party, we will be celebrating Mariah’s 16th birthday. Today is her special day! Whew! 16 years! So, it’s cake and sushi after the Children’s party. Busy, busy day! No wonder I’m behind.

Have a great day and don’t forget to put out your shoes~

Yesterday we found out that HS-6, a squadron aboard NAS North Island, lost a bird and all that were on board.  These incidents are always so far-reaching in the lives they touch.  2 1/2 yrs ago, Clay’s squadron lost a bird and all who were on board and it took many months for things to feel normal again.  It not only touched the workplace, but each of our homes as well.  You find yourself examining your life and the life of your family.  It brings sharply into focus the fragility of this life we live and the imminent danger that our loved ones and friends are in.  Yes, both these incidents happened during training exercises but the training was for the purpose of the impending deployments.  While yesterday’s loss wasn’t as close to our home as the one 2 1/2 yrs. ago, we still knew people on board.  

While the loss of life is never a positive, I’m choosing to use this incident as a chance to be reminded of what’s in front of me and to cherish what I can of this life in the time I have.  

May you each find a moment to cherish the good in your lives and may the families that are touched by this incident find peace in the coming together of the squadron for their support.  

Lastly, may the Lord bless each of those who were lost.

~

Yesterday I was able to take the lil ones to watch Clay fly.  It was a beautiful day for it!  I hadn’t taken the kids to watch him fly in a long time.  There’s an outlook off the freeway where you can watch helicopters load ships.  What a great combination; blue skies, the ocean, and watching Daddy do his exciting job!

people watching the vertrep action from the outlook 

Clay’s helo and the ship that was being replenished

The helo gettting loaded

Gabi and Lex watching the action

All the fresh air and excitement wore them out!

Have a great day~

I’ll start with the flood

People often ask me why (and sometimes, how) I get up at 4:15 am. I always give a rundown of what my morning consists of; checking the computer, answering emails, blogging, writing the Morning Memo, making the coffee, starting a load of laundry, making the school lunches and taking a shower. All of these things being done before the family is up, make for an easier and smoother day. But, from time to time, I cut myself some slack and I hit the alarm and give myself a little extra time in bed. Yesterday was one of those, rare, days. Because of my snooze time, I didn’t have time to shower until after the kids had gone off to school and the little ones were settled with breakfast and a movie. When I came out of the shower and went to check on things, I was instantly reminded of why getting up at 4:15 is necessary! Gabi and Luke-Xavier had decided to have a tea party while I was busy. This meant dragging out the plastic tea set, pulling a chair into the kitchen, filling the cups and tea pot with water and carrying them to the front room. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but somehow they aimed the faucet in such a way that the whole kitchen floor was covered in water. All I could really do was sigh and grab some towels. The floor was in need of a washing anyway. So there you have it, a really good example of why 4:15 am and I are friends.
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The kids have begun their trek home for Christmas. Kateri arrived Wednesday night and will be here for a month. JJ gets in next Friday. Even though there are more bodies in this little space, it’s more peaceful when everyone is together. Kateri does a really good job of picking up the balls that fall as I juggle. I suppose it’s because she’s the oldest and watched as I did everything, so she has a kind of intuitiveness about how it should all be done. No matter what it is, I’m happy for this time!
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A full calendar can sometimes equal an empty brain!

I’ve had events every night for several nights. It’s the time of year when everyone is having parties and wanting to gather people together. I live by my calendar and if things aren’t written down, they simply don’t happen. BUT on the flip side, if they ARE written down, you better believe I’ll be there. Even if I wrote down an event that I have nothing to do with!

That’s right, the other night I got dressed, grabbed the gift I had purchased and wrapped and left for a military spouse function. When I arrived, I recognized a few faces, but quickly realized that something, just wasn’t right. Clay is in the flight community and I had (somehow) written down an event for the surface community. Ugh! At least I had a gift! I spent a few minutes saying hello to the people I knew, meeting a couple of new people and then slipping out the back door. I’ll be double-checking my calendar from now on!
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Speaking of the calendar and events-

Each month I set up a coffee for the Naval Officers Spouse Club (NOSC) in the coastal area. This gives me a large area and many coffee shops to choose from. I usually pick some place close to the water because it’s beautiful and I have a particular love for the way the ocean smells and feels and if I can set up a social event that has anything to do with being near the water, I’m going with it! So, we usually meet at little coffee shops that have the ocean in the background. But this month I took the opportunity to have everyone taste some amazing gelato, have some coffee and meet some great people. Chuao is a local chocolatier who presents fresh and interesting flavor combinations in their chocolates and their gelato flavors are just as interesting and intriguing. I set up a tasting for the NOSC and we were not disappointed! We learned a little about how gelato and sorbet are created and about how the flavors were put together. It was great to be able to try each of the flavors but my favorite remains the cambur chip. Yum!
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Today is the squadron’s Children’s Christmas Party. For the last few years, Clay has flown to the North Pole to pick Santa up and deliver him to the party. The kids always get so excited when that helicopter flies in and they know that Santa is going to step off. There’s nothing like the excitement of little ones!

This year we have a couple of other things going on at the same time, so all of our kids won’t be with us, but the little ones will still enjoy the event. As these kids grown, the dynamic keeps changing.

Tristan has his first kayak race today. Kateri will be taking him to cheer him on and help out and Maddi would rather watch Tristan than see Santa come in on the helicopter. I’m glad they will be there for him! He’s really having a great time being on the water!
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Well, that’s it, for now, from here. It’s been a whirlwind of being busy and not being diligent enough to sit here and write about it. Sorry! I haven’t even been able to get a show out because I had gotten sick and didn’t have the voice for the show. It would have been raspy talking interspersed with coughing. So, now that I’m getting better I’m looking forward to talking about getting ready for Christmas and the whole holiday season and the traditions and stories that get passed on to the kids.

Have a great day~

This week marked the end of Clay’s deployment! He and all those who were with him returned safely. The kids got to watch the helicopters come into the squadron and run out onto the flight line to greet him. Now our family is in a period of readjustment as the kids get used to having 2 authority figures in the house again and I deal with handing over some of my workload as well as some of the control. I think we’ll make it through this phase smoothly because of all the practice we’ve had with previous deployments.

Thank you again for all the support and encouragement that was sent out during the deployment and all the kind words of congratulations now that he’s back!

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Last night I painted this banner. My original plan was to have it say, “Welcome Home! Your kiddos, far and near are SO happy you are here”. Guess what?! There are too many names to paint to worry about room for a phrase!

The kids and I arrived at the squadron about 15 minutes before the birds came in. I had planned on picking the boys up from school and taking them for haircuts and then out to the squadron. We are SO lucky that we were out the door because I got a call as I was picking the boys up that the Det was an hour ahead of schedule! We rushed straight to the squadron.

Earplugs were handed out and Max thought he should try some.

A happy Max, earplugs in place, waiting for the helos to arrive.

Here they come! It was a BEAUTIFUL day! Check out that blue sky!

Clay, getting out of the helo.

Maddi was the first to get to him. The other kiddos followed close behind.

All the kiddos (minus Kateri and JJ who are away at school) with Daddy. I’m stunned at how much some of these kids look like him!!!!!!!

Gabi clung to him!

Home and in front of the banner.

Within 2 hours of the helo coming in, Clay was home, changed and playing Dad. The kids were SO happy to have him pushing them on the swings (yes, the poor hill will get some attention now that he’s back).

Enjoying a movie with Dad.

These happy kiddos did a silly dance for Dad.

Clay is exhausted and trying to rest while the kiddos cuddle and climb on him.

As you can see, homecoming has gone well. The kids are SO happy! Clay and I are exhausted, me from working for the last 4 days to get things “in order” for his arrival and him from little sleep over the last few days. Starting tomorrow morning, it’s back into the routine with both feet!

Thank you for all the happy thoughts, prayers and well-wishes for today and all through the deployment! Your support makes a HUGE difference!

Have a great day~

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For the last year I’ve done a pretty good job of stepping outside my “box” or comfort zone and have tried new things and stretched my limits. I thought I had stretched out enough that my “box” didn’t really exist anymore. Boy, was I wrong!

This week I found that I am capable of being more flexible than I thought.

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Well here’s a story!

Last week, a friend of mine called and offered me the opportunity to stay at the beach for a few nights with the kids. That sounded fun! She said she had rented a cabin but couldn’t use it for the dates she had reserved it, but that we could use it instead. I knew we couldn’t do more than one night, but staying on the beach sounded great! Any of you that know me, know I am not the camper in the Lang family. Clay is the one who loads up the kids every summer and takes them on a week-long trip to N. California to the backwoods of the Gold Country, where they dig a latrine and swim with water snakes. I kid you, not! I have never gone on the Lang Family camping trip because I would ruin the entire experience for them. I often plug my ears and shout, “La La La La” when they are describing different parts of the trip to me. As a mom it can be hard to hear that the caravan (I may not go, but other brave souls from other brave families DO pack up and go on the ultimate camping excursion with my husband and kiddos) almost slid down the side of the mountain because So-n-So’s truck couldn’t make it around the hairpin turn, OR that my 4 yr. old was hurled off a cliff, into the water below by an older sibling. You know, it’s the little things like that where I would probably become overbearing and make rules. But, every year, everyone comes home (mostly) in tact and all they can talk about is going the following year.

So, with Clay gone and the kids itching to camp, I figured I could pull off one night in a cabin on the beach. Well, about 15 hours before we were to leave, my friend let me know that it might not be a cabin, after-all, but just a camping spot. I thought that over for 1/2 a second and said that we could just go up for the day and enjoy the beach and have a fire etc. and then return home and that I could just play it-by-ear the next day.

We met her at her house because she decided to come up for the night and that we’d do a “Mom’s camping trip” with the kids. She let me know that it was, indeed, a space and not a cabin. I let her know that we would LOVE to go up for the day and into the evening and would then come home. “You know, I don’t have a tent because Clay keeps all the camping stuff together somewhere else, but we’ll have fun for the day”. She was prepared! She had 2 tents and rented 2 more! Ummm…….that sounds like camping to me. Ummmmm…….I don’t really do that. My kids were jumping up and down and panting with excitement. Ummm……I really don’t do that! I was panting with fear! But somewhere deep down, I figured we could still just go up for the day, enjoy the beach and the water, build a fire, eat s’mores and then go home. I was SO wrong!

The minute we hit that spot, my girls were setting up tents and putting together camping tables and chairs like it was in their blood. These are the same girls that can’t possibly wash a floor because it’s too difficult. I was so impressed! I pulled out the ice chest (it was the least I could do) and watched them work. Once everything was up we headed for the water. This, I knew I could handle. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the beach and the beach we were staying at is wonderful. I’m slightly biased because we used to live in the area, and it brings back great memories of times gone-by, but you can look out and see military ships on the horizon and helos go overhead with great regularity. It just makes me feel connected to Clay’s career and the lifestyle that my family is living. Plus, there’s no seaweed, the likes of which, plagues the beaches here.

The kids played in the water and created a couple of mermaids

After looking at this next picture, I realized that in the future, I should be more careful of where I set us up!

So, our beach time was great, but I DID realize that I was still facing a night of sleeping in a tent with small children and waking to making breakfast over a fire. Anxiety! Could I REALLY be doing this?! Well, it happened in spite of me and we all lived through it. The kids split up into their tents and I managed to get Luke-Xavier and Gabi to fall asleep in a sleeping bag. Never mind that I was so exhausted from the day that I fell asleep, in my clothes, right next to them!

We woke this morning and enjoyed the quiet of the morning and the feel of the ocean air!

Another fire was built and breakfast was, indeed, cooked over it.

By 9:30 we were back at the beach and I found out that the girls can take the tents and gear down, just about as fast as they can set them up. Clay has taught them well!

So, I did it! I made it through a night of camping (unexpectedly) with the kids. Would I sign up to do it again tomorrow? Well, not like that. I’d probably choose to be a little better prepared, but maybe more camping is in our future. Maybe…….

Hey, is it weird that tanks went through the campsite?

Good night~

It was a long and emotional morning. Clay left a couple hours ahead of me and the kids. We got ready and out the door, ate and got to the squadron. We were there for about 2 1/2 hours before it was decided that, even though Clay hadn’t actually left, we were going to say good-bye and head home. I’ve since, received my first email of the deployment and we are officially counting down to the next 7 months.

Here’s our morning, in pictures;
First, we got a pic with Clay and the kids (just in case it didn’t happen later. Plus, they were clean!)

Then the kids killed time by;

Playing basketball

Climbing stairs

Running races

Touring the IBar

Having family photos taken in front of the helo

Sitting in the helo

And finally, giving hugs (and tears) good-bye

So, as you can see, it was a long a full morning. We have a busy week, with me leaving for my grandmother’s funeral, tomorrow. Once I am home and we make it through this Easter weekend, we can get into a good routine and start marking off the days/weeks/months of this deployment. We are blessed to have a good support system, so that we don’t feel alone. Summer will come, Kateri and JJ will get home and we will be done in no time! Stay tuned! We’re bound to have some exciting days!

Thank you to all those who have offered kind words, thoughts and prayers for Clay and our family.

Good night~

“I AM GREAT” this is the sentence that I was told should be “screamed” in the car before recording or doing any presentation to build confidence and create a mood.  A good friend had recently gone to a leadership conference and these were her words of wisdom for me.  So, if you happen to be walking by my van and here me, loudly proclaiming my greatness, just keep walking.  It’s all about the mood.  ;-)   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The above picture was taken this weekend at the Children’s Christmas party for the squadron that Clay is in. The importance of the picture is that, not only is Santa coming out of the helo, BUT Clay is the pilot. This is his second year of “flying to the North Pole” to pick up Santa and bring him to the party. Imagine our kiddos’ excitement! It looks something like this;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Well, I have my Christmas cards all ready to be assembled and addressed and mailed. Now, if I could just finish the final Harry Potter book, I might be able to focus on something other than Horcruxes! I love to read! Clay and I, both, have been avid readers for many years. Unfortunately, I’ve had a very, hard time reading anything besides Reader’s Digest since Gabi was born. So, making my way through this book has been a challenge. I can’t wait until Luke-Xavier is a little older and I can go back to regular reading. I miss that feeling you get when you’re taken away to another place in a great story! All of our children (so far) love to read. It took JJ a bit longer than the girls, to LOVE to read, but by 4th grade he was devouring books with the rest of the kids. Max is looking forward to reading. He looks up to Tristan and wants to do everything that Tristan does and that includes reading.I hope everyone had a peaceful weekend!Good night~

Yesterday, one of Clay’s friends, who was stationed on Guam, went down in a helo crash. He leaves behind his wife. This is the second crash, this year, that involved people Clay knew. Please remember the pilot and his family in your prayers and thoughts today.
Thank you~