Oak Leaves and Half Stripes

Long awaited good news has arrived. Trent was up for promotion this summer, and the list published today shows that he has been selected for promotion to Lt. Commander!!! We are so very proud and excited. We aren't sure when he will actually pin on his new insignia (the oak leaves and the half stripes), but he has been promoted! Hooray hooray again for Trent and lots of congratulations.

O.k. The picture has NOTHING to do with the post, but I really like this picture, and the time has long since passed that Trent would blog about it. It is Trent and three of the Airforce grad course students. They worked as a team of four in the Iron JAG competition last spring. That immediately disqualified them from winning, but they were going to be a team of three anyhow, which would have equally disqualified them. None of them knew how to use a compass. They asked Trent to teach them and it turned into an invite to join them. They all had a GREAT time, and, like I said, I like this picture.

Welcome Fall

Today is the first day of Fall. Hooray! I love Fall. Living in Virginia, we actually have a full on autumn, which is nice, and because most of the trees here are deciduous, there are going to be leaves EVERYWHERE. I know they are a pain to clean up, but it really is beautiful. Today is our last day forecast to reach 80 degrees. It is probably the last day my children will go to school in shorts. Saturday, the air just felt different. It was different than the feeling of a cool summer day. It was the feeling you get when you know the cool air is more permanent. It is Fall! In addition to the leaves, and the lower temperatures, there is the delicious food that comes with Fall. It is apple picking season. The pumpkins and squash are coming out. Sitting in the office, I can hear the occasional acorn falling from the oak trees out back onto the deck. (By the way, my backyard has acorns scattered everywhere. Where are the squirrels now I ask? Are the acorns only worth while if chewing through screen to get to them is involved? I digress)

Finally, the cartoon above summarizes one of my biggest personal celebrations over the arrival of Fall. (You can double click on it to see it larger) If people are the all you can eat buffet for bugs that bite (think mosquitoes, fleas, no see ums), I am the dessert bar. I have been covered in bug bites for weeks, and it is indescribably delightful that the bugs are rapidly disappearing. I left the windows open last night. Another bonus to this time of year. Wonderful cool air comes in, and I don't have to run the air conditioner. Anyhow, the usual loud chirping of hundreds of bugs was decidedly much more quiet. Calvin echoes my sentiments in the cartoon above.

Side note: Bill Watterson is the creator of Calvin and Hobbes. They are truly funny cartoons. The one above is from the book, There is Treasure Everywhere. Copyright laws are sometimes confusing, so I wanted to make sure you know who the cartoon above belongs too.

Congratulations to Trent!

This week, the Naval Law Review approved Trent's paper that he wrote for his LLM for publication. Trent will be published in the December/January issue of the Naval Law Review. Who knows how many revisions and edits he will go through between now and then, but we are so proud of him and very excited.

A New Favorite

The last few times we were at the library in August, we saw bookmarks and stickers advertising a new show on PBS starting in September. It is Sid the Science Kid. So far, my kids have really loved it. I think the singing teacher is a little goofy, and the fact that there only seem to be four kids in Sid's class is unrealistic. Otherwise, it is A LOT of fun, and my kids love it.

Jon's Imagination

Jon cracks us up with his imagination. He loves to dress up. Most often, it is not as characters he has made up, but he is so creative in making the clothes etc. around the house work to make the costumes. It is impressive. Trent and I think Jon may just be the next Tim Burton. He certainly seems to favor things like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Monster House, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and other things that have elements of fantasy and monsters in them. We watched Enchanted again last night. Jon's favorite part, of course, is when Queen Narissa turns into a dragon. Below I have posted several pictures taken that show his imaginative innovation. Too funny.

Jon as Harry Potter. Who knew that US Coast Guard t-shirts from Katrina relief could double as a Hogwarts robe? The tie is colored and cut out. The wand is a chopstick. The glasses are Trent's old glasses with the lenses popped out, and yes, he drew a scar on his head with a marker.

As Chowder from Monster House with his self constructed Monster House

The Monster House got far more elaborate

Jon as Dr. Two Brains from Word Girl

Jon as Jack Skellington. He now has an actual Jack costume and is going to be Jack for Halloween. This was his made up one before we got his costume.

Jon as Thimbletack from the Spiderwick Chronicles

This is a made up character. In this case, Jon is Mr. Professor X