We're going to the Zoo....

Our little Zoo opened back up this week and I would have to say they are off to pretty good start this weekend. My friend and I took the 4 girls and a wonderful couple of hours out just enjoying the animals and the beautiful weather we were graced with today. It was perfect. They still don't have a lot of animals but there was enough, and we just meandered through the walking paths. The girls got to feed Llamas (Julia's favorite by the way) a giraffe, goats, and got to see some rabbits and chicks too, along with many other animals. The monkeys were quite funny today, watching them swinging in the trees was quite a trip. LOL. We had bought tickets for the train but the line just kept getting longer instead of shorter and the kids were getting hungry so we gave up on that and went and got some lunch instead, the Zoo didn't really have any food available yet, not sure if they will later on or not.

Now Dev is down for a nap and Julia is playing a leapster and watching Pirates. Her choice for a movie so whatever. She says she likes Capt Jack. Me too baby. LOL . So we are just going to chill for the rest of the afternoon. Thanking God for the beautiful day, feels almost like Spring...can't wait for it to feel like everyday, as I know that time will be all too short before we are saying "oh it's too hot". LOL.

Now that's a good big sister for you!

Okay I usually don't post things quite this personal, but this was too cute not to share and as I know exactly who is reading the blog these days, I feel okay about posting it. As you know a certain little girl is potty training.. well she was taking her time the other day and big sister took pity on her, grabbed her iPod and went to "share" her music with her! Truly she has some great big sister moments. Others not so much, but these ones are great. LOL.

Oh and another little note about Devyn and soccer practice tonight. She was not happy at all about sitting on the sidelines.. she wants to PLAY. There were some other siblings off to the side as well and Dev made a new friend. Said friend is about 13 months old and was following Devyn around by the end of practice. She went up to Devyn for a hug and my sweet girl gave her a couple and was so gentle with the little one! AMAZING! And it was oh so adorable. Little one went up to one of the older kids and his mom told him she probably wanted a hug from him to, he just stood there for a moment like he was considering how this could affect his "cool" factor, in the mean time little one stepped back and gave him a look that like "hmmm I'm not sure about that after all" it was hilarious! I love watching kids interact with each other.

First Soccer practice

I did get video but of course I don't have the cable for the camcorder to put them on the pc at the moment..I think that needs to go on the list of things lost on trips and needs to be replaced. Though to be fair it has been missing much longer, like one of our trips last year longer, so I am not entirely responsible for that one! ;) Though I should have given it up for lost and replaced it a long time ago. Soccer practice was okay. A bit unorganized, but as it is the first time coaching for both of our coaches I'll give them that one. I have to say while it is great that the three year olds get to play too, it also a big difference from age 3 to 4 and it seems like most of our team is 3. As it is Julia's first time playing soccer at all that may not be a bad thing, but about half the parents spent the majority of the practice just trying to get their kids on the field. I spent the first part trying to get Julia to actually run with the ball, she was content to stand in front of the goal and practice kicking the ball in. LOL. But when Coach Josh did start giving directions she was good at listening and trying to do what he asked of them. First game isn't until the 27th but oh my should that be interesting. I also got the feeling that the majority of parents and coaches on our team already knew each other. I am not entirely happy with that as we had asked to be on Rhe's team and that didn't get considered at all, I know it didn't get considered because the coaches never got the request slips from the Athletic Director before picking teams. Which meant that our team already had change practice from Tuesday to Wednesday because of us. So yeah that's a bit frustrating but we are trying to make the most of it. It's only 6 weeks and at the end, Daddy will be home, so it's all good. I have to thank my very sports oriented In-laws here for a moment. Thanks to them Julia was the only one who had her shin guards on properly! I was sure they went under the socks but when every one else showed up with them over them, I got a little nervous and was second guessing myself. I came home and looked it up just to be sure. LOL! But I may not have known that with the influence of my Ohio family! ;) I do wish Daddy was here to help with this particular activity though. I know he would have her playing like a pro in no time but maybe it's best he's not as he may have a hard time not taking over coaching duties!

So anyway, those are my first impressions of our first soccer practice...definitely so-so at the moment, but with hope for improvement. :)

Pictures and videos will be along over the next couple of weeks.

Happy Valentine's Day

From O-H-I-O
Big smiles
Big questions?? (LOL)
with love from Afghanistan.:)
My Stylin' girl :)

I have the best In-laws ever! They have been so sweet sending little things to the girls and I to brighten our days and checking in on us, with Daddy deployed. We love them so much and look forward to a visit from them soon, provided this weather ever warms up!! LOL. Today we were doubly blessed. Flowers from the hubby and flowers from his parents, yeah they raised him right. Truly they did, I couldn't possibly be any more blessed with the man in my life, even if he isn't here in body at the moment, he is always in our hearts because we know we are in his. And the other day a card from Aunt Donna with chocolates and Valentine tattoos, I had some happy girls here! :)

Thank you all so much, you definitely made a dreary day brighter. We love you!

Ah the life of a single parent....

Because no matter how you look at it, at the moment that is what I am. I give full respect to y'all out there that do this full time and truly are single parents. This has got to be by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Having a very opinionated and strong willed 2 year old is sure not making it any easier. Oh my does she wear me out! Back pain and extreme fatigue don't help matters either. LOL. But we are surviving this deployment. We WILL make it to April, time is passing, ever so slowly it seems, but it WILL get here. And yes those words are for my peace of mind and reassurance more than are for you.

Julia has had no school this week, she won't go back until the 16th. Her teacher's mom passed away last week, so we have been trying to keep busy with play dates with her classmates to fill up the time and give us Mom's a chance to get know each other a little better and a bit of a break for some adult conversation. Tomorrow is our turn to host so my friend can go to an appointment. Only fair as she will be keeping my kids some next week while I do the same. Good friends are an absolute must for a military wife and I am blessed in the ones I have found. So to prepare for company tomorrow, Julia cleaned the play room today, all by herself, and all three of us cleaned Devyn's room after Devyn got up from a nap. The hard part has been getting Devyn to KEEP IT that way. Every time I leave the living room for a few minutes I look back and she has more toys back out that she has already just dropped and walked away from. I feel like I am constantly saying "Go put this back". The concept of putting things away is completely foreign to her, but we are working on it. We are all working on it. LOL.

But since Julia was so good today and Devyn had a nap, we had a popcorn and movie night tonight. So bedtime is a bit later tonight. Julia picked "the Princess Bride" it's become a recent favorite for her and as it's always been one of my favorite movies, I admit to not minding that one at all. ;)

Poor Julia though, she pinched her finger in Devyn's closet door tonight while she was being so good and helping to clean up. It gave her a pretty bad blood blister and even cut. I was vacuuming at the time and while I heard her say she pinched it she never let on that it was that bad at all, next thing I knew she was running cold water on it, crying and saying "I was good and I'm trying to wash it off but it won't come off " Poor baby! I feel so bad for her. She truly has been such a good girl today.:(

Today was mostly Julia's day, though both she and Devyn had someone to play with on the play date. After that we went and bought her soccer shoes and socks. And yes a soccer ball to practice with. This should be interesting. Wish us luck. I do have a few pics from our play date at Chick fil A on Monday to post, I will put those up later. Right now, the movie is over and it is definitely bed time. Bed time is definitely my favorite part of the day these days.

My funny 4 year old

You may remember that we started carpooling awhile back to Julia's preK. The conversations these 4 year olds have just totally crack me up. They are obsessed with having a sleep over and never fail to ask us at least 3 times a week if they can. So today I told them maybe next week after Grammie and Grampa go home. So then they started planning and I missed the first part but the conversation continued something like this:

Rhe: and we will have to ask my Dad again and again because he is a big sleepyhead and he snores, he snores so much and he wakes us up!

Julia: (misunderstanding here and thought Rhe was talking about her brother says) AH.. little brothers.. (rolling her eyes and acting like she knows just how Rhe feels!)

Rhe: No, not C, my DAD.

Julia: Oh... "little big boys!" LOLOLOL

They never fail to ask for Taylor Swift on the way home and sing along at the top of their lungs. I am just loving this age. I got Julia an ipod shuffle for Christmas and she is really starting to get into music and showing preferences. Mostly she seems to like female artists because she feels like she can sing along with them I think. That is what she asks for anyway. Some favorites of hers are (obviously) Taylor Swift, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, and Martina McBride, and princess songs of course. So cute! I love music, all kinds, so I love that my kids do too. Devyn likes anything she can dance to. The child is never still.

Speaking of Devyn, she is potty training. Oh my. But she did (finally) today poo on the potty for the first time! and yet still turned around and did it in her pull up tonight. But still.. we did have that major step forward today! LOL. Did I mention she is a stubborn child??? She will get this but I guarantee it is going to be on HER terms when SHE wants to. So yeah, just a tad frustrating.. hahaha.

Other than that, both girls are good. Growing like bad weeds, Julia is finally starting to put on some weight to go with that height. She was 34 lbs a few weeks ago when she was at the Dr's. I got her signed up for the spring soccer session at the Y this week. So that will start mid Feb. and run us through until about the time Daddy gets home. I asked her if she wanted to play and there was no hesitation, she emphatically replied yes! but then the other night she started worrying that she doesn't know how to play, so we'll be practicing some in the back yard for her to get used to the ball. The ages are 3 and 4 year olds, so this should be interesting. Rhe is also going to play but we don't know yet what teams they will be on. I'm looking forward to it.

With Grammie and Grampa still here I am totally taking advantage and having a girls night out this weekend. Meeting some friends and going out tomorrow night (well tonight technically) and I already have my sitter lined for mid Feb. our Hearts Apart program is offering deployed spouses a spa night. I am so in for that! We are on the downhill side of this deployment and we are all just ready for it to be over. Making some plans for our summer vacation and trying to just get through til spring. One day at a time.

Can you believe it??

Captain Julia, taking a turn at the wheel.
She thought this was the coolest.
The pirate who made their balloon bracelets.
Are we ready?
You betcha!
If only...haha not really, while I'd love to visit I'm too scared to actually live there.
They were pretty much giving each other these looks all day!

President Roosevelt's Presidential boat, ship...whatever you get the point. ;)
Pretty much what we saw most of the time out.. a whole lot of water. LOL
And yet....

Finally our elusive prey.. can you see them??? the girls could, they did get a lot closer but never when the camera was ready.. of course! LOL


So as you can see I got a memory card. Thing is, it's for the old camera as I discovered that I now have no clue as to where my battery charger is for my camera. Seriously...no clue..yes it has just been that kind of a month here. I feel like I have spent a good part of this month just in a fog, I can't seem to keep track of anything, and I have had a hard time focusing on everything. It's amazing that I managed to pull things together enough today to call and reserve us some seats on this Dolphin Cruise but I am so glad I did. It was a bit cool, but it was so nice to get out on the water! And when we did finally find dolphins they were spectacular! Totally teasing us, our driver would pull up and wait for them, the dolphins seemed content to play on the other side of the bridge so he would finally give in and go to the other side and of course the dolphins would go back to the side we had just left....they did this at least 3 times!! So funny!