Ice Skating

We took the girls to an outdoor rink nearby to try ice skating for the first time!

Maddy was a little hesitant but warmed right up to the idea once I put her skates on!

And they were off and loving it!! Both girls got the double-blade skates; playing it safe!

 Mike and Abby on the rink

 Fun day for a new first! Abby thought it was the best thing ever!!

We will definitely be doing this again.

Bass Pro Shops-Santa

We made a trip up to Hampton to the Bass Pro Shop last week for one more Santa visit!

 Photo was dark, but she has a HUGE smile on her face!

 The girls' first shooting lesson from dad

 Abby's 2nd Santa visit! Maddy refused to comply! 

Maybe it was the big scary reindeer in the background.....who knows!

Christmas 2012

The Holidays at home were filled with fun this year. 

I begged not to be inundated with toys and junk this year, and everyone obliged quite well with many educational gifts and board games!

 The girls love playing the Wii system! I bought them Nick Jr Wii Fit for Kids

It has them do all sorts of fun athletic moves to keep active (hula hoop, rowing boat, bowling, jumping....)

 Riding on daddy the horse--double duty this year (75 pounds of kid back there!!)

 Maddy is the rough one of the two and loves to tug on Abby when she gets the chance!

 Funny Abby moment......I'd never seen her do this before; Of course I'm sure Mike thought I taught her this while he was gone......he discovered her propped up in the hallway like this getting ready for bed the other night! Guess those gymnastics classes could come in handy!

 Opening their stockings!!

 In true kid style, their favorite gift so far are the $1 singing toothbrushes!!

Seriously, they have been brushing 3 times a day just to use them

 Cookie monster & Elmo play dough from Grma Smith

 Aunt Amy bought them adorable rolling luggage!!

 Maddy enjoyed her inherited Leapster system, but got some new games for it this year

 Morning snuggles in bed!!

Hannukah 2012

 The girls were excited to celebrate Hannukah this year, because last year Great Grandma and Grandpa Reiss got them each their own kiddie menorahs! So they each lit their candles all by themselves (well, with a little bit of lighter assistance from mom).

Home for the Holidays! 2012

When you are not paying attention....time can fly by!

Mike's been home for a week now, and we spent 99% of it at home, relaxing, and soaking up a lot of cuddle and family time.

 I had the fridge all ready for his return.....no reason to leave the house for a beer run!

 I warned him they would be glued to him for a while.....it was true!

 They're not related at all!!! Watching TV the same way.....weird!

We played LOTS of board games all week! Abby had to show off her Monopoly JR skills to daddy

Impromptu snuggle time

Dueling technologies! Abby received a Leap Pad2 for Christmas and Maddy was busy on the iPad

Then Maddy got hold of the Leap Pen to practice reading on her own!

These kids are NOT afraid of technology!

 Our deep fried turkey.....before and after!

 Our Christmas dinner feast! Just the four of us!!

Homecoming 2012!

Our first pier side homecoming was a success! 

Much easier and smoother than I had anticipated!

More homecoming photos to come.......

A little reflection....just shy of 3 days to go!!

The last six months have come.....and GONE! 

In three days we will be at the pier bringing home our special present.

But now that is all over (for the most part), it makes me realize everything the kids and I endured and accomplished on our own! Some things I'm proud to say I did, and others I'd be happy not experiencing again for a long time.

(Mike left mid-June)

JUNE

*Hosted a pool pity party for our strike group families left behind

*I busted my knee during a class at the gym......ugggg.....thankfully its fully recovered now after a month of physical therapy and future cautious gym trips

JULY

*Many pool and beach days!

*The girls and I left for our whirlwind California vacation (July 13-August 8; where we travelled everywhere from San Diego to Redding, including LA, Cool, the Bay Area, Tahoe and Fairfield in between)

*Mike and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary (apart...in true Navy fashion!)

 AUGUST

*Hosted MANY pool gatherings with our local Navy friends, usually twice a week at least

*More beach days!! The girls soaked it all up this summer with minimal whining = Happy Mom!

*I maintained our pool all summer on my own.....that in itself was a huge accomplishment; which included patching a hole underwater, and ordering/replacing a part for our cleaner machine!

SEPTEMBER

*Finished up our final days in the pool

*Maddy is officially potty-trained

*Hosted a Labor Day pool party for our strike group families

*Met friends at their beach rental on the coast one day to get out

*The girls started back to school 9/10.....FINALLY! Giving me 2 mornings to myself each week (theoretically......given no one was ill or barring no school closures)

*Abby had her first real sleepover at a friends house overnight!

OCTOBER

*Entertained 17 of our closest friends at our house for a Magic Show celebrating Abby's 5th Birthday

*Arranged for the pool to be covered for the season

*I went to a country concert with my girlfriends

*Prepared for a hurricane on my own....which meant storing all our patio items in the garage and hunkering down for three days with all the essentials

*Halloween 2012! The girls and I went trick or treating!!

*Took the girls for their dental checkups!! All clean!!

NOVEMBER

*Visited the Great Wolf Lodge with friends (for what we thought was a halfway celebration)

*Celebrated Maddy's 3rd Birthday

*Celebrated our strike group halfway (so we thought....) with a group dinner out

*Found out the day before Thanksgiving Mike would be home in 30 days!!!

*In true kid style we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving; Maddy came down with a mild version of Hand-Foot-Mouth disease that week (which of course ate into two of my "me" days before break)

*I had pink eye......Abby had a viral fever......

*Took the girls for their 3 & 5 year checkups at the doctor

*Celebrated with my close Navy friends what I thought was going to be my halfway....ended up being my 3 week notice!

DECEMBER

*My dad came to visit for 5 days!! 

*Abby had her holiday program at school

*Celebrated 8 nights of Hanukkah

......................

And now we begin the 72 hour countdown to homecoming!!

Looking back it doesn't seem that painful......but it sure had its moments!

Being limited to Mike by email contact 99% of the time, seems to make life quiet. I miss the sound of his voice and just adult interaction daily. Luckily my friends here, of which I have many, have filled that void in part. But nothing replaces the companionship of a spouse walking in the door each night, no matter what time that may be......I will surely soak that up when he returns! And once we move and he is a student for 18 months living in California, if I ever fall into bad ways, someone kick me in the rear end and remind me of what a great family I have at home!!

For the next 48 hours though I will treasure my final moments with the girls as their #1 go-to parent....and as my companions on this crazy journey........not that my role changes too much, but at least there will be someone else around for them to hang on, play with, do bedtime, give baths, wake up to at 7am, break up fights, clean up toys......the list seems endless, and those are just the day to day things I do with them! One thing I have missed these last six months is the ability to leave the house in the evening on my own and run errands in peace......a random ice cream run.......or hitting the video store without planning it into my day!

I can now say that of our nearly 10 years in the Navy, I've survived a six month deployment with one child, and now a 2nd with two! Makes you feel like superwoman sometimes......then you remember you are MOM!

Homecoming will be streaming LIVE!

Mark your calendars!! Its official, the ship will now be pulling into Norfolk this Wednesday December 19th midday my time!

And you can watch the homecoming LIVE online at this link that day!

The homecoming of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) will be streamed live
on-line. The link to the live stream is http://www.livestream.com/usnavy.

  So we are on the final 4 day countdown....

and will likely freeze on homecoming day! Its supposed to be clear and windy with a high of 50....which means by the waters edge....we will be frozen! This is an exciting reunion for us, as after nearly 10 years in the Navy, its our first ever pier side homecoming! We've been spoiled by many fly-in homecomings, and this will be MUCH different. We will be gathered on the pier with the other 4000+ families/friends of those returning on the Eisenhower. This should be interesting! Luckily given who Mike works for we are allowed on the actual pier in the VIP tent for the morning, closer to the ship, and somewhat removed from the crowds. 

I am so excited for the girls to experience the joys of everyone welcoming home their loved ones after these long six months.

PS: I don't promise to answer my phone for a few days once he's home.......we plan to be busy enjoying family time together!!

Counting Down!!

 The Carrier Strike Group (Mike is below to the left of the "69" in the front row in the tan flight suit)

The USS Eisenhower on its way HOME!!

Final weeks at sea......Gibraltar Trip

I'm not sure of the details yet, but Mike sent along some photos from a brief trip to Gibraltar!

I got warm and fuzzies and butterflies in my stomach just looking at his cute CLEAN SHAVEN face!!! 

Ahhh.....this is what is FINALLY coming home to me soon! YAY!!!!!

Thought I'd share his photos of the visit and what he looks like now after 6 months at sea!

Bigger smiles from him are SURELY to come for our homecoming!

Grandpa Ron's Visit- Santa & Holiday Lights

Knowing in advance that Grandpa was coming around the holidays, I signed us up back in October for our local "Polar Express" experience at the Botanical Gardens. We did it as a family last year and it was great. Of course this year I planned it based on daddy not being around, so it worked great that my dad could join us and enjoy seeing the kids experience it all.

Cookie decorating, hot cocoa, a holiday craft, a reading of the Polar Express, and a ride on the tram through the gardens holiday light display after dark! Great way to round out our long weekend!!

Pretty sure (as my memory serves me.....) this was the girls first time EVER meeting Santa!

And there were NO tears! Imagine that.

 Santa's elf greeted us at the door to escort them in

 Abby told him EXACTLY the one thing she wants..........(guess I'm off to ToysRus this week.....)

 Maddy wasn't so eager to sit with Santa by herself, but agreed if Abby was sitting there too...hence her leaning outward a bit :) ("don't touch me you big fluffy red guy....." she must have been thinking...."or I'll scream")

 Decorating their cookies!

 I'm not quite sure how it worked out, but Maddy's was quite symmetrical and actually resembled a reindeer and we NEVER helped her! I wasn't even paying attention to the fact that she was decorating the cookie.....just figured she would be eating all the decorations......that came next! But I was impressed it had pretzel ears, marshmallow eyebrows, chocolate chip eyes, candy corn ears and a red gum drop nose!

  On the tram ride ready to see the lights!

This photo is about what they looked like most of the four full days he has been here......he couldn't peel them off of him! See you next in California Grandpa Ron!!