March Recents.....

Clearly I'm in full single-parent mode......when you start to see group postings of my photos!!

We are over the one month mark now.....50-ish days to go......and we are COUNTING!!

There is so much going on now....its making my days/weeks go by faster (in my head....) so I'm 100% fine with crazy right now! We are in the process of renting the house, planning for the movers and finding our housing in Monterey! In the next week alone I have the following things going on.....

*Hair appt for me!

*Garage door repair man here

*Abby has bday party to attend

*Easter at friends house

*Moving company goods inspection here

*Chimney cleaning company here

*Abby's allergy doctor appt

.........and its spring break as of this Friday......so we are all home.....yippee!!!!

See, busy=time flies! That's how you have to keep things on deployment.....MOVING FORWARD!

 Sometimes we lay on the couch like this (I used to do this ALL the time as a kid so it makes me laugh that she does it too!)

 We smile A LOT......and they request photos ALL THE TIME!!!

 They have silly lunch dates together

 She sticks out her tongue A LOT more than she should! Stinker!!

 And they pose whenever they can!

 And when you ask to take one kid's photo, the other (little) insists on hers too,

 as cheesy as it may be!

 Again, you photograph one, and the other demands!!

 They love being TOGETHER!!

So I guess I've done a good job for 3 years!

As stubborn as she can be, Maddy is a good little sister and enjoys being bossed around at times!

(Well, when its good for her :)

 

There is a LOT of giggling going on in this house lately.....goofiness and giggles and sisterly creativity. Saturday they were able to go outside and run free. I will miss our house/yard, even without the pool they love to be out back and entertain themselves....somehow leaves and sticks become new objects of their making!! For hours!!!! 

Flat Stanley's Visit

Abby's class is doing "Flat Stanley"! Its a first for her!

So he came to stay with us for a week. We documented a few things he did with Abby.

I sent the photos into class, and she will get to share them with her classmates soon!

Recent KID Videos

SOMERSAULTING FUN

Maddy attempted her first sommersault yesterday (with success!!! she's trying all sorts of new things lately).....And so today they wanted to do it together!

 GOOFY LUNCH GIRLS

Yesterday I (mistakenly...) let them eat lunch together at their picnic table in the toy room. In true sister style they enjoyed themselves by cracking each other up! Abby had Maddy laughing and giggling the WHOLE time! After multiple threats I gave up and let them continue the charade!

 DANCE MOVES!

Today we met friends at a local bounce place and they had a X-Box Kinect dance system setup. I told the girls they were too young for it......apparently NOT! When we weren't looking they took right to it on their own accord.

 SHE EATS!!!!

Maddy eating her 3rd helping of corned beef!!

Grandma Donna's Visit

My mom came to visit this past week.....much overdue, and so much fun!

The kids LOVED having her here, and so did I! I got to go to the gym at odd hours I normally don't get to, run errands during nap time, and just not be needed 110% of the day. It was a nice break.

 

 Night before Mom left I made Corned Beef & Cabbage (early, so I wouldn't have to enjoy it solo....) Well to our disbelief, Maddy voluntarily and with NO opposition, ate three HUGE helpings! Weekly food achievements going down in our house!!

While Mom was here she tried, for the first time.....

*Steak (she calls it chicken.....)

*A small piece of shrimp (probably called that chicken too.....)

*Small piece of broccoli (gagged a bit, but overcame it and finished the bite)

*Small piece of cooked carrot (again gagged a bit, but did it)

*Corned beef!! 

To say the least, it was a very successful week of eating!

 We took Maddy for a much overdue haircut

 And since we are leaving the good 'ol South for a while......I had to take mom to her first "Waffle House" experience for breakfast, before we headed to the airport. 

It was a wonderful week together, just the four of us, and we were lucky to have decent weather too!

'Til California.......Officially on the 10 week countdown! I'm not sure if that sounds short or long....

Recents.....

Well we've been busy keeping busy trying to get back into a dad-free routine.......So regular picture taking hasn't hit high on the list of things to do......but here is what the kids have been up to:

 Abby's class celebrated 100 days of school the week before last. It was a whole day dedicated to counting to 100 (which they've been practicing for months; so I'm an expert now too!)

 It's been a VERY cold weekend here. The sun has been out, but the temps have been in the low 40's and with a slight windchill, its just no fun outside. So the girls have been busy entertaining themselves indoors. TOGETHER! Best of friends!

 Miss Madelyn is SLOWLY coming around with her eating habits. Last week she tried (and LOVED) cheese for the first time. No kidding this kid wouldn't eat grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese sticks or anything cheese. Well I let her help me make the grilled cheese, and I offered her cheese on the side, and she has been hooked! Her toddler eating days will soon be behind us. 

Next up on the list....eggs....she's never tried them and screams if you ask her to....so this should be fun. (Maybe I should try eggs for dinner, so its more appropriate for me to have a glass of wine while she screams in protest......)

Daddy Days

 A couple shots of the girls spending quality snuggle time with Mike week before last when he left!

Mommy gets all the snuggles now!

Special card from Abby

Sometimes a five year old can make your day extra special. 

She created this on her own during quiet time the other day.

And by the way, I don't draw heart eyes on anything, so that's all HER!

Sushi Yummmmm

 We took the kids out for sushi with us tonight.

I ordered them Chicken Teriyaki to share, which I knew Abby would eat, but wasn't sure Maddy would.....kind of assumed Maddy would go home with a belly full of soy sauce drenched white rice........sure enough Maddy surprised us all and inhaled her chicken and even asked for more!

Her first time eating chicken that didn't come in the form of a breaded nugget!!!!!!!

HUGE accomplishment for her. We've been working on her eating habits lately.......slowly......

Abby on the other hand LOVES seafood so I knew sushi would be right up her alley. She ate 2/3 of the chicken from their dinner, then had a few pieces of our sushi rolls....then still complained she was hungry. So we ordered her another California Roll which she ate!

BONUS were these cute chopstick helper tools that the restaurant gave us that helped the kids, and they both used them to eat all their food. Maybe I need some at home to get Maddy to eat more.......

Take Off....

LOVE These TWO!

Can these two be ANY more related!!! 

They went off for a special morning today while Maddy and I headed to the gym.

Mike took her out to breakfast, followed by a trip to the gym pool to slide and play!

Good way to wind up the last few days with her daddy home.

Along for the ride.....

 So last week Mike had the pleasure of riding in a jet with the Admiral....again!!!

Its rough preparing for an upcoming deployment. So sometimes you have to just agree to sit in the back of a plane for a few hours and gaze upon the scenery and wonderful million dollar equipment you are gracing your presence in......(which is about what I tell myself to think when I'm driving the kids around in my minivan each day.....somehow I think our two realities are too far apart on this one)

Here's a clip of one of many videos he took on our sporty new camera while he was up there!

(It has a suction cup mount that he fastened to the canopy roof) 

As the camera is mounted backwards towards the rear of the plane, you are seeing Mike the whole time! Not the most exciting video (maybe mute your computer to avoid the humming air noise), but pretty unique nonetheless!

Taekwondo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiVxUXFfSFo

The kids attended a friends birthday party today, and it was at a Taekwondo center.

Their kids (4 and 5) take classes there, so they had the birthday party there.

A bit intimidating for young kids who have never been, but it was fun and entertaining nonetheless.

Both girls were VERY into it. I may even get Abby enrolled when we are out West! She loves structure and following commands. Maddy enjoyed it too, but in an "I'll do what I want" sort of way. 

Click on the link at the top to see a cute video Mike took of Abby karate chopping her board!

Each kid had a chance to break the board. Abby did it on the first attempt. Maddy chickened out and didn't like the impact, but later on the teacher gave her some assistance and she did it!

Sleepover FRIENDS!!!

 

Abby and Maddy are going to miss our close friends SOOO much when we move!

ME TOO!!!!

My awesome friend Danielle kept the kids yesterday afternoon/evening so we could attend a command function, and then Abby stayed the night! Guess she took some cute photos of them too!

They have so much fun together (obviously!!) its hard to put it into words!

(Don't mind Abby with her toothbrush.....it was Dentist day at school on Friday an she was a bit infatuated with it and carried it around all afternoon)

Valentines Day School Craft

Abby's teachers are SO creative.

Each week Mike and I are more and more impressed by the level of craftiness of items she brings home! Hand prints, footprints, and then this week for Valentines Day they made these pocket fillable mailboxes for the kids to fill with their friends' valentines. And they put the kids actual home address numbers on them! And the kids painted them. Clever!

Free Floor Cleaning!

These three were goofing around the other night.

The girls LOVE when he tows them around the slippery hardwood while they hold onto his ankles.

And I got a free floor dusting out of it......

Here We Go AGAIN!!!

Navy life is ever changing......

But when these green sea bags come out, myself (and probably the dog.....she always thinks us packing bags means we are travelling) know exactly what it means!

Luckily the kids are still a bit young and naive to know that their appearance means daddy is leaving soon.  Next week we are dropping Mike off at the boat again.......luckily it will be his last deployment for a few years!

E2 Hawkeye Details

If you didn't know.....now you know!

This is a great recently published article all about the plane Mike flies in......its capabilities and strength as a Navy asset!

http://m.gizmodo.com/5983510/the-e+2d-hawkeye-is-overlord-of-americas-supercarriers

Happy Birthday MIKE!

 Its amazing, we got to celebrate both of our birthday's together this year!

Rarely happens......he's usually out of town for one or both!

Friday night on his birthday we did what HE wanted to do and went out to the shooting range!

Shot a few zombies........I hadn't been shooting with him in 7+ years, so it was fun to get reacquainted with the sport again.

Then we went to dinner! 

Last night I hosted a HUGE dinner here with 20 of our closest Navy friends and our 15 kids......yes we were almost outnumbered!! I catered BBQ for the party so I got to enjoy it too!

Warming up in the COLD!

 We've had some chilly nights in VA! So the fireplace has been in high gear keeping us warm!

(Plus we need to burn thru the rest of our wood pile before the move....)

Fun with my BIG little girl

Maddy and I run errands most weeks while Abby's at school.

This day it was a Target run to get some much needed Valentines candies of course.

I was excited to get conversation hearts for Abby this year since she is LOVING to read.

I just grabbed the first bag I saw on the HUGE wall of candy.....threw them in the car and after picking Abby up from school I poured some in her hand, got in the car to drive away and asked her to read them to me. After her blank stare at the candies and failure to get out a word beyond "no", I asked what was wrong and had her hand them over..............UMMM yep, apparently they sell Spanish conversation hearts!!! At Target no less, who knew!!!!

I'll have to go back this week for some real ones!!

Oh and then there's Maddy being her usual goof ball self in the shopping cart!

She's actually enjoyable to shop with now!

Living the DREAM!

 Mike had the priveledge of his boss taking him up in an F/A 18F Super Hornet this past week!

The Admiral LOVES a chance to get airborne and flies weekly, and Mike got to be his passenger.

WHAT A TREAT! And the weather couldn't have been clearer!

2nd fighter jet ride in 6 months......And this time with the boss no less!!