Moving On......to California!!

After we moved out of VA.....the girls and I flew to California to sign the lease on our new place!

Then we made a quick weekend trip to Fairfield to visit family and relax a bit until Mike & Roxy completed their cross-country drive.

 The kids LOVED playing together. We took them out for dinner & bowling on base where my cousin Erin lives. BLAST!!! They hadn't seen each other in almost a year, but they picked up right where they left off.

We got to spend the evening at Grandma Smith's house; the kids LOVED her little doggies

 And on my way "home", we stopped for an afternoon of lunch and dress-up fun at my BFF Cailin's house.....

 And we squeezed a quick stop in at Amy & Adam's in San Francisco (scenic views only, sorry, no people picks....had to spare my phone battery)

Final VA Moments.....

Quick Recap:

Two days after Mike's return, we made our last annual visit to Busch Gardens!

 The next night the admirals wife took us out to dinner as a farewell

 And my BEST friends in the area took me out to dinner one night :(

 The girls really enjoyed the move-out process, as it was all new to them.....this time!

We said goodbye to Virginia, after living in the empty house for a week! We'll never do that again!

PreK Graduation

Abby had her PreK Graduation the week before we left Virginia

It was a very cute ceremony, and in a way, some closure to her 3-1/2 years at the school.

We are SO proud of Abby and what she has become in the last 5-1/2 years, its hard to believe she will be starting Kindergarten this Fall here in Monterey! I signed her up two weeks ago!!

HOME!! A Family Again!!

He's back!!! Mike got in off his 26 hour flight from Bahrain last night around 7:30pm!

He's tired and adjusting to the time change (and over zealous young girls who want ALL of his attention), but we are all HAPPY as can be!!

All is well again.......Have a great weekend!!!

Final KISSES

The kiss mug is almost empty! Tomorrow is our last wake-up before he is home!

 And last weekend for mothers day I went out for my final dinner with my Strike Group Ladies!!

I will miss them, its been a crazy year of deployment, but that's what Navy wives are for!! 

The ultimate support!! This tour OFFICIALLY came to an end today! Mike checked out of the strike group from Bahrain before his flight tonight......we are officially on leave/vacation!!!

TIL JULY 8th!!!!! WOW!!!!

About my mom....

Abby made this at school for me last week. Along with a plethora of other Mommy crafts!

This was my favorite!! I was almost crying/laughing as I read it.

At least she got my age correct........

Mothers Day 2013.....fun

Mother's Day gets more special each year as they age!

Well, it helps when Mike is here to remind them to spoil me for the day......

But we made it work.

The weather was gorgeous so we sat out front for a while and chalked and rode bikes!

Tracing is a favorite. Especially the body outlines!! CSI agents in the making....

That familiar tune......

The kids heard him a mile away.....and so did the other 10 kids on our street!!

The Ice Cream Truck made its first appearance on our block!

So we were there for the fun!! 

Abby picked a princess and Maddy chose Spongebob

Summer is coming........

Mothers Day Videos

Kids reciting the pledge of allegiance

Singing their special "We love Mommies" song

Mother's Day with Maddy

The kids school is always great about putting on programs for special events.

Mothers Day is always special, and once they are in the 3's class they get to celebrate with their moms in a special luncheon in the social hall. So today I met Maddy an hour before dismissal for our special luncheon.

First the kids sang us a song and recited the pledge of allegiance.

Then we got to open a gift the kids made and enjoy lunch together.

 Miss sassy pants, yelled to me to take her photo, and she posed like that (above)

 The necklace she is wearing is what she made me! I have the same one from Abby two years ago! 

Fun treasures to remember how little they once were!!

Counting DOWN!!!!

Last Friday we started the official

"TWO WEEK COUNTDOWN TO DADDY"

I can't believe we are almost in the middle of this week......its busy around here....

So as of tomorrow we are in SINGLE DIGITS with nine days to go!

We countdown each day with the girls each eating a hershey "daddy kiss" from the mug!

When the mug is empty, he is home!! Abby never lets me forget about the treats each day.

CHEER!

The girls' cousin Emily from Pennsylvania, had her team cheer competition finals in Virginia Beach this weekend!! So we decided to go watch them perform. Its all of 2+ minutes long.....but we went early to watch other teams too! It was a fun experience for the kids!

And Emily's team took first place in their division!

I'm definitely not ready to do the Cheer/Dance mom thing......but we had a fun time watching!

Super hero.....Super friends!

 The kids played at their friends Jack & Grace's house last week

As soon as we arrived Maddy stripped down to her underwear and raced upstairs to put on this superhero costume of Jack's. She wore it all afternoon......she's a hoot!

Misc Recent May......

 Abby goofing off one morning and I showed her how to make a mustache with her hair.

Anything to keep us entertained around here......

 Time for a trim! She LOVED having her hair washed in the big sink

 Stopping to beat each other up a little......

 Lately if they wake up early, one goes into the others room and they giggle and play until its officially morning......guess they are getting ready to share a bedroom in CA!

 Spider monkey Abby climbing the walls

 Abby is a bug-aholic......the more worms she can find the better.

Well......until you squeeze them too hard, then they stop moving..........