Sore and tired

After a whirlwind trip, we do have all our belongings somewhat under one roof now. We left Monday and less than 18 hours later were loaded and on our way back home already. ALL day today we have unpacked and lugged empty boxes outside and also getting things ready for the Salvation Army to come and pick up tomorrow. We were going to have a garage sale, but time is too short. I cannot do it alone and by the time my husband is home it'll be too late in the year. Tomorrow we are still unpacking and hanging pictures (if I am lucky) =) Friday we ship out on our LONG drive. None of us are very excited. But the sooner it starts the sooner we can start counting down to be together again!

Traveling Man

In the morning we are leaving to go get our stuff out of storage. It will be a very quick trip. We will be home Tuesday evening. Then we will have two days to unpack and get resettled. Then Friday we will leave to take my husband to Oklahoma. None of us are ready for that. My blogging may be sketchy for awhile, but please bear with me, and it will get better!
Today we went to church and had a great service! The girls had a great time too. We got to meet several couples our ages and have two small groups we are interested in joining there. Once we are back, I will be able to get more involved. As we were leaving church there was great excitement when we discovered a BAT hanging out! It was asleep and appeared not to take notice of any of us. We spent the rest of the day getting ready for our trip and trying out a new chinese place here in town. Sadly, I do not think we will back to this particular place. On the up side, it means we get to try another place after my husband gets back!

Not such a "cache"

Well, we did attempt to geocache today. My husband did find one of the items, but after that, no real luck. It was still a neat experience! We got to see on foot some of our new community and discovered a new playground. We also hit the mall for Kids Day and the girls loaded up with freebies! It was pretty fun! The rest of the day was just a blur of various little activities. The girls were really good and are really tired out.
While we were out this morning we found a forgotten part of an old cemetery. Most of the stones were from babies and very young children. It was very heartbreaking. One stone, I actually photographed. This couple lost two daughters two years apart. I cannot even imagine. I am so thankful for modern medicine and technology and our healthy family.

Company

Last night was great! We invited a couple over for dinner and we had a blast! It was so nice to have a place roomy enough to entertain. We laughed a lot and were able to get to know a really sweet, Christian couple. Those are rather few and far between in the military.
Now we are going geocaching. I have never done this (none of us have) so look for a blog later about it.
We are all set to have a great, fun weekend together and build some memories to last us during the next 2 months!

Car seats

I learned today that our car seats are completely safe!!!! We drove by the state police today and they said they were awesome car seats and wished everyone would get the kind we have! It felt so good to hear that.
Then my hubby came home a little early today and allowed me some alone time at the library! One of my favorite places! I tried two new recipes for our dinner tonight. One was for sesame broccoli and the other was for a summery pasta dish. My husband suggested I post the recipe here so I will. The reason? We both loved it and the girls did too, but our oldest had THIRDS!!!! She said, "Mommy this is the best food I have ever had!" If you know her history of eating (or lack thereof) you will know what a ringing endorsement this is! So here it goes.....

1 box 16 oz. pasta (we used angel hair)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/2 cup parsley

Cook the pasta like regular.
Meanwhile in a small skillet, brown the garlic in the olive oil (or canola). Cook till browned or soft)
Drain pasta and mix the oil and garlic in with the pasta. Add the parsley and toss it all together.

The girls sprinkled parmesan cheese on top of theirs.

If you try it, let me know what you think. My family said they want it again and often.

My husband and I are watching Baby Borrowers and bemoaning the fact that we are already homesick at the thought of our upcoming separation.

Dam

Overheard in the shower mere moments ago:
#1 - let's make a dam!
#2 - Yeah!
#1 - Where's your dam stuff?
#2 - This IS my dam stuff! Where is your dam stuff?
#1 - That's my dam stuff!
#2- Well get your dam stuff and put it here.
#1 - Well, first you need to move your dam stuff so I can put my dam stuff down.
#2 - Ok. Dam stuff, dammy, dammy, dam stuff lalalalalalalalala
#1 I love my dam stuff
#2 - I love my dam stuff but not your dammy dam stuff.

About then it stopped and they were all done. Seriously, they were making a real dam in the shower and it DID work, but I was out here ROLLING and laughing my head off!
Our kids are so cute!!!!!!

Counting Down

Two weeks from now my husband will be out in Oklahoma. We have so much going on in between now and then I can tell it will just FLY by. We leave sometime on Monday to go back to where our house was and clean out our storage unit. We will be back here by Tuesday!!! VERY fast trip. We will (SADLY) not have time to connect with all our friends there. We will be arriving LATE Monday night, loading up Tuesday morning and leaving as soon as it is all loaded. Then we have two days off here at home to unpack and get our stuff sorted. With the move to Korea we have to sell a TON of our things off. We want to only take the care essentials with us. The rooms over there are very small and hardly have any storage so we need to be selective. Then NEXT Friday we leave to drive the almost 900 miles to Oklahoma. We are hoping to spend several days out there with my hubby before his class officially starts. Then when we come back our baby starts preschool. I am sad that my husband will miss that, our 7 year anniversary, my birthday and our youngest's 4th birthday! I am hoping he can fly in for Labor day weekend to come see me. The great news in all this, is that my parents are keeping the girls for us when he is coming home from OK in late September. So, I will drive alone out there and pick him up ALONE and have a slow trip back TOGETHER! We cannot wait for that part!
Other than that, we do not have much news from here. We are getting more settled every day and slowly getting to know some people. I have joined a local homeschool group and have an invite to go to a lady's house this Friday! Yea!!!!!

Questions......

As we were sitting in church this morning, I was reminded of the questions our oldest daughter asked me last week.... while my hubby was in the field of course.

Let's see if I can remember them all.

She wondered if I would ever get so sick that I'd go to heaven without them.

She asked if God and Jesus were two different people. I told her yes they were. That God was the Father and Jesus was His son. She said, "well then how come Joseph and Mary were his mommy and daddy?" Need I remind you that she JUST turned 5???? I told her that God was the Daddy but he gave Jesus to Joseph and Mary to take care of Jesus while he was on earth." Then she proceeds to ask me how God got in heaven? Did he die too? Oh. My. Word. I told her God created Heaven and put himself there. She said, "Oh, ok. Can we have some water?"

It was pretty fun =).


Today was a good day together. It was hot though. We all went to church together and my husband liked this one as much as I did. So it looks like we have found a new church here! Yea! After church we got some groceries. After unpacking we took the girls to a local park. We all had a good, sweaty time. Tomorrow it is back to work for my hubby!

He's Back

My husband surprised me by knocking on our door yesterday evening! His friend had given him a ride here! We grilled out and had a yummy dinner here. Today we ate lunch out and come home and played with the girls in the sprinkler. It was a fun day! So nice to have him back home. He is relieved that he got to experience this part before his class. Now we are getting ready for him to leave for 2 months to Oklahoma. I dread it already.

Save your soul and clean your carpets

Well, today was certainly interesting! I went to the gym with the girls this morning and we all had fun! I got in a great workout and they got to go to kiddie gymnastics. Afterwards, we went to the store to buy a steak to cook for my hubby tomorrow night!!!! This time tomorrow he may be here!!!! At home, I decided to have a picnic outside with the girls. While we were out there our neighbor came over and brought her 4 year old and some toys. All the kids played outside for awhile. Later (they were still there) two mormon boys came riding in on their bikes intent on saving our souls. They were actually really respectful. They were so hot I felt bad for them. They were literally riding down the drive when a van pulls in and this guy hops out and comes RUNNING up the drive. He spouts a bunch of mumbo jumbo telling me he'll clean our carpets for free. Guess where he was from? KIRBY! AGH!!!!! I told him we had just moved in so that was not needed. But seriously, within 5 minutes I had an offer of "salvation" and carpet cleaning... all for free!!! It was crazy, but definitely not boring!
Meanwhile, I am getting texts from my husband telling me how many people and tanks he has killed in the field and how many times he has died himself!! I told him he needs to quit that!
Tomorrow he will be home and our world will feel SOOOOOOOO right again!

Cool

Today was a nice day. It was fun visiting my parents, but it was nice to be back in our routine here. We hit some libraries and the commissary today. The girls were really good and they were wiped out from the fun time at Nana and Gampy's! The cool part came around 6 p.m. My phone rang and it was a lady from the church we visited this past Sunday. She said she had something for me! It was so neat! She brought me a cup FILLED with candy and a nice card! It really brightened my day and lessened the ache from missing my hubby!

Home again

I took the girls to go visit my parents for a few days. It was great! We all had a GREAT time and the girls are exhausted. Sadly, it now means our cat, Daisy, has a new home with them. We all miss her already.
I have a lot of blogging to catch up on!
Sunday I took the girls in town to go visit a new church here. We loved it! They seem to have a lot going for them and seem really focused on local outreach. The girls were also able to tell me what they had learned about. It is surprising how many times you can visit a church and the kids cannot even tell you if they had a lesson or what it was. I cannot wait for my hubby to come back from the field so that he can visit with us this Sunday. On the way from church to my parents house I had this conversation with the girls. From the youngest, "Mommy, if we could walk to where Daddy is out in the field, I will never say my legs hurt and I'm tired. I just want to see him."
The oldest says, "Well, Daddy won't be in the Army forever. One day he'll call you Mommy and say, 'Guess what? I have great news.... I'm not in the Army anymore!!!!! And I will never leave you or those girls again!!!!!' We will all say 'Yea' huh Mommy?"
I wish I was making that stuff up. They seriously say things like that.
At my parents we spent a lot of time doing nothing but following the girls while they rode their scooters around town. One night we rode their scooters downtown and they frolicked in the city fountain with their Gampy. It was cute and also very funny when the oldest sneaked around and kicked a HUGE spray of water at her Gampy! He never saw it coming! He and two small girls went home dripping wet! We also went swimming and visited several parks in the area.
We came back home today, sans a sweet cat. On the way home we saw a few VERY interesting sights. One, was a huge church off the highway with a beautiful little man made lake out in the front. However, marring this picturesque scene was a 4 store tall Jesus made out of rock. It was huge and obscene!!! The girls were laughing and I was just horrified! Weird stuff!
Then we found an Ikea store and we went there. The girls got to stay for free at a play area and I got to shop alone. It was SOOOOOOOOO stinking cool!
Now we are home and when we wake up it is one day closer to Friday.
I have not been able to talk to my husband but he has sent several text messages and says for the most part he is tired, hot, tired and stinky! =)

Good night

Today the girls and I hung out around the house. We did some cleaning and painted some shirts and played in the hose. I went to Target to get a sprinkler. They actually had all their summer things on a big clearance sale!!! I got the girls 10 pairs of shoes and a sprinkler for VERY cheap! It was great! Then I took them to one of their favorite places to eat, went to a grocery store and picked up a few movies to watch. At dinner though the youngest was sitting there eating cheese fries and she says, "When God puts a baby in my belly, I will not be scared because it will be a nice baby and it won't hurt me." There was no preceding conversation, she just blurted this out. A few moments later, she says, "Mommy, I am glad you are our mommy and I love you more than a different one." I was rather floored and said, "well, next to God, I love your daddy and you girls more than anything in the world." She said, "But how much do you love us Mommy?" Oh my. I am exhausted!!!! I seriously have no idea where she gets this stuff. Crazy!

Man

Am I ever lonely. My husband has only been gone since Wednesday morning and it feels like forever. One week from today he will be back. He did text me again today around 10 and said he is SO homesick. I agree. The girls and I are too. All 3 of us have cried several time each for him. We have been keeping busy. Today we painted T-shirts and have been cleaning the house. In a few we are going outside to soak up the extreme heat and play in the hose! We may go visit my parents for a few days next week and help pass the time and give them our cat. She is not supposed to be here. Opps! =) She also cannot really go to Korea with us. The Army will ship her, but it is very stressful to her.

Rain, rain go away

My hubby left for the field and so far, no contact. So, I am sitting here feeling seriously bummed out. Overall we had a good day. We hit the gym and the girls had their gymnastics class. We played outside and took a walk through our neighborhood. I am going to attempt to post some long overdue photos of our new duplex here. They don't really do it justice (plus they were taken in the middle of play time) =).
No big news. Just hanging out and trying to pass the time. Tonight our little angels came out to ask me this, "Mommy, can we please sleep together? I told 3 yr. old, she could sleep in my bed with me because we are feelin' real sad that daddy left us again. We miss him." So they are asleep with their arms wrapped around each other and their winky and daddy bears in between. So sweet and makes me miss my sweet husband even more.

Sniff, sniff

We found out at 15:00 that my husband is leaving in a few hours for 10 days in the field. I am a little less than excited, especially since he is getting ready to leave for 2 months!!!! It is a great experience for him though. He gets to go through the field exercise now (for free and without being graded) that he WILL be graded on later this year! He can soak this up and learn a lot and he gets to go drive a tank. And he gets to drive a tank. And shoot some big guns. And drive a tank. He is a tad excited! He also gets to sleep on the tank. Just like Snoopy he will be sleeping on the roof. Weird to picture a bunch of officers curling up on top of their M1Abrams Tanks and dozing off in the wilderness together. We are all a little sad at him leaving, but thankful that he gets this learning experience at the same time.

Today's photos

Clay Monsters

Been in Kentucky too long

Nature Hike

This morning was cool and pretty so we decided to hit a local trail and go hiking! Even with the girls we did about 3 miles! I was really impressed with them! We caught a butterfly and she spent the entire day with us. Her name was Allie and she even went on a Kroger's shopping trip with us! After a long, fun day we came home and made tie-dyed t-shirts. MESSY! Thanks mom and dad =)! It was fun and the girls thought it was great! In the morning we are back to work, or at least my hubby is!

Family Fun Date

Today we went to check out a new church in our town. We liked it. We also decided to take the girls to their first real movie. We went and saw Kit Kittredge. Let me just say, one of the best family movies to come out. Ever. Clean, wholesome and perfectly PERFECT for two little girls who are only allowed to watch PBS. The girls loved it and they were SO cute! They sat there in their seats, GLUED to the movie. The oldest got all caught up and started saying, "look at that lady run crazy"! It was great and the looks on their faces were priceless! Afterwards the oldest said, "Kit was sad in the movie because her daddy went away for a job for a long time, just like you huh Daddy? But her Daddy came home just like our Daddy came home." Yeah. We felt the same way.
Tomorrow we think we are may take a hike to a waterfall that we just learned about here!

Happy 4th!

Today was one of those days that I would like to imprint forever in my memory just because it was so much fun! We laughed so much and the girls were cute and funny all day long! We started out our morning by making waffles. Then the girls worked their way outside to tromp around in the rain. They were playing on some rocks when the youngest fell down in red clay and tried to get up. And tried to get up. And tried to get up. She was absolutely STUCK in the red clay! My husband had to put his Army skills to the test and rescue her from the evil clay! Thankfully, all that training paid off and she was saved =). We hosed them off and they got their first bath of the day. Then we hit some garage sales and ate at this fabulous local place. Afterwards, we decided to go discover the greenbelt here in town. The girls had their bug catching equipment and we all hit the trail. As we were coming around a bend, my husband stopped us all. We looked over and there was a beautiful doe looking at us. We told the girls to walk over quietly. She just stood there and they got within about 10 feet of her when she bolted. We were so excited and kept walking and catching bugs. We came around another bend and looked over to see the same doe nursing her infant fawn. It was amazing and perfect! Eventually we left that area and went to a place where there are all kinds of ducks and geese. The girls take off and go tearing down the trail to try and catch the animals. However, these birds are used to people bringing food so they came TOWARDS the girls! All of sudden, they turned and came running back towards us! Then we saw a huge clump of geese and our oldest (who is funny when she absolutely does NOT mean to be) said, "Oh, look! It must be an Army of geeses and they are here for a class! A swimming class so they can all work on their swimming!" I seriously did not think we could stop laughing. We went across a bridge and looked down to see a very creepy looking snake. On the other side I was rushing everyone because I was nervous the snake would find us. The oldest said, "We better be quiet so the snake won't hear us, Hey wait! We don't have to be because snakes don't actually HAVE any ears!" Oh my word. My husband and I could barely walk we were laughing so hard!
After we had experienced enough nature for the day (ie: needed a potty), we hit the local Target and went to our mall for the first time. At home, we took the girls out to play in the clay again and they had their second hosing off and second bath for the day. We all played Dora candyland and then my husband and I watched a movie together! It was a great fourth and we still have three wonderful days together!

Great surprise!!

Yesterday my phone rang and it was a friend of mine from up north. She was calling to tell me that she, her husband and their two very cute boys were traveling through our little town and they wanted to meet up! I had not seen her in 4 years!!!! It was great! We took all the kids to this big indoor play area and then to the army base and lunch at a playland! It was tons of fun and so nice to catch up with her and hear about the lives of some friends still living there.
Tonight we let the girls play outside and we enjoyed our quiet little street. Then we ate some bread and soup. We found out we have a small grocery store here and set out to find it. Amazingly, it was another great surprise. It is very small, but their prices were extremely competitive! They had a GREAT sale on meat and we stocked up! Now the girls are in bed and we are ready to enjoy our four day weekend.

FINALLY

Last night my husband came home, commented on the yummy smell of the homemade bread baking and told us all to get in the van. We drove to the next town over where he had found me a gym WITH childcare. Not just childcare but kiddis yoga, kiddie exercise equipment, kiddie gymnastics lessons and kiddie classes! Not to mention the playland INSIDE the childcare room! Yep. It IS that cool! I was SOOOOO excited! Then you will not believe what happened today! I went there for my first workout and met a lady whose kids are each about 2 weeks older than mine and get this, she and I have the SAME BIRTHDAY. Weird, but true!!!!! We have plans to get the kids together and my adventures of settling in here and making friends have officially begun! Yipee!!!!!
When I came to pick up the girls, they had each had their very own gymnastics class and were thrilled and cannot wait to go back again!

Tuesday

We are enjoying another gorgeous day here at our new place! My husband is at work, but we are really enjoying his schedule. He is leading all the PT (physical training) every morning for a group of guys. It's really good practice for him. In Korea, he will be responsible for it too and in his next training he will be evaluated on his abilities to lead PT. He is enjoying it too! Other than that, he is doing in-processing (PAPERWORK) and they are trying to help him get into some classes. It's very fortunate that they are trying to get him into classes because they don't have to. They can have him haul furniture or yank weeds from sidewalks if they chose to. So, God is really watching out for us. Next week they have arranged for him to take a very advanced first aid type of class and for an advanced motorcycle safety class. Both of which would be really great to have under his belt!
Apart from that we are trying to get settled some more. Last night we bought an outdoor table and chair set and sat in our "backyard" and listened to the county sounds. It was extremely peaceful and quiet. We also met our neighbor (the one who shares our duplex). He seems like a very nice guy. He has two cats!
The girls are really enjoying reading the Little House book we bought! It has been exciting to watch! We really don't think they are understanding a lot of it, but they sit so still and ask some smart questions! The 5 year old asked if they were real people! So, as soon as I am done blogging we are looking up photos on the computer to show them.
Speaking of smart questions, the other day they youngest asked how people folded fortune cookies. Hmmmmm. The oldest asked how we know where Heaven is and how come we can't see it. Hmmmmm. How long before the BIGGIE is asked, you know the one about babies? The rate they are going it'll be this time next week =)!