Friday forever

It feels like it should be 10 p.m. and it is not even 2 yet. Sigh. I am SO stinking excited to see my husband and so thankful that he gave me this night at this beautiful hotel and that my parents are keeping the girls and have allowed me this special time. I have made the most out of it. To single people, I must be the most boring thing around, but those of you kids will understand. I woke up. Watched some news IN BED. Got up. Went down for the free breakfast. Came back up. Fell asleep till 10!!!!!!!! Woke up. Took a LONG bath followed by a LONG VERY HOT shower! Got dressed for the day, had lunch and now am waiting for check out time. To all you singles I apologize for my boringness. To all you parents, I know you are jealous! LOL! Just teasing! I am seriously so excited to go see my husband. He called and does not think he will be released until 5 p.m. Sigh. So as of right now I have 3 1/2 hours. These will be the longest hours yet. He was going nutso waiting for the go ahead to leave. All the guys are! Later tonight we will be in Oklahoma City. I cannot wait!!!!!

Never thought I could enjoy this so much

If you had asked me yesterday how I felt about having a night alone, I was not real excited to be honest. I am pretty social and do not really enjoy too much alone time. But this has been great! I had two easy flights and no troubles or delays etc. I am at the special suite my sweet husband reserved for me! It is AWESOME!!!!!!!! I went swimming, got free diet cokes and cookies and have ordered a pizza! I am watching TV right now, but I also took a very hot, very long, very NOT interrupted shower! I know I will sleep good here too.
Tomorrow will be even better because I will be WITH my husband!!!! yea!!!!! The girls are fine and having fun with Nana, Gampy, their aunt and their cat! My mom said the cat was beside herself to see them again and is refusing for the girls to be out of her sight. Isn't that SO sweet?

Hey! Guess what?

I GO SEE MY HUSBAND IN THE MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, technically I will not be able to see him till Friday but we will be in the same state, city and breathing Oklahoma air together! Ahhhhh. CANNOT WAIT!

Date set

I now have an appointment in early September to go see a doctor about our oldest daughter's selective mutism. The office is over an hour away. Thankfully, I have an awesome friend who has agreed to not only watch the girls, but also take the youngest to (and maybe from) preschool! The first appointment is for parents only (since she is so young). Obviously half of us is missing, so I was stuck. Hooray for good friends!!!!! The appointment will be September 8th. It is another one of those times when I would give anything to have my husband there with me.
Today passed quickly. My hubby is out in the field and so far we have not been able to talk today but he did send a few text messages!!! Yea!!!!
The youngest ha fun at preschool. Still no talking, BUT her teacher said that today she DID play with a little boy! That is a first! Prior to this she sat near kids or played near them. But evidently on the playground she and this boy were running around together (not talking). It is still an improvement and I will take it!
Something else I will also take? I belong to a group of Christian ladies who are ALL military wives. There is a funny lady there who comes up with fun titles for all of us. Mine says, "When did I become Supermama"!!! Me????? Supermama????? Hey, I will take it, grab it, keep it forever and run with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No one can take it away.... until the fun lady changes it again!!!!! =)

Whopper and Water

A few random things...
The other day the youngest had a few candy corns, the halloween treat. Well, I said, "Girls, what does Gampy do with those?" The oldest said, "He puts them on his teeth and is a whopper!" Ummmm, I think the poor girl meant walrus. Whoops!
This morning we were snuggling on the couch and the same sweet child said, "Mommy, this morning I woke up and the first number was 5. I got out of bed and you were asleep and so was little sister, so I got back into bed and was thinking that our family just doesn't seem the same without Daddy and I felt all sad and I just laid in bed crying for him for a few. I am tired of him being gone from us all the time." I think even those of you in Michigan could hear my heart breaking.
Today our church (have I mentioned how great our church is lately?) did something so cool! We all had these shirts that said (front) "Don't Go To Church" and (back) "BE The Church". Then today we did not *shock* go to church! Instead, they had 6 community projects and everyone chose one to participate in. We chose to go buy groceries and we donated them to the local schools. The schools take these items and whenever there is a long weekend, they choose kids who are at-risk and fill backpacks with the food so that hopefully their families can have enough for the long weekend. The girls were SO excited! I gave them each money and let them choose their own groceries! They loved it! I did have one funny thing happen. We were wondering around Wal-Mart and this man and his wife stopped me and said, "Excuse me. Where did you get that shirt?". I lit up and got so excited and said, "OH, they came from our church!!!!" He turned bright red and said, "Oh, uh we thought that it was an anti-church place and we wanted one". YIKES!! My husband said that it would be neat to have a a website to email all the weird things that happen when you wear these shirts! He got a LOT of comments when he wore his out in Oklahoma!!!!
My hubby goes into the field this week so I will be even more lonely. Hopefully, we will still get to talk each day, but are not sure. No matter what I will see him this Friday!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah, the water part. It was a scorcher here today and we were out trimming bushes and washing the van. Our neighbor came over and gave us a little slide and had us put the hose on it! The girls had a little water slide and they loved it!!!! We played outside for almost 4 hours! So, yeah, they are asleep already!!! =)

Excited

I cannot WAIT till next week! My sweet, wonderful husband found me a NICE hotel to stay at Thursday night. I will be there alone that night, but he thought I should be spoiled and get a break. Wow! I cannot wait!!! Obviously, I wish he could be with me Thursday, but I am SO looking forward to time alone! I know by the time I return I will be missing the girls like crazy though!
Did anyone else hit the awesome sale at Old Navy today? It rocked!
I am excited for tomorrow!
Oh, by the way. Last week I was able to buy my favorite fruit EVER at Wal-Mart! Champagne Grapes. Has anyone else ever had these???? They are tiny and taste like candy. I LOVE them!!!!

Let's see....

My husband has completed the 5 mile ruck, was platoon leader for a week (and passed), qualified on the range and led PT for his squad at BOLC II, so only two weeks in the field and a big ruck (either 10 or 12 miles) and we will have BOLC II behind us!!! Yea!!! He still will not be home till the end of September, but it is slowly coming. 3 out of 7 weeks are done.
Today for our science, I had to take the girls on a nature walk. We had to collect dirt. Now it is a waiting game to see if anything grows in it! Exciting stuff! Nothing much else going on, just wishing next week would HURRY UP! =)

BIg Day Over

Today was great! We had a wonderful day of home-schooling. We hit the library for story hour and it was really nice! The girls were very withdrawn while we were there. But they did like it. Afterwards, we met my friend for lunch and it was yummy and a relief to have adult contact! We had the oldests appointment. We secured a referral for her and hopefully will have an appointment time soon. Then we went to bible study and for almost 3 hours the girls were happy and playing and I was hanging out with adults. However, the real highlight of the day was when the oldest SPOKE to a little girl at bible study! In the past 6 weeks, it is the first time she has spoken to a child other than her sister! I was sitting there getting all teary eyed. It was awesome! Now if my poor husband can have a great day tomorrow all will be well!

Big Day tomorrow

Chick-Fil-A, here in our town, has been doing this really cool breakfast freebie! So this morning I got up and we ate a free breakfast there! It was neat! Then we took the youngest to preschool. Today was show and tell... or in her case, show =). But she wanted to take Big Bunny. Her HUGE pink bunny! Her teacher called last night to talk about her lack of communication in the classroom (yeah, really made my night) and she agreed that Big Bunny could come! He had a seat (or countertop) of honor and evidently enjoyed snack time =). The youngest looked adorable lugging this enormous animal in with her!
Tomorrow we are getting up to do home-school, followed by library story time, lunch with a friend, dr. appt and then Bible study. About the Dr. appt.... we are finally seeking treatment for our 5 year olds selective mutism. We are seeing improvements, but nothing anywhere what we had hoped. Nothing will really happen tomorrow, we are just seeking a referral. I will keep you posted as to what they say. Any extra prayers are surely appreciated!

Tuesday is almost over

Tonight the girls and I watched the next Little House episode. The youngest (being COMPLETELY serious) said (during the famous intro music/scene), "Why does baby Carrie always fall every time she is running in grass?" I almost choked on my food! How hilarious! Kids rock!
Next Thursday I see my husband! Can't think of any better news than that! =)

Happy Anniversary to US!

Seven years ago today, I became the luckiest woman alive and married the man of dreams. We had a picture perfect wedding and blissful honeymoon! Since then we have moved 5 times, had 2 beautiful, amazing girls, had 4 dogs, 1 cat, 6 foster children, had 6 cars, three emergency room visits, and a thousand little every day moments that are each special and treasures all of their own.
Being apart on our anniversary has NOT been easy. My poor husband spent the entire day from 4 a.m till 6 p.m. wet and cold. No hot meals etc. I am not there to make a bad day any better. It makes me SO thankful for cell phones and internet. I am also thankful that we only have 10 days left till we see each other again.
On a totally separate note, school went well for both girls today. The youngest still has not spoken at preschool. Big sigh. The oldest loves home-schooling and appears to be thriving. I got some pencils and a sharpener the other day. The girls took all 20 pencils and erasers to the table and were setting them up and making them go on a parade! It was cute and reminds why we so limit the amount of TV they watch. Then at dinner, I had made them some popcorn shrimp. The youngest closed her eyes and flapped her arms. I asked what she was doing and here is what she said, "These rainbowy shrimp are my batteries and every time I eat one I can fly high and fast but when I swallow I go low and slow and have to eat another battery to keep going!" Now, that is a neat way to eat your dinner! =)

Loving our new church

Let me say, OUR NEW CHURCH ROCKS!!!!!! I love going here and cannot wait for next Sunday and for Thursday night bible study!
Today was nice and went quickly! We flew kites this afternoon and played outside in the beautiful sunshine! Now the little ones are fast asleep!
Tomorrow is our 7 year anniversary!!!

Saturday is slipping away

Nothing really to report. I cleaned and took care of the girls all day. We did venture out for groceries and to go to a playland. They got a package from their daddy and were very excited! It was very sweet and made their day. He evidently had a great day.
Church tomorrow and I can mark another off the calendar.
Maybe tomorrow will be really exciting and I can have a thrilling blog entry. Until then, check out my friends blog (I am in the army too). She is the one who taught the girls water colors and she posted some of their pics on her blog!

Cookies and stuff

Tonight the theme was homemade cookies and the next episode of "Little House on the Prairie"! We had a good time together! They looked so cute. During the show a man dies. But of course, nothing is shown, so they really did not understand. But later Pa has to tell the man's wife and son. They questioned it and were shocked! Thankfully, they did not think their daddy would so the conversation was blessedly short. After I put them to bed, they spent their time watching other kids play outside! They looked like miniature spies watching the kids from their mini-blinds! Adorable!
13 days till I see my hubby. This is a very hard time for me because our 7 year anniversary is around the corner and I am feeling very, very sad and lonely. I just keep marking the days off the calendar and looking forward to the reunion though.

Crafty Day

I must admit that I am afraid I have been under estimating our youngest. She SAT for 90 minutes today and "allowed" me to teach her! Honestly? I thought she would make it for 10 minutes or less. It was amazing! Both girls seemed to soak in a lot. You know what is really cool? The learning did not stop when "class" time was over. The youngest picked to do a puzzle of the United States and the magnets tell you the states and capitals. She did the whole thing alone and made comments like, "Oklahoma? That's where Daddy is?" The other did light brite. Afterwards they ran around seeing which areas made the lights look best. We went outside and played with a parachute. In science we had been learning about air. The oldest said, "HEY MOMMY! Know why the parachute is fluffing up? Because there is air! Air is all around us even when we cannot see it!" THEN my friend came over and taught them some neat ways to do water color painting. So, in my opinion they were learning all day long!
Tonight I went to a bible study from my new church. It was great! We met outside and the kids all ran in grass. The girls discovered a pear tree there and they were enthralled! They each picked a pear to mail to daddy! How sweet is that?

Popcorn anyone?

Tomorrow will be a true test for home-schooling. Our youngest will be here with us. I am anxious to see how it goes. Yikes!
We had fun today again. We set up shop outside and did some painting. I made a breakfast casserole for dinner and then we had a popcorn party! I made popcorn for the girls and we all sat snuggling on the living room floor watching "Little House on the Prairie".
Our youngest had a fun day at preschool! Today they did two of her favorite things.... art and music! She came home very excited! No verbal action yet, but I remain hopeful!
15 days and counting till my flight!

Special Carts

My hubby called for a few minutes and I was reminded of a blog worthy event. Today, I spent some special time with the girls. We ate out and I took them to a Meijers, which is like Target. BUT they have this neat little invention called "Carts that actually enable parents to shop HAPPILY with children in tow". The first of these carts are these NEAT two seater carts that have a small bench with two buckles, PLUS the cart where you can place ANOTHER child! I would shop there just for this reason. Yes, we only have two, but this cart rocks! Trust me, I do most the grocery shopping alone with the girls and I LIKE this cart. Oh, but Meijers kicks it up a notch with the carts that only cost $1 and get this, have TV's in them!!!! You pick your wholesome character and they can sit in the front and zone out to Dora together. Ok, so I admit, when I first saw them I scoffed. Who needs TV to shop? You teach your kids how to behave in a store and you shop with them. Not always pleasant, but manageable. Well, today, guess who walked in with a dollar in their pocket? ME! Let me just say, best dollar I ever spent! I had 45 minutes of quiet shopping! Sadly, there were two types of people who passed me. One type, looked at me and smiled. The others, clearly had my prior line of reasoning "Can't manage her kids, obviously...." and basically glared at me as if I were sprouting horns. To those people I say, "You would do this too, if your hubby was gone for 2 months and you had spent more time away from him than with him for the past 6 months. Plus, do you even know that I spent two hours doing one-on-one time with my oldest? and that afterwards I am planning to do crafts with them and we baking cookies TOGETHER, etc". But, seriously, those people did not bother me because it ROCKED and I will do it again sometime! Maybe on a real rainy day or something!

Quiet on the homefront

After a very full day, it is quiet here tonight. Very quiet and lonely. My time spent talking with adults consumes about 30 minutes of each day here. Our youngest attended her second day of preschool and still no talking, laughing or going potty there. I am praying that we do not have two with selective mutism. It just cannot be possible. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, home-school went well today! She "wrote" a story. She told me what to write and the words are all hers! I am bored, so I figured I'd post it here! "The Little Girl Who Lived in a Garden"

Once there was a little girl named Mary and she lived in a garden. And then after she first went to her new house she played outside and picked some flowers too. She put the flowers in a pot of water and took them outside to get more wet and get more sun. She went inside and ate her dinner of broccoli, carrots and celery. Her daddy came home after she was asleep.

That's it. I thought it was cute, but the ending really threw me for a loop! I never saw it coming! Also, I was a tad confused on the whole "living in a garden" title, because no garden was ever mentioned. But then I reminded myself that it WAS the author's first work and she is only 5 =)

That's about it. Waiting for my husband to call....

Little Bo Who?

Successful is how I would sum up our day here. The youngest cried silently when I left her at preschool, but was calm a few moments later and playing. She stayed all day and never cried again! She was excited about her day and excited to return tomorrow! Now, if we can get her talking in class, I will feel so much better!
As for homeschooling, it was fabulous! Much better and easier than I expected! We covered an amazing amount of material including the water cycle, Martin Luther and the forever fascinating letter "F" =). During the course of the day, we read the poem "Little Bo Peep". As we were walking to get the youngest from preschool, the oldest says, "Mommy, my favorite part of home-schooling with you today was when we read the story of "Little Bo Beef"......" I hid my face in my sleeve and was rolling! That was SOOOOOO funny!
Other than that, the day has been lonely. I miss my husband and have barely been able to talk to him today. He is platoon leader this week and extremely busy.
I made the girls their favorite dinner of the pasta recipe I posted and crescent rolls baked with cheese. It was yummy and they loved it.
Tomorrow is more school stuff and more wishing my husband was home again.

18 days

Till I fly out and into my husbands arms!!! Yea!!!! Amazingly, this time has gone by pretty quickly. Today was about the slowest day we've had. We had church this morning and it was incredible! Great music and message! The girls enjoyed their class. They remembered the lesson, but with a tad bit of confusion. See, they were studying Esther for the 3rd week and today it the climax where she saves her people. I asked the girls who the king was going to kill and their answer was "all the beautiful princesses!" Well, not quite the right answer but at least they were listening and compared to the last church we really attended it is amazing! Their daddy called them today in the web cam and they thought that was pretty cool. I took them outside to paint today and they made some cute pictures. I had to get the things ready for preschool and homeschool. I am nervous about tomorrow. Hopefully, there will be a blog tomorrow saying how great it all went!!!

The future of dating

The future of dating. That is what I experienced tonight. I must say. It made me fall in love with my husband all over again!! As you know, we are 900 miles apart right now and both rather lonely. So.... I asked him out on a date! How you may ask? Skype. It is a free internet program that allows you to make online calls in live time for free. We both have webcams so we were talking and seeing each other in live time! He met me at Atlanta Bread and I met him on our couch. He had coffee and a chocolate chunk cookie and I made a decaf americana and had a diet rite! We talked for over an hour with each other. Really and truly it was incredible and all day long we were both so excited for our date! It was so nice to sit and talk. It felt like I should be able to touch him. Also, on base he can usually only talk in his room where there is virtually no privacy. On our cells we both talked using headsets, so our conversation was relatively private. As we were leaving our date a lady came up and asked where I was. He told her and I think she thought it was real sweet. I sure did. He is one special guy.
The rest of the day was lots of fun! My friend invited us out to lunch at a yummy mexican place and then we did some back to school shopping. The day FLEW by and tomorrow will go quickly because of church. It was fun being with this friend. Not only is she really smart and sweet but she is pregnant with their first child and it is so fun to see someone taking so much joy in the experience!
The girls were pretty good. The oldest decided to act up in front of the aforementioned friend, but other than that, we had a great day together.
The oldest has decided that Arkansas is a great state and that when she grows up, she will join the army and teach people to swim in Arkansas! LOL!

Warning! Gross post!

My husband says I have to post this so that we can remember it later when they are grown. Or maybe more specifically, when our youngest has brought home a boy that we do not approve of, then we can pull up this blog and say, "awww, listen to what she used to do, that cute little thing..."
So, here it is. (if you are easily sickened you may want to stop here). Tonight after our yummy dinner, shower and some My Little Pony Mad Libs, we were getting ready to read book TWO of Little House on the Prairie! Well, I came around the corner and saw our youngest, sitting in her little rocking chair, in her frilly pink Barbie nightgown...... BITING HER TOENAILS!!!!!!! Such flexibility she has! Unfortunately, she does not know her own strength and she made herself bleed. Hopefully, this is a passing thing and I will not witness this any more. If it continues, I may be forced to photograph this amazing event!

Weekend coming

Man, am I tired. We had (what seemed like) hundreds of boxes that I was not strong enough to break down, so I had to cut them all. It was really tiring! Then I had to compact them and lug them out to the curb. I also finished hanging up our pictures. It was a productive day and went by quickly. Tomorrow we get to meet a friend for lunch at a new mexican place here in town. Yum! It will be nice to eat out again. I made pancakes for the girls tonight and they thought that was pretty cool! They are also tired as they logged about 3 hours of outdoor play time! I think we will all sleep great!
Meanwhile, I am missing my husband and think that he is feeling the same way. But the upside is that when I wake up in the morning it will be 19 days till I see him! Woo-Hoo!

Cleaning House

Today I spent almost the whole day cleaning our house. I still have a long ways to go. If you recall, we moved an entire storage unit into our house and then drove 1800 miles to take my husband to Oklahoma. You can imagine all I have left to do. I did make some progress and did two firsts today. My first first (LOL) was to hang pictures. This involved using these nifty little things called nails and a hammer that came from my very own tool box!!!
My second first was that I booked an online place ticket! That was really cool! Now I have a set time and date to go visit my husband!!! Yea!!!
The girls were so good today. They loved being back home with all their toys around them. We hit the library, ate three meals AT HOME and did some grocery shopping. Tomorrow is Friday and I am excited to accomplish more around the house.

Can it really be true?

Tonight I took our baby, our three year old, to her preschool open house. Can she really be three and going to preschool? She will be four soon and the baby bug is biting me hard. Our babies are not babies and pretty soon she may not cry when I leave her. As much as I long for her to gain independence (that's WHY she is going) I will miss how much she needed me during these early years and how very much she needs her daddy. Monday her adventure will start. Her teacher seems great! The classroom is fully stocked and fun! I just hope she makes it through the day. =)
On another note, we did make it back safely today with no trouble. The girls and I are so happy to be back home! Now I can start the countdown to seeing my hubby again!

24 hours or 24 days?

Because it feels like 24 days since I have laid eyes on my husband, held his hand, watched him sit in the cracked booth with two little shiny eyed girls snuggled under his arms. I miss him. So do the girls. They have talked about him a lot today. As we left Oklahoma the oldest said, "Bye Daddy state." The youngest cried for the first 15 miles because she did not want to leave where he was. Now we are over half way back home. Luckily, we had a very uneventful trip! Clear roads, no jams etc. The girls were incredibly good and we made really good time! We did 550 miles today! Tomorrow will be an easier day traveling. I will be happy to get clean clothes and pack the suitcases away! No real news and no real cute stories from our day. Hopefully, we will all perk up!

Good byes yet again

Somehow (by the grace of God), we made it through today. We met my husband for lunch and I took the girls swimming twice. Nothing much else to do when it is 110 degrees outside. At dinner tonight my husband actually burned his hand on the INSIDE of a door at the place we ate, simply because the heat is so intense here. I feel bad leaving him here in this heat. We did go to Wal-Mart and get him a cooler that plugs into a car or a wall outlet so he is now able to have cold drinks in his room. That will really go a long ways here I think. We also went to Sams and did some shopping for him. The girls got him some peanut m & m's and said that every time daddy eats our colors he can think of us! Then as we were driving off tonight they were trying to cheer me up. They said, "Mommy, every time we see the letter D we can think of Daddy ok?" I am also have Swirly (formerly known as Daddy Bear) here in bed with me. Our oldest said she can sleep with me and cheer me up. Also, evidently Swirly has been biting Cheetah and they needed a break from each other. She informed me I am allowed to hug Swirly like I would hug daddy and that I can call her Daddy if it makes me feel better and not so sick. Amazingly enough stuff like that does cheer me up. Also, praying with my husband before departing allowed me a feeling of peace and I did not cry..... until he was out of sight at least =). Now tomorrow we begin the long journey home and start counting down till we see him again.

Decision time

Tonight I am sitting alone with the girls in our hotel room. Once again we "lucked out" and the company my husband is with here at Ft. Sill doesn't allow people to stay off base. Plus for Labor Day they will not allow him a pass to fly home to be with us. We are hoping my parents can keep the girls and I can fly here to be with him during the three day weekend. We are going to stay here one more night and leave early Tuesday morning to head back home. Let me just say, it is pure torture. But, the reunions are always exciting!
Tonight we ate out together at Red Lobster. The girls were quite intrigued with the tank full of lobsters waiting to be eaten. Then we hit Wal-Mart for some last minute items my husband needed. Afterwards he treated us all to frostys at a Wendys. Something led the conversation to what jobs the girls may want to do when they are older. Our 5 year old said, "well, maybe I can decided later because right now I have WAY too many choices! I mean, I could be a firefighter, or help people who are sick, or work at a hospital or take care of animals, or help people with fevers or take x-rays or anything! I can't choose yet. Maybe when I am six or seven I might know." How old is she again?
Our youngest declared she wants to take care of horses because she loves them. Pretty simple there! She said she loves horses and panda bears.

Driving

We logged around 550 miles today. It was long but we did have fun! We drove through an Air Force Base and got the oil changed in our van. We ate lunch at a mall (very small one), drank some Starbucks coffee and saw some pretty countryside. Tonight we found a local place called Stobys. It was a very cool place to eat! It was part of an old train station and they have two miniature trains that circle the inside. Their kids menu was neat and the adult food unique and it was cheap! Can't beat that combo! Afterwards we hit a local store and then came back for a quick dip in the pool and hot tub. We checked mapquest and we still have about 330 miles to go. Ugh. But hopefully we still have a few days of fun left!