Deep thoughts

From our four year old! As we were driving to preschool she says, "Mommy, iffin we don't ask Jesus into our hearts what happens?" WOW. You could have knocked me over with a feather! We had a very meaningful discussion on the way to her school. After that the conversation flowed into easier topics like horses and halloween outfits. After school she was showing me how well she can wash her hands. Evidently, "Scrubby Bear" made a TV appearance at school. She did a bang up job. Later, when she and her sissy were taking their shower I over heard her say, "I am a GERM. I will make you sick. Really. Touch me. Come on. Go ahead. Let me make you sick." I was laughing and had to relay the antics to my husband.

Quickie

Just wanted to let you know our predictions came true. Around 1 a.m. the youngest came creeping into our room. We let her stay and she had several dreams that made her cry. She looked stressed in her sleep. Grrrrrr.

Bad, bad store

We belong to a Sam's Club. Actually, we only technically belong for about 6 more days. So we went tonight to load up on all the things we like to buy there. We are not renewing our card because this time next year we will be in Korea and the membership would not do us much good! Well, tonight we have to say "BAD Sam's Club!" We took our daughters with us (obviously). You know, the two sweet innocent girls I am always rambling on and on about? As we were coming around a corner....BAM a huge, very dark, monster man who saying something like, " Hey kids! Wanna know why my costume is the scariest? RAAAHHHHHH!" THEN he pulls his "face" off to reveal a pulsating glowing green face like object. Our girls flipped out. Can you guess what just happened? Our youngest just came and said she needed to sleep in our room. We sent her back to bed, but my husband suggested that when she comes into our room at 2 a.m., we call the manager at Sam's. LOL! Seriously, why is it ok to have something like out, but people would protest if it were a manger scene. I know our girls are a little sheltered and that Sam's was not being malicious when they put this out, but COME ON. It was right out in the middle of the main part, not secretly hidden on an aisle. Oh well.
That was really our big excitement of the day. We had home-school and preschool and my husband returned to work. It all went well and we did spent lots of time together again. Youngest daughter just came out again. Urg.
Our other excitement was that we found both girls halloween outfits and spent less than $5! We got our oldest (whose favorite animal is a cheetah) a pink and black cheetah outfit. She is SO excited! We need some cat ears and black stuff for whiskers. The youngest we found a "lion tamer's" outfit and she is actually going to be a CHEETAH tamer! We may get her a hoop and let the cheetah jump through it etc!!! They will be so cute!!!!!!!!!!!

Forgot to mention

Our youngest came inside this afternoon to go potty.  It took her awhile.....  When she came out, she said to me, "Mommy, I prayed to God while I was on the potty."  Me beaming said, "You DID?  Honey!  I am so proud of you!!!  What did you pray for?"  Big, round brown eyes looking up at me, she leans in and in an adorable lispy stage whisper says, "I prayed to ride a panda and maybe a horse too."  Remember what I said earlier?  Kids ROCK!

Kite Flying Fun

Another perfect day comes to an end. My husband returns to work in the morning, but we sure enjoyed our last free day together! Church was awesome this morning and it was followed by a church picnic. We spent 3 hours there. It was 80 degrees, breezy and gorgeous! My husband took out our kite and before he knew what hit there were about 15 kids "helping" him fly the kite. After about 1 hour, only our 5 year old was still helping him. She said her daddy was the best kite flier ever! Meanwhile, I hung out on the rocks with our youngest, who proceeded to entertain herself by tossing rocks into the lake. First, she was tossing any old rock. Then she decided that all the little rocks should be pulled out an big rocks tossed in. Then she decided the big rocks were lonely and she better toss all the rocks in. And that is all she did....for at least an hour. It was so cute and relaxing! At home my husband rigged some very odd pulley system in the garage. The girls helped him, while I spent THREE HOURS getting their clothes switched from summer to winter. It was very gratifying and to top it off, I thought we had lost all our 4T clothing and my husband found it!!!!! VERY thankful, if not slightly disappointed that I do not get to go on a shopping spree for her. She only ever gets leftovers from her sissy, so I was just a little excited at the prospect of new clothes for her. We ended up all around the dinner table eating our girls favorite pasta (the one I posted a few months ago). They loved it and had really worked up an appetite from the outdoor play. Then the oldest decided that we should hand out the PASTA for Halloween!!!! Kids rock!

Husband has a new blog!!!!!!!!!

I am so happy! My husband has fulfilled my greatest (or at least one of them) wish and started a new blog! He is a very talented writer. He was a newspaper reporter for over 15 years. When we first met, one of the things I liked was that he was a good writer. But, when the biggest excitement he had to write about was education funding, I sort of lost sight of how talented of a writer he was. Well, he is back and better than ever! He has started a new blog called Tots-N-Tanks. There is a link to it over under my favorite blogs. I encourage you to check it out. He rocks and the first post is SUPER! Sadly, I will probably be jealous of him in the future. I will have one lonely follower on my blog and he will have 500, but I will still love him anyways!!!
I don't want to do two posts today so I will just tell you about the rest of our day here. We started with a leisurely breakfast here over PBS cartoons and legos. Then we went to a forest and took a hike together. It was beautiful! The colors are just starting to change and we experienced that distinctly fall weather of sunshine, wind and never feeling hot or cold. We had a picnic on a bridge and took the girls fishing. We never caught a thing, but they still had a great time! We found a neat historic town and wandered the streets for awhile. Our youngest daughter, who wants to take care of horses when she is older, saw a real horse today! I would LOVE to be able to give her riding lessons. She rode a horse last summer and she was a natural even at age 3! She sat in the saddle like she was born there and the look on her face was unforgettable. Today she got to pet a horse and she smiled for 3 blocks afterwards and had to call her nana and tell her about it later. At home my husband rode his bike with the girls and we bought them a little skate board. They tried it out and enjoyed it. Oh, we also flew a kite with them! They had said over and over that when daddy came back they wanted to fly a kite with him. It was so cool!!! We flew it and then my husband pretended the girls were soccer balls and he chased them into the goals. The penalty for NOT getting into the goal was TONS of tickling! It was FUN and it wore the little ones out! They fell asleep in about 5 minutes tonight. Tomorrow is our last day of freedom before he returns to work. I am excited to attend church as a FAMILY!

Tots in tanks?

Today was awesome! We did school while my husband cleaned and organized the entire garage! We played outside and had lunch here. We took the girls out to a grassy field and started teaching them to ride without training wheels. The oldest did quite well! The first time she took off and rode for about 30 feet. By the time we left she was riding LONG stretches and was able to stop without falling. Steering....that was another issue! The youngest was like a dead weight, but she did look cute. My husband said once he was helping her when all of sudden she jumps off while the bike was still moving. What was she doing? The little cutie was chasing a butterfly!!!!!!
After we got home we all washed the van together. After cleaning up, my husband went and checked in on base. He reports back to work bright and early on Monday. Tonight was took the girls to a book store. They got a gift card from their grandparents and we went to go spend it! They had a blast! Our church had a coffee house tonight with live Christian music. We all hit that too. On the way home we were asking the girls what they would like to do with daddy tomorrow. The youngest says, "Hunting". Honestly, I do not think she knows what this is. We attempted to explain it to her. We asked her if she still wanted to and she said "yes". I asked her what she wanted to hunt and kill. She said, "Elephants. I think it would be fun. And maybe a panda too." Her HORRIFIED sister said, "But pandas are your favorite animal!!! Why would you hunt one?????" She said, "Just to see what they tasted like." That girl is a NUT!! We were rolling!!!! The oldest (being much more reasonable) asked to go see daddy's tank. Obviously, he does not have a tank but they sure think he does. She said she wanted to go watch them drive. The youngest suggested riding in one with him. The oldest blurts out, "Yeah! And we could put my new booster and your Mariposa carseat in the tank!!!!!!!!!!!!" Oh my word. My husbands face was red with laughter! Picturing a pink booster and a butterfly carseat stuck into an M-1 Abrams tanks was HILARIOUS!!!!!! Our friends have a blog and the husband does a seried of military cartoons. My husband said this would be a great one! A massive tank with tough soldiers and then a sweet little girl in a butterfly carseat in the tank with them. Cute stuff!

Therapy begins

Today was such a great day! We were all together the entire day and we stretched it out! We started with home-schooling for both girls. Daddy sat in "class" and he taught the science portion and took care of the experiments. It was neat to have him involved. Afterwards we hit the library for story hour. We had a party there (just to celebrate September). The girls each got a new book. I thought that was cool! We had therapy afterwards. It was the first real session. It is interesting. I am sure many of you cannot understand what our girls go through on a daily basis. Selective Mutism is a struggle and hard to comprehend. We are so happy that we have finally sought therapy. We started the session with family play. We each took turns talking to the doctor while the other parent played with the girls. Then the youngest stayed by herself for her play with the doctor and then the oldest had her alone session. Up until today we all thought that maybe the youngest was just imitating sissy, but today the doctor said the youngest has her own set of issues. She said that while she was alone with the youngest, it took 5 minutes before she would loosen her arms and it took a little longer than that for her to make eye contact with the doctor. The oldest made eye contact with the doctor within 2 minutes, but never really had any interaction. The youngest WANTED to play WITH the doctor. The oldest did not care either way. It was interesting to hear that. We are scheduled for weekly appointments for quite awhile.
After the session we hit a local mall and enjoyed the California Pizza place that our friends recommended. For a family that really does not like malls a whole lot, we spent a big portion of our time there. They had a kids play area, Starbucks and a cool sports store! We found some toy stores, got stuck in major traffic and finished with a yummy Skyline for dinner. We did not even get home until 8 p.m.! It was great! We were all worn out though. It was our first real day together where we had no outside commitments. Tomorrow is more school and who knows what else!!!!

We are back!

I cannot believe that a week has passed since I have blogged! It has been very busy and fun! I think I drove over 2700 miles in 7 days. THAT was not much fun, but the rest was great!
I took the girls to their first therapy appointment and it was great! I dropped them off at my parents and headed out to Oklahoma. It was a fast trip because I was so excited to see my husband. I spent two nights there and then the real fun began! We spent Friday night at a fancy Hilton in downtown Oklahoma City. We ate out at two cool places, had ice cream and saw a movie called "Ghost Town". VERY funny!!! We walked around till almost midnight! Our ice cream we ate on a roof top overlooking the entire city. It was like our own little world up there! Amazing! It seemed to take forever to get to the girls but we finally saw them on Monday morning! It was so neat! They were so happy to see daddy. He was the man of the hour. He could not take two steps without two little shadows following him and asking him to tickle, play or chase. It was so sweet!! We arrived home Tuesday night and have been adjusting to life together again. It's not too hard! =) We took the youngest to preschool, did home-school with the oldest and then we all went to a park for soccer and a picnic. Tonight the girls have Awana's and we are going to have a slow dinner together. You may not hear much from us till next week. We have till Monday and then my husband returns to work and at the end of October begins his next school and it will be TOUGH. It has the highest recycle rate of all the branches. Recycle means that you do not pass and get bumped back to the next class or even TWO classes and have to redo stuff. Nothing fun or nice about it. So, we are trying to soak up our togetherness and relish this time together. Tomorrow we have home-school, story hour, doctors appts. and maybe some fun in the "big city" =)

Pandas and cheetahs and bugs, OH MY!

I am missing our two little girls so much right now! They called me today from the ZOO!!! My parents took them! They were so excited and VERY much not missing me in the least! Our FOUR YEAR OLD (note the new age please) saw her favorite animal (a panda) and called to tell me and the 5 year old saw her favorite animal and called me! Her favorite animals are cheetahs. She never saw a mommy cheetah but evidently the zoo had a baby cheetah!!! They are having so much fun there! I am so glad and so thankful for family who views keeping them as fun and an obligation. It leaves me free to enjoy my free time. You may be wondering, just HOW is she enjoying her free time. I am SO wild and crazy you would not even believe me if I told you so I'll just let you think about it for awhile. =)

Safe and absolutely exhausted

I cannot hardly put two words together right now. I am SOOOOOOO tired! Tuesday we had preschool and it was the youngests special day there! Her class sang to her, she got a balloon, birthday hat and a little teddy bear! She thought she was IT! Then we went to the first DOCTOR appt. The power was out there due to all those crazy winds. We had to make two trips to the potty using a borrowed flash light! It was fun. The doctor was real good with the girls and wants to see both of them for awhile. She saw a few things in both that "concerned" her, so to speak. But she is confident that we will help them through this.
Then we hit the road to go to my parents. We walked to a local place and had dinner and then I took off around 7 p.m. I drove for 3 hours. I decided to stop for the night. I really did not want to spend much on a room. I stopped at 10 and planned to get up at 3:30. So I found a cheap place. I learned my lesson. It was a vague resemblance of being clean. However, I did not at ALL feel safe! Around 11, I managed to doze off. At 2 a.m. I shot out of bed, plastered in sweat with my hairs standing up. I could have sworn our bathroom door flung open. I was terrified! I could not sleep again so I got up, took a steamy shower and left. There was a Starbucks with a 24 hour drive thru so I did have a coffee. I stopped later for gas and then later for breakfast. I did not stop again for 5 hours!! Those were my only stops the whole day! I logged 1300 miles in less than 24 hours. Did I mention how exhausted I am? I got into the hotel here and went to have dinner with my hubby. SADLY or MADLY (LOL), he had a mandatory social till 8 tonight but he will come here after it is over. It's not even for them and they get to sit and listen to speakers speak to others. They are being "eye candy" or warm bodies for chairs =). He was pretty upset, but glad he can come by after it is over.
My husband bought me the new Newsboys cd when I was here for Labor Day. I saved it for this trip to have a time filler. AWESOME cd!!!!!!!!!
I am so tired I am falling asleep typing so I think I will go walk around and wait for my hubby!

Leaving....but not on a jet plane

The time has finally, finally come!!!! In the morning, I take the youngest to preschool. She is super excited! In her class it is HER day to bring a treat for her upcoming birthday! We have sugar overload!! She wanted go-gurt sticks, fruit snacks and juice boxes!!! But those are rare treats for her! She has had 2 go-gurts ever and only gets fruit snacks at Christmas time. I am going to run a few errands with our oldest and then we all three hit the road! We drive 1 hour and stop for the first doctor's appointment! Since we have met her, I am not real nervous, just excited. Then we drive to my parents house. My plan is to eat dinner there and leave around 7. I would like to drive several hours and then stop for the night at a hotel somewhere. I plan to be in Oklahoma Wednesday night!!!!! I am STOKED!!!!
Today passed quickly and was fun! We had preschool and home-school. We came home for leftovers and then went out to play. Some neighbors came out and they ran all over. We got out the hose and they all had a blast! It was cute and wore the girls out. They are sound asleep and snoring now!

Quick

Today went surprisingly quickly! We had church. Afterwards, I took the girls to a playland and intended to stay and let them burn their excessive energy. About that time, those banners that frequent the outside of McDonald's, pulled out of the ground and started slamming the POST into the playland window. I then noticed the VERY excessive winds whipping around. We left. On the way home, I was really feeling my nerves. Then we rounded a corner and a man slammed on his brakes and yelling at me (through his window). Around a bend there were HOT cables swinging in the wind. Let me tell ya, my blood was PUMPING! I called 911, but it was already reported. We drove around a different way home and were dodging limbs and there were huge branches flying over the van. Yeah. It was just a tad tense. We made it into the garage and into the house. To pass the afternoon, we did alphabet pages, I put make up on the girls, we had a tea party and baked homemade chocolate chip cookies! It was fun and went quickly. Now I am waiting for bed time so I can wake up and find out it is Monday!!!!

Hurry

I am SO ready to start my trek to Oklahoma to go get my husband! Even though the girls are being SOOOOOOO good I just want the time to hurry. I cannot wait to live like a real family again. We had a good day here. It was real hot, but also breezy so it felt nice out! We washed the van and the girls rode their bikes. Man, the youngest is like H*** on wheels!!! She has a need for speed! She is awesome to watch! I think she may be the first one to go sans training wheels. My husband wants to help them learn and I am VERY willing to hand the task over to him!! We got to see him on the computer today. He looked so cute (but tired)! I leave Tuesday to go to my parents and early Wednesday morning I start driving to go see him!!!!

Sweet kid

I had one of the sweetest moments ever today with our soon-to-be 4-year-old! The girls were playing outside. They were riding their bikes, playing in the mud and climbing on some logs etc. They had taken some balls down by the logs and were rolling them across. The youngest left hers behind and I sent them down to go find it. It's hard to explain (a sibling thing I guess), but they frequently say, "Hey! I'll go with you!", but as soon as they are there, BAM! turn turn tail and leave the other one "alone". That is what the oldest one was doing. The youngest was sitting on a log, wearing a ratty, VERY muddy t-shirt, with her brown hair sweaty on her head and her big brown eyes streaking tears through the dried mud on her cheeks. I tell the oldest to keep waiting for her. The youngest finally scampers off the log and her tears are still clinging to the mud on her cheeks. And do you know what? During all the drama, my little sweetheart had thought of me and picked me a beautiful yellow flower. She came waddling over to me and still sniffing her tears back says, "Here mommy. Yellow is your favorite color, but one falled off." I was pure mush. She was so sweet!!!!!!
I was able to talk to my other half for a few minutes. He has passed everything he needed to for BOLC II!!! That is exciting news! Now we just have to make it through this next weekend and we will be together! One week from tonight we will be sharing a bed again! He was dirty and extremely tired when we spoke. I think he had about 8 hours sleep for the entire week and they never slept last night and finished it all off with a 10 mile ruck march (think hike with a 65 pound VERY pokey back pack!)! Fun stuff huh? =)

Is there a "type" of child?

I posed this question to my friend the other day. Is there a type of child that "attracts" the bullies? Here is my dilema. WE have two girls. Both do not speak in public. The oldest- when we go places kids gravitate towards her. Does not matter if she speaks or not. The youngest - Everywhere we go she gets hit.
To answer the questions in your minds, no, she does NOT antagonize these kids. Usually she is giggling and climbing behind her sister. Tonight at bible study, she got whacked in the eye with HARD doll and has a bruised eye. Earlier in the week at Chick-Fil-A, bloody lip. I kid you not, that EVERY time I take her to a playland lately she gets hit. Twice there has been blood. It is freaking me out! What do I do? Are we doing something wrong? Is there actually a study done on this? Weird and stressful.
Today was great though! We had school and played outside. A little dog came to visit and played in the hose with the girls. They loved it! Best news is that my husband will get to call me tomorrow!!!!

Good laugh

Remember me blogging about how my husband was able to text me from the field and hear about the doctor appointment Monday? Here is the complete story. Monday, I got a text from an unknown number asking about the appointment. I was so excited he was able to text me, but did not know how long he'd have to text, so I quickly spit out 2 texts full of information and the last one saying I love him. I get a reply that says, "Oh, I guess the last one was meant for (husband)." I am slightly embarrassed that some random guy read it, but oh well. A minute later my husband texts me back and asks another questions regarding insurance and if it covers the appointments etc. I tell him it does and he replied, "well, I am glad you don't have to worry about money." At this point I am getting weirded out. We combined our finances when we were engaged. He is pretty lousy at remembering to pay bills etc. =), so I took over paying his while we were engaged and it has remained my responsibility ever since. BUT we always refer to money as "ours". So, now I am thinking that this guy whose phone he borrowed is pumping me for information. But, then the next text sounds more like my husband. He said he needed to go. So I say "I love you and miss you so much!" His reply, "Ditto". I was floored. This is the man who proposed to me in his weekly column at a newspaper and who calls me from the barracks, has our photos on his desk and always says he loves me (even in a car full of single army guys!!!). So I am thinking again, that maybe it was not my husband, but the guy whose phone he is using.
Rewind to last night. I get a text from the same number saying, "I just got this snazzy new phone with unlimited texts. Fun!!" I am like, ok, who is this guy. In the back of my mind, I am thinking maybe my husband is making a joke. So I ask "are you my husband or the guy with the phone." To my SHOCK the answer is...."Neither, I am your sister-in-law" WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I called her and asked if she was texting me yesterday and she said "Yes! You were so sweet to tell me how much you love and miss me." Opps! =) We got a HUGE laugh out of it. Then I felt sad, because my poor husband does NOT know how the appt. went and he was very anxious/worried to hear. I know it is hard for him to concentrate when he is worried about us.
Rewind to this morning. The phone rings. Guess who? My REAL husband!!! He was allowed to go somewhere and use a government phone and have a 15 minute conversation about the appointment! I managed to tell him about the mix up too and he was laughing...a LOT! =)

Countdown

One week from tomorrow I begin the journey to go bring my husband HOME! Where he belongs! I cannot wait and I cannot concentrate on anything! =)
Today we were listening to the cd he made for us. The song he put on there for me says, "I love you and I've loved you all along. I miss you been far away for far too long so keep breathing, hold on to me never let me go, keep dreaming, cause I'm not leaving anymore." Now, we listen to this all the time and the girls know all the songs. Today, the 5 year old said, "Is it true Mommy?" I said, "What honey?" She says, (pull out your kleenex) "When you bring Daddy home soon, will he really never leave us again?" I about lost it. These past few days have been achingly slow. I just want him home and I want him home NOW. I do not want to wait. I do not want to have eewy, icky patience. Luckily, tomorrow and Thursday are very busy days! Yea!!!

It has begun

I am so pleased with the appointment today! The doctor is real nice. She met with me for close to an hour. She actually wants to go ahead and meet both girls. That hurt, but she said, "Hey, it's not THAT bad." I know it's not, but I just wanted one of them to not go through this. Apparently, most of the therapy will involve the girls playing with her and she slowly gets to know them and me, my husband or both of us, go with them and learn things to do with them in public to get them talking to others. The office was 88 miles round trip, so she said she will schedule the girls back to back. Now is the time I really need some friends with no obligations. Basically, I will have to pay a sitter to come and entertain one girl while I take the other back for therapy and then switch. She said she will hardly ever meet with just one child alone. She will want us with them. But she does not want to meet with them together because their therapy will be different based on their different personalities. I am happy with the whole thing though. We go next Tuesday for the next dose!
My husband was able to get a phone from someone to be able to text me tonight and ask about the appt. I was happy with that too! Wish we could have talked, but beggars cannot be choosers! =)
Wonder Friend kept the girls this morning and they TALKED to her!!! Lots!! They also had a blast with her. ALL I heard all day was, "Ms. So and So this and Ms. So and So that." However, the youngest suggested that next time Wonder Friends HUSBAND babysit for them because, "he probably knows how to fly and kite and stuff and she doesn't." LOL!
That is about it from here!

It starts tomorrow

In the morning Wonder Friend is coming over to watch the girls and I am off to the doctor. I am going alone for the initial assessment for our 5 year old's selective mutism! I am pretty nervous for the whole thing. I am nervous about the drive, about being late and just being there alone. I wish I had a friend to go with me (I'd give anything to have my hubby here). This week my husband is in the field and they are not allowed to bring their phones. He is going to ask to borrow one of the cadre's phones and call home tomorrow to hear about the appointment. I hope that works out at least.
Today was a nice day. Church rocked! I took the girls to a park and we washed the van together! We saw a huge praying mantis at our neighbors house. We baked a homemade pizza and they are conked out now! Hopefully I will have a great update tomorrow night!

Baby Stuff

I am glad this Saturday is almost at an end. 2 weeks from today my husband will be on his way HOME!!!!
This morning I took the girls to the local library and they (and me!) got to make cookie dough Christmas ornaments. They look real cute! Afterwards, my friend took me out to lunch and we took the girls to the mall to play for awhile. Nothing real major happened today.
The youngest today was really on the topic of babies. Today she said, "Mommy, sometimes when I hold little kids I drop them and it hurts them but mostly I'm real careful with them." Yikes! Poor kids! Later she said, "Remember how I keep telling you, I want you to have a baby so I can be a big sister? When will I? I am ready." Later, "Who makes babies?". Me answering, "well God does of course." Her reply, "Yeah, I thought so." Still later, "Why are Mommies the only ones with babies in their bellies?" I say, "That's the way God made mommies." Still LATER, "When you get another baby do you and daddy ask each other first?" HOLY COW! This girl is 3!!!!!!! What will happen when she is 4?

Cracking up

The girls were pretty grouchy today, but we did manage to fit in a few laughs. We were home-schooling this morning and reading a neat story. The story involved a farmer and his retired work horses. In the story he takes one and cleans her up and decorates her with bells, braided hair and ribbons and all sort of horsey decor. The oldest is studying the fancy horse and turns her serious eyes up at me and says, "Wow. That horse looks just like our daddy, huh Mommy?" I was so serious outside and inside I was cracking up and mentally writing this blog!
Then at lunch I "made" cereal and monkey bread. I had found this super cereal for the youngest (whose favorite animals are pandas), this organic, all natural peanut butter puff cereal and part of the profits help pandas. I think it is called Panda Puffs and there are pandas all over the box. She was crunching them and drinking her milk and said, "Guess what? This really does taste like real pandas!!! Yummy, huh?" I wonder what she was thinking exactly? Either way, she is pretty darn cute!

The oil was changed and then some

Considering that this time yesterday all I was excited about was an oil change, today rocked! We had school this morning and then hit the library for story hour. The girls were able to do a really cool craft! They did not want to leave. Then we got the oil changed. We were in a nice place, with a nice lady who WANTED two cute girls to entertain her! Seriously! She thought they were two of the most beautiful girls ever. They responded well to this and proceeded to act out every animal known to man for her. For an HOUR! She laughed and clapped and looked like she was going to cry when we left. They loved it! Then my "wonder friend" came over and helped me (actually she did it) do iron-on transfers for the girls! You should have seen them! They turned into 5 star fashion designers! Their clothes look so cute, and yes, very shimmery! =)
Now, if my husband can call me today will be complete!
Oh yes! I forgot to mention what happened at dinner. Out of nowhere the oldest says, "Gampy fibs a LOT so he must be the baddest guy ever huh? Do you even know WHY he talks so much all the time? He wants to make people laugh."
I was trying HARD not to die laughing, but I asked her a few questions and said, "Well, you know Gampy is not bad, he just likes to tease and make you giggle." She said, "Yeah, but he never does anything funny. He just fibs and gets himself in trouble all the time." Kids! =)

Hey Awana!!!!

Tonight was the big night! Awana's started here and the girls were pumped and primed and prissy and ready to go. Until we got there. Sigh. The oldest missed out on her class because the youngest wanted her to stay with her. I wish more teachers would help me out by helped me separate them. But, it gives us a goal for next week.
Otherwise, it was a hot, muggy day here and a day in which I did not get to talk to my husband. BUT it is also one day closer to seeing him again!!! I wish I had some big exciting news, but it is not meant to be for today. Wait!! Tomorrow I am getting the oil changed!!!!!!!!!!! =)

Selective Mutism

"Suffering in Silence"
By Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum dedicated to her daughter Sophia Blum

What is Selective Mutism?

It is a beautiful little 4 yr old who loves to talk to her
dolls...But she cannot speak outside the home..

It is an adorable 6 yr old boy who runs around boisterously in his
backyard ............ . but stands expressionless, staring into space,
when he enters his classroom..

It is a 11 yr old little girl who sings and writes beautiful songs at
home.......but cannot verbalize a sound to her teacher and classmates.

It is a 15 yr old boy who loves computers; roughhousing and joking
with his best friend...... but cannot talk to his best friend at
school or other social events.

It is a sensitive and perceptive little 5 yr old girl who tells her
parents all the exciting and fun things she wants to do at her
birthday party....... .....but has never spoken a word to anyone
outside the home..

It is a comical 6 yr old girl who dances and sings in the
entertainment room while her family proudly watches on....but, stands
motionless, and cannot utter a sound when her class rehearses for the
school musical..

It is a 9 yr old boy cheering loudly and intensely as he watches his
favorite hockey team score a goal... but sits alone at a party and
sadly turns away when another child approaches him.

It is an artistic 7-year-old girl who prides herself on showing off
her artwork to her family and two best friends.... but cannot talk to
these friends at school..

What is Selective Mutism? It is a child suffering in silence

I thought this was so beautiful! I belong to a yahoo group of parents with children of all ages dealing with selective mutism. Anyways, I just thought I'd share this with everyone.

Me and the girls are back home! They had a great time with Nana, Gampy, my sister and Daisy-cat! They talked non-stop for the entire ride home! They wanted to tell me everything! I loved it! They passed out within about 5 minutes of laying down in their beds. It is nice to be home, I just wish my husband was here. He did call from the field tonight though!

Tomorrow it is back to the grind and I am thankful.

All kinds of amazing

That is what this weekend was.
It actually started on a real bad note. I was stuck at the hotel and was able to get a late checkout. But around 3 I finally had to leave. So I took a cab to base and had them drop off near the barracks. I lugged my suitcase over to go find my hubby so he could take it for me. I found him within 5 minutes, we had a very brief hug (he was still working) and he took my suitcase from me. The only place within walking distance was this coffee shop/bar place. I walked over there and claimed a table. I read for 2 hours and figured (we both did) that he would be done within 20 minutes. I waited for their formation, which was SUPPOSED to be the last thing. Well, the lovely leadership decided to keep them longer have them keep cleaning. By this time, I cannot return to the bar because it was turning into a BAR atmosphere. So my hubby is cleaning in a very angry manor and I am stuck, on a concrete step for THREE HOURS getting bit by all manor of bugs. Finally, when the storm was about to open up and rain, they released the men. We loaded up and the "all kinds of amazing began"! Here's the good part! =)
First off, I have ridden on a motorcycle two or three time total and have never gone faster than maybe 40 mph. Well, on this trip we did not want to rent a car so we took my hubby's motorcycle. All our stuff had to fit into a backpack. So, we spent the weekend in jeans. It was awesome! Back to whole 40 mph thing. The second road we get on is min. 55 and max 75. Yep. MPH. Plus it was pitch black and thunder and lightning all around. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! I loved every second of the trip! Plus, Oklahoma is beautiful and I want to come live here and retire here eventually. Love it. Friday night we did not get to our hotel till 11:30 at night. We ended up eating at McDonald's! The next morning we struck out and ate breakfast at a bookstore. We drove around Oklahoma City and hit several really cool stores! We saw the movie "Prince Caspian" and ate a late dinner at a super wonderful Mexican place called On the Border. The Mexican place was 7/10 of a mile from the hotel. We went there for dinner around 8 p.m. and decided to walk. Bright idea. We were leaisurely finishing our dinner and laughing and talking when BOOM. Screams. Laughing. Rain. TONS of rain. Guess what else? We have no cash. We wait outside for a few minutes and realized we just had to walk back. I had the brilliant idea before we left to wear flip flops. I regretted that at this moment. There was so much water on the flat OK roads. A small boat could have floated! We were drenched!!!!! Then we went under this tree and bird POOPED on my husband's shirt! We did make it back to the hotel and did some laundry. It felt so good to get warm!!! Sunday we ate at Panera Bread and saw two movies. We saw "Henry Poole" and it is a MUST SEE!! Amazing movie!!! Lunch was at this neat little joint called Lotsa Noodle. YUM! We hit deep downtown to a place called Bricktown. It was beautiful! We saw the botanical gardens and drank lots of water. That night we got back so late all the place close to the hotel were closed except good ole' Denny's! That won out and we actually enjoyed it a lot! Today was just bittersweet. The day went way too quickly and my husband's platoon ONLY had to return to run drills at 7. So I am already alone here at the hotel. I miss him like crazy and the girls like crazy. I hate to leave and cannot wait to get home. 20 days and we will all be together again!