Culinary Genius

Tonight I put a whole chicken in the oven and went to the store after Jim got home. I needed some milk and I figured I had just enough time to get back and finish cooking so that dinner would be on the table at the usual time. Guess what? I forgot to turn on the oven. I came home to a completely raw chicken and really not much in the pantry or freezer that was a "quick" meal. The kids were already asking if dinner was soon and I was contemplating pizza or spaghettios. My brilliant husband announced, "Breakfast for dinner!" Crisis averted. The kids all love pancakes. I'm on a roll today. I think I could use a nap.

And the winner is...

Well it was a big weekend for Cole. After we went to the Children's Museum, we went to the mall to play at the indoor playground and eat dinner. We had no idea that a new lego store had opened and this just happened to be their big promotional weekend. They had several tables set up where kids could build different pieces to be added to a giant pirate. Once you complete the piece, you receive a certificate to take down to the lego store in exchange for a little pirate mask. Ok cool. We have some time to kill and that might be fun. Well in the center of all of these tables was a guy giving away lego prizes to people who could answer a trivia question correctly. We walked over and stood with about 40-50 other kids and parents and waited for the next question. The next prize being given away was the pirate lego set that Cole has seriously been begging for for weeks. I have been telling him to put it on his birthday list. The question was to name a famous pirate, real or fictional. He went around the crowd once and heard about 20 answers. Nobody guessed it right. When he came close to Cole, Jim told him to say, "Captain Morgan," which he did. Everyone thought that was quite humorous coming from a 4 year old. The guy continued to ask around and around and after about 15 minutes, no one had managed to come up with the right answer. He finally gave a hint (Captain in a famous movie) just before getting back around to Cole. Somehow Jim thought of it just in time and Cole responded with "Captain Barbosa!" He won!! Everyone cheered for the Cpt. Morgan kid. Cole's eyes got so so big. He was so excited. Cole woke up the next morning at 6:15 asking to play with his new legos. He played all day, only stopping for meals. It was a big day for him.

Our Favorite Place

Our favorite place in Boston (so far) is the Children's Museum. Now we have only scratched the surface of things to do with kids in Boston but this place is never a disappointment. The best part about it, it's totally free to the military! You can't beat that. It has three stories and so many fun things to do for kids of all ages. I don't ever take the kids by myself because I am so worried I would lose one, especially now that they feel so comfortable in the place and we are constantly having to remind them to stay near one of us. We decided to spend the day there this past Friday to celebrate Avery's 9 month birthday. Here are some pictures from our day...

Thank Goodness for Girlfriends

Last night I had a wonderful movie and ice cream night with some friends. I know that probably doesn't sound too exciting but for a bunch of moms who only see things in the theater that are animated, it was a good time. We saw "He's Just Not That Into You" which was actually pretty good. I'm definitely glad I'm not trying to navigate the dating world in today's society after seeing that. Of course Jim had to hear the whole play by play of the entire movie when I got home. But what I really enjoyed the most about my evening was the company. There is something about the military that just bonds people together. As much as I hate packing up and leaving all of my friends every three years, God never seems to leave me lonely for long. There are always amazing new women waiting at our next post with open arms. What amazes me is that everyone is in the same boat, somehow or another. We all make friends quickly because none of us will be around for long so it's easy to bypass the formalities. We have all dealt with deployments and loss and can understand how difficult it is for someone to go home to an empty house just to turn on the news and pray for nothing. We've all gone through difficult times while far away and separated from "old" friends and family. There is a reason we refer to our military friends as our military family. Because we are. These are the people we will spend Thanksgiving with. They are the people who call you or knock on your door if they haven't heard enough chaos coming out of your house. They are the people who will send you encouraging emails or bring by dinner in the middle of the week when your husband is in the field and your kids are sick. They are the people who don't have to know who you are or even much about you to welcome you and invite you into their inner circle, even though you are new. I'm certainly not saying that they are a replacement for your real family, but they are pretty darn close. So thanks all you military spouses, for understanding the day to day struggles, calling on me when you need help and answering my calls as well, and welcoming me into your lives. This life certainly isn't easy, or like anything I could have imagined, but the people who have touched our lives have made it more than worthwhile.

First Foods

Avery is officially done with baby food. I feel like this is a bit early but she has taken after her sister and is refusing any spoon fed meals. We have learned in the past few days that she has great reflexes and can swat a spoonful of food away much quicker than we can get it in her mouth. So basically we are in the stage where she can't swallow more than little bits, I have to find appropriate foods that I can cut up into little bits, she refuses to be fed from a spoon, and she will only eat things she can pick up herself. We made an additional trip to the commissary today to accommodate her new dietary needs. We have also come to remember this week that this stage of babyhood requires a bath after almost every meal. Ahhh, life is fun.

I'm A- Cookin' Mommy

Alli has found a new interest in cooking. She wants to cook with me EVERY night. She loves mixing ingredients together but I think the best part for her is cooking for her family. She is so pleased with herself to present her meal. She tells everyone in the house that she is making dinner for them. Then she asks everyone what kind of vegetable they would like. Jim is really great about praising her for all of her hard work. He used to get them all in unison to say, "Thanks for dinner, Mommy." Now it is Alli that we all thank. It has been really fun watching how excited she gets; and not so fun cleaning up all of her kitchen messes.

I also want to add that after this first picture was taken, Alli was COVERED in bisquick. I told her to wash her hands in the bathroom. She replied, "No, Mommy. Dumbledore will lick them and they will be clean." She then tried to call the dog over to clean her hands. "Um. No, absolutely not. Go to the bathroom and I'll be there to help you in a minute." She covered herself and the bathroom hand towels in water in the moments she spent alone in our bathroom off the kitchen. It is almost impossible to stay on top of all of her messes. The second picture is after she had a wet shirt change and is setting the table with Cole.

My Cole

I didn't have anything spectacular to write about Cole today. He had a wonderful day and did plenty of fun things (played with legos) but he wouldn't smile for any pictures and I have nothing new to report. So... I just wanted to write about how special Cole is. First let me say that I truly love all of my kids. Someone once told me that when you have more babies, your heart grows bigger but the hours in your day do not. That is so true. I have to divide my time between the three of them and Jim but my heart has certainly expanded to let me love all of them equally. BUT, I do want to say that Cole is my special little buddy. Maybe it's because he is my only boy; maybe it is because he is my first (nothing beats the first moment when you realize you really are a mom); or maybe it's because his daddy was in Iraq for the first year of his life. Whatever the reason, we have a very special bond. He is my little buddy, my special man, my big helper. He can make all the world's troubles go away just my saying a few words. His mind is so simple and perfect. Even though I have nothing spectacular to report on this day, I really just wanted to say that I am blessed with a phenominal little man who amazes me every day. I cherish every second I have with him. It seems like yesterday that Jim was calling the hospital and I was telling him he has a son. Now he is almost 5 and I know the time will continue to fly by...

We've Started a Blog!

We have started one a couple of times and haven't really kept up with it but we are really going to try to keep this one going. We have enjoyed keeping up with some of our military friends' blogs and thought this would be a great way for you to keep up with us! Send me a link to yours if you have one and I don't know about it. Happy Monday everyone!

Fun Facts About Avery

-She loves to play with the refrigerator magnets
-She has two teeth on the bottom. Her smile is so cute.
-She recently learned to clap and wave so she does this often.
-She likes to clap whenever she sees us dance or do something silly
-Her favorite food is peas
-She gets very jealous if another child is in my lap
-She does not like me leaving the room right now
-She loves the bath and splashing water at Cole and Alli
-She pulls Alli's hair when she gets close enough
-She likes to be picked up and danced around. She is pretty happy whenever there is music on but seems to particularly like Dave Matthews.
-Her eyes are becoming more brown like Jim's.
-She will not wear socks. She pulls them off almost immediately after I put them on.
-Her favorite songs are "Wheels on the Bus" and "Shoo Fly"
-She has one very favorite book about trucks that we read probably 15 times a day. She laughs the whole way through.

Fun Facts About Alli

-She goes back and forth between wanting to be called Alli or Allissa. She says she likes them both.
-She thinks she is a princess and wants to be a princess when she grows up. She also wants us to get a bird to live in the house because princesses live with birds and talk to them all day.
-She lines everything up in rows and counts them. We had a friend in Oklahoma that used to do this too. Every time Corban came to our house, I knew I would find all of our refrigerator magnets lined up in neat rows after he left.
-Her favorite color is pink. Surprise surprise.
-She has a bad temper and is not afraid to show it. She absolutely does not let anyone mess with her. She will turn and growl at people who try to take things from her or push her around. We are trying to help her find some other ways to deal with conflict.
-She is also extremely empathetic. She gets very concerned for other kids who are upset and she is always the first to run over and ask if they are okay.
-She is insanely protective of her baby sister. She doesn't like other kids getting too close to Avery and will instruct them how to touch her gently.
-She loves all animals.
-Her favorite dinner is spaghetti and meatballs or Fondue.
-It does not matter if Alli has just finished eating. She will ask you for whatever you have should she see you eating something.
-She does not like stories with witches. We are no longer allowed to read Snow White because there is a mean witch.
-She loves to paint, cut paper, glue anything she can, and cover herself in stamps.
-She loves to dance but only wants to dance with a partner, preferably Cole. She will settle for her parents if Cole refuses to dance with her.
-Alli is loud. There is just no other way to say that.
-She does not like nap time. I think she will be outgrowing them pretty soon.
-It is a happy day if I buy Doritos from the grocery store. It doesn't happen often.
-She loves shoes. She will pull all of her shoes out just to try them on and walk around the house. This is cute now and keeps her pretty occupied. Her shoe fascination will not be cute when she is 15.

Fun Facts About Cole

-Cole has to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for lunch. When I make him something else, he will eat that and ask for a pb&j to go with it
-Cole gets hooked on things and decides he will obsess over it for a few months. It started a couple of years ago with the Wiggles, then Larry Boy from Veggietales, then Lightning McQueen. Right now he is obsessed with dinosaurs.
-He is a candy monster. He would eat nothing but candy if I would let him. Seriously I've never seen a kid like candy as much as he does.
-Cole loves containers of all kinds. He likes to put things like his legos or cars in them and then carry them around.
-On July 4th, 2006, Cole watched a space shuttle launch and the obsession with space began. This still continues today. We have taken him to NASA twice and he tells us at least once a day that he will be an astronaut. He used to say that he would take me to space with him but he has now told me that only astronauts may go so I will have to stay home.
-Our good friend, Sutton, also wants to be an astronaut so we have arranged their wedding. It will be a wedding in space.
-His favorite ninja turtle is Michelangelo.
-Temporary tattoos are about the coolest thing ever.
-He likes to take his friends for rides up to space in his space shuttle tent.
-Cole has a new found interest in basketball. I don't know that genetics are in his favor but we will support him as long as wants to play.
-He likes to help me pack his snack for school. He always requests either a gogurt or a fruit by the foot to go in there.
-He goes sledding at recess.
-He hates eggs and grape juice.
-He likes legos, the hokey pokey, and puzzles. He is really good at puzzles.
-Cole sleeps with about 8 stuffed animals every night. His bed is crazy.
-He is an amazing big brother but he LOVES when the girls are napping and he gets Jim and I all to himself.

Our Valentine's Day

I received an email from a single friend recently which started by telling me how much she couldn't wait for Feb. 14th to be over so her friends would stop trying to find her a husband. It got me thinking about Valentine's day and how everyone views the holiday so differently depending on their stage in life. Cole and Alli have loved all of the festivities this week. They have passed out cards, gone to parties, and eaten tons of candy. Cole made me a heart shaped pin at school and was so so proud to give it to me. HOWEVER, I look on facebook and see all of my single friends complaining about it being the worst day ever. Then I have my military friends who have deployed husbands and Feb. 14th just becomes another huge reminder that they will be going to bed alone- again. One of my best friends got engaged a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty sure this will be a good Valentine's day for her. I have another friend who is dressing up her daughter and sending her out on a special date with her daddy. Her dad has also been gone for 6 weeks doing training so I think this is a special day for them too. I have had some wonderful Valentine's days, especially after meeting Jim. One year he even surprised me by flying to Dallas from Germany to take me out to dinner. So sweet. But I really think that the best Valentine's days are not the ones filled with romantic dinners or evenings out. They aren't the anti-valentine's night out with your girlfriends although those are pretty fun too. I think the best ones are the ones you get to spend with your young children. They are so sweet and just want to tell everyone they love them. I love the homemade cards and the sweetness in their voices. They were so excited when they woke up this morning and saw the cards and treats we had left out for them. They have spent all morning on a sugar high and decorating the house with hearts. Jim made pink, heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and they called their Mimi to scream, "Happy Valentine's Day!" I think I pretty much have always loved every holiday but I just don't think you can beat watching the excitement in a child on these special days. I know days like today will provide me with so many happy memories for years to come. At least I can cherish these years before they all become teenagers and complain to me about the commercialism and horribleness that is Valentine's day should they find themselves without a boyfriend or girlfriend on Feb. 14th. I'll just wear my little heart pin from Cole and remember this day and how perfect it has been.