Catching Up

I think I'm going to do a week in the life this week...naturally I decide this on Monday NIGHT. =)

Anyway, in order to do the rest of the week, let's catch up. Lots of these have landed on Facebook because it's so easy to snap a photo and post it. Sorry for any repeats!

 

Katie, Bree and I played in the church yard while we waited for Carly's religious ed class. The weather was lovely! This wasn't yesterday, it was...I think two weeks ago. Anywho - cuteness.

 

Bree's first soccer game! I didn't get the email about black socks. She, however, did remarkably well, for a child of mine. She knew where the ball was at all times, which in and of itself is a major accomplishment, but she also got her feet on it and turned it around a couple of times. Just one minor drama but otherwise she did great.

Monday of last week was an early release day, and since it was about 80, we went to enjoy our last beach day of the season. Katie and I weren't too hot and the water was still nice and warm, so the big girls got a solid couple of hours to splash around before their lips started turning colors. These crazy girls - NO idea what they're doing!

And the obligatory zombie attack =)

Friday night we drove up to the base to hang out with some friends. I told the kids to make awesome poses and I'm KIND OF in love with the kid in front doing karate hands while everyone else but Carly ignores me. =)

Okay, this is Bree and a friend of ours who is only a year older. When Carly is around, our friend tends to gravitate toward her, but Carly was otherwise occupied, and these two really hit it off! You gotta love a girl who rocks sunglasses without the glass part and a bathing suit while pretending a Rubbermaid tub is a pirate ship. She and Bree were like "where have you BEEN all my life????" Hahah little friend soulmates - it was beautiful!

After that party, Carly went for a sleepover. We picked her up at her friend's soccer game (Bree had a bye week) and ran a bunch of errands in Jacksonville. Sunday afternoon, we decorated the porch and thanks to Lowe's being just over the bridge and my knowing exactly what I wanted we were all finished exactly 37 minutes after we pulled out of the driveway to leave. Efficient!

One of our Brownie friends' dad is deployed and she has two older sisters who had soccer games in Jacksonville, so she came early for a playdate. Then, Brownies, which was super fun as always! Then we and our friend came back here, let our babysitter go (she'd been watching Bree) and made what we termed "Yugly" pumpkin pancakes. Ugly and yummy. =) I did make the mistake of calling them "fugly" at one point and had to say that's because they are so ugly they're funny...then had to say that term can hurt people's feelings, apologized for using it and recommended the girls stick to "yugly." Because GEEZ can you just see that happening at school? But Miss Liz said it! Yikes.

 

Whiiiiich brings us to today. The weather was GLORIOUS. Katie and I spent our entire morning walking in the woods right up until it was time to get Bree at 12. Then we set out a big blanket, propped our beach umbrella up to shade Katie and played outside until 5pm. One of Bree's preschool friends' mom is the counselor at Carly's school and she leads a running group. So Bree's friend came to play with us for a few hours. Here is Bree, being a swashbuckling princess firefighter...or something...in the dress she has been harrassing me to let her wear for about three months.

 

Hahah okay so then while I'm cooking dinner? Apparently the toy on the seat is too boring because Katie was sitting up out of her seat to mess with the little wire that would attach to an MP3 player. I guess Katie didn't get the email about still being a tiny baby...

So yeah! That was our...sort of...two and a half weeks. More or less in order.

I got to talk to Paul on the Skype messenger last night for an hour. Neither one of us could actually TALK because his Marines were on the other side of his little plywood walls (with a poncho door) and I've got Katie right in the bassinet next to me in my room, but we had the video on so I could see his face. He's doing fine, no major complaints. He is concerned that he won't ever smell human again (although the did rig up a beer-funnel like contraption for showers) and is planning to toss out his bedding and clothes because the apparently a five-gallon bucket isn't the best for doing laundry. The biggest challenge he told me about is helping his very young Marines (most are 21 and younger) deal with the huge cultural differences between themselves and their international counterparts there in the patrol base. They see behaviors and attitudes that appear to Americans, particularly Marines, as lazy, weak, inattentive, prissy, which can be so frustrating. A funny story, though? One of the other guys asked Paul how to get hot water where they are because he didn't want a cold shower and Paul told him to put some water in a bucket and set it out in the sun. =)

Needless to say, we will ALL be happy when he's back here!