First Landing State Park

On Saturday we spent the afternoon on our mountain bikes. We packed up the kids, the bikes, the bike cart, snacks and plenty of water and drove over to First Landing State Park . There is a great 10 mile bike path that Jeff and I decided to tackle. The girls did great (expect for the last few miles on the way back). They enjoyed being in the woods and seeing all the other bikers and joggers. We even saw a good size snake. At mile 4 there was a beautiful water opening that we stopped at and let the girls stretch their legs. It looked like fresh water, but it may have been part of the bay. The foliage reminded us of Maine and how much we miss the lake in the summer time.

The trails at First Landing Park are nicely marked and well maintained. It was refreshing to be "in the woods" and escaping suburbia for a few hours. I'm sure we'll be enjoying this park a lot next summer, as it's close and has so much to offer. Enjoy the pics...

L-I-L-Y

Here are some pics of Lily practicing how to write her name. She can write it all but needs a little help with the Y. She truly misses school these days. Every morning I have to come up with some type of craft or structured activity, as she LOVES learning and being creative. I can't wait for school to start again...Mommy is running out of ideas!

Happy Birthday Josh!

We hope you have a great day!

Summer Daze

This past weekend Jeff had to work a lot, but we still managed to squeeze in some family fun. We were able to make it over to the Waterpark for a few hours and enjoy a relaxing bike ride around our neighborhood. The girls loved riding in the cart behind Daddy and cheering Mommy on as I rode by. We went in the evening so the temps had cooled down enough that we could actually stand being outside. The pics I took are a little blurry, it's pretty tough to get good shots while riding a bike.

Counterproductive

WHAT I WAS DOING......

WHAT THEY WERE DOING!

It's a true miracle I can get anything clean in my house!

2nd Annual Snowmen in July

With the Heat Index between 100-110 these last few days, we've been staying inside trying to keep cool. Here are our snowmen....Lily made hers all by herself!

Going Green

Couldn't Put it Down

Finished it in 2 days!! I'm finally making time for reading again. I'm catching up on the pile of books that have been sitting on my night stand FOREVER. I just read the Secret Life of Bees, another great book. I think Wicked is next on my list!

Accomplishments

By myself and with two children in tow I was able to get the following things done in the last week:
-Took the cat and the dog to the vet
-Got Lily's hair cut
-Went to the Dentist
-Went to the grocery store twice
-Exercised 6 times (walking the dog, running and an exercise video)
-cleaned the house
-Did 8 loads of laundry
-Got my blog caught up
-Went to Sears and returned some items

I guess I am getting use to multi-tasking!

Here are some pics and a video of my little helpers.....


Be sure to pause the music on the right to hear Lily talking.

Now if I can just get them to do bathrooms!

Thoughts

I have no pictures to post of our fun filled family weekend, just my thoughts. We had a busy weekend as usual. We tried to squeeze in as many family activities as possible around Jeff's work schedule, all while catching up on outside (and a few inside) chores that I didn't get done during the week.

Saturday was an all day pool party at our neighbor's house, Jill and Rob. They have a pool and an amazing deck for hosting. We had great food and enjoyed getting to know all our neighbors. Lily was a complete FISH! We recently bought her a life jacket and she has instantly become fearless in the water. She swam for almost 3 hours straight. Around 7:30 we were packing up the kids and our neighbors daughter, Emma offered to babysit the girls so we could stay and enjoying some adult time. Jeff and I of course rushed home and put the girls to bed. They fell asleep in minutes. Then Emma arrived and we were off across the street to sit in the hot tub and enjoy a few drinks. It was truly a relaxing night. It was so nice to get to know all our neighbors. It makes me feel much more comfortable about Jeff leaving, knowing all the people that share our street. They all offered ( in one way or another) to help while Jeff is away. I'll also have lots of people keeping an eye on us. This is the first place we have lived that we are friends with all our neighbors. There is a real community spirit here, everyone looks after one another and there are just kids everywhere!

After Jeff got out of work on Sunday, we spent the afternoon at Ocean Breeze Waterpark. The kids love it there and Jeff and I love taking them. This time we actually spent more time in the adult pool, wave pool and larger slides. Lily is making SO much progress in the water. She even went under several times (a few by herself). Jeff and I took turns riding a few of the fast slides and we of course devoured some Coldstone ice cream.

I guess I wanted to journal this because all weekend I really made a point to slow down and enjoy the time with my family. When the four of us are together I feel so complete and happy. It's going to be really difficult when Jeff deploys. He is such an amazing Dad and husband. I always feel like we're a great team and can do anything with the kids when we're together. It's a feeling that is so hard to describe, happiness isn't even the right word. There will be such a void when he's gone. Although I am savoring this happiness, there is a looming sadness. I know in a few short months there will be no more Daddy weekends (albeit they are short right now, we still have him a little). Six months is truly going to feel like an eternity with out Jeff here. He'll miss so much with the girls and we'll miss him so much! So... no pictures this weekend. I just completely absorbed the time with my amazing family. I love you Lily, Emma and Jeff. I feel blessed and complete to be living the role as Mom and wife to the three of you. I am already wishing away this deployment so we can pick up where we are leaving off... just happy being together.

A New Do

BEFORE....

AFTER!

A new summer hair cut to keep cool. You look so sweet Lilybug!

Thanks for doing such a great job Amy!

Happy 9th Anniversary

Have a great day Cindy and Josh. We miss you!

July 4th 2008

We had a great time for the 4th of July. Our friends Beth and Bryan were here for the weekend and we hosted a big BBQ for our friends. We had burgers, brats, potato salad, corn on the cob, baked beans, watermelon and lots of yummy desserts. Kim made her famous strawberry cake and Erin and Jack made super cool "hamburger" cupcakes. Thank you to everyone for helping with the food.

The weather was WAY too hot and humid, but we kept cool with margaritas and beer. It was a little tough to hear all our neighbors splashing in their pools, but the great company kept everyone entertained. The kids had a blast with the pool, swing set and toys. It was a complete kid zone.

After the kids went to bed and the sun had set, we moved the party out to our street. Our neighbors put on an impressive fireworks display. It was nice to enjoy the show with out being out on the road and sitting in the traffic congestion.

Overall we had a wonderful 4th of July. The best part, Jeff was able to be home all weekend with us. Thank you to all our friends for coming to our party and helping us celebrate the 4th. We had a great time. Happy 4th of July to all!

Time.

A weekend together...priceless!! Jeff was able to spend some time at home over the weekend so we enjoyed some fun family activities. On Friday night, Jeff met us at the Jumping Monkey for some bouncing castle fun and then we dined together as a family in PUBLIC! We ate at TGIF's and the girls were great. Lily ate her entire meal in about 2 minutes and Em...she basically ate constantly the entire hour we were there. We definitely have some good eaters on our hands. I guess they are just like their Mommy and Daddy.

After Jeff worked on Saturday morning, we spent the entire afternoon at Ocean Breeze Waterpark. It was Jeff's first time with us, so Lily was excited to show Daddy how much she loves the water slides. It was an extremely hot afternoon so Jeff and I took turns on a few of the large slides. It was a great afternoon. I really miss having Jeff around, especially on the weekends. That evening we enjoyed a summer feast of hamburgers, pasta salad, watermelon and corn on the cob. Although Jeff had to work on Sunday, we enjoyed every minute we had together as a family. Thanks for trying to always be in two places at once Honey!

13 Months

*Loves to climb on EVERYTHING and can easily climb on top of the kitchen table, coffee table and every piece of furniture in the house

*sleeps 12 hours a night consistently (finally!)

*Is completely done nursing, but hates whole milk

*Eats 3 large meals a day and snacks, her favorites are fruit, mac and cheese, french toast, yogurt drinks, cheese, crackers and pasta salad

*Wears 18 Months, size 4 diapers and size 4 shoes

*Loves the water (pool, water park or tub)

*Can walk and run very easily

*Some words she speaks: mama, dada, doggie, baby, diaper, Emma, cracker

*Has found her voice and yells at her sister when she steals her toys

*Takes two naps, but is slowly transitioning to one

*Loves her sleepy bear, big elephant and any baby

*Finally will sit and listen to books, her favorites are PJ Time, Fuzzy Fuzzy and The Going to Bed Book

*Drinks nonstop all day and especially loves what ever her sister is drinking

*Has SUPER curly hair, the bluest eyes, a huge toothy smile and the sweetest laugh

*Loves to chase Daddy and Lily around the house

*Understands and can follow directions very well (put that back, get down, close the door)

*IS INTO EVERYTHING!!! There is no way to baby proof, she is just so busy

*LOVES to give hugs and pat your back

*Can give kisses, wave bye bye and plays peek-a-boo

*Has a temper and likes getting her own way

*Loves to dance to music

*Isn't interested in TV at all, except for the occasional Elmo's World

*Loves to be held and is a bit of a Mommy's girl

We love you Emma...can't believe you are already a busy little toddler.

"My Future's So Bright...

I've got to wear shades!"