so...

okay, so last post was fast! my kids were just getting home (thanks to WONDERFUL grandparents who took them for five days and drove them home!!). it was so fun to see them. james is still sick, with a funky rash, but both kids were a JOY! nora is SO MUCH older... and jamey just snuggled. fun to have them back! more on vacay tomorrow...

a fun night...

had on my ugg boots, leggings and a cute lilly dress. forgot we were going bowling, and there were the only socks i had! you should have seen the whole outfit!

my sweet friend...

my husband... it might be shame on his face, because i was beating him for a few frames!

and this is the game we TIED in!! my fourth grade bowling league experience paid off!

a date!!!

gotta go... kiddos are home!!!

He loves me better...

so, not two minutes after i posted, i got a phone call... from a dear cousin that my flight had been cancelled. it was as i was checking the flight status. the flight was moved to saturday morning.

back up to this morning, i laid in bed, did my quiet time and prayed that i would submit to God's plans and that i would seek His ways... then, got up, still before the kids!! and david looked at me and called me his logistical genius. i was packed. the kids were packed. the house was clean.

even before that, i had read a blog that kept playing over in my mind.

so, i started, again, a long morning. i sat on hold with the airline for 30 minutes, all the while, letting the realtor in (to get the key- they are showing the house this weekend), loaded the kids in the car, and started my drive to meet grammie. i found out they could get us out of boston, to houston, to florida. tomorrow. for some reason, i didn't take it. meanwhile, there were a hundred things happening. mom calling trying to get different flights, missing those opportunities, calling someone, anyone by a computer to book me new flights (thanks em, chels and dd for your help!!), but still not feeling good about that. just feeling unsettled. finally, i said i wouldn't make any decisions until i talked to david. meanwhile, the airline stopped taking any phone calls...

just as i was about to pick up david, i got through to the airline, and they can get us out tomorrow!!! (a miracle) my kids are healthy (another miracle!). and i picked up david and we went out to lunch in newport. and had an AMAZING lunch. and walked around for a few minutes, enjoying the sun, the water and the slush... (i switched to my rain boots!!) it was a wonderful afternoon. off to get a haircut, then the gym, then a date with friends! today worked out so well... and i am thankful that i waiting on God's timing, not my own!!

(ps... can you see the giddy glee on my face??? WONDERFUL!)

some like it hot...

phew... my kids are feeling better! they woke up today different kids! it's been a crazy few days. this weekend is our "househunting" leave. but, it's not practical to go to hawaii for less than 96 hours. (i mean, it's 24 hours JUST in flight time...) so....

the weather is 40 below and the forecast is snow in ohio

and in milwaukee they're freezing their tails

i can tell you it's just heck when it hails in milwaukee

but we're giving winter that old double whammy

at 8:10 am... MIAMI (not really, but florida!)...

(it's from "some like it hot" the musical- my mom used to sing this every year the week leading up to our florida vacay. it gives me such a smile on my face!!)

so, yesterday, we went to the doctor and found out that nora didn't have strep or an ear infection or pneumonia. probably something viral. no explanation for her fever coming back, even higher. but, ruled out some stuff. also he did a urinalysis to check (after the strep was neg.). so, she might have a uti, but different from everything else going on. she and jamey were miserable all afternoon... nora took a 6+ hour nap and woke up at 7pm for a few hours. david's class was delayed this morning due to the weather, and we all slept in! my kids woke up feeling better! so, off we go... they are singing, "to grandmother's house we go!!" (and couldn't be MORE excited... yesterday when nora was feeling so sick, i kept asking if she was going to be okay without mommy. that would bring fits of tears and "no... i WANT to go to grammie's. i WANT you to go!"... nothing reassures a mommy's heart more! i am so glad they get to have a fun weekend!)

so, no pics... i was cleaning and packing and caring for sick babies!

what to do?

what to do when a girl stays home from school sick and you can't go to the gym, so you desperately try to do yoga while the kids watch a show?? feed them chocolate covered sunflower seeds from trader joe's.

when that fails, dump out all the toys in the box (i had been meaning to go through it anyway...)

lastly, make cookies (okay, this was after BOTH kids were in bed, for my girls' night tonight...)

so, nora just wasn't herself this morning. her eyes looked sick. any moms know what i mean? she said she felt fine, but she was whiny and just lethargic. so, i told her she was staying home from school. she begged to be allowed to go.

fast forward to my lotus position with a 25 pound boy on my back saying, "bounce, bounce". fun times. or, trying to balance on one foot with two kids playing chase around that leg. good times! i got through it!

and then we went to swimming lessons. i figured nora could just sit on the bleachers, and a friend from church is sometimes there watching her son, so if anything happened, she was there. nora fell asleep on the bleachers. i felt so bad waking her up, but so justified in keeping her home today.

and when we got home, she begged for a nap. so, both kids napped for 3 1/2 hours. i think nora would still be napping, but i made her get up and come downstairs (lest you think i am horrible, i bribed her with a show...). three and a half hours! i cleaned and organized my sewing room (i do that a lot, huh??). i UNPACKED my LAST box! (i know, we've only been here over THREE months!) i tailored my favorite shorts so they fit again. i tailored a shirt for mom. i worked on a few more projects... i made cookies. i cleaned the downstairs. i did laundry. i organized the toy box downstairs. i watched tv. it was HEAVEN!! i could get used to that...

monday...

i am not feeling super creative with my blog titles this week. it's monday. and RIDICULOUSLY cold. in fact, i considered not even leaving the house today. but, the gym called, as did a playdate and then picking up daddy from work. i set jamey down to walk at one point, and he slid on the ice and just stopped. and cried, "hold you". he's not a fan. after removing his mittens FOUR times this morning, i gave up. he was screaming by the time we got inside the gym about his freezing hands. i didn't feel back. i just said, loudly so everyone could hear, "it's not my fault you took off your mittens FOUR times!". (so they didn't think i was a bad mother!)

nora even let me put on jeans and her uggs today! i was so proud. and she looked so cute! she got all bundled up by herself, proudly showing me how her preschool teacher taught her to do certain things! (since i forget that we live where it's cold and i should teach my daughter how to do it!) she took an hour nap on my lap this afternoon... so precious! she was sitting there while i made one phone call, then we were going to play. before i knew it, she was gone!

tonight, i went through my summer clothes. i keep thinking that i have none. however, i have more than i know what to do with! (or at least more than i thought!!) all these clothes that haven't fit since before i got married, fit again!! and i have a big "donate" pile! (all the ones that are too big now....) i am quite excited about "finding" this "new" wardrobe!

i also learned how to do google reader to follow blogs today. my life feels so much more organized! i have a wonderful friend who taught me to do this while our kids played! her son told nora that she was his best friend! so sweet! (they have known each other less than a month!)

that's all i can think of tonight. sorry for the lack of pics. tomorrow, i promise!

sick day is over!!

from yesterday... when nora napped in my sewing room so she could be close to me!

jamey at dinner... everything he could manage to get in his arms!

out to lunch the other day, trying to balance a spoon on her nose. one of her parents had shown her how to do this!

oh wait... is something wrong?

a view from the end of our street... less than a mile away... LOVE THIS PLACE!

this morning... nora woke up about 4am with her fever gone. thankfully she was back to herself today! we stayed in just to make sure. but, we're gearing up for a big week!!

david was watching a basketball game the other night and nora chimed in... "go browns!" at least she knows what to cheer!!! the games of today are on, and unprompted, nora just said, "steelers are bad". well, yup, they are!

another sick day...

my little girl is SICK. not sick. SICK. she has had a HIGH fever. all day. yesterday afternoon, she told me that she was sick. when i asked why, she told me it was because jamey pulled her hair. i kind of brushed it off. then, i went to a friend's house. and came home to a girl with a HIGH fever.

last night didn't make it much better. she napped three times today. and went to bed at 6pm. but, as she and i were snuggling, jamey REALLY wanted to be in on the action. and, as a testament to how sick nora was, nora didn't even complain! and jamey just wanted to snuggle.

that's what we're up to....

playdates...

yesterday, we had a playdate with nora's friend from school. on the way there (after school), nora asked if i could put jamey in a crib and keep him away from where the girls were playing. she also proceeded to give me a rundown of all that the girl had for them to play with. she was BEYOND excited!

the girls had a GREAT time, jamey played with me, and i so enjoyed getting to know this mommy. what fun.

in another playdate today, the mom (another navy mom) commented on how the military community moves so fast... you go from complete strangers to besties in a matter of days. it's such a fun climate. there are less walls up.... which i think is compounded when i meet another Christian military wife. there is a sisterhood, a bond there.

then, this afternoon, I had a playdate! to sew!!! it was so much fun. this mom and i talked about business plans and sewing and all things amy butler! it was so much fun. God has blessed me this week with some new friends (and continued friendships with old ones!). it's so fun to see His compassions new every morning!

jamey is OBSESSED with "chars"... the movie with lighting mcqueen! he loves it... and loves to snuggle. i had laid down on the bed to check the weather, and he saw me and came to the side, with his arms up, asking "nuggle?". it was so precious. what's a mom to do? he really has a decent vocabulary, if only i can understand it! he wants your full attention. he's not okay if you just "listen" to him. he will routinely turn my face so i am looking at him when he talks. good manners!

"cheese" and other funny faces...

how i found nora yesterday morning. david had gotten her breakfast and all wrapped up while i got up and spent some time with God... sweet man and sweet girl!

going for a ride in the pick up truck. a country girl at heart!

little buddy... so cute! (is it wrong that most of his winter clothes are browns' apparel or browns' colors?)

off on their "date".

why are boxes the most fun??

what i got when i asked him to say "cheese"...

showing off his "cool dudes"...

he was trying to desperately to get himself into that box and close the top all by himself...

another attempt...

a date.

today, i asked nora what she wanted to do. she told me she wanted to go to the museum. i asked if she meant the children's or the fishy one. she said children's. and, fortuitously, daddy was getting home early. so, i said we would ask....

fastforward to picking up daddy. he asked nora how her day was, and she told him she wanted to go to the museum. he looked at me and said he had been about to ask the same thing! so, they went on a date. they stopped for lunch, and are enjoying a day at the museum. i just keep getting picture updates.

i have made tomato basil soup, showered, cut out three new projects and put my boy to bed! he got to watch the veggie tales he has been begging for, and we had lunch together, rocked and read stories.

out with the old...

so, i was holding out on buying new uggs. i really wanted tall ones, but i had a perfectly good pair. until last week. then, i started to notice that my toe was millimeters from poking through. so, i thought about it. i priced it out. i looked at cable/sweater ones (which i liked, but were like my current purple ones... tready and only went with certain things...) and then, i realized that i could use credit card points!!! whoo-hoo... so, i got this awesome pair of uggs. for free (well, unless you count all the money i spent on groceries, gas and airline tickets to accumulate those points...)! so, there they are. and now it's raining... and i can't find my rain-protector-spray-stuff.... sad face!!

on the up side... nora had a playdate today. she LOVED it! i think the highlight was being "without mommy!!" i did have fun chatting with the mom beforehand, and realized we grew up 10 minutes apart!! what a small world. God has been doing that with me recently. giving me little "things", coincidences, answers to prayers in AWESOME ways. God is always good. His goodness is not dependent on my circumstances. but, it's fun to see good in His goodness! anyway... i am about to head out... in my rain boots, not my supercomfy new uggs! (i was cutting out a new pattern today and jamey was circling me. then, he started putting his hand down my boots and just rubbing. the boot, not me! even he likes my new uggs! nothing quite like that feel!!!)

side note... there have been so many things i have said no to this year, or just made do with what we had, or didn't (nora's severe lack of snow pants... )... in the name of moving to a tropical island in less than five months. so yes, my uggs are completely impractical for a tropical island, but it was a trade. and what i considered MOST worth having!!!

mystic...

enjoying petting the rays... thankfully, no children or rays were harmed in this adventure! (although, children were threatened to be harmed!! by their parents. for their whining!!)

nora enjoying watching the fish. the first ones she saw reminded her of nemo (let's be honest, i think every kid i heard today was talking about nemo at some point...).

in my attempt to stop my kid from screaming and running like a mad man through the aquarium, (why were all the other kids SO WELL behaved today? david and i looked at each other at one point and asked what we were doing wrong...) i gave him his first piece of gum. i had left the suckers in the car. and he didn't want pac (mostly because snuggle puppy wasn't also included.. and yes, we have made the switch to the new puppy!!!). the gum lasted about as long as it took me to take the picture...

petting the sharks...

totally took me forever to see the eels in this tank. and then they took me by surprise! there were so many, just coming out of random places! eww...

back again at the sharks.

james getting the starfish... nora encouraging him to do it (she was a teacher again today. in fact, i had to sit on a bench for 10 minutes while she "taught"!)

so a TON of the aquarium is outside. yeah, we didn't have hats, gloves, etc (i saw a ton of kids in snowpants to stay warm!). james was screaming and yelling "fingers" at one point! poor kid... but, the beluga whale kept swimming right by nora!

out in the snow...

nora loved this little alcove. and then laid down and said "take a picture, mommy"!

james was like a turtle... once on his back, he couldn't get up. but, he was fascinated with laying on his back, and he was QUIET! we let him be!

nora trying to "teach".

that rounds out our holiday weekend. i really wanted to go to mystic pizza for lunch, but we hit up friendly's instead. david loved it as a kid, and wanted his kids to experience it! i remember seeing part of the movie "mystic pizza", and since i love things like that, thought it would be fun. maybe next time. when kids aren't whiny. (actually, they were pretty good. james is at a tough age for trying to "get" something like the aquarium. he was over it in about 5 minutes. he just wanted to run for the rest of the time!)

tonight, i did my usual trader joe's/jo-anns run. with a friend! that was the best part! and, we discovered we have a lot in common... so thankful! january is shaping up to be a really nice month for us! last week was a short week, this week will be, and so will the next two weeks! (that's pretty much every week in jan except the first week!) again, taking advantage of david's schedule here. and, we have a slew of playdates this week and next, so the kids will be busy!!

so for now, off to bed. here's hoping that my sweet girl stays in her bed tonight! when i asked her if she would stay in her bed for the whole night, she asked what she got for it... sneaky kid!! but, i promised her a treat in the morning!! what can i say, three in my bed is one too many!! (sometimes two too many!!! just kidding....)

a weekend...

my two favorite boys in the WHOLE world... james has been waking up from his naps on the WRONG side of the bed. so, after two hours of grumpiness (this photo included), he climbed up into his daddy's lap and snuggled to watch football... precious!

smiling with auntie sarah!

our visitors for the weekend. we are LOVING being this close to the hailes! and our favorite four-legged friend.

on thursday night, this was nora at Bible study... SO PRECIOUS! this sweet eight year old friend just adored nora... and nora felt the same.

jamey boy coloring at the chalkboard... did i send this one from my phone already?

about 3/4 mile from my house... i LOVE where we are living right now. have i mentioned that?