Two Weeks

"Two weeks, two weeks!" (What movie is that from? For the answer, check the bottom of this post) The question on the table is, "What would you do with two extra weeks of summer?" Because that's what we've got!! I found out earlier this week that our summer vacation is getting extended by two weeks. So, instead of the girls going back to school in early August, they are now going back towards the end. (Of course, this means we're going to be jipped next summer by those same two weeks, but Carpe Diem, right? - Seize the Day!) Hmm . . . the possibilities . . . While you're thinking about your answers, I'll tell you about what we've been up to for the past couple of weeks, just to give you an idea of how much can be jam packed into a Niceville summer vacation! Oh, wait. Hold it. Hold it. First I need to give a Kylie update. Kylie is LOVING crawling. So much so, that she is now becoming more than a handful during church because she does not want to hold still! Add that to Kate's jealousy issues and wanting to sit on my lap during all of sacrament meeting and by the end I am ready for nobody to touch me!!

Ahem. Back to Kylie. Anyway, she is getting ready to walk - cruising around the furniture, holding my hands to walk around, and standing on her own. She'll also make a beeline for the stairs anytime the baby gate/sliding door are left ajar. There have been a couple of times where she has gone undetected until Kate will yell from upstairs, "Kylie's in my room!" And she is so proud of herself for climbing those stairs too. The other major breakthrough for the little Ky is that she has finally grasped the concept of swallowing real food! After the third attempt she was finally able to swallow the little round noodles in the baby food spaghetti. Huge breakthrough! The Cheerios and Kix were my only saving grace today at church . . . Hooray for solid foods!

So, one thing we've been involved in this summer is playgroup. One week they had a musical day where the kids could take turns playing on musical instruments (violin, harp, etc.) . . .

. . . then they made up their own "kitchen orchestra" . . .

. . . and finally played with a parachute!

We've been having lots of fun pool time. This has been really good for Kate - she's finally okay to be in the water with just her floaties, instead of clinging to me and practically pulling my swimmingsuit off because she's worried she'll get water in her ears. I have her signed up for swimming lessons in a couple of weeks - hopefully she'll be comfortable enough by then to stick her face in the water and blow bubbles.

I arranged for Aly and Lise to have a lady in my ward give them painting lessons once a month. This was their first attempt of painting on canvas and they did AWESOME! Aly's Lily and Lise's waterfall turned out way better than I expected. I want to frame them and hang them on the wall.

The girls have also been working on their reading, taking AR (accelerated reader) tests at school, and are now currently working on reading 10 books to earn a free Papa Murphy's pizza. And another funny sidenote about Aly and Lise. They have both decided that they "like" someone in the ward (which is totally freaking Chris out, by the way.) Only then Lise changed who she liked about a week later. I asked her if she was going to be boycrazy and she asked me, "what's boy crazy?" I told her it was when all you do is think and talk about boys all the time and act all silly and giggle all the time. She said, "Oh, you mean like Candace on Phineas and Ferb?" Yes. Exactly.

Another exciting event from the past two weeks was when we discovered a box turtle in our yard. Lise wanted to keep it SO BAD. Thankfully I had the will power to say no.

We've also gone to Library story time, followed by a picnic at the park and a water fight on the playground.

We've done a lot of movie nights with friends as well. I am so grateful for all the nice friends we've met here!

We tried out another beach, this time on Okaloosa island. This was another calm, shallow beach, but the fish were sure nippy! I felt like I was getting a Japanese pedicure where the fish come and eat all your dead skin cells. :) But the kids had a blast, of course, and Kylie loved that I let her sit and play in the sand. She still ate some, of course, but not as much this time. Plus, this was my first time using the trick of using baby powder to get wet sand off the kiddos before they got into the car. It worked like a charm!

One thing I have definitely noticed this summer, though. With all the fun and excitement, I have to make sure that my kids get enough rest. Otherwise, it is trouble city. I have nicknamed us "So Tired and the 4 Dwarfs" when we haven't slept enough: Sassy (Aly), Whiny (Lise), Ornery (Kate), and Spazzy (Kylie). Luckily all it takes is going home, eating lunch and some quiet time/nap time to make it all better.

I was also able to get out by myself a couple of times to go shopping and to a baby shower. That was super nice. But, of course, the highlight of the past two weeks was Chris coming home! Kylie was soo excited to see him. She wouldn't let him out of her sight for like an hour.

So, hooray for summer! Let the good times roll!

(And the answer to the movie trivia question is . . . Money Pit. An 80's classic - totally quotable!)

When is Your Husband Coming Home?

I get this question a lot. Along with, "What's it like having your husband gone all the time?" and "Is your husband back yet?" So, I'd like to answer these questions and give my personal view of the subject, for all of you out there wondering the same thing. I have learned over the years, having a husband whose job demands a lot of his time and requires extensive travel, that there are many different levels of "home" and "away". I rank them by the level of physical and emotional support Chris is able to give our family (and me specifically), at any given time.


First, there is "away away" (yes, that is two aways). Away away is when my husband is out training or deployed, and unable to call the family or communicate with us in any way. This one requires me to be ultra independent and call all the shots. Luckily I have a husband who trusts my judgement and supports my decisions with the finances, children, etc. Also, this one is the most lonesome, although I've always been very blessed to have the support of wonderful friends and family. I am happy to say though, that most of "away away" occurred mainly in the first few years of our marriage, but, due to modern technology, we are usually able to communicate much better now during separations.


Second, there is "away supportive". Away supportive is when my husband is gone from us physically, but we are able to communicate with him on a fairly regular basis, even daily a lot of times. This is the stage I have been in for the past six months while Chris was away at school with some "home home" time on the weekends (see below). This level can be hard on me physically because there just isn't enough of me or my attention to go around, plus a few extra jobs like garbages, mowing the lawn, and finances. However, being able to talk to Chris in the evenings, having his emotional support, and feeling like we are a team in dealing with the daily family issues is HUGE! I cannot overstate how much having Chris as my sounding board and listening to me does for my mental sanity.


Third is "home away". This one can be really tricky. Home away is when, even Chris is coming home every night, his job requires crazy hours and tons of stress. So he mainly just eats and sleeps at home, and sometimes the girls won't even see him for a few days because he leaves before they wake up and comes home after they're in bed. What makes this one so hard is that my expectations are higher. I know he's there; I see the evidence in the laundry I'm doing every week and the fact that his side of the bed has been slept in every morning. But he is unable to give much by the way of physical or emotional support to the family. And that's just rough on everybody, including Chris.


And Fourth and finally, there's "home home". This one is, of course, by far my favorite. This one is where we all get to be together and enjoy being a family! (Of course, "enjoy being a family" includes all the rough and tumble growing pains that every family goes through, but at least we're together.) Even though we never seem to get enough of this one, I will say that having so many other "away" times, helps me enjoy and appreciate together time that much more!


So, now that I've defined all the levels of "away/home"-ness, I am happy to announce that Chris got home yesterday! He actually gets to live with us in the house that the girls and I have been living in for almost 6 months now, instead of just visiting. Chris' current job is pretty hectic, so we're planning on "home away" during the week and "home home" on the weekends. As long as I know what to expect, then I think that's totally doable. Plus, with my mom and sister coming out this week, we're already planning on a beach picnic while watching the fireworks date this weekend. I CAN'T WAIT!