Constant Beginnings

I am an avid reader of Kelly's Korner. My sister and I joke that Kelly is our other sister. She is quite like us, we share similar tastes, etc. She'd fit right into our family ;) Anyway, she too, has 2 girls about the same ages as our two or at least the same age difference. She struggles with the issues I struggle and follows the word of God. It is a refreshing blog.  I often find myself worrying about how other people think of me--me as a parent, me as a discliplinarian, me as a person, etc. Mya is full of personality. She is NOT a naughty child. She is spirited. She beats to her own drummer. She is a leader. She is a delight. Claire is the same. She is wise beyond her years. She is a talker, She is independent. She loves to learn and analyze EVERYTHING. HOWEVER, I worry that not everyone will see these qualities as positives (perhaps as I am trying to explain to Claire why she cannot get that coveted guitar in the store or why the word cup says cup and not cooop, why I s

Everyone has their issues, including me. While I may appear to be a laid back, a bit avante gard (as my Mom has taken to applying to me), a go with the flow type person, I am really a total nutcase inside :) I am clearly a middle child. I have always had a purpose to keep everyone happy, although I am quite certain my siblings may see things different (keep in mind, they are first and last born, which clearly reflects their points of view). When I make "BIG" decisions, my first quest is to make sure I have the approval of others. I am quickly realizing that this quality stinks! I am never satisfied with going on my gut instincts and letting things ride. Never. I seek validation daily. Typically it comes from Chris who is supportive and eager to give me his insight, which typically matches my own. (I guess he's learned that lesson!) We've been faced with very few "big" decisions. In fact, the only one I can think of lately is my decision to pursue my Autism

Sweet girl. She fell asleep with the animal crackers tucked in tightly.  We have a sick little girl in our family. She's been up at night, restless, a bit more lethargic during the day. She does manage to throw a few smiles our way as well as spark a fight with Claire, but she is just not the same. Poor thing. Chris had the day off on Monday as did the girls. He enjoyed watching the Patriots secure their trip to the Superbowl, although he tells me watching a game while listening to the jibber jabber of two busy children is less than desirable. He wants his cake and to eat it too. I was working. Who had it worse? Ha! I stayed home yesterday. We had a great day. We read books, played a game, took a nap, I planned my sister's baby shower (so exciting and such fun!), and lounged around with lots of snuggling. I did not get this blog updated. I've kind of fallen off the wagon of blogging. Here's the run down on us: 1. We went to our first movie in the Korean theater

Perhaps there was some turbulance in the back? Whackadoo! Gotta love the Asian inspired picture :) Love it now. They've been well trained by the hundreds of Koreans they've posed for pictures with. There are many times that I think I'd love to be a stay at home momma. I feel like I'd be so much more productive (yes, I know this is probably a figment of my imagination). My to-do list is sooooo long. One big thing that has clouded our list is the car maintenance and yes, my husband is here and no, he is not deployed; however, let me quickly explain that Korea is a remote assignment, which basically means that he works as if he were deployed (long hours each day and sometimes weekends too). Anyway, our rightside headlight is out, there are a couple of recalls that need to be handled, and the car needs detailing BADLY (pop tarts glued to the seat, crumbs everywhere and yes, despite what you would think if you saw it, my car is red). Anyway, this is quite a proc

We had a great weekend. The kind of weekend where we had few plans and a lot of enjoyable family time. The kind of weekend that you hate to see go! Forgive the poor picture quality. I only had my ipad with me.... Drew and Claire Claire and Mya--she started out using the ramp, but after a few tosses she was throwing the ball down the lane by herself. Makenna. These two girls shared a lane and took turns so well! I was very proud of Mya. I think she is pretty proud of herself too! She LOVED bowling. Not a good pic of Makenna. Mya wanted to hurry up and get down to business, so I didn't have a chance for a retake ;) Mya has a great little friend at school. She and Makenna are joined at the hip. Lately when I've picked Mya up, Makenna runs over to me and says, "Mya come to my house." Well, Stacey (Makenna's Momma) and I arranged a little play date, which worked out wonderfully. We opted to meet at the bowling alley for a little

You'd think I'd be used to waiting. You'd think I'd have developed some patience by now. You'd think this whole game gets easier. You'd think I'd be less anxious. You'd think.....but NO! I stink at waiting. I hate not knowing. I hate the uncertainty of not being in control. I am going CRAZY! This game in particular refers to our next assignment. We developed our "list," checked it twice, revised it a few more and after thinking about some particulars, revised it once more. That list was sent and now we WAIT! Let's face it, the list is simply kindness shown by those in charge which allows us to THINK we have a say in this whole process, but when it comes right down to it, THEY will put us where they may. I am not a throw it in your face type of religious person, but I believe strongly that the ultimate decision of where we may go is up to God. I am okay with wherever it may be. I. JUST. WANT. TO. KNOW! NOW! This next assignment is a big one

Our commissary had an amazing deal. $5 ready to roast Butterball turkeys! Awesome. I stocked up on a few of them, so we've been enjoying the yumminess. So good and so easy!

Our kids are of the age now that we can leave them in the bathtub while we check email, finish laundry, or tie up other loose ends. However, when the smell of watermelon wafts through the air and the sound of laughter fills the house, we come running. This is what we found: One bottle of watermelon scented shampoo=pure joy and a valuable lesson to make sure the soap/shampoo is out of the reach of children.

I've followed a number of people as they venture through project 365. Typically the essence of the project is to capture a moment from everyday through the camera lense. Well, I am going to tackle my own project 365; however the focus of my project is going to be scrapbooking one 2-page layout per day. I am going completely digital with Mya's scrapbook. I hope to get at least 1 year done for each of my children and then I may move onto our travel scrapbook, but stick with blog books for the remainder. I tend to do an adequate job keeping up with our highlights through the blog and there are a number of companies that will print the blog into a photo book. The challenging part is that our book is already 748 pages!  I'll obviously be splitting it up into a book for each year, but Wow. That is a lot of writing and pictures! I have to remind myself of this accomplishment as I find myself extremely frustrated when I look at all of Mya's pictures that I have yet to scrapbook

Santa brought Claire and Mya magnatiles for Christmas. They are by far the best building toy I've ever seen. Both kiddos sit for hours playing, building, fighting  knocking over towers and starting all over again. They are pretty incredible. I purchased the 100 piece set, but it is pretty apparent that we need more. 100 is definitely appropriate for one, but there just aren't enough tiles for two kiddos to share and each build larger towers/buildings.  I actually got the idea for this gift from their school. I have picked Claire up on a number of occasions only to find her working intently on building some massive structure. Mya's classroom has also acquired a set and she too, is loving them. I am on the hunt for another, but I may need to donate a kidney to pay for them. ;)

Our New Year's was rather low key as most are for us. Chris and I are not huge party goers and we haven't found our niche in terms of friends with families, so we opt to hang at home with our girls. AFN was playing Justin Bieber's movie and Claire had been talking about it for weeks. She was introduced to the great  Justin "Beaver" (as she calls him) by his # 1 fan and her cousin, Ava. Claire's been jamming out ever since. Lucky us! ;) We decided to have a Justin Bieber party. The kids loved it. Chris, well, not so much, but he better get used to it. I am guessing with 2 girls, he's in for many more times like this before all is said and done. I made some dip, we had some snacks and the party was a successful night of dancing, watching and singing. Smiles all over.