This and That

Hunter had to sit in timeout for not listening. He was playing in the dog water...again.

Hunter and Eden looking at the fish at the Children's Museum.

Our Daddy Dolls in the kids' Easter baskets won a photo contest and our surprise came this week. The kids were each sent a stuffed puppy with dress blues/a flight suit.

Hunter napping with Daddy and his new puppy. No nap would be complete without his tiger!

Eden dressed herself for the second time this day. She wore her Halloween shirt with her shorts donning flowers. 

I cleaned and filled the hot tub. We're just waiting on the chemicals to balance out and we'll be set for relaxing after the kids go to bed. We'll probably keep it cooled during the day so the kids can "swim" now that it's getting warmer out.

Motherhood Is...{15}

This week my blessing is relaxation {with wine and cheesecake}.

This week Lane had to travel overnight for a mission with the squadron. He left before the kids and I woke up, but we had prepped Eden with the idea and she helped me remind Hunter throughout the day. She was really cute when she would tell him things. Once he ran to the door that goes to the garage {like he does when Lane gets home} for no reason in particular. Eden told Hunter, "no, he's not coming home tonight. He's having dinner with Mr. James."

Everything was great that day until we hit nap time - and skipped it! It wasn't their fault. We were doing a 5k this weekend and I had to get our race packets, so we skipped nap time. Then we had a bright idea that we'd go out to dinner. Want to know the best part?! I did this with 2 other moms with 2 kids each. Count em...6 kids and 3 moms who were beyond exhausted. Oh my goodness. It was a disaster. Luckily when we got to the restaurant it was early {before 5:00} and our waiter was very good. Best part about dinner? Cheesecake! We made sure to take some cheesecake home with us, so we could indulge when the kids went to bed.

As soon as I got home both of my kids went to bed and I {over}poured my glass of wine, opened my computer, and chowed down. I had key lime cheesecake - to die for! Eden came in my room to cuddle and I told her that I couldn't reward her bad behavior, so I gave her a kiss and sent her on her way. Yep, I did it! I ate the whole slice even when she asked for it. I justified it by reminding myself of how terrible the evening was at dinner and telling myself I deserved it. I deserved the whole thing because it was finally my chance to relax and get over the stress of the night. I think I was a better mom the next day because of my chance to sit, relax, eat, drink, and be merry!

Butterfly Jungle

A few weeks ago we went to the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park and visited the Butterfly Jungle. It was an exhibit that they had for 2 or 3 weeks and we were able to check it out with our friends, and then again with Daddy. Eden loved it, and Hunter was in awe of the number of butterflies that were fluttering around! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trips to see the butterflies.

She was so excited that a butterfly landed on her head. When he opened his wings, he was a beautiful blue!

Looking at the butterfly on Ms. Tracey's shoulder.

The butterfly landed on Tracey's phone as she was trying to take a picture of another butterfly on someone else in our group.

Update

Hunter has a love for rolley pollies! He picks them up, lets them ball up, and then throws them. Such a boy!

Our neighbor, Marie, feeds our dogs her leftovers since she lives alone and doesn't eat everything she cooks. Eden loves Ms. Marie, so she, Cael, and the dogs were saying hi!

Hunter sleeping with his Daddy Doll!

These are the bees that were in our apricot tree. They are not surrounding nothing but the queen bee. There is no large branch under them, no tree ornament, nothing. The bee guy we called said there were probably about 1,000-2,000 of them and that they would just leave one day. They did - all of them at once. I was watching them while we ate lunch, then went to get Eden seconds, and came back and they were all gone.

Our friends Carlos and Ashley got married last weekend. Lane was in the sword arch.

Lane and I after the wedding.

Matt Wood, Lane, me, and Kyle Wilson. These were 2 of the 3 guys that lived with us after TBS in Virginia.

The wedding included a photo booth. Lots of fun!!!

I found my baby ring and put it on Eden. She loved it!

My little dare devil! He learned how to climb up onto the fireplace. He also jumps off of it without any fear. Any by "jumps" I really mean he steps off of it and lands on his face - over and over and over again!

Motherhood Is...{14}

My blessing this week is that this big guy will still lay on my shoulder {and come up to me out of the blue} and cuddle with me!

As kids get older, they gain more and more independence. There's nothing wrong with that. It's actually a great thing. But think about it from the mommy stand point: From day 1 the child relies solely on you {and dad} for survival. As the child grows, we encourage all kinds of behavior that promotes independence - rolling over, sleeping through the night, crawling, walking, talking, playing, using imaginations - and we slowly become not-so-needed anymore. Don't get me wrong, the fact that Eden can get her own snacks most of the time, or her cup out of the fridge, or put her own clothes away - and even help fold them sometimes - is a  wonderful thing! But she doesn't lay with me and cuddle with me like Hunter does because she's got more of an independent nature {and she's older.}

When my kids are willing to cuddle with me, I'll usually drop what I'm doing and give in! Eden will sometimes get in the habit of coming into my bedroom after she's been tucked in and read to. There are nights that I can't handle it, but then she asks for just one hug, or just one kiss. I tell her that I'm not happy that she's out of her bed, and that she's lucky that I like her hugs and kisses! Hunter likes to get in the way when I'm cooking dinner - his favorite time to cuddle! He pushes his way between me and the counter so he can hug my legs. Today he was just walking around our island and coming up to me to hug me. When he wakes up from the night or his nap he'll lay on my shoulder - even if only for a second!

Oh, why do kids have to grow up?! I know, I know, I'm blessed beyond measure to have these cuddlers like I do, but can they stay little forever so they'll WANT to cuddle with me forever?!

Splash Week

This week was spring break for a lot of the kids around us so the local YMCA held splash week for Eden's age group. She took a 30 minute swim lesson every morning this past week. They worked on the basics of water safety and the generalities of swimming. No running at the pool. Listen to the lifeguard. Putting your face in the water. Floating on your back. Kicking above the surface of the water instead of under the water. She had fun, and I'm trying to decide if I want to keep her in the program over the summer. Decisions, decisions!

Friends

Being in the military, our friends have become our family. When we can't be with our family, it's nice to have people you can be with for holidays! Traveling to and from Georgia isn't cheap, so we don't get to do it often, and neither does extended family. It's great to have friends close by that we consider family.

Possibly one of my favorite pictures! They both refused to look at the camera because they were so excited about their eggs.

Hunter loves his buddy!

Angie and Coen

Angie and her boys, Coen and Cael.

The best of Buds, lined up oldest to youngest! {Cael, Eden, Coen, and Hunter}

Cracks me up - they're all pointing, but in different directions! This is Katie and Sarah, our beloved babysitters.

Katie and Coen