trick or treating

Fun videos

Cameron really enjoyed trying to carve the pumpkins with Heather

halloween ends

We had a great day today although a not so great end ;-( The kids started off with a soccer party and got trophies and pictures. The banquet went about as the season did--our coach tried but wasn't quite on top of things and the other coach was excellent which just made things that much more difficult. Fortunately the kids didn't seem to notice too much so it was just a differential for this mom who really thinks both the kids could have learned a lot and Heather maybe more interested if she had been "coached" otherwise I think its the end of that girls soccer road...Then we scooped and carved pumpkins in pretty simple designs. Charlie doesn't like scooping but Heather says its her favorite part of Halloween so she happily scooped out seeds and "guts". Charlie helped me carve a pretty simple design and did well. Heather drew lots of dolphins and a squid which were kind of cute. We did really miss Jeff and his great pumpkin carving skills and I'm not sure that the pumpkins were even picture worthy (note--no pictures!). Heather was in her costume by 1 with nowhere to go and we watched the AFN halloween marathon of Charlie Brown, Scooby Doo and other halloween cartoons. Trick or treating was fun. Heathers friends Alyah and Zoey and their parents came over for a quick "dinner" and trick or treating. Jeff called and got to see the kids in their costumes but just briefly as we were heading out the door. The kids did great through the neighborhood even with some scary masks handing out candy and creepy music. We saw lots of their cute friends and Cameron enjoyed a cat nap (ha--he was a tiger!!). After we got back Charlie put in a movie and Heather, Cameron and I passed out candy to the Portugese kids that came our way. It was said that there were 1000 people at the middle gate but we were not swarmed at our house. Once we got rid of all our candy we headed inside to talk to grandma for a bit and pushed our luck with a campout. The first cancelled campout in the history of such events as Heather and Charlie could not get their blankets and such set out. It was devestating but hopefully a good lesson on getting along...

Halloween starts

The kids started halloween a few weeks ago when we got their costumes. Heather wanted to be a witch and Charlie a Power Ranger (i didn't think he even knew what they were but I guess he does!). We thought we would make Cameron a black cat and I set out sewing ears and a tail on a black sweatsuit but saw a cute tiger in the store and for $9 went for it. The kids have been matching (dora/diego; peter pan and hook; fire truck, man and dalmation) every other year but I just knew I coudln't do costumes this year with our limited resources on the island. I feel a little sad that they are all their own thing--but I guess it was bound to happen! Yesterday our friends had a Halloween party so the kids got to pin the nose on the pumpkin, do crafts, and the best--wear their costumes; which for most kids were off by 20 minutes into the party ;-). We then went to the fall festival at the youth center and the kids played a few games. It was really crowded and the kids were pretty tired by that point. Trick or treating tonight should be fun!

chasing butterflies

We've been trying to take advantage of the nicer weather as we're not sure when it will end and have spent a lot of time the last few days playing outside. The kids are very interested in chasing butterflies and surprisingly do not smash too many of the ones they actually catch. The other day Charlie and his friend Isabelle were trying to catch them with little success. Cameron was intently watching the kids and then noticed some of the butterflies. He focused on one that was nearby and started bouncing (he was sitting) and pointing and grunting, "ooh, ooh, ooh". He watched it fly to another spot and got ready to crawl away if it came any closer. When Charlie finally caught one he brought it over in teh container for Cameron to hold and look at. He was very interested in this thing that was flying around in the container.

Cameron has been trying to walk more and has learned how to get a wide stance and push himself up into a standing position. At times he just goes right over backwards but so far seems entertained by falling in general. He is very proud of himself when he takes a little stroll and is quite encouraged by the reactions of his sister and brother as well as the other people on the playground while he's working on his new skill. Very cute!

time change

GRRRR I remember when it used to be great to fall back...an extra hour of sleep, not so hard to get up for high school bus or morning classes that started at 9 in college...Last night the kids were begging for bed (which never happens) starting at 7. We read a few books and had snack but they were in bed by about 7:45. Not surprisingly they were crawling into my bed at 5:45 saying they were not tired anymore. By 6:00 they were all bouncing around the bed wide awake and we headed downstairs. Heather was so confused at how much time she had to get ready for school and at 7 was standing by the door all ready with her backpack on convinced that she was late. I had to fake call my friend and talk to her about the time to convince Heather that our clocks were not in fact wrong. "The sun is up mom! It's time for school". Now it's 8:30 and Cameron is fussing to take a nap and Charlie is bored already...teacher training this week so he's home...

busy then relaxing weekend

Saturday was a very busy day, starting out with the kids last soccer game. Both kids were very into it the first quarter and did great--lots of kicks on the ball, charlie in the middle of the pack, some defense and open kicks by heather. Then they each played one other quarter (there were 18 kids on the team and 9 on teh field at a time) in which they weren't as into it. Charlie at one point was standing on one foot with both hands in the air with two other kids--he hadn't done that the whole season...we came home got cameron a quick nap and headed out for the "paint by number" art workshop which turned out to be color a picture. Oh well--the kids had fun anyway. We then came home to collect cameras and a package from Jeff which we opened at the park before heading to the hearts apart workshop. Each month a group does a nice event for deployed families/spouses. This time the kids delighted in crafts--necklace, lolipop ghost, stickers, and a hand bat. Heather decided to check out the pumpkin carving and helped scoop and mark 3 pumpkins with the wing vice commander--she got along with him great and was the first and last pumpkin helper. Had it not been quite so cool in the wind she would have been a bit harder to drag away. He was super nice and actually seemed to enjoy working with her on the pumpkins. She also bobbed for apples and got a lucky stem to make it a not so wet activity. Charlie was not so interested in doing the activities but did like the food. We got home to watch some videos that jeff had made of him reading books to the kids--the package he sent had the books as well so the kids could read along. They LOVED it--even cameron--and we watched more today. Then off to a delicious dinner at a friends--stuffed shells YUM!! Finally Heather was having a friend over so the family we had dinner with offered to have charlie over. Both kids had a GREAT time and Cameron and I hung out for an hour before crashing as well.

Whew! After that day we needed a break so we just took it easy today. Most of the day the kids got along great and we played outside on our own for the better part of the day. The kids were kind of tired with the time change so they went to bed early and will probably be up at the crack of dawn! Things are going pretty well with Jeff deployed so far. The kids like to talk to him on the computer and phone for the most part and Cameron especially comes crawling over to the computer at top speed when it rings.

cameron's walking!

OK so he's taking a few steps without the walker, not like he's running all over the house. but it counts! He took a few at the playground when i set him next to his walker a few feet from the climber that he's been climbing up (basically a plank with boards as footholds that goes about 8 feet up to the playground) and he stepped maybe 3 steps to get back to it. Then tonight when we were talking to jeff he let go of the chair to try to get to the camera where he must think jeff is hiding and walked 6-8 steps before i couldn't move back anymore. It was sooo nice that Jeff got to see it--first i showed his head and then his feet taking steps. He walked a few more times before bed and has three coaches to help him out!

Aside from walking we had a very fun afternoon. We headed out to the Praia boardwalk type thing to let the kids ride their bikes along the ocean. I pushed cameron who seemed to enjoy watching his siblings on their bikes. Then we had lunch on the little wall with benches cut in and decided to park the bikes back in the car and look for shells on the beach. Well that quickly turned into standing near the water, then running from the waves, then spashing in the waves and getting totally sandy and wet. It wasn't as cold as I thought and the kids had a great time. It was a beautiful day which makes it easier to be here on our own.

goals and girl scouts

I'm not sure what we're doing but we seem to be busy all the time. Never time to get the kitchen all the way clean or keep things off the table before we're racing through for another meal! We have scored meals at friends about once a week which has been very nice and I've been crock potting as well (which the kids don't like but they eat) to make dinner time less chaotic. Seems to be working pretty well as we haven't had too many disasters at dinner time. Yesterday the kids had soccer and on the way were excited to have only two more games. I'm kind of bummed because they really seemed to do well in the game! Heather started out on defense and stayed kind of back for a little while (holding her position) until the ball came towards them. She got some really good kicks on the ball when it popped out of the pack and once the ball got to her she was running after the pack all over the field. With a little better positioning from the coach she would be quite successful I think. For the first time she seemed visiably frustrated when the other team scored a few times. I'm not sure how she's figured out what that means (we don't really talk about winning/losing/scoring) but I'm guessing she's hearing it from the other kids and picking up on their celebrations...Charlie gave us reason to celebrate as he was very agressive today--running right into the mosh pit of kids after one ball (ahhhh!). One time he was kind of on the outside of the pile and it popped out towards his goal toward him. He kicked it two times, the second from 4 feet outside the goalie box, not really aiming for the goal I don't think. I'm not sure if the kids just missed it or if he was actually past them for the second kick (i was trying to take a picture before all this happened!!) but it continued to roll towards the goal. It was kind of like when christopher wiffed the ball and we all willed it ton continue into the goal (hockey). I wasn't sure he realized that he scored but a bunch of parents were yelling yeah charlie and the look on his face was great!!--missed the picture again!! His comment after the game was "mom I kicked the ball two times and it rolled into the goal by itself!" He was very excited.

After soccer heather had girl scouts which she enjoyed, then a relaxed afternoon at home and dinner at a friends before a campout and bed. Whew!! Cameron has learned to nod his head yes when he wants something and shake it no when he doesn't. It's pretty vigorous and funny to see him do it. Mostly in regards to food...

cameron on the loose!!

girls time, soccer, and playgrounds

We had a slightly busy week followed by a much busier weekend!! Friday Heather didn't have school so a friend watched Cameron while I went with her to get her haircut--lots!!, then had dougnuts at the club, and finally a new pair of shoes for Heather. What more could a girl want out of a morning with mom! The afternoon was spent playing with friends and charlie then off to a friends house for a sleepover. Charlie and I made the most of our night by playing games on the wii! Saturday we started out with soccer again. The kids did great, Heather was proud because the ball went by the goalie but she ran back and stopped it before it crossed the goal line and Charlie was pleased that he stopped his friend (who is quite good) from getting past him by working the sideline. Heather then played with friends again at the park, very cutely making a theatre out of a cardboard box and markers--until I realized that the girls had written their names on the wood of the park. Heather "bought" sandpaper from a friend of mine and took the names off before we headed out to bouncy castles at the club. After a nice evening of hispanic food, music, and bounce houses the kids crashed. Yesterday we had movie night and Heather enjoyed another day off school by helping out her teacher from last year in the classroom while Charlie was at school.

chex cereal minus the bag

This morning I went to get cereal for myself and noticed the box of rice chex was missing the bag. Yesterday the kids got themselves breakfast (and cleaned up) while I talked to Jeff on Skype. Heather's answer, "the bag wouldn't fit back in" so she just put the cereal back in the box. While I appreciate the independence I guess I will have to monitor self serving meals a bit more closely!

made it through month 1

Well we made it through month 1 and are into October. The last week or so has been very busy. Last weekend several friends had potlucks to celebrate the fiscal end of year and moving into a new home. Now that there are more CE families the kids are finding the get togethers much more enjoyable. The week was filled with school, soccer, library and more. I've been doing well getting dinners ready via crock pot or microwave well before the chaos of pre-dinner begins and this has helped us be more sane in the evenings. The kids have been very good--the last few nights extremely helpful with setting and clearing the table and picking up in the rooms that continually become a disaster. Yesterday was totally crazy--we made it through soccer game, bowling birthday party (during which Charlie and i bowled on our own) and a 3 year old b-day party for 3 three year olds! It was a crazy day and ended with movie night and a much later bedtime than I had anticipated. Despite a slightly grumpy morning we had a very nice lunch moment today. We were all sitting at the table eating and listening to my ipod of random music. We had a patriotic moment when "god bless the USA" came on and Heather and I were singing along "and I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today..." (charlie didn't know the words but was trying) and cameron started clapping. With Jeff gone it was a kind of bring everything together moment. Heather knows a lot of new "patriotic" songs b/c her class after they do the pledge (I think) the song person gets to pick a song to play--I know it includes this one and in different "versions" as Heather said, as well as God Bless America and others. It is kind of neat to hear her chime in to some of these songs in her confident, in time, but not in tune voice!