heather's birthday--the day after

Whew--Heather had a day full of picking what she wanted to do all day long and it wore us out (and her as she took her first 20 minute nap in the middle of the day!!). She got up at 6 and decided she wanted to open presents immediately. I told her she had to wait until everyone was up and she was not allowed to wake anyone up so it was a long 2 hours until charlie rolled out of bed. She opened her presents and Jeff made crepes for a special b-day breakfast. After that she took her scooter out to scoot around and did so successfully for quite a while before falling and running into the house with a scraped knee and hands. Once she calmed down we headed to the arts and crafts center to paint a ceramic cat (heather) and butterfly (charlie) which was what she's wanted to do for her birthday for a while. Then off to the chinese restaraunt for lunch with friends and a garden park nearby to play. Whew!! On the drive back Heather and Cameron fell asleep but upon her waking up we skyped grandma and grandpa mick so they could see her open presents. Then she out back to play with friends. When we made it to dinner more friends came over for Heather's chicken leg, green beans, and mashed potato dinner followed by cake and candles. Finally our neighbors fired up their firepit and had s'mores (doesn't get much better than that to end a b-day). A campout and a movie in the family room with dad ended a seemingly perfect (minus scratches on the knee and an Ohio loss in the round of 32) day! Happy birthday to our little girl!!

Happy Birthday Heather!!

Seven years ago at 2 am Heather joined us and has been a presence ever since! She started out baby HAH (which she hates us to mention) then turned into a curly haired toddler with lots of energy and smiles for everyone. When we moved to MS she got a little bit shyer but still loved her friends, preschool and playing outside. Now she's a big 7 year old filled with her own ideas and attitudes.

Dad's back!!

Yeah! About two weeks ago Jeff called to say he would be coming back a week early. I was very excited but didn't want to get the kids hopes up in case flights got cancelled as they often do so we continued to count down to the 19th. Finally Jeff was almost to his last leg so last Friday when Charlie got home from school I asked him what was the best surprise he could think of: "going to Disney" no "going to grandma's" no we're not going somewhere. "grandma's coming here" no not grandma. "daddy? We already know daddy's coming" but daddy's coming today. "TODAY" then lots of excited jabbering and celebrating in his seat, "oh yeah, daddy's coming today. oh yea" Same question to Heather, "dolphin stuff" no "pet shop stuff" no it's not a thing--Charlie--we might be going to Disney. No it's not going somewhere. "Daddy's coming home" TODAY. Heather then jumped from the couch to the floor and ran in circles until I finally told her she needed to settle down and stop. We went out to the base food place for dinner and headed for the airport to find out Jeff's flight was delayed 2o minutes--ugh--45 minutes to kill in the airport!! When Jeff finally walked through the doors the kids ran over to give him hugs and Cameron walked right over after Heather and Charlie gave him room. He gave Jeff a hug and stayed with him and they've been best buddies since. Thank goodness for Skype and phone calls to keep them connected!! We got home and Jeff enjoyed the sings and decorations we had put up in addition to his favorite yummy treats. Everyone enjoyed the weekend together and things have fallen right into place like he never left. He had to go into work a bit on Monday and Tuesday but has the rest of the week and next week off. We spent the week doing fun things like playgroup, lunch with Heather, and taking Charlie to and from school. Fun fun, fun. We're sooo glad to have him back!

olympics

I forgot to mention that we've been watching lots of the olympics in tape delay. Charlie can proudly share which curling team is winning the game as well as the round (although we don't know what things like "shot rock" and moving the first stone mean), tell me if the racer in downhill/speed skating/other timed sports is beating the first place time (green vs. grey times shown as the split), and groan if ice skating is on...Both kids can identify if the participant/team is a US, Canadian, or German (Heather's girl scouts did a project involving Germany) by the flag shown by their name. Charlie also likes to taunt the other teams, "oh yeah, oh yeah, you can't catch up now. You can't get us!" The highlight for this year's Olympic watching was when the announcers were talking about figure skating and mentioned Sarah Hughes and the gold medal from 1992. Heather looked at me awestruck, "you won a gold medal". For a moment (before explaining to her that there were other people with my same name) I thought I had!

Busy weeks

We've been busy with recovering from various ailments the last two weeks--runny noses, coughs, fevers--but nothing too serious. Last weekend was a girlscourt weekend with cookie sales and thinking day. It's fun to see Heather with her friends and be part of their activities. It's a little hard since there are two distracting brothers who aren't that interested in girl scout activities but they have their own fun during that time. Heather was home from school Monday and Tuesday last week and REALLY wanted to go back. Meanwhile Charlie didn't think it was fair that he had to go while Heather stayed home--couldn't please anyone. Both of the past weekends we've enjoyed movie night on Friday with friends trying to keep us busy, and Saturday dinner with another friend whose husband is also deployed. Heather thinks that it is essential to have as many meals with friends as possible and dinner at home without friends just doesn't cut it. Unfortunately it's been pretty rainy out with the sun peeking through but never really drying things out enough to play so the kids and I have been playing lots of Wii and keeping up with Junie B Jones activities as well.

Cameron is into cleaning. His favorite toys are brooms, vacuums, dustpans and mops. I think he's spending too much time with my friends whose houses are very clean...He's really funny and wants to do what the big kids are doing. Two new teeth are coming in which should look pretty funny with three on the bottom and one on top. My friend taught him to put his fingers together to indicate more when eating so he delights in demanding more and insisting all done (waving hands in air) during meal times. When I vacuum he runs in front of the vacuum when there is something in the way so that he can put it away/throw it away as necessary. He also thinks he should be able to sit in big chairs at the table, play the wii, and type on the computer.

We're counting down the days to birthdays and until jeff gets home (hopefully for Heather's birthday if not sooner).

Sharing milkshakes and cameron in the cabinet

I guess we've been busy...

Wow--almost 3 weeks since I blogged?! Crazy. I guess we've been busy with life despite not seeming to have a lot of activities scheduled. The kids have been out of school for many days with various parent teacher conference days, holidays, and teacher work days. I conferenced with Heather's teacher which went very well. Her reading has gone up and she tested into a 2nd grade reading level which makes me much more comfortable going to a new school next year. She's also doing great with timed math tests (really--timed?!) and all areas of school. She seems more comfortable going to school but really enjoyed it when Cameron and I came to lunch last week. Charlie also has gotten back into the school routine although he enjoys his days off as well. Here on Terceira they celebrate Carnival which is kind of like Halloween and Mardi Gras smashed together (i think). Charlie wore his Power rangers outfit and his class had a parade around the neighborhood.

Last weekend we went Geocacheing with some friends which was really fun--the kids had a great time running to the spot and Heather even found the treasure box. I definitely see this in our future when Jeff gets back...Heather's had a lot of girl scout time selling cookies and having meetings. Last night we had pizza and movie night at a friends where Cameron loves to go. He often tries to head there when we get out of the car or he makes it out the front door. They'll be moving in May and we will surely miss them. Today we went for a walk to the post office in the rain (charlie grumbled most of the way and Heather was in a surprisingly good mood since we got pretty wet), made doughnuts and sugar cookies and celebrated our friends promotion with some of the squadron families and neighbors. It was a really good time despite the fact that the adults were outnumbered.