Smart (Mouth)

Cooper and Ava have probably 30 Little People and assorted character toys. I keep them in one bin, called the People bin. As I was collecting them from the 4 corners of the room, I asked Cooper, in frustration, "How come you guys can't take just the people you want to play with out of the bin, why do you have to dump the whole bin out?"

His response?

"Because that's what kids do."

We have to give him credit, though. It's true.

Cooper and Ava are Joeys

In more ways than just genetically...

Promoted

For all those who have not heard, I have been promoted to rank of E-6. My new title will be Hospital Corpsman First Class (HM1). This comes with great responsibility and tons of perks.

Vacation News

We're finally home after a long road trip. We (Heidi and the kids) hit CT, MA, NH, and VA before Joey joined us and we went to PA before heading home. Over several posts, we'll hit some of the highlights, in no particular order!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.

Being a military family, and one with military roots, on this Memorial Day, we'd like to offer our gratitude to the American men and women who gave their lives serving their country nobly when America called.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy anniversary to Mom and Jim! Lest we forget (as we do every year!)

Happy Fourteenth!

Continuing Adventures of Captain Excitement

Just a few things going on here in the north of the Carolina's:

- No advancement results.

- No Flyers in Lord Stanley's Cup finals

- Laid grass seed Saturday, no grass.

- No Heidi or kiddies

No fun, No!

Today I Love...

A few things...

• The Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Love those dinosaurs and the Butterfly exhibit (free Tuesdays ROCK!)
• Getting to see Mommymom, Karen, and Nana for dinner last night. It was great, it doesn't happen enough. Of course, we'll get to see Nana again on Friday. Hopefully we'll see Papa, too.
• That my kids are behaving pretty well; I can't really complain!
• That they're doing pretty well at going to bed in a bed that's not their own and sharing a bed together!
• That Auntie Ari and Uncle Jeff don't mind us invading their space!
• And most of all, that we see Daddy again in TWO days! YEAH!

Good Times

New Kids Bathroom Color

Last week, I tackled painting the kids bathroom. I started before they woke one morning, and worked again during some of their playtime on a rainy day. I finished Saturday morning before everyone woke up. It's a beautiful pale shade of blue, hard to capture in photos, but we love it!

Clutter for a Cause

OperationHappyNote.com
From picolos to guitars, Operation Happy Note sends second hand instruments to soldiers deployed overseas.

InternationalBookProject.Org
The International Book Project will ship your old tomes aboard for use in schools, orphanages, and libraries.

Help1Up.Org
The National Funiture Bank Association will give your couch to anyone who needs a hand up, including domestic violence victims.

OneWarmCoat.Org
Donate winter coats to One Warm Coat, which sponsors coat drives across the country.

CollectiveGood.com
At Collective Good, you choose the charity, such as The Center for Domestic Violence Prevention, that your donation of a used cell phone will support.

LetMePlay.com
Old sneakers can go to the Nike-sponsored Rescue-a-shoe (old shoes do not need to be Nikes.) The used rubber is used to create play surfaces for kids around the world.

Song Medley

With Heidi gone....

I will have to update the blog. So let us begin, shall we...

- Flyers win a game (finally). And, oh yeah, Sidney Crosby sucks.

- Advancement results are still not out, and that sucks.

- Heidi, Cooper and Ava are all gone, and that really sucks.

- One cool thing, I have tomorrow off. Mowing the lawn, that sucks.

Stay tuned for more adventures of Captain Exciting.

Today I Love...

Road trips. Only caveat: wishing Joey was with us...

How Do Kids Know These Things!

This morning, Cooper was overly whiny. I finally stopped what we were doing, knelt down, and asked him, "Cooper, you're having a hard time listening to me this morning. What's going on?"

Cooper looked at me, paused, and said, "Mommy, I'm having a bad day."

I Wish...

I got to go to the park as much as these kids do...

Today I Love...

Bathtime. It's so much fun, and C & A are so squeaky clean afterwards.

Tornado hits Belgrade

Last night, we had a tornado touch down here in Maysville. We knew we were having a terrible storm, and knew we'd lost power, but didn't realize exactly what magnitude the weather was, until our neighbors came over to tell us they'd just come from the White Oak Variety Store at the end of our road and that it had been demolished by tornado. We turned on the emergency radio, and heard an advisory to take cover until 930PM. We decided to take a ride away from the area for about an hour or two, and then return home. All was well, but we drove home past the Variety store, and saw the damage. Unbelievable!

Tornado Hits Belgrade

Peekabo, I See You

Playtime at the Park - National Military Appreciation

Last week our play group, Mamas & Munchkins of Camp Lejeune and Jacksonville (MMCLJ) we got together to for Military Appreciation Month, to honor our military! We met at a local park, setup in the picnic pavillion, and made thank you cards to send to military men and women overseas. One of the Mom's graciously collected and mailed all the finished cards to A Million Thanks. It was a very fun way to show our support and love of our military, outside of the pride in our own Daddy, of course!!

What a Great Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day, and I was treated to a wonderful day, from the start. I slept in, till 0930, fantastic, and then came down to find my wonderful husband preparing a delicious breakfast, from scratch! No cereal, here! He made a great meal, all dishes I'd choose myself (from Cooking Light or Hungry Girl, with one exception!) He made Triple Lemon Muffins (mmm, lemon, my fav), Eggs Bene-Chick (lighter version of the full fat version), and Cheese Grits (this was the exception dish, but sooo good; ever since Savannah, Joey has appreciated grits!) We also had (just the grown ups) champagne with fresh berries; the kids had fresh berries and cream with organic sugar. MMMM.

Then the kids gave me gifts they picked out themselves, beautiful flower bulbs, carefully hand wrapped in burlap. The bulbs are for perennials, so every year when I see them grow, I'll think of them. This is such a thoughtful gift. And each gift had an individual poem from the kids on it. The kids also colored Mother's Day cards for me.

It rained almost all day, but it was sunshiny inside!

Reverse Wet Willy

wet willie: The act of moistening one's finger with one's own saliva, and inserting said finger into another's ear canal.

Joey got a wet willy! By Cooper! Two nights in a row! Thanks to the instruction of PopPop on his last visit, Cooper learned what a wet willy was and have been giving them, regularly, to Daddy.

NOT A Happy Camper

We Can...

Ahh, the Great Outdoors

Enjoying some playtime in the newly fenced in backyard...

President's Proclamation Honors Troops' Spouses

President Bush signs proclamation of Military Spouses Day for May 9th.

Read Presidential Proclamation here.

Lighting, Before and After

As we go along as new homeowners, we're trying to change things, slowly, but surely. Joey changed out the dining room lighting fixture this weekend. I picked it out (I wanted something less "builder standard", but didn't want to pay a fortune) and found this one for a bargain! I think it's pretty nice, and fits our dining room nicely!

Here are the before (nickel colored) and after (iron):

Midsummer Night's Bonfire

Saturday we had our friends from down the street (James and Stephanie) and up the street (Jason, Wendy, Alex and Ashley) over for a "bonfire." We didn't actually dig a pit, but we used the Fire Pit we purchased and owned in California.

The kids had a blast. Now that we have our yard fenced in, the kids were able to run around free. Even in the pitch dark, they seem to have a night vision that an adult loses as they get older.

Us adults, also had a great time, chatting around the fire. The kids finally fell asleep and we stayed up, talking until just around 2am. It was a late night, but it was fun to have our neighbors come over and spend the evening outdoors.

Ice Cream Treat

After strawberry picking, we stopped outside Richlands, NC at a quaint little ice cream shop called D & E Ice Cream. They serve 80 (yes, 8-0) flavors of Hershey's brand ice cream, and it's basically good old fashioned fun. There are tables with old fashioned board games like checkers to play on, or, if you plan to linger, there is a television. Since nearby New Bern is the Birthplace of Pepsi-Cola, they have Pepsi Memorabilia on display.

When we arrived, it was pretty crowded, but we had no problem finding a seat, as they have both tables and booths, plus some outdoor chairs out front. D & E stands for Debbie & Ernest (Van Cooney) who have owned and operated D & E since 2003. They were there when we arrived and Ernest was the gentleman scooping our cones.

They also sell pure soy wax candles, made by Debbie. Ernest makes makes her own pure soy wax candles that are available for sale here in the store. Look for the link to All About Me Candles for information, pricing, and selections. Ernest is considered the cakemaster and makes regular and ice cream cakes, made to order (really reasonable prices!) as well as ice cream pies, cupcakes, and more. Their most recent addition to D & E is cotton candy (made fresh by Debbie & Ernest, of course) in a variety of colors and flavors. This is an amazing place, and a great find!

For only $9, we had a great time, and found a fun place we'll return to!

Strawberry Picking at Southwest Strawberry Farm

What a great weekend we had! Today we took the kids to Southwest Strawberry Farm in Jacksonville, NC. It was a cute little farm with pick your own strawberries, 3 baby pigs, and bee keeping.

All the way there, Coop rambled about going to the "strawberry patch" and was so excited each time he saw another sign. Once we arrived, we gave them each a bucket, and they were off.

The crop had some water damage, due to the recent rains, so we had to help them quite a bit in picking out their strawberries, but all in all we still got a lot of nice strawberries (Ava picked whatever she found, so we had to weed through hers at the end, but that's OK!) They had a blast! It was so much fun! On the way back to the car, we stopped to look at the little piggies, which Cooper said, "Mommy, look they're so cute. They're like you!" (Gee, thanks! I know he meant cute, but ...) Ava shrieked in joy when she saw them; she loves little animals!

We didn't go near the beekeeping, but we purchased some local honey.

All-in-all, we picked 5.1 lbs of strawberries, which cost an astonishing $7.65 (only $1.50 a pound!) It probably cost us more in gas!

We wish we had pictures of their first strawberry picking, but as we went to take photos, the camera died. :-( Well, there will definitely be another time!

Today I Love...

Disney's "Bambi"; it came out in 1942, but it's making the kids laugh like crazy!

Interesting North Carolina Fact

Kure Beach, about 1 1/2 hours south of Jacksonville, NC has beautiful, generally uncrowded beaches, and the oldest pier on the Atlantic Coast.

Morning Playdoh Time!

Daddy was home Thursday morning, so he got to play "Playdoh" time!