And THIS is why I love base housing...

My oven is broken and *poof* they magically bring me a new one! So far in the past 8 months of living here I have recieved a new garbage disposal, dishwasher and now the oven! I am so glad I don't own this house :)

She Had to Leave :(

But we had a wonderful time! The kids just couldn't get enough of her!

She Has Arrived!

The maid aka my mom! She has been here less than 24 hours and has finished all the laundry, swept, mopped, vacuumed, made a pot of vegetable beef soup, made dinner and breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned 2.5 baths and is finally in the shower cleansing herself! And no you can't have her! :) Thanks mom, I love you!

Play Time

Pool, bubbles, snacks. What more could a kid want?

What is Wrong With This Picture?

This is how the bowl was returned to me after snack time was over.

My Flowder's - As JJ would tell you...

These are my hollyhocks one week ago today: And here they are as of tonight!

Seriously!?! Why now?

I have been feeling pretty sluggish and have had a sore throat since before John left on May 3rd. I went to the doc a couple of weeks ago and was just given some drugs to help with the drainage causing the sore throat. It was still sore and I felt horrible over the weekend so I gave in and made an appointment this morning. They did a strep culture - negative. They sent me to the lab for blood work. It came back positive for Mono. So now I am not allowed to kiss anyone. Well, at least John is not home for that, right? But of course it is my luck that he is gone now while I am sick and of course it lasts forever! But really, I don't feel completely aweful. Just not completely myself.

Guess what this is?!?!?!

This is for you Cyndy! Well, he obviously has the container in his hands, but since everyone else's children seem to be playing with it mine thought he should too! There must be something about this age...hmmm

Zoo Fun

We went to the zoo yesterday. The weather was perfect and the kids did amazingly well. The zoo is really nice here and we'll definitely go again! JJ is at an age where he really has a blast seeing all the animals!

Exploration Place

I took the kids to the children's museum today with my mom's group. They had a blast.

Talkin' to daddy

More Sleeping Places

With lunch still in hand....

This Week's Fun Phrase...

Mommy I have sneeze on my face.

I had to have him repeat himself as I thought I heard wrong. But that is now what JJ says when he sneezes. Nice, huh?

Hmm...Black Olives!

JJ now insists that black olives be on his pizza. Since John is gone I have been lazy and bought some Jeno's pizzas for JJ. They don't come with black olives. The thought never occurred to me that they needed to be on the pizza, but tonight I found out that pizza NEEDS black olives or else it won't be eaten.

Gardening Time

My front flower beds are turning out to be really nice. I added a flat of flowers this week and can't wait for them to fill in.

<--These are my Hollyhocks in the front under the two windows on the left. They will get nice and tall and have pretty flowers on them. I can already see the buds forming. I had to do some research on the net to figure out what they were.














My neighbor let me dig these up yesterday. She has no clue what they are but they multiple like rabbits so I took a few. I remember being in love with them last fall when we arrived here so I can't wait for them to grow. I did some more research and from pictures that I have seen they are some sort of Cannas Lily. I have no clue what color they will bloom.


<--These are my Dahlia's that I planted a month or so ago.




I also picked up three tomato plants for the backyard. I thought JJ would get a kick out of seeing them grow and produce tomatoes. I decided not to bore you with pictures of them.

Happy Mother's Day!

Before John left I got this:

Woohoo! Since we joined the Y and I have been working out 3-4 times a week I got some much needed tunes for my ears! I abslultely love it!

**EDITED***

It is the mini I have, but I apparently I was too tired to find a picture of it so I used this one.

New Pearly Whites!

Maddie's fever was due to the two teeth she is cutting! Woohoo! She hasn't gotten any new ones since December. When those beauties appear in her smile I will post a new picture! I am so happy she wasn't coming down with a sickness. And I am finally on the mend!

Bon Voyage

John headed off to the big sandy desert on Saturday. Friday night the crosswinds were crazy so we had an extra day with daddy!

PS. I forgot to add that it took me three days to get these pics up because on Thursday I came down with swollen glands and sore throat, which then turned into a headcold and last night I woke up with the achies and chills. Will this ever end? I hope it will. And of course it has to happen the minute John leaves. The inside of the house has been hit by a tornado and it has taken all my energy just to take care of the kids. I am sure JJ is loving his more than usual share of movie watching this weekend. And now Maddie has a fever. UGHHHH!

Happenings

This past week has gone by so fast! My friend, Kristin, was in town over the weekend from Michigan. JJ had the flu so we didn't go anywhere too interesting. John did watched the kids so us girly girls could go out to lunch. Yum, we had the best Mexican at On the Border and a Margarita swirl. I am still trying to figure out when I can get back there for more after John leaves tomorrow.

Yes, John deploys tomorrow. Only for two months. It's like a mini vacation. I make the best of it I can--watching sappy movies, eating foods he doesn't like, sleeping all I can, and getting some scrapbooking/stamping time in.

The kids have the backyard set up for them with a swingset, sandbox and kiddie pool for those hot days.

I am definitely going to work on getting the kids to sleep better while he is gone and maybe potty training will be in store for JJ as well. That boy NEEDS to be potty trained. Both kids had their check-ups on Monday. Maddie was in the 75th % for her height(30in), but the little peanut is only in the 37th for her weight(20lbs). JJ was pretty good all around--37in and 30lbs.

My New Cleaning Lady!!!

Pigtails

Sorry for the bad pics. JJ was playing with the camera and changed my settings. But here is Madeline with her little piggie tails I managed to get in her hair this week! They are so cute and little!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

We let Maddie try a couple of chocolate covered strawberries the other night, but as you can tell she hated them :) But who wouldn't, right?

My Latest Yum!

I found this wonderful recipe in the February and March issue of Taste of Home magazine. I have made it twice and if my husband had it his way I would be making it more often, but I get sick of the same foods, FAST.

The recipe is doubled in my picture cuz it is sooo tasty!

Meatless Mexican Lasagna
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic, undrained
1 can chopped green chiles
3 green onions, sliced
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin
4 corn tortillas (I use more)
1.5 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
6 Tbsp plain yogart (I skip this and use sour cream instead)

In a bowl, combine the first seven ingrediants. Place 2 tortillas in an 11X7 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread half the corn mixture; sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat layers.
Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 15-20min. Let stand 5 min. Garnish each serving with yogart(or sour cream)

It REALLY is a Small World

It started last Saturday. The base held an indoor garage sale where I made some buko bucks! There was a nice woman who was repeatedly coming back to buy things from my table. No complaints from me! But she looked really familiar.
"Were you stationed at Grand Forks?" I asked her.
"Nope."
Hmmm. I know this face. I let it go.
Fast forward to yesterday. The base had an awesome Family Fun Day(I'll get to that in a minute). My husband insisted we stay for the free food even though it was making me late for a child's birthday party, where I would get free food. And good food at that.
That same woman walked by followed by her husband and a little boy.
"Beezer?" I asked him.
"Ellen?" Yup, that's me!
Well, his real name is Justin, but back in college(Grand Valley) I knew him as Beezer. That's right, people I knew from college are stationed right here. I knew I knew her face. I didn't know her well, but I did! I just can't get over how small this huge world can be some days!

At the Family Fun Festival JJ rode a pony, pet some sheep, baby ducks and a horse, drove a remote controlled car, ate ice cream, cookies, candy, cotton candy, hot dogs, chips, and then more cookies. Then we went to a birthday party where he ate more hot dog, cake and ice cream. And then he proceeded to cry the whole 25 min drive home because he didn't want to leave.

I do have a picture of JJ riding the pony on my cell, but that takes effort to get on my computer so when I get around to it, I'll share.

Birthday Portraits

The kids had their portraits taken this morning at Sears. Both of them were really good and didn't fuss too much at all. I thought JJ would be the troublesome one, but to my surprise he did everything the nice woman asked him to!

It's That Time of Year Already...

Last Couple of Days with Our Friends

I almost forgot to share...

I went to Cirque du Soleil last night!!!!! IT. WAS. A M A Z I N G! John got me free tickets through the base ticket office because apparently he frequents their office enough they know him by name now. Hey, this momma is not complaining. I took a friend and we both were just amazed when we left the Kansas Coliseum. There was so much going on and there were so many funny parts to the performance. Not to mention those people have amazing abilities! I would definitely go again and even pay for my tickets next time.

Birthday Kids!

My babies' birthday's are around the corner so we had a little party this weekend. JJ turns three on Wednesday and Maddie's 1st is next Wednesday.