Bubbles and Wishes

Today, the temperature was in the mid eighties!  I had thought about taking the girls to the beach for a fun afternoon, but when Miss Dainty woke up in the middle of last night with a sore throat... well, I figured the trip wasn't meant to be.  I decided I had a lot to do to get ready for our upcoming trip to Texas anyhow.  So we stayed home.  At the end of the day, I had gotten a little bit done, but not nearly as much as I should have...  Miss Dainty somehow convinced me to head outside:

Making Homes

This morning we were up early for a servant evangelism project that went really well.  It was chilly though, so we came home right after.  Baby D took a very early nap, which I expected since she woke up at 6 AM this morning.  After nap and lunch, Miss Dainty had the idea of building a home for her bear, and of course Baby D wanted to join in on the fun.  It was such an easy and simple project.  I was tempted to break out the scrapbooking paper and scrap fabric to really decorate them, but knew that would be a little too much for them.  So, we just used markers to draw what they wanted: a bed, tv, couch, and fridge in Baby D's house (apparently that's what she deems most important.) 

It was so cute to watch them play with the makeshift houses.  I cannot wait to give Miss Dainty her birthday present.  I have a dollhouse that I had bought for Christmas, but ended up not giving it to her due to her very last minute letter to Santa asking for a skateboard.  So, I ended up saving the dollhouse.  And now I think her birthday will be the perfect time to give it to her, not just that she will enjoy it more, but also that Baby D understands enough to be able to play with her, I think.  It's amazing how much difference a half a year can make. 

Miss Dainty's birthday party will be delayed anyhow, by her choice.  She told me, "I wish my birthday wasn't in May, I wish it was later."  And when I asked her why, she said, "So Daddy could come to my party."  *my heart broke!*  So we talked about postponing her party until Daddy would be home, and she very excitedly agreed to the plan.  I promised to take her to dinner and make cupcakes for her actual birthday, though.  =)  She's such a sweetheart.

I can't wait to decorate the dollhouse with her, though.  But... guess I'll have to. =)

Stamping Cards

Last night, I stamped a few cards to send in Mr. Hubs' next care package for him to write in and send back to the girls.  This was the first time I've brought out any stamps at all in... I don't know how long.  When I was going to bed (late!) I decided I'd leave the stamps out for the girls to play around with in the morning.  Of course, they were so excited when they saw everything out when they came downstairs.  Baby D kept trying to stamp on the paper without ink and was getting so frustrated that she wasn't leaving a mark!  It was so hard not to laugh when I was trying to tell her to be patient.  They could barely wait until after breakfast.  After I managed to get them to eat, I let them have at it.  Miss Dainty chose to make several cards for her penpals and already wrote notes in them. (I was quite impressed with her enthusiasm about writing!)  They both really enjoyed stamping.  I should bring all this stuff out more often.  =)

Sick...

Baby D came down with a head cold Saturday, although I didn't figure it out until I started feeling symptoms myself on Sunday night.  Until then, I thought she had just had allergies.  So, we've been trying to get over it since then. 

Today, I'm feeling better except for a headache that comes and goes from the sinus pressure.  Apparently, in my house, "Please be quieter, I have a headache," really means: "Yes, I want to hear all of our loudest toys at once!  Please play them!"

Needless to say, I sent them upstairs to play.  At least Baby D is feeling better.  =)

Visit to the Pond

This morning we took a much needed trip to the library.  It's one of our favorite places to go.  I love that the kids love it as much as I do.  After story hour and stocking up on books, we headed home for lunch.

Later, the sun beckoned us outside.  There was still a slight cool breeze outside, but the sun was warm, so we took a walk down to the pond.  We fed the duck.  (We were hoping there would be more, but alas only one was around, and he turned out to not be too hungry.)  We saw our first redwinged blackbird!  What's so neat is that Miss Dainty recognized the call before we even sighted the bird.  She couldn't recall which bird it was, but knew the call from her bird book.  How cool is that?  We walked along the bank and watched some turtles sunbathing before accidentally startling them into the water.  Then we tried to feed them, too, but they also weren't hungry.  So we sat and pretended to be turtles soaking up the warm sun.  The girls loved it.  Eventually, we headed over to the playground. 

Such a great way to start the day.  Notice their shawls?  =)  We received a box in the mail yesterday from Mr Hubs.  The shawls were made in Turkey.  They've been wearing them nonstop.  They were so excited to get something from him. 

Something good.

This afternoon, I needed to focus on something good, and just be in the present moment with my girls.  So, I helped them each make a new batch of playdough.  They loved being allowed to "cook" the playdough (they did the mixing before I heated it in the pot.)  They loved picking the color.  And of course, playing with new playdough is awesome.

They loved it, and so did I.

Girls' Rooms Do-over: Goal 1

I've been meaning to decorate the girls' rooms since we first moved in... almost two years ago.  Miss Dainty had been so excited to paint her room and have it just the way she wanted.  I feel terrible that I haven't made it a priority.  After seeing how a friend of mine decorated her daughter's room, I felt so inspired, and decided to rededicate some time and energy into finally starting and finishing the girls' rooms the way I envision them.  **Hopefully we will get stationed here again!**

Miss Dainty's room is currently the one with the bigger closet, while Baby D's room is really nothing more than a catch all room with a crib smack dab in the middle.  There's Mr Hubs' drumset, a desk, an extra crib mattress, and containers in the closet in that room.  Such a great baby room, eh?  Miss Dainty's room is a constant disaster.  The girls share the closet, and I hadn't figured out a system that Miss Dainty could use in helping me maintain order when it came to the clothes.  There were clothes just about everywhere... clothes and toys.  The toys were in containers in a 9 cube shelf, which I thought would work great, but apparently they just have way too many toys.  So my first goal was to reorganize the closet and to put away all of their clothes.

The top right photo is the room's before picture, and is what Miss Dainty's room looks like "normally."  There was just no child friendly organization for clothes or toys.   Bottom right is the closet's before picture.  Ack!  No wonder I hated putting clothes away, I didn't want to face that!

So, for the closet I moved the 9 cubbie shelf inside, and put the folded clothes into it.  Purple will be Miss Dainty's and the red will be Baby D's.  That middle bar is just a shower curtain rod.  I decided against something more permanent because 1) I'm horrible at hanging shelves and such up, and 2) I know that not long from now they will more than likely need their own closets.  So, I just decided to stick with this for now.  I need a few more containers for the cubbies, but for the most part all the clothes are put up, and I'm pretty sure Miss Dainty can handle putting things into the boxes more easily.

My goals are:

1. Organize and put up clothes.
2. Reduce amount of toys.
3. Organize and put away toys.
4. Paint walls.
5. Decorate!

So, eventually (hopefully sooner than later!) this room will actually become Baby D's room and their playroom.  The crib/toddler bed will take up much less room, giving them more space to play in.  I want a reading area by the window, and a table for tea parties.  I'm hoping to have a little section for pretend play (baby doll stuff, kitchen, cleaning, etc.)  I want most of the other toys (hopefully fewer in number!) to be in containers that will fit under the toddler bed.

And then, Baby D's current room will become Miss Dainty's/guest room.  She's been asking for a bigger bed, anyway.  She doesn't like how narrow her twin size bed is.   This bed was what we originally wanted to get for Miss Dainty's room, oh two years ago.  It's a single bed which turns into a double and has drawers for storage underneath.  Pretty awesome.  I might still go with that one, or I might just get her a full.  I think the Ikea one would be best though, so that she has the option of having more space if/when she needs it.

I'm really looking forward to working on their rooms!  Thanks for the inspiration Emy!

Celebrating Valentine's Day

Oh, it turned out to be a wonderful day!  So glad I decided to make the most of it.  =)

I told the girls I had a few Valentine's Day surprises for them, so they were so excited all morning (well mainly Miss Dainty.)  First, after breakfast I had them get ready while I prepared a pack lunch.  Miss Dainty kept trying to guess where we were going.  She never guessed right.

The first surprise was:  the park!  Now, I know this probably doesn't seem too special, but ever since winter started, we have not been able to go.  It has just been way too cold.  Today, however, was gorgeous!  It was 65ish degrees with beautiful sunny skies.  It was a bit windy, but awesome weather regardless.  They played and played and played.  We needed this today.  We needed the sun's warmth and brightness, we needed to just be out.  It was great.  Once the kids got hungry we sat down with friends of ours for a picnic.  My girls loved what I created for their lunch.  Absolutely loved it.  And their reaction made me so happy.

Some photo explanations:

Apparently, Baby D doesn't like wind.  She decided she wanted to wear her sweater and her sister's hat the entire time.  On the other hand, Miss Dainty didn't even seemed bothered by the slight chill the wind brought, which is obvious by her very summery attire.

In the top left photo, Baby D is sitting on her potty.  She decided last night, out of nowhere to begin potty training!!!  Flat out refused to put a diaper on.  Oh the things we moms have to do.... heh.

The "Love" photo is their lunch.  I used letter and little heart cookie cutters to cut the PB&J sandwiches.

The bottom right photo is Miss Dainty while we were crafting paper hearts to decorate the house with.  She loved the one on one time while Baby D napped.  We finished just as Baby D woke up, so they each got to place some hearts wherever they wanted.

After getting Baby D into a good mood (waking up is always a shock apparently,) we headed out for the next surprise:  Dinner at our favorite sushi place!

Miso soup, yakisoba noodles, sweet potato rolls, and avocado/cucumber rolls!  We haven't been in a while... since a few days before Mr Hubs left, so the girls were in heaven!  An older couple complimented me on the girls, and said how nice it was I was taking pictures to keep the family updated.  I told them it was for their dad who was deployed.  The husband answered, "That's what I figured.  Tell him to keep safe."  I thought that was really nice.

After dinner, we ran by a nearby grocery store and picked up some Tofutti ice cream sandwiches for dessert. It's the girls' favorite, but I rarely buy it because they're so expensive!  (But that keeps them extra special at the same time...)  Then, we picked up a movie at a redbox outside.  Miss Dainty picked out Alpha and Omega.  We came home, ate our ice cream, and watched the movie together.  It was a perfect way to end the day.  The only thing that would have made today better was if Mr Hubs had been right there with us, but he kind of was.  We talked about him the entire day. 

I kept noticing this on my fridge today:

Mr Hubs wrote that right before he left for bootcamp.  I was still in high school.  He hid it in a cd case in my bedroom.  I love that note, and I must have read it a million times today.  I really don't know why I was even slightly upset about Valentine's Day.  Even with him gone, I know he loves me every day.  I don't need a holiday to remind me of that. 

And then, this really put everything into perspective.  A friend of mine posted this on facebook:

"Remember that you are loved by a love that is deeper and richer than any other love, by the One who loved creating you exactly they way you are.  You are His prize, His favorite and His desire and He wants you to know that.  God loves you today, and forever."

I love that.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone.
=)

Randomness and Valentines Day

My intention was to keep better track of what we've been doing, and especially to take more photos, in hopes of having something to show to Mr Hubs a half year from now and say, "Look, this is what we were up to while you were gone..."  However, I realize I've been slacking.  I hope to remedy this, starting tomorrow.

Lately, we've just been keeping busy.  I'm organizing another small group Bible study.  So excited about it!  We'll be studying Elizabeth George's A Woman After God's Own Heart.  The only hiccup so far is that our babysitter fell through recently, so I've been scrambling trying to find another.  A fellow navy wife suggested the site SitterCity.com and told me military gets membership for free (!!!) so I joined, and posted a job listing.  About five minutes ago, I received an application that looks like the winner, so here's hoping!

The other day we had yet another snowy day.  I'm so thankful that it was not terrible here like it was in other states.  Yay for snow.... (not.)  I'm definitely not a snow person.   My girls on the other hand, love to be out there.  Usually, at snowy, freezing cold times such as this, Mr Hubs is the one who takes them outside and they all have a blast.  But since he is currently away enjoying warmer weather I assume, I was left to tackle the task.  Miss Dainty kept saying, "I wish Daddy was here.  He would love this.  We could have built a snowman."  She was disappointed that I did not know how.

This is what they ended up building... some sort of snow... creature.  This picture cracks me up, not just because of the snow thing, but also because of Miss Dainty's fashion statement.  She seems to have lost her mittens and scarf, so she borrowed mine which were huge on her.  And then there's Baby D and her mismatched glove and mitten.  Oh dear, my poor kids....  Sorry girls, Mommy is clueless, apparently.  Good thing they don't care much.  =)

This week, Miss Dainty also had her Girl Scout meeting.  She is still loving it.  I wish we could meet up more often though.  I really think she could form some closer friendships and bonds in that group.  They had a valentine card swap at the end of the meeting.  Miss Dainty picked out Disney princess cards that came with a bookmark.  This one was my favorite out of the cards she recieved:

Is that not just too adorable?!  I love it!  I've been feeling a little down about Valentine's Day.  Mr Hubs and I never really cared about Valentine's.  In all of the 11 years we've been together, I think our very first valentine's while dating was the only one we ever celebrated.  We just kind of realized how commercial and forced the whole ordeal is.  But presently, I'm mad about the holiday because it's not our choice to not celebrate it this time since he's not here.  Does that even make sense?  Probably not.  So, I've decided to make the best of it, and celebrate (for the first time in a while,) with the girls.  I have a few surprises up my sleeve for them on Valentine's day. 

We did receive valentine's cards in the mail from my grandma, though, and that brightened our day.  The girls' card had $4 tucked inside, $2 for each.  So, today, I took them down to The Book Owl (that little local bookstore I've been addicted to lately.)  They were having a $1 sale on "thousands" of books.  I thought he had been kidding, but no, there were boxes and boxes of books in an empty store lot.  No electricity and no heat, but I managed to look for about an hour and a half before the girls were tired of chasing each other and of the cold.

My favorite find?

Blueberries for Sal for $1!!  Score!  (You gotta love the mismatched socks.  This time it was not my fault, she insisted on wearing those, I promise!)  I also found a couple of other children's classics, and about 10 books for me including a nostalgic find:  California Blue by David Klass.  I remember reading and loving it in either in middle school or junior high, when I did nothing else except read.

Oh, those were the days...

Tonight, I am volunteering at church.  We have 400 balloons to blow up.....  should be fun.  =)

What's my age again?

I love sharing things Miss Dainty says with family and friends on facebook, hopefully giving them a chuckle.  I realized today, though, that I can't remember some of the things she's said in the past, and I want to put them in a more permanent place.  So, I've decided to post them here as well.  Here's the first.  I'll hopefully remember some things from the past and add them, too.

I made a simple dinner of tomato soup and grilled "cheese" sandwiches, and I told the girls, "I used to love when Grandma would make this for me."  Miss Dainty said, "When you were a kid?! ...  How do you remember so long ago?"
!!!???!!! 
0_o

We survived...

Well, we've officially survived the first week.  I think I'm still a bit in denial (which seems to be helping the kids cope, anyway.)  I've been somewhat treating this week as a really long duty day, instead of what it actually is.

Mr. Hubs is deployed.  yuck.  There, I said it.  I suppose that being used to this past year's workups has made it easier on us.  We are used to him having to leave.  In a way that is a little sad, but ah, well, what can you do?  I think it will start to sink in more as we get further into the deployment.  We've already had some ups and downs, but overall we're holding it together.

Baby D doesn't understand, of course.  She sees Daddy's car outside and asks, "Daddy home?"  I have to tell her repeatedly, "No, Daddy's on the boat."  She'll look at me and say, "Oh, Daddy boat."  A lump will catch in my throat for a second or two, and after a few deep breaths, it's gone, but the whole time, she is fine.

Miss Dainty is strong.  She amazes me.  I can only hope that I can continue to be enough for her while Mr. Hubs is away.  She misses him very much.  We all do, of course.  Evenings are hardest for me, they are too quiet.  I've been filling them with knitting and season 1 of Doctor Who, or reading mostly.  And sleep doesn't come quickly, but the morning does.  Coffee is my friend.  During the day we try to stay busy.  It will be better when the weather gets nicer.  We've been stuck in the house lately due to cold rainy days.

Today was a nice break from that.  It was bordering on warm and the sun was out.  After Baby D's nap, I surprised them with a trip to the nearby playground.  (They thought we were going straight to the craft store.) They had fun running and sliding and jumping around.  It was good for them to get their energy out.  It was a nice chance for me to sit and knit. I was also pleasantly surprised by a single bird singing just for me (at least, that's what it felt like.)  That little bird's song as the soundtrack to my kids' playing and the yarn moving through my hands, made me happy.  That half hour was really, really enjoyable.  Then it got too chilly, and we had to leave.

This is what I've been working on:

My first sweater.  Well, it's for Baby D.  I figured I should start small.  It's a really easy pattern:  the pieces are seed stitch border and stockinette stitch with just a tad of shaping.  When I join them for the yoke portion, there will be some eyelets involved, so hopefully it won't be too hard for me.  It's an adorable sweater.  I can't wait to finish it.

However, I might have to put it aside for a while.  I've signed up for my very first ever swap on ravelry.  I'm so excited.  I've decided on what I want to make for my spoilee, I just need to get started.  I'm looking forward to shopping for her, too.  This is what I bought tonight to get started on the first two projects:

The yarn in this picture and the sweater look almost the same, but that's the lighting's fault.  The sweater is magenta.  This new yarn is a rich dark red.

I will definitely post about the completed projects, after my spoilee receives her package.  I think I'll do one more night of mindless stockinette and tv tonight, though.

Garden of Lights

Last night we took the girls to a surprise.  It took a bit of driving, and on the way Miss Dainty kept asking where we were going and what the surprise was.  Of course we kept telling her, "We're not telling you, it's a surprise!" 

Meanwhile, Baby D just sat in her carseat staring out the window because, really, what could a 2 year old do except just wait and see what it was we were doing.

Then Miss Dainty started asking questions like, "Are we going to get out of the car soon?  I'm kind of getting tired of being in here."

To which we answered, "No, we have to stay in the car."  She was a bit disappointed.

After a while, as we were getting closer to our destination, Mr Hubs asked Miss Dainty, "Are you pumped up?"  She asked what that meant, and I told her it meant if she was excited.

She said, "Well, I can't really say I'm pumped up, because I'm not that excited about staying in the car.  I don't know what's so exciting about staying in the car the whole time. So, no I'm not pumped up."

Oh, I couldn't stop laughing.  Ever the practical one.  We eventually did pull up to the surprise:  Garden of Lights at Norfolk Botanical Garden.  At first we had to wait in line for a while, and Miss Dainty was not impressed with the lights they had set up around the entry line.  But after seeing the more detailed scenes she indeed got "pumped up." 

My favorite scenes were the underwater scene (so cool to drive through,) the pink woodland scene (so adorable,) and a small section that looked like rain falling (couldn't capture on camera, but it was really neat.)  In the end, the girls loved it.

Tantrums... and knitting

I used to fight Miss Dainty's tantrums.  I did.  I tried everything.  Then for a short time, about the time when I was 7-9 months pregnant with Baby D, I quit fighting them.  There was really nothing I could do, honestly.  And so I would let Miss Dainty (who was about 3 1/2 then,) feel her emotions, uncontrollable or not, deal with them, and when she had calmed down enough we would talk it through.  She survived.  I survived.

So, tell me, why did I go back to fighting them?  I remember after we had just returned to the States, she went through a long tantrum phase.  And I didn't know what to do.  Mr. Hubs was still in Sicily and I had a 6 month old baby and an every single night tantrum throwing 4 year old.  I tried every single thing that had been given in advice to me.  Every single thing.  I was exhausted.  I was frustrated.  I cried.

After we moved into our current home, she would still throw them, just not as often.  The nights she did were insane.  Mr. Hubs would go to work exhausted in the morning after no rest.  We would all be so tired from fighting the tantrums.  Nothing would calm her down.  She would listen to no one.  It would be hours before she stopped.  We prayed every single time she threw one that it would be the last.  She phased out of it, though, thankfully.  Well, for the most part.  Every once in a while she still throws them.

Like tonight.  Oh, boy did Mr. Hubs miss a fun night tonight!  Two hours.  sigh....

Two.  Hours.  After.  Bedtime.

But guess what I did? 

I didn't fight it.  I didn't know what was causing the emotional outburst.  It could have been because I was busy all day cleaning and doing a ton of extra laundry (it's bedding day.)  Or it could be because Mr. Hubs had duty today.  Or perhaps because our schedule is out of whack due to holiday stuff.  Who knows.  I figured if she had some crazy emotions right then, then she had a right to feel them.  I also decided I wasn't going to let her behavior steal my relaxing time.  So, I picked up my current project, and I started to knit.  I knitted through the screams.  I knitted through the stomped feet.  I knitted through everything.  I would try to talk to her when I thought she was calming down, and if she wouldn't listen, I told her I'd wait.  And I did, and thanks to focusing on every single stitch, I was able to do so patiently.

She eventually calmed down and we talked it through.  She apologized and accepted her punishment (she is losing a LOT of stuff tomorrow.)  We cuddled for a few minutes and then she went to bed. 

Look how much I got done on my second mitten (when I picked it up, I was only a few rows into the first brown section:)

I honestly don't know why I didn't think of this before!

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 26

Today, I am thankful for:

64. our wonderful daughter, Baby D, who turned 2 today.

(I cheated, this picture is from October.  =)  We're celebrating tomorrow, so I'll have new pics then.)

Dear Baby D,
Where have the past two years gone?  Just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital, you were taking your first steps, saying your first word.  And now?  Now you are running after your big sister, expressing your ideas and wishes as best as you know how, and always, always being a goofball.  You definitely got your daddy's personality.  You brighten our days, Baby D.  Your sister loves to see you first thing in the morning.  Your daddy loves to see you run to him as he comes through the door after a long day at work.  You bring laughter to our lives with your crazy little antics.  We are always waiting to see what you do or say next.  Your smile makes us smile.  Your hugs bring us happiness.  We are so blessed that God gave you to us.  You are a wonderful daughter and sister, and we look forward to seeing the person you are going to grow up to be...  but please, just take your time.
Love,
Mommy, Daddy, and your Big Sister

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 16

I know, this is a little late posting, but oh well.  =)

Today, I'm thankful for:

49.  That Baby D sat fairly still for a haircut.  I was so tired of pulling food out of her hair, and pulling the hair that would get stuck to her neck with food... it wasn't a pretty sight.  Plus, she constantly had hair in her eyes.  I debated taking her in to get it done, but decided I wanted to try.  I never cut Miss Dainty's hair before, and really it's like a rite of passage for a parent to at least cut their kid's hair once!  So, I did it.  The cut itself came out okay, the bangs are a little shorter than I meant to make them, and of course a little crooked, but she doesn't mind.  She's just happy there's no hair in her eyes anymore.  Miss Dainty ended up wanting bangs too, which also came out a little short and crooked (I'll get it eventually!) but she loves them.
=)