Memorial Day

It's always hard to be without my army family on days like this. I miss the wives, taking care of the kids while the boys remembered the fallen. The girls did too, but it was different for them. We weren't there. We didn't walk beside men that wouldn't come home. We stayed behind, to grieve the loss of such men. I watched my neighbors enjoying a cookout in our court yesterday and it made me angry. Do they know? Do they even care? It's not fair that I singled them out, but did they take a minute to be grateful? I watched a woman become a widow and bury her whole world. I visited cemetery after cemetery in Europe. I sent a husband off to war three times, each time knowing there was a chance he wouldn't come back. My sacrifice pales in comparison to theirs. But I'm thankful every day to the "greatest generation" that died for my freedoms. The men that survived prisoner camps and torture to win a war against tyranny. I'm thankful for men like my husband that fought against terrorism. And to those who still carry the deep wounds of war that will never heal. 

Memorial day love

My little sassy girl 

Mother's Day

We have a fantastic daycare. The kids love it, the teachers love the kids, and I know they're safe. They're happy, they learn and grow. And the teachers always have something special for holidays. Mother's Day was no exception this year. Both kids brought home plants and sweet notes and fun things with handprints, and these are two of the precious projects Hayden brought home for me. I was laughing and in tears and I'm so grateful for his wonderful teachers! 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

My little Ironman had a great time trick or treating! Lila was not dressed up, but we were pretty excited she didn't figure out how to take her hat off. Halloween night was a COLD affair, so Lila was bundled up in layers and in her stroller-sleeping bag.

This year Hayden was really good about going up to the door, saying "trick or treat" and saying thank you. Until we got to a few houses with really great decorations and special effects. Then he got a little stressed out. But all in all, it was good. Lila was content to eat Cheerios in the stroller except for the last little bit where she wanted me to hold her. Onyx was well-behaved, letting people stop to pet her.

Once he got a little bit of candy, Hayden was "tired of saying walking and saying trick or treat" so we headed home for hot chocolate, Spookley the Square Pumpkin and The Great Pumpkin. Good times all around!

Happy Easter!

What a fun time of year this is! Flowers blooming, grass growing, and of course, Easter. This was Lila's first Easter, but Hayden was no stranger to the Easter bunny, Easter basket and hunting for eggs! We started the day off with a quick trip downstairs to see what the bunny brought the little ones! Hayden enjoyed a few new puzzles, two movies, cars and candy. Lila got a play gym, with fun zoo animals hanging around to entertain her. We made a small lunch for us and Gloria, which Lila slept all the way through (until my first bite of coconut cake)!

Hanging out with grandma!

Checking out the play gym!

After lunch we headed to Aunt Jana's for more lunch and an Easter egg hunt! Lila was content to be passed around amongst family while Hayden was more than happy to hunt eggs with the big kids. He did an awesome job finding eggs, and helping his cousins find them too!

Hayden and Zoe found a caterpillar too! They wanted to race them, but only had one. Good news...he won every time!

And when Lila got a little fussy, we handed her over to the baby whisperer, aka Uncle Eric...

All in all, it was a great day but super exhausting! We were so tired when we got home, we all just relaxed and spent the evening doing a big bunch of nothing. Fine with me!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mommy's little valentine started the day off in this outfit...but went through SIX by the end of the day. Messy girl!

Happy Easter!

Hayden's age certainly makes holidays a lot more fun and interesting! This was the first year he got candy in his Easter basket, the first year he dyed eggs and even went on his first egg hunt! Last year we were in the Netherlands so there were no eggs to hunt but plenty of flowers to see.

On Saturday, he and Jay dyed eggs outside on the porch. Hayden was really excited to watch the eggs change color, and had a blast with the stickers. We did it with minimal mess, and I was quite surprised! Once they were dry I put them in a bunny bowl on the dining room table and every time Hayden saw them he was so excited. He was really proud and kept saying "Ea-ter eggs!"

On Sunday he woke up to a few surprises from the Easter bunny. He had a Cars easter basket with new Thomas the Train pajamas, a fun number puzzle and candy. We let him have a few pieces before our fun Easter lunch and he seemed pretty content.

For lunch, we went to Andy and Teressa's new house. They are right down the road from us now. Hayden had a blast with two of his faves, Cooper and Sydney. After lunch we busied the kids for a few minutes while the Easter bunny hid some shiny eggs for them to find. Hayden was way more interested in giving the eggs to Sydney because she had her bookbag. Hayden was all of a sudden not so excited about his Cars basket because Sydney was WEARING her bookbag, and he couldn't quite understand why he couldn't wear his basket. After some candy and cookies, we headed home with a very tired (but still handsome!) little boy. Easter might be his favorite holiday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As luck should have it, Hayden was sick last night and didn't get to wear his St. Patty's day shirt to school. I was so bummed, since it's terribly adorable and was acquired WEEKS ago to prevent him from being pinched. He was throwing up into the wee hours of the morning for no apparent reason, so mom spent the day at home with him. I love being a working mom and he loves being in school, but sometimes it's nice to have a day together in the middle of the week, especially when there's sunshine available!

He stopped throwing up at 5am but I didn't want to send him to school so I let him get some good sleep this morning. We made breakfast together and watched cartoons and played with toys. After his nap (that's right, slept in his own bed in the middle of the day!) we headed outside to get some fresh air. Grandma Gloria got him a Buzz Lightyear four-wheeler that has only been ridden around our apartment, so we took it out for a spin. We rode all the way up to the playground, since Hayden hadn't yet investigated its possibilities.

He had a great time on the slides and bridge and climbing apparatus. He's amazingly gifted in the area of climbing, which will surely cause trouble in years to come. But for now, it's wonderful to watch him look at something, try it out and figure out how to conquer it all on his own.

A weekend of fun!

Last weekend we managed to cram a whole lot of fun stuff into just one weekend! After taking a trip to see Santa (and the necessary nap that followed) we headed west to see the Festival of Lights at Tanglewood Park. I haven't been in years and of course, Hayden has never been! He really likes the Christmas lights as we drive around at night so we figured that would be a hit for him. A quick stop to get some munchkins from Dunkin Donuts and we were ready to brave the line!

Surprisingly for a Friday night we didn't have to wait that long and boy was Hayden excited! He kept pointing out the things he had words for (tree, Santa, lights) and asked us what everything else was. My favorite part is the snowflakes, and the guy hitting the golfball near the club. What a fun experience! We drove slowly through the roads and ate our munchkins listening to Christmas music. Hayden passed out on the way home from all the excitement.

On Saturday we spent a little time with my brother and his family before dropping Hayden off with my mom and grandmother so we could go to the Coliseum. My very own Carolina Tarheels were playing Texas in Greensboro and our family had gotten us tickets to see them! We braved the last-Saturday-before-Christmas and Coliseum traffic to get there but made it in the arena just a minute or two after the tip. We grabbed some snacks and headed to our seats to watch the game.

It was a good game and a close one, but in the end Carolina lost. We picked up a mini Carolina basketball for Hayden before we left. I can't wait to take him to a basketball game when he's a little older and can get as excited as I do!

On Sunday we did a little running around and then headed back to Winston for Katie's Christmas Drop-In. I got to see some of my friends that I hadn't seen since at least 2008 and some of Katie's family I hadn't seen in even longer. Hayden busied himself with Katie's books, trying to break things and attempts at sticking his fingers in the dip. There were so many people and he was pretty shy at first but then commenced his usual Hurricane Hayden status. We had food and drinks and fun with friends before heading back home. I love the holidays!

A visit to see some friends

On Christmas Eve-eve, as people are fond of calling it, I headed up the road to Charlotte to visit some friends. My college friend Stephanie gave birth to a premature baby girl in October, and she is still in the NICU. I left Hayden at home with Jay so I could go visit her in the hospital! But her sister had a fever, which kept her mom at home so I went to visit Stephanie and Lily at home instead. Lily is so fun to be around because she is so different from Hayden. She's a girl and younger than Hayden, so she's small and still more of a baby than a toddler, and sometimes you forget what that age is like! We had a good time hanging out and catching up before I had to get on the road again.

My good friend Liz from college lives in Washington state, but was on the east coast for a visit. Her family is in Clover, SC so I drove down to see her. Two hours is nothing when the other option is a four hour flight to see her! I had a great afternoon spending time with her and her family and eating a ton of great food. The thing that sucks about growing up is that we're all so far apart. But every once in awhile, the planets align and we get to be in the (relatively) same place and time.

The Big Apple!

Of all the amazing places I've seen, New York City has eluded me. I've been to country after country, great city after city in the states but never the Big Apple. So on November 27th, Jay and I woke up extra early to be out of the house by 4 to drive to Milford, DE to catch our bus up there! Jay's Nan goes up every year after Thanksgiving to do her shopping and invited us to come along this time. We were so excited! We left at 4, headed up to Delaware and boarded the bus along with many other excited shoppers. We had done some pre-planning and changed our minds a few times on what to see and how to get everywhere, but by the time we arrived at Rockefeller Center we had a good idea of what we wanted to accomplish. The bus dropped us off at 11 am and would be departing at 7pm so we didn't have much time to dawdle!

We took a walk around Rockefeller Center and the surrounding area first to get our bearings, and to see the holiday decorations. NYC seems to sparkle for Christmas! The tree wasn't lit yet but there were plenty of other decorations to get excited about. After a few minutes, we headed to the subway and went south. We really wanted to see Ground Zero. From where we were we couldn't see a whole lot but construction, but it was just amazing to see how much has to be done 9 years after the attacks. We also took a look at the church across the street from where the towers stood, St. Paul's. It's the oldest building in Manhattan in continuous use and has seen the Great Fire, Washington's Inauguration and the attacks of September 11th.

After that we headed down to the harbor to catch the Staten Island Ferry. We really wanted to tour the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but that would have taken up most of our 8 hours in the city. Instead, we took the ferry across to get a good look at the old girl and promised her we'd be back soon to properly introduce ourselves! It took a little longer than expected, because our first ferry was delayed due to medical emergency. That meant we missed the return ferry completely and had to wait another 30 minutes. Just enough time to grab a hot dog! We did a little more exploring uptown and bought Hayden a t-shirt and a sweatshirt for me.

From there we took our time wandering through Times Square. I could spend all day there! There is so much to see and everything is bright and shiny and lit up and entertaining. We ran across the Naked Cowboy and the Naked Cowgirl, took a quick trip inside Toys 'R Us, checked out a few shops and took a ton of pictures. From there we headed to Top of the Rock, where we got SUPER discounted tickets for being military ID card holders. Woohoo! We waited for our turn to go up and were not disappointed by the amazing views. We saw the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Central Park, Times Square and more at night. It was incredible, and definitely lived up to my NYC ideas.

After all that it was time to find our bus and head back home. We saw a ton in 8 hours and are already planning our next trip to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, do more shopping and eating and see more sights. After all the travel we did in Europe, we found that the shortcuts are just as helpful, there are just as many people not speaking English and the subway is virtually the same everywhere.

Black Friday

This year we experienced our first Black Friday...ever! I have somehow missed it every year I lived in the states, probably due to work or lack of funds! In Germany it seems silly, to show up early at the PX to go shopping. All those people in one small building! So I've never bothered. But this year we decided to make a go of it.

We woke up around 5am, which was plenty early for me. Those people that camp out all night in line and start shopping at 4am can have it! Maybe that will change when I'm older, have more kids that want more specific things and the like, but I don't think so! We left a sleepy Hayden with his Poppy and headed up the road. We were still in Virginia, in an area that's not so densely populated so traffic was clear and our first stop, Wal-Mart, wasn't really all that busy. Definitely a high volume of people for 6am but nothing like what I've seen on tv. We picked up a few appliances and headed further up the road to Salisbury, MD.

We hit some good buys at Target, like a Toy Story 3 race track for Hayden and a 12-bottle wine fridge for us! We made our way over to Best Buy where we replaced our navigation system and picked up a few DVDs and CDs. We hit up Barnes & Noble to get some books for Hayden and headed over to the mall. After picking up some super-sale hunting gear for Jay, it was lunchtime. Not bad for a few hours' work! We ate at Chick Fil A, one of our favorites that we hadn't yet had since returning to the states. After picking up a few AMAZINGLY priced Vera Bradley pieces for me, we realized we had plenty of time to spare since Hayden was with his grandparents. Seemed like there was only one thing to do...hit the movies!

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part I had come out in the states a week earlier and we purposely waited until we could see it in the states and without Hayden. Momma needs her wits about her when watching HP! So we caught a noon showing of the movie and were not disappointed! We returned home with all our purchases, full bellies and happy hearts to a Hayden that had a wonderful day with his poppy! All in all, we called our first Black Friday a success!