Dancing With My Kids... My Stars!

Therese and David aren't only avid fans of cutting a rug whenever a beat is present... they often come and beg Mama to join them in a dance.  They aren't always the best at waiting their turn, but they both definitely enjoy it when their turn comes!

As "Grandma Barbie" knows... Track 1 on Danielle Roses' new CD is the one that David has claimed as his own, and Therese has Track 2.  And then whenever they need a snuggle they claim whatever we happen to have on at the moment!

I forget what brought it on... but Therese really needed a snuggle-dance this day!

"Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair..."

Well, after three blustery and rainy days here in Georgia, when we went for our evening walk, clad in our rain jackets, on Wednesday we found the beautiful "snowball" bushes a bit disturbed by the wind.  Many of the snowballs had been scattered on the walking path.  Well... Therese just couldn't walk past them and leave them for dead, so we had to give a couple of them one last hooray before turning brown and going back to the earth...!

 And you can't go around the whole path around the pond without coming upon the jungle-gym!  Here are my two little cuties doing their daily gym time!

 And this picture is blurry and doesn't even show you what I want you to see... but they love to walk holding hands!  It is a new thing for them, now being in town and walking outside a lot without a stroller, that they have to always hold someone's hand when crossing the street.  So... they have in general gotten more used to walking while holding someone's hand.  They often just clasp hands and walk or run along.  They are so cute! Little T and D are definitely good buddies!  And they know how to warm a mommy's heart!

A Day Full of Activity!

So... we don't use the TV for TV or movies as a family (except for our weekly Sunday Movie for the kids)... I have turned on the weather channel one or two times to see how to dress the kids... but we have figured out how to play CD's on the DVD player, and I must say that my kids love to dance!  They just can't keep still when there is a tune on.  Joe claims that he isn't a good dancer, but I just don't believe it!  They HAVE TO have good dancing genes coming from both sides to have such amazing moves!  I hope this actually loads...

After grooving out, they worked up a coloring itch... and with Aunty Nanny's birthday just a few days away... we had a perfect project to work on!  

It was another gloomy day, but the ground had dried enough for a short jungle-gym time before naps.

 And this proud little girl (with the help of your mommy) has just built a "house" with ALL of her LEGOS!  And Bumpa will be proud to know that she was adamant that the house had to include beds and potties for her cows!  Wow... potty-trained cows... now THAT girl has imagination!

Protecting her masterpiece from her brother, whose code name is "Destructo!"

FYI:  the house survived for approximately 10 more seconds... maybe!

Oh... but look at that angelic face!  So sweet!

Some Ducks, A Goose, and a Puppy Dog Backpack!

I'm realizing that these entries (at least the pictures) might become a little monotonous, because I think that 90% of them... at least those of us here in GA... will be taken during our nightly walk around the pond.  Oh well!  Life with kids can be monotonous... but it is never boring!

So... Monday (the 28th) was a bit of a dreary, cold day here in GA.  What I mean to say is... it was quite BALMY compared to Minnesota or Wisconsin, but it just wasn't quite warm enough to go hang out at the jungle-gym for any extended period of time.  So... in the evening we put on our warmest clothing and headed out for a stroll around the pond to see what we could see.

 I had David connected to me with our handy-dandy puppy dog backpack that has the double duty of being quite nice in making sure that the little ones don't wander off into the pond or the road while, at the same time, being quite the cute addition to a picture!

 My little one didn't always want to go where we were going.  He is quite the free spirit, and just likes to wander aimlessly whenever he has the opportunity.  This whole sticking to the path is not really his favorite!

 Our second heron sighting... and it is off!
       

 Ah... now to the meat of the story... the ducks!  Or as David says.."kga-kga" (or something like that). 

Sunday Afternoon at the Jungle-Gym!

Saying bye to Dada is never easy for the kids, especially Therese.  I keep saying that she has a lot of her Grandma Barbie in her, but the other day when we were with Joe he said, "No... she just has a lot of Dada in her."  And now that I think about it... that is true!  Joe IS a very sentimental and deep-feeling being.  Unfortunately, however, he has been bound to a very un-sentimental, un-feeling person!  No... that is an exaggeration, but he sure did marry pretty close to his opposite in that area!

Anyways... after we dropped Joe off that first Sunday, we came home for a quick "Sunday Movie" before nap time - Therese picked out Joseph's Reunion - one of our Animated Bible stories.  She is starting to get in to movies, and now sits pretty well through the 30 minutes and understands most of it. 

But after nap time, the kids started giving me shifty eyes... so I knew that some kind of drug was needed to complete our first Sunday on a good note... 

JUNGLE-GYMS!

I think I mentioned earlier David's new-found love for slides feet-first on his tummy.  

Here is a photo story of his technique!

 Therese, of course, realized how amazing this way of sliding was... and she is now a complete convert (or revert) to the baby belly slide!

Good thing we brought a lot of "bloomers" to GA!  This is probably the wrong term, but when I was working at the LifeCare Centers, they would get these cotton panties (not underwear... but... I don't know what to call them... "bloomers") donated all the time without them being connected to an outfit, and no one would every want them, so I have a vast supply... and they are great for keeping others from seeing a little girls panties when she is a super jungle-gym girl!

Therese had to call me over to take a picture of her doing her "Daddy Pull-ups" on the monkey bars.

 In the words of Therese: "Baby Davie and I... We are jungle-gym climbers... 'cuz we got big!  We can climb it really good and fast!"

 Well, mom, you've definitely created a little girl after your own heart in my T!  She sure knows how to flash a smile and strike a pose!  And usually I'm not asking her to... she calls me over when she knows she's found a great one!

 Luckily, this tunnel that goes up to the upper level, where I would be a bit more leery of David being alone, is currently either too difficult for him to climb through our too intimidating.  Deo Gratias!  Sometimes it's these small things that you need to appreciate.  They just make mothering easier for a moment here and a moment there.

 And here are some final jungle-gym poses created by Therese... and yes - they slept VERY WELL this night, after fun with Daddy and super jungle-gym fun in the sun! 

Our First Daddy Days!

So... finally to the GOOD stuff!

The first weekend we arrived, from March 25th through March 27th, it had been promised to us wives and families that our soldiers would be given a "pass" to stay off post (what the Army calls their bases/forts) following the ceremonies that took place on post on the 25th.

The first thing of the day on base was a very casual (subs and chips) luncheon for soldiers and families at 11am in the day room of their barracks.  Joe told me to get there 30-45 minutes late, because that is when the OCs would actually get there.  Of course, though, I got lost on the way there - I'm pretty sure that GPS purposefully don't work on any military base... this has happened to me without fail on every post/base I have ever been on!  So... I was more like almost an hour late, but we still were able to eat a bit and meet many of Joe's fellow OCs.

As usual, as soon as people realized who I was there for, a handful of the OCs had to come over, shake my hand, and tell me how wonderful and inspiring Joe is for them.  This day, many of the compliments were on his constant cheerfulness, his enthusiasm, and his very manly way of calling cadence when they march.  I actually had his first sergeant (a senior enlisted member of his cadre - his "bosses", as I speak of them to Therese) come up to me and tell me that she is planning to secretly record him calling cadence in this way so that she can show him off to her good friend, who happens to have been Joe's drill sergeant from Basic, who Joe really respected, and who is one of the reasons that he is now going to be an MP (military police).  She told me to find her at graduation, and she'd give me the tape!

At this luncheon is where Therese also got to meet "Frank" - Robert Frank, who is Joe's roommate now.  Before this she had both talked with Frank on the phone a couple times and seen his pictures online, so she could actually pick him out of the crowd (and remember - they are all dressed exactly alike except for their name plates!).

Then we went outside for SOCR (Senior Officer Candidate Review) - which was a very formal ceremony where the Cadre "reviewed" - basically marched in front of - the OCs, who were standing in formation, and then they tied a "senior status" ribbon on their guidon (the staff and flag of their company).  Then a speech was given, the anthem was played, they marched off, and all of this took a VERY LONG TIME!  By the end of the ceremony, where we could walk up to them and congratulate them... which was a bit awkward, because they couldn't leave formation... at first they couldn't even move at all... by that time David was on the ground playing in the (eating) dirt, and Therese was sprawled out over the chairs - but lucking they were quiet for most of the time.

 

Then we had a few minutes with our SENIOR OC - this is actually pretty big for them, FYI, because they are now in the "white phase" (as seen by their write ascots on their necks).  Before now, when they were in the black pace, they had to run everywhere they went, they had to eat in a certain amount of time, etc.  Now everything is just a bit more relaxed, and they are given many privileges that are greatly appreciated after 6 weeks of lacking them.

The next ceremony was actually pretty cool and entertaining.  We had to drive just a few blocks to a theater of sorts - and we gave a ride to another wife, named Brandi, who was very nice... she is the gal playing with the kids in the pictures.  This ceremony was the Branching Ceremony, where the OCs were able to choose their area of training (their "job" in the Army).  They had a list of all the "branches" and how many slots were available in each branch projected on the wall.  Then the OCs were lined up according to their Degree of Merit (which was decided based on their performance physically and academically the first 6 weeks).  Joe was 30th out of about 105, I think.  They went up in order and each had about 5 seconds or less to choose from what was remaining by the time they got up there.  Then they got a pin to put on their uniform that represents their branch, they walked to the front of the stage and announced..."Senior Officer Candidate _______ Selects _________", and then everyone would cheer!  It got pretty tense towards the end when the slots were disappearing quickly, and everyone was actually having a pretty good time.  As I stated earlier... I was absolutely flabbergasted by Joe's choice...MP... so much so that I couldn't take a picture of him making his announcement... besides that it was a hoot!

By the time this was all over, I think it was a bit after 5pm, which was much later than I had expected, but the kids had done really well... I had them take a nap in the early morning before we left for the post.  So... we went back to the barracks to wait for Joe to pack up, and then we WENT HOME WITH DADDY!

It was the feast of the Annunciation that day - so although it was a Lenten Friday, I cooked up some quick pork loins and pasta while Joe read the kids some books.  And we even took our first trip to the pond and got some swing time in with Daddy before baths and bed. Joe really liked the apartment and was very pleased that we were there - safe and hassle-free.

We woke up on Saturday and had breakfast, a swing, and a quick trip to Wal-Mart to get Joe a belt, before heading to 10am Mass at St. Ann's.  It was after this Mass that I first met Susan, the mom who invited me to a Mom's Bible Study at the parish, which I will be going to weekly.

We had a great weekend.  We played outside, built Lego houses, talked about the MPs and...well... everything and anything, watched a couple Lost episodes before bed, talked over some things that we haven't been able to cover on short phone conversations, made and ate cookies, and just caught up.  We went back to St. Ann's for Mass on Sunday and then caught an early lunch before bringing Joe back to post at about 1pm on Sunday.

It was a short weekend, but a great one.  One thing I'm learning about the military... you just have to make yourself appreciate what you get, because you don't have a say in much of it... you just have to smile and enjoy what's given to you!