Magical Tea Party

 I had planned Olivia's 4th Birthday Party for a few weeks and had everything lined up to have it when Marcus got back from all his travels.  Olivia is REALLY into Fancy Nancy right now.  Every week we get a new Fancy Nancy book from the library and we read it to her every night.  There was one of those books that was all about a tea party and Olivia requested a Fancy Tea Party for her Birthday Party!

 It took me two days of prep to get everything ready.  The bad timing part was that I was super sick and felt awful but I didn't want her to miss out on her party and she was so excited for it.  So I sanitized like crazy while preparing the food (sanitized myself, not the food!).   We had 10 kids over, mostly girls with a couple of boys that she plays with.
Everyone came in their fancy clothes and the boys had on button up shirts and ties.  They all looked so CUTE!

 I  baked and prepared a ton of food.  Some of which was these tea sandwiches.  The swirls I got from the Fancy Nancy Tea Party Extravaganza book.  You roll white bread with a rolling pin, smear with a red jam and roll up into a log.  Then cut it into discs.  They looked so pretty and dainty!

 We had classical music playing.  Marcus and I served everyone.  We explained to them all how to eat fancy, with your pinky raised.  Everyone was a Monsieur or Mademoiselle.  Marcus and I were dressed up to!

 For the rest of the food I had a fruit tray, pigs in a blanket, crudités platter and chocolate croissants.  Bianca does not like bread so it was cracking us up that she had a pile of croissants beside her.  She ripped them open, sucked out the chocolate and left the bread beside her plate.

 Group shot before we opened presents.  All these kids are such good friends of Olivia.  We are so lucky to have so many families where we live!  Olivia is never short of friends to play with and we feel so blessed.
Clockwise starting with the cutie in yellow... Payton, Olivia, Ellie, Taya, Bianca, Adellyn, Gabby, Kate, Otto, Va, Bella and Lucy!

 Bianca was sitting on the couch where we put the presents and was "inspecting" everything that Olivia opened.  She is so funny and tricksy!

 The happy birthday girl with all her loot!

 I made cupcakes and frosted them and used pink sprinkles Olivia picked out.  My baby girl is 4 YEARS OLD!

 She was so cute while we were singing to her.  She just kept giggling uncontrollably!

 After cupcakes all the kids just played until it was time to be picked up.  We had so much fun with all the princesses and princes that came to help celebrate Olivia's big day!

Also on a funny note.... Olivia got a lot of fun things for her Craft Time while Bianca naps.  Olivia can't say her F's in a word, she says them like P's.  So last night we took the girls out for Pho and the whole time we were in the restaurant Olivia kept asking her Daddy

"Daddy, can we please PLEASE play with my CRAPT's when we get home??"
"I really wanna play with my CRAPTS!"

I was dying!  First she was just calling it CRAPS but then when I tried to correct her

"Olivia you say it like CrafT's"

Then she just was really emphasizing the T along with the P.
I still bust up laughing when I think about it!

Sicko's.

Olivia had an ear infection and was sick within the first 24 hours of Marcus getting back.  I also came down with a fever at the same time.  Bianca has been teething and it has been just a mess of snot, coughing and crying around this joint.

Olivia woke up after only a few hours of sleep one night because of her ears (we had her on antibiotics the next day) so she came out and cuddled with me.  I was watching Willow and she watched part of it with me.  Probably not totally age appropriate for her but I LOVE that movie and I was way to into it to stop and switch to something different.  I blame it on my raging fever at the time too.

Marcus took this picture of us and I didn't really know why he was snapping it until I looked at it the next day.  I realized we both had been sitting there in the same position with our heads braced by our fists.  Like Mother, like Daughter!

Traveling Man

Marcus just got back from a 6 week immersion program at Seoul International University in Korea.  It was an amazing opportunity and an honor to be selected to go.  He was able to learn so much and has really been able to improve his speaking abilities!  We are so proud of him!

He was gone for Halloween and Thanksgiving which was kinda hard on me but at least he is home for Christmas and I am SURE that it won't be the last time we will be apart for a holiday.  We have so many great friends here and a  couple of us families just combined and did Thanksgiving altogether and had a really nice time.

Marcus had to hit the ground running when he got back because he has had a unit test this week over all new material plus cumulative testing to see how much they improved by going to Korea, as well as Olivia's birthday party on Tuesday and ALL three of his ladies bogged down with fevers and or teething. He is super jet lagged and exhausted but I doing all he can to help us.  I woke up to all my dishes done this morning!  He has to get up at 3:30 to get ready for his day and formations and took the time to clean the kitchen for me.  I love that man.  The way to a man's heart is through his stomach... The way to a woman's heart is through cleaning her kitchen!

SO GLAD to have my Marcus back!!

Makes my heart happy.

 When Helen was here we spent a magical day at the beach.  It was warm and sunny.  The waves were on the calmer side.  We ate a bucket of fried chicken.  It was perfect.  Helen was kind enough to send me a CD of the pictures she took with her awesome camera.

 When there are really special times that make you happy to bursting we call them making "your heart happy".  We haven't been able to see much of Marcus lately (something I will explain more of in a later post) and looking at these pictures of Daddy playing with his girls makes my heart happy.

 Being at the beach also makes my heart happy.  There is something so cleansing, so calming about watching waves crash upon the shore.

 Seeing my babies play in the sand, build their castles and dig their moats.  When they fly high in the air holding onto their Daddy's hands.

 Sometimes I have to pinch myself at how lucky we are to live here.  This is such a special little corner of the world.

It has been so much fun to have visitors and be able to show them all the beautiful things that we love about living here.

Puzzle Time

Auntie Helen brought each of the girls a little present when she came to visit.  Olivia's present was the Fancy Nancy puzzle.  Girlfriend LOVE her PUZZLES!  It has 100 pieces and Helen was sure it would be a little past what Olivia could do on her own.  We were shocked when she hunkered down and busted that puzzle out.  Picking up pieces and putting them where they go on the very first try without prompting.  She asks to do it over and over again.  Sometimes I help her and sometimes she just does it by herself.

This little lady is also in LOVE with Fancy Nancy things.  They are such fun books of this very fancy little girl and they have all kinds of fabulous words in them.... like iridescent, voilà, magnificent...Our library here has quite a few so we have been borrowing them each week.  Olivia always asks the librarian "Is it okay if I please may borrow these books?".  Then Bianca gives the librarian her books and says some intelligible words that mean the same thing.  Big sister is all about the fancy right now and I am loving it!

Friends

 We always manage to stay pretty busy around these parts.  I love having my house full of people and having friends over to play.  At least once a week I have a bunch of kids over for a big play date morning.  It normally starts with me watching one kid when my friend has an appointment or something and then I send out texts to a few of my other friends or Mom's who I think could use a break and invite their kids over.

 The kids have a blast and we have some kind of fun lunch altogether.  My kids get tired out and have a really relaxing afternoon after everyone leaves and I have an uplifted attitude after helping out some friends.

 Friendships are nurtured during these times....Olivia's bracelet from her home boy...

I love it that my kids love being home as much as they like it when we go out for adventures.  I can normally get some kind of deep cleaning done on something when everyone is playing.   I feel better, the kids feel better, the day goes by fast.  I always want our kids to love being at home and having kids come and play!

Halloween

We had a ton of fun over Halloween weekend.  The Friday before we went to our Ward's Trunk or Treat.      It was a ton of fun and we invited our friends to come with us.  Va (short for Vaisi...I am not sure if that spelling is right..)  is Olivia's little buddy.  We hit up the park with them quite a bit and Maria has a little baby girl that Olivia ADORES.  Whenever they come over, the first thing Olivia asks for is to hold Nanasi.  Va also made both my girls some bracelets and he calls them his "home girls" so Olivia calls him his "home boy".
Anyway, we had a ton of fun with them at the Trunk or Treat.  Olivia was dressed as Belle and Bianca was Princess Tiana.
On actual Halloween my neighbor and I took our kids out to trick or treat together.  We had so much fun and our kids love each other.  It was such a wonderful Halloween!

Sweet Konks

 She is getting so much personality lately (which is saying a lot because this girl dominates any room she enters) it is so fun to watch!  She definitely likes things done her way but I am figuring out the ways that she needs to be parented and that is helping to ease both of our frustrations (hers and mine).

Her heart is so big and she lives each day to it's fullest.  There is no slow motion with this one.  She gives hugs hard, when she goes some place she is running, when she wants to tell you high she gives you a big ole smack on the bum.

The other day she went to the Commissary with me and she was chatting it up with every person that we came in contact with.  Saying Hi and flashing smiles while she scrunches her nose.  It was a really good trip for both of us that didn't involve any battles of the wills which can happen with her.

On the way home we were listening to a Disney CD and the Mulan song came on "I'll Make A Man Out of You."  Well it is a really robust song and Marcus and I always sing it with flourish to the girls, using hand actions and everything.  Well Bianca started to "sing" the song with me and was singing her arms around like crazy.  I pulled into the driveway and we were busting it out to each other, her mimicking my hand movements and we were laughing and having fun.

Then, mid verse of the song, she just decides that we are done doing that.  Mid hand movement she stops singing and just holds up her hands and tells me "All Done."  It caught me so off guard that I had stopped mid word with my arms in the air and just stared at her.  Then I was busting up about it all day.  That is just so her.  Busting it out at the top of her lungs and then BOOM!  All Done!  It also doubly cracked me up because I was so into doing it with her that when she stopped so abruptly I felt like the loser who stays at the party WAY too long.  Plus she can switch gears SO fast that she was just looking at me like I was a total crazy person for singing along to the song in the first place.  I was dying!   It was such a hilarious moment between the two of us that I still chuckle to myself when I think about it.  

I am so excited for when her speech starts picking up.  Olivia was a late bloomer for talking and it is the same way with Bianca.  She is smart as a whip and knows every thing I say to her, it will be so nice when she can communicate back better.  Plus just all the hilarious things she does without using words, I can only imagine all the new ways she will ham it up when she is talking.

Special Books

 Marcus had a really special afternoon with Olivia last weekend and they had a Daddy daughter date.  They ate ice cream, were offending by some really loud sea lions (Olivia said they were yelling at her), went to the library and got a haircut for Marcus on Post.

At the library Marcus picked out a chapter book to read to Olivia at night.  I really wanted them to get the BFG but it was all out so they got Charlotte's Web instead.  They read one chapter every night and Marcus summarizes where they are at before they start and then summarizes the chapter with her when they finish.  So far they are on chapter 5.  It has been their special thing together.  I had to read one chapter one night because Marcus had a huge test the next day.  It is so sweet to hear them together talking about the book!

Olivia thinks this book is the best treasure she has ever had.  After they are done reading she will flip through and look at the pictures (there are a few illustrations throughout the book).  I take the book off her bed at night and put it on her dresser and without fail every morning she brings it to me and asks me to put it way up high so it will be safe from Bianca's clutches.

It is so fun to get into bigger books like this now that she is older.  I love to read and it is so magical to me and it is so exciting to see the light be ignited in Olivia too!

Her Royal Highness.

 The treasure box of dress up clothes that I got from Costco last year during the Holidays has been one of the best investments I have ever made.  Olivia is a Princess girl.  Totally fancy-fancy through and through.  I love it!  She thinks her life is a Disney musical and she loves to stand on her bed so she can see herself in her dresser mirror and sing songs about whatever she is doing or whatever made up situation she is facing.

 She is so imaginative and turns everything into some kind of Princess or Prince game.  Even the strap that hangs down from the stroller handle bar!  When we are walking she will grab it and pretend it is a princess with long hair (it is a buckle thing so the long hair is the extra strap coming out of the buckle).

Bianca is full of energy and is moving every minute of the day.  I think had she had an older brother she would be rocking the tomboy status, but she adores her older sister so by default she adores the dress up.    Bianca is crazy about the dress up high heels and my day is to the soundtrack of her clackity clacking up and down the halls!

Clean A Thon

This week has been DRAGGING by.  I am so excited for Helen to come and visit!  The weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend but during the week it has been super rainy.  Normally I just get us out of the house a ton and play at the park or whatever but all the parks are drenched so we have just been kicking around the house a lot.

Which is making the time go by EXTRA slow.  So to help keep me busy and make the day go by faster, I have been cleaning my brains out.  I have been having a ton of fun doing it too!  There is something so richly rewarding about sitting down at the end of the day and knowing your house glistening clean!  At this stage the girls play really well together and it frees me up to do a lot of the deep cleaning projects that I like to do.

The first picture Olivia was playing with the camera and taking pictures of me cleaning and also telling her how magical it will be when Helen gets here!  One more sleep and our visitor will arrive!

OMC Baby.

 So shortly after we moved here, the Ord Recreation Center opened up.  It is right down the road from us and we LOVE it!  I have an access code I have to punch in as well as have my thumb scanned to get the door to unlock to go inside.  I feel so fancy every time I put my thumb on the pad to be scanned!

 This is right in the entrance when you get inside.  You walk through the tree to get to the kids play area.  The kids play area is conveniently located right next to the cardio room so you can watch your kids while you run on the treadmill.  So awesome.

 The girls love the tree and the playroom!  Although today we didn't go there to work out, we went there  for the pool!

 It is so perfect.  It is gated so I don't have to worry about the kids running off by the deep pool.  It is heated so the kids never get too cold and it is a pretty decent size for a kids pool.

 With it being the end of summer I was able to score some water toys on clearance at Target for way cheap.  We rock it when we hit up the pool.

 Then when we are all done playing I just throw the swimsuits into this sucker.  Automatic swimsuit dryer!  Don't have to worry about wet suits soaking up my car.  They are super spin dried in less than a minute!

The play room has a TV, DVD player, sound system and a kerbillion Melissa and Doug toys.  Bianca loves to stand up on the bench and make faces at me through the window when I am on the elliptical or treadmill.

Best thing about this whole magically fabulous place.... it costs me ZERO dollars to use it.  Sigh.
Have I mentioned how much I love living here?!
Oh.
I did?
Oh.
Only a kerbillion times already?
Oh.

Tues/Thurs

After I got back from my visit to WA I experienced a lot of change to my ever changing CA life.  I had two gals that I always went running with at least 3-4 times a week.  My Tammi and Cynthia.  Cynthia ended up moving away before I even got back and Tammi moved away within a week of me getting back.   Those girls were my evening therapy, my little team of support and I knew after dinner was done it was time to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement.  It was only 20-30 minutes but it was just what I needed at the end of a long day.  I worked my body and filled my sisterhood cup with our casual conversations.

I felt so sad that I didn't realize that Cynthia was going to be gone before I got back, that I never got to tell her good bye and give her a squeeze.  I got to say good bye to Tammi and it broke my heart.  Tammi was my partner in crime, every day we were either walking, going to the beach, playing at the park, running, bringing food to each other.  This place is like a pressure cooker for building friendships fast and Tammi and I were airtight after just a few days of hanging out.

I really struggled with getting back into my exercise routine after my girls moved away.  Tammi had met Heidi and texted me right away "I met this girl, she is a runner and I think she could be the new me for you."  It totally cracked me up, it's just so Tammi's style to make sure I would be all set for when she left.

When I met Heidi (above picture) I was so pumped!  She is fun, outgoing, athletic and totally willing to run with me.  We have a schedule and we run, rain or shine, every Tues/Thurs.  It is amazing to me how much I learn from her every time that we head out.  She is wicked fast and I know her endurance is way above mine but she always paces with me.  She says words of encouragement to me right when I need them, even if we are in the middle of talking about something that is going on in one or the others lives.  I always leave our runs feeling better about myself and inspired on how to be better in different aspects of my life.  Sometimes we just chit chat when we run, but when something big happens we hash it all out.

We always sprint it out just at the very end and this is going to sound cheesy, but our sprint out at the end is like a perfect metaphor for friendship.  One of us starts to pick up pace and I know that she could waste me if she wanted to.  I am huffing and puffing my brains out during our runs and she is able to keep pretty even paced conversation.  She always meets my pace and maybe pushing a little bit further but never out pacing me.  It pushes me just enough to reach my full potential but it is something that we both accomplish, together.  Even if it gets hard for me at the end and I slow a little she is right there beside me.

It always touches my heart so much.  It might seem like such a little thing to her, or she might not even realize she is doing it because that is just the type of person that she is.  I think about it a lot.  The kind of friend that I want to be.  Supportive and pacing right there beside them.  Helping them when they need a nudge but never leaving them behind.  Staying with them until the end.

I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends back home.  Such examples of love and kindness.  Sister wives who love and support me and finish the race with me, even when it is hard.  I feel double blessed to be able to meet so many special people here as well.  Just when you think your heart is full to bursting, you find you have room for a little more.

So Excited!

Olivia and I crafted today when Bianca was sleeping.  We made some rings and picked out a picture of Auntie Helen to print off the computer.  I explained to Olivia how each of the rings represents one sleep until Auntie Helen comes and that everyday we are going to take a ring off.  As soon as all the rings are gone then it will be the day to get Auntie Helen from the Airport.

We put it up on the wall of our living room and Olivia is so excited.  I am so excited too and it is quite possible that I am more excited than Olivia.  Which, that is saying something, because Olivia just wanted to rip all the rings off as soon as we put them up so we can get Auntie Helen from the airport tomorrow.  I am so excited to have a guest from back home and Marcus will have 4 days off when she is here.  It is going to be MAGICAL!

Auntie Helen, we can't wait until you come to see us!!

New Do!

 I got my hair cut and colored by another military wife here at Ord.  She has part of her garage transformed into a little hair salon area.  It had been a long while since I got it trimmed and my hair was needing some love real bad.  Rebecca, the hairstylist, charged really cheap prices so for a partial highlight and cut it cost me just a little bit more than just a haircut from back home.  I haven't had my hair colored in  over 5 years so I was really pumped for a little change and to get some highlights back in.

Since Jayme posted a hair straight picture I figured I would too!  She blew it out and straightened it for me and I made sure to take a picture because it will probably not be straightened by me any time soon.  I don't have the patience for it and I prefer my hair curly because when it is straight it makes my long shaped face look REALLY LONG.  Having the curl evens it out and gives more roundness to my face.

So pretty much I feel like a million bucks and have been walking around today with a little extra swing in my hips because I feel so sassy with a little color in my hair.  Marcus is loving the new sassier me as well ;)