Not really related in any way.

So there was a space before we came to the land of milk and honey that I was computer deficient. I took pictures, hither and thither, of the girls but didn't post them. In totally unrelated order here are some.

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Bianca went through this very fervent panties phase while we were at the In Laws. Multiple times a day she would waltz into Olivia's room, especially after bath time and right before bed time, and would load up on the briefs. Like to the point that it was almost impossible for her to walk with all her pantie shenanigans. Yet, out she would walk, totally calm faced like there was nothing wrong in having forty eleven panties up and down her legs.
Not only that, but she would try to do every day play time stuff with her forty eleven panties on. It was pretty hilarious and Teri and I would die laughing every time. A favorite out fit of the girls to wear was their matching Awmy Guy outfits. They felt so fancy! People in the store when we would go out would get a kick of it too. Olivia really loved it when people asked if her Dad was an Army Guy. We have only been up to the DLI once to visit Marcus on lunch break and when we went I had the girls in these outfits. They were the talk of the town, the teachers thought they were adorable. They also got to try out some of their hanguk skills. Well Olivia did. Well really the only thing she can say is Hi: "Annyahisayo".
Also we have been missing this Lady, especially the last few days. Magical Auntie Helen. Olivia started busting out this song at the dinner table about Alligators and these Alligators were snapping at some monkeys. She was doing all the actions and singing the song and I can't ever remember her singing it period and here she is doing the whole thing from start to finish.

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Marcus and I were just gazing at her open mouthed. Then he looks at me and goes "Did Helen teach her that? That totally seems like a magical Auntie Helen thing." Which is about the time I vaguely remember her singing that song with Olivia, but it had to be at least a month or two ago. But it stuck with her and even though I have not heard her sing it until now, she belted out that sucker with the hugest smile on her face. Magical Auntie Helen's have a way of staying with you forever, in case you didn't know. I think it is part of the power that makes them so magical. Anyway, my heart felt so full I thought it would burst and for that moment I felt such an intense urge of homesickness.

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Just wanting to run to Helen's for the weekend and read Martha Stewart and watch the Royal Wedding. Just wanting to have my late night talks with the In Laws. Just wanting to have the perfect girl time with the bestie. Just wanting to play outside in the garden at my Mom's.

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But then I looked at Marcus and instantly felt better. Instantly knew our place was here with him and the homesick ebbed away. Olivia keeps singing the alligator song and it keeps making me smile.

Scripture Power

One of the songs Olivia is learning in Primary is Scripture Power. You can listen to it HERE, these are some cute Primary kids singing it. Olivia doesn't know the whole song, but she busts out parts of the chorus randomly throughout her day. It is pretty cute.
The other day she went into my room and got out my scriptures and brought them out into the kitchen. She is doing this thing where she tells you in a very Mommy way about something she is doing. Not asking you, TELLING you.

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So she comes out and is all like (in a very matter of fact tone).

"Mom. I am using your scriptures because I have to get my scripture power. Okay? Okay. I just really need mine scripture power today. I will put it back when I am all finished. Okay? Okay."

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Then she proceeds to "read" aloud the scriptures story that she was reading. It was a very wonderful tale, all about Jesus and how he used dragons to help save all the people of the earth. And then Snow White came and they sang "Hi, Ho. Hi, HO" and everybody was happy. Amen.

Nightly Habits

Right before Marcus and I hit the sack, we sneak in on each of the girls and watch them sleep for a few minutes. Tuck them back in when their blankets are off, but mostly just to watch them and marvel at how cute they look. You always get amnesia about the daily shenanigans watching a babe sleep.

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Normally Konks is all cuddled up, but this night she was letting it all hang out. It totally cracks me up because Marcus often sleep like this. Legs all sprawled out. Now that I have made you all feel awkward picturing my husband sleep, have a great day!

Runnin'

So tonight I went on a run with my rad southern friend Tammi. We also met a gal in the park this morning named Cynthia and invited her to run with us. I ran down and looped around to Tammi and Cynthia's street and then we took off. Our run took us by the Commissary and then on to General Jim Moore Boulevard. Then we looped down and around Normandy. After this point Cynthia headed back home and Tammi and I headed on another short loop to her house.

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On our way to Tammi's we ran past Susan's house. All of a sudden I hear "Go girls! Wohoooo!". Susan was sitting on her front porch with her laptop, saw us run by and cheered us on. It was so fun! I hollered back that I love her and that she rocks. Tammi and I were just beaming at the surprise shout out from our friend.

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After that I ran up the hill back to my house. I hit the hill hard and was huffing and puffing. I rounded the corner and down the little hill to my street and saw my neighbors out on our front lawn area playing Frisbee. I chatted with them and their sweet kids and I could hear my kids hootin' and hollerin' through the bathroom window as they were in the tub.

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It was just so much fun that in such a short time I was able to see so many cool people. I love our neighborhood. I love our neighbors and I am so pumped about the feel of this place. My muscles felt tired but also so good to be used. My heart felt full with all the wonderful people that surround me. It was a good night.

Best Dinner Ever.

So every week we have Murphy and Jacobson over for dinner. (Or is you are Olivia, it is Muwphy and Jafofson). They are in Marcus' company and they went through the same BCT cycle with him at Ft. Jackson, although he really didn't make friends with them until they got to the DLI. Murphy is learning Korean with Marcus, they will graduate at the same time but are in different classes. Jacobson is learning Chinese and he gets to go to China for the immersion program in a couple of months!

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Anyway, we have them over once a week (normally on the weekend) and we always have so much fun. The girls LOVE them and Olivia talks about them all week. They are so sweet with the girls and it gives me the chance to cook a little bit bigger of a meal then if it was just our family.

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This weekend it was Cheesy Broccoli Soup (to DIE for) and these ROLLS. These rolls are AMAZING. Jayme made them a couple of times for family dinner before I left (have I mentioned how I am an honorary Holman for life?? Well, technically speaking, I added the "for life" par. But I plan on them never getting rid of me... in the family sense....obviously they got rid of me geographically...anyway...) THESE ROLLS! Make them, you will thank me. Your Welcome.

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I was so pumped because I had never technically made either recipe, which in my book is a no-no for entertaining.

Radder Rule for Entertaining: Never make a meal for the first time when entertaining. It adds a lot of unnecessary stress, stick to meals that you have made and that you know turn out great; consistently.

So I was really going out on a limb without having made either recipe, but I had tasted other people making the recipe and was really craving both the soup and the rolls so I just went for it. Undercooked the veggies in the soup a little, but didn't curdle it which I count as a win.

So right as Marcus got back from picking up the guys, the buns were just about finishing. I was giddy as a school girl. Luckily the guys are used to my expressiveness so I don't think they were too fazed as I was prancing around the kitchen, exclaiming about my glorious rolls AND taking photographic evidence of all their glory.

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I went kinda crazy that night because in addition to making the soup and GLORIOUS rolls, I also made Chocolate Cake (a la box) and THESE muffins. The muffins may or may not have been made at midnight. Marcus was taking Jacobson to the airport in the morning and I didn't want them eating crappy drive thru for breakfast. Plus, I really wanted some for MY breakfast. See I play it out like I am trying to be considerate of other people, but really it is all for my selfish benefit.

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The soup recipe made TONS and I have been enjoying it for lunch every day since. Sigh. There is only enough left for one more portion tomorrow. Ugh. The rolls only made it through dinner that night. Argh!

Putting myself out there.

So I really wanted to skip over the whole awkward "hey I'm the new girl" thing with this move. I think I accomplished that goal. It really helps that our ward at church is really transient what with people moving in and out because different classes graduate year round. It's hard even for the most seasoned "I am involved in every activity possible" person to know who everyone is. So basically the first Sunday I just adopted the attitude that I had been here forever and my bluff worked to get me over that initial awkwardness and just jump into things.

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I have really made a conscious effort to keep my house tidy so I would be ready if someone happened to stop by or if I felt the urge to invite someone over, it wouldn't be drama for me. Not that I couldn't have people over if my house was messy, but I just know instead of being able to enjoy myself and really be in the moment and getting to know the person, I would be thinking about all the cleaning I wish I had done etc. Having my house in good working order has really given me the confidence I needed. Like watching my new friends kids in the morning, I spontaneously ask them to stay for lunch. It is fun and laid back and not stressful for me, and as such I can really be in the moment.

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Especially if I feel awkward at the park or whatever and don't know the people there, especially at these times, I make a point to move past those awkward feelings and introduce myself and ask about their day. Even if that is the only time I end up seeing them I feel good that I smiled and chatted with someone. It is really cool when I see them again and it is such a pleasant surprise to know someone in an impromptu park visit.

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PARKS ARE THE PLACE. It is the driving force to the day. Going to the park, playing at the park, talking to other Mom's at the park. It is the be-all-end-all of my social networking.

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I had been longing for some real quality girl time. Thinking how nice it would be to have some strictly girl time, watch a movie, pig out on yummy food. No babies, no schedules, just GIRLS. There was about a week I was pining over this and just wishing somebody would plan something... AND then invite me.

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Yesterday I just thought what my friend Jayme said. I can't remember direct quote but it was something to the effect of...

You make the life you want. It's up to you. If you want fun things to happen, plan them. If you want workout groups to happen, plan them. You are going to be the one to start this stuff up. It's up to you.

Then I realized, if I want to have girl time, why do I have to wait for someone to plan stuff. I CAN plan stuff. I shot out some texts to gals I had hung out with a lot, Ariane (awesome neighbor), Susan and Tammy. I invited them over for chick flicks and luckily they all could come. I made some yummy's to eat while watching the movie and got all the fun girl time I had been wanting to badly.

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I can have the life I want. It's just up to me and getting over my own insecurities. Sometimes it will back fire on me (and it has), the alternative is just sitting at home all day wishing for my life to start. I am putting myself out there and I like it.

View from my window

There are downsides to our vintage house, but there are so many things that I really love about it. I love the layout, the storage is really well thought out. I love that there are two bathrooms (we have never had that before), I really like the room sizes and I love our location. We can't really see our neighbors from any of our main windows and even though we are smack dab in the middle of a suburb, it has a feeling of seclusion.

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Our neighbors are really nice and the kids love each other. We go to the park with them and hang out. It is so nice that when you are in close proximity to others that they are such nice people. Their kids are the same age and both sides have their sets of tantrums. We hear them very rarely and they same the same about us.

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I am often doing dishes and/or cleaning up after a meal. The first thing I do in the morning is to open the blinds above the sink because I love what I see when I look out. A little grove of trees and bushes and it is so peaceful. The light filters through the trees and there is always a new design of light playing on the ground. For being a place that I spend a lot of time in, it is really peaceful and always leaves me feeling centered.
The downsides to this place? Cell reception is the PITS. There is one "sweet" spot of reception and that is right above my microwave on top of the tissue box. If I leave it there I usually will get most of my texts and or calls. If I try to answer the phone and move it from it's special spot I lose reception completely, so when a call does make it through I carefully hit the send button and then carefully hit the speaker button and then pray it doesn't shift at all.

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Other downside? Sugar Ants. Which I count my blessings with this one, because in the great big world of bugs, sugar ants are the lesser of all the evils. But those little bastards get into EVERYTHING. I mop and sweep and never leave a mess but on the rare occasion that a crumb of granola bar on the floor misses my attention, rest assured within the hour there are a troop of the little devils on it and leading a trail to it. I had to throw out three boxes of cereal the first week as well as a bag of brown sugar. I now double ziploc the sugar and keep anything remotely sugary in air tight containers. I have a date with Dale the Bug man today to come and spray my house with an eco-friendly bug killer. My neighbors got theirs done and she said besides the rare ant she sees here or there they don't have any problems anymore. All her ants just waltzed over to my place!

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Upside to this is that I don't have to pay a dime for them to spray the inside and the outside, our housing management takes care of it and I can get it done monthly if I so desire! Also it has helped me to keep my house it tip top shape to combat the beastly devils!

Hello Summer

Today was the absolute best way to spend the very first day of summer. It was hot and gorgeous out and we headed back to Del Monte beach.
We got there early and had no trouble finding parking, the beach was quite full when we loaded up to go home. There was just a slight breeze and no sweatshirts needed (the last time we went to the beach we were in long sleeves and jackets).
It was so magical. We invited friends to join us and the kids had fun building sand castles and chasing the waves. The water was still super cold but it felt so good in the heat. You would stand there letting the waves crash over your feet and then every 5 minutes or so a bigger wave would roll in and then you would get soaked. It felt divine. Especially when the waves got really frothy and then the part that hit you felt like all bubbly and light on your legs.
The girls scooped mountains of sand and pranced around in their super cute swimwear.
I had the very important job of inspecting all their work. It was real rough to lay back and lounge around while they constructed their sand castle mountains.
We ate lunch at the beach and I am fairly certain that half of Konks lunch consisted of sand. She will be pooping sand for days!
My arms are really tanned but my legs were really white, it felt good to even things out today.
It was amazing because when we first got there before all the crowds showed up, some dolphins put on a show for us. There were four or five of them just beyond where the waves would crest. They were leap up out of the water and do flips and all kinds of crazy stuff. It was such a wonderful sight to see! It just made me so happy to see them having a dolphin party out there.
This is pretty much what happened when we got home. Baths and clean up and then both girls konked out. It was such a perfect day in sunny California!

Awesome new park discovery

Yesterday and today were forcasted to be gorgeous days. I try not to let a day go by without getting out and doing something and yesterday there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The park was just calling our names!

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Some of the parks have names, like the main ones, but all the bazillion of little parks don't have names, which can make it a little confusing when you are trying to organize a park outing. This one is on 4th Army Road, so that is what I call it. 4th Army Road park. I also like to find out which members live close to the parks so I know where I can hop over to if we need a bathroom fast. (I wish I could say that I need all this bathroom knowledge for Olivia's sake, but lets be real here, it is as much for my sake as it is hers). Luck would have it that a lovely gal named Jennifer is just right down the road from this little beaut!

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My friend Tammy and I hiked from our houses over to the park and on our way met my neighbor Ariane who was just coming back from her run with her kids. We invited her to join us and we had a Mommy Mafia going on. It was so awesome because as we got to the park, I saw that my friend Patricia was there and another nice gal named Wendy came a few minutes after us. I love days like that, where it isn't planned and a bunch of people you know just show up there. All the kids playing, sharing snacks and the Mommies hanging out. Quite often it will just be the girls and I at a park, or we make a new friend, but I love it when someone you know well just happens to be there too!

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We are headed to Del Monte beach again to play in the sand and I am so excited!

Father's Day Weekend

After having some cloudy days this week the fog all cleared away by the weekend and it was so nice! Friends of ours that go to school with Marcus invited us to go and play some beach volleyball Saturday afternoon at Lover's Point. It was SO MUCH FUN! The girls did great and played in the sand and there were some shady parts for them to keep cool. I hadn't played volleyball in quite a while and it was fun to get back into it again.

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Marcus and I were on opposite teams and I really enjoyed heckling him. Somebody woke up cranky that day and I felt like that certain someone was owed some heckling that day. It was pretty awesome. I had pretty mad volleyball skills that day too, which was also pretty awesome.
Our court was just up above this little swimming cove. The iron fencing kept most of our stray balls in, but there were quite a few times we had to chase it down into the swimming area.
Proof that I exist! After our games we walked down to the water and dipped our feet in to cool off.
This is about as far into the water as I dared to venture. There is an Alaskan current that flows by and gets drawn into our bay. Alaskan current + Monterey Bay= FRIGID COLD WATER. You can't always get it all. We have tons of beach, cool breezy weather, gorgeous waves crashing the shore but not really swimmable water. I tell you what though, just dipping my feet in that water for 5 minutes cooled me ALL the way off, which is really the point of going into the water in the first place... right? I guess Carmel (20 min drive) has a nice beach for swimming and we plan on hitting that up sometime soon!
After dinner on Sunday we decided to take a family walk to our favorite park..... SUPER PARK! Beach volleyball, basket ball court, BATHROOMS!, covered pavilion with bbq-ing stations and then the actual park area.
Marcus had a service project that night that was right around the corner from the park, so we spent some time there altogether and he left for the service project and we went home for baths. Some people were moving out the next day and needed help doing the final clean.
This is the little kid section of Super Park.
This is the rock wall and the big kid section of the park. The girls love it there! Bianca climbs the big kid park and goes down the twisty slide all by herself. She will do it a dozen times in a row. The first few times she really freaked me out with her need for thrill but I am getting used to the idea that this little gal just needs to live life to it's fullest. I just observe from a distance, but close enough to catch her if she falls.
The swings are in between the two play areas. Olivia was pretty pumped to be matching Daddy as he was wearing his Army PT shirt as well!
Bianca always goes for the swings first and then proceeds to explore. Our ward does pies for the Dad's on Fathers Day. Each Dad gets to pick own their own pie after church. They had sign up sheets for it and were quite a few pies short by the time the weekend hit (all the ladies volunteer to make pies for the men to choose from). I made some extras and Saturday I felt like a bakery! 6 pies made by lunch time, whew!

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Marcus said it was the hardest decision he has had to make. 100 pies all laid out in the kitchen at church and you can only choose one. He picked a chocolate strawberry cream pie and share it with Olivia and I. It tasted REAL good, he picked his pie well!

Hospitality

Here at Stilwell Manor, we pride ourselves at our world renown hospitality. Besides a glorious hide-a-bed and a recliner that are at your dispense (yes, if you come and visit me I will share my recliner....well....no, no, i will share it) we also offer complimentary shoe removal upon arrival.
Our attendants will work with the greatest of care to remove your shoes carefully and confidently. I can guarantee that you will never want anyone else to ever take your shoes off again once our staff serve you.
Plenty of sass and spice are also offered with this generous accommodation. The sass often occurs without warning and with all the gusto one can be afforded in someone so small.
But you will forget the sass as soon as she smiles her big toothy grin and applauds herself at her hospitable talents.

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Bianca is her Father's daughter. Fearless to a fault with a sprinkling of my outgoing-ness which has proved a formidable combination. I believe that her spirit is pay back to Marcus for all the trauma he caused his Momma when he was a wee lad. I also believe that I am getting the raw end of this deal for the punishment is being more accurately administered to me as I am the one at home with her all day. Any one have any ideas how to get a strong willed child into a carseat without her screaming like a banshee and having everyone within hearing distance call CPS on you? Like I am pretty sure it will either come down to me figuring how to get her into the car successfully... or her never driving in a car with me again until she has reached adulthood.

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Tantrums aside, I love her more than life itself. She has just started to cuddle with me a little bit before bedtime (this girl DOES not know how to sit still) and it melts my heart into a puddle to feel her melt into me. Her barbaric attempts at the English language are precocious and adorable. She does a little skip run that warms me to my core. I just wish I didn't have to wrestle her like a wild banshee. Sigh. I know there will come a day when I miss the wild banshee wrestling. But seriously I am putting out an SOS about the car thing. I would rather stay away from bribery as I would rather her just obey me without temporal reward. I have also tried timeouts. Pretty much anything that worked good with you and your strong willed child, feel free to share (NOTE: she is excited about the actual going someplace, just a month before we left started loosing it about getting in her seat. Also her seat isn't bothering her or uncomfortable and it fits her right.)

Moss Landing

Keeping up with the theme of being a tourist in our own town, we went adventurin' on Saturday. Just a hop, skip and a jump away from our lovely Seaside is this place called Moss Landing. It is a little cove off the ocean that is home to a family of Sea otters as well as some REAL rebel rousing sea lions.

I guess we could also Kayak for pretty cheap with our military discount. We plan on doing that while we are here. The sea otters were so cute and were just lounging about, not the slightest bit concerned of the kayakers floating about.
It was kinda windy that day. That building/wharf across the cove is where the boisterous sea lions were having a party. Those suckers are LOUD.
A little caramel corn treat while we were checking out the wildlife. Olivia kindly volunteered to hold the bag for us, she was hoovering that stuff down!
Then on the other side of the cove was the ocean. We climbed up and over a little sand dune hill, which Olivia thought was really fun.
It took us FOREVER to get a family shot. The times before this shot, the camera fell off the picnic table just as Marcus was running over to get in the shot (we used the timer on the camera). No matter how many times we tried, Bianca would get distracted at the very last moment and turn the other way.
Look Momma! I found a shell! Or direct translation "Momma. OoooooooHaHoooooooo!"
Me and my Army man.
Climbing the hill to get back to our car.

Olivia was so cute trying to put her shoes back on. She didn't want any sand on her feet and the caramel corn had made her hands all sticky so sand was sticking to them. She really wanted to put her shoes on herself, so she kept wiggling her feet around to get them in without using her hands.

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After Moss Landing, we stopped at this fruit stand and the girls picked out corn to go with the roast we had for dinner. We also scored some yummy strawberries and a watermelon that was only $1! Olivia had a birthday party in the afternoon to go to and my neighbor (who is really nice) was going to it as well. We walked to the park with the girls (her daughter and my Olivia) and chatted. The party was held at one of the parks around our house. We also walked back together which was really nice. It was crazy how similar our journey's have been to be in the Army. They are such nice people and I am really excited that we have them as our neighbors!

Del Monte Beach

Some of our new friends planned a beach day for today. Us Radders were quick to jump in on the action. All of our beach adventures have either been to Asilomar or to the Ord Sand Dunes. This was our first ever venture to Del Monte beach, which was all of 5 minutes from our house.
This is pretty much how Konks has been feeling about the beach. It has been her kryponite. Scaling huge play equipment to go down the big kid slid, no prob. Huge dog walks by? She wants to give it a hug. Using the kitchen as her own personal climbing gym? She is all over it. Try and take her to the beach and she looses it.

I was bound and determined that she would love the beach. She had no choice. I fully plan on beaching the crap out of this place. So I persisted and today she had fun. She PLAYED and not just hung on to me for dear life that the beach would swallow her whole. Chalk that up as a victory for this Mamma.
Meanwhile, this picture captures exactly how Olivia feels about the beach. Love. Joy. Unbridled freedom and wild abandon.
She would stay there all day if I let her.It was cloudy and HAS been cloudy for most of this week. But it hasn't fazed me in the least. I can deal with cloudy/foggy. It could be worse. It could rain every flippin' day.
The waves were crashing into the shore and it was so peaceful and relaxing. It is like the best lullaby soundtrack ever and can just put me into a trance.
We live in the Seaside/Monterey area which sits right on the edge of Monterey bay. Sweeping ocean views around every corner and sandy beaches as far as the eye can see.
What I like about Del Monte is that there is SO much beach area before you hit water. The Ord Dunes has a much shorter beach area and is a little more windy.
Bianca started to venture out on her own and make her own sand piles.

We packed a picnic lunch and played for hours and hours. I made new friends and got to know other friends even better. The kids frolicked and played about while all us Mommy's shared parts of our lives together. But the time we were ready to go I felt so good. Blessed to have met such amazing people and to see my kids learn and grow. Satisfied that I had lived today to it's fullest and explored some place new. My face felt dry and my lips were salty from all the spray.

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Just as we were headed back to our cars the clouds and fog let up and the sun shone. The beautiful blue sky teased us "Are you SURE you want to go home now?".

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I know that all sounds probably pretty cheesy, but there is something so magical about the beach. I still smile to myself when I think about how fun today was. I am really embracing this whole living in California thing. I have a feeling it will be pretty hard to leave this place.