Army Ball

 On Friday we were able to attend the Army Ball.  We missed the chance to go to one when we were in CA and although I was nervous about going to this one here (where was I going to get a dress?!?!!), we decided to go.

We have a fb page for the women in our congregation at church here and I put out the SOS if anyone knew where I could get a formal dress at.  Little did I know there is a lady in our congregation who runs a formal dress lending closet out of her house and she didn't charge anything for members of the church and there is just nominal fee for non members.

 I went a month before the ball and tried on probably 7 different dresses until I found this black one with matching jacket.  She even had a necklace and bracelets I could borrow, so the only thing I needed was my shoes!  I can't tell you enough how comfortable this dress was, I loved the cut.  So flow-y and elegant.   I truly felt beautiful, plus it wasn't super tight so I wasn't worried about going easy on eating my dinner (you guys know how much I love to eat!).

 The table set up was gorgeous!  It was so fun to see just a sea of Army guys and gals all in their finest!  I was kinda surprised at some of the dresses that were there.  Some barely covered up their bits and pieces and seeing one girl bend over at her table put me in a cold sweat, her dress was so short and I was sure she was going to have a wardrobe malfunction.  Some were so revealing that it was hard for me to concentrate at first on what was going on because I couldn't believe they wore it to the ball.  I am not talking bare shoulders here because there were tons of really elegant dresses that were classy and weren't as covered up as mine, but there were some real SHOCKERS that probably only had a yard of fabric total.

I was the most covered up person there, no joke.  At first I was kinda self conscious that I was the only one without bare shoulders or plunging neckline but then I just reminded myself of how comfortable I felt and I knew Marcus loved my dress so that was all that mattered.

 We had SUCH a wonderful night!  It was our first date out in months and we cherished every moment.  The traditions of the Army Ball are so wonderful and awe inspiring.  They did a thing called presenting the colors where soldiers walked to the front carrying ribbons from each war the US has been in and they were wearing the Army issued uniform of their era.

I was seriously just drinking in every moment.  We got to sit at a table with friends from Marcus' class and we had so much fun talking to them throughout the dinner.

After the dinner and program we met up with Murphy and Jacobson and their dates and we decided we were still hungry so we went out in our spiffies to outback for some appetizers.  The dinner was really good but smaller portions and we were still all kinda hungry!

The girls were with a great sitter that painted their nails for them and they had so much fun.  They were looking forward to us going as much as we were and they had a blast.  I am so glad that we went and took part in something so amazing and that we also took the time for ourselves to be out and away from the girls.

Magical Movie Night

 On last Friday night we had a family movie night with the girls.  I got the first Cars movie from the library and the girls were so excited to watch it.  We didn't get through the whole thing before the girls fell asleep though.  Bianca actually fell asleep on my lap watching the movie.  This NEVER EVER EVER happens.  For reals.  The last time she fell asleep not in her own bed or her carseat was when she was a baby.  It felt so awesome to have her sleeping on me like that.  I was seriously soaking up every glorious moment!

When we finally put the kids to bed (well Bianca fell asleep on me and then Olivia announced she was way to tired to finish watching the movie and we shouldn't have let her stay up so late) Olivia totally took over the bed.  It was hilarious because every time we would shift her over to her side so she wasn't sleep right on top of Bianca, she would just roll and flip over back to taking up the whole bed.  Marcus switched her five times in a row and she kept flipping around on top of Bianca.  Silly girls!

Swimmer Girls

 Last week was our first week of swimming lessons.  I had Bianca and I signed up for Mommy and Me classes at the same time Olivia was doing her big girl classes.  I quickly figured out that Bianca was WAY too big for Mommy and Me so after some bargaining with the teachers and a trial run to see if Bianca would be okay with the older kids, I got Bianca bumped up.

 The have been doing so good!  Olivia is so timid and afraid of the water, I just want to expose her to it as much as possible to get her to the point where she isn't afraid of it.  I am already thinking I will do private lessons for the girls when we get to Okinawa to help them along more.  I think Olivia would really benefit from one on one training.

 Bianca is a freaking fish.  She would leap off the stairs to her teachers and was excited to go again and again.  Marcus is incredibly comfortable in the water and can swim his brains out, I could save myself....swimming wise.... if I needed to but I am not a comfortable swimmer.  Olivia is like me, Bianca is like her Daddy.  I am determined both of my girls will be proficient in the water and not like me so I plan on keeping this up!

Olivia's teachers were so good with her and knew not to push her too hard.  She gets freaked when water gets on her head so they have been easing her into things, which I really love.

At the end of the last class last week, they got to go down the little water slide.  Bianca, of course, just barreled down that thing and kept pleading for me.  Olivia was scared out of her mind.  The guy teacher at the top was so sweet in helping Olivia.  He told her she will probably feel sad later that she didn't try so he offered to go down the slide with her if she didn't want to go by herself.  She totally did it!  The slide is in the really deep end so he went under but made sure to keep Olivia above the water so she wouldn't be freaked, so it would be a good experience with her.  I am not going to lie, my eyes welled up a little at the thoughtfulness of the teacher, in not wanting to push her too hard but push her just enough to keep going with it.

I am so glad I decided to do this.  It will be fun and keep us busy before he head out on our epic road trip back to WA!

Kirby Park

We found a really super park a couple of weeks ago and we have been loving hitting it up.  It has flush toilets, which are a total plus.  Unidad Park only has port-o-potties and those things gross me out more than anything.  I mean, think about it.... port-o-potties in 90 degree plus weather is like walking into a poop steam room.  SO GROSS.  If the girls have to go potty when we are at Unidad Park I take them behind a tree to go, those bathrooms are that bad.

 Now that you are all throwing up a little, lets get back to Kirby Park.  It is enormous and the sand area has a covering to it so the kids can play in the shade.  They have a lot of fun playing here.

 One downside is there is NO SHADE besides the sand pit.  So you have to go early in the day or in the evening if you don't want to get roasted out.  We are back in the high 90's to 100's around these parts and it is one H-O-T mutha out there.  Like every time you need to get into your car you want to die because it is like climbing into an oven.  I put the girls wet swimsuits on our dash for a sec while I was getting the girls buckled in and those suckers started STEAMING.  I.  KID.  YOU.  NOT.

I really miss my walks with the girls since we got here.  I would go on walks once or twice a day around Ord when we were in Cali.  It was such a great workout and change of pace, I loved it.  You don't walk here unless you have a death wish.

The park has this enormous open air shelter that has 6 full basket ball courts under it.  Every time I see the courts it really makes me miss playing.  But we didn't bring our basketball so I am out of luck for while we are here.  The big A frame building does provide shade around the edges of the park so I can sit and watch the girls play in the shaded sandpit while I am in the shade as well.   We drink water almost continually while we are out and if it is too hot then our park trips stay real short with Sonic slushees after for a cool down.

Going to Utah after this will be like a breath of fresh air, heat wise.  Never thought I would feel that way, but I guess being in Texas changes your perspective about what is HOT.

Close Quarters

We are in an apartment, which isn't the biggest ever but totally fits our needs just fine.  The kitchen is probably the smallest thing I have ever worked in.  Our kitchen in Cali wasn't HUGE, but I had all the work space that I needed for my cooking shenanigans.

I have one little counter "work space" right above those drawers of spoons and it just fits a cutting board, so I am cutting food up to put in a bowl I have to have the cutting board diagonal with the bowl teetering on the edge of the counter.

I will say it is convenient for putting away dishes from the dishwasher because I can stand right in front of it (like how I took this picture) and not have to shift my feet to put anything away.

It is NOT convenient for me to have anyone else in this space with me.  If Marcus tries to step in this domain while I am cooking, he gets an earful from me!  I feel okay if it is just me in there, but if anyone else comes in there I get super claustrophobic REAL fast.

Marcus, being the little trickster that he is, will come up to me while I am cooking and get all lovey dovey with me which having him in there at all while I am cooking puts me over the edge let alone someone trying to hug me and cuddle me.  He knows it drives me crazy so he only does it to bug me until I am about to blow and then he will vacate.

It is funny because the girls know I don't like anyone else in there with me so if they see him come in they yell "Dad!  You know you are gonna get in trouble!".  Well Olivia says that and Bianca just yells out "Daddy NAUGHTY!" which just kills me every time.  I trained those girls well!

Voldemort, Beetle of Doom

 This is one of the reasons I will be happy to bid this fair state adieu!   This beetle I named Voldemort.  He is the beetle of Doom.  He is enormous and disgusting and stinks like nothing I have ever smelt before.  I am positive he is plotting world domination and I ran away from the sucker as fast as my little legs would carry me.

Then I realized no one would believe I had met such a monstrosity so I grabbed my camera from my purse, you know... for when I come across uniquely Texas things... and swallowed back the bile rising in my throat to document him.  Shudder.

Just so you can understand TRULY how enormous Voldy is, I held my finger as close as I could without making me hyperventilate so you would have a size comparison.  Looking back on it I don't really think clearly in high stress and fearful situations because it would have been loads easier to take any one of the millions of coins I have in my purse and toss it in the ground beside him.

He is terrifying, he is enormous and he reeks.  Luckily we saw Voldemort at a park on the OPPOSITE end of town from our house so I just keep telling myself that the truly hideous bugs only live on that side of town.  Please do not tell me otherwise because I will just yell at you that you are wrong.  There is no reasoning with a person stricken with fear over the beetle Voldemort.

For my Momma

 We were driving around town the other day and came across this really nice neighborhood.  Had that typical deep south feel.  Sprawling ramblers, big gorgeous oak trees shading all the beautiful houses.  Some really beautiful houses with the columns and shutters and red front door.  It was so nice to just and admire it all.  Then we drove past this one house and I about crapped my pants.

This, my friends, is the Mother of all Magnolia trees!  Do you see how enormous that is!  The house itself is a pretty decent size and that sucker of a tree makes it look like a doll house!  I have never seen a Magnolia tree that massive.

 It was so gorgeous, with all it's glossy leaves and it's clean, white flowers.  As soon as I saw it, I thought of my Mom.  The Master Gardner.  She would love and appreciate this tree even more than me, who is not a gardener at all and kills about every plant I have ever had.

I made Marcus pull over the car so I could take pictures of that gorgeous, beautiful tree in all it's glory so I could post it for my Momma.  I love you so much Momma, and it makes my heart so happy that even though I am so far away I can still be floored with something that just screams your name.   One gigantic Mother of all Magnolia tree's for my Wonderful, Amazing Momma.