In recovery... kind of...

I know I haven't written in a week, so here's what has been going on in our little corner of the world. Last week, Wednesday the kids got out of preschool, it rained so much that it flooded and you literally couldn't go anywhere since the streets were so flooded, and I did try to take them, and then when we got there they had decided to cancel school. So we went home and got some dry clothes on as we were soaked! Thanksgiving day we slept in. Eliza was up a lot and had a runny nose and cough. No fever, but was very congested, Maddie had a cough no fever, but seemed fine. By the end of the day Maddie was running a fever and actually fell asleep with her head next to her Thanksgiving dinner. We were at a friends for Thanksgiving, so we layed her down in a spare room and she went to sleep. So since last week we've been dealing with a lot of runny, snotty noses, coughs, and all that comes with it. It has finally come to me. (which after being coughed on a gazillion times I'm not surprised!) Thankfully (and I mean it!) my head is just stuffy and I'm a little runny in the nose. Nothing major. So for a second time this week, both Maddie and Eliza are taking naps. Thankfully the girls are over their fevers which were only one day. But I'm ready for them to be snot free! =) You may wonder, what about Jonas, well he's been fine the entire time. (knock on wood!)My dad asked me if I put anything on my blog about Josh... and I guess I haven't for awhile. We did talk twice the day before Thanksgiving. They should be going to the ship they were supposed to be on before it broke, The Arctic. Josh says he's been reading a lot, and flying not so much. Hopefully he'll stay busy so he doesn't get too bored! I do get an e-mail every day, and have gotten some letters. I know I'm so spoiled! I love it! Here's a picture of Josh with his mustache... I don't like it... and he knows he'll have to shave it off before returning home!

Raking Leaves

There must be something in the air that makes kids want to get out and rake the leaves. I was reading my sister-in-law's blog and she said her son Jeffrey wanted to rake the leaves, and got his Dad out there to help him. Since I'm the sole parent in charge, that left leaf raking up to me. So we did, and after awhile I realized even though we have a tiny yard, we have a ton of leaves! So I took up an offer for help with yard work from our friend Ethan. (who also mowed the yard when I was prego with Eliza when Josh was gone, so give him a call if you need your lawn mowed!lol, just kidding!) We got the leaves raked, and it looked great for about a day, and now it looks exactly the same as it did. And we had literally 12 bags full of leaves! Jonas had a good time though as you can see from the picture. Maddie isn't big into yard work, she mostly supervised from the side (aka played in the leaves we raked, and just played around). Eliza well, she just thought it was great fun to go up and down the front and back stairs on the house, which I enjoyed (said with sarcasm) getting her down! I have more pictures to post, we went to a craft bazaar on Saturday and the kids saw Santa! Jonas has informed me he only wants Age of Empires 3 (which Santa is Definately bringing him!), but nothing else... so I guess that means I can return everything else I got him. lol! Maddie said she wanted Little Mermaid stuff. It's funny when we're at home, every commercial is "I want that" but when they see Santa they get shy, it's so funny! Saturday night we went to the annual parade in downtown Norfolk, where they turn on all the lights that decorate the buildings for the Holidays (it's kind of cool), and they have Santa at the very end of the parade. It was fun, and a very busy day! I will post those pictures later!

The Party and Cake

Because Josh is gone, I got the idea from my friend Marie (thanks Marie) who when her husband was gone when her youngest, Ivan turned One, she had a little party with friends to help her celebrate. So, that's exactly what I decided to do. I had several friends come over with their kids. We had a fun time. They brought presents, which was nice, but I really didn't expect it, so Eliza got a lot of fun stuff. It was a fun time, and good for me to not think about how Josh was gone, although I did think about him a lot. I had Eliza's pictures taken at the picture people yesterday, she is just too cute! Let me know if you want to see them and I will e-mail you the link to check it out! I e-mailed it to almost everyone I thought would want to see, but I could've left someone out unintentionally! My friend Jenn made Eliza a sweet little Bear cake, and then cupcakes for everyone else! (Thanks Jenn) It was so great to have that part of the party taken care of as I ended up being really busy yesterday! Eliza is our winner of the messiest 1st birthday cake eater. As you can see from the pictures! You'll see her before and after!

Happy Birthday Eliza!

Eliza is officially a year old today. At 6:14a.m. one year ago today Eliza (finally, and I really do mean finally!) made her presence into the world. Eliza has grown and changed so much in this year of her life. I can't wait to see her growth in the next few years. She is going to have a little birthday party tonight with friends, so I will post the cake pictures either tonight after the party or tomorrow! Happy Birthday Eliza! Here are some random pictures of Eliza.

The sweetest thing...

She's so sweet isn't she? Underneath it all, she has me wrapped around her cute, tiny little finger! She is getting to be more and more independent every day. Today we went and saw Flushed Away, and no matter how many different tactics I tried to get her to just walk around our little area, it didn't work! She just wanted to walk all over the entire theater! She's such a little busy body!

The deployment meal plan....

For those of you that have never had a spouse deploy, there are definately changes in your lifestyle that you don't realize until you go through an actualy deployment, and something people just don't really come out and tell you. One of the things that changes when the othe spouse deploys is the quality of meals. The days of nice dinners in the evenings, are but a fleeting thought. Breakfasts and Lunches are about the same, because usually Josh wasn't home anyway for those. Dinners are the big change. Sure every once in awhile when Josh was home we'd have homemade pizza (homemade as in: using the pillsbury crust, a bottle of ragu pizza sauce, and mozzerella cheese), or hot dogs with mac and cheese, or chicken nuggets with mac and cheese, or fish sticks with mac and cheese (notice a trend), or ramen noodles. But mostly dinner with Josh was pork chops, meatloaf, spaghetti, casseroles, baked chicken, fried chicken. Well I am going to confess once and for all that I do not intend to cook anything of that sort until Josh returns. Not because I don't miss it, I really do. I tried to cook a chicken casserole last week because the thought of eating macaroni and cheese more times than I can count already didn't appeal to me. Did my kids eat it, the answer to that is No. They both professed to not like chicken (which they do), or rice, cheese, or broccoli. (which was all in it!) So I ate it, and realized I am not wasting my time or energy on a meal that only I will eat, and end up preparing two meals.
I have stocked up on mac and cheese. Thankfully they had it for 50cents a box, and I've stocked up. I'm sure the check out lady thought I must really like mac and cheese, or maybe she just knew my husband was deployed and I have three kids. =)
Another change, remembering to put out the garbage on trash day. Josh teased me before he left, by "showing me" how to take out the trash. Not only do I have to take out the trash, but I have to remember to put it out on the side of the street, and have to remember if it's the right week for recycling that picks up every other week. (usually I check and see what the neighbors are doing, and then wonder if they check to see what I'm doing? Hmmm.) Last time Josh was gone I left the trash can out on the curb too long, and got a $50 fine, but got it taken back because they forgot to pick up my garbage so that's why it was out. I hate putting the trash out.
Yard work. I don't like it. It used to be fun to rake leaves, but I decided its not fun anymore, and trying to get a 4 and 3 year old to help along with a 11 1/2 month old who insists on climbing up the concrete front stairs to the porch is not fun. We did manage to get some done yesterday and today, but I decided, I need help, even though we will have more leaves that will be on the ground soon, we need to get these leaves cleaned up! So we'll be getting help from friends. Its sad when the 6 year old neighbor kid is helping, and it is a huge relief to get the help!
Well I think I've babbled enough... another thing is adult conversation is missed. I do get it, but obviously I need some more or I wouldn't babble so much on my blog.

Friends...

I forgot to post this picture before. It's of Jonas and his buddy Connor. I thought it was fitting that Connor was Woody and Jonas was Buzz. They are best buddies. When I see this picture it makes me want to sing the song from Toy Story, "You've got a friend in me."
It's too cute.
We've made it through our first week without Josh. It was a busy week. Hopefully this week will go as well as last week. Josh has e-mailed and is doing well. Sounds like he's had a lot of time to read, and write me of course! =) If any of you family members would like his address, or his e-mail address just let me know.

Trick or Treat and Field trips!

It was a beautiful night last night! It was so warm compared to last week! It got up to 75 degrees and I know it had to only have been 65 because it was still warm! It was awesome! The kids and I went trick or treating with Marie and her kids. I didn't take any pictures last night because I took some the other night when we went to the trunk or treat. Maddie was Snow White, Eliza was a bumble bee, and Jonas was Buzz Light Year. We had fun going around the neighborhood. Because our church Halloween Party didn't fall on Halloween this year, it was our first time actually going around the neighborhood. I have to say I was mighty impressed with the neighborhood, there were lots of people out, and it was fun to see the different decorations on the porches!
Today was Jonas' first field trip to the Fire station, and when the put the big 100 foot ladder up in the air Jonas said, "Mom the ladder touched the sky!" It was too cute! Too bad it didn't last, he apparently had a bad day at school after that. Hopefully he'll be better tomorrow. I also heard from Josh via phone Monday night and then e-mail this morning. They made it to the ship, and were only two hours late in arriving, hopefully he got some sleep. He said he only slept 11 hours since he left us on Sunday! UGH! Hopefully my pictures will work here, if not I'll post later!