My babies....

aren't really babies anymore. As excited and happy as I am that they can play together, I am just as sad at how big they are. It seems like the past 7 years have been a blur. With Ruby and Sadie's birthday passing, I'm reminded that Lilly's is less than 3 months away. She'll be 6 and I'm not sure I can handle that!
They were playing together when Lilly asked if they could play a board game together. But Ruby is still too young to play most of them and she often throws things when she gets mad, so I told sorry but no. Then Ruby pointed up there too and asked for the tea party stuff. We found this set at Walmart for only $5 over the summer. Unfortunately it's made of porcelain and easily breakable, so we bought two sets. And you know what one of the first things Ruby did? She got made a Lilly and threw a cup and broke. For awhile though, they played together well, without fighting. It's always nice when that happens :)



-K

Reading Time

Lilly's biggest school dream was to learn how to read. Here we are half way through kindergarten and she is learning new words everyday. As part of her homework during the first semester was to read these short, one sentence per page stories. She has accumulated quite a few of them so far so I've been trying to encourage her to read them during the day instead of taking one of the shelf to look at the pictures. I also thought they would be great for her to read at night before she goes to bed. Most nights, after she gets tucked in, we left her read for up to 30 minutes with a small light. She loves it and we love the fact she doesn't come to our room every 5 minutes instead.
This morning I was trying to find as many as I could so that she could take them upstairs, she decided she wanted to read one. Ruby jumped at the oppurtunity to listen to a story. These two spent awhile sitting together and reading. And not yelling, fighting, whining, or crying either! It was bliss :)

I swear I took this photo this morning, but it was so rainy and cloudy that it looked like it was the evening!

-K

Poor Sadie-Mae

We took Sadie and Ruby to get their annual shots yesterday so that Steven could be with us and give me an extra hand. Their appointment is on Wednesday and I'll be taking them by myself because Steven has to work. Somehow Ruby lucked out and didn't need any, but Sadie needed 3. Poor thing didn't even know it was coming. She kept asking who was getting the shot, but didn't know until we walked into the room. That's when she started panicking.
She sat on my lap and I held her down while the injected her in the legs. I kept telling her that she'd be fine when it was done. After she just kept saying 'ouchies ouchies' and then said she couldn't walk. We told her that walking would make it feel better so started walking. After a few minutes she felt fine again. But when we got home, she tripped on one of Daddy's shoes and caught the corner of the coffee table in her rib cage. She iced it  for a little but and just tried to relax for the rest of the night. She rarely hurts herself like this so she was pretty upset.

Steven started night shift again so as soon as he left for work, we watched 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' in my bed. They all just needed to relax a little bit. After the movie it was straight to bed and not one of the complained. Even Lilly who usually comes back to my room every 5 minutes for one thing or another in a grand effort to delay/postpone bedtime. Even I went to bed early. I caught a stomach virus that was going around base and was down and out for a few days. Thankfully the hubby was home and took care of everything, including me. So this weekend we are just going to take it easy and start getting the house ready because we are out of here in a few short weeks!!

-K

5/365

I was supposed to be in Germany this day, but instead I have been at home battling some sort of flu. It started out like a stomach flu and then transformed into a full on migraine, complete with body aches all over. It's been a rough few days of feeling like poo and having guilt over missing this appointment. Thankfully the doctor I was supposed to see called to see why I hadn't made it up there. She was very calm and understanding. I asked if we could wait for the biopsy and surgery to be done in Nebraska instead of Turkey or Germany. She assured me that it would be fine if we waited because it would be a month before I would have the surgery at all.
We have so much going on right now that I don't think I could handle everything at once. We leave here in a bout 6 weeks. We don't have orders yet so we haven't been able to really do much, even though we've been preparing the house to be packed up. We have also seen some of Lilly's anxiety come out, so we need to tread carefully and patiently. Steven also has an inspection at work this month so we won't be seeing way to much of him in the next couple of weeks.
With all this going on, we've been trying to relax as much as possible. Sadie's request? Can we play video games? So yes, we've played video games and watched some movies. It's how we relax and have a little fun. And today's picture show you exactly how happy and goofy Sadie was over it all. She's crazy and goofy, but incredibly smart and beautiful :)



-K

Day 4 and More Furniture!

We have talked for a few months now about getting the girls new beds. We debated about the beds we already had and the ridiculously cool bunk beds they have here. Seriously they have a set of stairs up to the top bunk instead of a ladder! But our kids were blessed with their Daddy's balance, well lack of, and their Momma's klutziness. They were practically born with hazard stickers. We would have loved to be able to get them some bunk beds but with our luck they'd wind up with a broken limb. We ultimately decided that our old queen sized bed we wanted to be a guest bed, because we love when family and friends come to visit ;). That bed is also what Lilly is using right now, so she is getting a new bed. Sadie and Ruby's beds are going to be painted and spruced up as soon as they get to Offutt AFB, Nebraska. After going to a few furniture stores in the Alley, we decided to go with Aydin's. Aydin is actually the uncle of Sunny, who we had make our bedroom set. Lilly and I looked at a lot of different styled beds and finally decided the features she wanted. I have nothing to show you of it because it will be a custom design, but it will have a couple of shelves on the headboard. She likes to read at night. It will be pink. And she wanted her name carved into it, but I know in 10 years, she'll wish she hadn't picked that. So instead it will have a lily flower carved onto it. She is beyond excited, but we also got to see a bit of her anxiety about moving come out. She started getting upset because she thought it wouldn't be ready before we get packed out, but it will.
Steven also found a bar. They have huge, extravagant bars for your home here. We didn't want that, but Steven did want a small bar. He finally found one he liked and it will be ready soon too. It will also feature a lock on it so curious kiddos or teenagers can't get into it. Once everything is made I'll post some photos.
These are photos, from my iPod, of Ruby. She choose the hat to wear and insisted on bringing Elmo. And 2 minutes after these were taken, she was out like a light!



-K

Day 3

Lilly is back at school this week, much to our dismay. We really love having Lilly home with us during the day. Sadie was especially upset but made darn sure she got her hug and kiss before she left. And yes, Lilly has to hug, kiss, and say goodbye to each of her sisters and do the same when they are reunited again. This is mostly their doing, and often times when it gets overlooked, rushed, or forgotten many tears are shed.
They were so excited for Lilly to get home from school this day. They sat with her and listened to Lilly read a story for her homework and then even drew pictures of the story like Lilly had to do and return to school. They all sat around the coffee table and drew/colored along with her. Lilly is definitely the artist in the family, Sadie and Ruby were done coloring after just a few minutes. They get so bored with coloring for some reason, but Lilly could actually draw and color all day long if allowed.
They are all looking forward to Lilly having a 3 day school week next week due to base-wide power outages. Yet another joy of living in Turkey. I will not miss this at all :)



And yes, Sadie is left handed!



-K

P365- Day 2

Since we are getting ready to move in a short few weeks, we've been trying to tie up a few loose ends. Yesterday we went out into the Alley to make one of our last payments on our bedroom furniture. While we were  out there we decided to drive around a little and see if we could try to find someplace to detail our car. Once we get to Nebraska, I'm going to get a new car, well new to me, so we are going to trade the Blazer in or sell it. Either way we want it in the best condition we can get it in. These two photos are of the area we live in. They are right outside the gate when you leave the base. And just an FYI, the base doesn't look like this, only off base.

-K