Puppet Theater

I finally finished the puppet theater I was working on. I didn't have a pattern and so I kind of had to wing it a bit, which is why it took sooo long. I am glad it is done, and I am glad the the girlies like to play with it. It rolls up really small and can fit in any doorway. I also found chalk cloth, so the girls can write the name of their production. By the way it really isn't crooked, I just put it up crooked.

Etiquette Dinner

I have the BEST calling in the world. I absolutely love activity days. The girls are cute as can be and the activities are a ton of fun. This month we worked on etiquette. We made movies displaying good and bad etiquette, had a movie night where we watched our movies and made a montessori placemat, and then we had an etiquette dinner. The girls got all dolled up, we used real napkins, tablecloths, and had a bunch of cute kiddie food. The girls got to practice all of the things that we have been learning, and practice good dinner conversation.

We have 25 girls and so it was a full house but it was fun.

Some of the food we had

School Days

Ahh Kindergarten. I am always amazed at the different ways they are able to make learning fun. Hallie has an amazing Kindergarten teacher. It is so nice to know that she is taken care of while she is at school, away from me. St. Patrick's Day they went on a leprechaun hunt at recess. That sneaky leprechaun left their classroom a mess, but left some leprechaun gold behind. Hallie was so excited. To make the day even more exciting she found a four leaf clover on the way home from school. It was actually a weed but I didn't have the heart to tell her.

To celebrate the "Sh" sound the kids had silly sh-oe day! Hallie's shoes had just about had it, and had come apart to the point that they were talking shoes. So we decided to make them into a silly face.

To learn about the different historic places in America the kids had a Kindy 500. We got to decorate a car. Hallie chose an ice cream truck which turned out really darling. We printed out different ice cream pictures and she wrote the prices. She helped me paint and glue and even designed a license plate. Brooklyn and I got to go to school and watch as the kids paraded around the school in their cars. After that the kids drove to different parts of the country, and learned all about them. It was really cute and she had a blast.

She thought of the Sweet Stuff

To Celebrate the 100th day of school, and passing off counting to 100. The kids got to make a poster with 100 things on it. We had a blast glueing on all of the jewels.

Congratulations Toddy

My little brother Toddy got married yesterday to the wonderful Jess. It was a beautiful day and Jess was a beautiful bride. We could not ask for a better sister-in-law and we are excited to get to know her better. We were missing Paul and Amy and their cute kids, and I know that Chris was sad to miss his little brothers wedding so Chris, Paul, Amy here are some pic.'s I took.

The Temple

No more project runway for you little Hallie

and then my camera died, so no more pic.'s until the reception

The Reception: the decor

The Reception: Family and Friends

Jess and her parents

The Bridesmaids

The Cutting of the Cake

The Throwing of the Bouquet

The Garter Retrieval

I am not sure who this is but I think he was pretty surprised when it landed on him

And that was the Wedding, We missed you guys!!!

Thanks

Thanks for all the wonderful comments after the tantrum I posted a few weeks ago. It is so nice to have the support of so many wonderful people. Thank You, Thank You!

V-Day!

Well our Valentines Celebrations started with crazy hair day. Hallie was very excited that it was going to be crazy hair day and her Valentines day party at school. It was the first time that she was able to exchange valentines and have a real valentines day party. She was really really excited.

Brooklyn was a little bummed that she didn't get to have a valentine's day party and exchange Valentines, so we made our own valentines day bag and throughout the day she recieved valentines from the dog, grandma, the cat, etc. She was pretty excited!

Hallie with her crazy hair and Valentine's Day haul.

The real Valentine's Day. We have 9 am church (ugggh) and so instead of having an amazing valentines day breakfast we had breakfast for lunch.

We have made amazing strides with Brooke's diet lately, and the newest addition WHEAT!!!!!! This is the first grain she has ever been able to eat consistently without being in the ER.

Hooray, it has opened a lot of doors for little Brooklyn, and she was all too happy to try her very first pancake!!!

After lunch it was time for the Valentines Day Monster to pay the kiddies a visit. My parents made him up when I was younger, and I am all to happy to continue the tradition with my own little ones. He delivers a special valentines day package sometime during the day without being seen. The girls waited all day until finally, (their mom got it together) he delivered a special treat!

A LITTLE TACT, IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK

Okay, I am not usually one to complain on my blog but I am afraid that I have reached my limit. I have had it with bratty comments about Chris' deployment. Is it just that people don't know what to say, or are people really that rude?

I met with a few sisters in my ward last week and in casual conversation they asked me when I will be moving back to VA and then decided that it would be a good idea to add the following, "Well the neighbor girl and I were talking about how when we were younger and dating and a military boy came around we were sure to run the opposite direction." That is so RUDE! Next example "My son wants to join the military and I told him that there was NO WAY that I would ever let him join," I have heard this one ATLEAST 50 times. Oh and I really love it when they tell me that they won't let them join because they are afraid that they will die or get severely injured. Let me tell you, that makes me feel really good. There is the ever popular "I could never let my husband join the military because I would miss him too much." Wow, well I guess that it is a good thing that I don't miss Chris because let me tell you, that would be awful. But I have to admit my most favorite of all is when people upon hearing about Chris deployment decide that it is a good time to debate the war.

This being the latest example: Last week I was forced into meeting with Brooklyn's 5th allergist up at Primary Children's hospital to meet the ever famous Mayo Clinic doctor that has recently joined their staff. It took 4 months to get in with this guy, and within the first 10 minutes of the conversation before finding out nothing about Brooklyn other than we will be moving back home in a few months because chris will be coming home. He decided to ask me if I thought that they were doing any good in Iraq. I of course told him that yes they are doing a lot of good over there, and then tried to steer the conversation back to my sick child. But instead of discussing Brooklyn he decided to tell me just how much the war was costing, and how america can not handle anymore debt. Shocked, I then explained to him that our debt was not coming from the Iraq war but was most obviously being racked up by our current President's stimulus/bailout/plans. He then decided that it would be an even better time to have an argument with me about President Bush and the Iraq war. What a pompous jerk. Do people really think that it is okay to A) bring up politics during a doctors appointment B) Tell a deployed soldiers wife that her husband is risking his life for nothing, and by the way it is costing the US a lot of money. Are you people for REALS!?! It is bad enough that I have to take care of the kids, the finances, the stress, etc. Do I really need this on top of it, NO!!!

I don't care if you are a democrat, if you don't want to marry a soldier, or even if you aren't fond of your kids joining the Military. I don't need to hear about it. And by the way, they are doing a lot over there, and I am proud to be a military wife. You have to be an noble, brave, unselfish person to join the Military. It takes guts to put your life on the line for our Country. It teaches things that can be taught no where else and it really is a shame that there are people out there who are keeping those who would like to join from joining. They are missing out. You will never ever find a better group of Men and Women. And furthermore, I am not a soldier but I can serve my country by taking care of my family while Chris is gone, and I am happy to do itDoes this mean that I love it when he is gone, that it is easy, that I don't miss him, that I won't be glad when it is over, uhh NO. It is hard. I am not dumb. When I don't hear from Chris for even a day it makes me sick. I am constantly googling the latest news out of Iraq, and the truth is that it is dangerous over there it is a WAR! But I do it because it is the best way for me to support my country . It sickens me that people take the sacrifice that Chris and many, many other military members and family members put on the line for their safety and security. Freedom isn't free!!!! I am proud to stick it out while he is gone, and I am proud of him. I am not trying to make myself out like some kind of hero. I am not asking for an award or any sort of recognition. All I ask is for people to give me and all the other Military wive's out there the courtesy of THINKING BEFORE YOU SPEAK!!!