Daddy! I MISS YOU!

The USO in Kuwait let Jack read a few books and dvd himself and send them home. They arrived today and I literally shed some tears because they were so SO excited. Tre was grinning from ear to ear the whole time and both of them were yelling at the tv, "DADDY! I LOVE YOU! DADDY! I MISS YOU!" It was the sweetest and saddest thing I have ever seen. I told them it was a DVD and that daddy couldn't hear them, so they just got louder, "DADDY! I LOVE YOU! DADDY! I MISS YOU! WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME!" I can only imagine what his homecoming will be like.

I apologize about the video. I tried to get a better one, but I wanted to enjoy the moment as well and turn the pages for the boys. We got two packages and I only allowed them to open one since it had two books. Now they can look forward to the other package tomorrow night AND my mom is coming over so she can get a better video while we all read!

Diving Board Fun

The kids and I were invited to a birthday party and we had fun. The kids jumped right into the pool and the next thing I know they were jumping off the diving board all by themselves. I was super impressed with their bravery and skill!

Kids say the Darndest Things!

Mommy: I don't feel good.

Tre: Why?

Mommy: I have a sore throat?

Tre: Why?

Mommy: I don't know.

Tre: Maybe you eat to fast?!?!

bed time routine

The kids have always gone to bed easily for me, but it seems the older they get the more they want to play. I remember sharing a room with my twin sister and we might have talked for a good hour before we actually fell asleep, and I enjoyed that, so I don't want to take that away from my kids. However, talking is one thing. They have a bunk bed and I really don't like William to be climbing up the latter to Tre's bed in the dark. I also want the lights out and the toys to stay put and the boys to stay in bed. This has NOT been happening and after 2 hours of going in and out of their rooms trying to get them to bed, I get VERY frustrated. Tonight I tried a new antic. I sat in their room right next to the door and didn't say a word. Every time they attempted to get out of bed, I just laid them back down. If they talked to me, or to each other, I didn't say a word. Here's the funny part. William laid quietly the whole time. Not one peep! Tre tried for 15 minutes (I timed it so I could compare the length of time I have to do it tomorrow) and the suddenly he was out like a light. I decided to leave the room at that point because, even though William was laying awake, he hadn't made a sound.

Lo and behold about 15 minutes later, I hear, "TRE! Wake up!" I went into the room and William was butt naked (he's also been stripping to avoid sleeping) IN Tre's bed yelling in his face! Thankfully, Tre didn't wake up, but it took all I had not to lose it! I got him dressed and put him back in bed and haven't heard from his since.

Lesson learned: Wait for BOTH boys to fall asleep! I can do 15-20 minutes doing nothing in their room if it means that I am not spending 2 hours going back and forth.

This is Tre jumping into the deep end and swimming to the other side! It AMAZES me that 3 weeks ago he didn't know how to swim! He's come a long way!

Swimming in the deep end

Tre was trying to do the inch worm.

Swimming Lessons

Tre finished swimming lessons today. It was show day today, so my sister Allison (who has worked on swimming with Tre a lot) came to see how much he has learned and helped be my videographer too. It poured, but it wasn't thundering or lightening, so they were safe. Tre really learned a lot and it amazes me that just 3 weeks ago he didn't know how to swim at all!

Bath Tub Fun

William was pretend playing and it was so cute. I was hoping to sneak up on him with my camera and catch him in action, but it didn't work out so well. I still thought it was cute that the minute he saw the camera he said, "CHEESE!"

Father's day fun!

We might not have had Jack here, but we still celebrated Father's day with my dad and two brother-in-laws! It was a fun day of swimming!

Happy Father's day to my wonderful hubby!

I have the best hubby in the world. I am so thankful that I chose him to be my one and only and give myself a pat on the back for choosing such a perfect father for my children :) Our boys are OBSESSED with their daddy and I love it! Who wouldn't love a man who is a fun, funny, loving, awesome guy like him? Who wouldn't admire a jet pilot, a real life GI JOE!? I hope that one day my children grow to appreciate the fact that he sacrifices so much time away from them to make sure that we are ultimately safe in our own home and are well provided for. He is a true hero, but more importantly he is our hero!

We love you, honey, and miss you terribly.

Swimming with Grayson

Our community pool

It isn't exactly thrilling moving from a big house into a small apartment. That is, unless your husband is deployed for a year and you don't want to do yard work or clean a big house. Our apartment is perfect for us. The bonus is that it comes with a membership to the City Club gym and pool. We have been going EVERYDAY and the kids LOVE it! Tre has learned how to swim and that's been nice for me too! This is a video of him going down the slide at the pool!

Karate Kid!

William singing "Ring Around the Rosy"

Summer of Swimming

We have spent a couple of hours a day at the pool and William and Tre have really gotten comfortable in the water. It is so much fun to see them learn.

Another Karate video

Tre is learning Balance...

Stranger Danger

Tre is LOVING his karate classes and I am thrilled. The owner surprised me on our second day and told me that he prayed for our little family and God was urging him to do something for us while Jack was gone. He decided to pay for his tuition until Jack returned. Isn't that the nicest thing?

In this video they are practicing stranger danger and the appropriate way to get away. They are yelling, "FIRE!"

Tre is a smart kid... and funny too. Here are some recent convos!

Nan (my twin sister Becky) gave Tre and William each two pieces of candy to have after dinner. My new rule is that they have to eat ALL of their dinner without complaining about it in order to get dessert. On the way home from Nan's Tre said, "Mom, if William doesn't eat his dinner can I have all 4 candies?" I was so impressed that he realized 2+2=4! I know it's simple math, but still!

Yesterday it was thundering and lightening really loud. It woke Tre up in the morning and he started yelling for me. I walked in his room and he said, "Mom! Why is the old man being so loud!?" I didn't get it at first but then I thought about the song, "It's raining. It's pouring. The old man is snoring..." HAHAHA!

Today Tre was trying to find someone to help him play his Mario Wii game. He finally suckered his Parrain (Becky's hubby) to play with him and, unfortunately, Parrain died immediately. John later told me that supportive, little Tre said, "nevermind, Parrain, you're not good. Can you go get my mommy to play with me!" I walked in and Tre said the same thing I told him that I wouldn't play until he apologized to him for saying that! Tre apologized and thanked him for playing with him in front of me, but when I walked out John later told me that Tre said (in the nicest possible way), "Parrain, those bombs kill you, you know? Next time you need to try harder, okay?!" John thought that was the funniest thing!

Tre's first day of school in Lafayette

Today was Tre's first day at his new school. We showed it to him on Friday before Jack left and didn't seem overly thrilled, so I was very anxious about dropping him off. Of course, he slept in this morning and I had to force him up (sure would be nice if he'd do that on the weekends). He walked right in and showed his teacher his new book sack and then noticed some kids playing with train stuff. He gave William and me a hug and was off to play. No tears! I couldn't believe it!

I went to the gym and was sure William would have a fit for having to go to the daycare there by himself and sure enough he was excited too! I can't believe my luck today.

I went to pick him up and all the kids were eating lunch. I didn't know they were going to feed Tre lunch! I found him and he had his VERY angry face on! I should have warned him, but I didn't know. He hates most food, so I would have known he needed a pep talk about eating there.

His teacher didn't know he was a half day kid and it turns out he was also angry about nap. She had him set up his cot and he thought he was going to have to nap after lunch. He hasn't napped in 2 years, so you know he wasn't happy.

Overall, she said he had a good day, but he did start asking for me when the cots came out. I'm not surprised by that!!!

I hope tomorrow goes just as well... and I hope he eats the food too!