Hurry Up and Wait

Well, today is the day.  Derek got in late last night, bringing a trailer full of his stuff to store in my garage while he's gone for these months.  After very little sleep, he was here helping me organize, cleaning out his car, which will remain in storage, helping me set up his computer which we is letting us use while he is gone, and getting rid of stuff he doesn't need.  He left late this morning to drive back to Vegas, do some last minute packing and head out on a flight to training tonight, and eventually the actual deployment.  It was difficult to say goodbye...

He had recommended some more RAM, so to keep busy I headed out immediately to get more, and I installed it myself.  Then I set up a little home office. 

The phrase that will now apply in my life is hurry up and wait.  I have plans to go see him in Germany in about a month before he actually deploys to Afghanistan, so we'll see how that goes.

Bath Art

This is the result of the bath crayons Mimi got for her birthday.  All the girls love to use them, and I have started walking into the bathroom to find them standing in the dry tub to color on the tiles.  Fully clothed.

This was Mimi's for sure...

There was clearly something appealing about having little individual tile squares to draw on.  :) 

And this wrapped around the entire bathtub. 

I imagine it will take a bit to clean it up, but they had a great time.  Bonus of letting them just have at it?  They have enjoyed themselves, and now the crayons are all gone, so when I clean it up, it stays clean.  :) 

Target

Holy smokes!  Look what's at Target!  Seeds!  It's actually kind of funny.  Every single year I see these seeds in their bright packages, with beautiful, ripe vegetables and fruits on their fronts, and I get super motivated to plant them!  So I do.  But does my output look anything like the pictures?!  Not really.  Seedlings get stuck in containers too small, they don't get watered enough...etc.  It's rough.  And then I go to Home Depot garden center, and see tomato plants that are ALREADY FRUITING...they must have been planted at Halloween!  But darn if those little packets don't get purchased every.  Single.  Year.  There were several in my cart today.  :)

And these.  These are so wonderful.  I was super excited to pick a package up today, along with my seed packets.  THESE are chocolate candies! 

FHE

Sweet little Leiden was in charge of Family Home Evening tonight.  At Achievement Days (or is it Activity Days...I can never remember, anymore...) they put together an FHE lesson for each girl to take home and present to her family.  Then they get a signature in their Faith in God book.  Very fun.

She did a great job, and I think her sisters enjoyed listening to someone other than me!  Go Leiden! 

We all went to dinner up at my mom's today...a bit of a farewell dinner for Derek.  He leaves next weekend.  This should be interesting. I came back in from sending him off to the airport and found this scene.  Whenever Mad and Joni are around, the girls ask to play with their phones.  I don't know why it still surprises me, but it does every time Mimi can navigate an iPhone with ease.  :)

Saturday

Ice Skating today!  The girls have a year pass to go anytime they like, so today we headed out to have some fun.

Or so I thought.  Mac was not happy with things...it was trickier than I thought having all three of them with me as the only adult.  Someone (Mac) wants to hold your hand the whole time, and I've got another (Mimi) RACING ahead as fast as she can shuffle along in her little skates...and another (Leiden) sticking with Mimi so when she falls, she can help her up.

This was not working, and it was frustrating in stark contrast to

these happy little faces.

We left shortly thereafter.  I'm glad they have a pass, because I think we were there for like 15 minutes.  :)

Later this evening a babysitter came, and Derek and I went out.  We started the evening with a hike up Ensign Peak.  With a late dinner reservation at the Five Alls, (which may be going out of business!) we were able to make the hike with the sun low in the sky, still able to see the valley,

But late enough that we could see it go down behind the horizon.

What a beautiful night.

 Tonight was ABSOLUTELY a blast.  I am surprised sometimes at how fulfilling my time with Derek is...tonight we grabbed dinner, and then took off on a drive.  He showed me where he lived before I knew him as a teenager...he has a memory like an elephant.  As we were driving through his old neighborhood, he could remember who lived where, their family members, things that had happened...and he hasn't been back there since he left almost 25 years ago.  Amazing.  Then we took his hot little rental car out for a spin to Saltair.  We missed the exit going out, and eventually figured we would end up in Nevada if we kept going, so we turned around and then found it.  All with us speeding down the freeway with the music up.  Saltair was decidedly creepy in the dark...there must have been people working in the building...we could see what looked like red welding sparks in a couple of the windows, but no lights were on...definitely odd.  We finished off the night at the Capitol, where we FROZE getting out of the car just to take a picture.

He leaves for month long training next week, precursor to being deployed...the countdown is on.

Ugh.  Cold sores.  Again.  I've had a case I can't seem to kick, and it's really getting old.  It doesn't help that I keep misplacing my expensive tiny little tube of medicine.

Mac took it to the streets today, with her scooter and chalk.  Mimi jumped about in the background.  Check out that chalk on the driveway!  Go Mac!  The scooter chalk is not infallible...there are some things I would change about it if I could, but it's a pretty cool little accessory. 

Happy Birthday, Machara!

Happy Birthday, Machara!  February is always interesting.  :)  Standard birthday fare...started with make a face pancakes.  I'm getting really good at making plate sized pancakes!  The girls really just like the spray whipped cream.  And the chocolate chips.  I don't blame them.

Another giant haul!

Mac got her own watercolors, which she plans on guarding religiously from use by her sisters.

This fun little present is an attachment for a scooter that holds a piece of chalk, so as she zips about, she draws on the ground.  Pretty cool.

Mac was excited to take her class little surprises.

And she came home with her class having celebrated her!  A crown and a balloon, and a little booklet of cards made by her class.  A VERY cute idea.

Tonight we headed up to Grandmere's house for dinner and celebration.  More presents!

And birthday donuts!

Make a wish, Mac!

Six years old!  Wow, how time flies!  Happy Birthday, Mac!  Hope it was a great one!

Came home from Vegas yesterday.  It was surprisingly difficult to leave Derek and come back home.  He is becoming very important to me.

More Vegas!

Today was low key, wandering around, taking it in...this late afternoon we ended up back at the Wynn, where we got a late snack and treats, then went to go see Le Reve, one of the shows that runs all the time there.  It was AWESOME.  Acrobatics, synchronized swimming, diving, all kinds of crazy stunts performed to music, with the underlying theme that what you're seeing is someone's dream.  I was very impressed with the athletes who participated--their strength and abilities were superb.

After the show, we went to dinner at a very upscale restaurant at the Wynn: Bartolotta di Mere...it was already very late, but Vegas never sleeps!  This meal was crazy!  It was a seafood restaurant, but on a fine dining scale I've literally never seen...multiple courses and choices within each.  Delicious (for the most part) food.  Every single offering in all the courses had some kind of seafood in it, many I've never eaten before.  We ate sea robin, scallops, squid ink infused risotto, amberjack, sardines, a whole red snapper flown in that day, and other things I can't even remember!  It was FABULOUS food, and the company was even better.

After dinner we went out to the strip, and saw the fountains at the Bellaggio, and their musical accompaniment for the last show at 12:15 AM.  Then we wandered into the gardens inside the Bellaggio, themed for Chinese New Year, and finally were tired enough to be done for the day!

Vegas!

Today was awesome!  There are hardly any pictures, as cameras the way I wield them are not exactly welcome on an Air Force Base...but today Derek showed me around the base, and where he does his work.  He showed me the things he instructs his students on, some pretty awesome simulators, and just all around cool stuff to someone who has never had any exposure to the Air Force.  He snagged this one of me in a cockpit ...those things are cramped, and I was without bulky uniform and gear!

It was really a cool thing to see where he spends his days.  I have always been fascinated with the military, so to get an inside view from someone IN it has been so interesting.  We checked out the flight line, and just talked all day.  So much fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today was fun.  The highlights of the day included parties in school classes, and I was privileged to help out in Leiden's class, and check in to Mac's.  In Leiden's class, there were a couple of kids who had extra valentines, and they gave one to me!  I felt super important!  :)

I ran the cookie table for Leiden's party, and they were all kind enough to include Mimi in the festivities.  She was pleased to be able to have a great time.

It's always interesting to put bowls of candy and tubs of frosting in front of kids and let them go to town.

But the end result is deliciousness!

I stepped out to go see Mac's class for a minute, and found her with her hands full of treats!

They played kiss the frog, which was super cute...

And passed out valentines to their friends in their cute little bear bags.

What a fun day!  Brad came to get the girls later this afternoon, and I headed to the airport to leave for Las Vegas!  I'm heading down to see Derek on his own turf for a long weekend.  Staying in a nice resort hotel should be fun!

The flight was already pretty late, but was then delayed!  When we finally boarded, I was so excited to finally be on my way to see him.  Let's get this show on the road!

Happy Birthday Miriam-est!

It's the Meemer's Birthday!  The big 4!

We started off with make a face pancakes.  Which really turn into giant pancakes with random dollops of cream and yogurt and fruit and chocolate chips.  Delicious any way you look at it.  :)

After breakfast, it's presents!  Quite the haul, here! 

The coveted and long sought after car seat!  (And I love that she's young enough to accept this as a birthday present and not only be okay with it, but be excited about it!) 

Swimsuit, 

stickers, 

and games made up the rest of the packages.  She wanted to immediately play Hungry Hungry Hippos.  Good sign. 

Here she is, in her new big girl seat!  She seriously could have sat in it like a year ago, by weight and height, but we try to keep it all legit. 

We suited up with all the valentine's for Mimi's class, as well as the ones for her teachers and Ms. Dee...such cute little bottles of love juice. 

And they got to pass them all out and share with their classmates.  So fun!  Clearly! 

I leave for Vegas tomorrow night, and it's hot there!  And I'm staying in a hotel, which will have a swimming pool!  So, it follows that I need a new swimming suit.  I tried a little shop that has cute designs...but was fairly unimpressed with their fit.  I suppose my old black one will have to do. 

After school this afternoon the older girls worked on their valentines for tomorrow.  Mac and Leiden both wrote their names on each valentine pencil. 

They turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. 

Leiden not only wrote HER name, but her classmates' names on all the pencils. 

Friends are done, teachers are done...I think we're ready for the onslaught of love tomorrow! 

Tonight we headed up to Grandmere and Bapa's house for birthday dinner, some presents, and celebrations.  Grandmere ever so kindly got Mimi a duck quacking toy...wow..it might have to disappear sometime really soon.  :) 

Simple cupcakes were the order of the day, with 4 candles! 

Wishes were made, and candles successfully blown out! 

Cupcakes VERY successfully eaten. 

We heard noises outside and when we discovered it was hail, we checked it out.  It sure was coming down! 

Happy Birthday, Meems!  I can't believe you're 4 years old!  I hope your day was fun and filled with adventure.  Here's to many more.