Packing & Disassembling

Yeah, it's a little early, but our house has to be ready for renters in November. And since we are moving/storing our own things, I wanted to make it easier. I am glad I saved all those Huggies diaper & Pampers wipes boxes- they are full of stuff, and the shelves have all been taken apart, small pieces in labeled bags ready to go. The house is starting to look so empty!
Before:



For some reason, the room seems smaller without the pictures on the wall...
Now:

This was that huge shelf:



I filled about 12 boxes full of stuff from downstairs. I am thinking of disassembling and packing some of the things upstairs too. I am trying to decide which things I want to have available in CA, and which things I can do without til ~march of next year when we have everything moved to a home wherever we move to, hopefully Idaho. We don't know if the Navy will pay for the move since we are moving/storing things 4 months before he gets out (6 months til his official separation date). To think about all the things we have to do, and all the money we have to spend is too overwhelming. I am just doing the little things on the list. Like affixing outlet covers, and our address outside. I am anxious to get through this transition!

A Good Dr. Laura Vlog

Open Mic-Squires

I finally went to an open mic last night with my neighbor Stephanie. John watched the babies---I wish he could've gone with me though.
I was so nervous to get up and play in front of an audience! Stephanie was a good cheerleader. :) Thanks for going with me. We did a little wine tasting, but I don't tolerate alcohol well so I stuck with my water. This is the nice bartender Jane:




I tried a few songs with the band, but most of the songs I play are not ones you can just jump into and "jam" to, you have to sit down and learn them (i.e. the bossa nova ones) so those didn't go so well, and I could barely hear my voice or guitar over the band...but I was too scared to ask them to change the levels. I already felt like I was making too many demands. I had to borrow this fender because when I got there I realized Lucas had taken off the bolt thingy that held my Ovation's input! I also did a zero 7 song, which was unfamiliar to them, and was in the wrong key...didn't go well either.

So the last song I did was "Ain't No Sunshine," which of course went a little better since it was a familiar song. It's funny...no matter what state you are in, open mic characters/hosts are the same. Hippie dead-heads. This place was big on vegan and tie-dye crap, but it was fun for one night, and the people were nice. If we go back I am going to learn some more popular/easier songs to get used to playing with a band.

The Beach at Yorktown

Today Johnny came home early from work, so after my 3 babies had their nap, we went to the beach at Yorktown. It's such a beautiful and quaint little town, although the beach isn't great for swimming. It's pretty but the water is kind of murky and there happened to be lots of jellyfish today. It's pretty close by us so it wasn't a total waste of time. We only stayed about an hour--which was hard enough in 99 degree heat, and 2 babies.


So, this is my new bathing suit. It wasn't exactly what i wanted BUT for $11, it's worth it. It doesn't have bottoms so I bought these separate black bottoms. I will have to get a better picture with those shoes---they are really high but I love them and they are comfortable which is near impossible for me. They aren't the best pictures because we had our hands full most of the time. Plus the camera wasn't on the right setting, thus the washed-out pictures..My personal photographer (Susan lol) is on vacation in California. :)









Lucas kept running away and after this little doggie, and then falling face first in the water--he's not used to having to hold himself up yet. And of course Olivia had to poop at the beach so that was fun to clean up. There were very pretty herons on the way home, and they flew really low by our car--unfortunately I didn't have my camera handy :( next time.

Nasty jellyfish....a little kid got stung by one of these---so we didn't go back in the water!

Dad's Back

Dad came home Thursday night, and has had a 3 day weekend to enjoy with us. It has been so hot so we mostly stay inside and play, eat, nap, and I TRY to keep up with my cleaning routine :). Yesterday we went for a long walk at the Newport News Park and saw lots of turtles, fish, ducks and squirrels, and of course we saw more deer up close--this time some bucks too. It was so hot, but we tried to keep them in the shade and hydrated.
Today we picked up lots of groceries, and I got the ingredients to make granny's spaghetti today, which is an all-day event. While the pork chops & meatballs simmered in the sauce, I took the babies outside in the front in their little pool to play while John enthusiastically watched the FIFA world cup. He wasn't happy USA lost.
Then we enjoyed the spaghetti with delicious meatballs I made with half turkey, half beef. The pork chops were nice and tender too. We both couldn't stop from getting seconds and thirds...It is such a nice break to have Daddy home to help, but to also enjoy our family. We are excited to take our 4th of July trip next weekend, and we are down another month. :)
Here are some pictures from today, Olivia is wearing a new top I forgot we were given from Shawna--it's so cute on her!




And then Lucas woke up from his nap to a little surprise---this Toy Story patio set was $30! He loves sitting at his own big boy table to eat. Olivia enjoyed it too!








Then we had dinner---Lucas really like the meatballs in the sauce!

My Little Big Girl

I uploaded some new pictures of Olivia and started comparing them to Lucas when he was around her age. These pictures are when Lucas was her age, 6 months:



This was just to compare the same outfit--he was only 4 months here:




There's no mistaking who is who in their baby pictures--they don't even look related! I love how they interact--just watching when Lucas doesn't know I am, is fun. He is really smart and does care for her. He keeps himself and her entertained sometimes too, which is a nice break. But Olivia doesn't like anyone leaving her side!
Here are some new tricks she learned, courtesy of her teething pains:
1.) sticking her tongue out
2.) shrieking (not crying..) She is going to be a singer---may even have Mariah Carey's range--definitely sounds like her voice is in the 'whistle' register.
She is frustrated from teething, and from not being able to talk quite yet, that she gets so excited and tries and then whines. She does seem to be trying to say 'mama' though. Lucas helps her out :)

And here's today--her first try at peas, and in the high chair. She sometimes eats cereal, or cereal mixed with fruit baby food, but doesn't seem to care about it and will often turn her face away. She seems to like the peas, even though she doesn't know what to do with her tongue yet!

HURRY UP AND COME HOME DADDY!

My Weather Forecast..

We're going to be getting high electric bills this summer...It's only June and check out this week's forecast:

Our Doggies

Earlier this month we shipped our dogs to CA to stay with John's parents until we get out of the Navy and settle down somewhere. Well, since granny has been ill, John's brother Matt was back home visiting from Washington (state) where he lives and works now. He and Shmoopy bonded right from the start and I have the pictures to prove it. I wondered if they sensed a "john-ness" they were familiar with!






Now he wants a weinerdog! I am sure we will be close enough for him to visit regularly though. I am so relieved the dogs are so happy and well-taken care of. We started to neglect them once we had our babies.