A day at a private beach

Today I learned another perk of being in the military : the vfw here in Delaware has a private beach! Using my husband's military id, we were able to park right next to the beach (for free!) and we had the whole place to ourselves. It was on the bay side, nice and shallow with gentle waves that were perfect for my little ones. Sophia learned to lay on a boogie board and even paddled a bit. Danny had fun digging in the sand and building a castle with Daddy. Even Alex enjoyed the water! He wanted to crawl right into it, and loved sitting on the edge watching it splash his toes. The cousins had fun too, riding boogie boards, building castles and ponds, and even getting in a major water war with their uncle! It was so quiet, so much fun, and just a perfect location to share a morning with family. I'm so glad Grandpa had the day off to share with us! Now my very exhausted troops are bathed and napping, because our recent adventures have really worn them out. But these are our last few days to see the cousins for a long time, so we want to make some great memories!

Alex's first birthday

Our baby turned 1 yesterday! A little hard to believe, because this year has been so busy with a deployment, new orders, and a pcs move. Time has certainly flown by. In most ways, Alex is still a baby. He nurses every morning, babbles instead of talking, and still crawls or stands clinging to furniture instead of walking. But he is getting close to those wobbly first steps! And his older brother didn't start speaking until after he turned 1, but once he did he progressed quickly into full sentences. So for now, I will enjoy Alex being a happy, easygoing, adorable baby. :-)
We originally thought he would be celebrating his first birthday in Spain, but after our orders were changed, we realized both sides of the family would get to see him. So he got to celebrate in style! We all went to the Maryland Renaissance festival, with his siblings dressed as a princess and a pirate. It was our first time attending with kids, but there was plenty for them to do. They chased bubbles in the town square, rode horses, and played on a pirate ship playground. They even got to meet the king, queen, and entire court. Sophie was sweet and shy, but pirate Danny pulled out his play sword and pistol and began shooting everyone! We wanted to show the kids the knights jousting, but a sudden huge rainstorm interrupted those plans. We got soaked! The poor kids had to walk to the car through the downpour, but at least Alex thought it was funny. When we got home, everyone got a hot bath and changed into dry pj's for Alex's birthday dinner. The lucky guy had steak, mashed potatoes, and cupcakes made with my family's fudge icing recipe. He ate it all up, smashing the cupcake and eating it in fistfuls! He even got to open gifts from his godparents and grandparents. It was a fun family celebration. Now we're off to Delaware to celebrate with the other side of the family!

A (mostly) quiet week in Pennsylvania

We left our home in North Carolina a week ago, and this past week has been a good mix of quiet recovery and fun visits with the grandparents. On quiet days, the kids have enjoyed hanging out at the farm, playing with the dog, swimming in the pond, and roasting smores. This house is so quiet and peaceful, and there is so much here for them to explore! I have enjoyed being a guest, not doing housework or cooking, and having more opportunities to talk to my family, go running, read a book, and visit friends. (I haven't practiced my Rosetta Stone Spanish for a week though!)
But it hasn't been all down time! On Wednesday the Lightfoot grandparents drove over from Delaware to go to the Baltimore zoo with us. We had a great time! It's a very nice zoo. We spent the first hour in the kid-centered Maryland part of the zoo, which had lots of interactive exhibits, tunnels and caves to climb through, lily pads to jump across, and ended in a petting farm. Then after lunch we spent over an hour in the African themed part of the zoo. We saw rhinos taking a mud bath, zebras, lions, elephants, cheetahs, giraffes, and monkeys, oh my! We finished with the waddling penguins, which I think were Danny's favorite. By the end the kids were getting hot and tired and riding on our shoulders, so we took a tram back to the parking lot and then let them take long naps at home. That night we had dinner with ALL their grandparents together, which was really enjoyable.
We had so much fun we all decided to meet up together the next day to go to the PA Railway Museum in Strasburg. The kids LOVED being able to climb into the trains and play with all the buttons and controls. We also rode the open air train for 45 minutes through Amish farm country. It's so funny that in this country riding a train is a novelty thing, but in Spain we plan to do it all the time as an easy way to travel far with young children. It was a gorgeous day, shared with great people, and I think we enjoyed almost every minute.

Celebrating our 5th Anniversary

August 18, 2012 was our fifth wedding anniversary! This also happened to be the first day we were in Pennsylvania, after spending a night in a hotel with all our children in the room, and then driving 10 hours. Surprisingly, the baby was the worst one to settle down in the hotel room. He thought that having all of us sleepover together was the perfect opportunity for him to stand in his crib and chatter at us... for hours. But thankfully, by 10pm everyone was able to go to sleep. And that lasted until 4:30am when the baby woke up and commenced with more chatter. I nursed him and tried to get him back to sleep, but by 6am I gave up, and everyone else was awake, so I just gave up and got dressed and actually made pancakes in our tiny kitchenette room. Daddy and I got to split the driving, which was great since we were exhausted. But one other perk was that the kids were tired too, so it was the quietest drive ever and someone was always asleep in the car!
So needless to say, we did not have the time or energy to make many anniversary plans. But my husband surprised me that morning with a gorgeous bouquet of blue flowers (my favorite color), and even incorporated decorative pieces of twisted wood, since wood is the traditional gift for the 5th anniversary. He's a very thoughtful guy! :-) We also did some quick Google searches and decided to spend this Anniversary the same way we spent our first: at a Murder Mystery Dinner. We were lucky to get tickets for a show that night about an hour away in York County. It was a great choice, and we had an amazing time!
Bube's Brewery was originally built in the 1870's as a Victorian-era hotel/tavern/brewery. After Prohibition in the 1920's, it remained one of the only such buildings in the area. The building itself is really cool, with tons of Victorian details and original brewing equipment. But the dinner show was the main event, and it did not disappoint!
We were greeted by several actors in 1870's garb who seated us in tiny dining rooms at a table with 10 other guests. We were in the Peacock Room, which reminded me of a room I saw in the DC art museum once. We were encouraged to get up and go into the parlor for drinks and appetizers, and met the rest of the actors there. We also discovered several 'clues' on scraps of paper tucked into mirrors and behind paintings. Meanwhile, the actors selected a few random guests to don hats and become the fire chief, a big game hunter, the mayor's wife, and a local wealthy widow. I was sad not to be selected, because I would have totally enjoyed getting into character, while some of the guests seemed confused and not willing to play along. We learned that tonight was the Grand Opening of Bube's Brewery, and all the local bigwigs had gathered for the event. But when we were seated back in our rooms for soup and salad, we witnessed loud discussions in the hallways and learned that everyone at the hotel had a rocky past and a tendency towards violence. The actors wandered into our rooms and chatted with us, which was great fun. My husband and I were on the end of our table, so we got to ask the most questions and try to learn about the characters. We had a very fun and interactive table, with a mixture of locals and visitors from far away. I gave pregnancy advice to the starlet, and we almost got involved in a hops investment scheme! But then, just before the main course, the mayor was shot! We didn't expect him to be the one to die, so it took most of dinner to sort out a motive and which culprit did not have an alibi. But I guessed it. :-) After dessert we were summoned back into the parlor and the police chief revealed the rest of the clues, and exposed the criminal. It was SO refreshing to get away for a night, pretend to enter another time, share some laughs, eat some good food, and just have fun together without our children. I would totally recommend Murder Mystery dinners to anyone!
In case anyone is curious, here is how we have spent our anniversaries so far:
First Anniversary: In DC, first child was 3 months old, we went to a Murder Mystery show with an Irish wake theme.
Second Anniversary: in North Carolina, pregnant with 2nd child, went to dinner in Wilmington NC
Third Anniversary: in North Carolina, husband just back from deployment, went to Duck's restaurant in Jacksonville
Fourth Anniversary: in North Carolina, husband was deployed and our 3rd child was born one week later, but he sent me an Edible Arrangement to get me through the end of the pregnancy
Fifth Anniversary: described above. :-)

Hopefully there will be many more memorable anniversaries to celebrate together. Maybe for the next one we should go to Paris???

Moving day, part 2

This is it, my last few hours in this house. We are leaving it just the way we got it almost 4 years ago. (well, even a bit nicer and cleaner because of the improved backyard and painted walls!) We have been through 2 deployments in this house, and both boys were born here. It's strange to leave so many memories behind. But we are moving forward to even bigger adventures, so it's hard to be sad about leaving.
The movers came on Tuesday and packed up 7,000 pounds of furniture and boxes. I was surprised they took EVERYTHING apart - chairs, bookshelves, desk - everything had to stack flat for the long journey. Thank goodness we aren't responsible for putting it all back together at the end! It was a long day, but somehow they got it all on the truck.
Since then we have been cleaning every nook and cranny of the house : windows, walls, baseboards, cabinets, and appliances. It actually wasn't too bad. I found there are 4 essentials to make cleaning fun :
1.  Childcare! I had different friends watch the kids for 3 days in a row. They had fun, and I got so much done.
2. Mr. Clean magic erasers. They are amazing, from tub scum to scuffs on the wall, they clean it all!
3.  Multipurpose cleaner. I have some concentrated orange cleaner called eco-orange that works on floors, bathrooms, wood, and stainless steel. It made it easy to clean a whole room without changing rags.
4. Scrub brush. I don't usually use one, but I found it was more effective than any other tool, so I might start using it more often!

Our home inspection was today, and the rental company said everything looks great. So I guess that's it. We have successfully moved out! Once the kids wake up from naps, we will drive around turning in the keys and returning stuff to our friends, and then we will say farewell to the house! Not looking forward to our massive sleepover in 1 hotel room tonight, so pray that we all get a little sleep!

Moving Day! (Part 1)

Moving Day Part 1 was a success! Today the packers came, and put EVERYTHING into boxes. The entire house is packed up, except for the bedding (which we throw into designated boxes tomorrow morning). It's nice that we can sleep in the beds one more night. Tomorrow the moving truck comes, and they will load all the furniture, all the boxes, and everything into the truck so that the house is completely empty. That's when we enter camping mode, sleeping on the floor and living out of suitcases for a bit while my husband wraps up his last few days at work.
A couple of things worked out really well, and I am very grateful for God answering prayers. First, so glad to have such wonderful friends! I don't even have to ask for their help, they just automatically offer me things I need! Not only did they watch my kids today, but they took them as a group to the Power of Play in Wilmington! (Like a children's museum). Of course the kids had a blast, and it was wonderful for them to get out of the house and away from the somewhat preoccupied parents who have been too busy to play with them this week. They were a little confused when they came home and their bedrooms and toys were all packed up, but we had been talking about it for days, so Danny was all set to put the boxes on a plane and "drive" us all to Spain. Sophie (who is 4 and very wise) said, "Ummm, Mom, I don't think this is all going to fit in the car!" They won't see these things for at least a month, probably 2, so we set aside a few of their favorite books and toys, and they each have their own carry-on backpack with their favorites, so that will be a relief for them when they start missing their things.
A few pointers for anyone else about to go through a move:
- Stop shopping at Sam's Club at least 3 months before you leave! I stopped back in April, and there are some things that we JUST used up last week.
- It can take a month to eat all the food in your freezer
- Do NOT wait until the night before to take down curtains and blinds! It took me a week! But that gave me time to wash the curtains too, so they will be fresh when we get them back
- Check under your kids' beds, mattresses, and in their sheets for toys, since the movers don't touch the bedding. Even though I cleaned up their rooms really well yesterday, we still almost missed a few things in the covers.
- Do go through your house and group things into piles. I laughed at my husband when he took everything off the shelves and out of cabinets and stacked them. But it made sense, because we keep kids books in 3 different places, so we rounded them up and now they are packed into together. We had weights and exercise equipment in several places, so we took them into the garage to get packed together, etc.
- Watch the movers pack the boxes, and feel free to write on the sides. I added a few details here and there, but should have made much more specific lists of the contents of each box, so if I am looking for a toy or a kitchen thing I don't have to go through several boxes. Oh well, we'll see how the unpacking process goes.
- Don't pack any markers or pens, any candles, wax (Scentsy), liquids, light bulbs, batteries, or lotions/gels. I knew some of those rules, but was surprised we couldn't even pack my contacts, since they are in liquid. So now we are hand-carrying a little more than planned.
- Leave yourself some tools! We are shipping our car overseas and luckily we are allowed to pack some tools in our car so we already had them separated. Good thing, because we found several uses for a screwdriver, hammer, knife, etc as we were packing and cleaning.
- If you take your tv mount off the wall, be prepared for some major repair work! We could have left it for the renters, but decided to bring it with us, so a lot of unscrewing, patching, and a final round of painting followed.
- Save yourself some paper plates, cups, utensils, etc, because you will have NOTHING to cook or eat with when they are done. We have a few items we are going to throw away before we leave, so we set them aside to help us through the next few days. And don't forget a cheap can opener and corkscrew... cause we did. Oops!
- Do save some tasks for yourself to do during packing day, like cleaning, because sitting around watching people work is kind of awkward and boring when you're used to being busy all the time. I got some final patching, painting, and deep cleaning done!

That's all for now. The process went really smoothly and wasn't very stressful, so I feel good about tomorrow too. I can't give too much advice about tmo until we see how are things get delivered on the other side of the Atlantic. But for now, I think we did well, so high fives all around! :-)

Reasons it is easier to move out than to move in:

10. Going away parties
9. Knowing your way around town
8. No yard work
7. The appliances are still working (unlike the issues we had when we first moved in)
6. Friends who can lend a hand, a tool, etc.
5. Comfort: the tv and internet are still hooked up, all the furniture is in place, etc.
4. No painter's tape
3.No measuring! Just yank the nails out.
2. Making money instead of spending it
1. No drilling!

Of course, with that said, I realize we will be facing the reverse situation in about a month. But being the optimist, I am trying to focus on the good right now, and I will deal with the next stressful situation once I have conquered this one!

Bowling with Daddy

Saying bye to Daddy... again

We are 1 week from moving day. Well, from packing day. They spend a whole day packing our things into boxes, and then the whole next day loading the truck. Should be fun! Unfortunately, the Marine Corps-- in their infinite wisdom-- has decided that this is the perfect week to send my husband away to training. No joke, he gets back 3 days before the movers will be here. And we found out about this... a few days ago. They always tell you to be prepared for anything in the military, and you never realize just how many things they can spring on you until they actually do it! So here I am, alone for the first time since deployment ended a few months ago, trying to prepare for an international move. Stressed? Yeah, a little bit. My husband is the one that keeps me calm and grounded. So when he's not around, I tend to get a lot done... and also get very worn out.

So, since Daddy is the fun parent, before he left we had a fun weekend with the kids. They had been asking us for days to take them bowling, so when he found out on Thursday that he was going away for a week, we thought Friday was the perfect time to visit the bowling alley! We hadn't been for a few months, and I was surprised that not only the 4 year old, but also the 2 year old, could hoist a 6 pound ball and roll it down the dinosaur slide by themselves! We even let baby Alex push a few down the slide. Of course the bumpers were up, but it is still very tricky to aim a ball down the lane with those plastic slides-- kids push the ball in odd ways giving it all kinds of inconsistent spin! But it was so funny watching their excitement and their celebratory dances each time they knocked down 4 pins. 

We also decided it was a great weekend to take them to a hibachi grill for the first time-- you know, the ones where the Japanese chefs cook your fried rice right in front of you, and throw tasty shrimp at your mouth. We told them it would be a fancy restaurant where the chef cooked with fire, and Danny wasn't sure if he should be excited or apprehensive about that idea. Once he saw the grill light up, he got nervous and covered his mouth the same way he did for fireworks. And he told the chef, "you should not throw eggs in the air!" But once they got their food, they devoured the fried rice, shrimp, and even the veggies. Danny insisted the zucchini was cucumber, and that was his favorite part. Sophie is always happy when she is served shrimp, although she struggled with her chopstix. And even Alex enjoyed tasting the rice! So it was a fun and delicious night for all. Although I think it will henceforth be referred to as "the restaurant with the fish pond" because that was their favorite part of all!

Sigh, now to buckle down for a week without Daddy. Let's see if Mommy can hold it together for this challenge! Prayers please!!!!!

Updating Photo Albums

As a mom, I am responsible for photographing my family. Even in the digital age, it is still sometimes an effort to take pictures on my camera, my phone, and my camcorder. Usually my ritual is to post phone pictures immediately to Facebook, and then once a month upload my camera pictures to Facebook too. Then every 3 months, I upload them all to Target and order the numbers and sizes I need for their albums. Then I sort them by child, put them in the albums, write captions, dates, and adorable comments. My mom always made an effort to keep good photo albums for us, back when she had to take multiple pictures to get doubles, and develop film instead of uploading. And it's not just so my kids will thank me and appreciate them "some day." Already, they enjoy looking through the pages, seeing relatives, and hearing about things they did and places we went before their little memories started to retain anything.
Last week, as I was organizing the bookshelf with the kids' photo albums, I realized I had not updated them for a long time-- since Christmas, in fact! Since that time, Daddy came back from deployment, Alex was baptized, we visited relatives several times, and we celebrated all kinds of holidays. We also finally posed for family photos with all 5 members together. I realized I should update their photos before we move and the photo albums end up in storage for a few more months! So last week I undertook the massive task of uploading hundreds of pictures and sorting through them and ordering prints. They all came in the mail today, so I had a very exciting evening putting them into albums and picture frames. My husband was laughing at how excited I got by how good they looked when they were done. I love my beautiful family! And I am so grateful for my friend Haleigh's photography skills at SoS 4:7. I hope you enjoy the updated pictures on the blog, too! Let me know what you think.

Applying for passports... Again.

A month ago, when my husband first got his orders to Rota, Spain, we rushed to complete passport applications for the entire family. The kids obviously haven't needed one before, and my husband has only traveled on deployments, when passports aren't needed! Even I needed a new one, since my old passport still had my maiden name. So we went through the military channels and got the no-fee passports, which don't cost us anything. However... The no-fee passport contains a page stating you are traveling with a military personnel on orders to a particular duty station. So it can get us into Spain, but not anywhere else in Europe. Well that's no fun! So now we have to apply for regular passports for everyone. Only trouble is we still have all our original birth certificates tied up with the no-fee passports, which we haven't received yet. So, since my sons were born in this county, I picked up extra birth certificates for them the other day. Then we all went and got photos taken, and submitted passport applications for my husband and our boys. If all goes well, they will be processed and mailed to us before we leave! My daughter and I were born in Maryland, so when we are up there in a few weeks we can get expedited passports for us! Expensive, but definitely worth it so we can travel wherever we want. Cross your fingers and hope that we get them all in time, since we are flying to Spain in 1 month and currently have... No passports for anyone.

Moving Day: Part 1

Today was the first part of our actual move, which we are managing to drag out until mid-September. Today, August 1st, movers came and packed up our "Express Shipment" of clothing, bedding, and kitchenware that will be shipped to Spain and arrive almost the same time we do! At first, I though we would be staying in a hotel for a month, or more. So I planned to take only the barest essentials. But just a few days ago we learned that we will stay in "temporary housing," one of the small, older houses on base that is already vacant. We already started applying for base housing, but it will probably take 1-2 months until we can move into our permanent casa. So I had to switch gears and suddenly plan to bring towels, sheets, and cooking gear that a hotel would normally provide. I spent all day yesterday going through the kids' clothes and sorting out what they will need from now until September (which we will bring onto the plane with us), what they will need when we arrive in Spain (the rest of their summer clothes plus some cool weather stuff just in case), and what we can send on the later shipment (winter clothes and the next size up). Since there are 3 kids, all approaching the next clothing size soon, it was quite a process! But it took the movers much less time to pack it up. They were only here about 2 hours, and everything was boxed, wrapped, tagged, and cataloged for its long journey overseas.
Note: if you are doing a military move, you do need to follow some unusual rules for shipping supplies. My husband's gear was counted toward a separate weight limit, so his "professional gear" had to be separated and marked individually. If you pack things in clear storage containers, they will leave the container intact and just wrap it with packing paper and tape. If you have anything in a solid container or box however, they will unload it and repack it. You cannot ship anything liquid, so no cleaning supplies, toiletries, markers, paint, etc. And... no batteries or light bulbs can be shipped, so they need to be painstakingly removed from every blinking/talking/musical children's toy before being packed! But overall, the process was pretty painless, so now we just have to prepare for the big move in exactly 2 weeks! EEEEK!