Catching Up

Ryan was home for all of 2.5 weeks and in that time he and I attended a Change of Command ceremony. Highlight of the event for me was when the outgoing Skipper requested a round of applause for all my work as the Ombudsman. Ha!!! Really, the highlight for me was wearing cute 4.5 inch heels and receiving a Starbucks gift card from the outgoing Skipper's wife...she knows me so well. Don't you love the blurry picture Ian took of us?


The next morning I raced out of here and headed to Baltimore. I had this tiny bed all to myself for two entire nights. :) I loved that the room was cleaned by someone other than myself.


I found this little park down the street from my hotel where I enjoyed a few hours of sipping my coffee and reading a book ALONE. I drove all over Baltimore, sometimes on purpose and sometimes accidentally. Everyone who knows me knows that I do not believe in owning a GPS and that eventually I can find my way anywhere. Poor Ryan did receive a couple calls from me when I followed my printed directions (which led me astray) and when I failed to look up directions for the return trip. Navigating DC without instructions is not recommended. Baltimore was a breeze though...just follow the other cars around town and you'll eventually get to some sort of highway.


While away the boys enjoyed many outdoor meals, lots of outdoor play and a fun movie night at home. We all had a great weekend!

Having returned feeling refreshed I cooked a "real" meal for the family which included these Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes. As you can see, Ian was so excited to eat his potato that he couldn't be bothered with utensils.


Naturally, a 2.5 week "visit" with the family wouldn't be complete without attempting a home improvement project. Ryan ripped out our UGLY entry tile and I've been tasked with removing Pergo from 4 additional rooms. (How am I supposed to move the dining room hutch/buffet???) We are hoping the installation of our new flooring will take place while Ryan is away so we can check something off our never ending to-do list.


And, as always, we said goodbye yet again to the so-called man of the house. Pretty sick of all of this time apart...Ryan's never home long enough to remember all of my house rules! ;)

Home Again

Look who the boys found at the airport Saturday night...


We are so happy to have Ryan home (again) and a little bummed that it is only for 2.5 weeks. This is getting ridiculous.

On a bright note, I am getting away for the weekend ALONE!!! Can you believe it? I cannot. I'm heading to Baltimore to visit Ikea, Tiffany's (to fix/clean my ring), Container Store and West Elm. It will be so weird to be able to walk around and shop while not being forced to talk and explain myself aloud the entire time. I already feel guilty, however, and I haven't even left the house yet.

Kindergarten

Today it was Nathan's turn to begin the new school year. My "baby" is in kindergarten!!! He was a little bit concerned this morning because his big brother warned him that today would be tough since he'd be learning Spanish. Thanks, Ian. Yes, this private kindergarten now teaches Spanish. I like Ryan's response to learning this piece of curriculum information: "Why not focus on getting English down first?" (Or something similar to that...sorry to butcher your quote, Ryan).


We were too early so I decided to snap a couple extra pictures outside of the school. As you can see in this photo, Nathan was totally thrilled with this decision. I have NO idea where he gets these expressions (or his attitude).


Happy first day of school to me! I am listening to very loud punk music while drinking my coffee. Bliss!

First Grade

First grade? How did this happen so soon? Ian was so excited to start school at the "big" school (elementary school versus the small private preschool/kindergarten he has attended the past two years). I was barely able to slow him down long enough to take this quick snapshot this morning. I will do my best to get a decent shot this afternoon when he has hopefully settled down a bit.


Fearless and confident Ian headed straight for the bus without so much as a glance behind him. Nathan just kept waving and saying, "I love you, Ian!" Knowing Ian, he had a new best friend before the bus pulled up at the school.


Nathan begins kindergarten next Monday. I cannot believe that both boys will be in school FIVE days a week. Nathan, of course, attends a half-day type of kindergarten, but STILL!!! I'm so excited and cannot wait to celebrate that first day with a huge cup of coffee, loud punk music blasting through our surround sound and a book. My goal is to accomplish nothing that day, but some much needed relaxation before diving into volunteering, more schoolwork (me and the boys), etc.

Under the Sea Muffin Tin Monday

Earthquakes and hurricanes, oh my! We are in full hurricane preparation mode here in Virginia Beach while Ryan "enjoys" the desert of Fallon, NV, but early this week we enjoyed a fun playdate with friends followed by the largest earthquake experienced in this area in over 100 years. A little 5.8 (this description coming from the California girl, not the locals).


Our Muffin Tin Monday playdate technically took place on Tuesday since I have microbiology lab during the lunch hour on Mondays. Fortunately, the little ones are very forgiving. All of the moms brought a themed snack to share and I brought 3 snacks since we had two moms that needed to back out at the last minute. The fun fish-shaped bread was Nathan's request and quite tasty! We also picked up Sponge Bob Cheese Nips and Sponge Bob Graham Crackers. I had planned to make shell pasta, but ran out of time. The ocean-themed cookies were perfect as well! Notice we also had fish sticks and Swedish fish. Fun!!!

After lunch and more fun on the park's playground, each child took a break from the sun and worked on a simple fun foam craft. I had lots of ocean/fish fun foam and stickers on hand so we just dumped it all out and gave each child glue and blue construction paper. It doesn't get any easier than that! I attempted to cut up tissue paper squares so each child could decorate a chipboard fish, but the wind was gusting at random. We decided to save that craft for an indoor playdate.


My silly boys wearing their fish sunglasses which I purchased from Discount School Supply forever ago. After 3 hours of playing and crafting, Nathan was not interested in posing for this photo at all. Too bad! Ian was a great sport, on the other hand. With all of the crazy weather predicted for this weekend, I am so glad we had the chance to spend the better part of a day at the park this week. Thank goodness for 82 degree weather!


Okay, back to laundry and other tasks that require electricity.

Another "Ah Ha" Moment

I am still filling the freezer. I wasn't as motivated as I had hoped the other day. Ryan and I did manage to make 3 dishes/condiments (smashed potato soup - slow cooker, red beans and rice & chipotle ranch salad dressing), but then we ended up eating a bunch of it instead of rushing it to the freezer. Whoops!

As I type this, I'm making breakfast sandwiches to freeze. I'm making 12 and we will eat 4 tomorrow and 2 will be going to the parents of a beautiful new baby from our squadron (along with dinner and dessert). I decided to mix up the eggs and put them in a greased muffin tin in order to get a neat, round egg layer. We'll see how it turns out. Sounds like a good idea, right?

Back to Reality

Ryan returns to work tomorrow and we will be back to "normal". This normal will last for a couple weeks before he leaves again. In preparation, we've been working on small projects around the house (Ryan has, I've been taking a break from projects), hanging out not doing much of anything, attempting to buy a new car (that's a funny story), etc.

Tomorrow is my day to build up my stash of freezer meals. I'll try to remember to take pictures and share the recipes. Having homemade meals and snacks ready to go in the freezer brings me peace of mind and somehow makes me feel prepared to be a solo parent. With a new school year and completely new schedule for our family on the horizon, I want to FILL the freezer.


I saw this idea on Pinterest (my current Internet obsession) and wondered why the heck I never thought to do this before now. My boys love smoothies or yogurt for dessert. I now have 6 packs ready to go and Ryan just returned from the store with yogurt so I can make at least 8 more packs tomorrow. Make-ahead freezer smoothie packs - 1 cup frozen fruit, 3-4plain (or vanilla) frozen yogurt cubes (from yogurt frozen in an ice cube tray), then simply put in a blender, add milk or juice, and whirl until smooth. Genius!