I'm dying... I'm dying... I'm dying...

I'm DEAD.

I just mowed the lawn. All by myself. I feel like a big, throbbing blister. It's HOT and I started at 10 AM. Ugh this weather is going to be terrible...

But I DID IT! I'm so proud. Thank you Sue for showing me how to turn that m'fer on! Lol. So now I won't have to pay people to do it. It's not hard. It's just annoying, because the weather is so damn hot, even in the morning. I should do it earlier but I'm afraid of annoying neighbors if I started at like.. 7... or hey can I mow before I go to bed? Like at midnight? In the dark? Okay, I didn't think so lol.

I was really expecting the girls to be sobbing when I came inside... I had snuck out though, because they were playing together in Cam's room. When I came back inside, all I heard was "Hi Mommy!" That's it... no crying, sobbing, retching, anarchy in the living room... YAY! That made me feel a lot better.

Phew. Well, we definitely are missing our Sue! She was sooooooooooooo helpful and she's great with the kids and they love her to tears. Literally, as Alice cried when she got up the night she left and realized she wasn't there in the morning to take her! They still ask for Grandma by the way.... lol. She will be back though, I tell them all the time. "Grandma and Grandpa will come back, very soon!" It's so nice to have help. Not just help, but a family member whom we love dearly and get along with. Like, she's not there JUST to help... but we hang out and drool over Dougal, and stuff! Lol, or maybe *I* drool over Dougal and Sue can have Jamie! Hahahaha. And the sewing thing and the tsum tsums we've been working on... and she got me the new Bernina software which is AMAZING and has really rekindled my love for embroidery/sewing!

Wow. I haven't updated in a LONG time. I just haven't really had the time, or energy. When I do have the time I admit, my mind is more focused on other things...

Aren't they sooooo cute?!!? Sue did such a great job on Chip too!! I can't wait til this quilt al starts coming together! The most time consuming part is the designing, but gosh, it's so rewarding when you see them come to life!

My favorite one I made *I think* is Aurora. Laura came over the other night and I was moving some movies and Game of Thrones to her flash drive she brought over and she was marveling at everything in my office/room Lol. I was like, oh girl, this is just stuff! Haha. She saw the tsum tsums though, and she LOVED THEM! When I showed her Aurora I wanted to cry because she was so impressed and like, I don't know, she made me feel really good lol. I love Laura! 

We have been spending a lot of time together! We joke about how we are practically married because we see each other more than our own husbands lol. Well, I suppose that comes with the territory. She is honestly, the only "Army wife" I have met that is 100% genuine. I've seen her real side, she's seen mine, and we're totally in sync and run with the same tribe lol. 

Not to mention... our kids love each other! 

And we've been going to the pool a LOT! I'm actually really glad Sue was here when we first started going, because I knew the first couple times would be the trickiest teaching the girls that they can't just run around and they have to stay close by me. They are sooooo much better now, especially at listening.

She's a fishy!!!

On the flip side, Alice is much happier in the shallows lol.

Not to mention... Cam LOVES her little puddle jumper floatie thing. It's amazing. It gives her freedom and more leeway getting around the pool and I don't have to worry about her falling out or through the tube floatie, etc. Now Alice is still... feisty lol. She tolerates it but still doesn't like to be off of me. So that gets exhausting having her clinging to me! In time she will get better and more confident. It's all worth it though, because Cam LOVES it. She's a little fishy lol. I was a lot like Alice when I was a kid... terrified of water, or being by myself so I totally understand Alice's fear. 

We miss Josh terribly and can't wait for him to be home... but at least we have friends close by to get each other through this difficult, lonely time! 

In Josh news, he will be moving to his new post soon within the next couple weeks, I believe? And from there, he won't be busy at all. Things will start to calm down a LOT which is a hallelujah moment since it feels like he's been in the field for like, a whole freaking month! That's basically a whole month of barely chatting, and major disconnect. So I was feeling even more lonely than usual without hearing his voice every day or him video chatting with the girls so that itself was pretty hard, on top of everything else. I'm so glad he's out of the field officially though, and he will be moving forward to the new camp. SO GLAD about THAT. And reeeeally hoping the suspicions about coming home by late December/October are true because that would be a miracle! 

Lol Cam just asked to go to Bailey's house... lol. Maybe guys, maybe!!

                                                        My bed is not my own.... ever... lol.

 It's true love. I can't believe I scored that at the thrift store for only 24.99!!!

Okay sis when's it my turn?!

                                                           Cam wants to help!!    "Sew?" lol.

                                              Ouch... I zig zag stitched my finger. :(

         Alice is such a diva. Lol.

 So is Cam!! She loves putting lipstick on and being a "princess" lol. She also is super into wearing dresses these days...

That face!!!!

OH MY GOD AND CAM'S 4TH BIRTHDAY!!! Holy cow. The Peppa Pig party went off without a hitch! We ladies had so much fun, the cake turned out super cute (Thanks Sue!) aaaand it was amazing. We swam and everything. Black Jack Randall even made an appearance!

                                                                       SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!

                     Mmmmmm delicious potent poison. Laura and I def got a bit crazy lol sorry Sue!!

         Hi Black Jack Randall!! Retraction: I forgot the BJR beers were on a different day, not on
                Cam's birthday, oopsie! Lol.

She loved it!!!!!

Isn't Stitch fabulous?! Great job Sue!!

 Aurora!! I love her!!! (I know I forgot to clip one of the threads whoops lol)

Poor girl falling asleep! Lol Grandpa Frank sent her some birthday money so she picked out some
   new tsum tsums! :)

     Oooh! This was a rough draft so to speak; Laura asked me if I'd make the girls mermaid tail blankets if she bought all the fabric. Couldn't resist the challenge! Alice loved this! Lol. (so did Cam, Bailey, and Aves! Yay!)

      Shhhhh don't tell Cam I've got her tsum tsums.... giggle. 

     Lol.

I love my artsy girl!!!

More later, I promise!!

I miss my family! Boohoo!

I'm sooo happy that my family had the opportunity to come visit! It was a wonderful, hectic, often chaotic, ten days! And you know what, the kids and I... we really thrive on chaos! Haha! We love it! It was so nice to just be busy busy busy! Always doing something, or planning something, and my mom was always cooking or washing something (lol) I kept telling her... MOM KNOCK IT OFF! GO SIT DOWN! SIT ON YOUR BUTT NOW!! Lol. I know she loves to be helpful, but I would have rather just sat down and enjoyed her company, ya know? Especially since I don't get to see her much! 

God, it was nice. For awhile things seemed... normal. I wasn't alone, I had my kooky family. We were all under one roof! It's literally been years since we all slept under the same roof... so it was... just the strangest feeling. Ah, it was nice. 

The kids looooved Auntie and Uncle! (and Grandma too of course) but maaaan did they love Uncle Derek! He had a very high energy, always up for whatever the kids wanted to do, could be super silly, etc. And Alice really took a keen interest in him. She was pretty much warmed up to him by the end of their first day here. That's fast for Alice! It normally takes her a long time to be okay with someone! Lol she even called him 'daddy' a few times and 'uncle daddy' LOL. We were like, no! Uncle Derek!! Hahahaha. My sister, has a very calm, peaceful, chill energy. Cam totally liked that. Cam was the one who warmed up to my sister. Alice had a lot of fun with her too, don't get me wrong, but I could tell Cam felt really safe and like she could just hang out and be herself. It was all so sweet!

 I had to take them to Topsey! They loved it! My mom made us laugh so much at her reactions to the animals. Actually, my mom made us laugh so much throughout their entire stay. The things she says are so hilarious... she should be a character on tv lol. The HUGE camel stuck his head in the window and stole the bag of food from my sister! And he ate the whole thing.. including the bag. We all laughed our butts off! (and the kids didn't freak out, thank goodness haha)

   
Oh and Easter... phew it was exhausting!! The nigh before, Mary and Derek helped me pack the eggs while we watched one of our favorite movies. That was probably one of my favorite things... staying up late watching movies with Mary, Derek, and my mom. We watched a lot of flicks and munched on popcorn and snacks and siiiiiiiiiiigh, it was nice! This whole trip made me so nostalgic to move back to WA! But yeah we packed a lot of eggs and I quickly realized... shit, I bought way too much candy!

It's okay though, Derek helped eat a bunch. Lol.

    Omg I love this picture because Cam ran to her room, she gets scared when you blow up a balloon and let it go Lol, so after a few minutes she cam back out and crossed her arms and looked over unsurely... omg she's so adorable, I just love her in the background! (and isn't that dress so cute?!)

 Omg and this. My sister fell asleep on the couch. Cam got a blanket and snuggled up *near her*

    As time passed, Cam kept sneaking closer and closer to my sister lol. it was SO funny watching her sneak glances at my sister, sleeping, and then scootching closer. I was like aww, Cam! She won't mind if you want to cuddle with Auntie!

            I just started laughing and my sister woke up and I clued her in on what Cam was doing. |

And then Alice had to jump right in... Lol. Cam's like, damn, you ruined my plan! 

                                                                       Alice takes over Lol.

      My dad sent the girls Easter baskets so they had a loooot of fun opening up an extra pair of
               baskets! It was too sweet of him and the girls really loved their treasures!

                         Alice, man, she has such a sweet tooth. I have to hide all the sweets!

                        We also visited the Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas and it was really cool!!
         My sister and Derek signed up to be interviewed, so they may be on TV! How cool is that?!

The girls explored the garage gift shop...

                                                              Alice sat down at a table lol.

Alice glaring at my mom LOL.

 "YOU!!!"

 After Gas Monkey Garage, we went to the Gas Monkey Grill and it was yummy!! People kept thinking that Derek was Aaron (one of the guys on the show with a big beard lol) so it was really hilarious.

And with full bellies, we went to our next destination -- the Dallas Zoo! Woo! (ps boy does Dallas traffic suck!)

Lol Cam's a crocodile rider!

           My mom said that that was her "new boyfriend" lol.

                                            Awwww I love this photo so much!! :)

                                Cam loved riding the carousel with her Auntie. :)

                Derek's birthday is on April 3rd, so my sister wanted to have a little celebration for him.
                 So we did! We threw up a mish mosh of luau and My Little Pony decorations! LOL.
                 He loved them! Hahaha, who doesn't love Pony decorations?!

          Cam's like, Oh, is that cake?!?! She kept saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" Haha!
                       She really wanted that cake...

Not pictured: we did a bunch of other fun stuff too! Like... ROCK CLIMBING! Which is actually really really fun. Who knew I would like such a thing? Especially since I'm scared of heights, haha. Only person who wasn't into it was my mom and Alice... Lol. Alice wanted to leave ASAP.

Whenever I climbed up, she would cry "Mommy bear, mommy beeeear!" Oh gosh, the poor thing lol and omg, when Derek was climbing up she would cry and say "Uncle!" and "GET DOWN" LOL. That sweet little girl! It's cute how she was worried for us!

It's so weird being alone again. And cooking my own breakfast! Lol I think my mom cooked breakfast every dang day, sheesh! Sigh. I miss them. I know they miss me and the kids too. It's just so damn nice being with everyone, and watching the kids get close to my sister, and everyone, and having fun... and just being silly! My family is so good at being open and silly, and the girls really loved it all. Sigh!

I miss them, and I'll miss Easter too! I love our little ladies when they're dress up in sweet dresses!

          Do we have to say goodbye to our Easter wreath?!

                   How cute are these two?!?! Lol.

                                         Oh Cam and Stitch........

                                           She has so much fun with him. :)

                                This kid really loves this "pumpkin" (summer squash) Lol.

                  Don't you love my "new" shoes?! Thrifted for 3.98, booyah I love thrifting!! Lol.
 (shhhhh you don't even wanna know how much the kids' Easter dresses cost... thanks thrift store!)

                                                  Love these darlings!! :)

Yay!!! Thanks for reading!