Schools out for the Summer!

I cannot believe the school year is over!  It really feels like I was JUST school shopping for the new year.  This year was the first year both of the kiddos were in school. Amelia in kindergarten and Nolan in preschool.  

::Amelia::

Amelia had an end of year performance celebrating what they learned in kindergarten and being ready for first grade.  It was super cute! Each class had a song and in the end all classes sang "first grade" to the tune of New York, New York.  Amelia also received an award for most bubbly,  of course my daughter has a bubbly personality!I have to admit,  I cried!  I'm seriously so emotional when it comes to the kids.  I just can't believe how much she has grown and learned in just the first year of kindergarten.  My girl is doing math and reading! In my day of school I don't remember doing that stuff in Kindergarten,  I remember colors and numbers!  Kids these days are so smart and learning so fast.  

::Nolan::

Nolan started preschool this year.  He was in the toddlers class {2-3 year olds} going in on MWF.  The end of year performance was for the whole school.  It was also the graduation for the adventures class {4-5 year olds} moving on to kindergarten.  Nolan's class is pretty young so they just did one dance and got awards.  I was really proud of Nolan!  He kept dancing and didn't cry.  A lot better from his Christmas performance! Lol He also got most improved award.  So awesome because I've seen so much improvement from him.  At the beginning of the year he was shy and quiet and now he is talkative and has lots of friends.  I was worried about putting him in preschool so young, but it's helped his speech and confidence so much that I know it was the right choice. 

They have grown so much! My babies aren't babies anymore!  Just looking at these pictures and writing this post makes me tear up.  

On a happy note, summer is here in full swing!!! We are slowly but surely working on our summer bucket list!  Much more fun to come!

Date Night {Military Life Style}

Everyone says it, every book, every article, every talk show, radio show, blog, etc. etc......

Everyone says you gotta have date night!

Sooooo easy to say, way harder to get done!  

Morgan and I have been married for 12 years, the first 6 years were childless. Easy peasy, every night out is date night! Lol  The last 6 years with child we have lived away from family and 5 of the six have been overseas. So date nights have been few and far between!

Just last week Morgan and I went on a date!  It was even last minute!  Something that never happens!  Most of our date nights are planned like a month in advance!  Come to think of it, I don't even remember when we had a date before that?! It's not that we don't have time it's that we can't really find a babysitter.  

For instance if we were in our hometown we would have an abundance of babysitters! Grandparents, uncles, aunts, and family friends.  But when you live far from your family that just isn't the case.  Sure we have friends that have offered,  but I feel kinda bad.  All our friends over here are in the same boat, away from family and husband is in the military.  Our husbands work a lot, some are deployed, some are TDY, and some are on duty.  So when they get home lots of the time spent is family time, I feel bad dropping off my kids on THEIR family time.    Sure they assure me it's not big deal,  but I just don't want to be a burden.  Amelia is no problem, but Nolan he is younger and needs more watching plus diaper changing! Sooooo he needs some supervision lol

Option 2, hire a babysitter.  Sure we can do that but first and foremost I'm scared to death leaving my kids with a stranger.  I wouldn't even know where to start with hiring a complete stranger. Well, we could hire a babysitter a friend recommends and uses.  Let's go with that scenario because it's more likely to happen.  The going rate on island is about $5 an hour per kid,  we have 2 so that is $10.  $10 an hour for date night can really get to be a pricey date night.  For example, Morgan and I get a sitter for dinner and a movie, movie starting at 8pm.  We have the sitter come  at 6pm.  We go to dinner before, let's says that's $60. Movie tickets, popcorn, and a drink, $30.  Get home 11pm, 5 hours of babysitting $50. So all together that's $140 for just dinner and a movie! If we want to go have some drinks and catch a cab home that could easily add another $100 { I also think I may be low balling the numbers a tad lol} We only have 1 paycheck for a family of 4 and $240 for one night on a regular basis is out of the question!  $140 would work maybe monthly....but then I just think of what a fun family date $140 could buy us.....or just putting that in our savings!  Hahaha it always comes down to that! 

Now a days we mostly do day dates!  That has been working for us.  We pick a day both kids are in school and Morgan takes a day of leave. He surely can't take a day off weekly or even monthly!  We try to fit it in when we can.  He's taken off our anniversary and a day here and there.   We go out to eat and do something,  it's nice and it gets the job done! Couples time during the day not a bad deal, no babysitter fee {not if you don't count the school tuition} , and way less crowded since it's daytime and most people are at work!

I know someone out there could totally refute me all day!  Give me a million ways to go on a date.  Give me a million reasons why we should go on dates.  The fact of the matter is, it's hard with young kids, being away from family, and being a military family.  So for now,  I'm happy with our day dates.  I'm happy with whatever night dates get get.  We will make it a regular thing when the kids are older and we live closer to family!  I can't wait for sleepovers at their grandparents house! Hahaha 

{on our date}

{some food pics from our date}

We tried Kami Sushi on our date.  We have heard a lot about it.  We weren't big fans of it.  We are so used to eating sashimi and nigiri that all the rolls here kinda seem "overdressed".  We have become sushi snobs! Actually Morgan was always like that,  he just pulled me over to the dark side! Haha

Tipsy Painting Girls Night In

My dear friend Melliza turned 28 and for her birthday she wanted to have a tipsy painting party. Im the only one who has been to a party like this , Lol so I took it upon myself to make this party happen.   There are people and companies that do party set ups for these kind of parties,  but with the short notice and cost I thought I could do it myself. 

This was my set up!  Got everyone a canvas, brush set, and an apron.  I had Melliza to choose a painting, she choose a sunset reminiscent of an Okinawan sunset.  Something we can all have as a keepsake.  Almost all the items were found at Daiso!  Daiso even carried paint,  but I wasn't too sure how the quality would be so I ended up ordering from Amazon.  I got a couple packs of the Basics paint in the primary colors.  It was more then enough.  

We definitely had a good time!  It was a nice change from just going out for dinner and drinks!  I've never seen any of my friends' artistic sides so it was fun.  Some of us were more artistically inclined then others.  All in all it was lots of fun and memories for a lifetime.  I'm so glad that I took on this party.  Melliza was so happy and I know she enjoyed her birthday.  It was super simple and didn't break the bank!  I may even use the idea when Amelia's birthday rolls around!

My finished product.  I'm definitely not going to quit my day job! Lol

Surviving Duty Daze

This is how I survive duty daze.  The days when Morgan has duty.  I'm assuming Duty can last anywhere from 9 to 48 hours, just from past experience.  Duty days range depending on their jobs.  Currently for M's job he has duty every 24 days.  The last duty he had was a 26 hour shift.

Now I don't want it to sound like a death sentence, because it's not.  Nor do I want to take away from the spouses who are dealing with TDYs (Temporary duty in yonder; duty away from home for a period of time) or deployments, I've been there and that isn't easy either.  Another day, another post. But today we're talking about duty.

When M is on duty I have to mentally prepare.  I mean, I'm running the show for practically the next two days.  Sure he's coming back home and its only for a day or so, but it's still out of the norm and we have to adjust accordingly.   The next day he is usually off.   When he comes back from duty,  the next morning, he is still out of commission and I'm a one man show till he gets some rest.

Here are 5 things I do to survive duty daze::

 Plan easy dinner::

Made corned beef and cabbage MmmMMmm

Since it's just me and the kids for dindin, I like to make things easy on myself.  No point in making an extravagant dinner for 2 kids whose favorite foods are hot dogs and jelly sandwiches.  Not to mention that I'm one serving and the kids combined is another serving, so a lot of work for 2 servings isn't happeing.  However, I do make the usual amount because M will eat when he gets home.  I almost always make dinner in the crock pot or the nuwave for duty nights.  Both really simple cooking appliances that make cooking dinner super duper easy.

Activities::

Out and about running some errands for today's activity

I like to keep the kiddies busy on duty days.  It helps the day go by faster and keeps them occupied.  We'll plan a play date, I'll set up some arts and crafts, we'll head to the park, or even spend time in our front yard {in Japan our front yard acts as a backyard because of the limited space}.


Forgo naps::

Normally this was nap time but I just popped in the Croods, a fave movie in our house

Sounds nuts, but it helps.  I'd rather just power through the day and have them go to sleep extra early.   Sure I would love the midday break, but I find it more beneficial for them to go to sleep at 6:30 pm or 7 pm.  That way I get the whole rest of the night to catch up on chores or relax.

Sleep in my bed::

Yes, that's Hello Kitty.  My view , putting the kids to sleep in our bed.  Mills has a Hello Kitty pillow pet.

When M is gone, I have the kids sleep with me.  I love cuddling with them and makes my bed extra cozy.  Another great thing about co-sleeping is I'm right there for bathroom breaks, nightmares, water, and whatever else comes up in the middle of the night.  I don't have to leave my room.  Plus I'm really really paranoid and I constantly check on the kids. So them sleeping in my bed gives me more sleep and keeps me comfortable.  Double WIN!

Chores are down to a minimum::

No picking up toys today!!

They don't come to a screeching halt but ain't a lot getting done that day.  Both my kids are under 5 so lots of mischief happens, even if I turn my back for a second.  Especially Nono, he is also known as Evil Kenevil because that kid fears nothing.  He will climb a bookcase, he will jump off the couch, he will hang off the table...he's nuts.  When I'm alone with them I have to be alert.  Plus with all the running around and activities, it's hard to fit in a chore.  I usually save those for when they are in bed, if I still have the strength.

Well, there you have it.  My 5 go to's , to survive duty daze.

So long to my roaring 20s....

It happened! I turned 30!  Geeze, when I was young it felt like 30 was 2 lifetimes away.  Now it's here....it's really here.  I'm really thankful for this birthday.  First off, thankful I made it to this age.  Tomorrow is never gauranteed so another day is another blessing.  I'm thankful to have a wonderful husband who is loving, helpful, and that provides a comfortable lifestyle that gives me the opportunity to stay at home with our children.  I'm thankful for my 2 beautiful and healthy kids.  Some days they make me want to tear my hair out, but they always find a way to melt my heart. 

Life is good.  I'm at a good place and I'm loving life.  During my 20s. I learned a lot.  I changed so much from 20 to 29!  A lot happened...I learned a lot.  I lived in Washington state, we bought our first home, we short sales our first home, I had Amelia, I moved to Japan, I had Nolan, changed my last name, got into credit card debt, got out of credit card debt, traveled to Hokkaido, traveled to Thailand, traveld to the states, and many more experiences I can't think of.  If you asked me 10 years ago how i thought my life would be at 30, I would haven't even been close to where I am now.   Here I am a full fledge adult!  I understand it's all the rage these days. Haha. I'm really looking forward to the next 30 years of my life.  If time keeps flying at this rate I'm sure it won't be long.

Well the plan for my birthday was pretty low key.  I just wanted to go out to dinner with Morgan and then the night after a dinner out with the ladies.  So I went to my friend Melliza's house to drop off the kids for her to babysit and there it was a SURPRISE PARTY!!!  All our friends were there.  I was so shocked, I didn't expect anything like this.  I even was tearing up.  I'm such a sap.  I had an awesome time, couldn't have asked for more.  It was a great way to bring in my 30s.  

Reflection..

I seriously blinked and 2013 was over.  So much has happened.  Definable was a blessed year for my family. Some notable mentions this 2013; Morgan and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary, Nolan turned 1, and Amelia turned 4.  Morgan and I each turned one year older too! *wink wink* We were fortunate enough to take two trips back to the states to visit our families.  One of the best things that happened this year was taking our kids to Disneyland for the first time!!

I know that today is just a Wednesday , but it is the first day of 2014.  I want to take this fresh start and try to be a better person, better mom, and better wife.  I don't normally do resolutions but I have a few goals in 2014 that I want to accomplish.  A friend of mine mentioned in her Facebook status that this year she was going to slow down and take more time for herself, for her daughter, and her husband.  It really inspired me.  I just mentioned that I felt liked I blinked and 2013 was over.  To be honest, I'm wound up pretty tight.  I need take a page from my friend's book and slow down.  In the grand scheme of things it's not that serious, no need to worry, you still have tomorrow, your kids are only young once, they grow up so fast.... I mean there are a ton of sayings out there.  I'm going to slow down this year, im going to stop and smell the roses.  I have a pretty wonderful life and I need to fully take it all in. Happy new year!  Hope 2014 is just as great! *cheers

Our first family picture of 2014! 

'Twas the Night before Christmas...

Another Christmas down.  Our third one in Oki.  I'm not sure what it was about this year, but I felt a little off.  Christmas wasn't as Christmas as usual?! I just didn't feel so spirited I guess.  I really feel like it just crept up so fast!  Like...I just put up the tree and BAM it's time to open gifts!   Well, this year I added two more traditions to our Christmas season, 1. Elf on a shelf and 2. Jensen cookie bash (cookie decorating party).

Elf on a Shelf

Jensen Cookie Bash

Growing up, Christmas Eve was always the bigger festive day.  We always had our parties on Christmas Eve.  We would go to midnight mass, then open gifts when we got home.  Christmas Day, we would eat all day and play with our new toys.  For my family now it's sorta the same.  We have a party or big dinner on Christmas Eve, then we open gifts after.  On Christmas morning we open gifts from Santa and our stockings.  Essentially we celebrate Christmas in 2 days.  Lol 

Christmas was the usual Oki festivity.  Our Oki fam got together on Christmas eve and had a big potluck in one of the tower rec rooms.  We had a grand old time.  I love getting dressed up and eating to my hearts content. Good thing I wore an outfit that was forgiving if I ate a lil too much.  For our party, each parent brought a gift for their kids from "Santa".The gifts were handed out and the kids went nuts. Lol. Keeps em' occupied for the rest of the evening.  Then the adults do our white elephant.  Always a lot of fun! It's funny to watch grown women fight over gifts. Haha Well no real fighting went on, there were some dirty gift steals tho.  It's all fun and games.

After the party we headed home.  Mills stayed up the whole way because she wanted to open her gifts.  I couldn't believe it!  This year was fun, Nolan got in on the present opening.  Last year he was more interested in the wrapping paper and bows.  Mills , of course, is a pro at opening gifts.  Good thing I decided to just record the present opening, because she just ripped right through them all .  It was so awesome to watch their lil faces light up with joy when the opened their gifts.  I especially loved the squeals from Nolan! We didn't end up sleeping till 2 am that morning.  Too much excitement.  It was a great day.  Now the countdown is on for Christmas 2014 lol

Parent Teacher Conference

Went to a parent - teacher conference for Amelia yesterday.  To be honest I was a lil afraid of what I was going to hear.  I know I have my ups and downs with her, I could only imagine what her teachers had to say.  Don't get me wrong, Mills is a very smart, sweet, funny, creative, and playful lil girl....when she wants to be.  She has days when she is down right NAUGHTY!  I mean, we all do, but its hard to hear it from someone else.  Especially a teacher.  This is the 2nd year that I have been to a conference for Mills.  She had one last year at Kuwaue Preschool.  So this is my first one at her new school, Early Learners International school.

I really don't know what I had to worry about.  Her teacher and the teacher assistant had nothing but great things to say about Mills. I immediately felt guilty for being worried... gosh I wanted to punch myself.  I felt like a terrible parent.  I'm glad I kept my thoughts to myself, but I shouldn't have thought that.  I should have kept positive thoughts.  {Kicking myself} She has only been there since October, but she has improved a lot.  They showed me work that she was doing in the beginning to where she is now and its crazy how much has changed.  They mentioned that she is awesome at crafts and she loves to do them.  I'm not much of a craft person, but I think I'll get into it now that I know she loves them.

All in all she is doing well.  I'm really happy to see that and hear that.  The school she is going to is new, so I had some speculation.  I see now that my daughter is learning and she is happy. They are preparing for their Holiday Program.  I cant wait to see :)

{on a side note}

I can't believe Christmas is 19 days!!!

Today Nolan had a complete melt down in the store, it was crazy and mortifying.

Morgan has duty tonight, lame

Happy FIRST Birthday Nolan!!

Nolan’s FIRST  Birthday!

What a momentous occasion! I honestly can’t believe how fast that year went.  My baby isn’t so much a baby anymore.

We moved to an actual HOUSE! {more on that later} So we had Nolan’s first Birthday party at hour new house.  We’ve never been able to have  a party at any of the places we lived because it was always too small.  I’m so happy to finally be in a house that we can have parties at....LOVE IT!

Anyways we had our Oki fam over and it was great.   I was so happy we didn’t have to lug all our food and décor to some hall or park.  It is such a burden.  Having a party at the house was so much easier and less stress, if I forgot something luckily I was at my house! Haha The party was real simple.  Good food + good company= good party.  We had a great time.  We had a Toy Story theme party.  Nolan had a blast, especially during cake time.  

Well the time has come...

We did it, we've been here almost 2 and a half years!  Now its that time to pick orders again.

Every time we've moved to a new place, as soon as we get there the countdown begins.  We are already contemplating where we want to go next and what our back up plans are.  We have to re-evaluate our plans about every 3 years. My husband is in the Navy and joined the Navy out of San Diego.  Ever since he joined we have been trying to get back to Southern California and unfortunately have been unsuccessful.  For San Diego being a large military town, its crazy how we haven't been able to get back.  We just set our sights on Southern California , something driving distance to SD.   We've been to Illinois, Virginia, Washington state, and our latest tour has brought us to Okinawa Japan.

Moving to Okinawa was really scary.  I've never lived overseas and been so far away from my family.  The military community is small so I've heard stories from our other friends, both bad and good.  One thing that was consist was "you are either going to love it or hate it".  So weird, so black and white.  To be honest I'm in the middle.  I don't love it or hate it.  I'm content here, and there are definitely days that I love it here and hate it here, but for the most part its a good place to be.  But true to form, as soon as we got here, actually as soon as Morgan got his orders I was thinking of where we were going to next.  Time has really flown and we have built our little family life out here and for now Okinawa is home.  I'm really thankful to have been able to get orders here.  The island is beautiful and its a great place for families.

It is that time again where we have to figure out where to go.   We've bounced around a couple ideas.  Morgan was even considering some different schools.  We thought about going back to the states, staying overseas, maybe going to Hawaii or Guam, and even staying here again.  We couldn't really commit to anything yet, so we decided on doing a 1 year extension. It's funny how this time comes up every few years and it still catches us off guard!  The 1 year extension will give us a lil more time to figure things out.  I know all our family wants us to get back to the states.  I too miss the states, but we will do whatever is best for our family and Morgan's career. We make sacrifices living overseas, but the experience has really paid us back ten fold!  We should know by the end of this month if he cant extend here.  Hopefully it works out.  Then in less then a year once again we'll have to figure out where to go next. Ohh the joys of military life.