Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

We were sad we couldn't spend Father's Day with Andrew this year but are eagerly anticipating having him home in a few weeks!  We did have a great day at church and Michael and Mary Ellen made cards for Daddy in Sunday school.  You'll get them when you come home Andrew!  We took some pictures to send to Andrew to remind him how much we love and miss him.  You are our hero and the best Daddy ever.  Thank you for taking care of us so well and loving us so much.  Hurry home!

Hooray for Daddy!!

Artwork for Daddy

We started working early on Andrew's Father's Day box.  It takes about a week for them to receive packages and we wanted him to be able to enjoy our gifts for Father's Day.  Michael and Mary Ellen are really into finger painting and coloring right now.  So we did a few "paintings" for Daddy.  As you can see Mary Ellen decided to use the entire jar of red finger paint for her painting.  I finally had to take it away from her.  She just kept scooping more and more paint on the paper.  I think it ended up being about a 1/2 inch thick!  Michael was a little more restrained.  We also did a paper collage tie.  Wish I would have gotten a picture of those.  They turned out really cute!  It was a neck-tie outline on a paper and they glued different color scraps of paper on the tie and then we cut them out.  They did most of it completely by themselves!  We also made "Cowboy cookies" and bought a few DVD's and magazines to add.  He got the box yesterday and loved it!  We really miss him and are looking forward to finally getting him HOME!!

Daddy's Off...

Well, Andrew left for his deployment 2 weeks ago and we were able to go with him for the big send-off!  We miss him so much already but we are so proud of him and what he is doing. 

Michael and Mary Ellen knew Daddy was leaving but thankfully still don't really understand the circumstances or the concept of time and how long he'll actually be gone.  So, the send off was less tearful (on my part) than ones in the past.  They just think he's going "to work" and I have to be strong for them.

The last good-byes stuck in my throat and were sad but I was still trying to be strong for M&M.  Seeing the pictures afterward though was truly bittersweet.  Watching Andrew have to say good-bye and knowing how much he's going to miss them.  Hearing him say "Mind your Mama", was the most difficult.  They both just smiled and said "yes, sir".  Anything for their Daddy!

 I guess many have forgotten that a war is still going on.  We rarely hear about it on the news anymore.  But I guarantee you that the loved ones of those serving know and our soldiers and airmen are STILL sacrificing to defend and protect us all.  Say a prayer for Andrew and all those who are currently in the Middle East doing the difficult jobs.  We owe them so much!

See you soon Daddy...fly safe!

Swimming N Sliding

This is only the second time we've gotten to swim this year so far.  All the work on our yard prevented us from spending too much time in the yard.  And shockingly the $10 blow-up pool from last year still stays inflated for several hours...long enough for M&M's allotted daily outdoor fun.  Gotta love that Wal-mart!  I think filling the pool with water was most of the fun for them.  Until....

...Mama got the idea to combine their two FAVORITE outdoor activities, the pool AND the slide!

They were in heaven!!

We All Scream for....

Yep, ICE CREAM!!!  Now M&M have had ice cream before...but never an ice cream cone.  It was quite an event and funny to watch.  They loved every minute!  Do they ever have to know that they are actually eating frozen yogurt and NOT chocolate ice cream?  I can get away with it for now, I guess.

I guess Mary Ellen's reaction after she finished says it all!!

Easter Sunday

We had such a fun Easter Sunday.  It was way hotter than we were expecting it to be, but just beautiful!  Michael & Mary Ellen have a great Sunday school class wtih lots of friends and wonderful teachers.  Most of the time they don't want to leave when we go to pick them up and never cry when we drop them off.  Not great for a Mama and Daddy's ego but we feel so blessed to have such an amazing Church family.  I snapped a few pictures of Andrew and M&M when we went to pick them up after Church.

We got a few pictures when we got home before M&M changed into their egg hunting clothes.  Like I said it was so hot, poor Michael's cheeks were flushed.  Not a great day for a sweater vest!

They could have hunted eggs all day.  Until they found out there were actually treats inside!  They found all the eggs and used the cute Lightening and Minnie Mouse baskets that Dee gave them.

Happy Easter...He is Risen!

Cookies, Eggs, and Baskets...oh my!

This age is so great! At 2 1/2 Michael and Mary Ellen are able to do so many fun crafts and activities for the first time...and really participate. We decorated Easter egg cookies the day before Easter. They loved it and really got into decorating. I would pipe out the frosting for them but they chose the colors they wanted and added all the decorations themselves. They enjoyed eating them so much more because they really felt like THEY made them. You can see by their faces they were VERY serious about their task!

We also dyed Easter eggs a few days before Easter. Now M&M were really looking forward to this. They have several books that talk about dying eggs for Easter, their favorite being "Happy Easter Critter" by Mercer Mayer who did the fabulous series of Critter books. The amazement in their eyes when they would see that egg come up from the dye in a brilliant color was just priceless! As you can see, their faces got more animated as we went.

Dee sent them Easter baskets this year.  She found the cutest Minnie Mouse and Lightening McQueen baskets (both their FAVORITE by the way)!  They loved all the goodies inside too.  Princesses and bunnies for Mary Ellen.  Match Box cars and chicks for Michael.  They were also the perfect baskets to use for egg hunting!