Funny things kids say and do...

It's so amazing to hear your child start to speak in complete sentences, but even more so when their sense of humor comes through along with it.

My favorite is when we drive by any Taco Bell and Kenneth says "Mommy, it's Taco Bell. DING!" Julia and I always have a good laugh after that.

The kids also like to take off their shoes and smell each other's feet in the car. I can just see everyone out there scrunching up their noses in horror, but it's really cute. We don't have a whole lot of boundaries in our family, but hey it works for us. We love being goofy.

4 months down...

and counting. So grateful we got to spend the week with Kelly, it is keeping me going. Can't wait for December when he will be home for 15 days.

With school starting, soccer, and the general busy-ness of this time of year, I am feeling a little unbalanced at the moment. I'm sure I will adjust. I am not used to Julia being away for 6 hours a day. Kenneth and I sure miss her.

I am just feeling kind of "blah" I guess. I got used to having Kelly around again and now I have to get used to him being gone again. I want to climb into a bag of Hershey's kisses until I feel better. Yoga and some meditation would probably be the healthier choice (less self destructive for sure, but not nearly as fun)

Tough night/day, Julia had a temp of 103 last night and was complaining about her ears today. So, obviously no school for her. It's not like we were the poster children for perfect attendance anyway, as we missed the entire first week of school.

1st Soccer Practice!

Tonight was Julia's 1st soccer practice. She is one of the youngest on her team (under 8's) but she was very confident and taller than a lot of the kids.

She was a bit worn out since today was also her 1st day of school. I am going to have her lay down and take a nap after school on the days she has practices. I am not into the whole "over scheduled" exhausted kid thing at all.

1st Day of Kindergarten!

She did great, and was so excited. No tears from anyone (mom included). My baby is really growing up fast...

We are back, Kelly made it back too

Everyone is safely back from the trip. Kelly called me an hour ago and he is just fine, trip went smoothly for him. We got back yesterday about 5 pm.

I will post more tomorrow, Julia has her first day of school and her first soccer practice. Boy she is going to be tired. I will post a ton o' pics.

Surprise! Spend The Week With Daddy!

I was very lucky to have to come back to the States for some training this past week, and even luckier to be able to fly Denise and the kids out to meet me. I surprised them at the airport on Thursday night when they landed, since I wasn't supposed to get there until Friday night. Kenneth just looked at me like I wasn't real for the first 2 days and was really shy, then finally warmed back up to me being there. Even developed some seperation anxiety just in time for me to say good bye again. Oh well.

We spent a lot of time together this past week when I wasn't at work. Highlights included going to the zoo and Chuck E Cheeses. Since I'm currently stuck in the airport waiting to fly back overseas, I thought I would post some zoo pics and some comments.

I can't believe how much Kenneth has "grown up" over the last 4 months, he is talking so much, is so much taller and looks like a little boy now, no trace of baby anymore. I wonder how much he will change between now and Christmas, when I hope to take my 2 weeks of R&R in Kerman.

Julia is so excited about starting school on Monday, I think she is definitely ready. She showed off by climbing a tree outside of lodging. Her poor legs show all the "battle scars" of how active she is. I was explaining all about different countries and sports as we watched the Olympics this week. Very cool to get to teach someone all about life in general.

Overall it was really special to get to hold the kids and see them interact together. Their natural state doesn't really come across on web-cam or phone calls, although I'm really greatful to have those. I don't know how people handled seperations before we had all this modern technology.

Denise is holding up really well being a "single parent", the kids are thriving and she is still sane (or at least as sane as she was before the deployment started :)) . I don't think I or the kids would be doing nearly as well if the situation was reversed. I don't know if she knows how much I love, appreciate and miss her on a daily basis. I hope so.

Well, Denise and the kids will be getting home soon, they should be in San Francisco by now I think. I unfortunately still have over 20 hours of travel and 7 time zones left to go...

Love to everyone,

Kelly

Julia lost her tooth!

Today was a big day! She lost it at my dad's birthday party. Awww, she's such a big girl! It fell out when she was eating a banana, so it wasn't traumatic. She just walked up to me grinning from ear to ear with the tooth in her hand. It was great my parents were there to add to the excitement and make a big fuss about it.

I'll bet she'll be one of the few Kindergarteners to have lost a tooth for sure. My mom said I didn't lose my first tooth until I was about 7.

So, how much is the Tooth Fairy giving per tooth these days? Hmmm...need to figure that one out pretty soon, it's almost bedtime!!!

Happy birthday, Dad!

Today was my dad's birthday. The kids made him a cake and some home made cards. We had some of my mom's awesome cooking and played games. Everyone had a great time, my dad commented it was his best birthday ever.