SOS part 2

Is it possible for time to pass quickly and slowly all at the same time? At times I can't believe we are half way through Kyle's SOS training, and then the other part of me can't believe we have ONLY made it through half of his training. Do I enjoy the South during the spring? Yes. Are the people here so nice and welcoming? Yes. Do I enjoy exploring this part of our country that I have never been to before? Yes. But do I enjoy living in a temporary furnished apt living out of suitcases with three small kids? Heck to the no! Every day Connor asks when we will go home, and Abby is literally driving me insane now that she isn't in some kind of a preschool program. Brayden is the happiest of us all, but it doesn't take much to please him... just food and someone dotting on him 24/7. I am very antsy to get home to Arizona and get our lives started.

We continue to stay as busy as possible. It is my mission to get out of the apartment at least once a day with the kids. Every Tuesday morning we attend a little church study group designed for us military wives at a local Baptist church. The kids love it cause they get to go to this daycare setting and color, play with friends, sing songs, and eat snacks. In fact the other day when I picked them up from the church's daycare Connor was belting out "Jesus loves me, yes he does." It brought a big smile to my face as well as a little chuckle. You are right Connor, Jesus does love you. Yes He does Connor, yes He does. I enjoy this study group because we talk about marriage and family issues and try to lift one another up especially since we are all in the unique setting of being military wives. I wouldn't have thought to attend such a counseling type group, but to be honest it has been really enjoyable and I have learned a lot. I am guilty to say that what drew me into the class originally was the free childcare for my kids for three hours (momma needs a break every now and then), but it has turned out to be much more beneficial to me, my marriage, and my parenting style.

Yes, we still are frequenting Chick Fil A at least once a week if not more. Connor is completely obsessed and asks for it all day, every day. This past week they had a special ice cream party and offered free ice cream to all the kids. Of course we went and took advantage of the occasion, and Connor was in heaven. That boy better start a side job to keep up with his Chick Fil A addiction.

To spice up our park play days we picked up some chalk and had a little fun. The kids loved it, and kept asking for me to draw various pictures where they could interact with them. The most creative I got was a butterfly, floating balloons, and a crown (I am not an artist so I was limited to very elementary drawings and ideas). The weather has been beautiful lately so we have been taking advantage of it and try to be outside as much as possible.

I heard about a "U-pick" strawberry farm that was 40 minutes away and thought that would be a fun activity to take the kids to. So I invited our friends Stephanie and their daughter Charlie, as well as my friend Brittany to tag along with us. All our husbands are at this training so while our men folk work during the day, we party. Hahaha, just kidding, we may not party, but we do hang out often to try to pass the time.

The kids loved the strawberry farm. It was very reasonably priced too! You could pick and eat as much as you wanted for free while filling up your own bucket to take home that was about $8.00. After living in Japan these past three years getting a whole buckets worth of strawberries for $8.00 seemed amazingly cheap. Usually we pay $8.00 for 8 strawberries back in Misawa, or so it seemed. Let's just say we may have left the farm with two giant buckets worth of berries, and full bellies with strawberry stained cheeks and hands. Nothing says Spring more to me that picking berries out on the farm.

I love how Brayden is finally getting big enough to start doing things with his older brother and sister. He can run now and keep up with them for the most part, and climbs on just about anything and everything. He can even sit by himself on the tire swing with the bigger kids and I don't have to worry about him falling. I sure love my three amigos. They are my whole world and they definitely keep me active and busy. I never knew watching your kids grow and accomplishing things such as being able to sit by themselves on a tire swing would be so fun and rewarding.

Lately Texas Road House has been taking all our money. Put that restaurant on the weekly rotation along with Chick Fil A. The kids love this restaurant and Abby can't seem to get enough of the rolls and honey butter (I am not surprised since after all she is our carbs girl). This time we went with some friends, Brittany and Tyler. They don't have any kids of their own, and I think  thanks to my three squirrely bunch they won't be having kids for a long time. Not that our kids were bad, they were just kids and being very busy during the meal. I think they were a little overwhelmed at how needy they were.. "Mom can I have another roll?" "Mom help me cut my food." "Babbo, I dropped my fork." "I need more water."

The Fine Arts Museum had a kids puppet show and I thought it would a be a fun activity to take the kids to. Points for me cause they all loved it! It was a cute little show about how different animals were making and frosting a cake and about how they needed to blend different colors to make new colors. The only one that was a little weirded out by it and lost attention fast, was Brayden. I guess that was to be expected. That kid's attention span is like that of a dog's. Present one moment then gone the next... "oh how I love you for these head scratches *wagging tail*, wait, squirrel!"

Perhaps my favorite thing about SOS is that Kyle gets done decently early, or I should say earlier than what we are used to back in Misawa. He normally finishes up class between 4-5:00 in the evening and the kid and I wait for him at the park on base. When he is done he comes over to play with the kids for a bit before we all head back to our makeshift, temporary apartment home. The kids love it when he arrives, and all in the world feels right again. As crazy as it is right now being in limbo as it feels from time to time, SOS has been a nice little break for our family from the fast tempo pace of being in an operational squadron.