Closet Update

Some of you may recall that our closet imploded on me back in December. Well thank god or at least the federal government for 3 day weekends! Ben and I got all the holes patched up, sanded, primed, and then painted the whole closet. Which it needed, but I could have lived without the need for this. Then we hung the shelves and put in lots of extra supports. After all that we had to put the piles of stuff back in the closet, but now I have no faith it will hold anything and the girls play in the closet a lot and the cats practically live there so I had to find some new storage places for all my stuff. But at least it done!

Gatlinburg...again

We just love the Smoky Mountains! It is so beautiful up there. While our accommodations weren't quite as fun as last time we went it was still better then a regular hotel room. Having a townhouse when traveling with the girls really makes the vacation go smoother! Of course one not infested with lady bugs would have been nice, but the girls sure loved to play with them.

We went to the Ripley's Aquarium...twice, (the girls LOVE it and they have a sweet military discount), the Ripley's Odditorium (skip it), and Wonder Works (expensive, but very entertaining and fun!). We also went up to Ober Gatlinburg so the girls could play in the snow. We attempted ice skating too, but Morgan wasn't a big fan. She had this same issue with a trampoline recently. She wants to try it, but is so terrified she screams to get off, you get off, she screams to go back on. It could go on all day. So we will try again in a couple years. We did ride the ski lift up to the alpine slide and both girls enjoyed that quite a bit.

Of course we went swimming. Ben gets the good Dad award for actually going in the freezing cold water with the girls again. I tried the first day, but I'm just a wimp. I finally asked about the temperature and the last day (the day I remembered the camera) there was actually steam in the pool room so they must have turned the heat up. And the last day was also the day we forgot to take the room key to the pool and locked ourselves out in the cold. Whoops.

All in all it was a great trip and wonderful to have so much time with Ben!

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So different

So I was picking up these apples the other day and it reminded me how different Nora and Morgan are. Nora is sensitive, thoughtful, serious, and adventurous. She likes princesses and the color purple. Morgan is really funny, easy going, likes to stay home and is very polite. Her favorite color is green and she loves babies. It is so fun to watch them grow and change and become individuals. I also love that no matter how different they are they still love each other and like to play together.Nora eats one strip all the way around and Morgan just keeps munching straight through.

Morning Coffee

So this morning I was getting ready to go to a Kings Bay Submarine Officers Wives meeting with some other Navy wives (most of which I don't know) and it dawned on me that I haven't had a haircut since we moved to GA in October. One of the worst parts about moving is finding someone to cut your hair and I have particularly crazy hair. So bad my last two stylists laughed and said good luck when I told them I was moving.

Back to my original point is that I am going to the meeting today and I want to look presentable because I am still trying to make some new friends here. So I was trying to blow dry my hair and finally, after 33 years figured out that if I hold the brush in my right hand and the blow dryer in my left they are much easier to use together. And if you remember that your wonderful husband bought you the perfect round brush a few years ago you could dig it out from the back of the drawer. Then if you still can't get that one piece right there is this thing called a curling iron. And the other wonderful invention I rediscovered today...hairspray!

This still seems like a lot of trouble when I could just leave it wet and tuck it behind my ears.

Fishing

So ever since we moved to GA the girls love to feed the swans and our neighbor Mr. John asked them if they had ever been fishing. So Nora sent her dad on a hunt for a rainbow or purple fishing pole. Can you believe he found it? So ever since they want to go "fishing" all the time. We haven't graduated to hooks yet, but they are pretty good at casting. They fish everywhere they can...at the lake, off the side of the bed, and even the tub.

Portrait of Mommy

So Nora says to me that she wants to do some art. Then she asks me to sit so she can draw me. If you noticed her rendition of the nutcracker in the Christmas photos you know she is pretty spot on, so I decided to let her have a go with me. Here is her result. I think it is just beautiful!

Liberty Call, Liberty Call

While Ben was on his first underway they came in to Port Canaveral for a few days. We had only seen Ben for a couple of days before he left so we decided to make a mini vacation and head down since it is only a few hours away. We got to have some family time together like swimming in the cold at night, swimming in the cold during the day, going to the beach to dig holes, watching a holiday light boat parade, checking out the space center, and swimming when it was finally warm. Even though it was only for a couple of days it was sure great to see Ben and the girls had a great time.

Flashback Friday: JAX Zoo

You know you are behind on blogging when you can use a flashback friday for something you have been meaning to blog about...

While Ben was gone on his underway the girls and I went with our new friends Sunshine, Kenneth and Lilly (Adrianna was at school) to the Jacksonville Zoo. It was the best zoo I have been to in quite a while. The highlights were feeding the giraffes, the huge snake that was actually moving and the great ape. It was a very fun day and I didn't even take a stroller! Yes, the bummed a few rides in Lilly's stroller, but she is so light I didn't mind the trade!!

Lilly, Morgan, Kenneth, and Nora...so cute how they lined up by age

Morgan is always stealing Lilly's hair bows