Dance of the Cygnets

Saturday evening Emma had her ballet recital. She was so excited and we couldn't wait to see her. She has been attending ballet class two days a week for the last 3 months.

Emma before the recital.

And the recital begins. All the girls were dressed in pink leotards, pink tights, pink skirts (these we had to buy from the organization so they were exactly the same) and pink ballet shoes. They also had to have their hair up in a ballet bun.

See Emma in the back?! The gal on the left in the black shirt is their teacher (Mrs. Alina Smith). They danced to "Dance of the Cygnets" from Swan Lake.

The sun was shining in brightly so it is kind of hard to see her here at the end of the performance.

After everyone performed, they all came back out to take a bow.

Happy Birthday to Me

So today was my birthday and I actually woke up feeling really down. It wasn't the fact that I was another year older or in my last year of my 20's but this is the 2nd year in a row Jesse wasn't here for it. Last year he was at a different base.

The kids were all excited for me though and that made it easier. We went to Applebee's for dinner tonight. Just the kids, my friend Christy and me. We had a great time. The kids behaved great and of course I received the very embarrassing birthday announcement for the whole restaurant to hear. The kids loved it!


My friend Christy.


This is just before they sang.


And they sang, loudly.


Me embarrassed after.


Our little group.

Our Big Day

I have only on off tried potty training Matthew because he really doesn't seem ready although somewhat interested. Well yesterday, when I was getting the kids lunch set Matty was in the kitchen with me and started making those 'I'm going to poop' noises. I know all Moms know those. Well I asked him if he was going and normally he would say no but this time he said yes. So I dropped what I was doing and toted him off to the potty, Matt protesting the whole way. I put the seat on the toilet, took off his diaper and sat him down.

I sat with him to help him be comfortable. Usually he gets uptight and won't do anything but to my surprise he went. I praised him over and over again and gave him one of his potty treats (these really worked with Chris). Emma and Christopher also praised him and cheered him on, it was so sweet.

Our Countdown to MI

Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com

Until Next Time.......

We never say goodbye, its just not how it is, but until we see you again. Its what we were all told to say when they first deployed. Its not the end, just a temporary time away.

Taking Jesse to the airport was not easy. His fight was to leave at 6am so the kids and I got him there by 4:45am. We got in line to get his ticket and wouldn't you know, the flight was canceled. They placed him on the next one they had going out which wasn't until 8am. Since this was the last time we would be with Jesse for a bit, we stayed.

Being military allows us to get special tickets that take us to the gate, so we ALL went through the security checkpoint.

I love this shot of Emma and her Daddy.


Oh the wait was so long.


But it was really nice to have these last few moments with Jesse to hold onto until we see him again.


And then off he went.


See you in the fall Jesse. We'll all be here waiting for you! Love you!