Daddy's Final Week of School & the Graduate Comes Home!

Brian's final week at school went by quickly, mostly because he was constantly kept busy. Monday & Tuesday were spent doing combatives training (hand-to-hand combat). The training not only teaches them to fight, but teaches them how to react in stressful situations & sometimes painful situations. On Wednesday everyone had to turn in all of their borrowed equipment & clean the barracks they had been staying in for the duration of the course. Thursday they had graduation practice all morning & then they spent more time cleaning the barracks. Friday morning was graduation - at last! Our soldier graduated with a GPA of 93.12%, and we couldn't be more proud of him!! After a few more hours of scouring the barracks, the graduates were finally released to begin their journey home.

Lily & I began every day this week with a countdown of days until Daddy came home. Lily had also been keeping track of how many days until Stevie came home from his vacation, and Monday was the last day of that countdown. Stevie returned from his trip on Monday afternoon. ALL day on Monday, about every 20 - 30 minutes, Lily would run to the front door & look to see if their car was in the driveway yet. When she finally saw it, she ran over as quick as she could to see if Stevie could play. Both Lily & Stevie acted like they hadn't seen each other in months & played together for hours.

We also had a little fun with Zoey this week - or maybe Zoey had a little fun with us. Lily was playing in her princess tent, and she called Zoey's name. Zoey ran in the tent, I saw the whole tent shaking & heard Lily laughing hysterically & then Zoey ran back out. She ran around the room, ran back in the tent & did the whole routine over again. She did that quite a few times before Lily climbed out of the tent. Once Lily was out of the tent, Zoey went in there for a few minutes by herself & when she ran out, the tent caught around her & she was dragging it as she ran around the room. She finally jumped on the bed to lay down, but she was still stuck in the tent! This is the wild doggy scene:

Lily decided that since Zoey liked her tent so much, she would put it over the dog's bed. As soon as Zoey realized the tent was over the bed, she went right in to take a nap.
I guess Zoey thinks she is a princess too!

Lily has been "practicing" her dancing quite a bit lately. A lot of times she puts one of her ballet DVD's on & dances along with them. That is what she was doing the other day when I noticed that she had set up all her Barbie's & stuffed animals on her bed, all facing the same way. When I asked Lily why she did that, she told me they were all watching her dance. (of course - I should have known!)
Lily's "audience"

The prima ballerina

The first words out of Lily's mouth on Friday morning - as soon as she opened her eyes - were "Guess what, Momma? We get to pick Daddy up from the airport today!!" She asked me ALL day long if it was time to pick him up yet. Once we were headed for the airport, Lily talked the entire way, saying how much she had missed her daddy & how she was going to give him a big hug & kiss him all over as soon as she saw him. When Daddy finally arrived at the airport she hugged him endlessly, wouldn't let go of his hand & couldn't stop smiling. What a happy reunion!

Lily & Daddy - reunited at last.

Watching 'The Fox and the Hound' together

Daddy's Fourth Week of School

Brian's school is nearing it's end & we all couldn't be happier. Brian is enjoying his training, but is ready to come home ~ and we are ready to have him home!

This week Brian had land navigation training, where they used a compass to find various locations. Monday was their practice day & then Tuesday they were tested on their skills. Brian passed brilliantly with 100 points! Yay Brian! Wednesday they went to the paintball range & were trained in clearing urban terrain & infantry tactics. Brian did pretty well, but was "shot" in the foot & chest. Luckily he wasn't hit by one of the simulated IED's (Improvised Explosive Device) - if he were, he would have been covered head to toe in paint! Thursday through Sunday were spent in the field. He spent those days eating, sleeping & training in the woods. They set up tents, relied on MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) for food, and were graded on their performance as squad leaders. (The grades are unknown at time of posting...probably won't know them until graduation next week.) They were tested on how they led their squad through wooded terrain, how they reacted to indirect fire, direct fire & IED's, and clearing urban terrain. Brian survived & made it safely back to the barracks today, with only a few hundred new bug bites. :o)

Lily & I had a pretty uneventful week here at Fort Lee. I found out on Monday that I have had mononucleosis for the past few months, which explains me not feeling well & not having a lot of energy lately. I took this week to rest as much as I could & will hopefully be over this illness soon. Stevie was out of town this week, so Lily has been pretty lonely. We spent a lot of time coloring together & playing 'Go Fish' - which is a new favorite game around here. When Mom got tired of losing at 'Go Fish', we baked some cookies & painted finger & toe nails. We usually go to story time on Thursday mornings, but when I told Lily we needed to get ready to go, she said she didn't want to go & that she wanted to stay home & spend time with me. (Awww...what a sweet girl I have! I think she sensed that I haven't been feeling well.) So, we stayed in & watched movies & did a lot of nothing, which was nice for a change. I only have a couple pics from this week, but here they are:

Lily chatting with Mimi on the phone, wearing her new "uniform". (She will NOT get out of this ballet outfit...every time I turn around she is changing into it...)

Waiting not-so-patiently for the cookies to bake.

"Are the cookies done YET?!"Our tasty treats are finally done!

New Tricks

Lily learned a new song this week & Mom learned a new trick with her camera...so here is the result!

Here are the words to the song she is singing...I know it's a little hard to understand what she is saying:

Rise and shine

And give God your glory, glory

Rise and shine

And give God your glory, glory

Rise and Shine

And Give God your glory, glory

Children of the Lord.

Daddy's Third Week of School

This week was the half way mark of WLC & Brian continues to excel in his training.

This week his flag detail included a Change of Command ceremony (the Commander of the unit he is attached to there was relieved of his duties & a new Commander took his place) & Brian's picture was featured in the local newspaper due to his participation in the ceremony! The classes he took this week included land navigation, Combat Operations, Med Evac & Casualty Situations. This weeks training also included 'virtual weapons training' - which is basically set up like a video game & Brian qualified 'Sharpshooter' - only 3 points away from Expert! We are still missing him like crazy & hope these next 2 weeks go by quickly!

Lily had her final swim class last week & passed with flying colors. The skills she had to complete in order to pass were to enter the pool unassisted, move for 5 yards, bob 5 times to chin level (Lily went all the way under), float on her front with support for 3 seconds, roll to back with assistance, float on her back for 3 seconds with assistance, and safely exit the pool.

We didn't sign Lily up for the next session due to the fact that we will be out of town quite a bit over the summer, so she would miss too many classes. Depending on what her schedule is like in the fall we might sign her up again then. Here are some pics from her last class:

It's hard to see her, but Lily is floating on her stomach with her face in the water

On Monday we went bowling with Stevie's family. It was Lily's first time bowling! Every Monday the bowling alley on post has free "Space Bowling" from 5-9. (We found out "Space Bowling" meant they just turned out the regular lights & turned black lights on, so all the pins glowed & they had flashing lights that went off every now & then.) They had special bowling balls that were lighter for the kids & special automated guard rails that were raised up from the lane when it was the kid's turn. Lily & Stevie had a great time & Lily keeps asking me when we're going to go back & bowl again.

The bowling champions!

We've been having afternoon thunderstorms here all week long, but one day this week we had a surprise after one pretty bad thunderstorm...a rainbow!Lily thought it was the neatest thing & wanted to sit outside & watch it until it had pretty much disappeared. The picture quality isn't that great, but you get the idea...

Lately, Lily has been cracking me up with what has been coming out of her mouth. This week she asked me if I would take her to a dinosaur museum because she wanted to learn lots of interesting facts about the dinosaurs! Pretty impressive words for a 4 year old...at least in Mom's opinion. Then when we were on our way to story time, she asked me why people threw trash on the ground. I told her I didn't know why, but that they shouldn't do it because it's bad & makes the earth dirty. Then she told me that everyone should recycle, because then the town would be clean, just like her room! LOL!

In other news, our hummingbirds have returned, much to Lily's delight. They were a little late this year & I was worried they wouldn't come back at all, but they have finally come back & have been enjoying our feeders every evening. Lily & I sit on the patio after dinner & if we are very quiet, we are usually rewarded by quite a few hummingbird sightings.

One last pic of Lily outside with the usual neighborhood bunch.

(Stevie, Lily, Kelsey, Austin & Madison)

The Princess Patient is Going to School

Lily will be attending pre-school this year three days a week at the Child Development Center on post. She will go Mon, Wed & Fri from 9-2 & her first day will be September 4th. (That way we can still go to playgroup on Tuesdays & storytime on Thursdays) We went & toured the school this week & met her teachers & Lily is very excited about going now. For a long time she had been telling me she didn't want to go to school & that she wanted to stay home with me, but now that she has seen the school, she is excited & even wanted to stay there when we went for the tour! Stevie will be in Lily's class too, so I think it makes her feel a little better knowing there will be someone she knows with her all the time.

Since school registration is on Monday, that meant we had to get all of Lily's medical records sorted out & make sure everything was up to date. I knew she needed to get her 4 yr shots, because when we took her for her 4 yr check up, they wouldn't give her shots until I found her shot records, which for some reason were not in her medical files.

I found her shot records & brought them in to the immunization clinic, only to be told that she was missing her 2 yr shots as well! There was no record in their computer system of her having her 2 yr well baby check up there, which I knew she had. I had to go to another office & have her medical records pulled & low & behold - there was paperwork in there saying she DID go there for her 2 yr check up. However, there was no paperwork saying she had received her shots. We were told we had to make a drs appt for later in the afternoon for the doctor to approve her getting caught up on her shots. The doctor looked everything over & determined he didn't think she had received them (which I don't know if that is 100% true, since I can't imagine me allowing that to happen, but the dr said it wouldn't hurt her to get them again, just in case she had gotten them before & no one recorded it), so he approved her to get caught up. Unfortunately that meant Lily was due for 7 shots!! Luckily they were able to combine a couple of them, so she ended up getting 4 - which is still a lot for my poor little girl! So, after a LONG day at the clinic, we were able to leave with updated medical records, lots of stickers & a VERY brave (and a little teary-eyed) Lily May.

For being so brave, I promised Lily we could get her some new Littlest Pet Shop animals (the new craze in our house). Here she is with her new pink poodle, bunny & panda bear, looking much happier!

Long Lost Pictures of Little Miss Lily May

Talk about a blast from the past...

I found these pictures recently on my moms camera & we both realized we never made copies of them or sent them to anyone. We completely forgot we even had them! There's some really cute ones here. I think they were taken on one of my mom's visits to Houston while Brian was in basic training/AIT, so they are from March - August of 2004!

Memorial City carousel - one of Lily's favorites!

Dinner at Olive Garden - Mom's favorite!
Check out those cheeks! yikes! :o)

Playing in Toys R' Us
A princess even then...

Lily's first swim class - while we were still in Houston

Mommy & Me!

Houston Downtown Aquarium
Lily LOVED this...she had the best time running through the water & getting all wet. She got sprayed in the face a few times, but she thought it was hilarious!

Daddy's second week of school

Well, another week has passed & Brian is still doing very well in WLC. This week he & another Sgt, who is also in WLC, were tested & graded on a PT (Physical Training) routine they had to put together themselves. They had to call out all the exercises to everyone else & they were graded on their performance. Brian received 96 points out of 100 - Go Brian!! He also had to instruct a class on observation points, which he was also graded on & received a 90 out of 100. He's continuing to take classes on leadership & counseling statements, as well. We're so proud that he is doing so well & can't wait for him to come home!!

Miss Lily has been a busy little bee this week too.

A little monkey on the jungle gym!

Drawing with chalk on the patio.

We figured out coloring on the patio wasn't the best idea, because when Zoey is tied up outside, she lays on the patio & when she lay on the drawings, her white fur turned a lovely shade of pink! I also get lots of colorful puppy paw prints all over the floors in the house!!

Lily asked if she could take a picture of Zoey. She's becoming quite the photographer...it even looks like Zoey is smiling!

Taking a break from all the fun for an ice cream cone!

Lily told me to take a picture of her in her strawberry outfit. Nice pose!

There was a fundraiser today at the newly built movie theater at our local mall. All movies were $2 & popcorn & sodas were just $1!! We took advantage of the deal & went to see Shrek the Third & Meet the Robinsons. We took Stevie with us for one of the movies & they both had a great time. And the best part is that the fundraiser benefits Ft Lee's Army Community Services!

Poor Zoey

This was just too cute to not post, even if it's not about Lily...

I was just sitting at the computer, working on the blog, and all of a sudden I heard Vader & Zoey whining & growling back & forth between each other. Zoey sounded pretty pathetic & Vader sounded like he was NOT happy at all. Vader growling happens a lot since we've gotten Zoey...he's getting to be an old man & doesn't want to play as much as Zoey. He goes & hides & just wishes to be left alone, so usually I ignore them, but today they went back & forth for almost 10 minutes, so I decided to go find out what was going on.

This is what I found...Vader was hiding under the bed (that is his usual spot, since Zoey is too big to fit under the bed), but Zoey apparently wanted some company that Vader was unwilling to give. She was sticking her head (the only part of her that fits) under the bed & whining in Vader's face & he, in return, would growl at her.

She looked so funny with just the back of her sticking out from under the bed & the pathetic whine on top of that was just too cute. Poor Zoey just wanted a friend to play with!

Fourth at the Fort

"The Fun Crew"

Lexi, Andrew, Noah, Paige, Lily, James & Stevie

Today we went to the annual "Fourth at the Fort" celebration. I think we had more fun this year than any other year, but it may be that Lily is older & can enjoy things a little more. In any case, the fun was well documented with lots of pics.

They had a huge inflatable slide for the kids to play on. Lily, Stevie, Madison, Paige & Lexi loved it & went on a bunch of times.

Climbing up...
Sliding down!!

The kids got their faces painted too Fun in the bouncy castle!

Balloon animals (a pink poodle, of course!)

When the Army Band (Stevie's dad is in the band) started their rock concert, the kids started dancing all over the place.

Some of Lily's dance moves...

Watch out! It looks like we may have another break dancer in the family!! Ha ha

Lily & Madison

Time to take a break & watch the magic show!!

They put on a pretty good show...they sawed a woman in half, made a man disappear (well, everything but his hat) & Harry Potter even levitated! The kids really enjoyed it.

Cotton candy time

Lily & Mommy getting ready to watch the fireworks

The firework show was really good - the show was a little long, but pretty spectacular. While we were watching the show, Lily said "Mommy, it's so pretty! Thank you so much for bringing me here. This is the happiest time ever!" - SO sweet!

Lily & Madison with the "ladies man"