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"

Happy 4th of July to all!!

Pics of Lily & Stevie

These are some pics of Lily & Stevie that Stevie's grandpa took. (He is a professional photographer.) SOOO CUTE!!