The Past Few Weekends

This week flew by and on Friday I had started to finally write a post about last weekend, but thought I should just wait until the end of this weekend and do one big catch up. There is ALWAYS something going on, which is good, because it keeps me busy while Leevi is gone and forces me out of the house with the girls. Last weekend, after a morning at the beach, we headed across the island to Sea Life Park (where 50 First Dates was filmed) with Jenn, Makaela, Steph and Gavin. We did a massive switch of carseats into Tiffany's Tahoe (thanks again, Tiff), so we could all carpool together since it's so far away (far for Hawaii...1 hr). The park offered free admission for all mothers for the month of May. The kids were amazing and had a blast checking out the turtles, dolphins, sea lions, sting rays, sharks, penguins and more...and all crashed in no time for the ride home!

Feeding the Sea Turtles...
Gavin, Makaela, and Hailey

This weekend we had a busy day Saturday which started with a birthday party for our neighbor at Ice Palace. Kailee went to Auntie Jenn's and played with Makaela, so I was able help Hailey ice skate at the party...she had a blast!!!!!!!!

Hailey with the Birthday Girl, Mariah (turns 12 on Friday!)Mommy and Hailey
A video of Hailey skating...


Straight from the birthday party we went to another Girl's Day get-together at Lisa's. The guys were out for Jerrod's bachelor party, so the girls hung out at the pool, BBQ'd dinner, and then put 6 babies to bed at Lisa's and chatted until the wee hours of the morning.

Hailey crashed en route from the Birthday party to the Pool Party...
At Lisa's pool there is a "kiddie ledge" which was perfect to splash/crawl around in...
A video of the girls in the water...


The MacDonald girls...
An attempt at a picture with all the babies...
Hailey took this picture of all the ladies (cringe...the first (and last) time using my camera since "the incident") Look at how well framed it is...I didn't even crop it! :) Second attempt with all the babies...Somehow they ended up in a line...Gavin!!!!Never too early to start...she crawled around with her knees up because she didn't like the feel of the grass

Video of Hailey and Kailee

The girls...

Into EVERYTHING...

Stairs, Leila's water, you name it and Kailee will be there! She's on the move and has gotten pretty fast! She loves to "sprint" to the bathtub at night. I set her in my room and go to get the bath started and turn around and she's under my feet! And after her bath when I'm trying to get her diapered, lotioned, and dressed, she always escapes to Hailey's room.

Trying to steal Jackson's bottle
Chasing around that orange ballHailey is playing outside to escape from the babies

Crawling out from Hailey's tent
Whipping up some breakfast

Poor Leila
She tried climbing the stairs the same day she learned to crawl!

Ahhhh.....rest

Tidbits from Hailey Part V

A collection of random thoughts from Hailey girl...

She told me she was the most beautiful princess "in all the land"

She's a pain picking out which shoes she wants to wear when we walk Leila...she usually gets grass or something in them and will sit down, take off her shoe, blah, blah, blah, slowest poke EVER! One particular day, she was being extra pokey while sitting on the ground with her shoe off and I said, "Let's go, Hailey! Put your shoe on!" She replied, "On my head?"

She calls a Tea Pot a "Tea Hot" and sprinkles for a cake/ice cream "Sprinklers", but she can't say the "sp", so it's "Frinklers"

As I was getting lunch ready for the babies, Hailey snuck this pie onto Kailee's tray

She's unintentionally combined "burp and barf" into one word and will tell me that Kailee "burfed"

Hailey was pushing Kailee out of her way and I told her to keep her hands to herself and she replied, "it's not my hands, it's my feet"

She came to me and said that her fingers were hugging

Memorial Day...

I've been meaning to post an update on Leevi here, so what better time to do it than Memorial Day. He has moved again to a different FOB (Forward Operating Base?)...he really grew accustom to Tombstone and its remoteness, but the new place is even more isolated. (pics below) He is staying pretty busy and we hear from him almost everyday either by email or phone. The few weeks prior to his move to Dwyer, he did a lot of traveling to different bases around Afghanistan and he thought it was pretty interesting. We have made it past the halfway mark until he comes home for his R&R. We haven't done a R&R before and I've heard it's just as crushing having to say goodbye all over again. At least to our advantage, we'll only have a few more months to go (less than 3). That's nothing! Hailey knows that Leevi will be home to visit for Kailee's birthday and then be back for Christmas, but it's not like she really has a concept of that timeline. She's been saying more and more that she misses him...the girls and I are staying busy and the time does seem to be flying by if you look at how much time has already passed (and not how much we still have to go!)

The deck Leevi built (I think in Tombstone) while waiting around to be sent to Dwyer...gotta stay busy!
Leevi with Toby Keith in Bagram...Leevi got his guitar signed by Toby and his entire band. In the picture, Toby is holding Leevi's gun! Apparently Toby goes to Iraq and Afghanistan a lot (Leevi saw him when he was there in 2005)....makes me a big Toby supporter!
"Pee Tubes" as they are called...this is at Fort Dwyer...everything is still being built up. Apparently he has to poop in a bag!
Nothing but desert! It was a 13 hr drive from Tombstone to Dwyer...thankfully he was able to call as soon as he arrived so I knew he made it safely. It makes me think back to my grandparents who only had letters in the mail as their form of communication.
He said the dust is insane...you take a shower and the moment you step out, you are filthy again. The dust and the flies are killing him right now...not to mention the 110+ degree heat! But he said it's a dry heat like our vacation to Arizona! :)

So, in honor of my husband and all the families who sacrifice so much for our freedom, I thought I'd share this email sent to me as a forward. Even I have to remind myself...

WHEN A SOLDIER COMES HOME

When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard....

to listen to his son whine about being bored.

.....to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes.

to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.

...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep.

..to be silent when people pray to God for a new car.

....to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.

...to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.


.....to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp.


.....to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.


.....to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold.


.....to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.


......to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.


.......to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.


....to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.


The only thing harder than being a Soldier..


Is loving one.