Halloween...Just Another Day

Normally Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love everything about Halloween. All the little kids dressed up, grown ups getting in touch with their inner child dressing up along with the kids, the decorations, pumpkin carving, festivals, and of course candy. Of course I still loved all of that this year, but something was different. Very different. For one we just left Texas where the kids and I were surrounded by my family and Blue all the time to come back to our home where we have no family or friends. Second Paul had to work this year. I don't complain or mind the 24 hour shifts, I actually welcome them, but not having Paul around to take the kids trick or treating just seemed so wrong. With all the drama that has been going on here with our group of so called friends, I literally had no friends I could meet up with, without more drama happening. I didn't feel comfortable taking to kids around the neighborhood by myself, our mall didn't offer indoor trick or treating like back home, and to go all the way on base to walk up and down the streets alone with the kids just seemed super overwhelming. I know I know everyone keeps telling me how much safer the base is, but for me being alone out with my kids at night roaming around up and down the streets up to countless houses and people everywhere just didn't seem like much fun. But, I sucked it up for the kid's sakes. Got them all dressed up and ready to go. Of course once I had everyone situated and ready I couldn't locate their bags I had bought while in Abilene. So we made what I was hoping would be a quick trip to the Walgreens by our house to get a bag. Naturally it was packed and they were pretty much out of Halloween bags. The kids aren't much into the plastic pumpkin containers. I managed to find one yellow pumpkin bag and once yellow witch bag. Easy peasy I thought. Wrong again. Kailee wasn't feeling the witch bag so even though there were two witch bags and the kids could have had the same she was against it. Justin wanted the pumpkin and so did Kailee. Grrrr. People everywhere, creepy music in the background, sales associates trying to be helpful, kids bumping into me and my kids...a tap on the shoulder. I turned around super irritated because I just wanted out of there and back into my quiet car where my kids where safe and away from everyone. So this Walgreens associcate comments on how adorable the kids are. Did I choose Justin's hairstyle because he has to be the cutest little boy ever, and wow Kailee had the most beautiful green eyes she'd ever seen. I'm still looking at her like are you kidding me? Can't you tell I just want to run to the nearest exit and not be stuck standing in the middle of the walk way with my kids getting bumped into? Luckily she got to the point and explained because it was Halloween the kids could have their pictures taken and I could get a free 4X6 of each of the kids. Well, why didn't you say so in the first place. I never ever turn down an oppertunity to have my kid's pictures taken or free pictures for that matter. So off we went to have the kids stand in front of their Halloween backdrop. Justin is nervouse as always because he's not attatched to my hip and he's a while step away from me, and of course Kailee's poses it up. I swear that girl of mine is picture ready at all times. :) Now off to the register to pay and get the heck out of there.
We made it on base really quickly found a place to park and started making our way up the new base housing section. We ran into Bri and her two girls and ended up trick or treating with them for a few houses until her 5 year old kept pulling Kailee with her to houses before I could get JP back down the drive way. I was done by that point. I know i'm over protective in some people's eyes, but I don't care. My kids know they are not to go anywhere without me or to even walk without holding my hand, so for her to just grab Kailee and take off with her. I was hot. Kailee freaked out because she realized I wasn't right there and I see my poor kitty standing at the end of a drive way two houses down biting her finger nails and frantically looking for Justin and me. We caught up and Kailee couldn't stop appologizing. She was so upset when she realized I wasn't behind her and just couldn't unjderstand why her friend wouldn't slow down and wait for her. I just told her you know what stick with me and JP and you'll have just as much fun. So the kids and I slowly made our way up and down the streets collecting tons of candy. Justin's little feet don't move quite as fast as I would like. We were practically always getting knocked into or pushed to the end either because of how slow he was or because my two would let every other person go in front on them because as Kailee kept putting it to JP we have to wait our turn and be polite LOL. I got the biggest kick out of hearing Justin's little voice saying thank you every time he got candy, the aticipation on his face when someone would open the door, the smile he would get when someone would compliment him on his hair or costume, and the way he would duck his face into his bag after each candy was dropped into it. With this new hair cut I sometimes forget he's still two since he looks so much older now. And, Kailee. What can't I say about her? I mean she still makes my heart swell with pride at how mature she is. Always quick with the tick or treat and thank you. Holding on tightly to Justin's hand and making sure others didn't move him when it was their turn to get candy. Making sure he was ok when he would step down wrong and lose his footing on the curb, and always telling him it's ok little superman we don't need candy when they would come to a house that had a bowl set out with candy only to find it empty. We managed to make it almost half way back before Kailee was done. I kept trying to coax her into holding off the moodiness just a little longer by telling her how much more candy she and Justin would get. Again always with a comeback she looks at me, stops dead in her tracks, puts that hand on her hip, and as other kids and grown ups are walking around us looks me straight in the face and says "Ugh I do not want or need anymore candy. I have enough and besides it's not like I get to eat any of it anyway. You always make me hand all my candy over to daddy. So mommy once again I am done. Done walking, done going up to the houses. DONE!" Woa...I swear I just saw what the teemage years had in store for me with her. So I calmly looked at her and said honey. I cannot carry you because then Justin will want to be carried and I am not walking the half a mile we have left carrying the two of you and both of y'alls overfilled candy bags. So she suked it up and managed to be pleasant the remainder of the time. Justin cracked me up. He stayed quiet taking in all the lights, decorations and costumes but there was a point where he leaned his head on my arm as he was holding onto my hand and actually shut his eyes and was dosing off. Leson learned. A mile and a half with no stroller and two kids alone is a bit much. But we had so much fun, just us three. So... yes I missed Paul this year, yes Halloween really felt like any old day. But, being a part of another day with my kids, having the oppertunity to see them interact with just each other, witness just how much more they "got" Halloween this year made all the stress and anxiety worth it. I loaded my two tired kiddos in the car and off we went. Once we got home I let them pick one non gummy, non chewy, non hard candy to have for the night and then we put the rest in a container for Paul in the morning. They got so much candy this year. I know Paul will be stoaked!

Burger King

Today it was super windy out so mom, Blue, the kids, and I went to Burger King so the kids could play inside. Well let me back up. The Bounce Place was our first plan, but once we got there we realized it had closed down and was for sale. I was so disappointed. :) The last time we were here it was open and the kids had so much fun. It's just typical for Abilene for the coolest thing they had to offer for kids would close down. So, that's how we ended up at BK. The kids wanted chicken nuggets and so I got them some and they ate every one of them. Then off they went to play. We were there over two hours which was fine because we were the only ones there. It was pretty fun getting up in there with the kids until I looked down. I HATE heights! I definitely learned my lesson and let them play on their own after that.

New Looks

Today was a great day and somewhat bitter sweet at the same time. Took this kids to Cool Cuts for new hair cuts. Well for JP really. Kailee had already refused to cut her hair. She is in this mind set that princesses keep long hair. Plus she hates the idea of not being able to wear her pretty bows anymore. So we get there and I let Kailee go first. She picked the princess station which translates into a regular chair with Barbie decorations and a boa near the mirror area. She picked Care bears as her entertainment and the cutting began. I was advised not to cut her hair chin length for growth. So Kailee got her way and only got a trim. They trimmed up her layers and took all the dead ends off. She was pleased and even got a new bow. And, the lady put a mango moose in her hair and it actually maintained a bit of a wave/curl which tickled her pink. :) Then it came time to detach JP from the train track he had been playing with. That was fun. Luckily they had a fire truck and he ran like I've never seen with two of the trains from the tack in each hand. Justin climbed up, refused the cape and decided on Cars for his entertainment. And, then the cutting began on him. I was super sad. I loved his curls. I know most thought he looked like a girl, but I didn't care. I thought he had the best hair, nice and thick with curls on the ends. Such a cute little boy. She started in the back and the curls immediately disappeared. Then she started on the sides and even more curls went away. I was ok until she got to the top and front. He then transferred into a whole different looking boy. Much older in his appearance and no more curls. He had no baby in him at all anymore. Then she kept cutting and cutting and I finally asked what are you doing? She went a lot shorter than we had discussed. She felt it necessary to achieve the cut. Whatever lady...Anyways he now has a faux hawk which basically means a mo hawk minus the shaved back and sides. He looks adorable if I say so myself but much older than I expected. He for sure will not be mistaken for a girl anymore and I'm still trying to adjust to seeing him without longer hair. Paul loves it and always thought he looked like he had a girls wig on so the shorter the better in his eyes LOL

High as a Kite

Mom and I took the kids to the park and to fly their kites she got them. It was a perfect west Texas windy day. Warm but very windy. Mom bought them the cutest kites a few days ago and we decided today was the day. Kailee picked a pink multi colored fish and JP picked a blue and multi colored owl. Kailee's flown kites before so she knew exactly what to do and had a blast! Justin's kite was acting up and doing all sorts of twirls and kept crashing straight to the ground. He flew his a while before he was done. He's not a fan of the wind at all. He hates it so he was done pretty quick. Then both of them tried catching Kailee's kite while mom flew it above their heads, rolled around on the ground, did some flips, and chased each other. After that they went to the park and played on the play ground. The kids had so much fun and after two hours still didn't want to leave. My mom is excellent with them and they love playing with her. I must admit it is so nice to watch her roll around with them and chase them. It's like she really gets them and gets on their levels to insure they have the best time. I really miss going to the parks and going places with my mom and the kids. I know it's going to be super lonely when we go back and it's just me myself and I taking the kids places. Gotta treasure the last week here with my mom, dad, brother and friends.

Boo @ the Zoo

The kids, mom, Blue, and I, took the kids to the Abilene Zoo today for Boo at the Zoo. It's where they have stations set up and they hand out candy to the kids and you can see the zoo at the same time. I've been once before and comparing it to this time I must admit I was a little disappointed. The kids had fun and that's the main point I know. We had purchased our tickets on Friday because if you purchased your tickets early they were going to have a different entrance and you were supposed to eliminate the long line to get in. Well once we got there 45 minutes early and all the line for early admittance was literally to the parking lot. I was like um ok so much for eliminating the wait. So the zoo lady tells us they messed up and started selling tickets earlier than they were supposed to and so all of those people who showed up today to get their tickets got to get in the pre purchase ticket line. So she told us to go to the main entrance which we did and were like second in line. We waiting there for about 20 minutes before the ladys selling the tickets informed us that they were not opening that gate and that if they did it would be the last gate to open. WTH? UGH so we go back to where we started and get at the very end. I was so upset because now the kids were tired and grumpy from standing so long. Once we got in they perked up. Kailee was super shy and reserved and wouldn't walk up to the stations without me being right there next to her. Justin stayed in the stroller and held his bag open and said his thank yous. Actually my two were the only ones saying thank you. I was shocked to see kids of all ages just walk up stick their bags out and walk away. What happened to manners? Anyways we were there only a hour to make it completely around and that was long enough. Kailee was tired of walking and JP was falling asleep. They had fun looking at all the costumes and getting stuff put in their bags. Kailee's already picked out next years costume and I'm beginning to think this is a pattern for her. She picked out this years and Justin's costume when she went trick or treating last year. LOL

Woke up to Sunshine

What a BEAUTIFUL day! It has been raining pretty much every single day we have been here with the exception of one and it rained that day too, but luckily we were able to go to the park for two hours. I sure hope it stays like the weather has predicted because we have a super busy weekend planned. Super busy but super fun! I cannot wait! I think today the kids and I will go outside for sure and take advantage of this lovely weather. Hopefully I'll quit being lazy and add some pics. We shall see.

Glow in the Dark Fun...Errr I mean Gloom

I bought the kids the cutest Halloween pjs before we came to Texas. I have been waiting for a while now to put them on. Guess that's what happens when you buy Halloween pjs in the middle of Sept. Anyways I decided tonight was the perfect night. Kailee's are pink with the skeletal system all the way down w a pink heart on the top. JP's are black with the skeletal system all the way down. So we proceed to go to bed and I turn the light off. All of a sudden I hear Kailee say where's this light on my arm coming from. It triggered my mind that both of their pjs glowed in the dark. I had forgot so didn't tell the kids they glowed. So I super excitedly say look you glow in the dark. Immediate crying and whaling from both since JP saw the front of hers and then looked down at his. All I could do was laugh because I didn't understand what set them off nor did I expect them to be scared over glow in the dark pjs. This went on for ten minutes before my mom came in. She was like what's going on? Why are you laughing while your kids are screaming and crying? I couldn't even explain because I was laughing so hard. Anyways, the fact that I said glow in the dark made Kailee scared for some reason because she didn't understand. I tried videoing their reactions but hit back instead of store so I lost the video. Needless to say I got them to calm down and they even thought they were cool before they fell asleep. I honestly never thought I would have got that reaction over pjs LOL. Never once did it cross my mind they would be scared. This morning however they are in love with them. When they would go outside and come in the house they would glow and thought it was the neatest thing. :)

Updates

Obviously I've been MIA since we got to Texas. I find myself enjoying the time with my family and Blue and not really having any desire to sit on the computer. Plus, I still haven't plugged in my external or uploaded any of my pictures since arriving. I'm also still in the process of getting the kids on a sleep/nap schedule, myself included. I have been dealing with insomnia more so than normal with my bedtime averaging around 4am. Not good. The kids and I are doing great and we are having such a good time. Chris has been home since we got here so the kids have definitely been taking advantage of him. LOL Then there's Papa and Nana. I feel like I don't exist to the kids around here. LOL It's been raining the entire time we've been here off and on. We really haven't been able to get out and do much minus our nightly walks. Today we did venture out to the Commissary because mom was cleared dry of food. Of course when we came out it was pouring and has been every since :( Funny how it was still 60 something outside and I found myself freezing. I am so not used to West Texas weather any more. I've been having such a hard time with the humidity due to the rain, the coolness, and the bugs and mosquitoes. All of our allergies, Abbey included have been acting up. I guess that's it for now. Once I upload all my pictures I'll go back and update/blog about what has been going on.

Yee Haw!

Well we made it to Texas safely and got to enjoy the whole day with my family and Blue. We left around 10am on Friday and drove to a small town past Van Horn. The kids did so good. We didn't have any meltdowns, no crying, no fighting, nothing. They sat in their seats, played with their toys, and watched movies. I was so proud of them. Paul doesn't give them near enough credit. I mean you barley heard anything out of them unless they wanted something to drink or eat. I was a little disappointed for Kailee because by the time we got there it was too late to go swimming. She was really looking forward to swimming. We had some amazing Pizza Hut pizza, or maybe it was amazing to me since I haven't had any pizza or junk for three weeks now. Either way it was delicious. The kids enjoyed it and even Kailee didn't fight me on eating it despite the fact I had to remove the pepperonis. After eating some dinner the kids of course jumped on the beds and ran around like crazy kiddos. We all took showers and headed to bed. Paul stayed up and enjoyed a few beers and goofed around on the computer. The kids and I were out. We woke up 45 minutes before we had to check out. Guess the kids and I overslept just a little. LOL Then it was time to get on the road again. Luckily where we drove two extra hours than planned yesterday we only had 3 1/2hrs left to get to San Angelo. Again Kailee watched her Barbie movie the entire way and Justin slept. Before we knew it we were at the gate to the base waiting in line to come on. Here's where the fun began. We pull up and show our id's and hear you're going to have to pull over to have my commander approve you going on. Of course it was in regards to Abbey who was sitting perfectly in the front seat. They apparently felt she was a vicious breed which are banned entrance to the base. So we pull over and wait and wait and wait. Finally. some Tech walks up to us and informs us he can't allow his men to make the decision to all0w us on base with our vicious breed. So Paul asks well what breed is she exactly? The man then explains he's not a dog breed expert and doesn't know what breed Abbey is, but he felt she was some type of bull terrier and he was making the executive decision to not let us on. So again Paul says that's discrimination and asked what breed Abbey was. The Tech again said he didn't know but could get the Vet out there and they could 100% identify what breed Abbey was. Talk about crap. Yes maybe Abbey does appear to be a pit, but to be completely honest we have no idea what Abbey is. We bought her off the side of the road and have no papers. Once again other people's stupidity make it to where other are punished. Abbey is the sweetest, most gentlest dog ever. We've never had issues, she's never growled, bit, or gone after anyone. Of course for all they know that's just our word. I just really get angry when dogs are discriminated against by breed only because not all breeds are the same. Not all pits are mean or attack the same goes for Rots and Dobermans. Anyways that just set me in for a bad mood for the rest of the day. Every time I think about it I get mad all over again. After all that mom and Blue met us and we unloaded all of our stuff said our good byes and headed back on the road again. Thankfully we only had 1 1/2hrs to Abilene. We got in around 5 and the kids immediately took off to see their Papa and Uncle. It was a nice surprise to see Chris already home and they LOVED seeing him. It's about 3am and yes I am still up talking to my mom and just not able to sleep. Both kids are in bed snoring away. They had such a long day. It is so nice to be back around my mom and dad and it was great seeing Blue. I can't wait for all the fun stuff we get to do.

FINALLY Ready.

So I've managed to get everything packed, cleaned, and ready to go. Now if only my brain would stop going over that mental list and allow me to get some rest it would be a great night. As if me not being in bed yet wasn't bad enough, my kids are wide awake as well. Yes it's 12:45am and they are acting as if it were 3pm. I am so beyond tired, so ready for my head to hit the pillow, for my eyes to shut, and sleep the whole 5 1/2 hours of sleep I get before getting up and making coffee, triple checking all bags, making sure both cameras and the external are packed, loading all the stuff, and finally hitting the road. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I know we will! :)