Date Night...and a chance encounter-13 March 2010

So Collin and I had our date nite after doing our sitting swap last nite. There really were no movies either of us were dying to see but seriously...we needed some funny. And pretty much any funny...even sophomoric and juvenile was going to be acceptable! So...we went to see the movie She's Outta My League. Ridiculously juvenile...mostly lame plot and crazy overuse of curse words. But funny. Mostly. And we needed that. It was very nice. We saw the movie downtown in Yuma and then went to the newly opened little German restaurant for a bite to eat. I had my go-to dish of bratwurst with some yummy cucumber and onions in a white sauce! MMMM yum! it was good and a very yeasty brochen to go with it. Collin had some sort of beef dish? not sure what that was...
As we were leaving the restaurant we started chatting with an older couple at the table next to us. Frank and Jackie Holy from somewhere, Washington state. Married for 56 years, the sweetest couple. They chatted us right up and turns out they had met an instructor out here-Alfonso Rocha- and did we know him? Haha! Yes, we know Al! They told us the nicest story about Al. He'd met a relative of theirs on a plane into Yuma and she and he talked of the military and she told him of her 90 y/o grandfather who'd been a POW/MIA for 3 mos in WWII and how the she'd tried to get the Veteran's groups to do something for him and they couldn't. So Al said he would see what he could do. He got an American flag and did a jump out at YPG with it and then went to see that 90 y/o gentleman. He presented him with the flag and told him how grateful he was for the man's service to our country and for his sacrifice so many years ago.

Frank and Jackie Holy couldn't speak highly enough about Al and for what he did for their friend. They were there when he presented the man with the flag. Standing in that German restaurant it got me choked up at the kindness of Al to do what he did. The respect of the courage and dignity for this aged veteran. It chokes me up now as I think back on it. What a kind gesture that I am sure that family will never forget!

Babysitting swap w/ the Demings...12 March 2010

We did a babysitting swap with a couple that live down the street...Jason and Sara Deming. We had the kids one night and before bedtime Aiden wanted to conduct some school lessons. Just wanted to show some funny photos from that night. He was so serious at some points! and the other kids sat in their chairs, just like they were students! Finn didn't cooperate quite as much But what is really funny to me is Aiden in his robe and flip-flops....! :) And then here is Eli... he sat this way for the longest time in the back row. As still as could be, arm tightly clutching the Seuss book and his hand very protective of the suitcase! Not sure what was going through his head at the time! And there is little Gabi...her hair was sticking out to the sides after having little ponies in her hair. The kids were all great and had so much fun together...Isaiah is the oldest and he was most tolerant of Aiden and his teaching...very cute!

Martinez Lake Outing 6 March 2010

We took the boys out to Martinez Lake one Saturday morning. We'd intended going to the Painted Desert Trail but ended up at the lake. Collin rented a little motorboat and we went out on the water. We had SUCH a good time! It was breezy and the water a little choppy. The manager gave us a fishing rod to do a little fishing also. Can't believe we've been here this long and haven't done this before. Aiden and Finn each had a turn at "driving" the boat as did Mommy! I loved it! Can totally get the thrill of being on a boat going fast...wind and spray in your hair. Mind you now, our boat was not very fast but I got the drift of it! We stayed as long as we could and then headed back home for lunch and since we had the boat for the whole day we went back later around dusk. The pictures are from then. At the dock area the boys got to witness a huge catfish being filleted...and it was still alive! They were all agog over that catfish! Me too, if you want to know the truth!

This was alot of fun!

Martinez Lake sunset

Whiling away some time down at the canal

Collin and I took the boys down to the canal yesterday. One of the best places to go during those witching hours of the late afternoon...they love to throw the rocks into the water..the big mud clumps that make a mud storm when you put them in the water. They both immediately shed their shoes-preferring to walk around on the rocks in their bare feet...which I totally don't get but love that they can do. It doesn't seem to bother them a bit!

 And soon they are dabbling their feet in...then Aiden asks Collin to roll up his pants and soon he is in to his ankles...and then Finn follows suit to his ankles...you know where this is going right? Yeah. It took them most of the time we were there but near the end they had both submerged themselves to the chests! Cold, wet water and of course, no towels! Haha! But they don't mind a bit...they just live right in that moment!!!

You can see Sally enjoying herself with sticks in the background here...she loves to swim out and retrieve the sticks. 

...and lastly, a family shadow picture...

An update, sort of...

Aiden not long after his FIRST tooth came out!

Finn giving me his little mischief look~ climbing a hill in a park in San Diego

Collin, looking reminiscent of Rhett Butler! Wearing the skinny mustache from his "Let's see who can grow the worst mustache" contest week at work. He might kill me for posting this photo...

    Well I did a pretty good job of getting my end of 2009 photos up... I thought I was going to be able to get caught up enough to blog more regularly. Well, that hasn't happened. It is now the 2nd of March already. March!! It was just January awhile ago! I am really starting to feel the squwinch of time. Mainly because we are on a clock that is speeding down to moving time!

    Every day that goes by is another day closer to us leaving YPG. And that makes me really sad, among other emotions. So, it has really been on my mind lately as well as the stress of the home building. Just the decisions that must be made for the house... it seems like they go on and on and on and on! So many to make and my worry over making the wrong choices about stuff...well...I am really trying to work over that and to just do it! I imagine that it would be much easier if we had an interior designer who was guiding us along the selection-way...but we don't. It is Collin and I and our computer and the limited selections of hands-on stuff here in Yuma. Collin has been about to put me in the back of the bus as I have not been doing the work needed to get all the decisions made...is it a sub-conscious thing? seeing as I would be quite content to stay right here...not sure about that but I am trying to improve.

    The boys are both doing very well these days. Loving life and living each day to capacity...they both just go full bore through the day. We have been quite entertained by them lately. The other day Collin had his shirt off and we were all hanging out in Finn's room and Aiden said..."Daddy, why do you have black grass growing there?" (from his armpit)! Hahahahahah! We roared about that! It was hilarious and said with such honesty and frankness...I mean, of course it looks like black grass!!!

     Aiden is reading basic 3-7 words now, on his own. He sounds out each letter when figuring words he doesn't recognize right away...puh-ohhh-kuh...just an example... :) He is learning to count to 100, by 2's, 5's and 10's and he has finished a journal from his class that they write in every morning at school.

     Finn is doing great in our co-op preschool. We are almost at the end of the alphabet and he can almost sing the whole alphabet song with all the letters in the right place. His letter tracing has improved hugely and he holds his pencil/crayon like a veteran writer now.  Miss Sara took the kids out to the terminal last week and the C-130 pilots shut down the plane for a bit and let the kids get on and sit in the plane and see the cockpit, etc. They had a blast! Hope to get some photos from that experience.

     If it is possible I am feeling so much more the essence of time slipping right through my hands with the boys. I am really trying to be in the moment with them... to play when I can and read with them and walk and talk with them. I see them growing up before my eyes and it just is so sad!! bittersweet and wonderful too to watch them grow into these neat little people with their own personalities. I find myself kissing cheeks alot more, hugging more and trying to learn more about what is going on in those little heads. It is hard to watch and know that the days of the baby/toddler-Finn and toddler/preschooler-Aiden are slipping away from me. It will probably always be like this as I watch them, God willing, grow up. My sweet little boys.

The boys and I at Balboa Park...Aiden got sick quite impromptu on the way here...but that's another story.

Our family photo in the mirror at our hotel...