Catching Up

It's been a lil while since I really made a typical post so I apologize for the lengthy post in advance...

This morning I woke up with a headache. ugh. Upon further investigation I realized that the headache was most likely caused by the fact that I was breathing like a porpoise with one tiny blow hole. (My nose was so stuffed up it whistled every time I breathed...probably more detail than you ever wanted). Anyways, I have long dreaded the day that I would not be feeling well and not be able to cover my head with a pillow and go back to sleep. But I took a couple of Aleve at 6:15 a.m. and when Benj woke up short after I was surprisingly able to function okay. phew.

Samuel has not been himself lately (although you'd never know it from the pics I'm posting today) and I'm hoping he is just teething. So, both yesterday and today I was hoping to get an early start but Samuel ended up taking a super long morning nap...so, we just postponed our activities for the day a bit, unfortunately, cutting it close to their afternoon nap time (and the return of Captain Crabbypants).

Yesterday we spent some time at the mall picking up a few things for the boys. Benjamin's fat feet are still measuring an XW so we made a trip to Stride Rite for their annual back to school sale. Of course, all the shoes they carry in stock in his fat foot size are total geek shoes. So, I ordered a pair that should be in within a week or so. He doesn't really need shoes now but I went ahead and ordered the next size up just to save a lil!

Both yesterday and today we got out with the dogs and made it to the playground nearby as well. The dogs get excited just hearing the mere mention of a walk and go absolutely bonkers when they see us getting ready to go out. I snapped this pic in the front of the house after our walk yesterday...minus me this is the whole gang! We may look quite ridiculous going for our walks but we all need it. And Campbell and Loudoun (our dogs) are getting quite used to avoiding the path of the stroller. With Samuel not up to par I think it really helps him to get some fresh air and get his mind off his upset tummy.

Today, the main thing on our agenda was going to check out a potential site for Benjamin's upcoming 3rd birthday celebration.

First let me address yet another addition to this blog with Benjamin sporting his Go Diego Go t-shirt. I did laundry yesterday and I tucked that shirt down somewhat deep in his drawer. I don't know how he spots it but he does and immediately grabs it out as soon as the drawer opens. And I have no doubt that tomorrow morning when we get ready to go to church that he will again ask for his Go Diego Go shirt! (It's either in the laundry or on that boy!)

So anyway, we were off to the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum not knowing what to expect. It opened at 10 a.m. and we pulled in the parking lot around 10:45 a.m. We were the only ones there and I was a bit hesitant...but they had a tractor in front and Benjamin was thrilled to be going to a Farm Museum. (The kid definitely has some Duda genes...he gets so excited about museums!)

So, the place was right up Benjamin's alley. He loved it. And I think he will love it eve more when his friends all gather there for his party in September. I just can't believe we hadn't been there yet! There were kids tractors for him to ride on, "Milkie" the cow to milk, a kid friendly general store, a puppet theater, some pretend race horses to ride, dress up clothes (see Samuel's photo) and a ton of other kid stuff. Good wholesome fun. And a nice lil cabin to corral everyone in for food and cake after exhausting them in the museum! I'm pretty excited to have that marked off my list...no worries about cramming everyone (and two dogs) into our townhouse this year! Phew.

So, then we're leaving the museum and I said to Benj who should we invite to your party...and we're naming some of his friends "Jack" and he says "Jack!" and Brooke "Yes, Brookie!" and then he pipes up and says "Will Daddy-O come?" hmpf. "No, Benj, Daddy won't be able to come to this one. He'll still be working with the Army."

Then he spots the flag outside on a flag pole and says "We have that flag!" and Mommy reminds him that is the flag of the "United States of America...can you say United States of America." He fumbles through it...close counts. Then almost on cue the country station I listen to says "Then National Anthem of the United States of America." (That station always plays the National Anthem at noon). And he says it again..."United States of Aimerreeka."

Ahh...and to top our day our wonderful neighbor, Katie, picked up some infamous cotton candy blue ice cream for Benjamin and some ice cream for me too! What a great treat. Tonight after playing outside we came in and enjoyed our ice cream. I thought you'd all enjoy this pic of Benj and his big blue mouth!!! Even he was quite amused by the photo.

Daddy-O called a lil while after we got home from the museum. I almost didn't answer because I didn't recognize the number on caller ID and I was in the middle of handling a blowout from baby Samuel. But luckily I did.

He's doing good. Sometimes we talk about how time is going by fast...but we know we have a long way to go. We can't believe how much the boys have changed already. (I recently sent him a video of the boys I took and he really enjoyed it).

So, he went to the Bagdad ER today. Not sure how often he will make this trip or others...not sure I really want to know. But he was back safe and was getting ready to head back to his container for movie night with a few guys. He moved containers. He is now further away from the generators which were pretty noisy and closer to a couple of guys in his unit that have some shaded area where they can all hang out. He has been working some long hours but hopefully tonight he made it back in time for their movie.

He said someone took a pic of him at the Bagdad ER today so hopefully he'll send that and I can post it soon.