Slice of Life – April 26th, 2017

Hello hello! I hope you’re having a nice week so far!

We put my mom on a plane back home to Alabama today after such a relaxed, enjoyable visit. She’ll be back in a few weeks for Hadley’s dance recital, so knowing that we’ll see her again so soon made the goodbye easier.

It’s been a couple weeks since my last “Slice of Life”, so I thought it was time to round up some pictures and do a little blabbing about some of the thing we’ve been up to.

Last weekend we hugged our neighbors goodbye as they headed off to the civilian world. We are so happy for their family and their new adventure, but gosh… we sure miss them. The funny thing is, they’d only lived across the street from us for six months! Jamie and I clicked with them immediately, and our girls were the best of friends. They were perfect neighbors. Perfect. We’d turn off each others’ straighteners or ovens, sign for packages, get the mail, watch each others’ kids here and there, help with quick things around the house, and just plain run outside and hang out. It was wonderful and something we’ve never had before. They showed us how important it will be in the future to research the neighborhood and find out about who lives around the homes we have our eye on. Is there such a thing as interviewing neighbors?! We sorely miss you, Butler family!

If you’re local around the Manhattan, Kansas/Fort Riley area, this tidbit is for you. 🙂 I recently hosted a battalion FRG “coffee” in the downstairs private room at Hibachi Hut, and it was fantastic! We were all blown away. The room is small and intimate and perfect for hosting a group of 12-18ish people. The atmosphere is seriously beautiful as well! I can’t recommend it enough. It’s also free, but make sure you call and book it as soon as you know your plan. 🙂 Sorry I don’t have any pics! We were too busy having a good ‘ole time.

The day before Easter, we enjoyed our church’s egg hunt. We’ve done all sized egg hunts throughout the last three years, and smallish egg hunts are totally my jam. We love our church!

Before we headed to church on Easter Sunday, I threw the girls outside to try to get a decent picture of them in their dresses! I snapped quickly, and this was the best we could get. Ha!

I’ll give ya an outtake though too. Sadie had just woken up from her morning nap, so being hustled outside for pictures really upset her. #momscanbearealpain

We were a little early to church since we expected a crowd, so we snapped a super awkward family pic and checked the girls into their childcare areas.

It was a rainy day, so these two best friends did a little egg hunt in our basement and loved it. 🙂

Hadley hadn’t driven in a while, so when Jamie grabbed it out the other day, he plopped Sadie right in next to her. We squealed when we saw her face light up with laughter! We brought the girls to a park around the corner recently and let Hadley go crazy in an empty parking lot. Both of the girls loved the freedom! Super cute.

We celebrated this little one’s first birthday. 🙂 In case you missed it, you can read the love letter I wrote her here or read a recap of her casual birthday festivities here.

Another several-week goodbye with Daddy. Military life got REALLY real for us when we started facing these rapid-fire separations with kids involved. For me, the long trainings/deployments without kids were just plain lonely. With kids, they are just plain hard, physically and mentally. Life is so much more fun when Daddy is home!

Sadie got the coolest thing for her birthday, but Hadley and I are totally into it too! This square has paint (or something similar) inside that moves around as you step on it. It’s lightweight but sturdy enough to jump around on. I expected it to have a soft top, but it’s firm. I can see this gift lasting years and years. The girls love standing on it, and Hadley (and me!) love jumping around on it and watching the paint move. We have the , but I think the would be fun as well for a fraction of the price.

We got Hadley all dolled up for her dance pictures last week, and I don’t know who loved it more – her or me. She’s asked me to “paint her lips” 100 times since. She is as girly as girly can be. And PS – I totally jacked up her curls on the left side of her head, but I had no idea that curling a little girl’s hair would be as challenging as it was. She sat totally still, but I was so nervous about burning her! I will do better next time. 😉

Hadley started soccer practice a few weeks ago, but all I have to show of it so far is a picture of Sadie and I watching. Ha. When we were walking up to her first practice a few weeks ago, Jamie nudged me and said “Hey! I guess this makes you an official soccer mom!” And then I got all smiley and thought about how much I love being “Mom” to my girls.

And finally… a little activity if you have kids around Hadley’s age. 🙂 My mom swears by buying the girls’ books from Ollie’s (a discount store), and they are always the cutest books. This time around she brought them educational activities, and this “connect the numbered dots” book was right up her alley. She surprised us by how well she could do it! .

Let’s chat!

1. Am I the only one who thinks smaller Easter egg hunts are more enjoyable than the huge community egg hunts?
2. What activities do your toddlers/preschoolers love right now?
3. Military friends: Are the goodbyes with your spouse and friends as tough for you as they are for us? I’m so relational, so they kill me!

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