BBQ weekend

We have had a great weekend going to bbq's with new friends and neighbors.  Friday night we hung out at the Fornes home sitting outside talking and eating while the kids ran around playing up until 9 pm.  Then yesterday our neighbors so graciously hosted a bbq for everyone in our complex..more great food and lots of fun for the kids.  It is so nice to hear everyone's stories and find out how they ended up here too.  Brandon is fishing this morning so the boys and I will venture outside eventually,  but for right now we are watching Curious George in our PJ's.  I am getting over a nasty head cold and thankfully no one else has it!

Up for this week is Carter will be going to Vacation Bible School all week at a local Baptist church from 9-12 every morning.  Wes  is not old enough for the program,  so he and I will have some nice mommy/son bonding time.  Brandon has another test on Monday while I have a night of Bunco planned with the ladies next Friday.  

great weekend

We thoroughly enjoyed our long weekend together as a family.  The boys had lots of trips to the spray park, pool and regular parks.  Carter and Daddy fished quite a bit and caught a lot of fish. Brandon heads back to class tomorrow,  but the next weekend is not too far away.  We are really enjoying our time here much more than we expected.  The boys and I are thriving socially!

It seems like there is always something new going on or to do.  I attended yet another coffee tonight (third since moving here) and it was a great time socializing with other women.  I have gone to more coffee's here than the entire time we were in Quantico!  It is a nice way to transition us back to fleet life.  Nothing new to report on our orders,  but we anticipate hearing something within the next few weeks. 

The weather is supposed to be great the rest of the week... so lots of outside time!!

Carter:  really getting into Madagascar lately and interested in picking out his clothes.

Wesley: has just been darn funny lately.  he says some of the cutest things and makes some of the funniest expressions.  saying "kitty cat, go to park, pool,hi amelie,uh oh make a mess, clean up,toothbrush"

Spray Park

We are so fortunate to have a new spray park that is within walking distance to our house.  The kids loved it and I see us spending a lot of time there this summer.  

We ditched the trip to Dallas and are spending this long weekend at the spray park, lying by the pool and taking the boys fishing.  Today is an anniversary of sorts for Brandon.  He was commissioned seven years ago this very day!

*as a side note... one of Brandon's company mates from USNA was recently diagnosed with liver cancer.  His name is John and he is a newlywed and expectant father.  Please remember him.

TGIF

The kids and I had a fun morning at the neighborhood park.  The housing office was hosting a cookout with hotdogs, so we took full advantage.  We are very excited to have an extended weekend together as a family.  Brandon is off next Monday and Tuesday and we have hopes for a road trip down to Dallas,TX.  Carter is most excited about staying in another Laquinta Inn and Suites.

The kids will be attending a parents night out program out a local church tonight,  and Brandon and I are having a dinner date with the other Marines in his class.  We have a busy weekend planned!

Mt. Scott

We spent Sunday afternoon roaming the rocks of Mount Scott.  We got some nice photo's there.

Then today they boys and I had a morning playdate at the park and this afternoon we hung out with Anja, Amelie and CJ.

Long Day!!!

This Saturday did not go as planned.  First off it was raining pretty hard this morning and that put a glitch in Brandon's golf game and the parade.  Then little Wes was being awfully fussy and I picked him up to find out he was burning up!  So out came Tylenol and Motrin and a big nap.  

During his nap Brandon and Carter had a daddy and son adventure.  They had lunch together at Chili's and then went to see Monster and Aliens at the movies theater.  This was Carter's first time going to a "real" movie.  Brandon said he did great and Carter "wasnt even scared".

So I had this bright idea to make homemade pizza for the kids for dinner.  While pizza was cooking,  Wes was fussier than ever.  He was so hot and irritable..so we headed to the dreaded ER.  I was hoping no one would get sick while we were here.  When we got there Triage took his temp (in the yucky place)  and it was over 102.  They took us right back we waited around 45 min to finally see the Dr.  Poor Wes has another ear infection!   Since he has tubes you would think we would see drainage.  However, this doctor thinks his tubes are plugged and may require a visit to the ENT to clean them out.  So we left the hospital with big bottles of Augmentin, more Tylenol and Motrin.   Poor Baby.

When we got home I made chicken tortilla soup for the first time.  Talk about yummy and easy to make!  Wesley ate a little of the pizza and relaxed with his daddy on the couch.  This day has been quite eventful and long!!! 

busy week

This week has been quite busy and we have taken zero pictures.  We hope to change all that this weekend when we go to the Armed Forces Parade here in Lawton.  It is supposed to be the largest in the country so we should get a lot of pictures.

Brandon officially started CCC (Captain Career Course)  on Tuesday.  He was able to meet his small group leader and the other members of his small group.  They split all the Marines up into separate groups.  He actually did not even go in at all today because all the classes were for Army only.  

The boys and I have been exploring and checking out different activities for children here on base.  We have been going to a play group at Nye Library and there is also a weekly Explorer's Club we are going to check out next week.  Carter is signed up to take swim lessons in July and he is very excited.  The boys are also going to a local church next Friday night for Parents Night Out from 6-10.  Brandon and I are excited to have a "date" night finally!

As for me,  I attended another Marine Detachment (Mar Det) coffee on Tuesday night.  We played Bunco and it was really a lot of fun.  All the ladies here are super nice and very welcoming.  Yesterday the whole family and I attended a spouse's orientation for CCC.  It was interesting to see the perspective the Army has on spouse participation  (polar opposite from Marine Corps),  but interesting.  We are having our first CCC coffee on May 26th.  

Busy Busy Busy!!

Wes is still doing great in his big boy bed and the boys have adjusted wonderfully.  Some recent new/funny things they are doing:

Carter: trying to tell time, obsessed with ice cream, still all things Cars, loves watching the Penguins from Madagascar, sprinting around the park while Brandon times him, of course talking non stop

Wesley: saying "more cookie please mama"  "dada i got cracker" "night night momma, love you" " lightning mcqueen" "look turtle!"  he loves singing/listening to baby bumblebee, trying to count, sitting on the potty, looking for "cows" as he calls them.

Happy Mother's Day!

We wish all our friends, family and mothers in our lives a happy and special day.

My morning began at 0630 with an early wake up call from Wes.  For breakfast we made waffles with my new waffle maker!   Then we headed off to church where the boys behaved fairly well.  Then we finished things up with a gourmet meal here at home!  Steaks, pan seared corn salad and a yummy orange cake with fresh squeezed orange juice on top.  All in all I am very pleased with this mothers day, and feeling very blessed.

Our house

Here are pictures of our "finished"  home.   We only hung pictures in the living room to make it more "homey"  but left the rest of the walls pretty bare.  I cannot wait to get the new bedding for the boys room and make it cute!

90% there

We are about 90% settled into our new home.  I must admit I like this house better!  The kitchen looks small but has so much more space than our older one.  All of these houses have been deemed historic,  so needless to say they are old.  They have so much character,  I love it!

Moving onto other big news is that Wes transitioned great into his big boy bed.  He cried just a little bit the first night,  but after that he has been good to go.  I am going to splurge and buy them some new bedding now that both beds are in use.  There is a design from PB Kids that I have always loved,  so I am going to go for it!  

We hope to post pictures of the finished project soon!

moving day again!

we had our HHG's delivered today.  needless to say we are pooped.   we have the following accomplished:

-living room arranged and decorated

-kitchen all put up

-boys room done

-play room

-USMC flag hung in front of our house

-cable/internet up and running

besides that we have to tackle the dining room, our bedroom, and sort thru all our clothes.

one big announcement being that wes is officially in his big boy bed!   we took carter's bunk bed apart and put wes in the other side (with rails of course)   he was upset a little when first going to bed,  but sleeping like a champ now.  i figured since he hasnt slept in his crib in almost 2 weeks,  this was the perfect time to make the switch!   we shall see.

hope to post pics soon!

Happy Birthday Wes

Wesley turned the big "2" today.  He has grown up so much these past few months... for example putting 3-4 words together, kicking balls, walking up and down steps by himself, reading himself books, saying "i love you".  We tried to come up with somewhere special to take him for his birthday..and we hit the jackpot.   We visited the Science Museum of Oklahoma.  We had to make an hour drive north to Oklahoma City.  Once there we were pleasantly surprised at all the great activities there are for children there.  Carter and Wesley were both highly stimulated for over 4 hours.  They had a great time!

Next we headed to Target (there is not a Target in this town and so we took full advantage).  We got Wes a special Lightning McQueen Birthday racetrack for his birthday.  Carter got a big boy Lightning McQueen bike.  We promised him this bike if he was a good helper during our big move.  These bikes are hard to find in store,  so when we saw it.. we knew we were taking it back to Fort Sill with us.

We made the ride back to the Laquinta and picked up a small cake to sing happy birthday too.  Wes took full advantage of the chocolate fest.   He also said "lightning mcqueen"  for the first time!  

Tonight is our last night at the Laquinta.  I will miss it here,  but ready to get settled into our home.  Our HHG's arrive tomorrow morning and I hope to post lots of pictures of the finished product.

check in day

 Brandon officially checked into Fort Sill today.  His class doesn't begin until 11 May,  but his orders stated he had to check in by 01 May.  Of course they put him on leave until class starts,,he is using his PTAD leave now so he will not be charged any days leave.  The boys and I dropped him off at the Marine Detachment (Brown Hall) around 0930 and headed .3 miles to our house..talk about convenient.  Anyway,  he was there about an hour and was happy to see quite a few officers formerly from 10th Marines.  

Next we joined up with him and headed over to building 4700 where all the other check in points are such as PMO (military police),MWR,housing etc.   Building 4700 has super playroom that the kids and I hung out with and ended up bumping into Anja and her kids too.  Our final stop being Reynolds Army Hospital to get us all squared away with Tricare.  I recently switched the kids back to Prime,  so I am hoping Reynolds will be good to us.  All in all he was checking in about 3 hours.

I always enjoy seeing Brandon wear his Alpha's (what this uniform is called).  Mostly because he rarely wears them and it is a nice change from cammies.  

They are calling for heavy rain all weekend so we are nixing the trip to the railroad museum and probably just lounging around a lot and resting until our furniture comes on Monday.  Then the fun really starts!