Kailey is 3

Kai is 3!!!!!
Today she went to school and I came back later with cake for the class. Deric got to watch in on the schools internet video cameras, so that was nice for him. Here are some pic’s.
We are having a party for her at the end of February when Deric is back on leave. Then going to Great Wolf Lodge….. what fun awaits.

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz sleep my baby girl.......

I have added another ‘Never’ to my list of ‘I will never….’

I always said Kailey will never let her sleep in my bed. I had seen too many Super Nanny’s and did not want the problems that I see on that show….

And now as I sit here and write, Kai is in my bed fast asleep.

I could fight it, and I could cause a stir about it, but when I get in at night she holds my hand and hugs me all night. I just feel that maybe it’s something she needs now and I have decided to deal with it later. When I think of what that little one in my bed has been through – or rather what we have put her through in the last three years, I just have to bend on this.

In 3 years she has lived in 2 countries, 3 states, 4 houses and seen her dad deploy twice for a year each time.

In the past year she has welcomed a baby brother, said goodbye to her friends again, moved state and got another house and area to get to know. She has given up her dummies, said goodbye to her daddy, let go of her beloved crib, potty trained, got a new play school, and started preschool. Each thing we throw at her she handles so well. So if she needs to know mommy is just at arm’s reach – so be it!

Hi Everyone,
I am taking the time to update the blog, this time with some actual news and not just pictures.

Just got the kids to bed, we have been so crazy this past week and I like to have one day a week just at home where they can really chill and play what they want all day. So now the house is picked up and they are sleeping…..

Kailey started preschool this week. I just felt that she needed something else. She is like a sponge and sometimes she does not want me to teach her. Also she is having trouble taking direction and listening to anyone but me. I found a school one mile from our house that is very good. Her teacher is very nice and Kai took an instant liking to her. She goes 3 days a week for 3 hours a day. I thought it would be great to spend some time with Devin, but he goes to sleep 30 minutes after we get home from dropping her off and then I have to wake him before we leave to get her. I know this will change but I finally feel what empty nest syndrome is !!


Devin is so gorgeous. He is really coming into his own. He is very focused and once he has decided what he wants you can’t change his mind. Lately he just wants to help with everything. He will help with the dishes, putting on the washer and dryer, and if I give him a brush he will scrub the whole floor. At dinner time he bangs on the oven and shouts at me…. He wants to help and watch me cook. I have to give him a spoon, or let him do something – he just loves that. He is also in charge of operating the microwave oven, a job he takes very seriously and if he sees you doing it, he will shout at you (seriously)


Besides for Kai’s school she is too funny. I went to a neighbor’s house that had a baby a few weeks ago, we went inside to see the baby and as we went in Kai says ‘oh my goodness, look at this mess!’ I almost died. Then yesterday we went to the curry shop for dinner and as we got out the car there was a woman in the car next to us – with her door open a bit (of course) Kai shouts out ‘Mummy this car is dirty, dirty, dirty – they need to wash it’ . She is also all into the fact that she lived in my tummy. Yesterday she says ‘Mommy I liked it in your tummy – it snowed in there and I played and played in the snow – it was fun!’
So never a dull moment!

Deric is well – he comes home for R&R around his birthday. We are just staying at home and going to Great Wolf Lodge. I think he is going to need the rest and lots of mornings to lie in bed …… ohhh but he now has a 3 year old …so that’s out, sorry love!!!!


I have started up teaching again after 4 weeks break, and today I can hardly breath let alone walk, bend down or pick Devin up. My class now has 25 students and just keeps growing. I love teaching it, I feel like my old self when I do.

I am also choreographing a piece for the Northwest Ballet . That is now adding an extra day and night to my teaching, but it will only be for January and some of February. It’s so nice to meet these like minded people and everyone has been so nice and kind. I am very happy to be there.

Going back a bit, my mom was here from Thanksgiving to New Year – It went so fast I can’t begin to tell you. We had a wonderful time, were busy but also took time to just stop and chill with the kids around Christmas.
Kailey was totally into Christmas this year and I can’t imagine how much fun next year is going to be.

It was also very cold – one week was -13 centigrade/6 Fahrenheit. Apparently that is not normal for these parts. On one morning I woke to find our pipes had frozen. I called the water company and they told me to put a hairdryer to the pipe that goes into the house. So I stood outside found a pipe and stood there in the freezing -13 with a hairdryer.

Next thing my neighbor came home and said to me I am drying the gas pipe!!!! He felt the need to take over and next thing, his wife, and son were sorting out my whole house. They even went to home depot to get things to prevent it from happening again. I was beyond grateful since I still had little ones inside who needed me.

I spoke to a friend that day whose pipes had frozen and then burst….. Her whole house was inches in water. I realized then how much they actually helped me.

Anyway I think that’s enough for now !!! Thee pic’s above I had taken for Deric’s Christmas present. He got a calendar with the family pictures to count down his time till he is home……..

Just for Daddy

At the ballet....









At Ballet/Kinder Music




















My little man playing with the barn frige magnet - he loves it




A special gift for the kids after the Christmas fair

Santa Clause is coming to town

We had a unit Christmas party today. It was great, but the best part of the party is Santa/Father Christmas came!!!! It was the most exciting thing in a little girls life that you could ever imagine?
Here is how the event happend...


A little girl waited so patiently (or as she says, 'patience - relax and wait')



and waited...


and waited...


and then...

HE CAME!!!!!!!
The excitement was blinding! My mom and got so excited watching Kai's reactions we both burst into tears! (her more than me of course)


When it came sitting on Santa's lap only Devin was keen! Kai was too busy hiding in a corner.


I tried to talk her into it, but it was a no go!


But Santa brough gifts for all the kids and they both got one,


Devin needed some help to open his. He got a very nice turtle toy that sings and moves, and she got a trac suit and a full play dough set, for a really big girl (boy this Santa knows what they like!)


And then he left...


Kailey had some concerns after he left:

1) Was this the only time Santa would bring her presents? See he brought the wrong one - she was at first a bit disapointed about the gift she got, thinking she did not get what she wanted !!!! She so wants a castle for Christmas.

2) She did not tell Santa about wanting a castle for Christmas - I assured her I spoke to him before he left and told him she wanted a castle for Christmas and that Devin wanted a train set. I then let her know that he wrote it down in his book so he would not forget!
At the end she was satisfied that she was on the good list.

Now she is 2 hours over bed time and little missy here is still hyped up that she saw Santa!
What a day for a little girl!

Devin 1st Birthday

Sorry about the music - I could not get it off - so just turn it off in the left upper corner of the slide show!

Kinder Music/ Ballet Class

Kai started ‘ballet’ today - well that’s what I told her it was. It’s actually like Kinder music. But because it’s at the ballet school all the little girls come dressed in their ballet out fits. Sooo cute!!!

It’s to introduce kids to music and you use instruments and props. Devin joined in, since he was there and loved it. They got sticks to bang on the floor, egg shakers, ribbons, and sing along. Kai almost fell over when the teacher played some music from Sound of Music.

The teacher is amazing. She is South African and is very good friends with an Artistic Director I danced for in South Africa. Small world!!!
Here are some pics……


Her ballet outfit we bought today


All ready to go to the car



Her ballet bag



Bonus pics - I think they look so much like brother and sister here!


..... and my big boy - not sure how he got so big so soon????

Miss Lazy is back!!!!

I have not written in a while, the only reason is I have been very lazy lately. I get the kids to sleep and I clean up, then I do nothing! I embrace the silence most of the time but the rest of the time I got to bed and read for hours! I have been engrossed in the Twilight series of books, and I can’t put them down. (highly recommended)

Deric has been gone now for 6 weeks and it’s gone really quickly. Tish came for 10 days in September and that was amazing. We totally reconnected and it felt as if I had seen her the week before. When she left I was so rejuvenated and felt like my old self again. I am so grateful she took the time to visit us!

When Deric left Kailey was very confused, and all over the place. I had to make sure her boundaries were firmly in place so she would feel secure. That took a while …. But now we have very few issues. She knows the schedule and the drill and we run like clockwork. But we try have fun everyday.

We are also making new friends and spending time with our friends who moved here from Kansas. I am trying to find good friends for Kai as she is so social. She now makes wishes and her wish everyday is ‘I wish all my friends come to see me’ Breaks my heart!

She is awesome and has me laughing every day. The night Deric left I let her stay up with me and the Sound of Music was on TV so we watched it all cuddled on the couch. She fell in love with the music and now sings Do a deer, So long farewell and the puppet song all day long. I got the CD and that’s all she wants to listen to.

Here are a few moments I just have to share:

• She is convinced that the princes in the fairytales are the princesses’ daddy’s (since they save the princesses they have to be right?)
• When at the shop the other day she lost her hat. When we went back to look for it a shop assistant said to her ‘aren’t you a cutie’ her answer was: ‘I know I am, but I lost my hat so I am very busy, busy, busy, I am so sorry I have to get it’
• Every morning she has to put on her sleeping beauty dress, then all day she says ‘this is how a princess sits’ or ‘this is how a princess walks up the stairs’
• If I sing a song badly, she says ‘no mommy like this’ and directs me on how to sing it the right way
• When we collect Devin from the daycare on a Saturday she runs in the room and says to the lady, ‘I Kailey I need my brodder Debin he is a cutie cutie pie – oh there is he, hey buddy it’s me your sister Kailey, I missed you’ and usually pushes him over with a big hug
• When she wants chocolate or sweets she will sit on the floor close her eyes and tell me that she is ready for a surprise!

The list goes on but she is a laugh a minute!

Devin is also so wonderful – he is still not crawling the conventional way, he leopard crawls or army crawls everywhere. He can stand on his own without support and the doctors said there is a possibility he won’t crawl the normal way and that he will just walk…. I’m not holding my breath!

The difference in personality is so amazing to see, Kai is all over the place, she has imaginary friends. A baby Jaguar a bird and 2 mice. They go everywhere with us!!!! She loves her dolls and is always ‘Kailey mommy’ Her attention is always scattered and always has been.
Then Devin is a watcher, he figures things out before moving forward. He is very picky with who he invites into his circle. He is also very focused, once he has set his mind to something that is it, you can’t distract him from what he has seen or wants to do.

As for me, I have also started teaching on a Saturday at an amazing school. I teach contemporary dance and its going so well. What I love even more is the people who work there and the owners are fantastic. The school is joined to a dance company and they do great work. All ballet classes have accompanist. That is unheard of! Accompanists are usually only found in universities and professional ballet companies. The professionalism of this place just makes me even more proud to be a teacher there.

So as you see we are fine, still figuring out our new environment and trying to become familiar with everything. Our next week will be fun since we have Halloween parties, Halloween events and play dates planned.

We do miss Deric everyday but are very proud of what he is doing!

To start off with here are pictures of Deric’s farewell ceremony that was held on post. I did not take any photo’s of the soldiers in formation but just of Kai and Daddy. It was much cuter!




I cannot believe Deric left two weeks ago!! I have hardly taken a picture or posted one thing on the blog!!!

So he left last Sunday and is doing well, busy but well. Not much for me to report, he basically works 16 hour days, seven days a week!

We on the home front are fine. We feel a gap in our lives but our new systems will soon kick in and we can set ourselves up for the next year. Kailey asks where her Daddy is every day, and I just say he went to work too far away. What really helps her is that her friends Daddy’s are also deployed so she does not feel alone. She will often say, ‘Sidney Daddy to far away, Maddy Daddy to far away, Katie Daddy to far away and my Daddy far away too’

In true Deric spirit though he sent the kid’s balloons and me some flowers. Kai can’t believe she got a balloon in the mail!

But otherwise we are all good. I am teaching now on a Saturday and it’s going very well – I feel alive again. It’s part of the old me!

Tish (Tiziana) my best friend from South Africa will be coming tomorrow to stay with us for 10 days. I have not seen her since our wedding. I am next to myself with excitement and have been getting everything ready for her arrival. It’s been such a nice distraction.
So next time I blog will be on the Tish visit!!!!!

FINALLY!!

I had to do a slide show - too much has happend to download each one.....

On this slide show you can control the speed and drag your curser over the picture to see the caption.

Stay Tuned!

We are still here – every night I say I have to update tonight and every night something comes up…….
So I am going to blog soon, so stay close! We have our holiday to update, Great Wolf Lodge, the new additions to the house and visitors to tell you all about!
I’ll get on to it!