It is a shame she is so shy

The words are:

"Four little monkeys jumping on the bed

One fell off and bumped his head

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said:

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Next verse is Three, etc.......

Out and about

We went to the Hampton Bay Days, which were in downtown Hampton.

You can see some of the beautiful old buildings...on the left is the post office.

Mdx and I helped stimulate the economy, and since we are missing the NC State Fair this year we enjoyed some fair food here!

One of the churches was having a yard sale, and I found this SWEET fondue set for $1.00! I also got Mdx a tie-dyed shirt from the same vendor that does the Greensboro Fun 4th celebration every year.

We went to ChuckECheese for our friend K's 10th Birthday party. Maddox loved sitting at the table with all the big girls.

Here is K! She is so pretty! We have the same birthday too.

There is some serious dancing going on right at the beginning of this video!

Mdx loves wearing this birthday hat that was given to me by my friend Jen. Her new favorite game is "birthday party!", and we have been practicing the birthday song. Maybe she'll be able to sing it to Marshall when it is his birthday!

Other randomness

On our way home from Raleigh we stopped by my friend Nina's new (old) house in Cary. She and her fiance bought a GORGEOUS house in a fantastic family neighborhood....and the best part of the house it is the personality that comes with it. This house was well loved, and tastefully updated by the previous owners. I only got one picture, the kitchen, but here you can see the beautiful tilework on the backsplash, and how unique the space really is. I'm so happy for them!

I took a quick picture of my classroom at the beginning of the school year. I got moved into a smaller classroom that is across the hall from my old room, but has a bigger closet- so it works out well. Plus, I gained 2 windows! Anything is better than the trailer Wake County had me in! The quote on the wall says "Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment". Every classroom has a different quote in it.

Mdx is still enjoying her swimming lessons...although next time we will schedule them at a better time! It is just too hard to try and pick up Mdx, get changed, and get to the YMCA by 5:30 when I'm not leaving work until after 4:15!! It's also not fair to Macy to sit in her crate all day by herself. Here is Mdx staring at the big kid pool waiting for her turn!

Mdx has spent more quality time talking to Marshall on the computer. He mostly listens.

It has rained a lot, and since our house faces tidal water from the Chesapeake Bay that is called the Indian River...we have seen rising waters. God help us if there is ever a direct hit from a Hurricane! The view from our front step after 2 days of rain:

Our neighbors to the left, and our street covered in about a foot of water. Still drivable, and people were not particularly bothered by this sight!

Mdx had her 2 year old check up, and she is perfectly healthy! She maxed out her verbal score, was close on her fine motor skills, and is above 95% for height and weight. My big girl!

Can I push this button? Too late!

We have also taken some walks around the neighborhood in the new wagon that Mdx got for her birthday. We love all the families here, the sidewalks, the water and wildlife. The only thing that would make this neighborhood perfect is for Marshall to be here to share it with us!

Family birthday party

We went down to NC to visit with people over Labor Day weekend, and had Maddox's family party then. The McIntyre's were generous enough to host (plus their house is a great party house!) and it was a much more central location than Hampton, VA. Thanks to everybody so much for helping make Mdx's birthday special, and alleviating a little bit of stress for me!

Uncle Marc and Aunt Kris gave her an awesome dress up box full of stuff they had been collecting. Maddox put on quite a few things and went for a walk!

On party day everyone helped decorate and prepare, I was SO thankful!

Mdx's cake....look familiar? This one was cupcakes!

Mdx and T.A. We had to take Mdx's beautiful dress off before she had any cake.

What's going on?

Now can I have cake?

Good thing I don't have that dress on!

We put it back on for presents.

Mdx opened this baby stroller- and was DONE! She did not want any more presents!

So....when mean Mama tried to get her to keep opening presents and leave the stroller alone...this is what she did! A 2 year old birthday party is not complete without a good cry.

Anderson showed her how to use her new tricycle.

Thanks to everybody who came, and helped with the party! I know Maddox had a great time! Thank you also for all the gifts. The thank you cards will be arriving sometime in 2011....right now we'll have to make do with a thank you blog.

Then she turned 2....

Gosh, at this rate I won't be caught up with blog posts until sometime next year. HA!

We invited a handful of Maddox's friends over for a "friend party" on the afternoon of her birthday. I am so glad that Tam and Tim were here to help me! My Mom also arrived shortly after the party started. She was coming in town to help me with Mdx for the week, since it was a week of teacher workdays for me.

Tim created a beautiful fan decoration. He's an interior designer for the Air Force. Okay, he's an Air Traffic Controller, but I'm sure they are related somehow.

Aa was exhausted and fell asleep before the party started.

Mdx was ready to party!!

There were lots of little babies and friends running around.

8 different flavors of Ben & Jerry's to choose from!!

Mdx's cake!

I was trying to keep her from touching the flame....but we had practiced blowing out the candle ahead of time! Marshall was watching on the webcam, but it was a bad connection so we couldn't really hear him. I'm glad he got to see it though.

We opened presents and let everybody play with them!

It was a fun party, and good practice for her family party which was over Labor Day weekend. More pictures to come!

Trip to Busch Gardens

Once we got home from Arkansas we had some very special visitors: my friend Tamara and her family. They have been stationed at Shaw AFB in South Carolina, where I have visited her 3 times, and she and her family have come up to Langley a few times as well. BUT- this visit was special because they were en route to their new duty station at RAF Lakenheath in England! Tim (the Dad) just finished a one year remote tour to Korea and they are thrilled to be reunited once again. We are jealous because we want overseas orders too, we are sad because we don't know when we'll see them again, but mostly we are excited for this next new part of their journey through life together as a family!

We took one last trip to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, where we got to see their newest area, the "Sesame Street Forest of Fun" which is specifically tailored to preschool and Elementary aged children. Since Sesame Street is Maddox's favorite thing in the entire world right now- we had a BLAST!!

Maddox rode her first big kid ride EVER! She was not scared! You can see Tam and Aa in the front seat, and behind them: Me, Mdx, and Day.

Then we played in the water area. I didn't plan ahead well, and didn't have Mdx in a bathing suit (with diapers it is nearly impossible to wear a bathing suit all day anyways!) so after she played in the water we had to do a complete change of clothes!

All 3 girls rode this fun horse-ride.

It was so hot, many ICEEs were consumed that day!

The next day we went to the base swimming pool. This is the best pic I could get of the three girls!! Day was a big girl and went down the water slide quite a few times! You can't tell in this picture, but Aa is actually an entire year older than Mdx...however they are the same size!

The cutest family portrait ever! Congrats Hall family, we love you!

One thing you learn pretty quickly as a military family is that you have to make friends and rely on each other, no matter where you are stationed. Tamara was one of my first AF wife friends. She helped me so much to understand that it is okay to ask for help, when to step up and be strong and do it yourself...and most of all Tam is a wonderful example to me as a mother and wife. Since we both married career Airmen we DO have a chance of being stationed together somewhere in the future, but no matter where we go in life, I will always value this family and what they mean to us.