Just a few things.

First off, yesterday we acquired a new family member. I'm pleased to introduce you to Tigerlily.


Taken at PAWS Humane where we adopted her.










My brother and sister-in-law are here visiting.

We checked out the USS DaVinci, the local STARFLEET chapter, today and they were having a Pie Party. Four "pies" of whipped cream met their end and the girls got to help on a couple of them.







Anya trying out Daddy's glasses.


The girls' met a pre-teen friend who let them raid her closet for dress up over and over and over.

The Tooth Fairy

Jadzia lost her first tooth! :)

Two Weeks Gone

Two weeks of R&R have passed and Robby has left the island on his way back to Iraq now. we had a good time of course but it was all over too quickly. We took him to the airport this afternoon and were able to get security passes to take him to the gate and wait with him until boarding. Anya was very cranky by then and Inara didn't understand why she couldn't go with Daddy but she recovered so far. Tomorrow will really tell - I still think she will take it worst than the other two. Jadzia cried some but I think that was because of my crying mostly.

Anyway, 3.5 months is much shorter than the first 7.5 months and if we have any luck at all he will be home by Christmas. Here's hoping. Between now and then we have Jadzia's actual birthday, Halloween, T-Day, Grandma's visit and then he'll be home hopefully. Lots to keep us busy yes?

Now for some pictures to wrap up this post :)

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Yesterday was a bittersweet day. For months, I'd been planning to have Jadzia's birthday party while Robby was home on R&R and I wanted it as close the September 1st as I could since that was only a month early. For months she wanted a Wizard of Oz party so I bought all the stuff for it and when we knew Robby's leave dates we planned it for this past weekend. Since it was really only us and our neighbor's family some things got left down to the last minute. But regardless, there was going to be a party. After taking Bluto to the vet Saturday and still feeling confident that he would recover and be a happy, bounding puppy soon, I started making Jadzia's cake. I had a great mental image of a cake in my head and I so hoped I could pull it off.

Following the directions from here, I set about producing a rainbow cake. I got the "bones" (i.e. the cake itself sans frosting) done Saturday night and put it in the fridge over night (if I learned anything from Belle and Cinderella, I learned that the harder a cake gets from being cool, the easier it is to ice properly.

Sunday morning, Bluto still wasn't well but I went ahead with the decorating of the cake as the party was set for that afternoon at 4PM. It didn't all go exactly according to plan but it came out great in my opinion. The lollipops I'd ordered mostly as party favors/decor turned out the go well with the cake.



I finished the cake and was thrilled with the outcome. Jadzia had seen me decorating it and kept telling me how beautiful it was as she danced around in her Ruby Slippers (yes she put them on as soon as she realized it was party day).

It wasn't long after that that I discovered Bluto had passed. We'd been keeping him in the laundry room where it was quiet and dark per the vet's recommendations and checking on him every hour or so to sit with him, pet him, give him some water, etc. I came out sobbing and Inara immediately came to hug me and Jadzia asked me what was wrong. We had to explain a few times to her that Bluto wasn't coming back as she kept saying "it's okay, he'll be back soon" trying to comfort me. I'm still not completely sure she understands but I've gotten off track a bit. We decided to proceed with the party since Jadzia was excited and it was planned. Robby called the vet (who'd given us his cell phone for the weekend and agreed to meet Robby at the office even though it was a Sunday) and took Bluto up there. I got the kids watching something or other and then cried a lot.

I stalled decorating for awhile but finally starting putting up some balloons and streamers and generally preparing for a 5 year old birthday party. It was small but it was fun. Jadzia opened presents (and made out like a bandit due to mommy's amazon addiction) and then it was time for cake.


Singing happy birthday, see Miss Dorothy.


You saw the outside of the finished product - time for the INSIDE.

The party did a great job of distracting the kids (and Robby and I a little) from Bluto's passing and Jadzia had a good time. After it was over she spent the rest of the night making sushi, stir fry and cookies with her array of Melissa and Doug wooden food I ordered for her.

The Spawn

Wish you a very belated Fourth or July or say "We're ready for Daddy" - whichever you prefer. :)

And showing off their pretty towels :)












Wow! All three looking at the camera at the same time!

See Cami Blog

Twice today I was asked about my blog so here I am, blogging.

See Cami blog.

*channeling my inner Yoda* Blog Cami will.

But that begs the question of where to start. I could spend hours trying to update you on every thing thing spawn have done over the last month or more but that's not really exciting to me so I'll save you from that fate.

Today we went to the Commissary. Epic start eh? I avoid going to the Commissary on or around payday, on the weekends or after about 4PM. In truth I avoid going to the Commissary period because I have three kids but the above are the main times I avoid it. As a result, we started getting a little creative with meals around here this weekend as it was the weekend after payday. Peanut butter and jelly tortilla rolls anyone?

So today we went to the Commissary. For weeks I'd been make small runs for as little as possible and it was time to buckle down and do a real shopping trip for meals and such. Three hundred dollars later, my fridge and pantry is stocked and I can return to make small runs for milk and bread (and such) for a bit longer. Yay! For the first time Anya did not start crying the moment we hit the check out and Inara did not try to steal anything from the candy rack. Jadzia, on the other hand, was sullen and snippy. Eh, can't win them all.

When we got home, Inara threw the mother of all tantrums (she's been working on this talent, she could use it in a talent show) which including screaming, thrashing, throwing a toy and smacking and kicking the wall while in time out. I don't know what triggered it, probably related to that toy that learned out to fly today. As I said, this is a quickly developing talent of hers. While part of it is because she's 2 I'm sure; I think a big part of it is missing Daddy and not having the means to communicate with me about it.

And while Inara was kicking the wall, Anya threw a pool party in the dog water dish. She went through three outfits today because she kept getting herself wet. Tomorrow she's going naked all day I think.

I will leave this blog with one parting thought: down with Noggin ;)

It's no wonder ya know...

That Anya, at nearly 10 months (and can she really be almost 10 months?!), still doesn't crawl. Over the last week or so she seems to be getting SOOOO close. She gets in the position and rocks, and focuses on what she wants and then will put one arm forward a bit, plop on her belly and scoot. Then get back into the position and repeats. It's actually rather funny to watch. And she can get anywhere she wants by this method and rolling due to the wood floors downstairs. It's easy for her to just slide around on her belly like a penguin.

Anyway, the reason it's no wonder is because of Jadzia and Inara! Tonight I was trying to entice Anya to crawl to get something and put it just enough out of reach that she'd have to crawl.

So she got in the position, looked at the toy, looked at me, grinned, looked at the toy, rocked...

And Inara picked it up and put it in front of her.

I snatched it away cheerfully and placed it back where it belonged as the crawling bait and continued to encourage Anya.

So she got in the position, looked at the toy, looked at me, grinned, looked at the toy, rocked...

And Jadzia, laughing, picked it up and put it in front of her.

Grr! Argh!

Again I tried to remain cheerful as I moved the toy back so as not to upset Anya at removing her ill-gotten prize. Again my attempts were foiled by Inara who seemed convinced that I was placing it too far away for Anya to reach.

When I took the toy back AGAIN and placed it out of reach, Inara - cunning little pixie that she is - picked a different toy and put it right in front of Anya. Anya then happily took up the new prize and ignored the bait.

And so I conceded defeat and have realized Anya has no need to crawl because Jadzia and Inara will happily retrieve any toy she wants. What's more is that when she starts to fuss and is on the floor, they both run off to get toys, blankets, etc to pile around her to try and make her happy. Why crawl when you have such service?!

Mommy Jadzia

While playing yesterday, Inara started to whine about something or other. This isn't totally unusual as Jadzia, the dogs, Anya, Bob the ghost, etc interrupt her peace by some means or another. She usually is over it fairly quickly and the whining stops.

This time, however, almost as soon as she started whining Jadzia said in the sternest voice possible (which is impressive given her soft voice) "Inara Elizabeth Houser!!".

And Inara stopped.

Of course she may have stopped because I was suddenly laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. But she stopped.

Anatomy Lesson

While I was writing the blog about Anya's teeth, Jadzia and Inara were coloring in the living room. Jadzia was drawing a picture of Mommy and Daddy and when she finished she showed it to Inara (or so I gathered from her conversation). Inara, I gather, pointed to the stick figure that was supposed to represent Daddy and said "Mommy!"

Jadzia corrected her and said "That's Daddy! Boy's have a penis!" *giggle*

Inara, undaunted by the reproof, "Mommy!"

Jadzia, still giggling, "No mommy has a vagina! Daddy is a boy, boy's have a penis!"

At this point I was in a fit of giggles myself and did not hear if Inara learned the lesson or not.

A few minutes later, when I'd recovered my breath, Inara randomly interjects a "Daddy?" into the conversation.

To which Jadzia replied "No, Daddy's in Iraq with his penis."

And so started the giggles again!

They Melt in Your Mouth...

Not in your hand! Okay so that doesn't really apply to the kids but it suits their shirts. Enjoy the pictures! And in case you're desperate for actual written blog posts, I suspect I'll be out of pictures to share after this and will have more antics from the spawn soon.

Jadzia says:

I'm ready for my close up Mr. Deville! (Okay so she doesn't really say that). She's such a little model sometimes!