Husband Leaving Again

I've come to realize our life is really boring. We are stuck on such a routine, and I really have no idea if it is a good thing or not.

We wake up and get A to school. Then I will do my mommy thing - errands, meetings, working out, paperwork, housework, etc. By the time school pick up comes around, I go and pick up A. We come home and do our evening routine. They watch a movie and play while I cook and clean. My husband comes home, then we eat dinner and do our bed time routine. This is what our weekdays consist of.

I really don't know if this is a good thing or not. I don't go to base much since I live 30 minutes away. When E and I go out there, it is at least a half of a day worth of errands. I only do it when I have to. Of course living in Italy, there is the language barrier. We don't have other Americans in our town. The closest ones are in about 15 minutes from us. Needless to say, I don't socialize much.

I have taken on a new volunteer role. I am now a Key Spouse for our squadron here. I really enjoyed helping and supporting others in england. I was definitely happy when they asked me to do the same here. I was, of course, more than willing. With that, I have more meetings and socializing but still only a couple of times a month.

Thee is no drama in our life. No unexpected stress and anxiety from people. We really have great friends in our lives. There are never any conflicts or tension between us. It's crazy because I really pushed myself away when I got here from socializing too much and causing the pain I felt I endured in England from people who I actually cared about and considered to be great friends. This is definitely a great thing, but it also makes life boring.

We are in a point in our lives where we are strong and extremely independent. I think most military families who move away from family can understand this. After having the girls, we focused more on our time with them and as a family then having friends and a support system. People don't understand that when we say we have never been away from the girls that we mean it. A stayed with my family once when we went home for about 3-4 hours while Mr. Man and I went to dinner and the casino. When I went into labor for E, A stayed with some of our good friends until E was born. Then Mr. Man went and got her. Ever since, they have been with us. Except, of course, for A starting school last year.

Our weekends are focused around the famlily. We travel, take them to play areas or toy stores, the zoo, science museums, etc. We have fun. We do things we want to do as adults, but we also involve our girls.

Life right now is simply in amazing. Everyone is happy and healthy, and we have no complaints.

It's amazing to see how your life evolves as you grow, mature, and bring new family members in. 10 Years ago when we started this journey, I never would have thought this is where it would lead us.

With that said, Mr. Man is gearing up to leave us for a couple of months again. Over the summer he left and was gone for 3 months. He is actually doing the same TDY, but he will be only gone for 2 months. He was tasked for this last minute due to some other people being removed from the roster. At first I took it hard. Anyone who knows me knows that I have always been supported of my husband's career and his duties, but this time it was different. Yes, I was and am supportive of his duties. But this time around, the reason for him being tasked for this TDY was because of two individuals and their irresponsible decisions. I was bitter and angry for a few days before I finally accepted it and found peace. I've never been one to be upset when he has had to leave. I have never cried when he has left or moped around. That was never me. The hardest part about this one is that 1. he isn't making money from it. What he is getting is barely enough to cover his expenses there. But 2. These peoples actions are also being paid by my husband and our family, which is why is was bitter. I have finally found peace though, and even thouh is still disagree with the individual's actions, I have accepted the new adventure we have been presented with.

I thought a nice just written from the heart blog was long overdue. I really have neglected just writing. Writing has always been a therapy session for me.... but I never really feel like I need it any more, which is a good thing I think. Any way, life is good. Despite the minor bumps, we are enjoying and loving everything about ourselves, our family, our life, and how we are growing.

Christmas 2014

We hope everyone had a Merry christmas. We had a very casual and relaxed Christmas day!

Verona Zoo

Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Do you have a hard time trying to figure out what to put in your children's stockings? If so, here's some stocking stuffer ideas for preschooler and toddler. These are some of the things the girls will also be getting.

Meal Plan Monday: Thanksgiving

Here's a sneak into the dinners we plan to have during the week of Thanksgiving.

Dinners:
1. Loaded Potato Soup
2. Chicken Alfredo
3. Spaghetti
4. Beans and Sausage over rice
5. Steaks with yams and collard greens
6. Chicken, Sausage and Okra Gumbo
7. Baked Chicken Tenders

Lunches:
sandwiches, tuna and crackers, pasta salad, green salad

Breakfast:
croissants, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit

Snacks:
yogurt fruit bars, pretzels, frosted mini wheats,  fruit, carrots and celery

A's Favorite Movies: 3.5 years

In no particular order, but her interests have definitely shifred.

1. Mr. Peabody & Sherman
2. How to Train your Dragon
3. Spiderman
4. Despicable Me
5. Sofia the First

Nido Asilo - Cordignano, Italy

I thought I would do an update on A's school adventures. She started back this year in the middle of September. She goes Mon-Fri from 0900-1600. This is her first year going full time since last year she only did half a days. We decided to let her go full day this year's because she always begged to stay last year when I would go pick her up. She lays knew her friends she Tay I'm pleased and took a nap, so she wanted to do the same.

There schedule is really simple. Drop off is by 0900. They have a light snack to get the day started. They do music first thing in the mornings. They split to go to their own classrooms to do really daily activities. Right now, they are reading and learning parts of The Little Red Riding Hood. Of course, it's all in Italian. They do activities that work in with the story. They have lunch at 1130 and recess at 1230. They come back inside at 1300, which is when they do there nap time for the younger kids. The older kids do more structural learning. A does take a nap. They get an hour nap until around 1430. They gather for a snack time and then have free play until the end of the day.

Most days A is playing by herself. She is more tom boyish and prefers to do what the boys do, but most of the time they won't anything to do with her. She has accepted it and just does her own thing. I normally find she plays with Legos, play doh, and puzzles. She does have one really good friend, which is a girl. The teachers say they do everything together, including eat lunch.

They do also go on field trips. They don't always let the parents know in advance, but they do send pictures always danced work home that they did. That's how I generally learn of their trips. Recently, they went to a corn field and had roasted corn. Another day, they went to a forest area because some of the kids showed some anxiety because of the book they were reading (The little Red Riding Hood). They brought them out to the wooded area and showed them the the story was pretend to help ease some of their nervousness towards it.

They also do and a lot of art work. They collected things from nature for some art pueces. They had corn kernels, leaves, acorns, pine cones, twigs, etc. They made a mosaic using them. That was really fun to see when she brought it home. They paint a lot. We have to bring in family pictures for projects as well. A really seems to love it. She lives her teachers, too. She speaks so well jow. she sings yoo. She even tells us the stories she learns at school.

She also goes to the library on Tuesdays and gets to bring home a book. She does gymnastic on Wednesdays, and she has her music class on Thursdays. She is really doing well this year, and I can't wait to meet with her teacher at mid term to discuss how she is doing.

It's so hard to believe that next year E will join her at school. Time flies.

Fall Fest 2014 - Aviano AB, Italy

ThE last couple of years we have been attending the Fall Fest on base. They have food booths, game booths, informational booths, bouncy houses, etc. They also hand out candy from the different booths. They do haunted houses and  cutesy house for the younger crowd. They also have beer and other things. To me, it's overrated but since my girls don't get to participate much in the Trunk or Treat that I host (because I'm too busy organizing and maintaining it), we take them any way. It is held in a parking lot and is very small. We were only there for about an hour. We got some candy, did a walk through sensory house, played with the pumpkins in the patch, and checked out all the costumes... aka people watched. We did eat, and my husband grabbed a beer.

The girls were obsessed with the ghost decor and insisted on kissing them :)

We also got a decent family picture!

Here's a few pictures from the evening.