the last bit from okinawa

this is officially our last post from Okinawa. We have less than 24 hours here and much to be done so i'll keep this short. we've got our passports, e-tickets, 3 suitcases and we're mostly all set. (all the important stuff has been arranged). with perfect timing our van broke down today and i'm really just glad it didn't break down yesterday as we had the loveliest dinner at a swanky restaurant and that was a great last night out on the town.
watch out Minonk...here we come!

at the hotel

We just woke up- our first night in the hotel on base. It's officially the beginning of the end. Two more days here: a few activities planned with friends and then we're winging our way to Osaka and to our final destination (for a month) Chicago.
The flights shouldn't be too bad (keep your fingers crossed for us) since we have the short hop at the beginning when we still have the energy for it and we're done for good after the long haul.
The hotel is complete with playroom down the hall and so i think we'll be happy here.
We're fresh in from another Oura Wan get-away. Frolicking in the sand and splashing all day in the water with the McCawley's. It was a great time and we finished off with a stop at the butterfly garden...the kids were pretty wiped out by that point but what could i do??? it was our absolute last chance to see the butterfly garden!
in summary we are totally fed up with fast food, suntanned but not burnt, doing all our oki stuff for the last time, billie is getting a little weepy "but how can i leave all my friends?" and also antsy to get started on our next big adventure. Bill is honing in on some final job offers and we might have a final decision on the horizon here.
Mad love! i'll try to get by the library and add a few photos here soon.

Here's us killing time with the pirates while the movers were at our house.
Here's Sloane with the 'pile' of stuff for our express shipment.
And us at Vacation Bible School- Billie has the red hat.
Today our express shipment went. RELIEF! Yay! we've made it through most of the hard part. Now it's just paying the phone bill, cleaning out the fridge, returning library books, plant removal and all the small stuff.

 

The movers came! yay!

So, I don't know if i can do photos from the laptop, sorry. The movers came and took all our big stuff and it's SUCH a relief to have all that gone. Now we're living on gov't mattresses and blankets and small stuff. Sloane got her first tooth on moving day and it's adorable. She's cranky but very quick to giggle as she's such a little laugher now. She still makes it known when she's in a mood- if she's happy you can see it from across the room because she's beaming...and when she's not, there's no doubt about her angry frown. I am still sure that her cuteness is in direct relation to her neediness and it's all designed so that you can't ignore her...even when you want to. She is totally the most adorable being in the universe.
while we're moving and down to one van we wouldn't want to have the kids not in 25 activities so we still have karate. Billie is testing for her yellow belt tomorrow and we've been practicing that kata for 2 weeks now. Each evening we're doing Vacation Bible School - Billie is in the Kindergarten class and loves it. Jackson came along with us yesterday (I'm the crew leader for her class) since the movers were here, he did well and can really hold his own with the 'big' kids. He's taller than many of them and super smart.
We've got a lot of cleaning to do, plants to pull out, lightbulbs to replace....before our final inspection, express shipment pack-out, and then moving into the hotel so i won't write much again. We will be seeing all of you very soon, this is actually happening and it's sinking in!! We'll be in Illinois on July 1st. It's time to start thinking about flights-- if only the plane had a little baby saucer like we have here...then, I think it'd be fine. I think we're going to sit apart. Not because Bill and i are fighting anymore (we're back in love) but he's going to take Billie and Jackson because they're super easy and a video can ameliorate any situation under the sun. I'm going to sit with Sloane because she requires full and constant attention.

Sloane wonders why the waves are so loud. Bill is annoyed too. 

Life...it's happening right now

Sloane can sit up now. She's still adorable. We had a treasure hunt this week for playgroup. Everyone buried all their crappy toys from McD's and such and the kids went on a digging hunt to replenish their supply of crappy little toys. It was a lot of fun....especially because it was NOT raining!
In other news Bill is TOTALLY grumpy from jet-lag and stress and moving and he's not working a bit so he's home and around all the time and we are constantly getting on each other's nerves. It is SO annoying that i'm just looking forward to moving. Sometimes I think it would be nice to move into the hotel right now but mostly I think it would be nice if Bill would just move into the hotel right now. ha! I'm sort of kidding.
So, that's my rant. Here's some pictures where i'm annoyed and saying "take the picture RIGHT NOW through my teeth".

Daddy is home

After Toys R Us we had some Anpanman bread to replenish our energy supplies. Daddy is home and we're all feeling good about that. Sloane had to sit in one of those crazy kid seats while I used the bathroom in the airport. Then Billie was really happy with her loot from Nanna that Dad brought back from his trip.


 

raising Nerdlings

First, I just put the kiddos to bed and i have to mention this. As they go to sleep they listen to CDs with stories, some recorded by grandparents, some professional storybooks and some history of the world CDs which are super cool and interesting. So they usually have a request. Tonight Billie wants "Cincinattus" and I don't even know what that's about so I have to check the indexes on the CD booklet things and I'm asking "Do you mean Constantine? Or Stilicho? Siddartha?" "no, Mom...it's when Caesar...Julius, not Augustus, Caesar gave the power back to the Senate. I want THAT one." She's FIVE.
So, mostly I just wanted to blog that it's SO HARD being a single Mom. I didn't think it would be such a big deal but now that Bill is going i have to give him such major props because i'm so grumpy and not as good of a mom as i am when he's here. And how on earth do people even do this without two parents?!
Today I'm out in the rain with 3 kiddies (we picked up an extra) ages 5, 3, and 3. And Sloane, in the sling (as always). We go to Toys R' Us and it's RAINING. What a day!
But let me back up because we don't usually go to Toys R Us. Tragedy brought us there. Jackson's most beloved mouse, Rizzo was no where to be found! After days of searching through the house and van clutter there was still no sign of him and my sweet boy was SO sad. Here I was at a COMPLETE loss. Usually I'm clever and come up with interesting fantasies (some people call them lies but I prefer the term fantasies because it's an excercise in imagination) to distract kids when there's a problem. "Maybe Rizzo went to visit his Rizzo family and he's there in the meadow with all the Rizzos having a picnic" but Jackson wanted his Rizzo and he was weeping. I had nothing to offer! me: "Why don't you just watch a video and snuggle up with this replacement toy?" Here's a first it's 9pm- an hour past bedtime and I just let a kid get up and watch a video!!! I was desperate. I called Bill. Jackson talked to Bill who, it 'turns out', Rizzo had decided to visit. Rizzo and Jackson talked on the phone with Jackson giggling and telling Rizzo to come home and eventually telling Rizzo to put Daddy back on the phone. He was still sad that Rizzo was not here but happy to know where he was. Bill went out and made a purchase the next day and we got to Skype Rizzo today and see that he really is there at Nanna's with Daddy so that all worked out well. In the meantime it's still hard to go to sleep at night so I told Jackson he could pick out any toy in the store. He came home with a new light-saber today.
We can't wait for Rizzo and Daddy to get back here!

Review

Since Bill is gone and I'm in blogging mode (And because I just sent out an email to everyone so people might actually start reading this) I thought I'd put up some old pictures. Obviously Sloane is ADORABLE and the kids are pretty cute too. I think there's some pictures of me in the early blogs but mostly it's bill, since I'm behind the camera...I'm even the photographer in this shot of me holding Sloane- I wouldn't normally want anyone to get a shot of my face this close...
i'm expecting some comments people...
in ADDITION to those from Nanna Pat ;)


 

Friday

Billie taught Jackson how to make Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches (she, like myself, has grown tired of making PB&Js for others and has decided to delegate). Sloane loves playing with her feet. More hermit crab fun

oura wan- the alone trip

This morning we woke up to our beautiful view at Oura Wan. Practically getting sunburns while we slept; there was so much sunshine in our room so the kids were up and about at 6:30 AM!!!!! Yikes! That makes for a pretty LONG day. Especially since we planned to be with friends but wound up going it alone so it's me, 3 kids and wherever we go I'm packing Sloane in the sling so no long walks are on the agenda. Pictures include view from a sling, picking flowers, and pretending to be fishermen. we caught hermit crabs, brought them home and played with them. billie made a little house for hers and was all about setting it up (like a dollhouse or something) she had the carrot right next to the 'water bowl' a bottlecap filled with water, a sandpit and some rock-climbing areas. jackson named his "Cort and Jackson" and made coencentric circles to have races between them. it was very entertaining until it started to rain again!

Missing Bill

Okay, we made it through day one. Billie was so upset that first day I didn't know how she could keep that up for 7 days....luckily, she didn't. But as we were driving home from our friend's house Jackson did take a minute to cry and wished that daddy would be home when we got there. awwww.
I stay up late because i don't want to go to sleep without him. At least i've got Sloane in there with me to keep me company. I so love bonding with our babe for 9 hours each night! She is especially sweet at night because she's so squirmy and spazzy during the day- night is the only time I really get to just snuggle her and be at total peace.
Today we're going to Oura Wan- the kids are excited about that! I double-blogged, so check the one below too. I won't be blogging for a couple days. Love you Bill and everyone (all 3 of you) reading this!

Sloane's baptism

A few darling shots of Sloane's baptism last week. Just to help you get over the sadness of Daddy's travel.
 

blog-mania

okay, get ready for me to start blogging all the time because bill left so we'll keep it up and he can check in on us. billie was totally devastated when we parted and has weepy spells every couple hours. jackson is the sensitive one and he's not too worried- mostly telling billie "it's okay billie, daddy will be back in seven days. " Sloane doesn't seem to notice- possibly because he's only been gone less than a day.