Treats from Hawaii

Papa just got home from a two week work trip to Hawaii and spoiled the kiddos with lots of neat treats. Boopy was happy too see him and to get to wear her new Hawaiian dress.

Big Boy was also anxious about getting to his goodies. The kids like their mini "guitars".

Showing Papa her fairy costume from Clovis Fest.

Hardcore fairy rocker

Showing off her new Hawaiian purses

Trying to look at his new map without it rolling up. Don't worry, we got him a frame for it today.

Later in the evening the kiddos had to do "projects". I love that they love to do school type work for fun - hope the love stays.

Big Boy used his whiteboard to draw a picture of the new train Papa brought him.

He then decided to draw his new submarine, but then changed his mind and made it a rocket.

Base Christmas Party

December 10th was Washington Grandma's birthday, but it was also the Kid's Christmas party at the Air National Guard base where Papa works. Last year the kids had a grand time watching Santa get brought into the party on a fire truck. This year, they were even more surprised when the whole party walked down to the hangers and watched Santa get brought in on an F-16! There was quite a crowd so I wasn't able to catch a picture of Santa getting out of the jet, but I did catch a picture of Big Boy and Boopy getting to look inside the F-16! Big Boy at first didn't want to see the jet up close since it meant staying behind as the rest of the group followed Santa back to the cafeteria. Once he climbed up the ladder though, he decided it was worth it. Although both he and Boopy insisted that we run to catch up to Santa!

Once back in the cafeteria, the kids sat together below the stage and waited for their name to be called by Santa's helpers. (Each parent had brought in a gift for Santa to deliver.) Boopy was very excited when it was their turn!

The Operation Ready Families group on base had put together fun goodie bags for the kids and even had snowman balloons to pass out. All a great distraction for our two to play with while Papa took pictures of the party for part of his work on the base.

Once Papa took a break from taking pictures, the kids were able to open their presents from Santa.

Boopy got a Cinderella doll like her friend Gaby has. This one though can even go into the bathtub with her! It was quite a hit, especially since it came with "Gus, Gus" the mouse!

Big Boy is always easy to please if the item is a truck! This one, however, is unlike some of his others since it actually hauls cars around on it!

Just a cute picture of Papa and the kiddos! Notice silly Mrs. Claus in the background!

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day. Regardless of your political opinions, our veterans dedicate themselves to our country and us. Be sure to take a moment to thank those veterans you know and perhaps even those you don't know.

Happy to have Papa home from training for the Air National Guard - last October. He was only gone for 3 months and thankfully in the United States. After that experience, I have a whole new respect for families that are separated for military needs!

I couldn't resist sharing this again from last year.

Papa - The Firefighter

If you ask the kids where Papa is you get the following answer: "Papa out of town at work. He help the firefighters."

It's so cute how excited they are about Papa helping the firefighters. At the same time, Boopy told Papa on the phone last night to "Come home soon, Papa". Well, today we got to satisfy a bit of both their request and excitement. Papa had today off as his 24 hour shift ended at 6am this morning. We took advantage of this and drove up to Mariposa to see him. While there isn't much to do in this tiny mountain town, we did have a nice lunch together and walked around the few shops that were open on a Sunday afternoon. Papa also drove us out to the area he's been working. Wow. Sad and yet impressive. Sad to see the damage the fire did, but impressive to see how fast the firefighters have put it out and how well they managed to save quite a few homes.

I was a bad picture person and didn't manage to get a single one of us together or the area he is "living". I was a bit distracted though with just spending time with him considering we haven't seen Papa in nearly two weeks, so I figure that's a valid excuse. Besides Papa has taken plenty of pictures of the base camp areas as well as the crews out working. We did find out that since the fire is completely contained they are pulling a lot of help out of the area. Quite a few fire crews are already on the way out and left today. Papa's crew will demobilize tomorrow and either be sent to another fire somewhere in CA or perhaps sent home. While the extra money is extremely helpful right now, we wouldn't mind him home either. Right now it's wait and see, one day at a time.

The pictures below are some of the damage areas.

You can actually see where a fire line was created with a bulldozer. Look at the light brown area. Excuse the dot in the sky, I obviously have something I need to clean off my lens.

I'm so proud of him!

I'm so proud of Papa Vaughn for helping with the Mariposa "Telegraph" fire. Today starts his first real day out there. He called last night and said they were starting 24 hour shifts, clearing hot spots and areas around homes to try to get people back in them safely. It won't be easy work, but I know he will be so rewarded by the service he is doing for others. There was an interesting article in today's Fresno Bee about the status of things. If you'd like to read it, click here. I'm sure lots of prayers and good thoughts for the workers and the people who live up there would be greatly appreciated!

Our life is never dull!

I figure I'm long overdue to give you all a family update. Aside from our little outings here and there, we've made some changes and adjustments to our daily life. Don't worry, nothing bad, just stuff that keeps our life from being dull! So, primarily our change stems from the need to downsize our outgoing monies and trying to get Big Boy into speech programs being made available to us. Like most everyone right now, we're finding finances to be rather tight, making options in life a bit frustrating. And like everyone else we're trying to find ways to save and be smarter with our money. So....we've made a change in our daycare set-up.

Currently, the kids are not in daycare. We removed them as of July 4th. Yes, we LOVED where they were at but the cost ($1500/month) was really rough on our budget. The horrible thing is that the cost is very reasonable compared to a lot of other facilities and the care was fabulous. So, what are we doing instead, you ask? Well, until our trip in August to visit family in Washington, my absolutely wonderful friends are pitching in to help us out. I've configured a "Big Boy/Boopy Summer Camp". Each friend that was able, included my sister-in-law, has taken a week or couple of days within a week and is watching the kids. So far, it's gone quite well and the kids are getting rather spoiled! They even got to enjoy Vacation Bible school with Mikayla! I just hope they don't wear anyone out too bad! After we return from our trip in August, we have a wonderful gal set to be our "nanny". She was one of Boopy's teachers at the daycare that left the school for various reasons but we have stayed in contact with her. I know the kids will have a ball hanging out with her as I'm sure she will plan lots of fun activities and keep them well entertained.

This will all be in addition to trying to take advantage of whatever resources we can for Big Boy. While daycare has been fantastic for his speech, we really want to make sure he is Kindergarten ready and won't have any issues due to his slow speech abilities. Last year, we were made aware of a preschool type program a couple of days a week through our school district that was geared directly for kids like Big Boy who need more help with their speaking abilities. Last year, however, Papa Vaughn was gone for 3 months of training for the Air National Guard and there was no way I could juggle the program, 2 separate daycares and work a full-time job. This year, however, depending on how the program is laid out, we can take advantage of it by having a nanny who can drive him there. We're also trying to get him into the HeadStart program, but I'm finding that it's not as easy as I was first lead to be. We may have some difficulties because regardless of Big Boy's need, on paper we look like we rich. Sure wish we were! So, anyway, there we are on the kid front. I'll keep you updated on the HeadStart progress. Wish me luck!

One other change going on is temporary, just don't know for how long. Papa Vaughn left this morning for an 8 day fire fighting training in Sacramento. At the end of the training, if the need for help in fighting all the California fires is great enough he'll be shipped off to one of them, for a possible to 30-45 days. While I really don't relish the idea of doing the single mom thing again like last year and having Papa miss out on our trip to Washington, the pay is really really good. And while I don't want the fires to continue, especially when Papa Vaughn's wonderful Aunt & Uncle are in an area being directly affected by the northern California fires, we could really use the extra income. So, pray that if Papa's help is needed he'll be safe and well taken care of. Oh, and pray for Boopy and my sanity. That little girl has only begun her terrible two's and I'm hoping we both make it to her three's!

So, I hope you're summers are going well and hopefully a bit calmer, quieter and more relaxing than ours. At the same time, you can never get bored with the going-on's of our crazy hectic life. By the way, I really do plan on posting some circus, Obon Festival and Grizzly game pics. Celebrating Papa's birthday over the weekend, packing him, shuttling the kids, working on paying customer pictures from our Vegas trip and oh, yeah, sleep, has taken priority much to my dismay. If only I had more time and a monetary windfall, I'd consider my dream to work from home doing my photography and spending more time with the kiddos. One day maybe, one day....

Baking Cookies with Papa

Oh what fun it is to bake! In preparation for the classroom parties, Papa Vaughn and the kids baked cookies. Papa has become quite the baker and plays with different ingredients in cookies often trying to make them a bit healthier. Both kids LOVED getting to help. They pushed kitchen chairs over to watch and help as much as they could. The first pictures below are actually store bought cookie dough on the trays, although, Papa did make up a batch of homemade cookies as well. Since Boopy's party was on Wednesday and our Tuesday evening was packed I wasn't too sure he'd be able to squeeze in time for homemade cookies. But being a good, Papa, he found the time.

Friday Night Game Night

I love Friday nights! Not only is the work week done, but generally it's the start to spending time with the kids. Fridays are always less rushed. Dinner dishes can sit longer, perhaps even into the next day. Kids can stay up a tad longer allowing for more game of fishing, parent tackling and teeter-toter. Even though Big Boy is a crazy morning person and doesn't really let us sleep past 8 am, there's still the knowing that we don't HAVE to get up by 6:15 to make it work on time. That extra 1 or 2, even if it is broken up by Big Boy's request to play "mouse" on the computer are so so wonderful. I really truly wonder how two night people ended up with such a major morning child. Big Boy is up and ready to get on with the day between 5:30 and 6:00 every day. Sleeping in for him is sleeping until 7. Boopy on the other hand, well, we can claim her. She'll sleep in as late as you let her or until Big Boy can't stand it anymore and insists on waking her up to play. But I digress, back to our fun and silly Friday night!

Making no exception to the rule, we thoroughly enjoyed each other this evening. There was a game of Papa silly face and attack in the kitchen while Mama attempted to cook dinner. Someone wasn't too happy that big brother wanted to join in the game.

Trying to get away from the Papa!

To continue entertaining us with pre-dinner excitement, "Rock Star" Boopy decided to serenade us with her musical talent.

With a little direction from Papa, she managed to turn it down a bit.

Then after dinner there was a friendly game of "Let's Go Fish" complete with finger biting fish as Big Boy found that his fingers can make good fishing poles.

When Papa made an attempt at taking a break, he unknowingly opened up the invitation to play let's attack Papa. Poor Papa ;)

Bath time brought more games, but unfortunately no pictures. We played who can make the best beard with bubbles, attack of the sharks, who can get Mama the wettest and fun silly stuff like that. After bath it's usually story time then sleepy time. On Friday nights, however, there's always some time for teeter-tot with Mama and Papa. If there is a shortage of parental legs to play teeter-tot on, Boopy has found it's almost as much fun to play teeter-tot with her babies. Unfortunately again, I have no pictures of this as I was busy playing teeter-tot with Big Boy. One day soon we'll try to get pictures of Boopy playing teeter-tot with her babies.

After successfully wearing out the parents, Big Boy and Boopy found a book (which I'm getting a little tired of reading "Cars" to them - I'm ready to go back to Mouse Cookie or something else!) to read for story time and then it was off to have sweet dreams!