Scott called this morning before we headed out to church . It was nice to hear his voice so early in the day . Abby kept telling me how old I turned today and along with that , she reminded me I am now older than Daddy ! Church was nice . The girls were well behaved . The girls went up front for the children 's message , but Mckenzie only sat there for about 2 seconds before heading back to the pew . On her way back , you could tell she didn 't remember where we were sitting and she had this sad look on her face . I was waving to her and many other parishioners were pointing me out to her , but she didn 't see me so I had to walk around to get her . We ran to the grocery store after church . I really don 't like going on the weekends because it is so busy , but I am the parent helper in Abby 's Ooey Gooey class tomorrow and I didn 't have anything at home to take for snack . The rest of the day was pretty quiet . We played " Pretty Pretty Princess " , a fun game for the girls . The goal of the game is to collect jewelry as you make your way around the board . My favorite part was listening to Abby say ' earring " . It is one word she has always mispronounced and it is so cute to listen to her say it . Many times I look at her and I see how grown up she has become and then I hear her say earring and I remember just how little she really is yet . Abby wanted to bake a cake for me today , so we did that . She was so excited to help frost and decorate it . Mckenzie had to check it out after her nap and sample a bit of the frosting as she was looking . Leftovers for dinner and it was time to for the girls to head to bed . Abby went down without trouble tonight , but Mckenzie took over an hour to fall asleep again . Maybe someday they will both go to bed easily for me again ! I convinced Abby and Mckenzie to watch tv in my bed so I could catch a few extra minutes of sleep . I stayed up late to work on the blog book and I also had a book I wanted to finish reading . Our day was so routine . Playing games , watching some tv . Nothing too exciting . We did get to Skype with Scott . We look forward to those moments . Mckenzie was very talkative today and was speaking in clear sentences ! She is growing up too fast ! She couldn 't get enough of Daddy and wouldn 't sit on my lap to chat with Dad . She had to have the chair all to herself ! Abby spent a few minutes talking , but then she was off . Toys needed to be played with ! Bedtime was better tonight . Mckenzie went right to sleep . Abby is the one that gave me a little trouble , but I laid down with her and she was asleep shortly after that . I finished the blog book from last year tonight . I need to look over it one last time and then I can order it . Such a relief to have finished it . I was so proud of myself this morning . Both girls were dressed , fed , and happy before leaving for school on time . Usually , I get Mckenzie up a little later than Abby since we come back home after dropping her at school and I can get Mckenzie ready for the day then , but today , Mckenzie was going to have her first day of class . Unfortunately , class was cancelled this morning and I didn 't know until I saw an empty school ! I never would have thought by looking outside that there was any reason to cancel or delay school . But , that is what our town did . I was really looking forward to some alone time too . I know how selfish it sounds , but it has been a month of non stop being a mommy and I just wanted a couple of hours all to myself ! So , we hung out for awhile and then headed to the post office and then to Target . I let the girls pick out stuff to send to Scott for Valentine 's day . I know he is just going to love it all ! We stopped at Chick fil A for lunch and playtime and then headed back home to get Mckenzie down for a nap . She started to fall asleep in the car , so I cranked the music and I could see this little smile around her pacifier . She knew I was trying to keep her awake . I put Mckenzie down for a nap and let Abby have her friend come over to play . They get along so well and it is fun for me to listen to them play together . I am working on Abby 's manners when she does have a friend over . She likes to pout if she doesn 't get her way and I am trying to put a stop to that . She tried really hard to play the games her friend wanted and she even let her friend go first at Memory ! I am so proud of her for trying ! The girls went to bed a lot easier last night . Mckenzie was a little more work to get to bed than Abby , but the girl can 't help when she needs to go potty . I am working on turning the blog from last year into a book and I am almost finished . I am so excited ! I think it will be something the girls will treasure when they are older . I 'm starting to think I need to check the weather forecast . We woke up to nearly a foot of snow on the ground ! I didn 't realize we were going to be getting much of anything ! I 'm going to blame my lack of knowledge of Scott being away since he is my main source of the weather ; ) I am proud to say that I managed to clear the snow away with a little help from some neighbors and Abby . Abby was my main source of help . She managed to clear off the bench in our front yard along with the wheels of our cars . ( Really wishing I had pulled into the garage last night , but I didn 't want to move the recycling boxes out of my way ) . I can 't reach the top of my car so it will have a foot of snow on top until it falls off on its own ! The girls didn 't come outside with me right away as they were finishing breakfast . I think it could take them all day to finish a meal if I let them ! Abby was running around and fell down , cutting her toe in the process so I came into the house to bandage up her little toe . I guess I didn 't close the front door all the way ( it is a piece of junk and unless you lift the door up while you close it , it will not close all the way ) and out of the corner of my eye , I saw Dakota barreling out the front door to greet a dog that was out for a walk . So , I ran down the stairs and trudged barefoot through the snow to get the dog back in the house . Only then did I realize she didn 't have on her collar so back into the house I went for that , got it on her , only for her to slip her neck out of it and chase after the dog again ! What a pain in the butt ! And let me tell ya , I was not too happy to be standing in a foot of snow without shoes on . COLD COLD COLD ! ! ! Finally got the dog in the house and decided to bring the girls outside to play while I worked on the rest of the snow . They both had so much fun . Mckenzie kept falling down on purpose and Abby climbed to the top of the snow hills to play king ! I didn 't realize how long we had been out there , but Mckenzie let me know . She got very cranky and when we went it , it waPosted by Snow , then rain , then some more snow . It is going to be a slippery mess out there tomorrow . I am glad there was a break in the snow earlier today to give me a chance to shovel the driveway before this snow fell tonight or it would be really heavy to shovel tomorrow . Abby had school today and Mckenzie and I hung out at the house . We picked Abby up from school and headed back home . The girls played nicely ( for the most part ) while I shoveled and even when I came back in , there seemed to be some sort of strange peace around here . Not too much arguing over toys . I guess they were just saving it all up for bedtime . Another not so pretty night trying to get the girls to sleep . I 'm not sure how much longer any of us can take the bedtime battles we have going on here ! My morning didn 't start off too well today . Abby complained that she was still tired when I woke her up this morning because she was still tired . I tired explaining that she was tired because she didn 't go to sleep last night , not that I was waking her up at some ridiculously early hour . I needed to stop by the ATM this morning and when I reached for my debit card , I realized I left my wallet at home . So , we went back home to get my wallet , returned to the ATM , and got my cash . I headed back home and halfway there , I realized I didn 't grab my debit card out of the holder . So , I turned around and went back to see if my card was still there . It wasn 't . I just about had a meltdown . I called the number for assistance listed on the ATM and it was a pain to get someone to talk to . It kept asking for an account number which was difficult to enter since I don 't bank with Bank of America . Finally after entering zero multiple times and having the recording tell me to enter a valid option many times , I was able to speak to a gentleman who informed me that when a card is let in the machine , it is shredded . Great ! Now I have no access to cash . I am thankful for security reasons the card isn 't left hanging out there until the next customer arrives . There were no cars in line behind me so I doubt anyone grabbed it . Now I just have to wait until USAA sends me another card . Abby was so sweet to me about the whole thing , offering me hugs and saying she was so sorry I was feeling sad . Which of course made me cry even more . I always wonder if we are raising our children right and moments like that , where I see her true kind and concerned spirit , I feel reassured that we are doing something right . We were able to Skype with Scott again today . Abby commented on his bald head again . Mckenzie was napping and after the horrible night of sleep she had , there was no way I was waking her to chat with Daddy . Abby talked with Scott a little bit more today , but she was content to play with her toys while he and I talked . I took the girls to chPosted by Both girls ended up sleeping in bed with me last night . It was easier than getting up to lay on the floor with Mckenzie . The dog woke me up this morning and at first I was annoyed , but it was the first time in forever I showered in complete peace and quiet . I got Abby off to school and Mckenzie and I headed to the grocery store . She was supposed to go in for her two year check up ( a little late I know ) but when I called to confirm her appointment this morning as I hadn 't heard anything from the office , I found out the doctor was out for the day and they cancelled her appointment . I was pretty irritated that nobody from the office bothered to call me and the gal on the phone was rude . She kept telling me how the immunization clinic was walk - in service . Really ? I don 't give a crap . I scheduled a two year well child check up to have my child seen by the doctor , not to get shots . ( If I remember correctly , they don 't get shots at two ) . Anyway , I let her know how I was used to the civilian world where they actually cared about the entire health of the child and not just giving the kid their immunizations . I get that doctors get sick . They are only human . But , the entire staff wasn 't sick and someone could have used a damn phone to let me know . Obviously I am easily irritated today ! So , Kenzie and I hung out at the house this morning , working on laundry and picking up the house . After we picked Abby up from school , the girls wanted to play outside so they got out the beach toys and started playing . There isn 't much snow left to play in , but they had lots of fun . The day went pretty smoothly . Not a lot of huge arguments . They saved those for bedtime . I had a preschool meeting at the house tonight so I let the girls watch tv in our bedroom . I don 't know for sure what was going on up there , but it seemed like I was up there every 10 minutes settling some kind of fight . Then it was time for bed and it turned really ugly . Abby was crying she missed Daddy and then Mckenzie started in . Neither of them would stay in their room . This is Abby jumping when I asked her to . I took the girls to church this morning and I was a little nervous as to how they were going to behave with just me there . But , they surprised me and did really well . We do a contemporary service and it was so fun to watch Abby clap her hands and try to sing along . She told me before we left that she wasn 't going to color today since she was five and she needed to start paying attention . Didn 't happen today , but she did color a very nice cat picture for me ! Mckenzie was a little restless , wanting to eat anything she could find in my bag . Yes , I did feed her before we left the house , I guess she just had the munchies in church ! I took the girls out for lunch at a nearby diner and Mckenzie was up and down , doing donkey kicks on the seat , standing up and complaining lunch was taking too long . I had to lay down with Mckenzie for her nap again . She still needs a nap , but she has become very resistant to the idea . Scott called and it was nice chatting with him . We were going to skype , but he didn 't have Internet today : ( Abby and I worked on writing thank you notes for all her birthday gifts . She complained that she had too much to write . Sorry if writing " Love , Abby " is too much work . Next time I should make her write the whole thing ! No , that 's not gonna happen for a long time . Lord knows I wouldn 't have the patience or big enough paper to let her do that . I love how big little kids write when they are learning . I got the girls settled into bed and Mckenzie was actually staying in her room without shouting out at me when some idiot in the neighborhood starting shooting off fireworks . Abby came running down the hall , scared as could be , with tears running down her face . I wasn 't sure what the noise was at first so I went to grab Mckenzie , brought them both into my room and then I listened a little closer and realized it was only fireworks . So , I called the cops . Yep , I am that neighbor . I don 't care though . It 's not July and they scared the crap out of my kids . Jerks ! Both girls were still scared so I laid in my bed wiPosted by It has been cold here lately ( ok , not as cold as ND / SD ) but cold to me since I am still not acclimated to the weather after living in the south for 10 years ! I really miss winter in Florida . Anyway , we had a lazy day . Stayed in out pjs until after nap and only then did we get ready for the day . I took the girls out to use their gift cards they had gotten for Christmas . Abby didn 't really need any new toys , but I wanted Mckenzie to get something since Abby has been playing with something new everyday . So , we headed to the Walmart . Abby was shocked when we stopped there . She said " This place is so dirty . Why are we going here ? " I guess she does listen to me after all ! The Walmart near our house is not the nicest and I try to avoid it at all costs ! But , I didn 't think it would be much fun for the girls to use their gift cards online . I asked Mckenzie what she wanted and she told me she wanted cars . Abby said she wanted everything . That isn 't a surprise . She can 't seem to make up her mind about anything . You ask her what her favorite present was and she says " all of them " or her favorite color , " all of them " . ( although purple really is her fav ) . So , after walking up and down the aisles twice each , the girls finally settled on a toy . Abby picked out a princess castle and Mckenzie picked a princess DVD player and a dinosaur . We came home and the girls were both very excited to play with their new treasures . No surprise to me , but within 30 minutes or less , Mckenzie lost her DVD player until tomorrow because she threw it at Abby and Abby was whining that Mckenzie wasn 't sharing . Ahhh . The joys of two little princesses ! ! ! ! My friend stopped over tonight for a bit after the girls went to bed . Well , I should say , after Abby went to bed . Mckenzie was in and out of her room , my room , playing in the hall . She just wouldn 't settle down for anything . I finally let her lay down on the sofa just so she would go to sleep and my friend wouldn 't have to leave while I laid upstairs with Mckenzie . She finally did fall asleep and it waThe Princess Castle ! Abby 's class was doing mix and match today . It was fun to pick out her clothes , although it wasn 't much of a stretch since she has quite the unique sense of style . I think many days around here could be called Mixmatch day ! I love that she has such a strong sense of what she wants . I hope that will translate into strong Independence when she is older . Abby did wear two different colored shoes which happens at least three days a week . One of the other preschool moms commented to me that she wondered if Abby was going to wear matching shoes for the day ! After I dropped Abby and her little friend at school , Mckenzie and I went to Petsmart to drop the dog off for a bath . She really needed one ! We met the pest guy at the house and he checked around the attic and didn 't see anything up there . So , it must have fallen into the wall . Unfortunately , I don 't spend enough time in Abby 's room to have heard where the darn thing was scratching around so we will have to wait out the smell . He said it should take a week or so . Abby will just have to sleep in the playroom on her princess sofa . If this had been my house , I would have made him cut holes in the walls until he found the damn thing and then worried about fixing the walls after that ! I realize it is just a mouse , it just drives me nuts to have them in my house . They seem so dirty to me and I feel like I 'm doing something wrong to have so many mice in the house . I took the girls and their friend to Chick fil A for lunch today and then back to our house for a play date . I just have to say it was very exhausting to have all three of them running around the house , dumping out toys left and right . It looked like a tornado went through EVERY room in the house ! I didn 't realize we had so many toys ! We Skyped with Scott this afternoon . It was great to talk to him and see him and his newly bald head . Yep , he shaved his head . He says there is still a little hair there and I 'm sure there is but looking at him on the computer , he looks completely bald ! I have to say , he looks a lotOh , Happy Anniversary to my sis and her hubby ! The girls were better behaved today than the last few days and I am so thankful because I really needed a break from all the arguing ! We worked on a craft project to mail to Scott and made it to the post office to mail it . As we were waiting in line to mail our package , Mckenzie looks at me and tells me very loudly that she needs to go poop . Gotta love what kids say ! We had gymnastics tonight and then it was home for a PB & J before bath and bed . I left Abby 's bedroom door closed while we were gone to see if I was really smelling dead mouse . When I opened her door , a very powerful stench came out of the room and nearly made me throw up . Abby is scared to go into her room because she thinks the mice are going to get her . I tried to explain a dead mouse can 't do anything but stink up her room , but she is still afraid . I hope after the smell dissipates she is willing to go into her room . She is sleeping in the playroom tonight . I just hope the smell doesn 't travel into there . It is really strong now and Abby won 't sleep with her door closed . I called the pest guy and he will be out tomorrow morning . I hope he can resolve this situation . I am fed up with it . My kids shouldn 't have to live in a house with mice . I am disgusted and wish I could move away from this place . I had ordered the girls each a bookcase and they were delivered today . I can 't believe how quickly they shipped . A little heavy , but I managed to get the boxes into the garage and take the stuff upstairs in pieces . I managed to get one out of two assembled without any damaged . On the first one I assembled , the screws went right through the shelf leaving huge marks . Luckily , PBK has amazing customer service and they will be shipping a new bookcase out tomorrow . I 'm sure the customer service agent thought I was a little crazy when I started crying after she told me it was no problem to replace it . I am just so thankful they are able to fix one thing for me so easily . It was a long day and I think I 'm a teeny bit stressed . I should probably get to bed soon . Posted by Another day of school for Abby . We got up early enough today that Abby had time to finish her homework and get to school without rushing around . Mckenzie and I ran to the store . I forgot to get thank you notes the other day and then Mckenzie and I came back home . She is such a little stinker . We were working on her colors and she got about 75 % of them wrong , but as I listened to her talk throughout the day , she managed to identify her colors without trouble . I think she just doesn 't like when I drill her on colors . We got to Skype with Scott this afternoon . Horrible connection again for most of the conversation , but the girls enjoyed seeing their Daddy . Abby got another birthday present today from one of her friends that couldn 't make her party . It was a polly pocket toy dressing room . So , you put the doll in undressed and she comes out with clothes on . Abby was super excited to get that toy and the girls had fun playing / fighting over it , like any new toy around here ! The girls are in bed . I had to lay on Mckenzie 's floor again tonight . I remember Abby going through a similar stage and we spent many nights in bed with her . I hope this doesn 't last too long because I am sure it is very stressful for her . We had snow that turned into rain this morning , making for a icy mess out there . Glad I had nowhere to be this morning ! Another very lazy day . Kids didn 't get out of jammies until afternoon . Mckenzie didn 't want to nap so I had to lay down with her . I asked Abby not to disturb us unless it was very important . I guess getting her barbies dressed is very important ! Mckenzie finally fell asleep and Abby and I played with her Lite Brite . She is in love with that toy ! We had to run a couple errands tonight and then it was back home for bath and bed . Posted by I think we all were a little tired after yesterday . It was one of those cold , gloomy days and Abby didn 't get out of her pj 's until late afternoon . I think I asked her to get dressed a couple hundred times , but she always got sidetracked by a new toy or game . I don 't know if there is something wrong with the heater , but it has been so chilly in here today . No matter what temp I adjusted the thermostat too , I couldn 't get it higher than 68 and that is with having the fireplace on all day . We finally made it out of the house this afternoon . Groceries and batteries . Good times . Abby kept asking to play with the toys that required batteries and unfortunately , we didn 't have the ones the toys needed . The kids were a little wild in Target , but who could blame them ? They were stuck in the house all day and they always have so much energy . I was feeling lazy so we stopped at Chick fil A on the way home from shopping . It 's cold enough to leave the groceries in the car ( nice bonus ! ) and I wanted to let the kids run around a little . I thought it would make bedtime easier , but both girls kept finding reasons to come out of their rooms . I should say , Abby will come out of her room while Mckenzie just shouts for me from her bed . She has learned that I will take her stuffed animals out of her bed one by one if she gets out of her room . She was already down three tonight before the lights were off . I guess she didn 't want to lose any more ! Abby woke me up this morning , saying " It 's my birthday ! It 's my birthday ! I 'm five years old " . A Very excited little girl . She was ready to go to her party as soon as she was awake ! So , we waited until Mckenzie woke up and then we gave Abby her presents . She was so happy with what she got , although , after playing with her guitar for a little while , she was asking for a set of drums instead because her guitar didn 't sound good . I explained it wasn 't the guitar 's fault and it would take some time before she could make it sound good . Although , it does need to be tuned . Anyone want to do that for me ? I have no idea how ! We picked up Abby 's cake and it was huge ! I wished I hadn 't ordered a dozen cupcakes in addition to the cake . I was worried we wouldn 't have enough and I was way wrong ! Abby 's party was a huge success ! She had so much fun playing with all her little school friends and running around the huge climbing area and inflatable slides . Mckenzie had a good time too and I was so thankful that so many of the parents helped keep an eye on her for me . She only got misplaced once and no one even knew she was gone . I just saw her heading back towards the table by herself from an area she wasn 't supposed to be in ! She is so curious and seems to live by the " it 's better to ask for forgiveness than permission " philosophy in life . Gotta love her spirit ! Abby had a couple of upsets during the party . One time her skirt got caught on one of the slides and she got scared . The other time , she lost her necklace , but luckily it was found ! I was a little surprised at how shy she was during the Happy Birthday song . She seems so outgoing most of the time , but every now and then , I see a glimpse of her more cautious side . Abby got to go in the cash cube as part of her party . It is a cube that has tickets with prizes on them that blow in the wind . Abby was hilarious to watch . She was more concerned with how she looked in the mirror than with actually reaching for the coupons . I couldn 't stop smiling at her ! It was a great time and Barb Abby 's last day as a four year old and we didn 't even make it out of the house ! Scott called this morning and the connection was not the greatest . I hung up feeling like we had an argument since it felt like we were shouting at each other the entire conversation just to hear one another ! Mckenzie slept right through the entire phone call , of course , I 'm sure she was very tired as she woke up at 5 demanding a yogurt and milk and didn 't go back to sleep for quite awhile ! Scott sent Abby flowers / balloons / stuffed bear for her birthday and she was so excited to get them ! She gave the bear a great big hug when I told her it was from her Daddy . Then , she ran upstairs , telling me she was going to give Daddy a hug . At first I thought she had forgotten Scott wasn 't here , but she came back downstairs with her Daddy doll and I understood what she meant : ( I ended up giving the girls a bath earlier than normal because Mckenzie was a little stinker and wet herself twice today . Not sure what her deal is ! She has done so well for so long , I didn 't even think it was an issue anymore . Both girls took long naps today which means both girls had lots of trouble going to sleep . It took Abby an hour before she finally conceded and it took Mckenzie two ! It also didn 't help that Abby was missing Scott again tonight . She was crying and holding onto her Daddy doll ! Mckenzie needed a sugar fix and was demanding another yogurt before bed , but finally settled on milk ! Let 's hope tomorrow night goes a little more smoothly ! As I was looking for gift wrap to wrap Abby 's birthday gifts ( which I couldn 't find any ) , I happened to find Abby 's snowboots from last year . I was curious to see what size they were thinking maybe Mckenzie could have worn them this year . Turns out the pink boots I found in the closet match the pink boots I just bought her , same size and all ! If only she hadn 't worn the new ones yet ! I was the parent helper in Abby 's classroom today and we had a super fun day ! We brought cupcakes for Abby 's birthday and it was show and tell day ! Abby loves being the leader and she told me many times today that she was glad we got go to class together today . Mckenzie even got to join the class for a little bit as the nursery mom had to leave a little early today . Abby loves being a big sister and Mckenzie follows her around like Abby hung the moon ! I am so glad Abby 's teachers are flexible enough to let Mckenzie join the class for a bit . We met some friends at Chick fil A for lunch today . It was really like a zoo once all our kids got there . The kids had fun until one of the little ones got a bloody nose from bumping another child 's head . After that , it seemed like it was time to get going . Lucky for me , Mckenzie didn 't fall asleep on the ride home and she took a very nice long nap . Abby and I got to play together for awhile and then she decided she wanted to watch a cartoon . She decided on Garfield ( gotta love Netflix instant at home capabilities ! ) After nap , we headed to the mall to pick up my ring that Scott gave me for Christmas last year . I never had it sized and one of the stones fell out so I had to get a replacement ring and finally got around to doing it just before Scott left . On the way home from doing that , I missed my turn and ended up in a shady neighborhood . So , I decided to drive a little faster than normal and wouldn 't ya know it , I got pulled over . Lucky for me , we have insurance that is for military members and the police officer recognized that . He asked if my husband was military and when I said yes , he handed my documents back and left . I felt very lucky ! The girls kept asking what was going on and when I started crying , Mckenzie told me a knock knock joke and then asked if I felt better . Such a sweet girl . Abby was very concerned after we starting driving again about how fast I was going . Every time I hit the accelerator , she told me not to speed ! Abby asked if we could go to one of our Posted by We stayed home all morning today . I didn 't feel like going out and the girls were content to stay at home and argue over toys ! Abby and I got to Skype with Scott this afternoon . Mckenzie was taking her nap . It was nice to talk to him . He always looks so tired , but he is like 9 hours later than we are , so it is to be expected ! Abby enjoyed talking to her Daddy and she is getting to the age where she will sit still for a little bit and carry on a conversation . The girls had gymnastics tonight and both enjoyed it like always . Abby is able to do two or three birdie perches on her own now whereas before she couldn 't even do one on her own . And , she is starting to develop a greater sense of balance . I caught a glimpse of her walking on the high balance beam tonight and she was doing a great job ! Mckenzie always has so much energy and could bounce all day long on the trampoline . She impressed me tonight by doing a handstand against a mat all by herself . Normally , we help her do it , but tonight she beat me to that station and was already climbing up the wall with her feet by the time I got there . It is so fun to be able to see the little progress each time we go . Abby got to enjoy an early birthday gift from Grandma H . She made both girls Dora pillow cases and both girls are in love with them . Abby insisted on putting the pillowcase on her pillow right away . Mckenzie refused to use it as a pillowcase and is using it instead as a blanket ! Thanks Grandma ! School was cancelled for today . I think it was a little silly considering it was gorgeous outside this morning , temps well above zero , and the roads had already been cleared from the 6 or so inches of snow we got . But , I guess that is what happens when you cancel school before the snow even has a chance to accumulate on the ground ! Abby was disappointed she didn 't get to go to school . She told me she wanted to go so she could learn something ! I 'm surprised she thinks she is learning since every time I ask what she learned in school she can 't remember ! So , after a late breakfast , I put the girls in front of the tv ( one activity there is rarely any fighting over ) and headed outside to do a little shoveling ! Lucky for me , my neighbor used his snowblower on my sidewalk and another neighbor came over and cleared out the end of the driveway for me . I guess I have the damsel in distress look down pretty well ! I was actually warm while I was shoveling ! I don 't ever remember that from the few times I had to shovel as a kid . Thanks Dad for always taking care of that ! After I got the driveway cleared , I dressed the girls and let them play outside for a bit . I borrowed my friend 's idea ( thanks Laurie ) and dug out the beach toys . The girls had a blast with them and it kept them from asking me to make snowballs from dry snow ! Poor Dakota probably wasn 't too happy though , as the girls kept filling buckets of snow and then dumping them on her . She would run away from them and just start to act all silly , rolling around in the snow ! The girls warmed up by the fire with a little hot chocolate . The rest of the day was pretty routine , just playing games and fighting over baby dolls . Seriously , I think we have a dozen dolls and just about every day , the girls argue over one doll . It doesn 't matter what doll , it just matters that someone decided to play with a doll and now the other one wants it too ! We got to talk to Kadence and Grandma Betty which was really nice . And , we got to talk to Scott for a little bit , but the connection wasPosted by Mckenzie was up just after 6 this morning , wide awake and ready for her yogurt ! Abby slept in a little bit longer , but why shouldn 't she , she was nice and comfortable sleeping in my bed ! Got the house cleaned this morning and then we ran to the post office to mail a package to Daddy and stopped by the recycling center as well . Now there is nothing left to throw away / recycle / donate in the garage for the time being . It feels so clean and organized in there ! Abby wanted to do lunch at Chick fil A , but I couldn 't find anyone for a playdate so we just ate at home instead . Mckenzie didn 't take a nap today , other than the 15 minutes she slept in the car , so she was pretty feisty starting late afternoon and on into the evening . When she is tired , she get frustrated much more quickly than normal . The girls are in bed now . I am hoping Abby stays in her bed tonight . I bought another mattress topper to make her bed more comfortable . I am starting to think that by the time her bed is comfortable enough for her , I could have just bought a different bed ! We talked with Scott this morning . I love how often he is able to call ! Helps make the separation easier , although , we don 't have much to say when we do talk . I can 't imagine he wants to hear the mundane details of our day and he can 't talk too much about his day so we are pretty much left with " I miss you and I love you ! " It is snowing out right now . Lots of big , fluffy flakes ! Can 't wait to get out and shovel in the morning ! Um , Dad , can I borrow your snowblower ; ) Abby woke up in the middle of the night crying she was scared and wanted Daddy . I couldn 't put her back to bed so upset , so I let her sleep with me . I will never understand why she can 't stay on her half of the bed ! When I woke up this morning , I was on the edge of the bed and she was snuggled right next to me leaving most of the bed empty ! Dropped Abby at school and Mckenzie and I ran some errands . I made up for not visiting Target last week : ) Mckenzie was getting bored and kept telling me I was taking too long . Scott 's job called for him today . It really makes ya wonder if they can 't keep track of their employees ! I am trying to find a place to make Abby 's cake for her birthday . I was going to make it myself , but I think I am going to take the easy way out ! Decorating cakes is a lot of work ! Abby is having a hard time with Scott being gone . I peaked in on her after I put Mckenzie to bed and she was staring at her Daddy doll and crying : ( She is so heartbroken and it breaks my heart to see her like this . I don 't know what I can do for her other than bring Daddy home and that surely isn 't happening any time soon . So , I crawled into bed with her and sang to her until she fell asleep . I don 't think I am strong enough to do that every night . I had very good intentions of getting the girls to church today , but it didn 't happen . I think I am a little nervous to take them by myself . They aren 't bad in church when there are two of us to entertain them , I just worry how they will act when it is only me . Hopefully next Sunday I will find out ! So , today we spent the day lounging around . We did make it to the grocery store which was crazy busy again today . I need to learn not to run out of milk on the weekends ! We got to Skype with Scott today . It was nice and hard all at the same time . Mckenzie was just excited to see Scott and kept saying hi over and over . I think she likes watching herself on the camera . Abby had a hard time with it and got very sad talking to Scott . She told me how she wanted Daddy to come home and how much she misses him . Breaks my heart when she says that . Normally when she says things like that when he is gone I get to tell her it will only be a few more days . At bedtime tonight , she insisted she hold onto her Daddy doll . Makes me want to cry when she misses him that much . If only we had a normal job without deployments . It is times like this I really wish we could go back to the way it was in Florida ! Posted by Both girls slept in their own bed all night and only once did I have to get up to find Mckenzie 's pacifier . I can 't wait until I can throw that darn thing away , but I don 't think it will be happening any time soon ! That is one battle I 'm not sure I can do on my own ! Scott called this morning and it sounds like he is settling in nicely . He is still in a temporary room so until he gets a permanent room we will not be able to Skype , but that 's ok . Abby has been telling me how much she misses Scott and wishes he were home . I am so thankful his deployment is as short as it is . I cannot imagine him missing an entire year or even longer . We really are blessed . I 'm just hoping he won 't be gone on as many trips once he returns from this one . The girls and I didn 't go anywhere today . We hung out at home and worked on some special craft projects that I need to get in the mail soon . And , I called a guy about the noise in the attic and he was able to come out today . Turns out there are some mice hiding out up there . Lucky us ! So , hopefully his humane way to get rid of the mice will work . Otherwise , I will be setting traps and calling my friend to check them ! Posted by Woke up to Scott 's voice this morning . He called nice and early to let me know he made it safely and he was working already . So glad to hear his voice so early in the morning ! We didn 't get to talk very long because he had to get back to work . It was nice to be up before the girls so I could get ready for the day without any interruptions . Both girls were more than excited to see it was snowing out this morning . We didn 't get much snow , but it was pretty to see falling so gently this morning . Mckenzie and I came back home after dropping Abby at school . I really wanted to go to Target , but I couldn 't think of anything I wanted to buy . I don 't know of any other week that I have not made it to the store . I better get there next week to make up for missing this week ! The girls played outside for a little bit after picking Abby up from school . They had so much fun sliding around and throwing snowballs . Warmed the girls up with some hot chocolate and a fire . Mckenzie threw a tantrum to beat all other tantrums this afternoon . I gave her the choice to nap on her bed or mine and she decided she didn 't like either of those options and threw the fit of her life . I finally got her settled down enough to put her on my bed and tried offering her a pacifier , but I didn 't have the right paci and ended up searching all over the house for one specific paci . She did lay down and I laid with her . Abby was so good during the whole thing and played with her Barbie dolls in her room . She came in once to see if I could set up the Wii for her , but Mckenzie still wasn 't asleep and I didn 't dare get up thinking the tantrum would start all over again . So , she went back to playing and before ya know it , I woke up to both girls sleeping in bed with me . I guess we all needed a nap today ! I felt so bad that Abby didn 't get to play the Wii , but she was really understanding about the whole thing . After dinner , we did movie night and had popcorn and watched a Care Bears movie . Abby asked a million and two questions during the movie and Mckenzie coBarb Lots to do today . Abby had a playdate at the house this morning with one of her best buddies . They had so much fun playing and the three girls managed to behave themselves with only one little spat . Pretty good if you ask me ! It was nice to have some adult conversation too . I get little snippets here and there , but I haven 't had much actual conversation lately . After lunch and a short nap for Mckenzie , I dropped the girls off for another playdate with a friends the same age as both girls while I went to the dentist . It was nice not to have to drag them along because I think I go to the worlds slowest dentist ever . One filling took 1 . 5 hours , of which , I think my mouth was open an hour . Probably not , but it sure felt like it ! My hands were numb by the time he was finished as I am not exactly fond of being at the dentist ! The girls were excited to see me when I picked them up , but they wanted to stay and play . Unfortunately , we had to go to gymnastics so that wasn 't possible . Mckenzie did well in her class today . There was actually two other girls in her class today so she had to work on waiting for her turn . I was surprised at how well she waited until she was called upon . I love how every time I tell her it is time for gymnastics , she tells me she is so excited for ballet . Guess because she wears a leotard with a tutu she thinks she is doing ballet ! I caught a few glimpses of Abby during her lesson and she is getting stronger and more brave . Things she was hesitant to try before Christmas , she eagerly tried today . I love seeing the progress in my girls . Abby 's teacher gave her the stamper today and Abby went to town . I think she had at least 8 dolphins on one arm ! I meant to get a picture , but I forgot to do it before bath . If you look closely , the outlines are still there ( so much for washable ink ) , but not enough to show up in a picture ! A quick dinner and bath and the girls are now in bed . The girls wanted to hear the books by Daddy again tonight , but for some reason , I couldn 't get the darn things to work . YoAbby gave her lamb some crackers to eat at lunch ! We actually made it to school on time this morning with little to no arguments . I love days that start like that . It always gives me hope for the rest of the day ! That hope ended when Mckenzie and I were out running errands and I realized I forgot her pacifier . You would have thought the world was coming to an end the way she was crying and carrying on in the post office because she just needed to have her pacifier . We did manage to get to the grocery store to pick up some bread without too much difficulty and then we headed back home . As soon as we got home , Mckenzie was on a mission to find her missing pacifier . She just loves them . I can 't wait to get rid of them . It seems as though in every picture I take of her , she is sucking on that silly thing . Abby told me she had a great day at school when we picked her up . She even told me they are working on the letter L this week . Usually she just says she learned nothing when I ask what she learned in school today . I take this as a sign of progress ! Once we got home , the girls started fighting over toys almost as soon as they walked in the door . So , today , the girls lost a handful of toys because they couldn 't share . They were very upset and finally starting getting along well enough that I could work on cleaning the house . Every once in awhile , I would hear a little argument start and all I would have to say is " Do I need to come in there ? " and the spat would be over . Scott and I have taken toys away in the past and it never seems to do any good . Maybe it worked today because I added a few tears to the mix after what seemed like the millionth argument ! During dinner , Abby was telling me a little more about her day at school . It was fun to listen to her gossip about her friends . One thing she said to me was " You know what ? JP likes Shay and Shay likes JP ! " with this cute little smile on her face . Oh , a funny thing Mckenzie said tonight as she was sitting on the potty was " get rid of old gas . need new gas ! " because her tummy was hurting and I told her it was just gasShe loves to play piano , especially sad songs as she calls them . So , instead of singing loudly , she sings ever so sweetly while she gently plays the keys . After I put Abby back to her bed , she did stay there all night . It was Mckenzie 's turn to sleep in my bed last night . She came over around 4 / 5 and told me she was hungry and wanted her yogurt . I don 't know what is so great about those yogurts , but I need to try one soon . That kid is addicted to them . Nevertheless , I was not about to start my day that early and I managed to get her to drink a cup of milk instead . That held her off until shortly before 7 which is much more acceptable to me . Mckenzie had a follow up eye appointment today in Philly . Doc says all looks good with her eye and we only need to come back yearly now . Thank goodness . Not that it is a long drive , but that it takes forever to get seen by the doc . We were there an hour and a half for what was literally a five minute visit . Our doc is great though and he just loves Mckenzie . He picked her up and hugged her and let him sit on his lap while he did his charting . She was in heaven because he let her help push keys on the keyboard ! So , for good medical care , I am willing to spend the time . We stopped at Chick fil A on the way home as a reward to the girls for behaving so well at the doctor 's . They were both excited to get to play and the best part for me was they didn 't throw a fit when it was time to go . I told the girls one last time down the slide and when Mckenzie got to the bottom , she smiled at me and with one finger in the air asked , " one more time ? five more times ? " . I caved and let her go down once more ! Who could resist that little smile ? I put Mckenzie down for a nap when we got home and Abby and I hung out together . I had a dentist appointment this afternoon . Turns out I broke a filling and it needs to be repaired . But , the doc didn 't have time to do that today as they just squeezed me in . The girls were good and played in the waiting area . I love that they have a play area for the kids and the front desk staff will keep and eye on your kids while you are in the back . I only wish the doc didn 't talk so much to everyone . It took over an houPosted by Abby started back at school today and she was very excited to go . I only had to ask her once to get dressed which is the rarity ! She picked out a sweater and then asked if Mckenzie could wear the same one . We were in a rush to get out the door which seems to be the story of my life . I really wish that I was more organized in the mornings ! Mckenzie and I came back to home hang out . I really should have done some cleaning , but I didn 't feel like it . And , I wanted to sort all those clothes and get them listed on Craig 's list , but I didn 't get around to that either . Mckenzie and I played and before ya know it , it was lunch time and nap time . Unfortunately , it wasn 't until nap time that I realized that I left bear in Abby 's basket at school . I felt so bad for Mckenzie having to take a nap without her lovie , but she did really well . I just gave her a stuffed animal and she was good to go ( after a few tears ) . We picked Abby up from school and she was very happy to tell me about her day . The girls and I must have been in some kind of mood this afternoon , because it was chaos around here . Timeouts , fighting over toys , just not a good day . I am hoping tomorrow is better : ) We are one day closer to Scott coming home . If I look at it that way , it won 't seem to be as long ! My email account got hacked this morning and I lost every email I had ! I am so irritated that someone would do that . I never made hard copies of the emails that I have for the school board and I feel lost without them . I managed to get all the stuff out of the garage for bulk garbage pickup tomorrow . I just hope they take it all ! The only thing that was difficult to get down to the curb was the queen bed ! On a good note , we got to talk to Scott today . He is still waiting on a plane to take him overseas . He should be leaving very early in the morning as long as the mission doesn 't get pushed back again . I guess this is part of the reason he needs to leave so much earlier than his actual report date . Mckenzie went to be very easy tonight , but Abby didn 't wantPosted by Kind of a rough day around here . Scott packed and spent as much time playing with the girl as he could fit in . Every now and again , I would catch him looking at one of the girls and there would be a tear or two in his eye . After lunch , we drove Scott to the airport . It was a quiet drive , but we didn 't need to talk . Nothing could change him leaving and we knew what the other one was thinking without saying it . Scott simply rested his hand on my leg while I drove to the airport . It was enough . Watching Scott say goodbye to the girls was heart wrenching . I can 't imagine how hard it was on him . Mckenzie soaked in all the kisses and hugs , not really understanding what was happening . Abby , on the other hand , knew what was happening . She only gave a few kisses before turning away from Scott . It was hard to leave Scott and even more difficult to listen to Abby sobbing in the backseat as we drove away . I hated listening to her cry and not being able to fix it . She finally cried herself to sleep and Mckenzie fell asleep to , so instead of driving straight home , I drove around for another hour . I woke the girls up to do a little grocery shopping and we came back home for dinner . When we pulled into the driveway , Mckenzie saw Scott 's truck and excitedly shouted " Daddy 's home " and Abby got all excited too . I felt terrible telling the girls that he wasn 't , just his truck was . I let the girls watch a movie after dinner and then it was time for a bath and bed . We read books in my bed and now both girls are giving me trouble about going to sleep . I hope they fall asleep soon because it is back to school tomorrow for Abby . Can 't have her going to school all tired . Posted by