Way Behind.

I have been way off my blogging game. To be honest we have been enjoying Hawaii so much, we haven't had time to blog.

Mike and Melinda came to visit and we had a wonderful time. It was so nice to have family here. I think we wore them out. We went to Maui and did all the touristy stuff here which was so much fun. I cant thank them enough for coming out to see us. 

Halloween came and went and Ava was Bat Girl. She was a very cute Bat Girl if I do say so myself. She has a great time trick or treating. She kept asking days later if it could be Halloween again. 

Chase and I went to the Marine Corps Ball. We had so much fun. I am so fortunate to be able to experience something so moving. It really makes you proud to say you are an American and part of the Marine Corps Family. It was a lovely evening at the Hilton Hawaiian Village downtown.

Chase finished Ava's dollhouse. Seriously he has been working on it since before she born. It has moved with us 3 times. She loves it. Chase did an amazing job and it is beautiful. Hopefully Ava will pass it down to her girls someday. 

The most exciting thing is that Chase got selected for MECEP. We are so excited. He worked so hard for this and I am so proud. He will be attending OCS in January and then we will move to Jacksonville FL for him to finish school. Hopefully he gets a flight contract and can fly when he is done. Ava and I are leaving in December and wont be coming back to Hawaii. I am very sad about leaving this amazing place but I know it is best for our family and for Chases carreer. He promises we will come back.  

That was a quick update of everything. I am going to try and do better this last month we are here!! 

Loving this

new passion my husband has for surfing. It is awesome. Every day after work he puts avas bathing suit on, throws some towels in the car and we head to the beach....EVERY DAY! I love it. We have been only staying about an hour but it is such a relaxing part to my day. Ava plays in the sand and we both chill under the umbrella. He is getting pretty good at surfing and we don't mind putting in the time to help him get better :)

Our Little Artist

I try really hard to keep ava busy during the day doing creative things. As she gets older, its fun to try different things. This week we have been painting. She has always painted : finger paints, water colors.... We used a 40% off coupon at our local craft store to buy a pretty big canvas. I wanted it to be bigger, but Chase vetoed that idea, canvases can be pretty pricey. We started day one with purple pink and blue paint. I tried to pick paints that if mixed together they wouldnt create a brown "mess"

The next morning, Ava asked to paint first thing. We started painting Green and let that dry for an hour then came back after breakfast to paint orange. She painted until all the orange paint was gone and asked for more and i gave her a few shades of blue since she had covered all that up. Most of the blue ended up on her. We only have a few rules while painting and not getting it all over her is not one of them. She ended up looking like a very messy smurf. 

I think we painted purple and pink the next day and then today we finished with yellow and orange. She was painting and all of the sudden said... "its all done, what do you think?" and that was that.

We are going to hang it in my craft room for now. Next time she wants to paint I plan on painting over it with white paint and letting her start over. I love how she has so much freedom to do whatever she wants to do. I really can tell when she is serious in to it and has a vision. She is so focused and knows exactly what she is trying to do. She says painting makes her so happy, makes me happy too! 

A Little Surfer Babe

Ava went surfing for the first time ever in Waikiki yesterday. She was all set with her life jacket and her rash guard.  I will say I was a little nervous, but she is a natural. She loved it! Her favorite was jumping off of course. For some reason I left my camera at home so all we have are these crappy not so good camera phone pictures.

I was so proud of her, but her daddy, he was glowing. We treated her to subway and ice cream afterwards. It may have been the sitting out side on the beach,  but it was the best sandwich and ice cream i have ever had. Maybe I was just starving.

While You Were Out & Thanks

Daddy comes home in just 2 short days! We cant wait! Ava is so excited to show him all the things she can do now. So here is a little re-cap of what Ava has started to do since Daddy left. He is really coming back to a different child! I cant wait to see how the two of the react to each other. 

Ava can : 

Eat with a spoon and fork very well 

Go to sleep without a paci 

Drink out of a regular cup with no lid

Count to 10

Pick out all her colors and body parts

Draw a circle and an x

Jump with both feet off the floor

Swim underwater 

Hit a baseball off a tee

Use the potty like a big girl 

Dress herself 

Im sure there is much much more that she is doing now that she couldn't when Chase left. Be looking for homecoming pictures in a few days! 

Thanks to everyone who helped Ava and I get through this deployment. I couldn't have done it without my wonderful friends and amazing family. Also, thanks for sending chase your love and prayers while he was gone. We couldn't thank you all enough! We love you all and can never repay you for all you have done for all three of us! 

Memorial Day

A holiday that is very close to my heart. Maybe being a Marine wife makes you more patriotic, but I cant imagine who I would owe more thanks to than the men and women of our military. Today makes me so thankful for all that we have because we live in this country. It makes me happy to be an American. I am forever grateful to these brave and honorable people. 

 We are so proud of Our Hero! Sometimes his job may take him far away from us, but we are so blessed to be able to share moments like this with someone so heroic! 

 Thank you for doing what you do Chase and making a sacrifice that only you will ever understand. 

 And a thank you to those who gave all so we can live in this wonderful country. From the bottom of my heart, you will never be forgotten! 

Happy Memorial Day!