Xavier did GREAT today at Sears.  The pictures have been uploaded to Flickr so make sure you take a look.  I will write more about today’s events tomorrow, right now I’m exhausted and Xavier’s asleep!!!  WOOHOO!!!

Well our little man turns three today at 3:17pm! Time has flown by so quickly!

We had a small birthday party on Sunday with a few friends.  We decided to have a cook-out and prayed it wouldn’t rain.   We bought a slip ‘n slide but the kids had more fun in the pool end then actually sliding. I’m guessing they are just to young to realize how fun it is to run towards a vinyl sheet with water spraying on you…

 The rain held up until it was cake time then it started pouring…. so we headed inside.  I will say that it pays to be known at Cold Stone. We stopped by there Friday night to order the cake.  Turns out they need 48 hours notice for a personalized cake. Lucky for us the girl who took our order knows us and just asked if we could pick out an already made cake and she would just scrape it and decorate it that night.  So we chose the cookie and cream cake and she decorated it with Spider-Man.

After blowing out the candles we enjoyed eating the whole cake! Tonya and Brandon gave Xavier a Spider-Man toy. In return Geno got to hold their baby Cody who is about 5 weeks old. Geno wasn’t home when Xavier was Cody’s age so this was an adventure for him.

Well today we are celebrating by taking goodie bags to Xavier’s daycare. I’m going to pick him up earlier and go to get his hair cut. After his haircut we are going to go eat dinner and cupcakes then head over to Sears to get Xavier’s pictures taken. 

Well…it’s time to start the day… I will get on here alter this evening or tomorrow morning with more pictures of tonights party and pictures…

I figured I would write a quick howdy to anyone reading this before the children (and dog) get up.  Geno started work again this past Monday and boy those 30 days went by way to quick! He is now waking up at 515a. Luckily (knock on wood) he has been getting off around 230pmish and yesterday he had a 2.5 hour lunch so that was nice.

Derrick is doing well. He got his report card on Tuesday and he received all A’s except a B in Reading. Turns out he needed to get a 94% on a test and he got a 92%. We didn’t mind though he has been doing a heck of a good job this year.

Xavier has been doing well also. His personality can knock your socks off sometimes.  Over the past weekend we taught Xavier the “knock knock” joke about the banana and orange (incase you don’t remember it you keep saying “banana” a few times when they ask who’s there. on the 3rd or 4th time you say “orange” and then “orange you glad I didn’t say banana”). Well he just gets a kick out of it and will start laughing his jolly old laugh.

Jobs here are still really hard to find but I’ve been looking. Nothing yet. We have a few options so now we are looking at the pros/cons and trying to come up with a plan.  We still haven’t received any orders yet and Geno now doesn’t expect any until July sometime.  Although we really want out of this base the main issue is getting out of his unit.  So right now we will take moving over to Division (82nd Airborne on the other side of Fort Bragg) then stay in the unit. 

Well, that’s it for me. It’s almost time to wake Derrick for school and I can hear the puppy moving around in her cage…

So long for now…

Well, we got back from Myrtle Beach earlier this afternoon. We had a great time - despite a few disappointments.  Our hotel wasn’t what we thought it would be but we didn’t spend to much time there so I suppose it didn’t matter much. We went to the beach a few time and enjoyed Ripley’s Aquarium, a few rounds of putt-putt, a visit with my grandma and a TON of eating delicious food!

Last Tuesday night after soccer practice it was brought to our attention that Saturday (the 19th) would be their first soccer game.  When we told the coach that Derrick would be missing it the coach all but got to his knees and begged for Derrick not to go. He offered to take Derrick in for four days, despite he didn’t live on post.  We decided on Wednesday that he would stay with his coach.  Early Thursday morning Melissa (Derrick’s friend Tyler’s mom) called and expressed that it would be ok if he stayed with them. This worked out better since Tyler lives on post, goes to Derrick’s school and plays soccer (but on a different team). If Derrick were to have gone with us he would have missed - 2 days school, field day(his last ever), a school dance, and his first soccer game.  So Derrick stayed at Tyler’s house Thursday and Friday night and then went home with the coach after opening ceremonies for soccer Saturday morning.

We couldn’t have asked for a better few days. The temperatures were in the mid-70’s to mid-80’s, sunny but very windy.  Xavier had a blast at the beach. He loved chasing the waves & sea gulls and building sand castles. I enjoyed beating Geno at putt-putt on Saturday and then he in turn enjoyed beating me this morning. We ate at our usual Mammie’s for breakfast but we also tried something new - The House of Blues for breakfast. It wasn’t a huge selection but well worth the $6.99 per person (plus, we had buy one get one free). The atmosphere was great and the hostesses and waitresses were warm and kind, especially for 8am.  Geno and I joked and decided that they are still up from partying the night before. The only downside is it’s not open on Sunday’s and we didn’t know that until last night.  We also ate at Captain Benjamin’s Calabash and decided that we will NEVER eat at a seafood buffet down there again.  It closely resembled the seafood buffet here in Fayetteville but costs over twice as much.  We also ate at our usual River City Cafe which has never let us down.

My grandma (my dad’s mom) lives in Myrtle Beach and we went to visit her yesterday(Saturday) afternoon.  Xavier warmed up to her right away and was his silly stuff.  She was happy to see Geno home safe, especially since she hadn’t seen him since July 2006.

We headed back late this morning and were greeted by rain. We picked up Derrick and the coach expressed how well behaved he was (yes, I did pick up the right child). We arrived home to junk mail, couple day old newspapers and no phone messages!  I went next door to pick up Lilly who was staying at our neighbors. 

So now it Sunday night and back to reality - Geno starts back at work tomorrow, Derrick to school, Xavier to daycare after having a week off and I’m back to job hunting…

Here are some pictures from the past few days and more on Flickr

Putt putt pictures


 

Visit with Great-Grandma

Beach visit
 

Pool time

Ripley’s Aquarium

Ok the story behind this picture is simple. No, I’m not trying to scar Xavier for life. He wanted to take a picture but he was to short to stand in the man’s face so he chose the next one over. Just think this will be a GREAT picture to show his future wife!

Man oh man, when it rains it pours! The last few days have been all hustle and bustle.  Last Thursday Mamaw Lolli arrived after a 5 hour delay. We headed over to get Xavier from daycare. He immediately ran up to her and gave her a hug… We had soccer practice later that evening and Xavier (and daddy) really enjoyed the HUGE play area they built across the street from the soccer fields.

Friday I spent most of the day applying for jobs and doing multiple errands. For dinner we were all awarded with Geno’s FAMOUS spaghetti! Xavier helped cook it of course…

Saturday Geno and I headed to Raleigh to enjoy a nice afternoon and evening free of kids.  There was a sushi restaurant we had wanted to try for quite some time.  We headed to the movies first and watched Leatherheads. It was a great movie, we really enjoyed it.  Afterwards we headed to Mura, a japanese fusion restaurant. The wait time wasn’t to bad and the atmosphere, though bustling with prom goers was quite relaxing. It was BY FAR the best dinner we have had for a while. After all the time wanting sushi I ended up having Ramu Miso (lamp chops). Geno had the Surf & Turf Rolls. The appetizer we had was Tori Katsu. It MELTED in my mouth! Afterwards we decided to forgo the dessert there and just walk over to Ben & Jerry’s.  It was a really enjoyable evening and I’m very thankful that mamaw allowed us the get away time.

Sunday we took it a little easy. We had breakfast/lunch at Golden Corral. On the way to Golden Corral we had a REALLY close call being side swiped by a SUV that ran a read light (and when I say ran I mean we were already in the middle of the intersection). He missed us by less then 6 inches.  We ended up pulling up right next to him and Geno made him roll his window down. He confronted the guy about running the light and almost causing a serious injury. Geno was FURIOUS. The guy apologized and looked sincere.  As we were headed into the Golden Corral we noticed the suv circle a couple time - probably trying to decide if he should reiterate that he was sorry.  Needless to say we are ok, I was a little shaken up though since he would have hit the passenger side.  After Golden Corral we did a little running around for last minute gifts for Xavier.

Monday was rather uneventful in the morning. We ate a late lunch at Kyoto’s and planned on having a birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Well, things didn’t go as planned. We didn’t leave for Texas Roadhouse until a little after 6pm. Now looking back we really should have had a lunch celebration. I told the waitress that it was Xavier’s birthday and she said she would round up the troops. Little did I know she meant RIGHT THEN!  Not even 5 minutes later - while we are enjoying an appetizer - here they come. I was SOOOOOOOO disappointed. Well, from there it was sortof downhill. Xavier hadn’t had a nap and by the time the entrees made it to our table he was on the brink of a meltdown. He was able to eat most of his broccoli and Geno’s then it was time to head towards the car.

 
 
After arriving home he got his second wind and was ready to open his presents. Mamaw bought him a Spiderman scooter, a writing mat, a train & car. Aunt Felicity bought him a plastic tball set and boy did he have fun with that today! We bought him a ton of $1 Spider-man stuff from Target (the headband was one of the buys).  Afterwards we sang happy birthday and then off to bed - he slept like a rock last night!

This morning Xavier and Derrick had their checkups. Derrick’s was supposed to be last November but I forgot. They both got the chicken pox shot. I’m sure Derrick had it when he was one but I can’t for the life of me remember so we went ahead and gave it to him again. Derrick is 5′5” and 110lbs (94% for height and 76% for weight). Xavier is 39inches and weighs a little over 37lbs (83% for height and 91% for weight). Both boys have 20/20 vision and are where they should be for their age. YIPPIE!

Then a few hours later it was time to take mamaw back to the airport. Xavier cried when she left and we were able to divert his attention enough that he stopped.

Ok, I should probably stop this post as it’s gotten REALLY long. We are off to the beach in a day or so. I will try to make a quick update before we leave…if not…see you soon!!!!

Here are a couple video’s I thought you might enjoy.  I will be updating the site sometime tonight or tomorrow after we go out to dinner for an early birthday for Xavier….

Bouncy…bouncy…bouncy

Xavier vs the waterhose

Soccer time…

Xavier gets his stick back from Lilly…

Nothing’s really new here but I felt like writing something. This past weekend was pretty uneventful for the most part. I found a few jobs to apply for only to notice after typing each individual cover letter that one had the stipulation you had to have a NC drivers license (I keep a current OH one) and the other, even though it said Cumberland County, it was in Lumberton which is over 50 miles away. I was really bummed. There is still one I’m trying for but I have to go tomorrow and take the Excel, Word, typing and spelling tests through the NCESC. I have to get a 50% on both the Word and Excel and 45wpm on the typing and 60% on the spelling. I’m not to worried about the Word, typing or spelling test. The Excel has me slightly worried. Even though I use Excel quite often I use it only for basic spreadsheet things so I know the basics. Even after taking the tests I still have to be nominated to get an interview so wish me luck!

On a funny/cute note, Xavier has always been one to eat veggies. In fact, he will usually choose carrots or tomatoes over french fries or potato chips. He also LOVES salad. He prefers lettuce with a limited amount of dressing (if any dressing at all). Today for dinner we had homemade chicken wings/drummettes and salad. Xavier cracked us up. For one, he didn’t want dressing tonight and then he started eating the lettuce like Cookie Monster. I ended up having him slow down. Shortly after dinner he was up and going again with his active self. I’m going to try to post a video later but for now I added a few new pictures at the bottom of this post I thought you might enjoy - there might even be a picture of me

For the rest of the week we are doing laundry and preparing for Mamaw to come down on Thursday from Ohio. She’s coming to visit for Xavier’s birthday and to visit us, it’s been since the reunion back in July that we saw her last. Then the week after this we are headed to Myrtle Beach for four days then back to work for Geno…

Well the Wonderpets are on which means Xavier needs to get ready for bed.

Eating lettuce…

Goofy faces

Mommy included herself in one…

My favorite season is fall…but Spring is a close second. The weather is so nice and comfortable down here.  The downside is the weather changes by the hour. At 6am it could be 70 degrees but by 8am on the way to take Xavier to daycare it’s 40.  This makes me highly vulnerable to bronchitis. The first bout with it started yesterday. Luckily, I got it early - meaning when I was coughing a bunch (so much that I got a headache). I didn’t get home from the ER until after 2am.  I didn’t care much though since I didn’t have to beg for a Z-Pack. Usually I have to beg only to be told I don’t need it.  Of course that makes them feel like an idiot when I am in the next day 10x worse and they realize that the patient was right.

Derrick is doing well. He started soccer this past week.  He is the youngest on the team of 13, the rest of them are 7th and 8th graders.  Here are a few pictures, sorry they aren’t very good. I forgot my camera and had to use Geno’s cell phone. He’s the one in the red shirt and black shorts

He gets his grade card on the 22nd, hopefully no surprises but based on the papers he’s bringing home he seems to be in good shape.  Tonight he’s going to a lock-in at the rec center so it will be just Xavier, Geno and I.

I can’t believe that it’s April already which means Xavier will be turning THREE this year! HOLY COW!!! He has been doing extremely well. He’s getting the potty training thing pretty well. He’s staying in the same pull up for daycare and we try to catch him at home.  We don’t always get to him but he’s trying none the less. He went last weekend with keeping the same pair of spiderman underwear (underroos) for more then 36 hours.  He is slowly starting to get used to Lilly. As you can see in the pictures of him below he’s isn’t running from her as often and finds it funny to spray her. He’s also been talking a lot of being a firefighter. Maybe he will join some of the Lolli men - Matt, Paul and Scott - in the career of fighting the hot stuff!

Today was a very productive day for Geno and I (even with the lack of sleep from being at the ER until 2am and Geno waiting up for me). We cleaned the kitchen and the dining-room. Geno rearranged the back patio and found a couple black widows.  While he was doing that I used my new steam cleaner to clean the kitchen/dining-room floors - they needed it!  In that process I found an additional 3 black widows that had made a home for themselves in the dining-room curtains.  I’m calling the housing people tomorrow and getting someone out here to spray.  I also finished my front garden this afternoon, adding my potted plants and replacing the solar lights that were not working.  Here are a few pictures of it…

Geno’s doing well also. He’s about half way through his post deployment leave. He’s been enjoying his long overdue rest and playing with they boys…

That is about it for now… Here are a few more pictures I took today…