Preschool

 So in addition to our little homeschool preschool Jeffrey has been going to Ms. Macie's preschool too this last month. He LOVES it! I have tried to help him learn letters or how to write and color and he just doesn't have the patience to want to sit with mommy but he loves learning from someone else!

 I love this! I'm sure he will learn how to write all in a row one day, but this is seriously adorable!

This was his Easter bunny project. He told me he cut the shapes out all by himself and his favorite part is the "googly eyes".

He has learned some of the hilarious preschool songs too. If you can ever get him to sing "Tooty Ta" you're in for a treat!

Arrival to Afghanistan

My whirlwind trip got me to Afghanistan quickly and safely. It is common to be stuck at one of the holding stations along the way from several days to a week. It is also common to run into situations where there are more people passing through than there are bunks to sleep in. I dealt with neither, traveling in a small group among the last of 1ID to enter the country.

On FOB Lightning, I stay in a nice room. I have a large desk, shelves, makeshift closet, bed with mattress, and a double window with glass, though it is boarded from the outside. I plan on using the window to hang up photographs.

I work with the Afghan army in a building referred to as the TAC. In the TAC, the Afghans are tracking what is taking place in there are of responsibility, similar to how the US runs its own operations. I am there with several other coalition soldiers to help share information about the Afghan battle space. I am not specifically training the Afghans, but I am building relationships with them and watching them take ownership of the fight.

Flint Hills Discovery Center

For our homeschool preschool today we took a field trip to the Flint Hills Discovery Center here in Manhattan. It has been under construction since we got here and we were excited to see what was inside. It showed life in the prairies from the time when it was underwater to the time of the settlers to the present. The kids loved watching this train go around and around.

 J wanted to catch some cows on this saddle. He's got the swing down pretty good it always makes me laugh. I had to pretend I was the cow.

 Jeffrey is GREAT at puzzles and had this magnetic one done in just a few seconds.

 This is Jeffrey and his little friend C. She is in our ward and for whatever reason they are best little buddies. It's kind of adorable to watch him follow her around and want to play next to her and ask where she is all the time. It's adorable.

 They had a video there that was pretty cool, had a 180 degree screen and when they talked about the winds in the prairie there was wind in the room. Jeffrey was a little nervous when they talked about fire and smoke started to come in from under the screen. He was also a little nervous when snow fell from the sky. It was a cool video though.

After we walked through the exhibits and saw the movie it was time for the preschool activities in the classroom upstairs. In the picture above they dug through the sand and found fossils which Jeffrey tells me are old animal bones. They used magnifying glasses to look at them closer.

They also got to have prairie recess time. Jeffrey learned how to jump rope. He could do it in slow motion but seemed to enjoy it.

We had a great time and got a membership so that we could visit more during the summer time.

Happy Sunday Daddy!

Here's our video for Daddy...you all get to see it too.

Keeping in Touch

So I have Cory's address now if you want to get in touch with me for it. I don't want to post it here because this is the internet after all. Send me a text or email and I will send it along. I've got a package getting ready to send with things that he's discovered he needs already.

Let's visit the train

 

When we go to the hospital on post we pass a park and a train out front. Every time we do Jeffrey asks if we can stop and play, sometimes we have places to go right after so we can't stop, but this day we had some time so he showed me around the train. We had to watch down the tracks and make sure that the rails were clear and more than once we had to slam on the brakes and stop the train. He has got such a great imagination!

Tooty Ta

This is J's favorite new preschool song. It took him a while to warm up to singing new songs during music time (apparently the first day he got up and walked out of the room) but now he tells me he loves to sing this song. I wanted to email it to daddy again, but it's too big so just turn your head and enjoy the show.

The Peanut's Heartbeep

Jeffrey calls the heart beat a heart beep and he was very excited when he got to hear it at the doctor's office with me yesterday. We wanted to email it to daddy but the file was too big, so we're uploading it here and now you all get to enjoy the Peanut's heartbeep.

A full weekend

Friday night Jeffrey and I went with some friends to the Fort Riley Elementary school carnival. Jeffrey had fallen asleep on the way and so was pretty shy to get into the activites at first but eventually warmed up. My camera battery died after this picture so I just got the one, but he went bowling, to the duck pond, and endless trips around the cake walk hoping for a sweet treat. He adores my friend and followed her around all night, he always calls all my friends by their first name which I hope that no one gets offended by but he just thinks they are his friends too.

Saturday afternoon and evening was spent in our downstairs bathroom. Why you ask? Because that's what you do when you're pregnant and nervous and the national weather service issues a historic tornado warning. This picture was after the first "all clear"  we got  after being in there for about 30 minutes. We were in our shower three times last night and spent several hours trying to sleep on the bathroom floor on an air mattress. I like the people in Kansas but I don't love the weather in Kansas. I'm just too much of a nervous Nellie for the whole thing. For the record though, and in credit to my dad ever prepared training, I was ready for anything. We had enough water stored to keep us going, our 72 hour kits of food, flashlights, our weather radio, a change of clothes, and all our important papers in a fireproof safe in the bathroom. We had our shoes on most of the night and then kept them safe when we tried to get some sleep. I also had fresh batteries for Jeffrey's leapster just in case we needed them.

Jeffrey tells me at least once a day that he is going to miss daddy. But then he usually gives me a hug and tells me that he loves me and that we are going to be a team. In true Jeffrey fashion we're in the stage of following me around all day long. It reminds me of the quote I've see on pinterest, "We used to want it all, now we just want to go to the bathroom alone." Yep. It would be nice to have a few quiet minutes without someone trying to break down the door telling me I need to read him a story or play geotrax with him. Good times.

Also, don't my teeth look so pretty and straight? I still find myself staring at it. So much different than I am used to seeing.

Traveling

I have been in non stop movement since leaving FT Riley. That is fortunate. It is easy to get caught up in some places and end up staying a week in the same transient tent. Jet lag is still wearing on me, but I am slowly adjusting to the time change.

After I parted ways with Tricia and Jeffrey my group stayed around the company for more than one hour. I agree that it is better to part ways on our terms and not because someone spots the bus coming around the corner. Jeffrey was ready to go and we did not want to drag it out if he was bored and anxious.

I have had the luck of travel along the way. On the plane ride across the ocean I had two seats next to the window for myself. I met several other SFC to chat and spend time with. The showers have been clean and the food along the way better than expected.

I did bring along my my camera, flash, reflector, and neutral density graduated filters. Expect to see some photographs in the future. I will post some here to the blog, but my best work will go on my website at corymacneil.com

My favorite Picture

These two are my whole world. They are best friends and I love watching them play together. It's going to be hard for each to be away from their bff for the next year, but I am glad they have had such great memories this last year.

The Sergeant

Well, it's happened again. The Sergeant has gone to do what the sergeant has to do. Another deployment to Afghanistan. We woke up early yesterday to take him to Fort Riley with his bags. Though he wasn't scheduled to leave until 10:00 (and his actual departure time was MUCH later than that) we learned from our last deployment that we like to be able to say goodbye on our terms and not because someone told us we have two minutes.

We stayed for about an hour and visited and talked while Cory went from place to place finishing up last minute things. I tried to find things to entertain a four year old boy.

We took pictures of my feet, me, and Jeffrey making silly faces. Finally he said, "Mom let's take two more pictures and then it's time to go." So we asked someone to take our picture and then said our goodbyes there. I am terribly emotional from the pregnancy hormones and tried to keep it together so I could drive us home.

We texted and called the rest of the day as his flight was delayed and then when he got to Virginia before his flight to Germany late last night. I haven't heard from him today but don't expect to for a day or two until he gets somewhere more permanent.

Thanks for the concern and prayers the last few days, we have felt them for sure and appreciate the love and support.

One day down, 364 to go.

Preschool at Tuttle Creek Lake

With the four day weekend for Easter, I was able to tag along to the preschool field trip with Jeffrey and Tricia. The trip took us to Tuttle Creek Lake, where we met with a park engineer who told the kids about the lake, and animals living in the habitat.

Lucnch was at the sandy beach after an hour of playing in the water.

Easter Day

Easter morning began with a hunt for baskets. Tricia gave Jeffrey the warmer/colder signal as he searched. Tucked in the closet he found a water color set, side walk chalk, and a bag of candies.

Church happened to be stake conference. The visiting area authority talked about the practicality of the doctrine of giving the Lord the firstlings of the flock. Because people tend to spend in accordance with what they make, waiting until the end to give to the Lord you may find you have nothing left to give. He also spoke about the need to forgive so that we can move on in life. Forgiving someone may feel like they get off without a penalty. However, holding onto the issue means that they get to live rent free in your mind halting your own progression.

As every year, Tricia put together a great Easter feast. We ate ham, and Tricia's famous potato salad until we could eat no more.

I Love to See the Temple

We sang, "I love to see the temple, I am going there today," for Jeffrey. We wanted him to get excited about a trip to the Kansas City, MO temple open house. The trip came after a fun Easter party at the church. Jeffrey ran around with friends, filled his basket with candy laden eggs, and ate a pot luck lunch. It is not easy for a boy to go from playing with friends to changing into Sunday clothes on a Saturday afternoon.General Conference gave us something to listen to during the drive.

After two and a half hours of driving I suspected we were getting close. Just as I asked Tricia to confirm our location we crested a hill on the freeway and were given a first view of the impressive structure. A good turn out of visitors came to the temple, but it was not crowded. After watching a short video about the meaning and use of temples we followed our tour guide around and into the temple. As at all other temples, the interior design and decoration is regal but also minimalistic. I carried Jeffrey through the entire tour. He did not want to put on the white overshoes and so could not walk on the carpet on his own. At the site of the baptismal font he said, "I want to be baptized. I will just tell you when I am done."

A visit to Kansas City, MO is not complete without a stop at Five Guys Burgers. A hamburger and hot dog later we were on our way back home.

Hair Cut

So I've been growing out my hair thinking that if I have long, luscious brunette hair like Duchess Catherine I might magically turn into her. Yeah, pregnancy make me delusional I guess. Also it's supposed to be like the inside of a sauna here in Kansas in the middle of the summer. Combine that with the portable space heater I've got strapped to my waist and it was time for a change. My friend that I knew in Germany who moved here a few years ago gave me a great haircut and color and Cory couldn't resist the opportunity to take my picture. It's a fun change and the shortest I have EVER had my hair but I LOVE it!