A beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Today was a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful and our girls had a good day at school.

After school, we came home and colored and made some "creations"...I think Sophie tried a taste of every crayon - when she learns how to talk I'm going to ask her if the different colors have different flavors! Emma is getting so good at writing her letters. She also loves to write stories - I have no doubt that she will be an author or journalist one of these days.

We had a little dinner then went out to enjoy the fresh air. We made the rounds and saw the neighbors, then went on our merry way. We came across a beautiful butterfly who was very still for us - Emma was mesmerized.

We met up with Miss Jessica and Tyler and finished off our tour of the neighborhood.

When we were getting ready for baths, Emma amaze me yet again. I walked into Sophie's room to find that Emma had already laid out Soph's jammies and a diaper (opened up and ready to go) and had set aside a diaper and outfit for tomorrow. I'm beginning to think I'm not needed around here! They are growing up so fast...(but not too fast, daddy, don't worry).

We LOVE YOU DADDY!

Back to the Grind...

We were back to school today! Emma and Soph were very excited. We kicked off the day with music as we drove to school - boy, do our girls love to sing. Emma remembers the words to all the songs and Sophie does a remarkable job keeping tune (far better than mommy) as she sings "la la la" to everything! These girls might have a future in show business.

Mommy's big helper...

Miss Independent: walking to school by herself (already!)

After school, we came home and made some arts and crafts, had a little home cooked dinner (yes, daddy, I cooked), then took a little walk through the neighborhood (our friend, Tyler, from next door and his mommy, Jessica joined us). Of course we had to stop by to say "hi" to our neighbor, Miss Mary.

Getting ready to ride...

Have a wonderful night, daddy, we love you!

All in a day's work...

Today was a great day both fun and productive...

We started the day with a little "fall" cleaning and errands to Lowes and Michaels. Our girls love those race car shopping carts at Lowes - they were especially mesmorized by all of the Christmas decorations there (like the inflatable Santa Claus flying an inflatable helicopter).

After all of our work, it was time for some fun. We went to meet Miss Wendy, Nessa and McCay at Cheesy Janes - a fun little throwback burger joint. Energized from an awesome lunch, we headed to Clay Casa to paint our family pumpkin - we missed daddy as we were painting it, but he was there in spirit.


Though the day was busy, it wasn't over yet...we were off to swim at the pool (it was a beautiful day and we just couldn't resist). It was wonderful to see how much the girls love the water. Emma has become quite the swimmer and Sophie is FEARLESS. She constantly wants to engage with the big kids - there's not much that little girl won't do.

All in all, a fantastic day - and one day closer to daddy's return.

We love you daddy!

Ballerina Girl

Today has been a busy day! We hurried off this morning to join Emma's friend, Nessa, for their Saturday morning ballet class. Emma is becoming a master at ballet and tap - we can't wait for her recital in November...

Oh I wish I could be a ballerina, too...



Passing time at the dance studio



An hour sure is a long time to wait. Mackay, do you mind if I borrow your lap to take a little snooze til those big girls are done?



Our prima ballerina



Who can resist a local mexican diner for lunch? Not us...we went in, chowed down and wrecked havoc on the place with our friends Miss Wendy, Nessa and Mackay.

We couldn't let the day go by without taking advantage of the beautiful weather here in Texas, so we took a quick dip in the pool - very relaxing.

Swimming makes me SO happy


One blackberry is never enough...



We finished out the day with a trip to the Commissary at Ft. Sam Houston (I AM becoming a military spouse!). By the time mommy got to the check out line I had all sorts of interesting things in my cart.

When we arrived home, the car was silent - a curious sound in the Stromberg car - I'm not used to being in the car without Emma and Sophie singing "Best of Both Worlds"...Lo and behold, both our little girls were sleeping - nothing woke them up and everyone was snug in their beds by 7pm...

Not event the deepest sleep will loosen my grip on my precious fruit loops...
Our two tired angels



I've never been more keenly aware of how very much I love my family - I am truly blessed. I already miss Mark more than you can imagine - but his presence is still so strong in our home and our children, that it makes things a little easier. Emma shares his quiet strength, deep compassion for others and incredible desire for everything to be clean and organized (thankfully!). Sophie shares his extraordinary personality - part comedian, part imp and 100% fun loving...

We love you daddy!

Daddy Deploys

Today was a big day for the Stromberg family. Emma, Sophia and mommy brought daddy to the San Antonio airport shortly before dawn this morning to send him off on his "work trip" to Iraq...the countdown begins...

Thank goodness daddy is a "light" packer...


An early morning farewell....



Our girls were in rare form this evening (the cat's away...)

Sophie at the wheel with her friend, Bronson.

Emma took a turn at the wheel, too, with her friend, Braylee.

We LOVE YOU Daddy....

Joy

It's official! The Stromberg family has finally entered the 21st Century! Now we can share all of the joy our two beautiful little girls bring us with the world...